A romantic weekend in London
And some bucket list ticks...
I woke up this morning absolutely dying to write a Substack. Sometimes that just happens, I want to scratch the itch of personal writing and how lovely to have an outlet to do just that! My inspiration? A gorgeous 48 hours in the British capital with my beloved.
Joe and I will be eight years married on March 31st. As doe-eyed newlyweds, we swore we’d take a trip every single year to celebrate it but that hasn’t exactly gone to plan - Covid and all, among other things. Our first anniversary trip fell on the exact date, and was also to London to see Hamilton for the first time, which had just opened in the West End. Unforch, Joe got food poisoning which came on around the interval and saw him bed-bound for the rest of the weekend. Not ideal!
We’ve decided since that any trip we take in March counts and so we planned to return to London, this time to see a bucket list show. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to see Alan Menken live. If you’re not familiar, he’s the eight-time Oscar winning composer famous for his work for Disney and on Broadway. And he’s an EGOT, baby! An absolute legend of contemporary musicals, you know his songs by heart - those from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, Aladdin, Little Shop of Horrors, Enchanted and much, much more.
When I saw he was playing one day only at the London Palladium, well, I just had to go. And Joe was sound enough to come with me! He’s witnessed enough of my drunken warbling along to Alan’s YouTubes to know he’s a legend.
Guys, I spent the entire time bawling my eyes out. When he played the opening notes of Part of Your World (designed to evoke rippling water, you know the ones), the tears came. It was an absolutely gorgeous show, like a highlights (and some lowlights) reel of an incredible career with lots of chat between songs.
I actually find it really interesting to hear from creatives from other mediums about the highs and lows of their work. It’s tempting to think that the path to huge success and international acclaim runs smooth for some people, but nope - that’s just never true. For Alan, he credits meeting his writing partner Howard Ashman with changing his life and his luck. Ashman sadly died from AIDS before they completed Aladdin, and I’d HIGHLY recommend you watch the documentary about him on Disney+.
Anyway, back to London! Anyone who knows me knows I adore a boujee hotel so after a lot of research I decided upon Browns. Joe only had one request - ‘I want to stay in the posh part.’ This, after more than a decade of me dragging him to hipster enclaves in many cities, was one request I could happily fulfil.
Just to note - while I have been lucky enough to take many fabulous press trips in my life, this is not one of them. We paid in full for everything.
Browns is my kinda hotel. Situated in Mayfair, it’s a stone’s throw from the designer shops of Bond Street and the West End but also totally walking distance to the stores of Carnaby, Regent and (shudder) Oxford Street. For this trip, I wanted to stay local - no tubes to get around, no Ubers, everything we wanted to do in walking distance. Thus, we caught the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow (I will never take the Piccadilly line there ever again) and the hotel was a ten minute stroll away.
Browns is luxe, but quirky. The decor is eclectic and the hotel has an intimate. boutique vibe but with extraordinarily high levels of customer service. Everything is to the highest standard, comfortable and opulent without being stuffy.
On Saturday we checked in and then headed out to watch the rugby. I’d pre-selected a nearby pub called The Audley which is known for its food and ambience. When in Mayfair, expect to pay Mayfair prices and I cringed internally paying £16 for a mid Aperol Spritz, but I was full of the joys of spring and blue skies, and delightedly watching the upper crust Aislings in their uniforms of bootcut jeans, oversized tweed blazers and actual running shoes. I asked Sarah and Emer of
what one would call a posh London Aisling, and was told an Arabella or an Araminta. Perfect.
Joe and I ate perfect fish and chips and Scotch Egg, and then went shopping a bit pissed. Instead of buying anything in Selfridges though, I happened upon a champagne bar, and ticked one of my (very silly but fun) 2025 goals off my list - trying caviar for the first time. It was v gorge, and next I will be slathering it on Pringles like a Real Housewife.
Another pub, more drinks and some dinner ensued, nothing to write home about until we ended up in the Donovan bar back at Browns where I spied some very interesting glassware. My memory is patchy from this point, but apparently this Italian gentleman knows people drink cocktails out of his head and thinks it’s gas.
Sunday was show day, so fighting a mild hangover we did some actual shopping before our matinee, and then headed for an early dinner at Carlotta afterwards. I’d highly recommend a stroll down Marleybone high street, there are loads of gorge indie book shops and smaller outlets of lovely brands you know, plus some very pretty classic British pubs. The Aramintas were all drinking their Aperols outside.
Carlotta was glam, it’s one of the Big Mamma group so if you’ve eaten at Gloria in London or Pink Mamma in Paris you know the vibe. It’s all for Instagram - wow moments with the drinks, oversized plates, showy desserts and interiors. We were wrecked, so scoffed our pasta without partaking in any alcohol and headed back to the hotel to watch Crufts in comfort.
On Monday, before we left, I wanted to see if the famous Waterstones at Piccadilly Circus stocked my book. Reality Check was published in the UK (and Oz, NZ, South Africa and various European countries) at the same time it came out here but with no fanfare or PR. It’s available to order online (as is Long Story) in those countries too, FYI! But it was all very quiet and small, the kind of thing someone interested may seek out but you won’t be seeing it on any promotional stands.
Well, lo and behold, they did have one copy! It was in the romantic fiction section next to beloved Marian, Sheila O’Flanagan and Beth O’Leary, and I was thrilled to see my baby abroad. I would love to have my books downstairs in the New and Noteworthy section eventually, but look, all in good time.
We popped in to Fortnums (where I could happily spend an entire day and thousands of pounds) and the Assouline bar and bookshop, and then headed for home delighted with ourselves. We spent a fortune because London is spenny at the best of times and that’s what you get for staying in the posh part, but it was all worth it! I carried home some beautiful purple anemones on the flight, and they’re now spreading their pretty petals in my favourite vase as I type. It’s the little things lads! And the big things too - bucket list stuff like seeing my favourite composer and finding my book in a major store can’t be written off either.
Vicki xo
REALITY CHECK comes out in paperback on April 17th with its fab and snazzy new cover, you can pre-order here!
My new novel LONG STORY is released on May 29th, and you can pre-order that here AND be in with a chance of winning a night away for up to eight people at the beautiful Farnham Estate.
And finally, you can listen to my podcast You Had Me At Hello below. We are halfway through season two, with such fab guests as Doireann Garrihy, Katja Mia and my very own husband! Also available on Spotify.
Sounds like an absolutely stunning trip! ❤️
LOVE London and so glad you had such a great trip. Remind me to tell you sometime of the singsong I was lucky enough to be involved with (him, Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey around a piano post one of our premieres). It was surreal....... BTW just pre ordered the new book. can't wait.