London Architectural Infrastructure

Happily ensconced in the Fitzrovia neighborhood of London.  Feels like a real 'hood with locals gathering at the pub and saying hello in the Tesco grocery stores.

Bull Moon tonight - full moon.  Wanted to find the perfect spot to take a picture, and did, but it's light for so long here I just can't stay up long enough to capture it.

On the left, we have the King and Crown Pub, circa 1767, site of one 1/2 pint of beer on my pub crawl tonight.  In the middle we have the BT TV tower, circa 1961, and to the right, a crane helping to build the new Bedford Mews condos.  I thought a picture of the moon in between these towers would be really cool. Alas, I'm sleepy, so not going to watch the moon rise tonight.

The Edgeware Road platform of the tube was built in 1924, which meant I had to drag my "lightweight packing job" suitcase up and down stairs to get to the transfer.  Thank goodness I did my workouts before I left.  Quite a contrast with the newly-opened Heathrow Terminal 5, build exclusively for British Airways.  

This is the first time I didn't hike under the runways from United to the customs area for half an hour.  My new friend Denise showed me everything about business class, and told me I had a biometric passport and didn't have to wait in line.  Customs lasted 2 minutes.  Waaaat?

  

Denise is a really fun person who's lived in London for 23 years.  Wish I could claim that!

Leave me a comment, and I'll try to figure out out to read them.  Days 1 & 2 - check.

 

July 8

Looking forward to a beautiful evening on the patio tonight.  I'll pretend I'm in an English garden somewhere outside of London, or a piazza in Italy, or maybe I won't pretend and I'll just sit and watch the light change.

The timing of a fraudulent use of my primary credit card could be disturbing, or could be auspicious, since my card rejected my Apple music purchases, alerting me to check its status.  Someone in San Diego rented a car and partied with my credit card number over the 4th of July.  Wish I'd been there.  Fortunately, a new one comes tomorrow and all will be well.

My four months of workouts and clean eating have paid off:  I tried on all of my travel clothes, and was so happy with what my daughter calls a "capsule wardrobe."  I should be able to wear the 14 pieces in a variety of ways.  I'm starting to get so excited that I'm not sleeping well.  Looking forward to the trip is almost as much fun as taking it.  

Countdown to Le Grande Tour 2022

July 6, 2022

 My bags are packed and I'm ready to go.  I'm off in less than a week.  Let's hope the airlines cooperate!  

I'll be posting a new travel blog for the next month.  Some people enjoy ecotravel, others luxury travel, still more hosteling and camping, but I'm embarking on a new kind of travel:  non-competitive wandering.

I've planned a few excursions, true, and pre-paid some rail tickets as Europe is very busy this summer, but for the most part I'm going to let my impulse to connect with people who are different than me direct my footsteps.  Hopefully I find some unusual sights to write about, and avoid the brag blog.  Do tell me if I go astray.

Thanks for joining the adventure.  

Here's a picture of my garden on July 6.  New iPhone photos are going to be great on this trip.