Day 1 in London

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Official greetings from London! Happy to be here, but such a jangled day - tired, lonesome, and generally discombobulated from all the travel in the past 24 hours. Not really complaining, and a good night's sleep and meeting up with Alex Saturday set all right.

Spent the morning in Kensington Gardens (western part of Hyde Park, adjacent to Kensington Palace). Weather was perfect: about 65, mostly cloudy but enough sun to keep it from being gloomy. Everything was lush and beautiful. Went to Kensington Palace for the first time...or, I should say the back of the palace. The royals still use it, so the front was barricaded, security guards with bullet-proof vests were patrolling, and photos were prohibited. Certainly understand why.

Early afternoon was spent milling Kensington High Street. Beautiful homes, beautiful cars, beautiful people everywhere. After an hour on the tube, I arrived in Camden Town at 1500 to check in to our Airbnb. Our host, Lolly, is a delightful Englishwoman old enough to have grandkids. The room is plain though clean and in good condition, but the rest of the apartment needs a lot of work - in fact, some parts look like renovation was started and never finished. The complex itself seems a little sketchy. Will be paying attention to that.

Oh, and a train goes by a lot. Just rumbled by as I typed this. Anyway...

Camden itself is quite Bohemian. Til recently it was something of a wilder area - Amy Winehouse was from here - and it still has rough edges. Now, it is more known as an arty, quirky neighborhood, and its claim to fame is the Camden Market - open air and huge. All is right in the middle of bock after block of little shops ranging from clothes to jewelry to smoking accessories to food and everything else. After wandering for a while, have decided to call it a night...at 2045.

Can't wait to see Alex. More Saturday with the girl!

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