A Proms two-dayer: Part 3

Soaking up the culture at the Courtauld

I had a fitful night's sleep; I never do well when away from my own bed! We were ready to go by 9.30am and asked if we could leave our suitcase at the hotel until later. The staff had been charming, and it had been a lovely, comfortable stay.

Sophie ordered us an Uber to take us to Gail's, a ten-minute walk from The Courtauld Gallery, where we had an 11am booking. It took us half an hour to traverse the distance to the bakery, and we drove past some famous landmarks: Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Piccadilly Circus and some beautiful hotels with smart doormen standing outside. I loved watching the crowds of workers and tourists walking past. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies.

Picadilly Circus

Our female driver dropped us off outside Gail's, and we had a coffee and a pastry each. I had enjoyed the morning roll so much in Leamington Spa, I had another one here, and Sophie followed suit. The hotel was offering breakfast for £15 each, which actually seemed like a bargain after the £70 brunch yesterday, but we just wanted something light due to a booking at Inkonito this afternoon. Gail's was a small outlet, so we sat at a bench by the window and did some more people-watching.

On the walk from Gail's to The Courtauld, one of the straps on my handbag broke, so I had to stuff the whole bag into one of Sophie's canvas carriers... just what I didn't need! As it was a charity shop bag I'd bought years ago for a fiver, it didn't owe me anything and I think I'll retire it when I get home!

We had booked tickets for the Courtauld Gallery to include a special exhibition entitled Abstract Erotic, featuring the work of three female artists - Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams. I was under the impression that the exhibition cost us £15, so I was a little disappointed to find it distinctly underwhelming...

I didn't know what to expect, to be honest. Maybe abstract drawings of bodies, perhaps? What we saw was a jumble of incomprehensible sculpture and weird things that meant nothing to me!

How is this erotic? It looks like something that belongs on the cricket pitch!

Hmmm!

Here, I'm maybe getting pierced boobies?

And I do think this is self-explanatory

And definitely this one!

There were notices with each one, explaining the thoughts behind the pieces. It sounded like a load of old pretentious waffle. What made it worse was that just through the doorway were some of the most beautiful works of art in the world: Impressionist paintings by Monet, Manet, Cézanne, Renoir, Seurat, Paul Gauguin, and Modigliani, which were pulling me towards them!

We wandered around, trying to look interested, but there wasn't a lot to see, so we fled through the doorway to look at proper art, and more nude bodies, but these were beautiful!

One of my favourite paintings was here, Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère:

I adore the expression on her face. I feel like she's thinking to herself: "Oh no, not him again, leering at me! I'm fed up with having to deal with this every night!" Maybe, but we'll never know!

We were also over the moon to see this self-portrait of Van Gogh:

He looks pretty fed up as well!

Other favourites included:

Van Gogh, we loved the brushstrokes

Monet 

Monet

Monet, The Church at Varengeville

Preliminary painting by Manet, Le Déjeuner sur L'herbe

Modigliani

We tore ourselves away, although I could have stayed all day. We descended to the next floor down and looked at paintings by Rubens and Gainsborough, and then down again to the first floor where the art was incredibly old and dated from the 1200s. I thought at first I would be bored with this, but I read all about an Italian artist called Bernardo Daddi who was active between around 1312 - 1348. I was astounded  by the beauty of the work and how well preserved it was.

A year after completing this, he died from the plague. The note says the work is egg tempera and gold leaf on wood. Daddi specialised in portable altarpieces that could travel with their owners and were very popular.

After a quick visit to the shop, we decided to have an Aperol Spritz in the courtyard. It was bliss to sit in the sun and chat about the gorgeous paintings we'd seen. 

A Japanese feast!

We left the Courtauld Gallery and walked a little way along the street to order an Uber to take us back to the hotel to retrieve our suitcase. This time we had one of the grumpiest drivers I've ever known, who didn't speak a word. He did a U-turn and minutes later, a black cab drew up alongside and the driver said that the U-turn was illegal and that the Uber driver could get a fine and six points on his licence. I don't know whether this was true or not, or whether the black cab driver was being a scaremonger, but it made the atmosphere in the car even more morose.

We eventually arrived back at the hotel and were reunited with our suitcase. Sophie ordered another Uber and while we waited we sat in the comfortable lounge area and chatted to an American couple who were also waiting for a taxi to take them to Southampton, where they were embarking on a cruise to Norway, lucky things!

Our Uber took us to Soho and the Japanese restaurant Inkonito. We took our seats, the suitcase was whisked away to a back room and we studied the different menus, ranging from a £10 a head Donburi lunch to the £59.50 tasting menu. After a lot of deliberation, we chose the £49.50 a head tasting menu.

We looked at the extensive wine list and chose a 500ml carafe of French Rosé to accompany the meal. The food arrived in stages with a little gap between each course. First up was the baby gem salad with the most delicious sauce.

It was utterly delicious and proved to be our favourite dish of the whole meal. I wonder if we could re-create this at home?

This was followed by the crispy baby squid with roasted garlic mayonnaise. We alternated between dipping the squid into the mayo and the delectable wafu sauce!

The last dish on this course was fish wrapped up in seaweed. When I took my first bite, I wasn't convinced I would like it, but the fish inside was delicious.

We had a breather, and the second course was brought out. We were given the crispy chicken and the dumplings together.

The yoghurt dip with the chicken was lovely, but we both thought the chicken lacked taste. However, the dumplings were beautiful, accompanied by another gorgeous sauce.

The last dish was the seabass skewers with shiso and pickled wasabi, and we both loved the sauce! It reminded us of something else, and we kept scooping it up with our fingers!

By now, I was feeling full, and it was lovely to have another rest before the three dishes of the last course were brought out. The restaurant had filled up with late lunch diners, and the atmosphere was great and very lively.

Half rack of ribs

The ribs were wonderfully sticky and sprinkled with spring onions and sesame seeds. We also had salmon, which was moist and beautifully cooked with a crispy skin. I wish I could describe the food like Gregg and John, but we were too busy eating and appreciating the gorgeous flavours!

The only dish that we hated was half an aubergine, which looked slimy and unappealing. Sophie scooped the flesh up with a spoon and said it tasted like cigarettes. I wouldn't even try it, and the smell was awful, too. If we come back and choose the tasting menu with the aubergine included, we'll try and substitute it for something else!

We had a decent wait before the last dish, the cheesecake, with its own crumb, raspberries and a matcha sauce over the creamy cheese. We couldn't get enough of it!

We ordered Negronis to accompany the dessert, and we both went to the loo to wash our sticky fingers! Ugh! I hate having sauce under my nails!

By the end, we were stuffed with good food, and I could have done with a lie down and a snooze, but we had a train to catch! We paid the bill and waddled off down the street to try and catch a black cab. Luckily, after a few minutes, one arrived, driven by a lovely, cheerful driver who explained the route he was taking as he didn't want us to feel he was taking us for a real ride!

One last cocktail!

He dropped us off at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel as we had an hour to spare before our 5.17pm train on platform 1. The doorman at the hotel asked if we were checking in - sadly, not - and accompanied us into The Booking Office, where our suitcase was whisked off again. We took a seat at the long table and ordered our last cocktails of this very indulgent two days! I chose a "Humility" while Sophie asked for a dirty Martini. We were given a little bowl of crackers, but these were ignored. We were full to the gunwales!

Getting ready for the 5.05pm cocktail ritual

As it was almost 5pm, one of the waiters had started to set up the punch bowl and glasses for the cocktail at 5.05pm, the hotel's tradition, and wonderful if you can catch it. We didn't have time today as, with my foot, I was a little slow at walking! We enjoyed our cocktails, paid the last bill (phew!) and walked slowly to our waiting train.

We managed to get seats near the back of the train, and it rapidly filled up. A mum and her grown-up son sat opposite, and we had a lovely chat until the Luton airport stop. I hope we didn't breathe garlic and alcohol fumes all over them!

Once past Luton, the carriages emptied, and we had a great journey back to Wellingborough. Keith was already parked up, and we sank into the seats for the car ride home.

Back home, we sat at the kitchen island and told Keith all about our two days, and I showed him the list of expenses. He looked horrified! We can sort it all out tomorrow after a good night's sleep!

Of course, we had to watch The Proms all over again, and this time we could see the musicians properly, see the backing singers and the man who had given a whistling solo. It was fabulous!