State Secrets in the Shadow of Big Ben

My friends and I discovered a gem, uniquely situated on the shores of river Thames, just across the bridge from Big Ben and therefore enjoying one of the best views in London. We attended an interesting networking event – organised by a professional body for its members and guests – in the Library of London County Hall, which is now part of the Marriott Hotel.

Cocooned by a sun-burst settee in Gillray`s bar before the event started (I am wearing a dress and a bag by Michael Kors) I was close enough to see, through large windows,  animated tourists riding the capsules at London Eye, and able to admire the hundred lights shining in the windows of Houses of Parliament as the sun began to set over glistering waterway. Quenching my thirst with a rather large glass of Prosecco – it was still hot outside – I noticed that most of the bar`s patrons were well dressed and crochet-hook-thin.

In the evening, my friends and I went to the elegant Library. Opened in 1922, the building was bombed during the World War II but – thankfully - still retains its historic features:  grand oak bookcases ; a distinctive fireplace, adorned with a carving of A.H. Wilkinson (from 1922); and a number of busts, depicting classical figures such as Plato, Agrippa, Shakespeare and Milton. I would love to be a fly on the wall here in the 1980s to witness political squabbles between Margaret Thatcher`s Conservative government and Ken Livingstone of the Greater London Council.

We left close to midnight, making our way through Westminster Bridge, which was still full of over-excited tourists, white-faced mimes, and eagle-eyed pickpockets.