It’s been a while, and for that we can only sincerely apologise. To make up for it we’ve got some slamming content for you this week. If you’ve been keeping up with us on social media (@fourthousandweeks) you’ll have seen how busy we’ve been and what’s kept us from writing. However, enough of that, let’s talk about the fabulous things.
On Friday night, I was lucky enough to be taken away by Kraken Rum, to their Love Lair. It was amazing, in the middle of nowhere, in one of the darkest spots to see the night’s sky, and with our own bartender for the evening too! Fabulous.
After getting the train back to Kings Cross, Tim very romantically met me at the station and we battled the grey day to have a decadent Art Deco date day!
We hopped on the tube to Holborn, and walked around to see Two Temple Place, somewhere we have been desperate to visit for ages, but is only open during exhibitions (the current one ends 22nd April, so get there before then). 2 Temple Place, originally known as Astor House, is a late Victorian house, that underwent a $1.5million refurbishment in 1892 when William Waldorf Astor bought the place when he moved to England from New York. Oh, and it’s completely free, in keeping with our constant look out for budget ways to explore!
The current exhibition is a subject matter after my own heart. Jazz. The exhibition is called “Rhythm and Reaction: The Age of Jazz in Britain” and is all about the arrival of jazz in Britain from 1915 onwards. IT covers new technologies, attitudes to jazz and its audiences. The whole house is full of artefacts – from paintings to ceramics, sculptures and textiles, as well as photos and films from the time.
I can’t put in to words how fabulous the setting was for the exhibition. The exhibition was the perfect mixture of written information, and things to look at. There was also the most amazing soundtrack, which they had cleverly uploaded to Spotify and placed the scan codes on the information, so you could take the playlist home to listen to!
Anyway, I was talking about the setting – everything is wood. All sorts of wood, oak, mahogany, ebony, you name it, the sheer volume of wood itself shows how much money the owners had. We also got told by a fabulous volunteer at the museum that all the friezes and décor was purposefully designed with Waldorf Astor’s interests in mind (the three musketeers on the staircase up, the Westminster Abbey flooring in the hallway etc). He also took us looking for some of the clues in the doorways and showed us how he add his study private and let us have a go at figuring out the doors. (He also made a point of telling us that it’s available for weddings, does he know something I don’t?!).
We did want to go on and make out deco day even more extravagant by grabbing a spot of lunch in our favourite deco spot: Balthazar, however, it was fully booked and closing for change of service, so we breathed in the atmosphere and instead went to eat in Café Pacifico, the most marvellous Mexican place in London in our opinion! Very reasonably priced, brilliantly tasty and the service of the staff was that excellent middle ground of attentive yet not in your way, knowledgeable not patronising, oh and did I mention it was delicious? 2 Coronas, shared chicken enchiladas and a half and half of quesadillas and chimichanga, neither of us had room for dessert! The décor is like a Californian dive bar, the music is great, and I think you’re barmy if you don’t go there at least once soon.
All in all, for an off the cuff date day, it was one of the most successful yet. Temple Place was free, lunch was cheap and we had a brilliant few hours together. Is there anywhere in London that fits our lust for Deco that you can think of? Let us know in the comments below!
