One of the things I loved about London was the ease with which we could travel around the city via the Underground. It was so easy to get from one end of the city to the other within a 20-30 minute train ride that it posed no problem when we decided to wrap up our Sunday evening at Jamie Oliver's with a visit to St. Pancras International.
Jay and I wanted to scope the place out since we would be taking the Eurostar from the station for Paris in a few days, but I had another, much more selfish reason for wanting to visit. Our guidebooks and the station's website all waxed on and on about the St. Pancras Champagne Bar, which they touted as the longest in Europe. This of course led to much discussion about whether or not England is actually considered European in the first place. And this then led to discussion about how long a bar has to be in order to be the longest in Europe. All of which led to much thirst on our parts by the time we found the bar.
Now I know they use a different measurement standard in Europe, but this was so far past my level of expectation that I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open. I had pictured a bar the length of a passenger train, or perhaps running down the middle of the station along one of the rail lines. If the St. Pancras Champagne Bar is considered the longest in Europe then they must be using measurement standards provided by the Lollipop Guild.
The bar was a perfect cube.
While the bar's size was a letdown, the drinks were tasty and the setting was pretty cool. I found it very exotic since I have never traveled by train, let alone ever had a reason to go to a train station. Aside from a number of lovely bottles of bubbly for travelers to choose from they also offered several champagne cocktails. Two that we tried included a Classic Champagne Cocktail (gin, lemon, and champagne) and an Oriental Bellini (lychee liqueur, elderflower, and peach puree topped with champagne). There were also a couple of flutes of regular bubbly and all was right with the world.
While we wouldn't suggest that anyone go out of their way to find the champagne bar, it was an enjoyable adventure and provided some good laughs. And we're still trying to figure out what their definition of long is because it sure didn't jibe with ours!
Bubbles, yes; Long ... not so much
If you have to ask, you can't afford.
Upper level of the station ... getting ready to show the world it's O-Face
That's a Stinktown kinda crowd!
In retrospect perhaps a coffee bar would have been a better idea
A thing of beauty
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