Monday 12/30/19, London
Natural History Museum – Mr A took a walk thru Hyde Park while the girls shopped for wool coats at Marks & Spencer. M&S had amazing selection, we won’t hesitate to shop there again. Except for the strength of the British pound – yikes! Add 30pct to the price in pounds to get USD. Making a 35 £ jacket (a great bargain in the States) almost $50 USD. Anyways, after a quick stop at Boots for Glucosamine for Mom’s aching hip, we ubered over to the National History Museum. He drove us thru Hyde Park, a gorgeous and stately park to get your nature fix in. The line at the museum was 30 minutes so we skipped it due to our extremely limited time today, and grabbed a Macchiato and a hot chocolate at Quatre Saisons in South Kensington. Wonderful place to people watch (people watching is where Ms S got the idea to buy a wool coat) and enjoy the ambiance of the old stately buildings and the fat pigeon brigade. Five Guys burgers gave us an opportunity for a free loo stop (just take the stairs to the right just inside the entrance) and Viandas gave us the opportunity to enjoy Jamon sandwiches, directly imported from Spain. The Cafe appeared to be full of Spanish folks on holiday!
Camden Market – gritty, huge, and nothing like the comparatively staid Borough market. Punk rockers with Mohawks on the bridge yelling out “give us money.” Narrowboats transiting thru the locks with about a thousand onlookers. And if you need a biker jacket or punk boots, or vaping supplies, this is your place.
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel – very convenient location at the station. Stunning architecture inside the station and lobby, and beautiful modern decor in the rooms with immensely high ceilings. Nice breakfast in the comfortable Chambers club room, good quality meats and cheeses and their lox gets my seal of approval. Another huge plus, they offer transfer service to the trains, they bring your luggage from the lobby, thru the business class entrance (that our tickets didn’t warrant), thru customs, up the elevator, down the platform with you and load it directly onto the train. Brilliant!! The only thing possibly missing is a top hat on our elegantly suited British concierge. The concierge really knew his way around the station. We will surely miss this service at our destination tonight, at 1030pm on the cold, cold, cobbled streets of Amsterdam.
