Welcome back to the Anglotopia podcast, the podcast dedicated to British travel history and culture. And this episode, we are in a special place. We are actually in England on a trip, which for me, it's the first time since 2022 that I've been to England. And for you, it's been the first time you've been to England with me since 2018.

Long times.

So it was a long, unexpected. absence from this place. Absolutely. And so we are talking to you from Thornbury Castle, which is in Gloucestershire. I probably said that wrong. You can say in the comments, it's okay. And we came here for three days to spend three days in the Cotswolds and research our next guidebook.

Yeah, I was going to say, why are we in the Cotswolds?

101 Cotswold travel tips.

Coming soon.

coming soon. And then on the way here, we realize we should do 101 bath travel tips. So that will be coming soon one day. There's a list. It keeps growing. It only ever grows.

And where did we come up with this list? Like, where was this light bulb moment? Because it's kind of special. We were sitting in Leicester Square.

Oh, that's right. Yeah. We were. So that's the first part of the trip. So this is the second part of our trip. So I thought it would be fun to tell you about our trip so far and tell you what we're doing with the rest of it. And then we will we will go from there. So in the schedule of these going out, this will come out after the podcast about Thornbury Castle. So we don't necessarily need to spend a lot of time talking about Thornbury Castle.

It's the River Seven.

Severn.

It sounds like seven when they say it.

We're near a body of... We're the expert. We're near a body of water. We're near a body of water. And Wales is across from it.

Oh, man. You are getting so many letters.

But this was a strategic location. Yes. Which is why there is a castle here. and it although we talk about all the history in the previous episode so we won't review it but basically this ended up in the ownership of Henry the 8th and and him and Boleyn stayed in this castle at one point.

I'm gonna so if you're not if you're like if you're listening and not watching John keeps clapping his hands and if you're watching this has got to be really funny because I keep pushing his hands down like I'm going to tape your hands to your legs so we're not we're normally If you're listening as well, we're normally sitting at a table. But this evening, we're, because we're at the castle, we're staying in the absolutely stunning. Who is it?

Definitely at the top. It's spectacular. Normally we're in the library at Anglotopia Towers in Indiana when we were required these. Right.

So you're at a desk and you know what to do with your hands.

So it's nice to be here in an actual hotel in England.

Yeah. And we, not to break with tradition, we still have our cups of tea. So we don't have a pot of tea today.

Which is Newberry, Newby, English Breakfast Tea. It must be what they serve at breakfast. because it's pretty good.

And I have Earl Gray. So I apologize if you can hear a sipping if you're listening.

It's part of the charm.

Okay. I'll go with that.

So.

So why don't you start by...

I'll talk about how this trip came about. Yeah. So this trip came about earlier this year. I've always wanted to attend the International Churchill Conference. And for those who don't know what that is, it's a yearly conference run by the International. Churchill Society, which is like the umbrella organization of all the Churchill societies in the world. And their purpose is to foster the legacy of Winston Churchill in the modern world. They run a great website at Winston Churchill.org that dispels myths that publishes latest news about Churchill research, and they publish books.

It really protects and guides Churchill's legacy.

The Churchill family are on the board of directors of this, and they kind of help protect Churchill's legacy.

And did we meet Churchill's?

We did meet Churchill's.

Lovely people.

Spoilers. Really lovely people. And so we were sitting at lunch earlier this year and I was going through our finest hour, which is the Churchill Society's Quarterly Magazine. And they had the ad for the conference in London. And I was like, I really want to go to this. And my wonderful lovely wife said, all right, then go. Yeah, I mean, it made sense. It just made sense. And while we don't want to give away the farm here, there's a lot I am planning in the business and in my writing about Churchill that all will be revealed at a later date.

It was an investment in our business.

Yeah, it's an investment, a long-term investment in the business. So we bought a ticket for me to come to the conference, and I want a plane ticket and started making plans to come. But as the summer progressed, it became increasingly clear that I needed support from my lovely public relations professional wife, who, for those who don't know me personally, I'm a very shy and reserved person.

You're an introvert.

I'm an introvert. And you put me in a room full of people. I'm just going to stand there and not talk and be quiet and stay out of the way. And that is not what I needed to do at this conference. I needed to be not an introvert. I needed to talk to people. I needed to meet people. And she is excellent at doing that.

Thank you, honey.

And so while she doesn't have much of an interest in Churchill, so she didn't really want to attend the conference.

Well, I would say, I would say there's not zero interest. I mean, compared to your peers at the conference, I mean, there's obviously they have much more than I do. but he's a fascinating individual.

So, but you didn't necessarily want to attend the whole conference.

No, and there were a couple of reasons for that. I just, yeah.

And so, and so we reached out to the ICS to ask if there was a way she could attend the social events in the evening. So during the conference, there's, there's events during the day, which are the academic and historian part of the conference. the evenings, there's these cocktail receptions and stuff, and then a gala dinner at the end that are kind of the coup de grace of the whole event. And those are what I needed help with.

Yeah. Like, just, I feel like learning how to network in a room to meet interesting people and not just, it's not just networking and meeting people. It's having meaningful conversations and starting a meaningful connection, right, that is mutually beneficial for all involved is so important and just knowing literally physically the rooms that you would be in. I mean, because some of the places that we were treated to were just, I'm literally speechless. And words are my job, but we'll get to the house.

And so they were able to sell us a pass for her to come to the evening events and to attend with me so that she could help me work the room and meet people and talk to people because I hate it.

No, no, you don't hate it. You're just very shy. It's very difficult for you.

It's not my strong suit.

Once we make a connection for you. Yeah. Right? And there's common ground, then you do fine.

And it really helped that I actually knew some people who were in these rooms already because I'm heavily involved in the in the Churchill chapter of the International Churchill Society. We have a book club every meets every few months. We meet, we do events with the consulate. And so like there's there's people there to kind of help me also navigate the room as well.

Okay. So enough about why I came and all that. So let's dive in.

So then it became a trip where we're coming together finally together to England since the first time since 2018. So I was thrilled because I miss traveling here with her. It's amazing. And I would miss her terribly anyway. We make good travel buddies. I decided quite a few years ago in 2018, when I went to a writer's retreat and spent a week in the Lake District without her, I pretty much decided that I'm kind of done traveling without her because I, it's, because we've been together for almost 22 years now.

I agree. But people don't want to hear about this. People want to hear about our trip.

They like us, hopefully.

I think people are tuned in to listen to our trip.

And so we had to plan a trip together. And so the first part of the trip would be in London.

Where the conference was happening.

The conference was happening. And thanks to my gracious parents who were watching our children, they were able to give us a few extra days to do something, to do some research. really much needed research that is just we need new we need new pictures and places and content for the website and for social media and and to bring to all of you and to bring to all of you because we're just out we're out of stuff to share and we really have picked up some absolute gems I cannot wait the stuff we shared so far in our social media is just a tip of the iceberg of what's coming over the next few months agreed and so we so our London trip is like I said neither of us has been to London since 2018 I when I came when I came two years ago I didn't go to London I didn't have time and so it was it was interesting to go to London again post pandemic and there have been a lot of changes I guess we should start with our flight over so we a few months ago we did a podcast on transatlantic travel so it was time to apply a

all that advice we gave ourselves well and and readers and watchers and listeners really gave some just phenomenal tips things that we hadn't thought of and thank you for everyone who commented

yeah and so we left Chicago Tuesday night on an overnight flight we were delayed which was irritating but no big deal we got here in the end we weren't catching a connection

or anything so

know and we we talked last time or a few times ago about renting the hotel before for the night we left Chicago and telling the hotel about it so we did that

for the first time ever ever which is pain is a little painful like if you're very frugal like me I'm like oh I'm not staying in it that night oh but now having

having done it worth every penny so we we so when we made the reservation we added that extra night for the night we left Chicago and we called the hotel and told them that we were doing that so they were they were waiting for us and they knew to like we weren't no shows and that was the key to beating jet lag it really was and like night and day we we slept on the plane but both of us slept pretty pretty poorly yeah and so we got to so we stated haslets we should say a little a little about hazlets probably in soho square or just off of which is in soho and it's the only hotel we've stayed in for probably the last 10 years um and it's a beautiful old georgian terrorist buildings in soho and uh we've discovered it from watching anthony a bourdain because it was his favorite hotel like years and years and years like before he hit like peak fame and it's it's his favorite hotel was or was unfortunately was and he said that it was like staying in your crazy uncle's house in london and that's very true every room is different the none there is not a single right angle in the building because it's all higgledy-piggledy yeah and it's charming it has so much charm there are shelves with books if you want to

read a book like yesterday when i checked out the there was a lady who was giving a tour to somebody checking in she's like oh if you see a book and the book on the bookcase Chances are the author who wrote the book left it here for us. Most of our copies are signed and I was like, oh, I didn't even know that. Like they've got a couple of like in the U.S. we'd say like living rooms, sitting rooms that you can like we've brought guests back to the hotel for meetings and that kind of thing.

Yeah, and the staff are always very helpful in the comments.

Incredibly attentive.

Very professional and the rooms are quiet because Soho can be very noisy.

Four poster beds.

Not in all of them, but. And it's a mid-range in price.

There's like a mix of antiques and it's just, it's really beautiful.

It's a lovely hotel. It's a little hard to get to for taxis because all the roads are one way.

It's exceptionally hard to get.

Every cab driver will complain to you that this is difficult to get to. and the traffic on the way from like Oxford Street and Piccadilly can be really bad.

That's an understatement.

But it's worth staying in. We like it. We can definitely recommend it. So we stayed there for five nights, which I think, is our longest day. And so we arrived on Wednesday morning. Our flight was late, so as a consequence, we were late to the hotel, but because we had booked the night before, our room was ready. And we got right into our room, and we were able to de-travel, all the grossness from travel.

Yeah, I always need like a shower when I get into the room. I always feel so gross.

Well, that's the thing about Hazlitz is there's these big, giant cast-iron bathtubs.

Clawfeet. Oh, love letter. They're amazing. Well, not in all the rooms. Not all the rooms. We had to specifically request.

I asked for one. And so we, so we did that and we took a nap and then we were like, our thing is you only take like a 30 minute to an hour nap. No longer than that. You don't want to get groggy. If you get groggy, then the whole rest of the days are.

I shower or I took a bath. And while I had the bath, you went out and got a cheeky nandoes down the street. Oh, yeah.

I was really hungry. It was past breakfast. We missed breakfast.

So we kind of swapped. And then I ordered room service because there was no way I was leaving that room. and like still like sleep-deprived soaking wet and I'm like I'm ordering a sandwich then we took a nap yeah and then we got up an hour later and that I will say like it's an act of willpower to get up from that little that short little nap like it is it really is but then once we got up and we got moving it was like oh my gosh London's outside our door we're in London let's go let's go do stuff and so

knowing that this would go well for us because I know us and I we've done a lot of this before I thought okay here's what we're going to do when we land so there's a there's a special exhibition going on at the Courtauld Gallery on Monet in the Thames or they've collected the largest gathering of Monet's paintings of the Thames in a very very long time or if ever and so we booked pre-booked tickets for that months ago that's the thing a travel tip this is for the social media rails if there is an exhibition you want to do no matter which exhibition it is or which museum it is or even if it's free or even if it's free you need to book advanced tickets as soon as you can or as soon as you know you're going to be there because one thread between all the conversations we had with fellow conference goers was that they couldn't get into some of the special exhibitions because they were all booked solid yep so think of your exhibitions in advance book them we did and so tickets and all of yeah because because even if even the free museums have they they have free admission now they do a timed entry some do a timed entry systems and then something somewhere like the National Gallery they have instituted a no liquids policy and a bag search when you go in so now there's a long line to get in to the museum and so but if you have if you have timed booked timed exhibition tickets there's a different entrance that moves a lot faster for you yeah so so we did the Courtauld gallery and the Monet exhibition which was fantastic so really nice we have a kind of I have a special connection to those paintings because the Art Institute of Chicago has a three or four of those monies and the in the in the gallery in Chicago which I go see all the time and so

so we went and said hello don't get too homesick yeah home soon enough so

we said hello to all of them from the series and so they were beautiful and sublime and yeah if you're going to be in London for the next in the next couple months book tickets and go see this it's well it's well it's well it's seen and the the quartall gallery is where it's seen especially that beautiful

spiral staircase absolutely it's i think it's one of my favorite yeah it's a very compact gallery

so you can be in an out in an hour which is nice yeah they've just recovered from a fire yeah well the gallery was not affected by the fire it was in somerset house which is where the

gallery is and pro tip if you're coming in November and December there's ice skating there they were setting up the ice skating rink in fact they were getting ready to turn on the lights in london all together christmas and we're going to miss it by a couple of days which were just heartbroken over

yeah all that all that social media content we're not going to get oh don't worry instagram will be a wash with it soon enough so we did the exhibition and once we were done with that we had a great afternoon we walked over to coven garden which right and we you know got i wanted to get a ben's cookie because i love ben's cookies and we uh we decided to do afternoon tea uh right there in coven garden yeah and we did afternoon tea and you know watched the street performers and watched london go by it was great and we then we went for a little walk and we went to leicester square oh we went to muji my favorite the japanese store we went to stanford's the travel book shop and to lush because we wanted to have had that big deep bathtub over at haslets yeah and then we did we walked over to lester square and we had about 45 minutes to kill so which wasn't quite enough time

to walk back to the hotel so we just kind of sat and people watched and yeah just the asian film festival was going on at the main theater in lester square which was really really neat chatted about life

and everything yeah it's great and then uh so and then we had booked months ago reservations for rules for those not familiar with rules it is one of the oldest restaurants in london i say one of because i caused controversy by saying it was the oldest and there are apparently several restaurants vying for the title of oldest because it depends on how you define oldest so it's or define restaurant or defined restaurant so rules is was on it in 1798 steeped in history steeped in history um they specialize in british game and traditional british cuisine um the interior is lush and filled with

britishness and it feels like stepping into it makes me think of like i don't know like peter pan or things that are just um you know no maybe mary poppins like the dad and mary poppins like that would be his kind of restaurant yeah very orderly very british very traditional it's really it's a i mean and it's a treat to go it's not yeah it's a it's not a it's not a cheap restaurant by any means it's not outrageous but there are more affordable options in london for sure yeah but it's it's a great

restaurant we've eaten there before so we knew what to expect i had the french onion and cider soup

or it was onion and cider soup so i shouldn't say it was french onion yeah it was onion i had it too it was out of this world good i mean yum and so we had a lovely dinner there

a lovely slow dinner um rules was very busy but it's not too loud in there which is nice yeah

that's something i've noticed here in general other than the we we had a pub lunch yesterday on the countryside it's pretty loud it was loud in there but there were a lot of families and it was the middle of the afternoon but generally where we've had dinner it's been quiet yeah it's the chat is at a like in the u.s it seems like you go out to dinner now and maybe we're just getting older i don't know it's just a roar in fact some of our most favorite places back in the chicagoland area like we've just kind of stopped going because it's so loud that it's unpleasant and it's the type of restaurant where it shouldn't be that loud but anyway anyway so we did rules and then that was the

end of our evening and so then the next day um we had pre-booked tickets for the big van go exhibition at the national gallery which is again it's sold out um it's one of the largest collections of vangos and ever in britain so we booked tickets for that with the intention of seeing that and then there were actually two other exhibitions going on the national gallery at the same time there was hockney uh hockney and then there's the constable one and so we just planned basically to spend the whole morning at the national gallery which we did

so we learned though because they are doing bag checks for security reasons for liquids be prepared to stand in line which is something very different because normally the national gallery is come and go as you please and well i should say though that since the

pandemic there have been controlled lines to get in it was well i haven't been since 2018 so it used to be able to just walk up the stairs and go in

yeah but this and and when i say it's a cue or a line like we're talking 200 people deep it moved very efficiently though i mean we did not wait for long which was great and i i don't want to sound like that american like oh poor you you had to wait in line no it was just unusual that i haven't had to do that there before so it just and the only other reason that i mention it is it's something it's something to keep in mind if you have a timed ticket get in line early and and be mindful that it might take you 30 minutes to get in the door if your day is really packed which might

throw your schedule off depending on yeah so like in our in our case we our tickets were for 10 45 a.m and so we showed up at the line at 10 and then we moved pretty quickly and we were in by 1015 and they let us go in early to the which was nice which was nice and so uh after we'd had seen all the art we could see and spoiler here we knew we were going to be back to see the art because the gala dinner at the end of the um churchill conference was going to be in the national gallery we're like okay i think i think we've had our philsome art for the good for the morning well and you know one of the things that it was very crowded that day too i was going to say it's half term so it was

really busy and i think that's great that people are out enjoying art and appreciating it but yeah i think because we knew we were coming back it was yeah for kids and people that don't know

what half term is half term is the break in the middle of the school term in england uh Scotland has a different schedule i don't know we try to avoid half term because that's when everybody that's when families think of it like spring break in the u.s right but they have three of them a year and so um that's when a lot of families booked their holidays or time off and go do stuff as a family because they have the time to do it and so things can be very busy uh so it's very noisy very noisy as we've learned um but i mean it's we we weren't here to go to tourist attraction we're here for the conference so right the fact that overlap with half term was by the by um and so after that we had a nice cup of tea yeah down in the the can the can of the can't

at the National Gallery and actually not like not complaining just critical feedback there were just not enough tables in the cafe and sit around like where are we going to sit and I actually like started to make the tea kind of like to go I was like I guess we're just going to be very American about this and so if anybody from the National Gallery is watching we absolutely adore your spot but please provide more seating because we weren't the only ones like I saw moms with kids and that kind of thing kind of like oh so and so we oh and I had a sandwich

we had allocated he's like moving on we had allocated a lot of time for the National Gallery more than we needed so then we had a couple of hours to kill so we didn't know quite know what to do I want to follow up

on my statement about the sandwich though okay you talk all about your sandwich okay I won't talk about that sandwich but I'm just going to say this if you're an American and you're coming over do you're yourself a favor and try some of the sandwiches at different places the British have the most lovely sandwich combinations and they're absolutely divine and full disclosure not just my own personal choice okay so sandwiches in the US I'm not knocking a sandwich in the US like a pre-made sandwich but as a whole I just generally don't just but here they're really really good so do yourself a favor and try lots of sandwiches here they're so good because they're just really unique flavor combinations that we just don't do at home so um after the national

gallery we had a few extra hours to kill so we took the tube over to london's newest museum which is the royal chelsea pensioners museum while worth seeing we'll do we'll talk more about that um in an arc on the website and the videos we're going to put out We didn't have time to do a tour, but we're going to go back and do that. And then we, um, we had to go to Fortnum and Masons for tea and we did the high tea service, which was, which she has been begging me to take her to do this forever.

Like for 20 years?

Yeah, just about.

Finally made it.

And so we, uh, we did the nice high tea and that was lovely.

The little fizz. As they say, glass of champagne.

A bit pricey, but it was...

Yes. Yes. Yes. I think that's fair, but you're also paying for the experience. Yeah. What tea did you have? Do you remember?

I had the royal blend.

And what did you think of it?

That's good.

I had the afternoon blend in my teapot. It was, it was nice. The sandwiches were beautiful, so beautiful, and your next tier is your scones. with lovely Fortnum jams and clotted cream. They give you the clotted cream and a little silver. It's fine. But honestly, by the time we did our finger sandwiches and our scones, I'm almost embarrassed to admit, we barely touched the sweets on the top tray, and they were beauty, like, patisserie, like French patisserie level, like beautiful.

Anyway, so then after that, we went back to her room, and then that night was our first event of the conference, which was a reception with the Churchill family at Dartmouth House.

Well, you went to register, and I went to Liberty.

Oh, well, no one wants to know about that.

I disagree. I'm sure there are people like Liberty of London? Yes, I went to Liberty.

So we did the first. first event. And the night, the interesting thing about the Churchill Conference is that they book really unique places to hold their events that normally you don't get to get access to.

Special, the special access.

Right. So Dartmouth House was the first place. We went credible building, credible interior. So beautiful. So beautiful. And yeah, that was our first event. And it went really

Like canopays and trade champagne and just.

We met a lot of interesting people.

We met great people.

We met some very important people to our goals.

Everybody we met was very important.

Of course. I didn't mean to diminish. And, yeah, we had a great evening and then collapsed in bed.

Wait, what did we do for dinner?

We went to the pub.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We went to the Instagram. or pub. So if on on reels, every person who in London influencer goes to this pub. It's called the Old Bank of England and it's it's a pub and an old bank in an old bank.

And it wasn't bad.

It wasn't bad.

No, but like we came from like.

We came from cocktail dew. We were dressed to the nines.

Like, yeah, sitting there in pearls in a pub. Um. Not that I, I, I, I don't, I should clarify. I didn't feel unsafe or anything like that. I just was, like, we were so out of point. Like, we should have swapped our meals, like, it done rules after, like, like.

Yeah.

But it was a nice pellet cleanse, though, too.

The food was good, but it was very loud and busy in there. We were just, like, so tired.

It's a loud, young pup, I mean, think of who's in, who's in the pup, right?

Who's an Instagramer?

Exactly.

And so, so we did that and then.

Oh, but what was the thing that we wanted to make? mention about that pub because there was something unique about that pub.

So, if you do go to this pub.

Would you put the name in the show notes?

Yeah, it's the Old Bank of England.

Oh, okay, you already said it.

And we, it's in the city of London, and the city of London is where the financial center of the city, and it, no one really lives there. And so after 6 p.m., or 5 or 6 p.m., it empties out, and it's the end. It really does. empty out. Like, the streets are really sparsely populated. The issue we rein into is you will struggle to get a cab in a timely fashion.

The cabbies, no, nobody's down there really.

Because nobody's down there. And so just be forewarned, if you go here, you might struggle to get a cab. We relied on the get taxi. You have to get a cab, and it couldn't find a, we tried it twice, and it couldn't find a taxi for us.

So we're going to just start walking up to a major crusher.

We ended up hailing a taxi, thankfully. We got lucky. So keep that in mind. Yeah. So then we collapsed in bed, and the next day was the conference itself, which took place at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor Hotel. So I got up early and went to the conference, and you stayed in, and then you did your own thing. Yeah. And then I was at the conference all day. Great lineup of speakers. Great experience. Again, met more interesting. People had a great day celebrating Churchill and learning all I could about him.

Yeah. I mean, I mean, I think it's, maybe people wouldn't be interested. Maybe not. I, uh, I, uh, own my own my own business. So business is still happening for me. back in the States. So I spent that morning, I popped into a really cute little coffee shop, kind of neighborhood adjacent to where we were staying and worked for a little bit of time, had a nice coffee and a Danish, and it was really nice. And then I had a appointment for some specialty shopping here.

We had to get ready for that evening's cocktail do.

Yep.

And so that, that was something.

Something is an understatement. Something in the positive. It's very positive. Yeah.

So, it was at Lancaster House. That name probably doesn't, Google it. That name probably doesn't mean anything to anybody, most people listening. But Lancaster House, most of our listeners who would watch the Crown, would know that's the stand-in for Buckingham Palace and the Crown. It's been used in Downton Abbey. It's been used in the King's speech. It's been used in... It's...

Like, its filmography is like a mile long.

And it's literally next door to St. James's Palace. And literally within eyesight is Clarence House where the king lives most of the time. Who's not there. He was in Samoa, but...

It feels like walking into a palace. Yeah. Like, we both kind of walked in through the main atrium and quietly whispered expletives to each other like,

what the... Whoa! Yeah, and so this house is owned by the British government now, or the Crown Estate, or whoever, and it's only... The only way to get into it is an...

By invitation.

By invitation, or when they do special tours, or if you... you have an event there. It's really something to be able to be there. It was a true privilege just to be able to go into this building. And the conference had the run of the whole building.

Yeah, so all the rooms that are open to the public were open. We were encouraged to walk through, take pictures, which can't wait to share those.

Yeah, all the rooms are open. And as this is basically a grand London house, it's basically an art gallery. So there was incredible art on the walls. Like, unbelievable. The famous Romney portrait of George III that you have probably seen ad nauseum is just hanging on the wall. Yeah. There's a John Constable just hanging on the wall. And, yeah, it was... And so these rooms are opulent beyond belief, like with the interior design.

And there's so much history there.

So much history. And, like, we kept forgetting that we were there to work the room. We're like... Well, you did. You did.

You did. That's why you brought me. Yeah. And you shouldn't, like, not work the room. You were there to meet people and to make connections and that kind of thing. So, like, and the big meaningful connections with folks.

But it's okay because a lot of the other people were in awe of the room as well. That's true.

Most people were like, can you believe this?

Because they don't, the conference location changes every year. So, like, they hadn't done this before. Yeah, it was absolutely spectacular. Last year, the conference was in Edinburgh. Before that, I think it was, say, Kansas City. Next year, it's going to be Washington, D.C. So, like, pretty much most of the people in this room had never been in these rooms before. So everybody was in awe.

Canapes and Champaign.

Yeah. And so... Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. So that event was amazing, incredible. Yeah. I mean, once in a lifetime opportunity. Absolutely. Absolutely, yes. We will have an article about Lancaster House. We will share, we've already shared some of the pictures, but, not. We haven't scratched the surface of what we can share. Yeah. So there will be more coming of the special place.

And it wasn't, I think what was incredible about that evening, too, is that it wasn't just us. We weren't just, like, if you could be starstruck for a place, it wasn't just us. It was the majority of the people that we met or that we had met and caught back up with were like, can you believe this? I cannot believe we're in here. So.

Yeah, so that was the next, so the next, so we went back and went to bed. No, we went to dinner.

We met really good friends for dinner at the Wolseley.

We met our good friends for dinner that had to happen. Thankfully, they were able to fit us into our busy, busy schedule. It's so nice to catch up with friends. They came into London.

The restaurant was great, too.

Very loud, but the interior, like, again, we went from awe-inspiring space to all-inspiring space.

Like, consistently on this trip, which was just been...

London's architecture did not disappoint on this trip.

No, no.

So we had a great dinner with our friends. It was so good to see them. I saw them two years ago, but she hadn't seen them since 2018, so it was great to catch up.

It was. And so, hi, Jane and Simon. Their family has grown in that time and just so much catching up to do.

And so that was great.

So then Saturday.

Saturday. So Saturday was the last day of the conference. And so there was a half day of morning. sessions, and then there was an event in the afternoon, and then there was a gala dinner at the National Gallery that evening. So really, the whole trip was leading up to this dinner, and really months of planning went into our attendance of this dinner because it's black tie. Yes, so had to be fitted for a tux, I needed a gown, hair, makeup, the whole line yards.

Absolutely.

And so I went to the morning sessions, which were at RUSI, which is the, I messed this up every time. It's the Royal United Services Institute.

I think that's right.

Yes. I got it right, which is the oldest defense policy think tank in the world. That goes back hundreds of years. And we were in the... in the theater there. That was great. The International Churchill Society has a relationship with RUSI. We, they funded, I think, the restorations in the library, and they put a bust of Churchill there that everyone had to have a picture with. And, yeah, great morning sessions about Churchill and legacy and foreign policy and the current state of the world.

And when you say protest, we won't, like, go into what kind of protests or that kind of thing, but literally when you say the, like, Piccadilly Circus was closed.

Yeah.

I mean, to traffic. Like, I walked through to, because we, we, we, I needed to meet you somewhere, and I walked through, and I had to walk through Piccadilly Circus to. get to you, and I literally walked through the protest, and that was something. That was just... So it was, yeah.

We're not going to go into the details of the protests, if you really want to just Google it, but there were three different protests, and the police had to keep all of them separate from each other so that they didn't clash, and then they succeeded. There was no, there was very little violence and disturbance.

As far as we know, there wasn't when we... I checked. Oh, okay. Well, and there wasn't when we came through. There were a few arrests.

Very loud. And so, but because of that, we couldn't go out the front door of RUSI. They had to usher usher us out the back door. And most of the conference goers, they were being moved around London by coach. I wasn't going back where they were going. So I took the tube, and so we went to hatchards. But it was so bizarre because the Piccadilly was closed. It was like...

For the protest. For the protest. But it was like a buffer zone.

Well, and the protests had passed. So by the time I got there, the protests had passed Piccadilly. But the road was still close. So it was like a pedestrianized street, which is so rare.

Piccadilly, which is like a main thoroughfare.

And so I was able to stand in the middle of the street and get the best shots of hatchards.

But, but, that being said, it's still made, like, to get anywhere in London, nobody could get anywhere in London that afternoon.

And so we had an issue with that, because. we, the, this wasn't part of the conference. It was happening adjacent to the conference. The Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri was here, and they were having an event at the Aldermanbury site where the church formerly was that was moved to Missouri, then turned into a Churchill Museum. That's the quick explanation. They were having an event, and we couldn't get to it. We just couldn't get to it because we were behind all these cordons.

Well, and we knew even if we had gotten over there, because the gala was later that evening, we weren't sure if we would have time to make it back and start to get ready. Because of where our hotel was.

So we ended up not having to go.

That's the first time we've ever had something like that happened.

Yeah. So we, but we did go to Hatchards because we were there. We had a nice line.

We did a great lunch.

Thankfully, we were able to get back to our hotel after a long walk around the protests.

Well, we had to pop into John Lewis.

Oh, that's a, that's a must.

And we, I needed something for that evening for the gala that I had forgotten, so just pop into John Lewis, right?

Yeah, and so we went back to the hotel, and then we had quite a bit of time to get ready, so, which was good.

It was nice because we weren't rushed and, you know, it's not very, often that, you know, I put on a gown and you put on a tux. Yeah. Like a, and hair and makeup and all, like the ladies and the gents who, I guess, take extra care on their appearance will know that to really do that takes time. And when you're rushing, that is just the worst. So it was really nice that we had some time.

We had the most incredible experience, top 10 experiences we've been together. I would say, if not top.

I'd say, like, take kids off of having the list, take our wedding day off of having the list.

The eclipse off the list.

The eclipse, really?

That's the top experience.

Okay, well, I would say this is probably the top experience of...

Yeah, I mean, I'm going to have to be careful not to use expletives to explain how great this was. Yeah. Like, so the event was at the National Gallery, which apparently you can rent out for a private event. It's not so easy. Yeah, if you're ready to...

The conversation was that there was a lot of hard work in negotiation that went into that.

The woman who ran this conference is an amazing woman. I don't think we should name her on the podcast. No, because we haven't asked for permission. But she is a force of nature in a good way. Yes. Like, she...

Massive respect.

She's a fellow Chicagoan. So, like, we got you, girl. Yeah. She planned all this from Chicago. And so she got them to agree to run out the National Gallery, and they literally closed the museum, turned it over into... Event space. ...toe an event space, but several event spaces. Yes. So they had a space where for the drinkie-do, where they had a bar, they served drinks.

Like...

In the art gallery.

In the...

galleries.

So we were like, the night before, we were like, okay, well, what entrance do we come in? And she's like, the front door. We were just like, I'm sorry, the front door of the National Gallery? And so we come in through the front door, and there are candles lined up, battery-operated candles because it's National Gallery, like, and a string quartet, and the lighting was just, I mean, to say that it looked like something out of a movie almost does a disservice to the setting.

Once in a lifetime.

And we walked in and so you come up the stairs and everybody gets our picture taken and that kind of thing. And then we walk in and they have literally cleared, I mean, we had, the museum was closed completely. And you walk in and there are trees of champagne and they set up this bar. where the turners were. So the bar sits in the middle.

The octagonal room, the Dame Myra Hess Foyer.

Yes, right, Chicago Connection, right? And they've got this beautiful gold tree in the middle of the bar that's like uplit and shimmering. And of course, they're serving Pol Roger, right, Churchill's favorite. And they're like gold-rimmed crystal champagne glasses. It's like one of these moments where you're like, is this real? Is this real? Am I dreaming? Am I going to wake up?

Yeah.

And so we could walk around in designated spaces, which were very generous designated spaces.

Yeah, I mean, we had run of the major galleries, the National Gallery.

With a glass of champagne, as canapes came around, and everybody else was in their finery. It was just absolutely, I'm almost lost for words.

Yeah. I mean, we got to just sit and look at the Fighting Temeraire and sit and look at the constable. While sipping champagne. While sipping champagne. While shipping champagne. sit at the Abraham Wright of Derby print, and the Impressionist Gallery.

Which we could not take champagne in, which was absolutely fine.

But we just, it was, and we had a good, what, hour and a half to two hours to do this.

No, I don't think it was quite that long. It was generous, so it was probably an hour. I think it felt longer because you were really hungry.

But then, and we were just walking around, and you're also talking to the other, people attending the other guests at the conference, and we're all just walking around and all, like, oh, my God.

And not only that, not only is the space naturally beautiful anyway, but the way that it was decorated with the lighting, like the lighting, I mean, again, well done to the powers that be that orchestrated that event, it was dramatic and unbelievably beautiful.

Yeah, and the, yeah, it was, it was amazing.

They rang the dinner bell, and when they rang the dinner bell, they opened another room for us, like, so the...

There's another gallery.

Really long, like, main...

It's the Rausing Gallery, the big, the red room, which is recently redone.

And they opened this room, and here is all of these tables set for dinner with the most beautiful centerpieces set with... with, again, Crystal and China, and just, like, one of those moments where, like, we've been very fortunate to be able to do some really incredible things together professionally and then on my own professionally, and this was, I've never done anything like this. It was absolutely spectacular from start to finish.

Yeah, I'm still searching for the words to summarize the experience. It was just amazing. Dinner was amazing. Speeches were amazing. Simon Callow was the keynote speaker of the evening. He did a great speech about Churchill. It talked about Churchill and film and theater and TV. And his own personal experience as a child, seen Churchill? He saw Churchill in the flesh at Chartwell when he was a child.

Yeah.

It was super good.

He said he was wearing his boiler suit and he got out of his car all muddy and he said, sorry, I I was mucking about with the pigs and he had a glass of brandy in one hand and a cigar in the other. Like, that's perfection, right? Yeah. But then, like, how do you come off of kind of the high of an evening like that? I don't know.

We're still coming off that high two days later.

Where did we go afterwards? So, so. So I was like, um, we are so done up and just had the most incredible evening.

It was a shame to to end the evening. So we went over to the Savoy Hotel. To the American bar? To the American bar, which was very famous from World War II.

And it's one of the great...

And one of the churchill's favorite bars.

And one of the great bars in London hotels.

So she had a drink and I had a lemonade.

We got to have a champagne to toast a great conference. Yeah. It was great because we got in right before last call. And they had a great pianist that night, and it had turned into a bit of a sing-along. And it was just... It was perfection. It was at. Absolutely perfect.

Yeah. Top, top life moment, that whole evening.

All right. Last thing, because we're at an hour here, and folks have got to be like, oh, my gosh, wrap it up already.

What's your, so far? What was your favorite experience from the trip other than the Gallagena? I was going to say, really?

Favorite experience. Okay, I'm going to be completely that person, shopping for L.K. Bennett at Selfridges. I know. that people are like, really, Jackie? No, seriously.

You saved for a long time to be able to go to do that.

Well, and because I can't, at least in Chicago, as far as I know, you can't buy the brand. You can buy it online, but anybody who has ever bought a heel will tell you, or invested in a quality heel will tell you, no two heels are made the same. You have to try them on. So that was just. My favorite experience as the shop girl, or I shouldn't say shop girl, because I don't want it to sound disrespectful, as the sales associate helped me and like there were other women who were shopping for L.K.

I would say my favorite experience, and you're going to roll your eyes.

Are you going to say, oh, can I guess? I'm going to guess. It's a tube. Yes.

Woo! Yes. So I got to write the tube, which people are going to be like, what? You got to ride a train? Look, I love the tube. I know you do. I have a romance for the tube. Yes, you do. And I've even written a book about the tube, which is thinking the show notes. And I haven't written the tube in like eight years. Yeah. Because when we came, when we were last in London, we were only here for a day, so like, there was no tube time.

And you wrote it again.

And I wrote it again, too. I was like, you know what? I'm going to take the tube, and I did, and it was great. And the tube has changed since I've written it last, like you can now tap your credit card, and it just lets you. Or your phone? your phone and it just lets your eyes. So you don't even need an oyster card anymore, which I don't know how we get the money off the oyster cards I have, but, um, and the, the, that whoosh of the wind as it, as the train's coming into the tunnel, the smell, the smell, and you're like, oh, of course,

it's a subway, no, no, I'm not talking about that.

It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, and it's, and I've seen documentaries that explain the smell. It's, it's it's it break dust. It's the, it's the, it's the grime of London, and it, it, it's it, it's it's, it's it's, it's it's, it's It's the, but it's also, it's hundreds of years of it, so it combines to make that smell.

Oh, now it makes me not romanticize that smell so much.

But it smells great, trust me.

It's very distinct. I will give you that.

Like, I would buy a candle that has that smell, but I'm also insane, so, and so, and so.

Can you burn that when I'm not home?

So I got to ride the tube, and it was, it was top for me. You know, I have to say, it was on one of the new, the new stock on the Piccadilly line.

But you know what, it was actually, you know what, it was pretty good. It was a pretty nice ride. As far as, like, public transportation goes.

I enjoyed riding the tube so much that I wrote it again. And it was nice. Did you get to do the Elizabeth line? I didn't. That was one thing I really wanted to do when we were here. And despite the station being down the street, I just didn't have time to go for a quick ride on the Elizabeth line.

So.

Well, next time. We're just going to have to come back.

it already begins.

So, and on that note, so thank you for listening to the Anglotopia podcast. We will do another podcast about the second half of our trip. Maybe we'll film that tomorrow. Maybe we'll film it when we get home. I don't know. We'll see.

As time allows, because it's been really, really packed.

Yes. And so we make it packed for you guys. So we can see as much as possible and take as many pictures and video and get research for articles and books as we can. and if please be sure to subscribe to the Anglotopia podcast on YouTube or on your favorite podcasting app please like the video please leave a comment with your thoughts follow us on social media and with that we will say goodbye from Thornbury Castle bye