Out of Office: Postcards from England

Snapshots from London and Norwich

After a dreamy week visiting family in London and Norwich, I’m back stateside, nursing my jet lag, digging out from my overstuffed inbox and sorting through the 1,000+ photos on my camera roll.

Keep scrolling for a few favorites snapshots from a week spent museum hopping and treasure hunting. We’ll resume regularly scheduled programming next week.

I was lucky enough to find myself in The Picture Room at Sir John Soane’s Museum promptly at 3pm, when the docent revealed the room’s best-kept secret: a series of hinged panels that enable this small 13’ by 12’ room to hang up to 118 paintings.

Every time we walked through The Close - the historic precinct surrounding Norwich Cathedral, enclosed by the cathedral’s medieval walls - we played the “I’d live in that one” game. I was partial to the garden at No. 55, which was overflowing with enormous roses in a rainbow of colors: brick red, butter yellow, lavender, and more.

The selection of gigantic, reasonably priced gilt mirrors at St. Gregory’s Antiques & Collectibles - a medieval church-turned-antique shop in Norwich - had me googling shipping container costs. Not pictured: the enormous porcelain parrot candlesticks and cloisonné boudoir lamps that I hauled home.

In London, we stayed at The Zetter Marylebone, a townhouse-turned-boutique hotel that’s rumored to be filled with more than 10,000 antiques that designer Russell Sage amassed over 3 years. Sage designed the space around a fictional persona: wicked Uncle Seymour, an eccentric gambler who loves his booze.

I was instantly charmed by the swans that glided down the River Wensum in Norwich and held court in the Round Pond outside Kensington Palace. Imagine my delight when I learned that these regal creatures are all owned by the British crown!