South Kensington, London

Stop # 3 from July 19 - 22, 2000
Our Travel Experience - Photo Album - Ratings - Tourist Info

Our Travel Experience

It was a great idea to stay in the Imperial College dormatory since we were only a five minute walk from our old flat. We really enjoyed being back in our old London neighborhood. We think we enjoyed it so much since we were familiar with all the places we wanted to go, knew all the foods we hoped to eat, had no questions about all the things we wanted to do and got to see a few friends. We would hightly recommend the dorms also. It was especially neat for us since our first night in London together in 1995 was Guy Fawkes night and we remember watching fireworks being shot off from the room of the exact dorm we were now staying in!

We only wish we could have stayed longer. Three nights in London seemed to fly by!

After a few phone calls since we were late disembarking, Tara sorted out the surprise ride she had planned for Seth. We were zipping into London not on the tube, but in our friend's Mercedes. I can't imagine that it gets much better than this! Thanks Jonathon!

We couldn't enter our room until 3pm, so we went to hunt down lunch and discovered that none of our favorite restaurants opened until 12:30pm! Obviously, when we lived in London, we were never home for lunch during the week, so this was a surprise for us. But, no problem, we picked up snacks at Hart's and went back to the Imperial College garden to eat them. After a bit of a nap, our room was ready and so were we -- for another nap! We barely managed that night to head out for dinner since we were so asleep. But in the end we did & the owner of our favorite Italian restaurant even remembered us!

The next day started very early for Tara since she was up before 6am and went for a walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The city was just waking up and it was nice to reflect upon memories from when we lived in London as she walked. After a long walk, she still wanted to go swimming at the college pool she always used. It was excellent! Even though Tara was worried (after becoming used to the luxury in Tokyo of Sky Across) things were fine and she enjoyed a refreshing swim. By now Seth was up and we walked over to another building for breakfast. What a surprise! A full English breakfast. "Yum Yum - Beans on my eggs" thought Tara. "Yuk Yuk" thought Seth. The best thing about not having to be anywhere was that after eating breakfast, we could lay down in the grass and have a quick nap!

Seth wanted to meet his work colleagues for lunch, but since he didn't plan ahead, we weren't sure if we could or not. So, Seth left a message at work and we sat out on the dorm's balcony waiting to see if the pay phone would ring or not. Just sitting outside on the balcony overlooking the park was enjoyable. Seth read a Catherine Kerr fantasy book and Tara read Japanese short stories. The weather was beautiful for London, so we just savored it.

still have to write more as of 15 Aug 2000

Seth did end up going for lunch with work colleagues.
Tara went to covent garden to look for a back pack patch & figure out where to go for Oxford.
Remember:
enjoying the Internet cafe
the bus that 'broke down' on the way home
the Kings Road
Waitrose curries, the church garden & High Fidelity in the theatre
another day of swimming - with a hot tub this time!
a wonderful BBQ dinner at Jonathon's + movie highlights on DVD
Rushing to get to Paddington for the train

Photo Album
 
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All the photos we took on our digital camera (in a very rough format).

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Imperial College Bed and Breakfast