England has always been known as a small country even though it once ruled a vast empire on which "the sun never sets." Britain may be preparing to expand by tens of thousands of square miles in the Atlantic if some of its new claims are honored by the UN. Britain plans to exploit an international rule allowing countries to claim underwater territory as far away as 350 miles off its shore lines. The claims include areas around the Falklands, some 8,000 miles from Britain's mainland, even though Argentina disputes the territory. Other claims involve Ascension Island, a volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic, and Rockall, a tiny uninhabited rock 200 miles off the Scottish coast. Another claim involves South Georgia Island in the South Pacific.
London
Where to Stay
The city's latest chic address is Baglioni, 60 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 (tel. 020/7368-5700), a pricey citadel of good living ideal for shoppers (Harrods is a ten-minute walk away, Kensington High Street only five). The best rooms open onto Kensington Gardens. What an enclave: ebonized wood floors and deluxe furnishings in mocha, taupe, and black. Suites come with their own espresso machine, and the 24-hour room service is superb. This is definitely the place to live la dolce vita.
Males will be banned from the 68 rooms of a section of the government-rated five-star Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper's Row, EC3 (tel. 020/7863-3700; www.grangehotels.com). Even the room service staff will be female in this seven-story building. The Grange Hotel Group decided to offer the service after a survey showed that half of its customers were women, many of whom felt vulnerable when traveling alone.
Opening in Kensington, base2stay, 25 Courtfield Gardens, SW5 (tel. 020/7244-2255), is a new concept in hotels. It offers great value by providing "a synthesis" of what guests really need and use and cutting out the frills. Accommodations are comfortable and air-conditioned and feature kitchenettes. But at £80 ($160) a night, including VAT, they are hardly luxurious, base2stay offers 67 rooms with flexible accommodation options, including suites and interconnecting rooms.
A London hotel legend, The May Fair, Stratton St., W1 (tel. 020/7629-7777), has had a $120 million makeover. Every area of the hotel has been rejuvenated. Soft wool carpets, leather-bound beds, and triple-glazed windows have been provided for all the accommodations, ranging from a single to a family room accommodating up to four. A special treat are the new studio suites with private garden terraces.
The Magna Carta is a luxury hotel barge sailing from St. Katharine's Dock in the East End of London. It presents West End Theater Cruises, a week-long extravaganza along the Thames River. West End musicals, theater, opera, and ballet are presented as you sail along. The six-night itinerary calls at such ports of call as Richmond and Hampton Court, even Runnymede and Windsor so you can take in some sightseeing as well. Shows range from Hamlet to Jailhouse Rock. For cruising dates and more information, call tel. 783/655-1912; www.magna-carta.co.uk.
Where to Dine
British produce meets a French chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Roussillon, 16 Barnabas St., SW1 (tel. 020/7730-5550; www.roussillon.co.uk), tucked away in Pimlico, near Sloane Square. The new rage of trendy London, Roussillon serves a cuisine described as "vegecentric," featuring two 7-course tasting menus, each a delight. No one seems to prepare fresh vegetables in London better than chef Alexis Gauthier, who changes his menu twice a season, using local ingredients whenever possible.
In Holborn, a new public house devoted to beef, The Bountiful Cow, 51 Eagle St., WC1 (tel. 020/7404-0200), has opened. All the steaks come from select beef hung for at least two weeks. While downing cask-conditioned ales such as Adnams, you can take in the poster artÂ?perhaps Ronald Reagan and Barbara Stanwyck starring in Cattle Queen of Montana.
Starbucks abound in London but the old-fashioned tea room seems to have gone the way of Sir Winston. Not so any more. Kate Moss, Stella McCartney, and their ilk, are heading for the Tea Palace, 175 Westbourne Grove, W11 (tel. 020/7727-2600), a modern take on the traditional chintz-and-china parlor. Freshly baked scones and clotted cream like grandfather knew are threatening to make a comeback for afternoon tea in London.
What to See & Do
In London, the Tate Modern (www.tate.org.uk/modern), which claims it is the most visited modern art museum in the world, unveiled plans for a $400 million extension to be completed in time for the London Olympics of 2012. The extension will resemble glass boxes stacked up arbitrarily to form a 220-foot pyramid. This new wing will make Tate Modern comparable in size to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Long written off as a "fake," a painting of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87), has gone on display at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2 (tel. 020/7747-2885; www.nationalgallery.org.uk). The portrait, purchased for less than a hundred dollars (today's exchange rate) was acquired by the gallery in 1916 at a Christie's auction. It has gathered dust in a warehouse until it was rediscovered and authenticated. The age of the wood, on which the image of Mary was painted, turned out to be from the late 16th century. Today the painting is believed to be one of the only two paintings made in the lifetime or shortly after the death of the Queen.
Britain's answer to Hollywood's Walk of Fame is being created in London's Covent Garden. One hundred stars of stage, screen and TV are being immortalized on the Avenue of Stars to celebrate 50 years of ITV (Independent Television). The first 18 recipients, which include Peter Sellers, Lord Laurence Olivier, Alec Guinness, Nicole Kidman, John Cleese and The Rolling Stones, are already enshrined by silver stars in the walkway. More names honoring the greatest British and commonwealth show business stars of the last half-century will be added each year to the pavement outside St. Paul's, the "Actors' Church," in the Covent Garden piazza. Visit www.itv.com for more information.
The new Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum (www.nhm.ac.uk) in London is offering free tours of its vast collection of zoological specimens. You can see store rooms where some 22 million specimens are housed.
Shopping
London's best new shops are predictably and quintessentially English. Trendy, well made, and beautifully, even daringly, designed shoes are a feature at Tracey Neuls, 29 Marylebone Lane, W1 (tel. 020/7935-0039), near Bond Street. Behind a Victorian storefront you find such delights as tall lace-up boots with a cut-out calf. At the end of Mayfair's posh Dover Street, Sac Frères, 7 Grafton St., W1 (tel. 020/7495-9040), sells some of the most beautifully made handbags in London. Expect something different here, even a House of Lords purse designed to evoke the benches in the House of Parliament.
In the mood for a floral motorcycle helmet or a tank-top featuring a sinister-looking baby? If so, head for Michiko Koshino, 59 Broadwick St., W1 (tel. 207/434-3686). The fashion here is not contemporary but the day after tomorrow.
High prices in London are forcing struggling artists more and more to the east. The new hot spot is Bethnal Green, three miles northeast of the city center and a mile east of Hoxton. The growing art scene is shaping up where Jack the Ripper once murdered a prostitute, where cholera flourished during the Industrial Revolution, and where Hitler sent his bombers in WWII. That's a distant memory these days. Art devotees are visiting such galleries as Modern Art, 7A Vyner St., E2 (tel. 020/8980-7742), or the nearby Fred, 45 Vyner St., E2 (tel. 020/8981-2987). What to expect at these galleries? Apocalyptic landscapes, at least, and a lot more. The Contemporary Art Society, 45 Vyner St., E2 (tel. 020/7612-0730) runs occasional tours of the area, taking you to the studios of the most avant-garde artists.
Oxford
After a major renovation, Tilbury Lodge, 5 Tilbury Lane (tel. 01865/862138; www.tilburylodge.com), has become one of the best and most affordable B&Bs in this university town. The location is on a tranquil country lane 2 miles (3km) west of the center. Its most expensive room has a four-poster bed, and there is also a room suitable for families.
Kent & Sussex
Southeast of London in the town of Chatham, Dickens World, Leviathan Way (tel. 01634/890421; www.dickensworld.co.uk), has opened in a home where the Victorian author spent part of his childhood. The town also holds a Dickens Festival each summer to honor the writer of A Christmas Carol. The new attraction features cobbled streets, period architecture, as well as costumed Victorian characters, shopkeepers, and street entertainers. Open daily 10am to 5pm.
Americans in particular flock to the historic Battle Abbey built on the battlefield of the world-famous battle where in 1066 William the Conqueror defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Harold in the Battle of Hastings, which changed the course of Britain and ultimately America. A new visitors center and a new museum have opened here. Yesterday's World is an interactive museum containing 100,000 artifacts from 1870 to 1970. The effect is a sort of time traveler's journey through British history. The location is at 89-90 High St. (tel. 1424/893938; www.yesterdaysworld.co.uk).
In West Sussex, Cowdray, (tel. 01730/810781; www.cowdray.co.uk), one of southern England's most important Tudor courtier palaces, has opened on landscaped grounds. It can be visited on a day trip from London. Built in 1520 and partially destroyed by fire in 1793, it has been restored and you can wander on grounds once trod by Henry VIII or Elizabeth I. Visits include trips to the Tudor kitchens, the Great Hall, and even a gatehouse. Cowdray is open from the end of March until the end of October Wednesday to Sunday 10:30am to 4:30pm.
Devon
The exciting hotel news here is the opening of the Hotel Endsleigh at Milton Abbot near Tavistock (tel. 1822/870000; www.hotelendsleigh.com). The hotel was created from one rustic fishing lodge in Devonshire Valley above the Tamar River. The property was owned in 1812 by the Duchess of Bedford (whose family once owned a third of Devon. This stone manor is graced with Gothic gingerbread, a shell grotto, rough oak columns, and luxurious bedrooms. A fire crackles on chilly nights in the wood-paneled library. The hotel, the domain of fashion maven Olga Polizzi, lies just outside the much-visited town of Dartmoor.
Cornwall
Green tourism just got a little greener in Cornwall in southwest England. Yurtworks (tel. 1208/850670; www.yurtworks.co.uk) is a 40-acre site lying eight miles north of the town of Wadebridge, where you can rent bicycles to explore the coast. Owner Tim Hutton raises chickens and cows organically, using local trees to build his yurts, two of which he rents separated by more than 300 feet of woodland. One yurt holds four guests and is decorated with Mongolian wall hangings, and the other tent is more simply decorated housing six overnight guests. These yurts are equipped with a fire-burning stove and even a bathtub. Open April to mid-October.
Stratford-upon-Avon
The Royal Shakespeare Company (www.rsc.org.uk) in September of 2007 received a $5 million donation from an American to help pay for a new theater in this birthplace of Shakespeare. The gift was from Chris Abele, a philanthropist from Milwaukee. The British government allocated $140 million toward building the theater but it's far from enough. The Shakespeare people often rely on American donors to fill the gap.
Cambridge
Nightlife in this university city revolves around the new and improved complex, Cambridge Leisure Park (tel. 01223/511511), lying behind the Cambridge Station. The complex features a multi-screen cinema, a bowling alley, numerous chain restaurants, and bars, some of which offer live entertainment. Saturday night is the big blast here, attracting hundreds of university students. There is also a theater presenting comedy, drama, and even children's shows.
Liverpool
The pride of Liverpudlians, the Museum of Liverpool Life (www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol) at Albert Dock has closed down for a massive overhaul, with a reopening date set for 2010. The new complex will be a bigger and better version of the former museum, which has been a popular attraction since 1993. The museum is expected to be in the avant garde of all city museums around the world, tracing the city's unique contribution to Western civilization.
Wales
In Ruthin in the northern part of the country, the Manorhaus has opened at Well Street (tel. 1824/707333; www.manorhaus.com), a converted Georgian townhouse that has been transformed into a luxury boutique hotel with the help of local artists. In the public lounge and on-site restaurant, the walls have been turned into a gallery, displaying photos, prints, paintings, and other works. Upstairs are eight beautifully furnished and individually designed bedrooms.
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