We had been planning this, our first retirement trip, for awhile. We used Monogram Tours through AAA of WNY. We were very happy with the planning. We flew from Buffalo to Washington and then an overnight flight to London. It was a large jet and we were seated in the middle aisle. After dinner we tried to sleep but it was tough. It was a smooth ride and on time.
We arrived at the Heathrow Airport on Tuesday May 8th and we went through a long but orderly customs line and after a while we were met by a Monograms tour rep holding a sign with our names. It was Clive in a red blazer. He got us on a special bus into London. One of the first things I noticed about London was the chimneys. The bus took us to our hotel The Millennium Gloucester in Kensington. Unfortunately we couldn't check in yet so we dropped off our bags and went out to walk around the neighborhood.
Of course it really was a great neighborhood. We walked up the street to Hyde Park and were surprised how warm it was in London... sunny and 81 degrees as we made our way over to Kensington Palace. The gardens were beautiful and we were enjoying ourselves despite the heat and being so tired from traveling all night.
We stopped at Coco Momo, a wine bar cafe, for lunch on our way back to the hotel. We actually got some appetizers and drinks. We had cod and salmon cakes, sweet potato fritters and beet salad. Becky had some wine and I had a Camden Yard Ale on tap. The waiter was very nice and friendly. We commented to him that we were surprised at how warm it was in London that day. He said how happy he was with the weather and how hard their past winter had been. Then he exclaimed that no one knew how bad their winter was this year. We just smiled and didn't tell him we were from Buffalo NY.After lunch we went back to the hotel and took a well deserved and needed nap for two hours.
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