Battersea to Sketch

It was another sticky night and we all had terrible sleeps, so it bit tired today. I know I keep on about it, but the weather is dreadful.

Well, it is not so much the weather’s fault, but London is not set up for the heat. The Tube is crazy hot, and the buses are not much better. There is little or no air con in buildings, at least not cooling air. Uber drivers seem to think air con is winding down a window. They seem to want to preserve their battery power, and battery powered cars are aplenty.

So, today, we are off to Battersea Power Station, or what was a power station and is now a redeveloped site including a shopping mall in the old power station. Kate naviagted us there on the bus, which was no mean feat. The whole area around the power station and the place itself are fantastic. A bit like Darling Harbour, and being on the Thames adds to that feel.

We crusied the shops for a bit and then we had an appointment with LIFT 109 !! This lift takes you up the inside of one the chimneys and puts you up above the chimney stack for amazing views. It is an intimidating lift up with only the sky above and as it rises above the stack your tummy has a little flutter. Kirsty, who hates heights, was very stoic.

With all the heat and no wind there was a land mist (smog ?) which blurred the view a bit, but it was still a great experience.

Next, we headed for Harrods and had a terrific sit down lunch in their cafe. At least they had air con !! After lunch we explored the shops, but nothing bought. Courtesy of Kate’s excellent use of the Transport for London app, we got home on the bus and crashed for the rest of the afternoon. A good catch up, it was much needed.

Tonight is Sketch night. If you are not sure what it is, it is worth a Goggle, if you can manage to navigate their website. It is a very eclectic restuarant and bar complex in Mayfair. The main restaurant, which was fully booked, is 3 star Michelin, but we were able to book the other restaurant, The Gallery.

We went early to check out the bars and sample the cocktails. Dinner was very interesting with a menu that offered a more classic take on food and a menu that offered a bit more “experimentation”. We mostly picked for the experiment side, and we were not dissappointed. The service was a bit of a let down, given that the prices were way off the scale. Suffice to say we had a great evenming out, but we wouldn’t rush back for seconds.

Check out the loos, which give you some idea of the electic nature of the place:

Each of those “eggs” is a loo.

By the time we got home we were all nodding off….it may have been the red wine.