mayfair and piccadilly

Slumming it in Mayfair is how Shane and I spent the afternoon of Jan. 21. We began our walk at Piccadilly Circus and then made our way up to Burlington House, the Royal Academy of Art. The courtyard features a statue of Joshua Reynolds trying to paint air.


We popped into a couple Victorian and Georgian arcades. Well felt like true flâneurs. Here's the interior of the Royal Arcade:


We passed by the Ritz Hotel (see above), through Berkeley Square (immortalized in "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"), and walked through the gardens of The Church of the Immaculate Conception (the headquarters of the Jesuits in Britain) in Farm Street:


I was particularly thrilled to stumble across the house where Beau Brummell--dandy extraordinaire--lived.


After passing through Grosvenor Square, we made our way to Savile Row, which is where you'll find several tailors who produce snazzy and 'spensive men's clothing. It's also home to Apple Records, where the Beatles produced some of their last recordings and atop which they performed their final concert. (See this post for an account of my visit there on the 40th anniversary of the Let It Be concert.)

We ended the walk at St. James's on Piccadilly, which is the only Christopher Wren church outside the city of London, I believe.


You can read about and download Robert Wright's Mayfair walk here.