Chapter 442: Walking Gracefully
Coming back to London feels like a treasure chest, offering almost everything imaginable, endless restaurants, cafes, galleries and theatres, royal gardens and neighborhood parks, and all kinds of complementary lectures...... The city is never boring.
There are endless museums and exhibitions, beautiful parks for morning jogging and napping, Michelin-starred restaurants and nightly plays.
Arriving at a legendary hotel with more than 180 years of history, Alexander Bell made the first phone call in British history at a London hotel in the late 19th century across Albenarle Street, a famous gallery, restaurant, park and shop. That hotel is Brown's Hotel.
The first hotel ever in London. Over the centuries, countless legends have been told here. After the death of Lord Byron, the famous poet, his estate was passed on to James Brown, Byron's former personal servant. The business-minded James bought four townhouses on Dover Street and named them after him, opening London's first high-end inn in 1837. The attendant is a legendary figure like Byron, and this inn is destined to have a legendary aura from the beginning.
In 1859, the hotel was sold to the Ford family, a famous automobile manufacturer, who renovated the hotel with modern amenities: electric lights, elevators, bathtubs, a smoking room and a public dining room, which was rarely seen in a hotel at the time.
Ford bought the adjoining property and expanded the hotel. Soon this upscale pub became known for its understated and elegant atmosphere, with a love for its intimate atmosphere and classic British gentleman's service.
In 2003, the ROCCO FORTE Group took over the hotel, and a new sleek and playful new breath began to flow as a luxury hotel that perfectly retains its century-old appearance and original decorations.
From royalty to writers, from Pulitzer Prize to Academy Award winners, musicians, scientists and politicians. Over the centuries, the Brown Hotel has expanded into two wings and now includes 11 Georgian townhouses.
Arrive at the hotel in London's signature Black Taxi and be captivated by the grandeur of the imperial glory days at the hotel's main entrance. The gentleman's doorman, with a gentlemanly demeanor in his gestures, reminded me of the old butler in Downton Abbey.
Walking into the lobby, many details of the hotel are worth pondering and appreciating, from the overall elegant structural lines to every exquisite and fashionable ornament, all of which show the extraordinary style and taste of the Brown Hotel.
Extra care is taken into the arrangement of the floral arrangement, which looks extra warm under the lighting. There is also a dedicated florist studio on the first floor of the hotel, who adds unique floral designs to the hotel every day.
When I came to the room, I received a welcome gift prepared by the hotel: a can of coffee and a small bottle of perfume. On the left is the Brown Hotel's unique access card.
We also prepare two handwritten welcome cards in English and Chinese, which is rare to receive such a warm welcome gift at a hotel abroad.
Open the refrigerator, full of all kinds of liquor, the UK is probably the most drinkable country in the world, except here, there is no country that can support the triple halo of beer kingdom, whisky paradise, and main wine consumer at the same time. I didn't have enough drinks in the room, so I walked downstairs to the bar.
The right way to open London is definitely to start with an English afternoon tea, and without a doubt, the Brown Hotel has one of the best in London. The classically decorated English Tea Room was once a favorite spot of Queen Victoria. All the décor of the restaurant is the same as it was a hundred years ago, imagine aristocrats dressed up for afternoon tea, as if you have traveled back to the set of Downton Abbey.
With wooden floors, leather sofas, and dark checked chairs, Donovan's Bar presents a completely different visual style than the traditional English tea room. On the walls around the bar are 50 black-and-white photographs by renowned British photographer Terrance, which is where the name comes from, in honour of Britain's best fashion photographer.
One of Mayfair's most popular bars, the cocktail list designed by legendary master mixologist Salvatore Calabrese is another gem.
On Thursday and Saturday afternoons, there are many stalls on the street somewhere in the town center: some sell fresh fruits and vegetables, small boxes of tender fruits and vegetables are sold cheaply, and some sell seafood and meat, and the stall owners are busy carrying large crabs or scallops for customers to inspect.
There are those who sell flowers and plants, and they can just take a handful of flowers and plants home after buying vegetables, and there are even many vendors in aprons, who fry hot dogs and fried large fries, and passers-by several meters away will be hooked by this aroma, and it is difficult to tempt the apron vendors to add more BBQ sauce to themselves. There's also an upgraded version of the market, which is also full of stalls, but it's a magical place to wander all day.
A paradise for small fresh and small literary and antique souvenirs, full of leisurely and romantic bohemian style. It is one of the most famous and largest antiques souks in the world, gathering more than 2,000 small stalls. It's also the setting for the movie "Notting Hill" starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, and you can walk down Portobello Road in the bazaar where you can spend an afternoon reading books at the travel bookstore "The Notting Hill Bookshop", and of course you can pick up old vinyl discs that are decades old.
The monologue at the beginning of the film is a true reflection of the market: you can imagine this is Notting Hill, my favourite corner of London. There is a daily market selling a variety of fruits and vegetables. There is also a tattoo shop, a person walked in drunk, and after coming out, he asked himself very much, why did he choose the pattern 'I love KEN'?
There's a barber shop where everyone comes out with a hairstyle that looks like something out of a TV show, and on weekends, more vendors pop up on the road all the way to the door of Notting Hill, where you can see countless people selling antiques.
The brick lanes of East London are often a street for bloggers and art students of all stripes of London, from the humble ones tucked away in the streets to the underground vintage markets. It's also a place where many young Londoners love to run, and Brick Land has a few key points: graffiti art, independent music, records, second-hand clothes, markets, and designer brands.
There are a lot of immigrants here, and the people are more complex, but perhaps because of this background, Brick Lane is more receptive than other areas, and it is more accepting of different personalities, cultures, styles, and tastes.