The streets of London

Another good flight with interesting views of the desert on the way out, but soooo tired of being on a plane and I was very happy to land.  

Nothing says “pandemic” more than the ability to get in and out of Heathrow airport in 17 minutes. Baggage collection, customs, out the door and into a cab in record time. I have two nights at the Holiday Inn in Kensington. It’s my firm belief that any hotel with “Inn” in the name is not one I will enjoy staying at (particularly if it also has “motor”) and this has held true. Tiny, cheaply fitted out room, dodgy lifts, and understaffed, this is not a hotel I’ll be back to in a hurry, but the location is great and I stayed awake by walking about for a few hours before having an excellent dinner at Dishoom, an amazing Indian place that’s been a favourite on previous trips. Paneer Pineapple Tikka was exceptional. 

After a good night’s sleep I had a coffee and a croissant for breakfast at the coffee shop in the hotel which was inundated with American flight crew before walking to Portabello Road to wander around the markets. Too many people, and an excess of cigarette smoke made that a challenging choice, but I did try a raspberry tart from a pastry shop that a lady I was chatting to recommended. 

I headed in to Mayfair to get a watch battery put in, and experienced the top end of town shopping for a while. Doormen, Swiss watches and some very well dressed shoppers made a notable contrast to the earlier shopping expedition. 

After a quick lunch and spent the afternoon in the British Museum. I negated the win of free entry by paying 22 pounds to see the Nero special exhibit, which was worth every penny, and rounded out my tour with some Egyptian mummies, some Greek statues and the Rosetta Stone. 

My phone tells me I did 17km of walking today. Whatever is for dinner needs to be within five minutes walk of the hotel as I’m feeling exhausted.