NIE goes posh

Today we went in search of the life of Phileas Fogg. We do realise he is a fictional character (something we haven't touched on much in the past years), but what if we treated him as if he were real? What was this Reform Club? He spent most of his time there, took all of his meals there, and started his journey there. So we had to go there.

Or rather: Alex found out you can book guided tours of the reform club, so he decided we should go.
Some time last week we all got an email from Tom (photo reference in previous blog post) saying we were to visit the Reform Club and there was a dress code.
Yesterday we discussed the dress code further and were clearly instructed that jeans and trainers wouldn't fly.

This morning we all met outside the Reform Club. We were not allowed to take photographs inside, but if you really want to know, you can find some here.

The tour was great, even though personally I thought they could do with some work over there at the Reform Club. Some of the furniture has seen better years. In all fairness, they were having some reconstruction done and the man who gave us the tour explained that there were some leaks in the roof that didn't seem to have any cause. It's a beautiful building with an Italian palazzo as a main entrance. But as we're not in Italy or an Italian-like climate, it is covered with a glass tiled roof.
We saw the non-smoking Smoking Room, two different dining rooms, and were told there were hotel rooms in the floors we couldn't see.
I really liked the floors we couldn't see. The guide said they were there, but there was no trace of them on the inside.

After the Reform Club we tried to count the footsteps between the club and Savile Row, where Fogg's fictional home was. But we went the wrong way, so the footsteps didn't add up.
Additionally, either they re-numbered the houses or Jules Verne got his numbers wrong. Verne mentions Fogg lives in the house were Sheridan died, Number 7 Savile Row.

This is the house where Sheridan died, but it is not number 7, it's number 14. The house that used to be on number 7 must have been bombed, as it is now a newer building. So for our purposes it is nicer to believe that it must be number 14.

We were on a roll testing out this new way of life, and carried on for high tea at Langtry's.

When the sandwiches arrived, I got slightly worried: this would not be enough lunch for me. They were tiny. And cut in a way that in my experience is only suitable for very small children. Henrik compared them to airplane food. Clearly we're not English.

But my concerns vanished when the scones arrived. I'd eaten scones before, but it had been a long time and I'd forgotten how filling they are.

At 2pm our fancy fake life had to end and we headed back to BAC for some of our own familiar world. And more fancy dress. But the kind we are very used to.

We also have this thing:
I will show you what's inside later.