Do you think you know everything about the center of the British capital? I will tell you many nuances about the most popular area of the city — Covent Garden. We begin at Lipman & Sons.
You will visit the bar where the last mug of ale was drunk by those condemned to execution, understand why Prince Harry never became a Freemason, and discover the secrets of the gloomy past of the district. You will see the oldest theater in London and the most expensive gentlemen’s club. You will find out who the first English prima was and how Alan Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh, influenced the welfare of the club. I will take you to the oldest pub in the area and tell you why the place used to be called a Bucket of Blood and who was a regular of this place. You will examine the outstanding Bridge of Aspirations and understand how its name is connected with the Royal Opera. Of course, I’ll show you the street where there were once 107 brothels, and you’ll figure out how they appeared in conservative London and when they disappeared. We’ll see where Casanova lived and talk about why he’s not a womanizer! We will listen to live opera singing right on the street, visit Penhaligon’s perfume house, and will be able to sniff both Churchill’s and other historical Britons’ fragrances. We will discuss the history of the London police, one of the oldest policing institutions in the world.
In the second part of the tour, we will visit the current Mason Lodge of England, the oldest in the world! Let’s talk about how and why the first Masonic organization appeared in London in 1717 and who is a Freemason. We will find out how the Masonic Lodge is connected with gentlemen’s clubs and which two topics are strictly forbidden to discuss in the lodge. Let’s understand why former or current servicemen and -women were not accepted into Masons, and what English Masons printed in newspapers. Let’s gossip about who has the same symbolism as the Freemasons and what Mozart did for his lodge. You will be able to try on and even buy absolutely all the parts of Mason’s uniform and absolutely all the distinctive signs! We will understand why former or current servicemen were not accepted as Freemasons, as well as what is allowed to Freemasons at the front as an exception from the laws of wartime.
In the third part of the tour, Dickens, Agatha Christie and even Edgar Allan Poe himself are waiting for us! We will see where the great «magician», astrologer and healer Count Alessandro Cagliostro arrived in 1777, and where — Blavatsky! Let’s talk about Charlie Chaplin’s childhood problems, and not so childish pranks of Hitchcock and his daughter. I can’t resist gossiping with you about little Mozart and the creators of Aleister Crowley tarot cards. We will see places from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and real magicians and gymnasts. We will also remember Samuel Pepys and his strange ways of getting acquainted, and see the places of Van Gogh, and even Jane Austen because they are all neighbors in the neighborhood!magicians and gymnasts. We will also remember Samuel Pepys and his strange ways of getting acquainted, Van Gogh and even Jane Austen, because they are all neighbors in the neighborhood!
Finally, we will go to lunch in the same bright place as the district itself! Proudly offering independent street food and drinks, the most fruity restaurant hall in the city, Seven Dials Market, brings together a progressive line of independent catering businesses whose roots go back to the streets of the city. It is here, in the communal book hall — where we will eat the most delicious truffle burger in the world!
