London in Spring, 2005

Patti was sent to London for a series of meetings at the embassy there, and I went along.  We were booked into at a very impressive 4-star hotel next to the Marble Arch at USG rates, thank God, because their room rates started at about $360 per night.  That was the first of many surprises.at the cost of living in London.  This country boy estimates that London prices are roughly double what you'd pay in Manhattan for comparable rooms, food, and purchases.  And Manhattan is already double what you pay in the rest of the USA.  And you wonder why the Brits come to New York to shop!

Enough of complaining.  The location was beautiful - right next to the Hyde Park, a quarter mile from Buckingham Palace, and in the middle of one of the best shopping and dining areas in London.  This is where all the Bentleys and Ferraris go to live when they leave the factory.  And, dear to my heart, where some very old and fine oriental rugs can be found but not afforded.   It was spring, and the roses were in bloom.  Most memorable was Regency Park with its broad lakes and streams and the endless rose gardens of every imaginable color.

Scenes from Regency Park in Spring

^ The "Sherlock Holmes" Tavern ^                                         The Wheel                   St.Martins in the Field