The Secret Life of the Savoy - Olivia Williams - Bog

"For The Gondoliers-themed birthday dinner, the hotel obligingly flooded the courtyard to a depth of four feet to conjure the Grand Canal of Venice by the Thames. They painted frescoes in front of its walls, strung fairy lights up to illuminate the night sky, and dressed the waiters as gondoliers. Dinner was served on a gilded, silk-lined floating gondola, covered in carnations, in the middle of the 'canal'. Real swans were swimming in the water, as the Neapolitan tenor Enrico Caruso serenaded the guests under a paper moon. As a final flourish, a baby elephant borrowed from London Zoo pulled a five-foot high birthday cake up the little bridge to the gondola."