It has been a long time. Last year was a great year with a wedding in California.
We were confident that it would happen. Last year was spent in the USA with a family event.
We flew into Heathrow on Saturday. I had no idea of the size of Heathrow.. Our plane was an Airbus 300 and the gate was at the far end of terminal. We avoid baggage pickup by traveling with a carry-on and backpack. (Yes, 5 weeks in Europe with carry-on).
My brother, Bill, arrived at a different terminal. We had agreed to meet at a coffee shop in his arrival terminal. Easy, you say. We walked for twenty minutes before reaching terminal 2. Confusion on the elevator. More confusion at the coffee shop. And 30 minutes later, we are four.
It is early Saturday afternoon. We are going into London. Our expectation is that traffic will be light. The cab fare reasonable.
Reality is the traffic is always, always bad in London - and worse in the direction you wish to move.Secondly, that London is huge. Last visit, our apartment was in the Notting Hill area. This apartment is in the Hammersmith District. The owner's advertisement was misleading. The result is a slow twenty three mile journey. An expensive lesson is learned.
The driver points out that someone had damaged the credit card reader so half way through the journey he informs us "cash only".
Fortunately, we used the ATM at the airport and have the cash.
The apartment is on the third floor with a lift (I am proud that I wrote "lift). Third floor, of course, is really the fourth floor. The apartment is in an up and coming area of London. There is a family feel to the area.
Bill and I walk to the Super Tesco and the park is full for a Children's Carnival. There are lots of small shops and restaurants. Trees line the streets. The buildings are white windows offsetting red brick.
I wanted to show Bill the uniqueness of European grocery stores. Tesco is for the family discount shopper. It is not Mark & Spencer. Selection in Europe is always limited. Super Tesco is Winn Dixie without the volume. Great for families - bad for a tourist trying to be cool for his brother.
Bill takes it in great stride. We needed the walk. It is a sunny warm day. We are tired from little sleep on the planes. Traffic is heavy. Of course, I got us lost.
We found a bar/restaurant named Belushi's. Bill is patient and finally, ask for directions. After Bill gets us back on track - I realize my mistake - I turned left instead of right.
Being lost for a short term is not a bad thing. You learn the local streets. You find local places tat you want to visit. You look so much smarter when on the next day someone ask you for directions.
The apartment is in a building being remodeled (gentrified). The owner is a young man who is industrious. He rents out the investment apartment until someone offers him a huge sum to sell.
He is not investing anything in the apartment. The apartment is functional. Two bedrooms along a long corridor with the small kitchen with a microwave with incomprehensible verbal instructions. The small refrigerator is the size of a large cooler and as cold. The clothes washer is old and dangerous.
The faucet only bleeds hot water.
The bathroom was an European tub - high fiberglass walls with a glass barrier which only covers have the tub. The shower head is new. The operation takes practice with only water water. The towels are few and old.
There is barely room to turn around.
The rooms are reasonably clean and the Television and, importantly, the internet is functional.
Caroline takes the sofa bed in the living room.
This is an adventure and the price is reasonable. So it is a fair deal.
Caroline is a great leader and a great story teller. She plans out the stay by day. Tomorrow begins early with our visit to Buckingham Palace.
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