Afternoon Tea at the Goring

On Tuesday the young ones were back at work and it was the last day of our holiday. James and I went for a sunny walk to the Mall, where the last of the barriers from the Coronation were being removed, although the flags were still lining the road. Then we strolled through Green Park. The ruthlessly efficient gardeners were digging up the last of the tulips and narcissus (which were still beautiful!) to make way for the next display. We had a delightful afternoon tea at the beautiful and very upmarket Goring Hotel. This was a Christmas gift from Ally and Cat and it was a joy from beginning to end. There was Bollinger Champagne for James, and a huge choice of teas. There were dainty sandwiches, perfect little scones, and melt-in-the-mouth Coronation themed cakes. We were even given a free jar of Coronation jam and a Coronation programme!
As if that wasn’t enough, we then took a taxi to the Donmar Warehouse to see Stephen Mangan and Rachael Stirling in the darkly comic Private Lives. I remember seeing the famous initial balcony scene before but I didn’t remember the rest of the play and in truth I didn’t know what to make of it. The two leading characters are very witty but are also completely amoral and just horrible people. It’s very funny (although the domestic violence was uncomfortable even though it went both ways), and Mangan and Stirling were both brilliant. And then suddenly our jaunt to London came to an end. Off we went to Heathrow and home to reunite with the cats. We have had a great time and even a two hour delay to our flight didn’t bother us too much.