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  • Day 12

    On the Fly Again ...

    August 31, 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    It is with heavy hearts that we slurped our last cappuccino in Dublin this morning before we left for the airport ... at our favorite little breakfast spot ... right under our room!

    GRATITUDES: It's a great little cafe called PSTwenty6! We were a bit rushed for time so the chef offered to make us some take-away breakfast sandwiches!! And then ... believe it or not ... they told us that they weren't going to charge us for them! They also offered to give us a 'pour over' to take in our to-go cup.

    GAHS: I had no idea what he was talking about ... and when I found out ... I wish I had known about it sooner!! A `pour over ' is when they top off your cappucino with filtered drip coffeel I could have and would have done that countless times ... if I knew such a thing existed!! Anyway ... you just can't get better service than that! The Irish are amazing in their hospitality and humanity! 😀

    MORE GRATITUDES: And so, instead of taking a taxi again, we took the 747 Air Coach back to the airport and saved ourselves $25 Euros ... which is close to $40 CAD! And once we arrrived here in England, it was going to cost $130 - $150 euros to take a taxi from Gatwick to our accommodations!! So, we courageously opted to utilize a variety of public transit instead! So, we were armed with our directions and hoping like crazy that we could find our way to our new home in London ... without too much confusion, duress or agony! And ... guess what! It was relatively painless! We took the train to London Victoria station ... then hopped on the tube ... a quick transfer to another tube ... and a bit of a walk from there to our little house! Once again ... we remain deeply grateful for the help of kind but complete strangers!!!! We would have gotten very lost without their willingness to help a tourist!

    We are staying in Soho ... so our quaint new little home is in the beating heart of London. We are staying in the "smallest house in central London" that used to be a stable for working horses over 200 years ago. We are sleeping in the loft! yes ... we have to climb up the ladder ... and over the sitting room ... which is up the semi-spiral staircase from the kitchen and bathroom areas! I may be graoning about this later ... but for now ... it all seems so very cute! And for sure ... this renovated stable is fabulous when it comes to the old adage about "location, location, location" being of prime importance. We are close to the theatre district and have all kinds of restaurants and inviting nightlife right here ... all around us. We can walk to Buckingham Palace and many other of the sights to see here in London. We may even see some 'ladies of the night' in these parts ... but for us on this day of travel ... we grabbed a bite to eat at KILN (an Asian inspired eatery right beside our place!) and then ... wandered down the street to stock up on groceries! Yes!! Location, location, location!! Makes all the difference in the world for the quality of your trip if you are not driving!

    GRINS: Doesn't sound terribly exciting ... but John was in his glory at the Whole Foods store just up the street from us! There were quail eggs, fresh bread, baklava ... and ... it had a deli with an abundance of meats and unfamiliar cheeses and olives and wines and all kinds of goodness to pop into the basket!!! It just feels so good to us to get stocked up for breakfasts ... so that we can cook a bit now that we will have a kitchen. And ... it is lovely to simply relax and sip on a lovely Chilean(sp?) Merlot while we regroup after our commute today!!

    GRIPES: No gripes to report for today at all!! Amazing to be able to say that on a day of travel!!

    Tomorrow will be our first full chance to get acquainted with London. And ... we are eager for the fun to begin!! Someone said London is like New York ... and ... we LOVE New York!! So ... good night from us ... and ... good morning to all of you back at home!!

    Warmest smiles from our hearts to yours ... k&j
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