She loved the picture, though, and also the photo I'd chosen for her birthday card, of when we were in Pals in Spain last September. We put the Champagne in the fridge and she was delighted with a card from her grandparents and a restaurant voucher she can use for a meal out.
We left home at 8am as we'd decided to take the 9.18am train to Euston. First up was a coffee and something to eat at the station café:
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| Birthday girl's sausage bap |
When we arrived on the platform to take the train, there were a lot of people waiting. It didn't look promising. The train arrived and it had started its journey in Birmingham so it was already full. We squeezed on and stood by the doors along with lots of other people. It was going to be an uncomfortable journey...
At Milton Keynes, a passenger who'd been sitting got off, so Keith took his seat. Sophie and I stood in the aisle next to him and our mood was very good, despite Sophie having someone behind her constantly jostling her! Luckily, the train only stopped at Bletchley, Milton Keynes and Leighton Buzzard, so the journey wasn't too long!
At Euston, we went outside and Sophie called up an Uber on her phone.
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| Where's the Uber? |
It took us about half an hour to get to Brick Lane in London's East End and the driver dropped us off right outside. The whole area looked vibrant, and the graffiti everywhere only added to the atmosphere. We felt very excited!
We went into the Boiler House and I showed the QR codes on my phone. It was very dark, and as we went in there was an exhibition about Dalí's fascination with science, which was very interesting. I definitely think he would have loved this whole immersive!
We went further into the exhibition and sat and watched a video of him. He came across as very intelligent, but as mad as a box of frogs! His mad staring eyes and the moustache were fascinating!
Once we'd watched the video, we went into another room and as we entered through a thick curtain, it stopped us in our tracks... a large square room with white walls on which his paintings had been transposed. All around the room people were sitting or lounging on deckchairs, beanbags and stools. It was extraordinary!
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| What's going on? |
As well as the paintings, there was music playing. It was very relaxing!
The sequence I enjoyed the most was when we were shown images of paintings he'd completed at the coast, near Figueres and Cadaqués. We recognised the coastline and the beautiful blue of the sea and sky.
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| I have this painting on our kitchen wall (minus the people in the sea!) |
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| Another favourite |
It was a fantastic experience and we stayed for quite a while enjoying the paintings shown on the wall. The only gripe was three little boys who were messing around and jumping on each other, obviously not interested in what was going on around them. Why bring them to something like this?
Just before we left we saw these on the floor:
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| I'm sure this is one of Dalí's eyes! |
Next up was the virtual reality part of the exhibition. We queued up to have the headsets fitted and in another room, we could see people walking about. Keith went first, followed by Sophie and then me, Our headsets had numbers on them, which were very important! As soon as the headset was on, I obviously couldn't see anything except bobbing old-fashioned diving helmets ahead of me with numbers. I couldn't see the rest of my body and my hands were weird - a patterned brown colour and very slim!
I grabbed hold of Sophie's hand and we all went in together. We were on the deck of a ship with the museum at Figueres behind us. Ahead was the prow of the ship with his muse, Gala, standing proud. At first, a huge rock came towards us and we could look down into the sea. It was the most surreal experience, which was exactly what it was supposed to be! It felt so real, but of course, it wasn't!
The experience lasted for ten minutes and included lots of his paintings and images, but I could have stayed much longer. It was the weirdest thing I have ever known! Again, the children we'd seen earlier were in with us and they were doing a lot of shouting and screaming, despite their mother telling them to be quiet! Maybe we'll go again, but during the week when the children are at school!
At the end, the images disappeared and became a grid with an arrow to show us the way out. I really wanted to go in again but I wasn't sure if were able to. We went into the gift shop and I bought another of his paintings:
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| Galatea of the Spheres |
Outside, it was sunny and people were sitting enjoying snacks and drinks. Sophie and I fancied a coffee but the woman serving said she'd run out of beans so we made do with a bottle of water and sat and enjoyed the lovely weather.
Sophie had booked a table at Cinnamon Kitchen for 2pm so we had plenty of time to find somewhere for a pre-lunch drink. We walked towards the City of London, mingling with people shopping and enjoying the sunshine.
This area was very vibrant and "up and coming"! We saw a group of people on a walking tour and there were several independent shops, cafés and restaurants. Sophie had been here before and we took a shortcut through Spitalfields Market.
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| Beautiful clothes! |
Some of the clothes and jewellery were beautiful but expensive! Sophie bought a lovely purse with a picture of Frida Kahlo embroidered on it and spotted some gorgeous linen trousers but they were £55!
Both of us could have stayed a lot longer to look around, but Keith was keen to have a drink and a sit-down so we pressed on. Outside it was still lovely and sunny and there was a great atmosphere despite a heavy police presence.
We found a Nicholson's pub called The Woodins Shades, which was busy with lunchtime drinkers. We ordered a pint of London Pride for Keith and two halves of a delicious stout for Sophie and me. We sat at a high table and were fascinated by the two women at the next table who were Canadian (I think) and a man who was doing his best to chat one of them up!
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| Scene from the window |
We sat for an hour with our drinks and soaked up the atmosphere of the busy pub before leaving for the short walk to the restaurant. Inevitably, we passed two lovely-looking pubs, with one offering five real ales! Typical!
Cinnamon Kitchen is based in a courtyard area which was very pretty, with outside tables for dining and drinking.
The restaurant was quiet, with a couple of large tables of diners who looked like city types. We took our seats and I loved the veneered wood of the table and the calm and peaceful surroundings. Large windows opened onto the courtyard outside. It was a lovely setting.
The food was delicious and plentiful and I especially loved the choice of starters, including the paneer. Gradually, the restaurant emptied out and as we approached dessert we were the only ones left. The staff were very friendly and hospitable and gave us a breather between the main courses and the dessert, thank goodness!
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| Paneer, spicy samosas, tandoori chicken breast, mmmm! |
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| Lamb rogan josh, chargrilled king prawns, garlic naan, pilau rice, chickpea gnocchi |
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| Delicious, creamy Kulfi |
We happened to mention it was Sophie's birthday so the waiter very kindly brought out a sticky toffee pudding with her dessert. It was a lovely touch!
The bill came to about £150 but we add a tip to make it up to £170 as the service had been so good, and so friendly.
We were now the last ones in the restaurant so we used the facilities and said goodbye. Outside, a man was playing the piano and he started to play "Happy Birthday" for Sophie, much to her delight. By now, she'd had two cocktails and was feeling very merry!
We walked to the main thoroughfare and Sophie hailed an Uber but they wanted us to go to Liverpool Street Station so we waved down a black cab instead!
The taxi took us to Euston in time to get the 4.19pm train back to Northampton. It wasn't going on to Birmingham, so it was lovely and quiet. What a difference to the journey this morning!
Outside, the weather had turned grey and rainy, and we sat and chatted for the whole journey. Once back in Northampton, it was raining hard and the journey home was awful as we became stuck in a traffic jam in Kingsthorpe. I turned off the main road and went through a residential estate I'd never ventured into before, despite living in the town for 50 years!
Back home, we tidied up as Vikesh was popping over to wish Sophie a happy birthday and to give her some gifts. When he arrived we opened a bottle of Prosecco and I cut three slices of the ice cream cake. It was lovely, thank goodness!
Sophie received a lovely Lego Orchid set to construct, a sweatshirt with Aries and the ram on the front and a keyring for her car keys. She was delighted. It had been a wonderful birthday and certainly made up for the last three years!
Scenes from an Uber (and a black cab!)
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| Barbican flats |
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