After all the bus trips to Guatemala City, now The Antigua Curry Club went to London, to eat some great curry, see a few exhibitions, a couple of plays, sightsee and shop.  Details are at the bottom of the page, but here are some photos from the trip.

The first night we met at Marousch, in Kensington, for a Lebanese dinner, warming up for curries later in the week.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.
The next day, it was the "Jack the Ripper" London walk, starting at the Tower of London.  Click on any photo to see a larger image.
The first curry, in Brick Lane, was planned for many months for a restaurant which Lorraine and I visited last year.  The manager called us on our trip in Malta a week earlier to say his restaurant would close on Mondays for Ramadan, but arranged with a friend across the street for the same menu at the same price.  Good dinner.  UBER on the way back home.  Click to see a larger image.
The next day, art galleries.  And in Leicester Square, half priced tickets to see Madama Butterfly (in English) at the Collisseum.	On our way to a Chinatown lunch.
OK, OK, this is supposed to be The Antigua Curry Club London, but we went to Chinatown for dim-sums. Click to see a larger image.
At 2:30 that night, a fire alarm in the apartments we stayed in caused hundred of people to get out in pyjamas in the street.	Luckily, even at 2:30 a.m. there was a shop open, so we had a wine and crackers party in the street. Click to see a larger image
The high point of the trip, dinner at Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant.  Like the Queen, who was celebrating the week we were there, Veeraswamy was born in 1926,  Fabulous dinner.  Veeraswamy is rated by some as the best Indian restairant outside of India.  (The second best is in New York ... Next year, 2017:  The Antigua Curry Club New York!)  Click to see a larger image.
Veeraswamy, delicious.	We were supposed to chose the main course between prawn, chicken and lamb.  Instead, they gave everyone all three dishes. Click to see a larger image
Veeraswamy, UK's oldest Indian restaurant.	Veeraswamy, UK's oldest Indian restaurant.
We all went to the Victoria & Albert museum for two interesting exhibitions and lunch.  Some people had lunch inside, some out in the sunshine.	One of the exhibitions at the V&A was Boticelli.  Got it ?  Boticelli ... Venus ? Click to see a larger photo.
Some of us made a side trip by boat on the Thames for a day in Greenwich.	At the Royeal Observatory in Greenwich, we stood (and sat) on the Greenwich meridian. East on the left, West on the right. Click to see a larger photo.
At the end of the week, we spent part of the day inPortobello Road, shopping the market and finishing the week with Spanish tapas.  Click to see a larger image.

 
Details of the trip:


Please note that there will be some walking and riding on the Tube.  In each case, if you do not want to walk or use the subway, there are taxis, buses or you can join Uber and call your ride.  

Some of us are staying in Chelsea, at the Chelsea Cloisters on Sloane Avenue, two blocks from Kings Road and a 5 minute walk from the Sloane Square tube station (and the lovely Peter Jones department store).  Chelsea Cloisters has wi-fi, at a cost.  April 29:  People going, so far:  Tomas & Lorraine (Chelsea Cloisters), Werner & Maria Elena (IBIS Earls Court), Julio & Margie (Browns'), George & Dianne (Chelsea Cloisters), Margaret (Chelsea Cloisters), Norma (Chelsea Cloisters), Raul & Cindy (Chelsea Cloisters).  For details of Chelsea Cloisters, click here. For details of London Transport, visit https://tfl.gov.uk/	Click here for a map of London  showing main sites of the trip.
Sunday June 5:  People arrive at Chelsea Cloisters and other places and make themselves at home.  Just next to Chelsea Cloisters a "Sainsbury's Express", a nice small supermarket, open early and closing late in the evening.  There is a Thai restaurant downstairs and other restaurants within walking distance, although Sunday evenings are fairly quiet.  My favorite is 15 minutes' walk, at 38 Beachaump Place, "Maroush".  That's where Lorraine and I will be there for dinner Sunday evening, say 8 p.m. (so far, also Raul & Cindy, Dianne & George, Maria Elena & Werner, Margie & Julio).	Click to see map of Chelsea
Monday June 6:  Make your own breakfast.  I think that everyone has been to London, so they probably don't need a tour of London.  We will meet at 12:30 for lunch to get an orientation for the rest of the week, in the restaurant of Peter Jones, in Sloane Square, a nice department store 5 minutes away from Chelsea Cloisters, or across Sloane Square from the Sloane Square Tube station.  The restaurant is on the top floor, a good self-service with wine, beer, expresso, and has views over Chelsea and Kensington.
Monday evening, we will go by tube to the Tower Hill station and at 7:00 p.m. have our own private, scary London Walk tour of Jack the Ripper history and area where he did those horrible deeds.  SEE: http://www.jacktheripperwalk.com/.  Cost:  £13 for Super Adults (65+).  You should arrive between 6:30-7:00 and pay the guide.    The large walk, with 30-40 people, leaves at 7:30, but our private walk for 10 is £130 just for "The Antigua Curry Club London" and leaves at 7 p.m. The tour ends close to Brick Lane, which is full of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants and we will have a nice late dinner at the Eastern Eye Balti House.  Maria Elena & Werner will meet us at the restaurant.  Brick Lane has an interesting history, starting in the 17th century with the Huguenot immigrants from France, escaping the French catholic king.  They brought with them the silk trade.  They built a church.  As they got more prosperous, they moved out, but in the 19th century were replaced by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, who made the street a market and turned the church into a synagogue.  As they got prosperous and moved out, in the 20th century, Bangladeshi and Pakistani immigrants took over, opened dozens of restaurants and the synagogue changed to a mosque, with a new minaret added to it.  Now, it is changing again.  It is close to the financial City of London, and London's creative East End, it is Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani restaurants on the ground floor, and young French, Italian and other European professionals upstairs.  London is now the 6th largest French city, with more French than in Bordeaux or Strasbourg and many of the young French live in the area.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane  and http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18234930 Eastern Eye Balti House, about 9:00 p.m.  65a Brick Lane, corner of Brick Lane and Princelet Street. Lorraine and I will probably go earlier to shop for supplies in the Bangla Town Cash & Carry, at 67-77 Hanbury Street, watch their cute advertisement at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptYXl9OzEs	Click to see Tower Hill and Brick Lane, just east of the City of London
Tuesday June 7:  There are two interesting exhibitions at the National Portrait Gallery (behind the National Gallery, north of Trafalgar Square).  We should meet there at 10:30 in the museum entrance.  One is "Russia and the Arts, the Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky" (see http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/43127076-russia-and-the-arts-the-age-of-tolstoy-and-tchaikovsky-at-the-national-portrait-gallery) and the other "Celebrating Charlotte Bronte 1816-1855" (see http://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/event/43533401-celebrating-charlotte-brontë-1816-1855-at-the-national-portrait-gallery. We have to mix art with food and the National Portrait Gallery is about 4 short blocks, walking across Leicester Square, from Chinatown.  Karen suggested Chinatown, and although she is now not coming with us, we'll do dim-sums in Chinatown on Gerrard Street ... Golden Dragon, poor service for non-Chinese customers, but fabulous food and a huge variety of dim-sums.  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d680500-Reviews-Golden_Dragon-London_England.html.   Golden Dragon 28-29, Gerrard Street. Dinner on your own.
Wednesday June 8:  A day on your own, shopping!  Peter Jones is 5 minutes away http://www.johnlewis.com/our-shops/peter-jones and Harrods not too far. If you don't like shopping, then there is a fabulous exhibition at the British Museum, "Sicily: culture and conquest", see http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/sicily.aspx .  Loraine and I will see it on May 15, I already bought tickets, because after one day in London, the next morning, we are heading for 10 days in Sicily.  I think it is a very interesting exhibition. the other thing you should do while in London, if you haven't done it yet, is take a flight on the London Eye. We will go see "Kinky Boots", Tomas & Lorraine, Raul & Cindy, Norma, Margie & Julio (see http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/sep/15/kinky-boots-review-adelphi-london).  I bought 7 tickets in the Dress Circle at GBP 69.50. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Please arrive by 7 p.m. at the Adelphi Theatre, 409-412 The Strand, London WC2R 0NS.  Nearest TUBES:  Charing Cross, Leicester Square and Covent Garden.  Click on the map on the right to locate the theatre.	Locate Adelphi Theatre
Thursday June 9:  I suggest that we meet at 10:30 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington and visit "Boticelli reimagined", an interesting exhibition... see details at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-botticelli-reimagined/.  Maybe more interesting is the "Undressed" exhibition of underwear through the ages, see a New York Times article. Depending on the weather, we can have lunch either at the V&A Cafe or the Garden Cafe.  After lunch, I think we can walk across the street to the Natural History Museum's Darwin Center Cocoon, a 2009 extension, opened for Darwin's 200th birthday, see http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/darwin-centre.html.  It documents Charles Darwin's discoveries, the voyage of The Beagle.  It is fascinating and hands-on. And for dinner, we will meet at Veeraswamy, UK's OLDEST INDIAN RESTAURANT, see http://www.veeraswamy.com/.  Dinner at 6:30!  (Time may still change, watch this space) Veeraswamy is a couple of blocks from Picadilly Circus.  Mezzanine floor, Victory House, 99 Regent Street.  Entrance of Swallow Street, a tiny alleyway off Regent Street.  So that will be three curry dinners, one at the bottom end of the market on Monday, the other at the very top this evening, yet anotre "after theatre" the next day, see below.   In the middle of the Indian restaurant market, there is a crisis in the U.K., a shortage of chefs and people willing to work long hours, all combined with tighter immigration.  Please read this interesting New York Times article provided by the Antigua Curry Club's Los Angeles research department.  Lorraine and I have run into this problem, when researching our trip last year.  I was planning to have this dinner in 35-years' my favourite Moti Mahal in South Kensington, but we were served by Serbian waiters, with a Serbian cook ("yes", they said, "the Bangadeshi owner still comes to visit".)  The food was not good, so we opted for the top of the market Veeraswamy.	Locate Veeraswamy in central London
Friday, June 10:  If weather is good, then a fun tourist thing is to go by boat from Westminster to Greenwich.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich  In Greenwich, there are pubs and restaurants.  There is the Royal Navy College with a splendid museum.  For those willing to walk up the hill, there is the Greenwich Royal Observatory ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Observatory,_Greenwich ... you can take a photo standing on the Greenwich meridian. You can also take a flight on London's newest attraction, the Emirates Air Line. We will go and see The Mousetrap.  It is in its 64th year, the world's longest-running show, see https://www.the-mousetrap.co.uk/Online/ . Tomas & Lorraine, Raul & Cindy, Margaret, Dianne & George, Norma, Margie & Julio. I bought 10 Grand Cicrle Seats for £46 Stalls each.  The show starts at 7:30 p.m. and we have to pick up tickets at the ticket office.  Please arrive by 7 p.m. at the St. Martin's Theatre, West Street, London WC2H 9NZ, just off Upper St.Martin's Lane.  Nearest TUBES:  Leicester Square and Covent Garden.  Click on the map on the right to locate the theatre. Margaret suggested that after the show we have dinner at Dishoom, another Indian, just down the street from the theatre.  See:  http://www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/ Looks like a nice, trendy restaurant in the heart of the theatre disctrict.	Locate St.Martin's Theatre
Saturday, June 11:  Free day.  If you like, then in Kensington, on Saturdays, there is a good market in Portobello Road.  Notting Hill Tube station.  The market advertises itself as "the world's largest antigues market" and, sure enough, begins with upmarket antiques.  As you go down hill, it becomes cheap antiques, later turns to food stores (among them a fabulous Spanish shop), vegetables and fruit and ends with clothing, jewelry and so on.  Assuming the weather is fine, this is a good way to spend a few hours on Saturday.  There is a variety of restaurants for lunch, from pub food to tapas and oriental.  Click on the right to locate Portobello Road.  Let's meet at 10:30 at the NORTH EXIT from the Notting Hill Tube Station.  See map. Lorraine and I will lead a tour.  So far, Lorraine & Tomas, Cindy & Raul, Margie & Julio.   See more at:  http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/	Locate Portobello Road Meet @ Notting Hill Tube Station NORTH EXIT
Sunday, June 12:  Depart for home or your next destination.

Cost:

On this trip, I will provide organization, but everyone will pay their own expenses, flights to London, Chelsea Cloisters apartment and meals.  You also are expected to provide your own London transportation, by Tube (Underground), taxis, buses or UBER.  All events above have a time associated with them.  We will wait some 5-10 minutes and then get started.

Looking forward to your ideas.  I will update this page with more details as we go.

Tomas & Lorraine

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Chelsea Cloisters have offered a large discount on their normal rates based on a 1 week stay to The Antigua Curry Club on their STUDIO apartments. Suitable for one or two people the studio apartment has a combined living and sleeping area complete with double bed, table and chairs for dinning, (no sofa), kitchenette with washing machine/dryer and en-suite bathroom. For the Antigua Curry Club the specially negotiated rate is £700.00 per week based on the flexible policy (this is usually £815.00 per week) and £665.00 per week Advance Purchase (this is usually £745.00 per week).  To get the rate and booking details, contact Della Kapadia della.kapadia@chelseacloisters.co.uk at the Chelsea Cloisters.

For a couple, I would suggest to book a "one bedroom apartment". A one bedroom apartment sleeps up to three people and comes equipped with a double bed in the bedroom, table and chairs for dinning and a sofa bed in the living area. The apartment also features a kitchenette with washing machine/dryer and en-suite bathroom. 
The specially negotiated rate is £1015.00 per week based on the flexible policy (this is usually £1095.00 per week) and £945.00 per week Advance Purchase (this is usually £1025.00 per week).  I paid this price some time ago.  These are "serviced apartments". (http://www.chelseacloisters.co.uk/accomodation ).  Lots of mainly young people from all over the world live there by the week or the month when their companies post them to London to work.  The rental rates are all inclusive of daily maid service, weekly towel and linen change and VAT.   They also have two bedroom apartments with a larger living room and two bathrooms.

You may want to come earlier or stay later.  Lorraine and I will be in Sicily and Malta two weeks before, arriving in London June 5, and New Orleans after.

 

 

The Antigua Curry Club is looking for several more curry eaters …  there may still be two or more memberships available for resale.  If you know anyone who may be interested, please tell them to call our India Call Center at 7832-8466 or e-mail cernikovsky@hotmail.com

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