I took a walk this morning to my old work neighborhood. Had some good memories of the familiar sights along the way. Most of the same shops still occupy the High Street, which was nice to see. There is one major change though: The company sold off our office building a couple years ago and it is now being converted to flats!
The conversion has started, and it looks like some of the flats are occupied. Those balconies on the upper floors are new. Work is obviously continuing though.The company sign remains at the entrance though!
The rest of the day was spent taking a leisurely walk through Central London – one of my favorite things to do.
A certain Mews in Kensington was a regular stop during my trips into the city – because it houses two classic car dealers! And both are set up for excellent exterior viewing. It was fun to check out the changing inventory.A sad day – the ice skating rink at the Natural History Museum is being dismantled.
I finished the day across the river at the Tate Modern Museum, where I took a tour of their “Cities” exhibit.
I found this pretty interesting. It’s a set of 7 photographs from 1962 depicting the windows of a crowded train in Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. That was nearly 60 years ago, it’s even more extreme now!Time for a quick check of fuel prices! That works out to $6.28/gal. Yikes!
Tuesday, January 14 – London
I spent almost all of today at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Kind of weird, I know, but there’s so much to see! I started off taking in their “Cars” exhibit (of course), and followed that with two separate tours – one general and one of their theatre and entertainment area.
That is a GM concept car from the ’50s in the foreground, and in the background is an example of the world’s first motorcar – an 1888 Benz.In the foreground is a model of a Ford concept from the 50s that proposed power via a nuclear reactor. Didn’t quite come to fruition!I love this!
Today was rather low key. I ran a couple errands in the neighborhood, did some trip planning, and worked on this journal.
This is probably a good time to point out that I expect (plan?) that my traveling this winter will be at a much less manic pace than last year. I was on the move a LOT in South America. Hopefully not so much this year. As a result, this journal may not be as interesting to read. Apologies for that. Hopefully I won’t lose too many of you along the way!
I began charting my steps for this trip and noticed something interesting. Over the course of my 11 week stay in South America last year, the maximum number of steps I achieved in one day was 28,062 (Iguazu Falls hike). I’ve already topped that! On Thursday, during my walk through the parks I logged 29,103! Maybe I’ll have a 30k day this year?
Sunday, January 12 – London
I did a little exploring in the east end of London today. First item on the agenda: Going to church (what?)…
I attended a service at The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, which is located on the grounds of The Tower of London. There is no charge to enter the Tower if you are there solely for the service. They have a wonderful choir and it is a beautiful setting. Of special note, 2020 is the 500th anniversary of the chapel! (thanks to my friend Mary for the tip about the service!)
The rest of the afternoon was spent roaming around a few of the weekend/Sunday markets in the area.
I came across this bakery while walking through the Brick Lane Sunday Market. With the queue wrapped around inside and out the door, I figured it must be a pretty good place to stop for lunch! I went with their speciality – a “bagel” filled with salt beef, topped with spicy mustard and a gherkin. Excellent! After exiting the Brick Lane Market I noticed a crowd gathered on a nearby corner. It turns out there was a chicken nugget giveaway going on. I wasn’t very hungry after downing my salt beef bagel, but then I felt like I recognized one of the servers……Ed Sheeran! I never did find out why he was doing this. I guess I could have waited in line and asked him!
Welcome back everyone! My Journal has emerged from its Spring-Summer-Fall hibernation! And following on from my last post in March – thanks again to all of you for taking the time to read and comment. It means a lot to me!
This year will feature split trips, as I’ll be heading back to the States for Ali & Matt’s big event in New York next month. Can’t wait!
I’m leading off with a no-set-itinerary month in western Europe – arriving in London and departing from Paris. I’m hoping to take in some train travel along the way, but you’ll have to watch this space for confirmation! (can I write a tease, or what?!?). So, without further adieu (a little French prep!)…
Monday, January 6 and Tuesday, January 7 – transit from Madison to London
I departed Madison on the 10am bus to O’Hare (thanks for the drop off Chuck!), arriving around 1pm for the 4:20 departure. When booking my flights, I noticed there were some good deals on using miles to Europe. So, I ended up splurging on an Austrian Air business class ticket, connecting through Vienna. Very uncharacteristic of my cheap self, I know!
The business class section of the Austrian Air triple 7My seat!
The flight was a little over 8 hours. With the late afternoon departure I figured I’d be awake most of the trip. That wasn’t the case though; I slept a fair amount (maybe the multiple glasses of prosecco had something to do with that!). In fact, I ended up watching only 1 3/4 movies (Ad Astra and most of The Kitchen (don’t tell me how it ends!)). Now, normally I would say sleeping on a flight is a good thing. However, when one is making a rare appearance at the front of the plane, maybe not so much!
After a 3 hour layover in Vienna, I arrived at Heathrow around 1pm on Tuesday. I decided to book a hotel in my old neighborhood*, because a) I missed it, and b) it was less expensive than central London. Of course though, the latter is my main reason! (cheap!!)
* Quick Backstory: I know most of you are aware of my history with London, but here’s a quick refresher for you and totally new information for the others. I lived in London for 4 years, leaving at the end of 2010. Subsequent to that I was back for a few business trips; the last being for several weeks in the summer of 2014. I enjoyed my time here immensely, so after 5+ years away, it was time for a return! But why in the winter, you ask? a) less expensive (of course!), b) less crowded, and c) Madison is a great place to be in the spring, summer and fall!
I brought along three of my old Oyster cards for the trip (weird that I kept them, I know). The cards are used as payment on the tube and bus. I was hoping I might have some money left on them. Card #1: zippo. Card #2: 60p (bummer!). Card #3: £8 (nice!). I’m impressed that Transport for London includes no expiration date on the funds. I know my train card from Perth did. And the NYC MetroCards do as well.
The options to get from Heathrow to South Harrow are (in descending order, by cost): taxi, tube, bus. So yes, I took the 140 bus. It’s actually pretty convenient though, because it’s the same bus for the whole trip. And even better, beginning this year it’s been made an express bus, reducing the trip length from 60 to 45 minutes, which is about the same time it takes on the tube. (another benefit: the 140 bus runs 24hrs – remember our very late night bus ride from Heathrow Holly?)
The Eurotraveller Hotel. Conveniently located next door to the police station!Pretty simple room, but of good size and clean (and a funky light fixture!). $58/night.
I was pretty beat by the time I reached the hotel, so ended up staying in for the rest of the day. And I wasn’t at all hungry following all that business class/airline lounge food. I was even served a meal on the 1hr 15min flight from Vienna to London!
Wednesday, January 8 – London
Notes on London photographs: I know most of you reading this have been to London, and regardless, everybody is familiar with the main attractions of this city. Therefore, the only pictures I’ll be posting during my stay here will either a) have some personal significance for me, b) be something unusual, or c) reflect a change that has occurred since my last visit.
Woke up following a solid, non-interrupted night of sleep. No jet lag. Bonus!
I need to take care of a little business this morning. I still have a UK bank account. Should probably close that out! Unfortunately there won’t be a huge windfall coming my way: I left behind £5 in savings and £55 in checking. I’m actually surprised they haven’t charged me any fees over the last 5 years! I also have in my possession one each of a £5 and £10 note that are no longer in circulation. Conveniently the bank will allow me to deposit those into my account before I close it. Brilliant!
My friendly neighborhood Barclays branch!And right next door? An all-time fav – the Wenzel’s bakery/sandwich shoppe. Of course I had to grab a classic tuna salad baguette while I was right there!Tasks out of the way, it’s time to head into the city!
1st stop upon my return? One of my favorite places in the city – The National Gallery. Currently on exhibit is the work of Da Vinci – primarily an analysis of the two versions of TheVirgin of the Rocks that he painted. The earlier version is in the Louvre, and the latter here.
The National Gallery’s The Virgin of the Rocks ca late 15th centuryI learned that Leonardo wrote private notes using mirror writing – text written backwards……which can be more easily read when viewed in the reflection of a mirror. Fascinating!Had to stop by the Lego store on Leicester Square, where I discovered this full-sized tube car that was hand-assembled with over 600,000 lego pieces. Wow!Impressive detail!Only 300,000 pieces. Lame!Finished the day by attending the show Curtains – a limited-run musical mystery comedy. It was very good! And of course I bought the tickets from the TKTS booth in Leicester Square (last minute and discount theatre tickets)!
Thursday, January 9 – London
Another great night’s sleep! Will jet lag be avoided??
Today started out beautiful – clear skies with temps in the low 50s. So, I decided to do some walking through the parks of the city. I started out in Kensington Gardens, followed by Hyde Park and Regents Park. Sadly, by the time I finished rain was approaching. At least it waited that long!
On The Serpentine in Hyde Park. The swans were actually following me, expecting to be fed!A surprise encounter in Hyde Park – for both of us! #nozoom
For dinner the last couple nights I’ve taken advantage of the Tesco (supermarket) Meal Deal. It includes the selection of a sandwich or salad, snack and drink – all for £3. Awesome!
Tonight I attended a concert at St Martin-in-the-Fields, a church on Trafalgar Square. It was in a candlelight setting, featuring works by Bach, Handel and Vivaldi performed by the Belmont Ensemble of London. I went with a low-cost (cheap!) side box obstructed view seat. But it turned out to be great because I was in the most forward box, for which there was no obstruction! And it was a wonderful performance!
Pre-performance view from my box. The obstructed view aspect is due to the pillars, but in this case I have direct field of vision to where the musicians will be playing (you can see their easels in the picture). *No picture taking was allowed during the performance*The main seating area. This was taken rather early; there was full capacity for the concert. And the lighting was much dimmer (you can see the candles at the base of the pillars).
Friday, January 10 – London
It’s official, jet lag averted! Woo hoo!
The Harry and Meghan saga has been big news over here (as you would expect!). I have a feeling it’s been getting a lot of play in the U.S. as well. Frankly, I’m happy they chose this week to make their announcement. Otherwise, I fear my arrival would have been splashed all over the headlines, and I’d just as soon keep a low profile while I’m here!
TV crews set up outside Buckingham Palace, reporting on the Harry and Meghan situation.
Another nice day in the city, so I made my way to the South Bank for a walk.
Is that really you under there Big Ben??I don’t remember seeing these barriers previously on the Westminster Bridge. I wonder if they were added following the incident where a van was deliberately driven into pedestrians on London Bridge in 2017?St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Millenium BridgeI gravitated to another one of my favorite places – the Borough Market. Just in time for lunch! What a coincidence!Lunchtime seating was at a premium……so I ended up on a bench around the corner (which I thought turned out to be a better location!). And a nice view of The Shard as well!What’s for lunch? A venison burger and chips! Tasted great!
I was rather tired today, so after some more walking and a visit to the Tate Modern, I headed back to the hotel.
