I’m now back from my London trip and I have totally changed my mind about this exciting city. In my last blog post, I recounted an underwhelming visit many years ago that really kept me from going back. My how things have changed!
Not sure whether I had a much better experience because I’m older and better off financially versus a poor student’s perspective. Certainly it seems that the restaurant fare is much more diverse and rivals any other major city.
The day of arrival from the States is always a fog for me. It took about 45 minutes to get through customs at Heathrow. We couldn’t check into our hotel right away, so we got on the double decker sightseeing bus and got familiar with the city.
We checked into the Grand Plaza serviced apartments that afternoon. We were very pleased with this choice, conveniently located near Hyde Park in the Bayswater area of town. The rooms were small but comfortable and clean; it had a lift (dragging luggage up several flights is just not an option any more); it was just a short walk to a Tube station; taxis regularly drove by; and a busy shopping and restaurant street was nearby. We also enjoyed having a little kitchenette complete with a stove, microwave, and dishwasher.
The first evening we met up with a friend’s daughter who had just started graduate school at the London School of Economics, ate at a wonderful Greek restaurant near our hotel and crashed early.
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Maybe I need to go one more time. London is still my least favorite of all the big cities I’ve experienced. However, my last trip was much better than the first because I found “non-British” food. Somebody needs to introduce spices, especially garlic, to those folks!!! Like your web site!