London 2
Today we celebrate bizarre, which came from the French spelling, but that in turn came from the Spanish bizarro, which used to mean brave, spirited, or gallant. However, over the years, its meaning has shifted, and by the time it came into the English language in the 17th century, it meant strange, fantastical, or unconventional.
Look at the ceiling above – it’s in the American Bar of The Stafford in London, and it’s renowned for all the bits and pieces hanging up on the ceiling. During World War II, the American Bar was quite a base for spies. One of the barmen, Charles Guano, was known as White Rabbit. Somebody who lived in the hotel for a time, Nancy Wake, was known as White Mouse (she died in 2011). The hotel’s had an interesting and somewhat bizarre history, actually. It was built in 1903 as the home of Lord and Lady Lyttleton, It became Green’s private hotel, then St. James’s Palace Hotel, and then a club for US and Canadian officers. One of its treasures today is the wine cellar where maximum 33 people can have a party. Girlahead stayed. In room 430, in the new block, looking out over the courtyard, but it was raining and the courtyard therefore was not much use.
By the time she got to Heathrow, it was the tail end of breakfast, and having missed the beautiful breakfast done by the hotel’s consultant chef, Michael Caines, MBE, she was able to pick up her favourite in British Airways Concorde Lounge at Terminal 5, a bacon butty in a brioche bun with a marmalade martini. Sounds bizarre, looks bizarre, tastes – and is – divine, just like the ceiling at The Stafford.
