Part two of Day 2

The London Diaries continue

Imagine a world where shoes with pointy toes were suspended in mid air. Another room at the British Museum.

I hear they are getting the band back together. For those of you who liked their early stuff better.

Oliver Cromwell’s death mask. Or rather a photo of it, as the real thing was at risk of melting. Like a Scene fromThe Wizard of Oz when young Oliver meets the Wicked Witch of the East, then beheads King Charles I.

The Lord Protector was apparently Britain’s first dictator, until like all dictators, he met his untimely end.

Tomorrow we head to Royston, home of my mother’s side of the family. I have traced my lineage back to 1630 where my ancestor was a colleague of Mr. Cromwell.

There is no Revolution in the air of London today though. The city is full of mourners for the Queen. No open displays of tears or emotion, but Liz was a reserved sort.

We end up later almost in a queue for Buckingham Palace, where young Christopher went down with Alice. We avoided the crowds and headed to the ICA, Institute of Contemporary Art.

They had a show on with Penny Goring called Penny’s World. Ms. Goring is a poet and artist whose work is in stark contrast to the earlier works we saw at the British Museum.

It was savage and provocative and I loved it.

By then it was time for a cocktail, so we headed to Ronnie Scott’s. Unfortunately, a show was about to start, and we would have to buy tickets etc. As we only wanted a cocktail, we went next door. We went down some very steep and narrow stairs to a dimly lit bar called The Arts Club. It was small, dark and a perfect. I ordered a Hendricks Gin Martini, which came with cucumber sliced enfolded on a skewer. I’m more of an olive man, but the cucumber blended well with the Hendricks.

Michelle had a Lavender French 75, with champagne, lavender and lemon. It was exquisite.