August 7 - Brown’s Hotel, London, England

Yesterday the 6th I was driven up to Richmond International to begin my next adventure to see the total solar eclipse on the 12th in the Bay of Biscay south of the British Isles.  This cruise has been in the planning for about two years when it first became available to book.  Two good friends and I booked at  the same time and we’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.  Fingers and toes are crossed hoping the weather will be cooperative that day.

My friends came to London two nights before I did and were staying at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair and I decided to stay there too for my one night visit.  Seabourn has arranged to take the three of us down to Dover to board the Seabourn Ovation tomorrow, the 8th.   The fun has begun.

My flight from RIC to Washington Dulles was delayed because of thunderstorms in northern Virginia, but I had a big layover (purposely just in case of something unforeseen) so I had no trouble making my connection to Heathrow. The flights were uneventful, but there was one funny thing that happened.  After we took off from Dulles and had reached altitude I began hearing a funny rumbling, very loud noise  and I was tempted to ask the flight attendant if there was some problem.  Fortunately I didn’t. It turns out the rumbling was coming from the man seated in the business class pod in front of me.  He was snoring so loudly and consistently that he could be heard in several rows on our side of the plane.  He must have had a good sleep because he snored all the way across the Atlantic and until the attendant woke him to get his seat in landing position.  Oh, I wish I could sleep on a plane but I don’t think that will ever happen.

Anyway, I made it through Heathrow  much more quickly than the last time it was my final destination and my driver from Blacklane was waiting to take me to Brown's Hotel.  It’s worth writing a little about this place.  Brown’s is London’s oldest luxury hotel.  It was founded in 1832 by a couple (no surprise their name was the Brown’s) who were former domestic servants.  Over the next 80 years it grew and today incorporates 13 former Georgian townhouses which have been made into a variety of different size rooms and suites, each unique in its décor. It’s easy to get lost on the floors because the corridors aren’t necessarily long and straight and there are occasionally one or two steps along the way because the townhouses floor levels weren't all the same.

In the 180 years it’s been in business Brown’s has hosted many famous people, including some presidents and kings.  It also has been the place many famous authors have stayed.  Rudyard Kipling stayed here often and a suite on the first floor is named after him because that’s where he and his wife stayed when in London.  Agatha Christie was here so often that she had a table permanently reserved for her. Others who stayed here included Joseph Conrad, Arthur C. Clarke, A.A. Milne and Mark Twain.  Theodore Roosevelt stayed at Brown’s before his marriage to Edith Carow in 1886 and Franklin Roosevelt stayed during his presidency.  The place is steeped in history and it’s in a great location  just a block away from Picadilly and a few blocks away from Green Park and Buckingham Palace.  Sadly, I was very tired when I finally got here so I didn’t have time for a walkabout.  Instead I took a much-needed nap and then met my friends for a cocktail and dinner in Charlie’s, the quirky restaurant in the hotel.  It was good to see them after about 18 months; we have a lot of catching up to do and we’ve got 36 days to do it.

Charlie's - The bottom of the walls are panelled in ruch, dark wood and look about the way I think a gentlemen's club here in London might look.  The upper few feet are papered in a wild  (and very pretty) tropical print paper with bright colored flowers and lots of palms.

This trip will take me to several places I’ve been before with a few new places thrown in. It also includes more sea days than my last voyage on the Ovation and I’m really looking forward to those.  So away I go and I’ll try to keep current on my writing.  Over and out from London..