June 22, 2001: London, England

Arrived in London, England, around 8:30 a.m. London time (3:30 a.m. Michigan time), so it was a long journey. We flew at 600 mph, 4700 miles from Dallas. Mom, Grandpa, Grandpa’s girlfriend, Laurie Pugh, Charlene, and Charlene’s friend, Marnie, and I went on the trip. We stayed at St. Ermine’s Hotel on Caxton St.


For lunch, we all ate at this neighborhood pub. I had shepherds pie, which was one of England’s specialties.


I bought a new carry on suitcase, as the one I had was too small and heavy. I bought it for 30 pounds ($45). Then, mom and I got cleaned up and headed out for our first journey in London. We walked to the Underground subway, which was really neat. It was literally underground as we took very long escalators down to the train. The trains came within 1-2 minutes and had cushion seats. The Underground is much faster than the El in Chicago.


We took the subway to the South Kensington stop and had to get off and walk through this underground tunnel to get the blue line getting off at Knightsbridge. We walked down to Harrod’s Dept. Store, which was the largest and most sophisticated department store I’ve been in. It had a whole floor of food items. A pint of blueberries was $5. Mom and I bought some chocolates.


A cashmere sweater there was $300. This was a place Princess Diana would probably shop. I saw an $18,000 Sony television set there.


I bought a cute little bag there, with the Harrod’s logo on it.


Then, we walked to the Hard Rock Café and had a $12 cheeseburger, which we split. This was the very first Hard Rock Café in the world. It opened 30 yrs ago.


We walked through St. James Park on the path that was Princess Diana’s memory lane and saw Buckingham Palace. The gates were gorgeous with solid gold. This was the home she stayed in after she divorced Prince Charles.


We walked around Pickadelly Square, which was similar to Broadway in NYC.


It was hard for me to remember to look the other way for cars, as they drive on the left side of the road.