Saturday, December 02, 2006

Oscar Wilde walk

I took a few hours off today from my essays and went on another guided walk. This one was on Oscar Wilde and went through Mayfair and St. James(The West End). It was really fascinating, our guide was something of an expert on Oscar Wilde and had even met some of Wilde's friends before they died. The big highlight was we walked by the sushi restaurant where the Russian spy was poisoned by radiation a few weeks ago!! (No sushi til it is decontiminated!)

Itsu sushi bar (they think he was given the radiation poisoning here)
Front of the Royal Academy of Arts
Cigar and tobacco shop where Wilde, Winston Churchill, Edward VIII and others got there tobacco
Ceiling of the Royal Arcade
Now a cafe, this was the former hotel where Lily Langtry "entertained" her guests
Old fashioned car in front of Brown's hotel
Once a theatre where some of Wilde's plays premiered, now home of BAFTA (British actors guild)
The Albemarle, a building with flats for well- to-do bachelors, Lord Byron lived here
Fortnum and Mason store, it has a famous food hall and holds a royal warrant