Lloyd’s, 1 Lime Street

The D&O Diary’s European assignment continued this past week with a stop in London, the U.K.’s capital and largest city. Although my time in London was largely devoted to business meetings, I did have some time to look around the city a little bit, and to take advantage of a couple of days of pleasant weather.

My primary purpose in traveling to London was to participate as a panelist at an industry event put on by the Lloyd’s Market Asociation (LMA) FinPro Claims Group. It was a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this excellent, well-attended event. It was a also treat for me, insured nerd that I am, to be in the Lloyd’s building again. I would like to thank the LMA and the FinPro Claims Group for inviting me to be a panelist. I would especially like to thank my good friend Yera Patel of Inigo, who was instrumental in arranging my participation.

It was an honor to be a part of this distinguished panel. From left to right, Yera Patel, Inigo; Sean Coffey of Phillips ADR Enterprises; Michael Ehioze-Ediae of Hiscox; Valentina Poenaru of Aspen; me; and Maximillian Hess of Enmetena Advisors. Yera and Valentina were the moderators and Michael was the master of ceremonies. Sean, Max, and I had a very involved discussion of Geopolitical Risk and D&O Liability Exposure. I know that I learned a lot.

The event was held in the famous Old Library at the Lloyd’s building, which had been part of the prior Lloyd’s building and was preserved and installed in the current building. My thanks to the LMA for the event pictures.
Here’s a picture of dinner at Zuma in Knightsbridge the night before the event. From left to right, Ed Whitworth, Inigo; me; Diane Lenkowsky, Inigo; Laura Markovich, of the Skarzynski, Marick, & Black law firm; and Tom Ielapi, Inigo. An excellent evening with good food and great coversation.

While I was in London, I was able to manage my schedule so I could attend a couple of lunchtime musical performances. On Tuesday, we attended a solo piano recital at Wigmore Hall, in the fashionable, high-end Marylebone district.

Inside the Wigmore Hall concert hall. We attended a performance by Christian Blackshaw, who played music of Franz Schubert (the first set of Impromtus and the last of Schubert’s three final piano sonatas). It was a really extraordinary performance, and, because of the concert hall’s remarkable acoustics, a really exceptional experience.
Before the concert, we strolled along Marleybone High Street, one of the more pleasant places to walk in London. We stopped for lunch at this cozy French cafe, the Orrery Epicerie, where we enjoyed excellent Chicken Tarragon sandwiches.
Just down the street from the café is one of my favorite London bookstores, Daunt Books. One of the peculiar but interesting features of this bookstore is that the books are organized by country (that is, the country of the author or of the book’s setting). This unique organization lends itself to very serendipitous book browsing. The bookstore, which has a world class selection of travel books, is also a very pleasant place.
Marylebone High Street is a busy street. One block east and parallel to the High Street is Marylebone Lane, a much quieter side street lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. Marylebone is such a pleasant neighborhood.

After the concert, we walked north to enjoy the bright sunshine in Regent’s Park. Remarkably, early flowers bloomed in the sun, including crocuses and daffodils. Seeing these flowers in bloom was marvelous, as the early spring flowers won’t bloom back home in Ohio for at least another six weeks or so.
From Regent’s Park, we walked further north to Primrose Hill, to see the views of the London skyline. I have been to the top of Primrose Hill before, but I don’t think I have ever enjoyed such a clear view of The City. In the center of the skyline, you can see the pointy top of The Shard, and just to its left, you can just make out the dome of St. Paul’s.
I attended another lunchtime concert the next day, at St. Paul’s Knightsbridge. The concert was a performance by the London Mozart Players of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with Howard Shelley conducting from the piano. For a weekday lunch concert at a small church, it was quite impressive. Again, a very enjoyable concert.

After the concert, I decided to enjoy the afternoon sunshine with a walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. I first walked west all they way through the parks to Kensington Palace, shown here with the famous statue of Queen Victoria in front.

I then walked east, retracing my steps back through Kensington Garden and Hyde Park, to Green Park. As reflected in this picture, the daffodils were in bloom in Green Park. It was a really nice afternoon, as the pictures show.
From Green Park, I continued walking east, first through St. James’s Park, and then through to Whitehall and on to Westminster Bridge. Here’s a view of the river and of the Eye of London from the bridge. I think that, considering that I doubled back through Kensington Garden and Hyde Park, I may have walked a total of as much as five miles.

I do have a couple of recommendations for anyone visiting London.

On my prior trip to London, I discovered Foyles book store, on Charing Cross Road. I learned on that prior visit that it is an amazing place — five floors of books. On this visit, we took the time to go to the Café on the bookstore’s top floor. What a great place! Lively, busy, full of students and other city denizens conferring over their coffee. The Café will now be one of my standard sites that I must visit when I am in London.
I also have a restaurant recommendation. One evening in London we happened to wander into Baba, a white tablecloth Turkish restaurant on Fulham Road in Chelsea. (It is just a block down from one of my favorite pubs, the King’s Arms Chelsea.) The service was great, the food was amazing. The Kofte, pictured here, was particularly good. Two thumbs up.

A few closing observations. The first is that, if you are looking, there certainly are some unusual street names in London. Like these, for instance.

I always thought that these street names sound like names for, say, a failed rock band, or a murder mystery set in London. The name Savage Gardens apparently is a reference to an aristocratic family (the Savage family), prominent during the reign of Charles I. Seething Lane is not a reference to anger, but apparently a reference to the wind-blown chaff from the nearby corn market on Fenchurch Street. Or, in an alternative universe, a reference to a rock band.

I have been to the Tower Hill underground station many times, but it still comes as a little bit of a surprise to me to get off the train at the station and to come up to the surface and to see the Tower of London right there. There is a lot of history in London.