Gatwick is quick

The travel has been great. Logan was empty, JetBlue Mint was worth it, and there was not a single person ahead of me in customs at Gatwick! Landed at 7:15, through customs, bags collected and on the train at 8:02.

We both got enough sleep to function. The flat is beautiful, our host is accommodating, and Marleybone is the Beacon Hill of London. The flat is as described: Luxurious, spacious and modern, in a quaint old part of London with a park across the street.

The day was crisp and sunny so we decided to get out into Regent’s Park, which might be the largest park in London proper – formal gardens, tropical gardens (yes, palm trees and agave in London) gilded gates, ponds, lakes, tennis, playgrounds and gorgeous trees.

So much to explore just right nearby – museums, shops, restaurants, and pubs, not to mention the architecture. First stop….

I took such good notes on every dish on the menu, peppered the staff with questions and vowed to bring the group to try EVERYTHING! We poked through the famous Daunt Bookstore, went in and out of many pubs and have all their histories, and made an appointment to spend an hour with 16 cats at Java Whiskers Cafe.

We came back home, soaked and showered and relaxed a bit before heading out to see the Wallace Collection. The Wallace Collection is an amazing art collection of some of the finest paintings and furniture in England housed in it’s original mansion, Hertford House. You don’t know which is more dazzling, the Rembrandts and Van Dycks or the elaborate porcelain and French furniture. It’s exhaustingly beautiful and over the top.

The best part about the Wallace Collection is the Wallaces! I started to research them, and generation after generation of mistresses and illegitimate children, and affairs with royalty, and you name it. They must have been part Kardashian. Fabulous to Google over dinner.

Speaking of dinner, what did we eat today?? Not much to report – a sticky bun at brunch and a modest early dinner – vegan kale salad for me, fish and chips for Brad at a good average restaurant that would have us on a Friday night. Tomorrow is another day.

I am now officially bleary eyed after just three hours of sleep on the way over and 11 miles of walking in crisp cool air. Nighty night, my people. Talk with you tomorrow.