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/euro...-in-6-days.cfm

And also London Trip report from Sept 2007:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...inner-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.

great - thanks.