yk's London/Oxford Trip Report - 6 days of art, music, historic houses - a journey through English history

Hi yk. It seems as if you were just here, now you've been, are back and writing your trip report. Thanks for the thanks. I'm really looking forward to reading your report.

Day 0 - getting there

There are 2 daily nonstop flights from Boston to LHR on American Airlines. I prefer the day flight, which is much easier on my body clock. However, being cheap, I didn't want to pay for an extra night of hotel, so I opted for the overnight flight.

The flight was full in economy, but fortunately I was able to reserve seat 31H on this 777, which is the bulkhead exit row seat with unlimited legroom.

I was only able to sleep for 2-3 hours on this short flight (6hrs). I chatted with my neighbor in the last 20 minutes of the flight. When I mentioned I was going to the opera to see JD Florez, it turns out that he is a lawyer who used to work with the Three Tenors organization. It was fun chatting with him, though I felt sorry for him having to fly in economy and attend a meeting 2 hours after the plane landed.

We landed at around 7am, immigration was very fast. I was at the Heathrow tube station by 7:30am.

Day 1 - Kensington Gardens, V&A, Leighton House, Royal Festival Hall

I got the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum via Priceline, for $108/night all-in. Naturally, the room was not ready when I arrived to check in.

After I dropped off my luggage, I asked myself, Where to go now? As it was only 8:30am, nothing (I mean attractions-wise) was open. So I decided to head to Kensington Gardens.

The sun was out and the fall foliage was quite beautiful there. I had a close-up look of Albert Memorial - what a huge, gaudy thing. I had read that Prince Albert actually did NOT want any kind of monument, but I guess Queen Victoria disregarded his wish.

From there, I walked along the Serpentine and found the Peter Pan statue. I continued northward until I reached the Italian Garden and fountains. I sat on a bench and rested for some time, but as it was quite chilly, I had to get up and move. By then it was 9:45am, so I made my way to the Serpentine Gallery which opens at 10am.

The current exhibition there is 4900 colors by Gerhard Richter. I was familiar with his earlier works, but this was quite a shock to me. I don't "get it". This work has the same concept as the stained glass he designed for the Cologne Cathedral, which I haven't been. I'm interested to see the similarites/differences.

It only took me 10 minutes at this show, and as I left, I had a look of the Gehry Paviliion next door which is now closed and being dismantled.

Next I hurried to the V&A in order to join the 10:30am guided Highlights tour. The V&A has guided tours every hour and they are free. Despite having been to London so many times before, this is the first time I set foot inside the V&A. I'm so glad I took the tour, as the sheer size and volume of the museum would have completely overwhelmed me.

Our tour only had 3 people, and the docent is extremely knowledgable. One of our first stops is the cast room, which is quite a WOW factor for someone like me who's never been. We spent most of our time in the Asian galleries, specifically in the Middle East section as those galleries were re-done not too long ago. The star of the show is the beautiful Ardabil carpet, now displayed on the floor inside a special glass case. It is only lit twice an hour, so our guide had to carefully time the tour so that we could see it when it's lit.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/asia/object_stories/ardabil/index.html

We also passed through the Costume section, the Raphael cartoons, and finally ended in the British Galleries next to the Great Bed of Ware.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/british_galls/index.html

At the end of the tour (1 hour), I found out the same guide will be doing the British galleries guided tour (1500-1760) at 12:30pm, so I decided to join that as well.

Between 11:30 and 12:30, I quickly rushed to the upstairs British Galleries to check out the Arts & Crafts Movement section, then over to the Dining Rooms.

The Dining Rooms (Morris, Gamble, and Paynter) at the V&A are not to be missed - even if you don't want to eat there. I had a soup, bread & butter, a side order of vegetables. Total was £7.45.

The 12:30pm British Galleries tour group was much bigger in size - perhaps 20 people? At that point, I was so exhausted that I didn't quite absorb much. At the end of the tour, I returned to the hotel and collapsed in my bed.

An hour later, I reluctantly got up so that I could visit Leighton House near Holland Park. I had hoped to make it to their 2:30pm guided tour, but I really needed my nap. This was the home of painter Fred Leighton. The most impressive room is the Arab Hall - simply amazing.
http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/LHLeightonHouse/HouseTour/arabhall2.asp

Throughout the house are paintings by Leighton, which I admit I'm not a fan.

For those of you who want to visit Leighton House, unfortunately you'll have to wait 1 year, as it closed on Oct 31 (the day after my visit) for renovations.

When I came out of the house, which was 5pm, I was rather shocked to see that it was dark already. I really wish I had visited London before the end of daylight savings time. I found it depressing when it gets dark so early.

I made my way across town to Royal Festival Hall in the South Bank. Why? Because I found out online there would be a free chamber music concert there at 6pm. You must think I'm crazy to go to a concert on arrival day. But why not? It's free, so even if I slept through the whole concert, what do I have to lose?

The chamber concert was held by soloists of the Philharmonia orchestra. They performed Bruckner's String Quintet in F major. It lasted 45 minutes.

I returned back to the hotel and ate dinner at Delhi Brasserie nearby. This place was mentioned by Fodorite carolyn. As I was browsing its website before I left, I noticed they offer a 20% off voucher which I could print out. All the better!

The restaurant is fancier than I expected - complete with white table cloth and candles. I ordered an entree of lamb curry, a side of steamed rice, plus a soda. With the discount, my dinner was £11.20.
http://www.delhibrasserie.com/about_us.htm

The food there is quite good, though I'm no expert on Indian food. My only complaint was that all my clothes smelled like Indian food for the next few days (my jacket, wool hat, wool scarf etc).

Day 2 - Oxford

Part I

Thanks to Fodorites, I found out that I could save some money by buying my Oxford bus tickets through Megabus. Megabus acts as a 3rd-party discount outlet for Oxford Tube (not Oxford espress), and tickets can be as low as £1 each way, but I waited until last minute (48hrs) so I paid £5 each way for a grand total of £10.50 (50p booking fee). This is compared to the regular price of £16 same-day r/t ticket.

The downside of Megabus ticket is that you are stuck with taking the exact bus you booked and you lose the flexibility. Most of you probably don't think it's worth the savings, but it was fine with me.

I got up at 5:15am in order to catch the 7am Oxford Tube bus from Victoria. On its website, it wasn't clear to me where the bus stop is, so I arrived a bit early to find it (along Buckingham Palace Road between Victoria rail station and Victoria coach station). I was a bit nervous as I was the only person waiting, but eventually another woman came and confirmed I was at the right spot.

We chatted for quite some time on the bus. She is Romanian but moved to the UK 3 years ago. She used to live in Oxford but now she lives in London. Of course I took this advantage to get some travel tips for Romania (even though I had no immediate plans to visit).

The bus made numerous stops on the way, and went past Shepard's Bush where I saw the brand-new Westfield shopping mall which had just opened the day before. From the outside, it doesn't look that interesting from an architecture point of view.

As the bus got on to M40, there was some nice autumn foliage alongside the highway.

We arrived in Oxford at 8:45am. Since nothing is open until 9, I stopped at Starbucks for some coffee.

At 9am sharp, I arrived at the entrance to Christ Church. Although the website says it opens at 9, it turns out that only the Cathedral is open at 9, while the Great Hall doesn't open until 10:30. The guards told me to return at 10:15.

Because of that, I had to completely rearrange my whole itinerary that day. As not much else is open at 9, I strolled along the Christ Church Meadow for a bit, then headed back towards High Street to visit St Mary's Church (which opens at 9).

I climbed the tower (£3) which has a magnificent view of Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College (thanks flanner for the info). The best thing is I was the only person on the tower to enjoy this view.

Afterwards, I went to Bodleian Library to book a guided tour for 11:30, and to the tourist office to book the walking tour for 1pm. Then I made my way back to Christ Church.

Christ Church was started by Cardinal Wolsey, on the site of the Priory of St Frideswide, who is the patron saint of Oxford. Unfortunately, Wolsey never finished the college as he fell out of favor of Henry VIII. Later, Henry VIII restarted the construction of the college.

After you enter the college (£4.90), there is a room on the right showing a 15-min video on the history of Christ Church college. Very informative.

The cathedral has plenty of stained glass windows by Burne-Jones (who studied at Oxford and was a close friend of William Morris).

Most people visit Christ Church because of Harry Potter fame, as the Great Hall was used as the dining hall at Hogwarts. On the far side of the wall hangs a portrait of Henry VIII, next to him, a profile portrait of Cardinal Wolsey.

To exit Christ Church, one walks past the Tom Quad with Tom Tower on the opposite side, designed by Wren.

I made my way to Bodleian Library for the 11:30 tour. Within the quad, just in front of the entrance, is a statue of 3rd Earl of Pembroke. The building has an interesting facade.

The Library tour (£6) is a must-see for any visitor, IMO. First, we wait inside the Divinity School, which is a magnificent hall of Medieval architecture. It was originally built as the examination hall for students. There is a Drake chair - made from timber from the Golden Hind. [The Divinity School was also featured in a few of the Harry Potter movies.]

From the Divinity School, we entered into the Convocation House which is now used for university meetings. During the civil war, this was where Charles I held his royalist parliament. (Oxford was a royalist stronghold and Charles I stayed at Christ Church.)

Then we headed upstairs to Duke Humfrey's Library. Duke Humfrey was brother of Henry V, and he had a magnificent collection of manuscripts. This library was built to house those. It is absolutely beautiful, and one would not be able to visit it without the guided tour.
http://shop.bodley.ox.ac.uk/acatalog/Tours.html

At the end of the tour, our knowledgable guide mentioned the list of movies and TV shows that were filmed at the Bodleian Library, including Inspector Lewis series. In fact, he mentioned, they are filming Inspector Lewis today at the Randolph Hotel.

My heart almost stopped when I heard this, as I am a fan of this new series (Series One just premiered on PBS this past summer). I must admit I am quite taken by Lewis' sidekick Hathaway, played by actor Laurence Fox. For those of you not familiar with him, you must know his more-famous wife, Billie Piper. Anyway, how great would it be if I can meet Laurence Fox in person???

As I exited the Bodleian Library, I walked as quickly as I could towards the Randolph Hotel.

To be continued...

Yay! I was looking forward to your report, yk. I've stolen some ideas for our March trip just from your planning threads. It's nice to hear about some "smaller" London sights.

ttt to read later.

Great trip report, yk!

Lee Ann

I'm so glad to hear that you liked the Dehli Brasserie. I'm a budget traveler, too, and am always hesitant to recommend stuff unless people specifically ask for budget.

It certainly sounds like you made great use of your time. I'm another London lover (nine trips so far) but had to forfeit this year's visit since my daughter and I are planning to go to New Zealand in February and are saving our travel money. So, anyway, I'm enjoying your trip report and pretending I'm there with you.

Welcome back, yk!

Really enjoying your report so far. I am in awe at your stamina- what an amazing amount of things you did on your arrival day!

Sorry to hear the weather wasn't so great. Apparently it's been pretty cold this year. I was extremely lucky to have hit sunny days earlier in October.

I just googled Laurence Fox and he's really cute. I hope you got to meet to him, or at least see in him person...(don't tell us you ended up having dinner with him!)

ttt

yk,

Always enjoyed your previous trip reports, and this one is no different! I've never had a very strict budget, but I'm really curious about your food budget, especially since you mentioned they were mostly at sit down restaurants. Were both lunch & dinner at restaurants, or just one? To stick to such a budget, I'm guessing you did loads of research for budget style places.

Isn't the cafe areas at the V&A lovely? We didn't have a full meal their(by the way, what did you think of your meal?), but we really enjoyed being in those rooms - I loved how certain aspects had a more middle eastern look to them.

Urgh, but to leave us on a cliffhanger!

yk, thanks, I am enjoying your report.

Yes love your trip reports yk and thought your report on Spain outstanding. When are you going to Italy? I would love to read that. Perhaps you should put them all together and give the dreaded Rick Steves a bit of competition!!!!

Oh - this is so great! And full marks for starting your report so soon after getting back. Really looking forward to the rest.

Glad that I was able to help a bit.

Waiting for more! Reading this makes me want to go back to London now.

I'm amazed by the amount of wonderful details you notice and remember even when rushing between so many places in such a short time. Do you keep a journal during the trip?

yk:
your energy and stamina are exceeded only by your reportorial skills. It's a great report. I'm looking forward to more.

Can't wait for more - I've been to Oxford but I was disappointed by a lot of it. Granted, I was only 19 then and on a forced tour - BUT, Christ Church is gorgeous! Thank you for providing tips for budget travellers as we appreciate them!

First of all, thank you for all your comments.

lennyba - I'm glad I could be of help. Your trip is not until next March!? I would have died waiting for it to come.

carolyn - I think in reality, majority of us here are "budget" travelers. There are plenty of more expensive options at Delhi Brasserie, and I'd have to say the waiters can be somewhat "pushy" to encourage one to order more. I have learned to be firm and stick with what I had in mind.

Apres_Londee - Yes, I'm quite disappointed with the weather. Esp since both you and rickmav had just returned from London and reported good weather!

MademoiselleFifi - Yes, I have a small moleskin journal and I jotted down stuff when I have a break. Also, looking at photos I took helps me remember things I might not have written down. I also have a very detailed printed itin which have all the bus #s, train schedules, opening hours listed. So that when I'm rushing, I can just peek at my "cheat sheet" and know what I'm supposed to do next.

DownUnder - I posted a trip report on Venice and Veneto here back in 2005. If you find the thread with the title "Post your Italy trip reports here", you'll be able to find the link to my TR.

pointofnoreturn - Oxford definitiely deserves a revisit. I had been there once before, when I was also 19. I visited someone there, and really had no recollection of what I saw then. So I'm just glad I finally went back, and now that I'm older (hopefully wiser) and know a tinsy bit more about English history, looking at these old buildings actually mean something to me now.

-----------------------------

Just a word about my meals and food budget (to answer Anna's question as well):

1) On average, I ate 2 meals each day. At least 1 meal per day was at a sit-down restaurant, some days both were.

2) I am not a big eater, so I mainly ordered just one main dish, +/- a non-alcoholic drink. No appetizers, no desserts.

3) On my arrival day, I bought a bag of apples from Waitrose, plus a package of (don't laugh) McVities Penguin Biscuits. This is a package of 18 individually wrapped chocolate-covered biscuits in 3 different flavors. They served as snacks during the day and sometimes dessert at night or even breakfast. I consumed all 18 biscuits in 6 days.

4) Re lunch at the V&A: My soup (I think it was leek and potato) was lovely. The vegetable side dish was a bit bland. There was free tap water available.

If my husband had come along with me, I highly doubt we could stick with this £20pp/day budget for food, as he is a big eater and needs at least 3 meals a day.

Look, forget all this stuff about how many leeks in her soup.

She's - well possessed of a Scottish attitude to money. But she's left us, after banging on about cheapo food, to sprint off to a poncey gaff that charges eighteen quid for a cup of tea and a few cucumber sandwiches. Were the loos in the Bodleian too cold for her?

Or is there an assignation about to happen?

Whatever it is:

Get on with it, woman

great report as usual YK!

Day 2 - Oxford

Part II

So, picking up where I left off...

The fabulous guided tour of the Bodleian Library had just ended, and I went in search of the crew of Inspector Lewis.

In a fast pace, I walked down Broad Street, turned right onto Magdalen St (and saw the Martyrs' memorial on the right), then turned left onto Beaumont street. The Randolph Hotel is right on the corner of Magdalen & Beaumont. I was expecting to see road blockades and lots of filming trucks etc. BUT...

NOTHING! Just a normal city street with normal traffic.

So here I was, standing in front of Randolph Hotel, contemplating my next move. Perhaps they're filming inside? Maybe I should head in and check.

For those of you who don't know, Randolph Hotel is a 5* hotel (or at least it claims to be).
http://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/randolph/
Dressed in a light purple down puffer jacket, blue jeans, and a pair of brownish-grey sneakers, I am hardly the type of clientele who would enter Randolph Hotel.

In the end, I drew a deep breath and opened the doors of the hotel. Inside I would describe as old world opulence decor. I looked around and didn't see any filming action going on. I was ready to give up and leave, then I decided to ask the 2 men at the concierge desk.

They were very friendly, and sadly informed me that Yes, the film crew was at the hotel the last few days, but they had checked out yesterday. As far as they knew, there's no more filming today. They continued on to tell me that they were extras in the most recent episode, so I thanked their info and promised I'd look for them when the series air in the US.

What a missed opportunity! If I could have just come here one day earlier...

With this detour, it was close to 1pm for the Oxford Walking Tour (£7), so I headed back to Broad street Tourist Office.

(If you are interested in taking the walking tour, I think it'll be prudent to buy your ticket as soon as you arrive in Oxford. The tours are limited in size - 19 people - so they do sell out. On the day I went, which was a Friday, the Tourist Office ended up adding a few more tours in the afternoon due to the high demand.
http://tinyurl.com/5a4aas)

Our tour guide is one excellent Dr. Charles Mould. With a bit of googling, I found out he is an Emeritus Fellow of St Cross College as well as a former Secretary of the Bodleian Library. You can see how impressive his knowledge is of Oxford.

We began our tour just a few yards from the tourist office, at the cross in the middle of Broad Street. This marks the spot where bishops Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake back in the 1500s.

The 2hr+ tour covered a fair amount of ground though we mainly stood outside of buildings. The only college we went in was Jesus College (which isn't open to the public) where we saw the chapel and the hall. But most importantly in this tour, was the history and knowledge told by our guide.

By now, it was past 3pm and I was cold (it was very cold that day, and being outside walking for 2 hours didn't help) and starving. I orginally had planned to eat at Loch Fyne, but I wasn't sure if it closes for lunch, or perhaps I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the £11 lunch deal, so I didn't attempt to go there.
http://www.lochfyne.com/
I tried to look for Edamame, but it closed after 2:30pm. I ended up eating at Pret a Manger on Cornmarket Street. It is set inside a beautifully restored half-timbered building (I think from the 16th or 17th century?).

As I was starving, I ordered a lot at Pret a Manger: a miso soup, a chicken/rocket sandwich, a bag of crisps, and a lemon cheesecake. Total came out to £8.

After my late lunch, I walked over to Ashmolean Museum (free). It is currently under renovation, but some galleries are still open, including one room called the "Treasures Room" (aka greatest hits - and thanks flanner for the info). The most important 200 objects of the musueum are displayed in this room.

Interestingly, the organization of these objects are thematic, rather than chronological. So in each display case, there are artifacts next to one another which can be 2000 years and 10,000 miles apart from their origins. I thought that was an interesting concept, but a bit disconcerting at times.

I still had some extra time before the museum closes at 5pm, so I walked through the rest of the museum.
http://www.ashmolean.org

When I emerged from Ashmolean at closing time, it was dark already. My bus back to Oxford isn't until 6:10pm, so this is the time for me to visit Magdalen College (whose website states it is open until 6pm). Of course, it was my oversight - it was open until 6pm OR dusk.

When I got there, yes, it's closed. So I slowly strolled back along High Street, did some window shopping, and made my way to Gloucester Green station for my bus back to London.

I am somewhat disappointed that I missed Magdalen College, but I don't know what I could have done differently to fit that in, given the short opening times of the Colleges and the short daylight hours. If I had gone a week sooner before the end of DST, I probably could have visited Magdalen College.

On the bus trip back, I had a nice (and much-needed) nap, so I was re-energized when we arrived back in London.

Because of construction work around Notting Hill, the bus stopped at Baker Street station where I got off. It's already 8pm by now, but I have one more stop for today.

I made my way by tube to Tate Modern which is open late on Friday (and Sat) nights until 10pm. I have been there several times before, but my main goal on this trip is to see the Rothko exhibition (£12.50).
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/

Before I headed upstairs for the show, I stopped by quickly at the Turbine Hall to check out the current Unilever series by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. I'm not sure what to make of it, and I'm relieved to see that the reviewers felt the same way.

The star of the Rothko show is a reuniting of many of his Seagram murals. Rothko painted a total of 30 canvases for the Seagram Building commission (which he backed out of), and the Tate's 8 are shown together with 9 others from Japan and the US.

I spent another £3.50 for the audioguide due to a very persuasive museum staff. I was a bit skeptical, but at the end of the show, I was really glad I got it. It was one of these new interactive guides which a screen - plenty of information on it.

Let me just say this first, I LOVE the Seagram murals gallery at the Tate Modern. In fact, I can go one step further and say that it's my most favorite gallery in all of London. The lighting, the intimacy of that gallery is perfect for viewing his paintings.

Therefore I was a bit disappointed when I stepped into this exhibition. Of course, in order to accomodate all the canvases, the room has to be much larger. It feels too big, too impersonal, and WAY too crowded. It's still great to see these paintings reunited, but it's just not the same feeling I get when I visited the Seagram murals room.

The rest of the galleries showed his later works, which are no longer the dreamy colorfield paintings, but rather, dark & well-delineated colorblock paintings, which I don't fancy as much. (As a result, the Rothko Chapel in Houston didn't move me the way his colorfield paintings do.)

Before I left, I returned to the main Seagram gallery. At this point it was almost closing time (10pm) and the crowd had finally thinned out. It was a better experience with much fewer people around.

At the gift shop, I could not resist an unexplainable urge to purchase a framed print, so I did, for £40.

From Southwark Street, I took the RV1 bus to Covent Garden, then walked over to Chinatown for dinner.

I was quite surprised by the changes in Chinatown. Many old-style restaurants have been replaced by newer, modern (ie more pricey) Chinese establishments, esp along Lisle Street. This is compared to my last visit just 6 months ago.

It was almost 10:45pm by the time I arrived at my go-to place in C-town: HK Diner on Wardour Street. I have eaten here several times on my previous trips, and I've found it to serve reliable Cantonese "fast food" so to speak, though it IS a sit-down restaurant with table service.

Since I had a big lunch, here, I only ordered a bowl of wonton noodle soup with extra veggies, plus a pot of tea (free). My dinner was £7.20.

End of Day 2

Were the loos in the Bodleian too cold for her?

Funny you mentioned this. I had to use the loo at the Bodleian library before the tour. I was escorted by a staff to the rest room (which is halfway up the stairs). I asked her if I should just make my way back to the front desk when I'm done, but she told me that she had to stand at the entrance there and wait for me, in order to escort me back. I guess they don't trust visitors and worry they might take off and roam around the place?

"Dressed in a light purple down puffer jacket, blue jeans, and a pair of brownish-grey sneakers, I am hardly the type of clientele who would enter Randolph Hotel."

A might too formal, maybe. But they understand that Americans overdress.

yk

I wish I had half your energy. What a great trip report. You really maximize your time.

Keep it coming--I'm particularly interested in the opera(s).

Day 3 - Borough Market, William Morris Gallery, Sutton House, Aida at ENO

Today is Saturday and my plan was to arrive at Borough Market by opening time which is 9am.

Alas, I overslept and didn't leave the hotel until 9. As there's no straightforward way to get from Gloucester Rd tube station to Borough Market, I decided to take the tube to Monument and walk across London Bridge.

Since I was at Monument station, I might as well popped over to Leadenhall Market for a quick peek (thanks Apres_Londee and rickmav for bringing this place up in their trip reports).

The best thing about visiting Leadenhall Market on a Saturday morning is that it is deserted. Only 1 other tourist was there. All the shops are still closed. It is truly a gorgeous Victorian building. (To complete my Harry Potter theme, the market was used as Diagon Valley in the first movie.)
http://www.leadenhallmarket.co.uk/

As it was cold, windy and drizzly, plus I was running behind schedule, I took the easy way out by hopping on a bus towards Borough Market.

I entered through the Borough High Street entrance, and immediately to my left is the Monmouth Coffee stall. What a great way to start my morning. They serve real drip coffee (£2) and one of that morning's choices is Guatamalan, which is what I drink at home normally.

I roamed around the covered section several times, checking out some wild game (rabbits, fowls, mallard ducks) and lots of other stalls. It seemed a bit small until I found out there was another uncovered section (underneath the railroad bridge). I had quite a few free cheese samples from the many cheese stalls, saw some Melton Mowbray pork pies, and finally found this famous Grilled Cheese/Raclette stall that everybody talked about here. Of course I had to have some, so I ordered a plate of raclette (£5) which served as brunch for me today. My only complaint is because of the cold weather, the melted cheese quickly coagulated back into a big glob.

To counteract the cheese and fat I just ingested, I bought a punnet of strawberries (75p) and ate it while I was still at the market. Before I left, I bought a blueberry muffin to go (£2) for later.

I was there for about 45 minutes between 9:45-10:30. It wasn't crowded at all. I had previously read Fodorites reports that Borough Market gets extremely crowded (elbow-to-elbow) on Sat mornings, so this was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps it was the bad weather that kept people away?
http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

Next, I went across the street to visit the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret (£5.45; but I found a 20% off coupon on discountbritain.net, thanks to texasbookwork, so I paid £4.36).

The entrance is a bit tricky to find as the building currently is undergoing some construction with lots of scaffolding.

Once you enter the door on the street level, you have to climb up a steep and narrow sprial staircase until you reach another door which is the entrance to the museum.

This is a quirky place. It is the roof attic of a church which used to be attached to the St Thomas Hospital. The attic was used as a storage space for herbs for hospital use in the early 1800s.

A few decades later, half of the attic was converted to an operating theatre in order to accommodate the number of surgeons and appretice observing the surgeries.

Another few decades later, St Thomas Hospital moved, and this attic space was closed up and forgotten... for over 100 years until it was rediscovered the mid-1950s.

I spent about 45 minutes there.
http://www.thegarret.org.uk/

Next is my onward journey by tube to the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow. As it was raining quite hard, I decided to take the bus from the station to the house. (At the tube station, follow signs to the bus stop. Go to Stop D and take any bus there - 4 in total - to Bell Corner. Bell Corner is the 3rd stop. After getting off, continue forward until the big intersection and turn left onto Forest Road. The gallery is 200 meters down on the Right.) The trip took just under 1 hour.

William Morris Gallery (free) houses a wonderful exhibit. The ground level is divided into multiple rooms, describing his life and works in chronological order. On display are his wallpaper designs (including his famous Trellis and Daisy), tapestries, lots of painted tiles, plus stained glass by Burne-Jones (whose work I had just seen the day before in Oxford's Christ Church Cathedral).

Upstairs on the first floor is full of pre-Raphaelites' paintings as Morris is affliated with that group (his wife being a model for the artists). I'm sorry to say but I am no fan of pre-Raphaelites paintings.

Behind the house is a wonderful garden and grounds, which unfortunately I had to skip due to the bad weather. I left after 1hr 15 minutes and caught the bus back to Walthamstow Central.
http://www1.walthamforest.gov.uk/wmg/home.htm

From there, I caught a National Express East Anglia train and got off 2 stops later (5-min ride) at Clapton Station. Outside the station I caught a bus (#253 or #254) to Hackney Baths, and from there is a short walk to Sutton House.

Before I talk about Sutton House, let me just say a few words about Lower Clapton Road & Hackney based on my experience. This part of town is known as "Murder Mile" so naturally I was a bit apprehesive about visiting there on my own. But since this was going to occur during daylight hours, I figured it should be fine.

Overall, the whole area seemed completely fine. If I hadn't heard/read about Murder Mile, I wouldn't even have given this area a second thought. There was plenty of traffic on the main roads, and plenty of people on the streets going on with their own business. The section I had to walk between Hackney Baths bus stop and Sutton House, all the houses there look decent and well-maintained. (This is compared to my experience in West Philadelphia in the 1990s, with rowhouses full of broken windows, graffiti on the walls.)

I did come across a few unruly teenagers on the bus from William Morris Gallery back to Walthamstow Station. They were quite unpleasant to one another, though never really a threat to any fellow passengers.

Sutton House (a National Trust property, £2.80) is the oldest building in the East End of London. It was built by a Ralph Sadleir in the 1500s in brick. He was the right hand man of Thomas Cromwell and later became Henry VIII's Secretary of State. He served 3 soverign, and was one of the judges at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. Talk about history!

The star of this house is the Linenfold Parlour, a room covered in wood panel of a linenfold design, dating back to the time of Sadleir. You can have a glimpse of the room here:
http://tinyurl.com/6mdmhj

2 other rooms (Little Chamber and Great Chamber) also retained wood paneling from the 16th & 17th c, while other rooms were decorated in Georgian and Victorian style. The ground floor kitchen was restored back to Tudor style.

It is truly amazing to me how the linenfold paneling survived over 400 years without being dismantled or destroyed. After all, this is not an important historic building and the ownership had changed many times over the years. In fact, this house was a squatters house in the 1980s. The lady who worked there told me that the squatters locked up the Linenfold room as they realized how unique it is.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-suttonhouse

From Sutton House, it is a very short walk on a path (through the church graveyard) to Hackney Central station. If you arrive from Hackney Central, when you come out to the big intersection, just walk towards the old church tower and follow the path through the graveyard. When you exit the path, turn Right at you're at Sutton House.

Hackney Central is served by the Overground rail, and this is my first time riding it. 50 minutes later, I arrived back at my hotel.

After a nap, I took the tube to Chinatown for an early dinner (as I didn't have a proper lunch today). I ate at Baozi Inn on Newport Court which I read about in Time Out Cheap Eats.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/13356.html

I consider this place as another "fast food" type eatery (again, table service). Chairs are individual benches without backs, which basically leave one without any place to hang coats and scarfs. I ordered a bowl of Dan Dan noodles plus a glass of iced soy bean milk. My food was served in 5 minutes. I was in/out of the restaurant within 20 minutes tops.

With some time to spare before the 7:30pm Aida performance at ENO, I stopped at Starbucks for some coffee.

This Aida is an encore of last year's sold-out Aida production by Jo Davies and costume designs by Zandra Rhodes. The costumes remind me of peacocks - everything is either bright orange or peacock green. However, I don't think the design is as outrageous as the one she did for Magic Flute, which I saw in Dallas a few years ago (in fact, I went to a talk by her then and she showed up with her signature pink hair).

I had a decent Balcony seat for £21, and I think the singing is very good that night. I'm not used to listening to Italian opera sung in English though. I had forgotten how beautiful the interior is at the Coliseum. BTW, I spent another £6.50 there: £4.50 for the programme and £2 for ice cream during intermission.

Great report - thanks. I enjoyed lunch at the V&C "cafeteria". Very pretty rooms.

What a wonderful trip report as usual yk. It's lovely to hear from you.

<<What a missed opportunity! If I could have just come here one day earlier...>>

I was in Oxford the day before you, saw Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox by the Martyrs Monument, chatting to the director, loads of film crew all around, vans parked down the road opposite the Ashmolean. I didn't hang around to watch the cameras roll, it was too cold that day!

But I did the 11am walking tour, there were 21 of us, and we had the most verbose and boring guide you could imagine! He was genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about Oxford, but there was just too much information and it ended up being dull. All those on the tour who had not grown up speaking English had glazed eyes before we even moved away from Broad Street, and were totally baffled by the time we left Exeter College (opposite Jesus). I wanted to ask a question or two but didn't dare because it would have delayed us all for a further 10 minutes LOL!

The Sheldonian was closed for renovation, but did you get up into the cupola for the views for only 1 GBP?

I enjoyed the time I spent in the Ashmolean, especially the pre-Raphaelites on the top floor and all those Dutch still lifes featuring half-peeled lemons!

I wish I had visited the Bodleian Library, but I was a bit pushed for time, having to get back to Cheltenham before dusk.

Looking forward to the rest of your report, and wishing you many future trips so we can all read about them!

Day 4 - Red House, Eltham Palace, Westminster Abbey organ recital

I began my day with a coconut bun (80p) for breakfast, which I had purchased the night before in Chinatown.

My morning activity is to visit the Red House in Bexleyheath. To get there, I had to take the tube to Cannon Street and catch the Southeastern Train service to Bexleyheath (with a change in London Bridge). The train trip was 30 minutes.

At Bexleyheath station, it is a 15-20 min walk to Red House. It is a very straightforward walk with plenty of signs along the way.

Although it was still cloudy, fortunately the rain had stopped.

Red House (£6.60) is owned by the National Trust, and was the house of William Morris for about 5 years. It was designed and built by his architect friend Philip Webb. It can only be visited by a 1-hr guided tour which has to be booked in advance.

I was booked on the first tour of the day at 11:15am. There were 6 of us in our group. The exterior architecture is of gothic influence. Inside has plenty of stained glass. Unfortunately part of the house is under scaffolding currently (until Dec 08) so 4 stained glass windows along the entrance hall were blocked up.

Morris only lived here for 5 years because it is one cold, damp house. He developed rheumatic arthritis and his doctor recommended him to move.

Most of the wall coverings are reproductions, but several large furniture pieces remain as they were built into the walls. Some bits of wall frescos have been rediscovered (painted over by subsequent owners) , but NT has not completely restored those.

Interestingly, according to our guide, the Red House came up for sale back in the 1930s for just £300. National Trust rejected the decision to buy it then. Instead, they bought it in 2003 for £2 million.

Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Red House. I guess I expected to see more of Morris' designs and works in the house. I have not been to Kelmscott Manor, which I would be interested to visit some day.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-redhouse/

I retraced my steps back to Bexleyheath station, then took the train 2 stations back to Eltham (10-min ride).

At Eltham station, it is again a 15-20 min walk to Eltham Palace. One can also take bus #161 which cuts the walk to just 5 minutes.

Eltham Palace (£8.20, managed by English Heritage) is one unique and fascinating place. On its grounds, the 15th century Great Hall still stands, but now attached to a modernistic 1930s Art Deco home. I think the Courtaulds had done a wonderful job.

Before I toured the palace, I first ate lunch at the tea house. On its website, the tea house is described as "the original Service Quarters and a very different world. Enjoy tea or coffee, lunch or a light snack served by waitresses in traditional black and white uniform."

In reality, it is a rather charmless room with florescent lighting and pale green walls. The tea room was packed to the gills and the staff was simply overwhelmed. I ordered a brie/lettuce/tomato baguette sandwich and a soft drink. Since the place was so full, an older couple shared my table. It was fun chatting with them while I had lunch. The sandwich was served with a small side salad and crisps. Total was £5.55.

After lunch, I picked up the free audioguide and toured the palace (after putting on slipper covers over my shoes). The Art Deco Entrance Hall is truly impressive, even though I had seen numerous photos before. I love the wood marquetry on the walls.

My biggest complaint on my visit is that the place is full of children - young children - running wild inside the house. They were constantly touching the furniture, the walls etc. I understand the house wants to be children-friendly (has lots of children activities) in order to attract more people, but I worry about the wear and tear on the property?

The interior space is much larger than I had expected, and majority of the rooms are just spectacular (esp Virginia Courtauld's bathroom with gold mosaic and onyx, and the Venetian suite). By contrast, the medieval hall is less impressive despite its long history.

After touring the house, I had another hour to spare in the Gardens. The sky actually cleared and it was just beautiful. The golden afternoon rays shining on the fall foliage made this breathtaking. I took a nice long walk all around the premise, and finally left at 4pm (closing time for winter).
http://www.elthampalace.org.uk/

I headed back to Cannon Street station by train, then changed for the tube to Westminster. I took some dusk photos of Big Ben and London Eye (along with about a million tourists) before making my way to Westminster Abbey for their Sunday 5:45pm Organ Recital (free).

I think the concert was almost full. The wardens there were quite strict, admonishing tourists who were reading guidebooks or maps (this was while we were waiting for the recital to begin).

Currently, the Abbey is hosting new (aka contemporary) organ music. The performer that evening was Jan Lehtola from Finland, and the programme consisted of pieces by Jouko Linjama and Olli Kortekangas. Needless to say, these pieces are far far different than JS Bach or Saint-Saëns. Not really pleasant to the ears I must admit. The concert ended 30 minutes later.

Dinner that night was at the High Street Kensington branch of Prezzo, an Italian chain restaurant. I had eaten at a Prezzo 6 months ago in Salisbury, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. It offers honest good food, great service, and reasonable prices. The High St Ken branch was a bit hard to find, as it was tucked inside an alleyway and I almost missed it. (It is in the alley right across the street from Wagamama, in case you want to know.)

It was rather empty on this Sunday evening. The only other diners there was a group of 7 americans. It took me a while before I realized they are NW flight attendants.

My visit to Prezzo this time confirmed my previous experience. Again, food was simple and honest. I ordered a penne con bufala, a small mixed salad, and tap water. The pasta was done nicely in a light tomato sauce. The waitresses are very nice and attentive. I think the training staff has embraced the American way of service. After my entree arrived, I was asked 3 separate times by 3 different waitresses if my food was alright. Dinner bill was £11.40.
www.prezzoplc.co.uk

julia_t - I was thinking of you last week when I was in Oxford.

I was in Oxford the day before you, saw Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox by the Martyrs Monument, chatting to the director, loads of film crew all around, vans parked down the road opposite the Ashmolean.

You just have to mention this to make me jealous, don't you?

RE: Oxford tour guide. I was so into all this history stuff that I didn't pay attention to the rest of the group (I was the only one from US, the rest was split half British, half Europeans). Perhaps they found our guide boring too. I think one has to be somewhat interested in history in order to enjoy the walking tour. Our guide only does the tour twice a month, so at least I don't think it was the same person as yours.

I didn't climb the Sheldonian cupola. Since I had already climbed the St Mary's tower, I figured that should do it.

I am very happy that you had a grand time. Though I would have little interest in some of the places you visited, I am glad you did.

Also, it was a pleasure that food was simple and fulfilling. I do get to wondering sometimes about the time and amount of food reported by some as if food is the purpose of travel.

Oh yes - you do need to try to get to Kelmscott Manor sometime. I'm not sure if it is doable by public transport though.

Where furnishings were missing, the Antiquaries bought many of Morris' own things from Kelmscsott House in London. So it is very complete, and the gardens are really lovely.

One thing I forgot to mention Re Oxford. A few nights ago I had dinner with my DH's aunt, whom I have never met before. She lives in Oxford and is visiting the US. She told me that last week she parked near the Randolph Hotel and guess what? Yeap, she saw the whole filming crew of Inspector Lewis as well. She probably was there the same day as you were, julia.

rogeruktm - Yes, it was nice that I could get good, non-fancy food for not much money. Granted, I wouldn't mind eating at Gordon Ramsay if money was no object, but sometimes I do wonder how some Fodorites can afford €100 meals (for 2) night after night.

janis- I did look at Kelmscott Manor's website and it doesn't appear it can be reached by public transportation. Some day I'll just have to make my husband agree to rent a car in the UK and drive on the CORRECT side of the road. He does have some relatives in the UK so perhaps they could drive us if DH refuses.

Great report as usual, yk. I also don't know how you manage to do so much in such a short time.
Hmmmm...if the pound keeps dropping I may just have to go back to London.

Enjoying your report very much yk. You are great at fitting in a lot!

I'm pretty much of the same mind on the food thing. There are so many options in London despite the city's being so expensive, that I find it's possible for me to be quite satisfied in the "cheapish" food department, particularly when I don't have my husband and his appetite along.
However, I'm a bit fussy about my hotels. I'm hoping to return to London this winter sometime.
I'm considering Priceline for this next trip because I too want to watch my budget (for once). How was the HI Kensington Forum?

If the rel's won't/can't drive you (and if your DH is such a wuss ) - you could always hire a cab from either Swindon or Oxford train stations.

yk,

Thanks for going more into detail about your food budget. Didn't realize that I wrote my question wrong - although I didn't have as strict a food budget as you did, I did have a budget...I might have given myself about 10 pounds more per day, which still isn't much

I think your right about most people of fodors being budget travelers, and although alot of people don't like the chain rest. in Britain like Pret a Manger and Prezzo(haven't been there yet) it's adequate, and most times quite good food for anyone on a budget.

Too bad you missed seeing the film crew! I think I would have felt the same way if I missed seeing the Doctor Who team filming an episode.

This thread touched on Oxford renovation projects. To update:

The Sheldonian Theatre reopens today, though tourist visits don't restart till Monday . The usual concert programme also restarts today.

The Ashmolean Museum closes completely on December 23 and won't reopen till November 2009

The Pitt Rivers Museum is closed, and will remain so till spring 2009. This is the slightly obscure ethnographic museum: its much more visited neighbour, the University Museum (one of Britain's two great temples of dinosaurology, and therefore as chocker every wet Sunday afternoon as an IKEA opening day) is unaffected by the Oitt Rivers closure

Merton College claims on one site (http://tiny.cc/Dc68b) to be closed to visitors while construction work is on. No idea how long this is taking, and not on my usual beat, so phone themn to check.

Another wonderful report, yk. I can't wait to hear about Juan Diego Florez!

Kristina - You can always go to London to celebrate your 41st birthday!

taggie - the HI Kensington is fine. My room faces Cromwell Rd so it is a bit noisy. I'd say the HI is like a 3.5* hotel (altho PL rates it as 4*). I'll post a more detailed hotel review at the end of the TR.

Coming up next...
IMW, NPG, ROH w/JDF

great details thanks....

Day 5 - Imperial War Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Opera House

This morning, I "treated" myself to breakfast at the hotel. The reason I use "" is because I didn't have to pay for it.

6 months ago, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Regents Park. There was a minor issue w/my stay so I wrote a complaint email to HI. As a compensation, they sent me 3 US$10 vouchers. Because my hotel stay this time was prepaid through Priceline, the only way to use the vouchers is to have breakfast.

I cannot imagine anyone eating there if they have to pay out of their own pocket. The choices are the £14.95 continental buffet breakfast, or the £16.95 full English buffet breakfast.

The continental buffet offers bread, croissants, cold cuts, cheeses, cereals, fruit, tomatoes/cucumbers. There're also various juices, coffee/tea. I just cannot believe they charge so much for this.

The English breakfast includes everything on the continental section, plus hot food.

The resto was quite busy that morning. I hope everyone is either on business accounts or has a hotel package that includes breakfast.

I ate a lot, as this would serve as both breakfast and lunch for me today.

I walked to South Kensington station and took a bus to Lambeth North to visit the Imperial War Museum. I was in a sightseeing mood and hence chose the bus. It was a great sightseeing route as it passed through many parts of town I have never set foot on.

It went from S Ken to Sloane Sq, then towards the river (where I had a good view of the Battersea power station), through Pimlico, across Vauxhall Bridge and Vauxhall station (huge new apt complex there, and the bus also passed by Brunswick House at 30 Wandsworth Road http://tinyurl.com/5okous), then up Albert Embankment, Black Prince Rd, and finally to the IWM.

But before I went in IWM, I walked up to Westminster Bridge Road to look at No. 121. The building was the office for the Necropolis Railway which connected between London and Brookwood Cemetery. Built during the Victorian era, the railroad was used for funeral trains only (for coffins and mourners). Its service ceased at WWII when it was bombed during the Blitz, but the building still stands.
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/20/clarke.php

My previous (and only) visit to the Imperial War Museum (free) was last year. That time, I only visited the Holocaust exhibit and ran through the Trench/Blitz experience.

The main reason behind my revisit this time, (I'm a bit embarrased to admit ) is that husband and I have become completely engrossed by the ITV series Foyle's War. We have watched the complete series on PBS as well as on DVD and we just couldn't get enough of it.
http://www.itv.com/Drama/classiccrime/FoylesWar/default.html

For those of you who aren't familiar with this show, I highly recommend you to rent it. It is a mystery series set during WWII. While the plots involve murder and such, the series depict the lives of the British people on the home front as the war waged on. Actor Michael Kitchen stars at Detective Foyle and his acting is impeccable.

Anyway, back to my trip, I entered the IWM through the front door (which I didn't do last time), and was just in awe the sheer size of the two British 15-inch naval guns placed at the entrance.

The WWII exhibit is located in the Lower Ground floor. My experience there was Not because of the exhibits or the displays, but because of the ridiculous number of school children there.

The exhibit hall is divided thematically into many small galleries. Each gallery has 2-3 display cases (jam-packed with artifacts, letters, booklets), and measures no more than 10'x10'. Imagine entering a gallery and it is full of school children. Not only I had a hard time reading any of the displays as the kids were blocking it, the decibel level was through the roof. I mean, I'm all for educating the young about the past, but this is absolutely the WORST experience I have ever had in a museum.

Anyhow, I managed to survive this and even learned something new. I didn't realize apart from food rations, there was also clothing rations and each person was given a set # of coupons each year which they could use to buy new clothes. And there were plenty of booklets on display teaching the public how to maximize the life of the clothes, and also strict rules on who/how the coupons could be used.

AS for food rationing, eg, in 1943 each adult could get per week
1 lb meat; 4 oz bacon and ham; 3oz cheese; 1 egg; 2oz cooking fat; 2oz butter; 8oz sugar; 2oz tea.

Come to think of it, there are places in the US that serve 20oz cheeseburgers and people actually eat all of it ONE MEAL!

I went through the Blitz experience again, then off to the Childrens War section. Again, there were plenty of school children but at least this section is more roomy. At the end of Childrens War is the 1940 House.

Currently, there is an Ian Fleming/For Your Eyes Only exhibit going on (£8) but I didn't have time for it.

I wish the IWM can come up with some policy for school visits. Perhaps it can be closed one day to the public and use that day for school children visits?
http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00b

My next stop was Trafalgar Sq, and again I took a bus there. This time, the bus went on Lambeth Road and onto Lambeth Bridge, where I had a great view of the tudor-era Lambeth Palace. (It's not open to public, is it? What's inside now?) Then I finally saw the medieval Jewel Tower, which is on my list to visit next time.

I got off at Trafalgar Sq and arrived at St Martin-in-the-Fields for its 1pm lunchtime concert (free). It offers lunchtime concerts 3x/week on Mon, Tues and Fri.
http://www2.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/page/music/lunchtime.html

The concert today is an organ recital performed by Robert Smith. He played pieces by Clerambault, Hakim, Bales, Bridge, and Widor. These aren't as "new age" as the ones I heard the day before at Westminster Abbey. The concert lasted for 45minutes.

My next stop is the National Portrait Gallery (free) across the street. I also have been there before, but after the last few days of sightseeing, I wanted to re-visit the Tudor Galleries. I spent about 1 hour at the NPG.
http://www.npg.org.uk

I walked to the Royal Opera House to pick up my ticket for tonight (starts at 6:30pm), then over to M&S on Long Acre to buy some teabags and cookies for DH. Then I headed back to the hotel for a nap.

I left the hotel around 4:40pm and took the tube back to Covent Garden for an early dinner before the opera at 6:30pm. Where else would be a better place to eat than Belgo Centraal???

Thanks to Fodorite noe847, I learned that Belgo Centraal offers a Beat the Clock menu M-F between 5-6:30pm. The menu includes a choice of entree plus a drink (beer, wine, or soda/juice), and the price of it is based on the time you order. So if you order at 5:30pm, your bill will be £5.30.

I think I arrived at the restaurant around 5:10pm, but by the time I was seated and given a menu and had my order taken, it was close to 5:30pm. The place was about 1/2 full and seemed like 99.9% of the poeple there ordered from the Beat the Clock menu. The food is served very quickly - since it is a limited menu, I suppose the chefs have already prepared the food way in advance. I chose the Moules Mariniere with fries and a soda.

Although mussels should be in season right now, mine weren't particularly plump. It wasn't that big of a dish, though the excellent fries made up for it. I actually got so full that I didn't have room for their famous bread and butter pudding. I had an espresso instead.

My bill came out to £7.70 (what a great deal!) - they actually charged my menu @ £5.10 which correlated with the time I arrived rather than the time I ordered (to my benefit). A 12.5% service charge was automatically added.

Finally, here is the event I have been waiting for all month long: seeing Juan Diego Florez (JDF for short for the rest of this post) live in Matilde di Shabran at the Royal Opera House!

** Oh, if you are not into opera, you can go ahead and skip the rest of this post. **

Before I talk about the opera, let me first say a few words about getting the ticket. When I saw the AA fare sale a month ago, my immediate reflex was to check ROH's website to see what opera performances would be on in Oct/Nov. My heart literally stopped when I realized it would coincide with JDF's performances. Of course, all 6 performances had been sold out months in advance. However, with a lot of patience, I fianlly managed to buy a seat after 5 days of clicking on ROH's website 10x/day. It must be return tickets, and I had a wide range of prices to choose from: anywhere from £7 to £165. I chose a £65 seat in the side Stall Circle.

(If I weren't able to buy a ticket, my plan B was to wait at the ROH box office on the day of performance. They sell 65 day tickets every morning at 10am. Per the ticket office staff, people lined up for this performance at 7:30am.)

I have always thought £65 is a lot of money, until last night when I was reading some posts over on the US board. Tickets for Wicked! on Broadway go for $120! I think I got a good deal for the ROH in comparison!

For those of you not familiar with JDF, he's Peruvian and is only 35, but already regarded as one of the best bel canto tenor of these days. His path to fame took place in 1996 at the Rossini festival in Pesaro, when he was asked to replace the intended tenor who got sick, just one week before the performance. JDF learned the part and stunned the world with his singing, while he was only 23 at that time. And what opera did he sing at that time? Matilde di Shabran.

From then on, it was engagement after engagement at the top opera houses in Europe. His ROH debut was in 1997, but he didn't make his US debut until 2000. Where did this take place? As Lindoro in L'Italiana in Algeri at the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This may seem to be an odd choice for a US debut, and my own personal explanation is that JDF studied at Curtis Institute of Music and probably preferred a US debut in a familiar city. His Metropolitan debut took place in 2002. BTW, I was present at the Nov 2000 Philadelphia debut as I was living there then and was a season subscriber. I didn't know him then but I recalled being very impressed by his singing. I also saw him perform at the Met in October 2002.

Okay, back to the opera. Matilde di Shabran has only been shown in London ONCE before, in 1854. It's safe to say the only reason why it's now shown again 150+ years later is because of JDF. After the 1996 production in Pesaro, it was re-staged in 2004, this time with JDF as the *star*. This ROH production is the same as the 2004 Pesaro one.

It is performed so rarely due to multiple reasons. One, it simply isn't that good of an opera. It is a "hodge podge" opera written by Rossini, which means that basically he recycled old music and threw in new music all in a hurry due to deadlines of his commissions. The opera is both serious and comic, but they don't go very well together. Two, Act I is 2 hours long. Yes, 2 hours without any break, which really pushes the limit of the modern audience. Three, the opera demands a highly skilled soprano, who sings nonstop for the last 15 minutes of the opera.

So, what did I think of the opera? JDF's voice was a bit thin at the beginning, but got better quickly. There was enough action and commotion to keep me engaged for the full 2-hour Act I.

The soprano did a fine job, as her role is extremely demanding. I was surprised at the end of the opera, it was just solo soprano for the last 15 minutes without any duet or ensemble. All JDF could do was stand on the side and smile.

The set design was a thumbs down. All there was were 2 rusty iron spiral staircase. They rotate at times and are extremely noisy.

I spent an additional £8 there: £6 for the programme and £2 for ice cream during intermission.

After the opera ended, I made my way to the Stage Door on Floral Street to wait for him for an autograph. I was surprised how civilized it is there. A female staff guards the glass door entrance, but she allows the first 15 people to wait inside (which i was one of them). We waited for almost 30 minutes before the cast came out. They all graciously signed autographs and I also got 2 photos of JDF. I'm a happy camper.

Such fun! Do I mean your trip or reading about it?--BOTH! You and I would probably make good traveling companions--I'm amazed at how much you got done! Looking forward to the rest--Alecia

lennyba - I'm glad I could be of help. Your trip is not until next March!? I would have died waiting for it to come

Hey yk - since the occasion is my 40th birthday I'm not all that impatient.

Wonderful to hear about your opera experiences--when I lived in the UK I went to the ENO fairly often but have not been since the coliseum was refurbed.

Never made it to Covent Garden--tried once for seats and they wanted 75 quid for a seat with a partial view. One day....

I, too, am a major fan of Foyle's War. I read that they might make another episode about post-war readjustment.

Have you seen the film "Hope and Glory"? It's a nostalgic look back at life on the home front during WWII from the point of view of a young boy, based on the director's (John Boorman's) own experiences. There certainly was clothes and shoe rationing--a couple of scenes cover this. Also shoe rationing in the US, not sure about clothes.

I've really enjoyed your trip report and am put to shame by your stamina!

yk asks, "I had a great view of the tudor-era Lambeth Palace. (It's not open to public, is it? What's inside now?)"

Lambeth Palace serves the same purpose now that it has for the past seven centuries -- it is the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It also contains the offices and staff relevant to his role as the head of the world-wide Anglican community.

It is occasionally open for guided tours, as are its gardens.

Re Foyles War, you should plan a visit to Hastings, where the program is situated. Hastings is a bit of a town that time forget, and you could see why it would not be hard to film 1940s era programs there, through judicious use of close shots.

lennyba- Well, I bet it's gonna be a fabulous birthday trip for you!

Cathinjoetown - I went to ENO a few times back in the early 1990s. I can't tell what the refurb/renovation they had done, as I don't remember what it looked like inside then. But I recognize the new refreshments area upstairs.

ron - Thanks for the info. Yes, i did read about it being the "home" of the Archibishop of Canterbury, but I didn't realize it still is. I think the Museum of Garden History is right next door.

Re: Hastings - I watched the DVD extras on Foyle's War which goes into how they prepare the town for filming (such as painting over lanes on the roads, strategically placing vehicles or using certain angles to avoid satellite dishes etc. However, I recall a thread not too long ago when someone mentioned he/she wanted to go visit Hastings, and all the responses were rather negative.

What a great trip report! Your enthusiasm is infectious and your stamina is inspiring. You have given me many tips I will certainly use on our next visit to London, especially the budget restaurants.

I've only heard good things about Foyle's War, but have never seen it. Wasn't it a couple of season's long?

Too bad you didn't come across any celebs this time at Belago Centraal

Anna - There are 5 series of Foyle's War on DVD, altho I think it ran for 6 seasons in the UK? The final season was shown on PBS this past summer. DH & I saw the last 2 seasons on PBS, but we borrowed the earlier series from our local library. You can also get them from Netflix I believe, or you can purchase the DVDs from Acorn Media.

Series 1-4 have 4 episodes each, and series 5 has 3 episodes.

And yes, I was reminiscing my rendezvous with the Hollywood star I met last year at Belgo Centraal. Didn't see anyone famous there on this trip, though I recognized the waiter who served us last year.

Oh, I didn't realize they had finished with "Foyle's War". I will put that on my library list.

Your comments about the Imperial War Museum remind me of my first visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Halfway through my tour, a large group of teenagers came through, talking and laughing, and seemingly oblivious to the fact that *this is where she lived*. I went to Amsterdam for the express purpose of seeing the House, so their presence rather marred my visit.

What did the Brits say about our election? I just caught Prime Minister's Questions last night on C-Span (from the previous Wednesday) and the MP's seemed pretty happy about the results.

Hi merseyheart

the good news is that after ITV axed Folye's War, [goodness knows why, it was very popular, and so well acted and written] the TV exec who was in charge of this decision him/herself got the ax, and they may be bringing it back.

the bad news is, that by the time they'd realised they'd made a mistake, the actors were committed elsewhere. so we may have a bit of a wait.

regarding what we Brits thought of your elections, many of us fought somewhat shy of expressing a view for fear of being attacked on the basis it's not our business, but those of us who braved your wrath were largely pro-Obama.

so far, he's not done or said anything to alter that view.

you must be quite an anglophile to sit through PM's Qs. not many Brits do, though I often do find myself listening to "Today in Parliament" on Radio 4 as I'm getting ready to go to sleep.

it usually workds quite well.

regards, ann

Day 6 (Final Day) - Inns of Court and wonderful fish & chips

Hard to believe today is my last day in London. As I said at the beginning of my trip report, I was starting to settle in - looking RIGHT when I stepped off the curb, plus my spoken English started to become half British and half American (this happens every time I'm in London because I was brought up with Queen's English).

I finished packing everything in my 19" carryon and checked out. There is a luggage room at the hotel so I left my stuff there to pick up later in the day. My flight out of LHR is at 5:55pm.

My first stop was the NEW Saatchi Gallery (free), which opened October 9th this year. Instead of its prior location at County Hall on the South Bank, the new address is the Duke of York HQ in Chelsea. Its website is a bit deceptive in describing the location ("Sloane Square") and I was only able to find it after asking a newspaper vendor. It is about 200 meters down King's Road.

I really like what they did to the HQ building. The galleries are spacious with good lighting. The flow from gallery to gallery is well-done.

The current exhibit is New Art from China. When I was in San Francisco in Sept 08, I saw a Contemporary Chinese Art exhibit at the SF MOMA and was totally intrigued by it. This one at the Saatchi Gallery doesn't disappoint. I especially like the creativity of some of these artists, "How on earth did they think of THAT?" was constantly what went through my head. Some examples were:
Crumbling small-scale iconic buildings from over the world, made with dog chew (rawhide)
Various Mao permutations
And the basement gallery installation has a number of life-sized old person models (look like certain world leaders) in electric wheelchairs running into one another. You can see the description and video clip here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3npvlu
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/

After an hour at the Saatchi Gallery, I took the tube to Temple station to visit the Inns of Court. I entered the Inner Temple & Middle Temple via Victoria Embankment.
http://www.innertemple.org.uk/
http://www.middletemple.org.uk/

I wandered around through various passageways and courtyards, saw the Middle Temple Hall from the outside (not open to public). Finally I arrived at Temple Church but it would not open until 1pm later in the day.

From there, I found the archway to exit onto Fleet Street. Above the archway is Prince Henry's Room which unfortunately is closed for an indeterminate time. But just looking at its facade from across the street is amazing - preserved half-timbered facade smacked in the middle of stone buildings next to it. You can read more about Prince Henry's Room here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/6b4gdy

(Towards the West on Fleet Street/Strand is the Royal Courts of Justice but I didn't go there.)

I headed east to Gough Sq to check out Dr. Johnson's House (didn't go in due to lack of time), then round the corner to Wine Office Court to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which was rebuilt on the same location after the 1666 fire and has been serving to the public since then. I only did a photo-op but didn't enter.

I returned back towards the West on Fleet Street, passing by Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West (which I later found out is next to the "supposed location" of Sweeney Todd's barber shop), northward through Lincoln's Inn, and onward to Theobald's Road.

It was lunchtime and I was in search of Fryer's Delight, a fish & chips shop that has been recommended here. It is a no-frills place, has 4 booths for eat-in. I ordered cod w/chips, and it was one huge dish. I managed to finish all the fish and most of the chips (both were excellent) but I think it can possibly feed 2 people. IMO, this is better than North Sea in Bloomsbury. My lunch w/a soda was £8. Take-out price is lower, I think £4.50 for the fish (I forgot how much for the chips), where as mine was £7 + £1 for soda.

BTW, Fryer's Delight is known for using beef drippings in the cooking oil, and the owners make their own batter. You can read more about this place here:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/9396.html

At this point, I was running out of time. I could either go to an organ recital at the Lincoln's Inn Chapel, or visit the Hunterian Museum. I decided the former, given that I can visit the museum anytime on future visits.

Before I made my way to Lincoln's Inn, I walked through Gray's Inn (not much to see there except a plaque on the wall stating that Sun Yat-Sen stayed in one of the buildings during his exile).

I also checked out the Tudor-era timbered facade of Staple Inn, another one that survived the 1666 fire.

Lincoln's Inn is quite beautiful. The buildings look older than they really are (built in mid-1800s I believe). The Chapel is somewhat older. The 1pm lunchtime concert today (free) is an organ recital by the organist and choirmaster of Lincoln's Inn. In fact, it is the LAST organ recital on the current organ, as the chapel will be getting a new one for 2009.

The organist is Nicholas Shaw and he played some traditional pieces by JS Bach, de Grigny, Mendelssohn, Vierne, and Franck.

The Chapel will be closed between Jan - Oct 2009, but they will continue to hold lunch time concerts at a different venue.
http://www.lincolnsinn.org.uk/cha_sho.asp

My final stop for today (and my trip) is Temple Church. It probably doesn't need any introduction due to the Da Vinci Code mania. I was stunned by how crowded it was inside, and with lots of school children! The effigies of the Knights Templar are spectacular.
http://www.templechurch.com

The Inner Temple Garden is open as I was leaving (very limited opening hours), but it was such a grey and dreary day, I didn't feel like going in.

Overall, I had a really great time in this part (City) of London, which I barely spent anytime there in the past. I'd probably be interested in taking a walking tour next time. (There is a Tuesday walk called "Secret London" by London Walks but I didn't take it because of my time restraints.)

I particularly enjoyed wandering through the streets and looking at the building facades, though the locals were probably cursing me due to my slow pace. It is fascinating to see how different the facades are from one building to the next - from different decades, centuries, and of course very different architecture style (and material too). This is something I just don't get to see here in the US.

My trip back to the hotel and then to LHR via tube was uneventful. I arrived LHR at 3:45pm for my 5:55pm flight. Check-in was fast (no one in line) and security line was relatively short.

For the first time in YEARS, I actually bought stuff from duty free, because between the tax-free discount and the exchange rate, goods are actually cheaper there than back home in the US.

My flight LHR-BOS on AA was only 20% full. I requested to have my (exit row) seat changed to the back so that I get all 3 seats to myself.

Merseyheart - at least the school children at IWM were *trying* to learn. They are young - definitely elementary school - and they had homework assignments to fill out.

I came home on Election Day, but I was fascinated by the Brits' fascination with our election (at least based on the amount of coverage on BBC on TV). However, I talked to quite a number of Brits on my trip and none of the conversations invovled politics.

Some money-saving tips I learned on this trip:

1) A 1-week Travelcard is probably cheaper than Oyster PAYG if your stay is for 6 days (perhaps even 5 days depending on how much public transportation you use).

2) The 2-for-1 discount is still the best deal for travelers, but for single travelers and others, also check out the following sites:
discountbritain.net (offers 20% off vouchers to various sites in London & UK)
lastminute.com (people may know it for hotel deals, but there are also attraction deals and dinner-and-theatre discounts)

3) Even if your visit is limited to London only, the Great British Heritage Pass may still offer a good deal as it includes all sites operated by English Heritage and National Trust, plus St Paul's Cathedral, the Globe, and Hampton Court Palace
http://www.britishheritagepass.com/Featured_Properties_London

4) There are many restaurant discounts out there on the web. Lastminute.com is one of them. I didn't use it on my trip because I didn't want to be tied down to eat at a certain time at a certain location.

5) For lodging, apartments probably are the way to go if one is staying for close to a week. For shorter trips and/or single travelers, I find Hotwire and Priceline indispensible. There is no way I can afford to visit London this often if it weren't for PL/HW. I have successfully used PL 6 times now for London, never paid more than $120 all-in. I also have stayed once at the Northumberland House (a dorm of the London School of Economics) which has private rooms with ensuite bathrooms. Totally acceptable lodging option if one is not looking for anything luxurious.

6) Take advantage of the many free museums and galleries in London, plus most offer free guided tours.

7) Plenty of free lunchtime concerts throughout the week at churches all over London. You just need to look for them.

8) If you are visiting Oxford from London, buying your ticket through Megabus can save you lots of money. Tickets can be as low as £1, £2, £3 each way, compared to £16 r/t regular price.

ann, since I volunteered on Obama's campaign (my first time ever doing such a task) I am delighted that he won. I *do* watch PM's Questions, but I don't know that I understand it very well. It's just a kick to watch all the verbal acrobatics that the Brits are known for.

I was in England in June, as our primaries were ending, and I did have a couple of conversations about politics. A couple from Toronto, whom I met in London, were following the elections. A man who ran a luggage shop told me he liked Bush. He was a Kurd who was pleased that Bush came to his defense, so I could see his POV. My home page is the BBC page, so I know the British media have covered the U.S. election with great interest.

Hotel Review

Holiday Inn Kensington Forum
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/lonhi

As I have mentioned above, I got this hotel through a Priceline bid. My accepted bid was $90, which came out to $108/night after fees and taxes were added.

This is what I wrote on Tripadvisor:
-------------------------
ROOM:
A week before my arrival, I emailed the hotel to request a double bed and non-smoking room, as well as gave them my Priority Club #. Both requests were honored and I was given a room on the 26th floor. The room size is actually not bad - in fact, it is larger (at least by 30 sq feet) than the room I stayed at the Holiday Inn Regents Park 6 months ago. The bed is a Queen size bed and mattress is very firm, which I like. But it can be a problem for people who like soft mattresses.

The major downside of my room is it faces Cromwell Road and also an exposed section of the Underground (as it leaves Gloucester Rd tube station). Despite double paned windows and being on the 26th floor, I can still hear noises from traffic and the tube. It didn't keep me awake, but it certainly woke me up in the morning when the tube starts running around 6am.

I have previously stayed at the Millennium Gloucester hotel across the street on Courtfield Rd. That hotel is much quieter when it comes to road/traffic noise.

The room has a small fridge, which is a bit cold, but is in desparate need of defrosting. There is an electric kettle, and hair-dryer. However, no in-room safe which is a bit disappointing.

Bathroom is a bit small but acceptable. Only bath amenities are shampoo, bath gel, and soap. There is no hair conditioner nor body lotion.

LOCATION:
Although the hotel is labeled as being on Cromwell Road, the actual entrance is on Courtfield Road. As you exit the Gloucester Rd tube station, hang a sharp right onto Courtfield Rd. You'll first see the Millennium hotel on your left, and the HI is another block further down.

It's not as central as I would like, but I like the fact that it's on Piccadilly line, which is a direct route from Heathrow (~40mins ride).

Nearby the hotel is a Waitrose supermarket, a Tesco Express. There is also a Paul boulangerie next to Tesco Express.

CHECK-OUT:
Because I had to pay for the breakfast using my vouchers (in US$), this took forever as only 1 person out of 5 at the front desk knows how to do it. Actually, he wasn't sure either so he had to call somebody else to ask. The entire check-out process probably took 15 minutes.

BOTTOM LINE:
It's an okay hotel, and I don't mind staying there again if I get it for a cheap price through Priceline. However, I'd be sure to request a room AWAY from Cromwell Rd due to the noise issue.
-------------------------

Compared to my last 2 stays in London, which includes the HI Regents Park, and the LSE dorm at Northumberland House, I'd rate them as:

1) Northumberland House - because its location is perfect, right at Trafalgar Sq. Super convenient if I want to head back to drop off stuff or take a nap. Unfortunately, it is only available over the summer

2) HI Regents Park - A bit closer to the "center" compared to Kensington, and many more bus lines that go everywhere. Downside is no direct route to Heathrow, and the rooms are small (too small for 2 people, IMO)

3) HI Kensington Forum - Perfect for arriving/departing LHR, but at least 30 minutes to get to Leicester Sq (5 mins from hotel to tube station, 5 minutes wait for tube, another 20-min ride on the tube).

You can see photos of the room I took here:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ReviewPhotos-g186338-d193133-r21609827-

Love your details . . .

One thing - LSE now offers accommodations year round at at least three of their residence halls, including at Northumberland House.

They call it "Top Floor" and is available at Bankside, Grosvenor House Apartments and Northumberland House

One thing - LSE now offers accommodations year round at at least three of their residence halls, including at Northumberland House.

They call it "Top Floor" and is available at Bankside, Grosvenor House Apartments and Northumberland House

http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/Topfloor.htm

That is indeed great news! I believe I checked LSE's website last month and don't think it was available then, but I could be wrong.

All 3 dorm locations are great. The slight disadvantage one is on the South Bank as it's not close to a tube station.

I think that's a great deal for single travelers, but with 2 people, a 4* PL hotel probably is still cheaper (and nicer). At least I know my DH would prefer a 4* hotel over a dorm room.

One thing I might be concerned about the dorm rooms is noise issue - how much noise one can hear from the students on other floors? When I was at Northumberland House, I was in the single rooms wing and it was extremely quiet (probably because not that many rooms were occupied). The House also has a "overnight quiet hours" policy but I don't know if that applies during regular school term or not.

Thanks for the trip report, yk. I'm contemplating a quickie solo trip in Feb. so this is quite helpful. I especially like all the art you took in. No Vermeers though?

amyb - Nope, no Vermeers this time. I have seen all the London Vermeers already. BTW, slightly off-topic, did you hear about the Vermeer show in Tokyo, Japan? It has 6 Vermeers on view, and 3 of the 6 I haven't seen before (Scotland, Brunswick Germany, and the Wynn Vermeer!). Almost makes it worthwhile to fly to Tokyo just for that!

I hope Wynn isn't lending his out for show because he's thinking of selling it. If he sells it to some Japanese collector, chances are it'll be kept in a private collection and won't be shonw in public.

There'll also be an early Vermmer show at Mauritshuis for year 2010 (1 from Scotland, 1 from Dresden).

What's The Damage

This is my favorite part of the trip report... figuring out how much money I wasted.

The £ fluctuated a bit while I was there. I'll generalize it to £1 = $1.6

Transportation
Airfare $618
Oyster PAYG £32
Oxford bus & other Train tickets £19.10

Lodging
$542 for 5 nights

Food for 6 days (includes all snacks/coffee/fruit)
£96.85 = ~£16/day
This does not include the "free" hotel breakfast I ate on Day 5.

Attractions
£61.85

Entertainment
£86 (2 operas) + £10.50 (2 programmes)

Postcards/Stamps
£6.65

Total = $1661 (not including any shopping I did)

If I take out the airfare = $1043 = $174/day. This is quite a bit lower than my other solo trips in the past 2 years. In comparison:

UK May 2008 solo trip: $233/day
Spain Feb 2008 solo trip: $215/day
London Sept 2007 solo trip: $250/day
Germany April 2007 solo trip: $143/day

yk

You said "how much money I wasted."

Far from it, money very well spent!

Yes, we contemplated Tokyo for that, but it violates the sister-imposed rule of seeing the Vermeer in its home museum! There's also a Vermeer on loan to Rome right now (from Berlin). Makes it tough to plan the next pilgrimage, no?

You did well, cost-wise. And that fish and chips place sounds really good right about now....

postmarking. thanks for the wonderful trip report!

Fab report as usual, yk! Wow, you really fill up your days. I wish I still had that kind of energy.

Hi yk - Really enjoyed your trip report. You and my husband would make a great match (travel-wise!) - both energizer bunnies.

I've always wondered about the William Morris Gallery and whether it would be worth seeing. My sister and I visited Kelmscott a few years ago and, as janisj says, it's really worthwhile. I was driving and I don't know if we took the garden path instead of the road, but it was very, very narrow going in. If your DH agrees to go, maybe warm him up on some bigger roads first.

You shouldn't be embarassed to say you like Foyle's War, we like it a lot, too. We actually did visit Hastings because of it and it was a treat to walk around and identify different things that had appeared in the series. (Here's a map showing some of them - http://visit1066country.com/general/foyleswar/foyleswar_location.aspx.)

I know some people thought Hastings was tacky, but we would certainly return there if we were ever in the area again.

Agree with you about the Imperial War Museum - I wonder if it depends on what time of year you go? We found the higher we went in the museum, the fewer children there were. Did you enjoy the 1940s house? Honest to goodness, it's an exact replica of my mother's house, down to the George Formby 78s on the phonograph to the satin bedspread in the bedroom. She was only born in 1938, but is a 1940s fanatic.

When you mentioned staying near the Gloucester Road tube station and visiting the Temple area, I wondered if you were a fan of Horace Rumplole? I think he lived at 25B Froxbury Mansions or Court or ??? on Gloucester Road.

What's your next holiday?

Cathinjoetown - it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek statement I made, hence the after the sentence. Given the amount of money I had lost** in my investments/retirement, at least I got something out of this $1661!

( ** not truly "lost" unless I sell my investments)

amyb- you and your sister are too idealistic for me. I don't really care where I see it, as long as I get to see it.

rickmav - I really enjoyed William Morris Gallery, but I didn't know what to expect, and I'm a real Philistine when it comes to the Arts & Crafts Mvt as I didn't know anything about it until a few weeks before my trip when I started to read about it. But if you had already been to Kelmscott, I wonder if you might find MW Gallery a bit of a let down? It is organized as a gallery/museum, rather than a lived-in house.

The 1940 House is "fancier" than I had expected. I think it reflects more of an upper-class family home? There were kids running around (and up/down the stairs) so it was a bit difficult to enjoy it. I was surprised to see the cage/bunker thingie inside the house, but it says at least 1 million of these were sold during the war.

Never watched Rumpole, though I believe lots of filming were done in one of the Inns of Court.

Next holiday? None right now except to CT to visit my in-laws over Thanksgiving. I guess that doesn't really qualify as a real holiday, does it? I may get tempted if there are fare sales, but honestly, going to Europe during winter is not ideal, as I dislike cold weather.

I know for sure I'll be heading to NYC in mid-March. I just bought nosebleed tickets to see Juan Diego Florez sing in La Sonnambula at the Met in March. My husband agrees to come along, but I bet a trip to NYC will be way less than $1661! (We'll take el cheapo Megabus to NYC, and we should be able to stay with my friends in Manhattan for free.)

Photo link

I apologize that these photos seem to be on the small side... I picked the "medium" dimensions when I uploaded them. If you have any questions for a specific photo, or if you want to see a bigger version, just let me know and I can upload it using a larger dimension.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/5hcluu

Enjoy!

That's great about the autographs and photos of Juan Diego Flores. Makes up for missing foxy what's-his-name

It's amazing that you can go out and do so much not only on your arrival day, but on your departure day as well. So focused and organized! I'm going to try to learn from your example.

Yay, photos! I'm off to have a look.

Meant to say that anyone interested in the Arts & Craft Movement might like to visit Holy Trinity Sloan Square.

(something seems to be going wonky with tinyurl so I won't post a link, but it's easy enough to google)

Here's a quote from the website:

"The former Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman called Holy Trinity Church the ‘Cathedral of the Arts & Crafts Movement’, and that indeed is what it is, containing treasures by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones among many others"

I was hoping to visit the church in October but didn't make it.

http://www.holytrinitysloanesquare.co.uk/

Thanks, janisj! (when I tried to do that, it looked like it was "wrapping" around on a second line and I didn't want to risk warping yk's thread)

Apres_Londee: A hint - In preview mode all URL links look weird. But the extra "stuff" goes away when you post the final.

yk,

I've been frustrated trying to choose what to leave out from my Paris itinerary, but your report shows that, with good planning, maybe I won't have to cut out so much afterall. You're right-- it's easier to do more on a solo trip.

Thanks for mentioning the Met's La Sonnambula with JDF too. Hadn't noticed him on the schedule. (Sad how I used to be so much more aware of NYC events when coming as a tourist!) How about a GTG at the opera?

yk -- The Finale Day was just as splendid as the previous ones ... and I wanted to add something to your visit to the Temples. About 10 years ago I went to all the Inns of Court -- and particularly wanted to see the Middle Temple Hall ... since it has the famous 30 foot long Head Table (which Elizabeth I donated to the Temple, floating a huge long down the Thames from Hampton Court). Also it has that huuuuge ceilling high carved wooden screen separating entry from tables.

It was supposed to be open from 2-4, but much bustle inside, and a sign "closed today." I asked an elderly functionary (they all seemed elderly) what was going on. He said, sorry ma'am but Prince Phillip is hosting a dinner here tonight, we're setting up, so it's closed, sorry.

THen, dear reader, I lied. I made a "woe" face and said oh, this is the whole point of my trip, and we leave tomorrow (that part was true, and I don't think we'll ever get back here. He softened and said, I can take you around briefly. We walked all thru, amid waiters, saw the Queen's high table, the gorgeous screen.( In WW II, the shock wave of an e-bomb shattered it into 25,000 pieces. Volunteers spent 3 full years at the world's largest jigsaw puzzle, putting it back together exactly ... and one would never know!

Our guide said that students still were required to take dinner there nightly, hence "benchers of the Inner Temple". I saw that the long tables had elegant chairs and said, at least now they have comfortable seating. He said o no, the benches will be replaced after this special event. I said, why not have chairs? He was shocked! Wouldn't do at all, ma'am! WHen you let go of tradition, you endanger everything! After that, it was not a surprise to learn that he lived in quarters inside the Temple enclave, and had brought up 3 children there.

yk,

Thanks for posting the rest of your report. I agree that you really do make the most of your arrival/dep. days - good suggestions that I need to keep in mind.

If I didn't love staying in apts. so much, I would really love using Priceline for London - everyone always seems to get great deals.

Thanks for putting up your photos - I can finally put a name to the dining room I loved at the V&A. Loved all your photos of the fall colors on trees, and your night photos were very lovely as well.

Did your feet ever hurt?

You somehow must be related to my oldest son -- he would be proud of you and all of your travel accomplishments on this trip!

I hope to someday make it to Oxford -- sounds wonderful.

Yk
Glad you managed to fit so much into your Oxford visit

Re: My itin and fitting it all in

As I have alluded to in my opening post, I spent a lot of time planning and finetuning my itinerary before the trip to make this possible. There are a number of key elements:

1) When I'm on a solo trip, it's not a "vacation" to me. I travel to a place to see as much as I can, rather than to sit in coffee shops. This is a key concept to keep myself moving. I slow down a little when I travel with my husband or my parents, but they do a good job keeping up with me usually. A few years ago, a friend of mine commented that my itinerary looks more like a military campaign than a vacation.

2) Majority of the venues I visited are on the small side, so they can be seen within 60-90 minutes, unless other places like British Museum or St Paul's. As such, I can fit more places in each day. For larger museums, I focus on 1-2 sections rather than "conquer" the whole place on one visit.

3) I try to take advantage of late openings of museums to maximize sightseeing time. Granted, I prefer visiting museums in the morning when my head is clear, but I can tolerate museums in the evening if I have an afternoon nap (as in the case of my Oxford day/Tate Modern).

4) It is key to make sure I double (and triple) check the opening days and times of places. Nothing is more wasteful than going to a museum to find that it's closed.

5) I also investigated in detail on "how to get there" beforehand, esp on this trip with outlying places in Bexleyheath and Walthamstow. I wrote down train schedules, bus #s, printed out walking maps. All these helps in streamlining my visits. I also used tfl to calculate how long it will take to travel from A to B.

6) ** Most Important ** I made sure I checked TFL's and train companies' websites for any planned maintainence work (or closed stations) during my visit. Eg. Theorectically, I could take a train from Charing Cross to Bexleyheath (w/change in London Bridge), but it turns out the trains weren't leaving from Charing Cross on the Sunday I had to travel. If I hadn't known about this in advance, I would have shown up in Charing Cross for the train. And by the time I figured out I needed to go to London Bridge, most likely I would have missed my intended train and hence my pre-booked tour at Red House.

7) Once I have a basic itinerary, I research on food options in the vicinity. I usually have a few places in mind and know exactly where they are with their addresses (and cross streets) written down. I made so many blunders in the past when I thought I knew where a restaurant was, but I actually didn't have an actual address and wasted lots of time finding it.

As they say, planning is half the fun. This is definitely true for me.

Actually, there were a few places there were on my itin which I had to skip due to lack of time: Chelsea Physic Garden, Magdalen College in Oxford, Hunterian Museum.
--------------------------------

Apres_Londee - NOW I remember that thread you started about the church in Sloane Sq! I think you only asked about the opening times but never mentioned why you wanted to go there. At the time, I was assuming perhaps you're a very religious person.

travelerjan - THANK YOU for sharing your story! You know, I had thought about just walking in and ignoring the huge sign that says "CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC" but then I thought, if I were stopped, what was I supposed to say to explain myself? I couldn't say that I don't understand English! I didn't know the Hall is open (to the public) in the afternoon, as I was there before lunchtime. It is open for lunch for students.
http://www.middletemple.org.uk/Inn/History/Middle_Temple_Hall.html

Anna - I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

bilboburgler - Thanks for your input on my Oxford thread. Too bad I didn't make it to Loch Fyne, the fish restaurant.

MademoiselleFifi - Oh! I'd love a GTG with you! Our tickets are for the March 14th Saturday evening performance. I might get into the city a few days earlier... Just saw that Rusalka will be on during that time with Renee Fleming. Why don't you drop me an email and we can plan it as the date gets closer. You can reach me at yk fodors at hotmail (no space between my screen name and fodors).

Rothko and Tate

For those of you interested in Rothko, you may also be interested in these 2 recent news bits.

#1 Tate 'lost out' on Rothko works
The Tate missed the chance to own 30 works by Mark Rothko, which would today be worth about $1bn (£630m), according to newly unearthed memoirs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/7711675.stm

#2 Rothko art hung 'wrong way round' in exhibition
http://tinyurl.com/5al6h8 (news article from The Telegraph)
and
Which Way Up?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2008/11/081110_rothko_nh.shtml
with a 2 1/2 min radio interview

Great report as usual, yk. I love all the Arts and Crafts visits. And I'm kicking myself for not having seen the church at Sloane Square last year when we stayed just steps away. But I didn't know about it.

Sorry you didn't enjoy the Red House. I particularly like architecture and had the benefit of the house without scaffolding.

Schoolkids on field trips are the downside of traveling off high season. Those excited high-pitched voices can really echo. Usually can lose them by hanging back.

A small gloss on the 1940s house in the IWM: it's a mock-up of the one used in the TV "re-creation" series of the same name, which was appropriate to the family living 1940s style, i.e., the kind of place a middle manager would have taken out a mortgage on in the 1930s, when a lot of such houses were built and sold relatively cheaply, at not much more than a year or two's salary for someone in a safe admin/management job. What we would call middle to lower middle class. Some people actually did quite well during the slump!

For those of you who didn't like squinting your eyes to look at my photos on the link I provided above, you can also see most of them over on Travelerstogo. They are bigger in size.
http://europetogo.yuku.com/topic/7473

Oh Mimar, I didn't "didn't enjoy" the Red House. Rather, just a bit disappointed. I had just gone to the William Morris Gallery the day before, and so I was full of expectation that the Red House would be top-to-bottom filled up with his designs, and it wasn't. Have you been to Kelmscott Manor? If yes, how would you compare Red House to Kelmscott Manor?

Well, Kelmscott Manor is not exactly a museum either. As I recall, it's more of a house with a lot of Morris stuff in it. You do get something of an idea of how they lived. Architecturally it's definitely not an Arts and Crafts house, which was a bit of a disappointment to me. However, in contrast to the Red House, its setting is beautiful, adjoining the fields. Definitely worth visiting.

Nearby is Buscot Park, a manor house with a dining room mural painted by Burne-Jones, subject Briar Rose. Also worth visiting.

no - Kelmscott isn't an "Arts and Crafts" house, since it is a 16th century farm house. But it was where William Morris lived and is totally full of his own things and designs. Much better than a museum IMO since you see their things as they were meant to be seen/used.

Totally well worth a visit.

Greta trip report yk - your timeliness made me feel very guilty and I have now posted day 1 of my three day report!

Wow - fabulous report! I have forwarded the link to my friend so that she can print it out for her parents. They tend to make last minute changes when traveling and I think some of your information will interest them very much.

Thanks again for the information on JustAirports - they were able to book a car for tomorrow and their return to the airport in 2 weeks.

Marianne

Hey, I haven't had time to read this report. I'm just interested in the Rothko exhibition part. I searched for Rothko with Ctrl-F in your report and I don't see any mention of whether you bought the tickets in advance.

Do you think this is necessary? I checked the Tate's website and it looks like there should be tickets available. If I get in early enough Friday I'll probably go Friday night.

Thanks!

111op - No, I decided to take my chance and NOT buy the ticket in advance (as they charge a booking fee if you do so). In any case, I arrived at 8:30pm on Fri night and they were selling tickets for immediate entry.

In my case, I figured that if it were sold out, I could always return on a future day as I was in London for 4 more days after Friday, and I was willing to take my chance.

I *don't* think it would be a problem if you wait until you get there, as the show will be on for a few more months. It's not like you'll be going during the closing weekend.

Thanks. Sometimes it's hard to know what strikes the public's fancy. Doesn't sound like Rothko is a big draw.

Hello YK: So glad the Megabus worked out for you. It was a great way to save money. I loved your pictures. We spent three weeks of a sabbatical staying in Oxford and fell in love with the town. It was so great to see it again through your eyes. Thanks too for the wonderful report.

I'm going back through the list of UK trip reports reading the London, York and Edinburgh ones. Read this one last night and enjoyed it very much! While the places you visited are, for the most part, not the ones we (as one first time visitor and one who was there so long ago that it almost qualifies as a first visit) will go, I still found this immensely helpful. Thank you, yk!

ttt ~

Incredible report. iris1745/dick

I'm so glad CAPH52 topped this recently - what a great trip report, yk! Lots of great ideas and information I'll definitely be using.

CAPH52, 3sica, jent103 and others:

If you're interested, you can check out my London + Bath/Salisbury/Stonehenge trip report from May 2008:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/yks-trip-report---london-bath-salisbury-stonehenge-in-6-days.cfm

And also London Trip report from Sept 2007:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/yks-slightly-off-the-beaten-path-london-trip-report-incl-how-i-survived-tube-strike-and-dinner-with.cfm

Thanks for the great report, I'm leaving Wed early am. Last min. trip SOLO. First solo trip to Europe. Have been to London 4 times before, so I'm real excited to see some off the beaten path sites. Taking your reports along to read at the airport.