London 2019 Day Six

It hardly counts as a day in London, but that's where it started, and it ended in Provo. We left our great flat at 16 Linden Gardens and took a car service that Annie arranged to Heathrow for our flight. Everything went swimmingly and after a very long direct Delta flight, we arrived at SLC where another car met us and brought us home. Everything went off without a hitch.

 Dining and sitting area of our flat

 The original fireplace from the Victorian Era when

the houses on the street were built

 Dining and kitchen

 Our bathroom (1 of 2)

 Our bedroom

 Heathrow is always slammed

 There are some nice bits up front, but overall Heathrow 

is a drab and uninspired airport

Flight 51 direct from LHR to SLC

This was a great trip! I fell in love with Paris all over again. It is a magical place and I would say that the Paris leg of our adventure was my favorite. London is broken. It was still fun, but everything is torn up and under hoarding and scaffolding. There are no English people on the streets or in the shops, but Eastern Europeans primarily. I have a romantic memory of a London that really doesn't exist anymore. After Paris, the food didn't seem as good, plus my tooth was killing me and that may have put a damper on my enjoyment. It certainly made it harder to eat. In spite of all that, London still feels like home, but less magical than in the past. We are home now, and this will be all for now.

OXO

D.

London 2019 Day Five

Rain was predicted for the afternoon, so we tried to get our adventure done this morning. SKT and AW had tickets for a showing of Clockwork Orange, so we split up. Kris and I bussed up the hill to Kenwood House. The ride is wonderful, traveling through the heart of London, then up through new high-density developments behind King's Cross and St. Pancras International Stations, and then along lots of pleasant older middle-class streets. When one changes buses at Archway Station and heads up into Highgate, the real estate becomes leafy, green, refined, and posh. Kenwood is lovely and has a small but wonderful collection of art. Because the rain started as we were leaving, we headed back to Oxford Street and M&S to pick up a spiffy rain coat for Kris and some soup for a late lunch. When Stephen and Ann returned, we went for a last supper at De Amicis, an Italian restaurant around the corner, and Stephen and I had a small cup of gelato to finish off the meal.

Mid morning on a Sunday, Oxford Street was all ours

From Selfridges to Oxford Circus in just eight seconds 

 There was no view of "the rooftops of London" from the Heath today

 Robert Adam's redesign of Kenwood House

 A beautiful late-winter day

 These aren't my favorite (as Evy likes to say), but they 

were nice today

 These look like azaleas, but not so sure -- awfully pretty though

 A cozy fire in the coal grate in the entry hall at Kenwood

 Library

 This house makes me feel like I have stepped into an 

English period drama

 One of two really wonderful Rembrandts at Kenwood

 One of 43 Vermeers in the world

 Georgian-era row houses in Bloomsbury taken through the 

 front window at the top of the 390 bus

 We didn't go in, but Selfridges, the grand dame of Oxford Street, 

is more interesting than its simpler cousin next door, 

Marks and Spencer, where we did go in

 Sitting area of our flat has a small black message board and a bowl

of letters so guests can create personalized messages

Annie has done her part to keep us entertained

 Over the years I have walked past this place hundreds

of times, but this was the first time we have eaten there,

and it was very good

 bruschetta

 Veal, tagliatelli with fungi, bolognese, and sea bass

New gelato shop where Starbucks used to be

We are packing and getting ready for our Delta flight direct to SLC tomorrow morning. We can watch lots of movies going west because there is no reason to try and sleep to avoid jet lag (which for me is always worse flying west toward home). See you soon.

OXO

D.

London 2019 Day Four

Saturday dawned cold and cloudy. I made a run to the bakery for croissants and raisin rolls for breakfast: Paris habits die hard. When all were ready we caught a 94 bus to Piccadilly Circus and walked through Leicester Square to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery for a highlights tour. SKT mentioned one of his favorite eateries and we joined him for a bratwurst at Herman Ze German in Villiers Street, the alleyway that runs next to the Charring Cross Station. We split up and caught a vintage 15 Routemaster bus to Covent Garden for a look-see. We walked on through Neal's Yard to Seven Dials, Cambridge Circus, Shaftsbury Avenue, and Piccadilly Circus, where we caught the 94 back to the flat for a short rest. We went for dinner at Dishoom, an Indian restaurant near Kensington High Street recommended by Colton. It was excellent.

 Our local baker is good, but not Anthony Bosson in Paris

 94 to town

 Walking past the National Portrait Gallery

 Saint Martin-in-the-Fields

 The National Gallery with relatively sparse crowds

 Jan Van Eyck, perhaps a self portrait

 Leonardo, perhaps Kate in Paris is right that they
all look like self portraits

 The Wilton Diptych 

 Vermeer

 SKT had to come home and watch Tim's Vermeer

 The Victorians knew how to make a handsome gallery

 I am an Ingres fan

 The view from the National Gallery portico is full of cranes,
and Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) is under scaffolding

 Glad to know about this place

 But nothing compares to Portobello brats

 The vintage Routemaster reminds us of being in London

with our young kids, oh so many years ago

 Covent Garden

 The Victorians also designed fantastic market buildings

 Today there was nothing to tempt us; Thorntons is long gone

 Seven Dials

Not quite summer crowds

 Kensington Church Walk on the way to dinner

 Just waiting for leafy summer

 Krisy and Dickie on the move

Colton's recommendation: Dishoom Indian restaurant

In the southwest corner of the Barker's Building on Kensington
High Street, the restaurant has preserved all the original
Art Deco details of the Barker's building

 Waiting patiently for our delicious dinner to be served

Samosas, bhel, murgh malai, chicken tika, sheekh kabab, lamb
boti kabab, chicken ruby, black daal, raita,
basmati rice, and garlic naan

The days just unfold, so we will keep you posted about what happens tomorrow, our last day. This is it for today.

OXO

D.