MKK to UK May-June 2023

A 20-day adventure by The Little Tune Runs Away Read more

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Trip start
May 20, 2023
MKK to UK May-June 2023 Traveler
The day before
May 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
The day before. My neighbor gave me a mohair shawl and hat she crocheted because she saw online that London in summer is 20 deg F colder than here! They are so warm and super-soft.
TravelerThis is beautiful, what a lovely thing to do.
6/20/23Reply
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MKK to UK May-June 2023 Traveler
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MKK to Maui
May 20, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
I overnighted on Maui, staying in a hostel in the old part of Wailuku. While waiting for check-in time, I discovered that a local youth dance school was putting on an end-of-semester recital at the historic Iao Theatre nearby. The dance school is so popular, they had to put on 10 recitals in order for all their students to perform! The audience was full of enthusiastic family members and friends of the performers.Read more
Traveler The dance instructors getting on down!
6/10/23Reply
Traveler Priority seating!
6/10/23Reply
Traveler In the evening I went to the restaurant up the street, The Empanada Lady, which had a great jazz/blues band playing. The first of many food shots is my Cuban Ropa Vieja Flank Steak dinner.
6/11/23Reply
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MKK to UK May-June 2023 Traveler
LAX
May 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
My flight from Maui arrived at 10pm and the flight to Heathrow left at 11:22pm, which had me anxious about making it to the departure gate on time. However, there is a tunnel between the terminals and I got there just as they started boarding the priority passengers. As always, I'd chosen an aisle seat down the back of the plane, so I was in the last group boarded. I make that choice because it means I can stretch out my legs, and so I don't disturb people getting up and down to go to the loo, etc. The seats in that area are close to the loo and to the galley, which is a great place to do leg and back stretches. And to also beg an additional snack or too. Hahahaha!Read more
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MKK to UK May-June 2023 Traveler
Heathrow
May 22, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Arrived at 6pm to be greeted by my nephew, and had my first ride in a modern London Black Cab.
TravelerThey are rather snazzy aren’t they! So similar to the originals too.
6/19/23Reply
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Chiswick
May 23, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
I spent my first day just checking out the neighborhood.
Traveler "Dirty chips" and coffee at the pub opposite the Gunnersbury Tube station near where I was staying. I asked for a cheese toasted sandwich but they don't do those. The cheese sauce was spicy hot and very tasty.
6/11/23Reply
Traveler I never did get to visit Chiswick House and its big gardens, but I thought this kid's illustration on the wall of a building site near where I was staying was really cute!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler The single most useful photo I took! I often struggled with the steps at Tube stations so the bus was my preferred mode of transport. This bus stop was near where I stayed and being able to refer to this photo to know which bus would take me home was a wonderful time-saver. I had the Transport for London app on my phone, which was also a big help, but using apps chewed through battery time.
6/11/23Reply
TravelerGreat idea!
6/19/23Reply
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Clerkenwell
May 24, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
I met up with a friend from high school and we visited some of the (mostly furniture) design stores participating in Clerkenwell Design Week. One company was exhibiting in the St John's museum, which was of special interest to me because my sister was a St John's volunteer for many decades.Read more
Traveler Sign-in booth outside Farringdon Tube station.
6/15/23Reply
Traveler Altar at the Museum of the Order of St John.
6/15/23Reply
Traveler My ID card. The QR code was scanned by vendors at the various locations so they could bombard me with emails. LOL One vendor, in his 50s, commented laughingly on "Student". "I guess you're a student of life," he quipped, seeming to think I'd chosen that category as a joke. Ageism is alive and well!
6/18/23Reply
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The Three Greyhounds
May 24, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
After the Clerkenwell outing, I took the Tube into the theatre district to meet up with my nephew and a couple of his friends for dinner and a show--the first London performance of Spitting Image: The Musical. The show was hilarious, and it was a fun night out in wonderful company.Read more
Traveler Bangers and mash at The Three Greyhounds. The nicely burned sausages are seated on a platform of creamy mashed potatoes. I hadn't expected to see so much gravy, but it was all very delicious!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler The plot of the show is that Charles, on the eve of his coronation, must "save the fabric of British society."
6/15/23Reply
Traveler A kind of Marvel league of heroes are assembled to oppose a league of villains. Tom Cruise leads the superheroes, but... (no spoilers here!)
6/15/23Reply
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Bus trip to Richmond
May 25, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
I took the bus down to Richmond to get my hair cut and do some shopping at Marks & Spencers. You get to see much more and meet lovely folk on the bus. Brits are not nearly as reserved as their reputation would have us believe!Read more
Traveler Hair salon greeter.
6/9/23Reply
Traveler Hair salon mural. The salon owners' son had to have two kidney transplants--one from each of his parents--and they do a lot of fundraising for kidney transplant recipients.
6/9/23Reply
Traveler To get back to the main street of Richmond from the salon, I cut through a lovely churchyard. It lets wild growth run rampant so that insects have lots of habitat.
6/9/23Reply
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Chiswick
May 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
In the morning, I stopped at "The Italians" deli/cafe for a coffee on my way to the supermarket down the street. The deck chair and DIY side table fitted onto a bollard were in the alleyway leading to the supermarket, and I guess were the "break room" for one of the stall owners who set up in the alley.Read more
Traveler Love those light fittings in the window of The Italians!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Never mind the bollards!
6/11/23Reply
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White Cross, Richmond
May 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
In the evening we met up for drinks at the White Cross, which is a famous riverside pub on the Thames. It was a wonderfully warm evening with no room for us in the garden or even outside on the street, where people were sitting on the curb--some of them on cushions provided by the pub! But we got a lovely table inside by the window.Read more
Traveler Lovely wall decoration.
6/11/23Reply
Traveler The Queen Mother pulling pints in the White Cross--maybe from the '80s?
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Baa-haa!!
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The Fat Badger, Richmond
May 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Then we strolled along the river and up to the Richmond town area to go for dinner at The Fat Badger. If you've every watched Ted Lasso, the exterior shots of the pub that is a feature of the show is the facade of one of the pubs down an alleyway in Richmond. And, of course, the team he coaches is based in Richmond.

No food porn of our dinner at TFB, which is a farm-to-table restaurant that also sells produce from their farm in Sussex in the storefront on the street. Rest assured, no badgers were harmed in the making of our dinner! It wasn't a sett menu. (Groooooaaaaan!)

On our walk back to the Richmond transit center, a gentleman passerby commented "nice hat!" I was wearing the one from the very first post in this trip. :)Read more
Traveler Lovely wall decoration.
6/11/23Reply
Traveler I certainly hope their Sussex farmhands wear a bit more clothing than the ones on this wallpaper in the loo!
6/11/23Reply
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Chiswick
May 27, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
Saturday morning, I took care of dirty business--my laundry. While it was having a whirl, I had coffee at a nearby cafe and found myself in the midst of a promotional video shoot for a sports team that was playing later that day in the local champions league.

Cafes had already become a bit of a habit, but I did try to take snacks and drinks from the supermarket with me later in the day so I'd stay away from them!Read more
Traveler Art!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Books to read once you got bored with watching your clothes go round and round!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Very crisp and tasty!
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Traveler Love the logo!!
6/11/23Reply
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Kew Gardens
May 27, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
In the afternoon, I met up again with my high school friend at Kew Gardens station. We walked to the National Archives for a look at an exhibition of fun invention copyrights, and then back under the station and along the street to Kew Gardens.Read more
Traveler Not exactly in Kew Gardens, but The National Archives at Kew is in a gorgeous garden setting--you'll see more of it later in the trip!
6/11/23Reply
Traveler Palm House at Kew Gardens.
6/11/23Reply
Traveler I think these are some kind of mushroom growing at the base of the palm.
6/11/23Reply
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Hammersmith
May 28, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C
Sunday, I decided to take the bus to its last stop in Hammersmith. On December 23, 1973, I saw Elton John and Kiki Dee's first performance together at what is now the Eventim Apollo but was then called the Hammersmith Odeon. Half a century ago! It's enough to break my heart. (If you know, you know!) It looks kinda uninteresting from the outside, but is an absolutely gorgeous Art Deco theatre, well-preserved inside judging by the photos on Google Maps. (Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of it.)Read more
Traveler Just a shot of a double-decker taken when I was sitting in the wildflower area of a park near where I was staying before setting out for Hammersmith.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler Quintessential England! A picnic in a churchyard, complete with dogs and croquet.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler Lovely Middle Eastern sandwich and iced coffee at the cafe opposite Hammersmith Bus Station. Loved the reusable metal straw!
6/14/23Reply
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MKK to UK May-June 2023 Traveler
Chiswick
May 29, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Heaven only knows what I did on Monday. No photos to remind me! It was probably just a rest and recovery day.
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Bus trip
May 30, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
I took the wrong bus to go back to Kew Gardens but decided to stay on it until I saw something of interest.
Traveler The London Museum of Water and Steam. I'd read about it before leaving for the UK and had intended to visit but I just stayed on the bus. :(
6/14/23Reply
Traveler I eventually got off at a stop by a strip mall in Isleworth and bought a few things from the UK equivalent of TJ Maxx.
6/14/23Reply
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Kensington Design Museum
May 31, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Met up again with my high school friend and went to the Design Museum in Kensington.
Traveler Cacti on an outside windowsill in one of the narrow residential streets in Kensington.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler The Apple / Mac display.
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Traveler Sony display.
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Ai Weiwei exhibit
May 31, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
The Design Museum had a special exhibit of Ai Weiwei's work. It was called "Making Sense" and the catalogue described it as "a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. ... Through material culture, he explores the tensions between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction."Read more
Traveler One of a series of prints from 2022, entitled "Study of Perspective." In the series, he flips the bird at culturally iconic architecture and objects around the world.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler Water Lilies #1, 2022. Made of thousands of Lego bricks, it's a recreation of Monet's work.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler Still Life, 1993-2000. Ai collected thousands of Stone Age tools from flea markets--axe-heads, chisels, knives and spindle whorls. We tend to think of these as precious because of their age, but they are just commonplace examples of what was needed for everyday survival.
6/14/23Reply
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Japan House
May 31, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Japan House is also on Kensington High Street and features items from Japanese companies. Downstairs, they have a library and an exhibition space, which held a collection of intricately patterned silk braid cords.Read more
Traveler Copy of a 4th-century ornamental braid used for ceremonial temple parades. It would be draped over the neck of a horse.
6/14/23Reply
Traveler One of the many cabinets full of beautifully crafted braids.
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Traveler Still from a video showing how braids are made.
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Traveler The little loom on which the braids are crafted.
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Kew Gardens redux
June 1, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
This time, I caught the right bus and could make the change to the one that goes by Kew Gardens!
Traveler You make the change at Kew Bridge. This is the view from the bus stop down towards Old Thames Road. Such a pretty garden!
6/15/23Reply
Traveler And this is the view of Kew Pier near the bridge. There are regular boat tours along the Thames that include this stop.
6/15/23Reply
Traveler On the little hop on - hop off train that takes you all around Kew Gardens.
6/15/23Reply
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Cardiff
June 2, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
I had two reasons to go to Cardiff for the weekend. One was that I'd been watching a Welsh TV series set in the parliament there and it is such an amazing building. And the other was that a Neil Gaiman play was being performed by The National Theatre at the equally amazing Millennium Centre.Read more
Traveler To get to Paddington, I took the Tube to Earl's Court. Loved this ad in the train carriage. I was supposed to change at Earl's Court, but as I stepped off the train an announcement came over the station's PA system saying that everyone had to evacuate the station because of "an emergency." I stepped back into the train and continued a couple more stops to transfer to the Circle Line.
6/16/23Reply
Traveler I had tried to buy my ticket online a few days before, but there was a strike planned for June 2 and 3, so they weren't accepting online reservations. Instead, I bought it in the Great Western Railway ticket office on the platform at Paddington Station. The station is huge and apparently has a statue of Paddington Bear, but I didn't have time to look around. Really nice modern train! The strike reduced the number of trains running and meant there was no refreshment service on the train but, other than that, I think everything was the same as usual.
6/16/23Reply
Traveler Once we got into Wales, signage was in two languages with Welsh being the predominant one.
6/16/23Reply
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Cardiff Bay
June 3, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
My one full day in Cardiff was spent at Cardiff Bay, which has a fascinating history. It was developed as docklands--supplying iron and coal from South Wales to the rest of Great Britain and the world--by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, a Scottish aristocrat, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.Read more
Traveler The Pierhead, Millennium Centre in the distance, and the glass-enclosed Senedd Cymru. The sculpture is the Merchant Seaman's Memorial, made using the traditional shipbuilding method of riveting metal plates together. Not seen from this angle is the bottom of the hull, which is shaped like a sleeping face. It commemorates local merchant seamen lost during times of war.
6/16/23Reply
Traveler In the late 19th century and early to mid-20th, the area was known as Tiger Bay. Post-WWII, the demand for coal and steel faded and the area fell into disrepair. From the '90s onward, much of it was redeveloped into a tourist destination called Mermaid Quay.
6/16/23Reply
Traveler View of Cardiff Bay from the little cafe in the Mermaid Quay area where I had breakfast. The bay is actually fresh water because a barrage was built prior to redevelopment and it formed an estuary for the two rivers that flow out to sea here.
6/16/23Reply
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Senedd Cymru
June 3, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
The TV show that inspired my visit to Cardiff was called "Living A Lie" and it centered on the politicians, newsgatherers, spin doctors, etc., in the Welsh Parliament (Senedd Cyrmru). For me, the star of the show was the building itself! Filming took place when parliament was in recess and much of it was done in the areas that are off-limits to the public. However, you're free to wander around the public areas on your own, or join a tour led by a volunteer docent.Read more
Traveler Wales did not have its own National Assembly until 1999, and it continued being governed from Westminster. I love the "Independant Tropical Wales" graffiti on the wall behind Her Majesty, Prince Phillip and Prince Charles as they were driven to the official opening. At that time, the Assembly met in The Pierhead building. Tropical?
6/16/23Reply
Traveler The interior is really intriguing because the debating chamber is circular and there is a circular public gallery above it. The building was officially opened on St. David's Day, 2006.
6/16/23Reply
Traveler Looking down from the visitors gallery into the debating chamber. I suppose that when parliament is in session, you can watch the live broadcast on the little monitor at each seat in the gallery.
6/16/23Reply
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Millennium Centre
June 3, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
This was the final day of performances of the play based on Neil Gaiman's book "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane." I attended the matinee and arrived in the theatre quite early. It is an absolutely gorgeous space to be in.Read more
Traveler The performance was delayed by "a technical problem." It sounded like a bird had gotten into the theatre and was up in the acoustic baffles! TBH, I found the play itself very hard going and the giant puppet Thing was terrifying. As intended, of course.
6/17/23Reply
TravelerWorth going just to see this theatre I would think, it’s beautiful.
6/20/23Reply
Traveler Plaque in the foyer.
6/17/23Reply
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Cardiff Castle
June 4, 2023 in Wales ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
TravelerCardiff Castle was just a short walk from my hotel and I visited it after checking out early in the morning.
6/17/23Reply
Traveler I got there a bit too early, so the entrance wasn't open yet.
6/17/23Reply
Traveler As the plaque explains, the castle was presented to the City of Cardiff by the 5th Marquess of Bute. Probably to avoid taxes, the docent at The Pierhead had said, the day before. LOL
6/17/23Reply
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