In London the (Christmas) party has already begun
I arrive. It's here. We haven't been able to do anything to remedy it. Perhaps we did not want to, although we will not say this out loud. **Christmas ** returns with the punctuality of the Oscars or the Olympics; come back when you have to.
It is easy to say that we want it to happen, but it is even easier hug her and enjoy . If possible. And since we are going to do it let's do it thoroughly . Let's get on a plane, travel to ** London ** and let ourselves be carried away by the display of imagination that is being orchestrated these weeks in the British capital.
You have to have a heart of stone to be under the garlands of birds and palm trees of Carnaby Street and don't let a smile escape . A pre-Christmas smile.
Carnaby Street dresses up for Christmas
This is not an ode to crazy consumerism, so old. It is an ode to how stores are settings that reveal much about the society in which we live to how many are pure creative territories ; Walking into a good store is like taking part in a play.
London , this era, deploys its artillery in themes of decoration and staging . In these pre-party weeks there are parks, skyscrapers, voluminous dresses and crystal trees. In London the party has already begun.
Our route begins by visiting the department store . It is mandatory. Harrod's has dedicated all its windows and part of the interior space to Dolce & Gabbana . The design duo have created some shop windows with puppets which are better than many of their collections. They have also invented Mediterranean and nice scenery only for these dates, until December 28.
These ephemeral architectures leave with their mouths open those who know who Dolce & Gabbana are and those who don't. There your triumph.
Harrods, the department store you should always visit
Let's continue strolling through the area of Kensington and walk towards piccadilly looking askance Green Park , that green park that only has daffodils. New stop: Fortnum & Mason . There may be a better place in the world to buy teas, soaps and biscuits, but we don't know about it. Let's take a good look at the Christmas baskets and the greenish blue (or bluish green) color of the boxes and confirm that they play in another league here, in the Christmas Champions League.
The lights arouse hunger. Let's make a stop. Quick. Let's go to Chinatown , attached to Soho. There is Ichibuns . This is a Japanese fast food restaurant. Just opened (something you always like) and the decoration refers to the Japanese subcultures of the 50s and 60s.
It is cool and pop as only Londoners know how. It is a very informal place that has the founders of Nobu, Busaba Ethai and Ping Pong behind it. The heart of the menu are the japanese inspired burgers which are served in a sake bun . You have to resist the temptation to order a yuzu cocktail, the fruit of the moment, because you have to keep wandering.
Ichibuns Harumaki Cheeseburger
On this pre-Christmas route we will spend a lot of time walking and looking up at the ceiling. Christmas lights are not fir trees or Santa Clauses: there are jungles, feathers, and entire worlds hanging from the sky . Let's go to the area Carnaby Street and stop at Liberty. Let's pay our respects to what may be the most beautiful department store in the world and climb the creaking wooden staircase that hasn't been touched for centuries. Blessed Liberty.
Before continuing, let's have a coffee and it will be a coffee with a cause. At ** Toms ** (in Foubert's Place) every product purchased helps someone in need with shoes, clean water or eye surgeries; They may be some shoes or a coffee . This is a store (let no one look for a room with tables and chairs) but it has a small coffee bar . There we find our own freshly ground coffee, teas, muffins and cookies which is a welcome relief in the middle of a tiring day. Alert, data: it has chargers for the mobile. By now our people will be much more tired than us.
Let's keep walking through Soho, always inspiring and these days full of pop ups like the one from the online store L'Estrange. There we can have another coffee and try on their sweatshirts until December 24 . That seems to be the fate of many brands and streets: ephemeral stores with their own rhythm.
Liberty, blessed Liberty
We are tired. Let's go to the hotel. This is always an important moment. It is pre-Christmas, we want warmth and a lit fireplace. **The Pelham (Preferred Hotels and Resorts)** is in south kensington and this means: location, location, location.
we will be surrounded by museums, shops, restaurants and parks . We can walk to many places. East small hotel with 51 rooms it is what we expect from a delightful English hotel; It has corridors of a private house, soft beds, beautiful patterns in its rooms, English mansion halls, enormous amenities from Penhaligon's and that lighting that nails the places around here.
We don't talk about money because it's prosaic, but we will say that it's a great price by central London standards. And how do we buy? because we will buy , this is a data that comes.
We will continue walking and walking between lights, but first let's do something calm. let's visit 'Balenciaga, Shaping Fashion' , the exposure that the Victoria & Albert Museum dedicates to Cristóbal Balenciaga. It's two steps from the hotel, too.
The homage that the museum pays to the Getaria master is heartfelt and careful. The pieces on display belong to the museum's collections and the curators have taken care to show what lies behind his clothes and the consideration of Balenciaga as total creator.
The ground floor is dedicated to History and emblematic dresses and the superior, more expansive one, to the legacy and influence of the work of the Basque seamstress. The music that plays throughout the exhibition helps to abstract and get carried away by flights and taffeta. The exhibition can be seen until February 18.
Those who admire Balenciaga have a moral obligation to go, those who don't should go off the beaten path to do so. There is always a before and after Balenciaga. Once we have seen the sample we will make a stop at the museum shop . These weeks, in addition to his exquisite merchandising, sells Christmas items and decorations . Let's take a ball for the tree, even if it is.
Balenciaga, Shaping Fashion
Once in the street we continue walking either. It rains less in London than in Rome, they say, so let's not even think about rain. What is a trip to London without parks. let's cross Hyde Park , that immense green esplanade that these pre-winter days gives us a psychedelic party of green, yellow, ocher and brown colors.
The dry leaves on the ground form a soft mattress on which you want to jump or lie down. let's do it Since we're in Hyde Park, how about a little detour to Kensington Gardens to visit the Serpentine Gallery ? This gallery and its “sister”, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid remind us of the great gallery level of London. And surrounded by green, what more can we ask for this pre-Christmas morning
Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Hadid's dream in London
Let's leave the silence and return to the hubbub of Oxford St. It's time for the yellow bag stores: **Selfridges** has an entire floor dedicated to Christmas decorations. Let's forget everything we know about her. What's here is from another planet. The wrapping paper can be personalized with our name (or that of our sister) and the result will amaze our family. Let's not stop admiring the large balls (the size of planet Earth) that hang from the ceiling.
After this pre-Christmas immersion we can take a walk through marylebone . This neighborhood concentrates galleries such as Atlas Gallery, which can make us want to give photography as gifts at Christmas; also butcher shops The Ginger Pig , who go out of their way these holidays to place the best turkeys on the tables. We can also buy a good piece of Stilton at La Fromagerie As a Christmas gift to friends and family. Let's wander these streets as long as we want , until dark. From there, the second part of the day begins: the night.
A cheesecake, can you ask for more?
A very English tradition is to render Christmas tree worship . Another is to do it with a glass in hand. **In Aqua Shard ** we can fulfill both at the same time. This restaurant is in the 31st floor of The Shard , the skyscraper that Renzo Piano designed and changed the skyline of London.
From here you can see almost everything we want to see in the city that, from the heights, looks like Tokyo. During these weeks we can see a tree made with glass bottles; is named The Tree of Glass and he has designed it Lee Broom in collaboration with Nude. It is a sight to see the glass of the tree in front of the windows of the building. During the day it is interesting, at night it is spectacular. Here we want show. We will go at night.
It's dinner time. Let's change neighborhood and scale. Let's go to Covent Garden . There is **Henrietta Hotel,** one of the last to arrive in town. It doesn't belong to a big label, it doesn't have butlers or pools above or below. East hotel is intimate (18 rooms) and cozy.
In his restaurant, often full, we can eat well and in a pleasant atmosphere. The kitchen is from Ollie Dabous , one of London's most sought-after young chefs. To start we can ask for a Hendrick's Hot Gin Punch, which sounds like a P. T. Anderson movie, and which is a hot cocktail with gin drunk in a porcelain cup . It sounds weird but it's something delicious and resurrecting.
Here you can eat good fish and some quite memorable cupcakes for dessert. A pre-Christmas weekend as the canons dictate you end up drinking a punch in a cup of tea. For details like this we can never stop traveling to London.
Henrietta Hotel