chandelier – Poshbird with Passion

Baz picked up a ‘Groupon’ for Kaspars Grill at the Savoy. Even more than the food, I was aching to visit such an art deco icon. We tubed it to Green Park and took a walk first, past the Ritz and down through St James (we’re such tourists!)

My ‘Rivoli Bar’ shot

We passed Rowleys with its sumptuous tiling. Then we stopped for a pint at the Admiralty on Trafalgar Square to start the evening

We’re told this is the only right hand drive road in the UK

The Savoy is of course a landmark. Inside it is a grand space, but the intimate seating areas and changes of floor level and finish, make it feel cosy as you pass through. It was tempting to sit and try every grouping, every corner

Over a glass of champagne, we ordered scallops, ceviche, chargrilled halibut and a cod loin served with poached egg, followed by heavenly desserts. Despite the voucher it really wasn’t a cheap night out!

Perhaps what really grabbed me was the use of glass. There were mirrors, glass sculptures and lighting everywhere. It was glamorous and opulent, as it should be

Our cameras sat upon our table, and a waiter was surprised to see that I have a Canon while Baz has a Nikon. Oddly enough, it was Baz who always had Canons until he bought this camera., whereas I bought my first Nikon at 18 years old and remained loyal until I tried a Canon at a photographic event in Yellowstone Park and found it very user-friendly. They are both entry-level cameras and our first digital SLRs . The results we get are often very different, mainly because of our approaches. The top photos illustrate this quite well

We wandered past the stately Simpsons as we left, and felt the fairly hostile night-time atmosphere of the Strand as we headed to Charing Cross for the journey home

Baz snapped a deli on the Strand. The staff were still at work and the interior looked cosy and inviting. Both of us felt this was our favourite shot of the night

I borrowed this atmospheric deli shot from Baz

As we headed down Berwick Street on the edge of Soho, a mirage appeared in the form of a narrow shop-front with a chaotic window crammed with scruffy-looking chandeliers and lanterns. As we crossed the road I could barely contain my excitement …

(A bit of background: Until about a year ago chandeliers were ‘not my sort of thing’. Yet when I wanted an injection of glamour in our bedroom, somehow only a chandelier would do. I was actually slightly embarrassed that I wanted one and I expected an anti-bling backlash from Baz and C, but they egged me on to find something I liked. I did, and once it was installed by Ray the sparky I was seduced by the effect of the light. This started a crystal-fuelled frenzy and it’s very lucky that the French house came along to save our simple little bungalow from being turned into a Disney castle)

… As we entered the shop, the man re-stringing a large chandelier by the door invited us to look around the chaotic jumble of ‘stuff’ hanging from the ceiling and standing on the floor. As there was no obvious path through the cluttered room we ventured up the stairs, the walls of which were similarly festooned in grubby ormolu wall lights and sconces

Five floors of fragile orphans lay ahead. At each level there was one small room, cluttered with unloved lights dripping down from ceilings and walls, and strewn on tables and benches. Filthy and unrestored, they were all waiting to be renovated to order and re-homed. Some were no doubt more desirable than others but to my untrained eye they were all beautiful in their decay. I doubt I would have left empty-handed if I’d been on my own

Insane. How would you ever find anything? — How would you choose just one?

Back downstairs, I admired a large crackle-glazed glass shade dangling from a bronze hanger, which the owner referred to as the ‘bogey drip’ on account of its shape. He told us he nearly sold it recently, but when he took it down from the ceiling there was a dead mouse in it and the lady buyer ran screaming from the shop, never to return. When he told me the price I nearly screamed and ran off too

Chaos and intrigue — Chaos and magic on every floor

I said that I could easily spend a week looking around. ‘Well,’ he suggested theatrically, ‘We have a bench on the stairs. It’s 250 quid a month or you can rent it by the hour.’

Bright lights and a bench to rent by the hour. That’s pure Soho!!

Tag: chandelier

The Savoy Still Sparkles

The Bogey Drip (a bench in chandelier heaven)

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