Trip 46

April 28,2024

We took the Tube to Leicester Square, then walked to the Seven Dials area, a village in Covent Garden, London, with seven streets centered around the Seven Dials Monument. The area was established in the early 1690s by Thomas Neale, a Member of Parliament, and laid out in triangles to maximize the number of houses for rent. Seven Dials is located within the greater Covent Garden area in the West End of London. Neale commissioned England’s leading stonemason, Edward Pierce, to design and construct the Sundial Pillar in 1693-4 as the centrepiece of his development in Seven Dials. The Pillar was topped by six sundial faces, with the seventh ‘style’ being the column itself.

Being in the West End, it’s in or near the theater district and we walked past several theaters where we’d previously attended plays (Mousetrap, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Wicked).

Once a derelict area for decades, Seven Dials is now a vibrant area with shops, restaurants and some lovely apartments on shaded streets.

We turned and walked towards Chinatown, off Gerrard St., really just a few blocks away.

There are countless Chinese and Taiwanese restaurants and shops in this quarter. And, while we had some light drizzle at times in the morning, about 3:30pm, something most unusual happened. The sun came out!

We stopped at the Bun House on Lisle St to scan the menu.

The buns are big and “squishy “ rice balls with fillings of your choice. The “chick” is divine and you can really taste the coconut curry. Place your order inside, but the cooking takes place downstairs and your food is sent up in a dumb waiter; you stand outside (it’s a small shop) and you’re called when your number is ready. They were doing a steady business. Despite being a small shop, they have a small dining room in addition to take away.

Heading back towards a Tube station at Tottenham Court Rd, we walked past the theater where we attended the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and then on to the station, where there is a digital multimedia event (YouTube) ongoing, attracting good crowds.