A Month in England

Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cheerio from London-
So far everything has gone perfectly, knock on wood. Our flight from Detroit to London was uneventful and actually arrived at Heathrow 30 minutes early. We did have a particularly long line at border control but when we came out of the arrival hall there was an announcement for “Passenger Crandall arriving from Detroit, please meet your driver at the Information Desk.” So we very quickly were whisked away to our apartment, arriving in Notting Hill about 9:00. It does not take long to inspect a three room apartment so by 10:00 Lynda was happily napping and Tim was exploring the area. We are located in a residential neighborhood so it is a bit of a walk to shops, restaurants, pubs, etc. The shops are interesting because they are locally owned, no chain stores to speak of. Portobello Road has an interesting blend of true antique stores as well as tourist dive souvenir stores. Any of you wanting commemorative gifts from Will and Kate’s wedding, get your orders in quickly! There is also an interesting blend of restaurants. Within several blocks are Italian, Indian Tandoori, Asian, Thai, and Mexican restaurants as well as a very nice selection of pubs. There were not many people on the street this morning when Tim did his walk about, but we just got back from lunch and grocery shopping and there were many more people out and about. We are anxious to see what it is like in the evening. The only negative so far is that the apartment does not have internet access. The pub we had lunch in was also supposed to be an internet café but we had no luck there either. In a little while we are going to get our London Transport cards and then take a bus ride. We will keep an eye out for internet café’s on our bus ride. We are both thrilled to be back in London and will fill you in on more of our adventures in a day or two.
Cheers!

Friday, May 6
We are sitting in the Café in St. Martins in the Fields, a famous church located in Trafalgar Square. The Café is actually in the crypt of the church. Madi would love it! We both had fish and chips. Lynda once again did not eat her mushy peas. Tim wonders why he is abused about not eating vegetables. It is a stunning day, temperature in the 70’s with abundant sun. Eat your hearts out. We spent the morning in Little Venice which is located in the Maida Vale section of London. It gets its name from the canals that run through the area. Lots of boats are permanently anchored in the canals as residences. We have some shopping to do this afternoon and hope to spend some time in the National Portrait Gallery. Tomorrow will be our first visit to the Portobello St. Market. We are looking forward to that. Just hope the heavy showers predicted for the weekend hold off.
More later.