Since I was on this lovely Holiday/Business trip, I was feeling extra exuberant, happy, and this sense of satisfaction was overwhelming me when I woke up. I walked in the kitchen, made me a great breakfast, had some whiskey, and prepared for the day. My friends rang me, and told me to do some touristy things earlier in the day, because they had a surprise for me. They gave me instructions to go to West Minster and check out Big Ben, the House of Parliament, and of course, the Palace. So I got there, took pictures of Big Ben, absorbed the energy of the people, took photos, walked over to the Parliament, got the ticket information, and decided to go to the palace first, being top priority.
At the House of Parliament, I walked along the St. James Park (20 min walk) and I got the information for the palace, but to my dismay, it was a 3 hour wait to buy a ticket, and an average 2 hour tour of the palace. By the time I got there, it was already 12:00, which would leave me no time to make it home and get ready for my big surprise at 3PM. So I headed back to the House of Parliament, and got the information about the tour time, and it would take 45 minutes to an hour to buy a ticket, and an hour to an hour and a half tour time, which would leave me absolutely no time to be prepared for later on.
**Note: Mondays are the high tour times of these sites, so please buy your ticket ahead, and be ready to wait ahead in line for anything unexpected. **
At that point, I called my friends to find out where else I can go in this area, and they told me to try Trafalgar Square. There I found, beautiful fountains, with these huge stone lions spitting out water everywhere, and other statues absolutely beautiful... it was awesome!
The National Gallery of London, was also at the square and inside, you will find paintings from the 13th through the earlier 20th century art works, such as Bellini, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Vermeer, Caravaggio, Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Sazon, and it with all of this, it's totally free, and they ask just for a simple donation. For amenities, the gallery offers the national dining room, national cafe, espresso bar, and of course, the shops. In my opinion, this was a state of the art gallery that I was honored to experience. I lost time in time in this museum, I was there longer than expected, but I discovered a new love of art. It was from Paul DeLaroche, it as called the "Execution of Lady Jane Grey." Queen Mary had her head beheaded around 1553, at the tower hill after only nine days of office that Lady Jane Gray held. This piece of work brings energy, deep sadness, initial shock, and, strange to say, beauty at the same time. You'll mourn for her death in a matter of minutes with great detailed emulation that DeLaRoche created.
Also, I witnessed 3 more historical pieces of work, that I have only seen in my Art History books in college. I was honored to see Georges Seurat's "Bathers at Asnieres" around circa 1859-1851, then I saw Paul Sezon "Bathers," circa 1888-1905. Renoir's "The Umbrellas," circa 1841-1919. After seeing the Umbrellas with my mouth wide open in surprise and excitement, I looked at my watch, and noticed it was time for me to get to my flat to get ready for my surprise.
I jumped on the Tube, to get ready and all I was told to dress was dressy business, bring my camcorder, and meet them at 3PM on the Cricket Field (known as the Oval.) At that point, my friends met up, and we walked about 10 blocks down to Kennington Road. Then as we drew closer, they said, "Girl, put your heels on, and get ready for this experience." Next thing I know, as we got to the point of destination, lo and behold was the Beefeater Distillery sign!!!
I jumped up and down like a kid in Disney World for the first time (this was the only London Distillery in London.... the rest are outside in suburbs)!! So after I finished jumping for joy, a sudden jolt of nervousness overcame my body, and I started saying, "Oh my God oh my God, is this REALLY happening? Are we REEEEALLY doing this?" So, my friends calm me down, we walked inside, checked in, got our badges. We had to slap on some sanitizer, because swine flu was coming in London at that time, and I stood there jittering around, pacing casually, waiting for the great Desmond Payne to come out.
When he walked out, in my head, angels started singing!
(Note: BeefEater is the first Gin I put my mouth on. Not to discriminate, but it is my absolute favorite since my young drinking age).
When Desmond greeted us, he was this mellow, laid back, humorous gentleman, which I always pictured in my head, but never dreamt of actually meeting him in this fashion. So after a brief conversation amongst us, he approved me filming portions of the distillery, and then we walked in. He gave me detailed education, and information about the distillation process, then we walked into the herbs section, and he explained why each citrus peel and herb was important for the infusion of the distillation process, especially the Beefeater 24. This new brand has added 3 new ingredients, the grapefruit peel, japanese sencha tea, and chinese green tea. As we finished the process, I thought I knew so much about gin and the distillation, but Desmond made everything clearer in my head. Desmond is a great educator, and he does his work to perfection.
After the tour, he took us to the top floor of the new Beefeater 24 lounge. When I walked inside, all the visions in my head of how I want my future home to be designed was in front of me, beveled glass, mirrors, black, white and lace designs, Victorian style couches, and chaise lounge chairs, and to top it off, dead smack in the center of the lounge was a large stainless steel bar, (hahaha).
I thought in my head with my arms crossed, "This is exactly how my living room would be." My ideas have came to manifestation. Then Desmond asked if I would like to have a cocktail with him, and the word "Yes" couldn't come fast enough with a huge smile on my face. So we sat an the bar, drinking the Beefeater 24 martini, talking about everything, then we had another libation, and relaxed some more. After that, we walked back downstairs to his chairman's office.
Inside was his secured glass cases on the wall, with all the original Beefeater bottles, and bitters, and pictures. I just stood and stared, and all I could do is drop my mouth open wide, and say, "Wow." All the while Desmond had his hands in his pocket smiling, happy to make me happy, and giving me this opportunity. As a parting gift, he gave me a bottle of the BeefEater 24 bitters, which at that point, no one in the states have, unless they are affiliated with Beefeater, one way or the other. We chatted a little bit more, and we left. When I walked out of the distillery, I said the same thing to myself, "Pinch me guys, did that really happen? Hahaha."
I could not imagine what the rest of my night would be like, it was 5 in the evening, I was told to get home, relax and get ready for the night and be ready at 7ish. So, I just zipped down the street, got on the tube, and went back to the flat. When I got back, I laid on the bed wondering, "What's in store for me tonight?" and recapped my beautiful day in London town. After thinking about this eventful day, I got ready for the night with the instructions to look nice for a great night out. Of course, my friends arrived early, and we jumped in a cab, we was dropped off at the corner, still no idea where I'm going, then we walked down narrow cobblestone streets, turned and I saw the Duke Hotel. I was like, "Huh? We're going in there??????"
To be continued.......................
Slaandjivaa!!!!!
Info on Beefater:
http://www.beefeatergin.com/
Info on places to visit in London:
http://www.visitlondon.com
House of Parliament info:
http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/index.cfm
Buckingham Palace visiting info:
http://www.tourist-information-uk.com/buckingham-palace.htm
National Gallery of London info:
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
**For pix, check out my FaceBook page located above on the right column**
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