Off to London

Our weekend adventure began with a Ryanair flight of amazing cheapness (55 euros, return, for two) and a trip on the rather ordinary Stansted Express into Liverpool Street station (I had forgotten how very elaborate was the wrought-iron roof – fruits of the Gothic Revival?).  We stayed at the Mayflower in Earl’s Court – recommended by the AA and Conde Nast, the elegant white mid-Victorian townhouse façade and portico contain a small hotel of just 40 rooms, each individually and rather stylishly furnished.  After check-in, a late dinner in “Nandos”: Portugese cooking – chicken dishes flavoured with devilishly powerful spices from Mozambique, their former colony.  Good food, and very reasonably priced too.