Off to Jolly Ole London (travelling, hotel and our first dinner with new friends)

We left on Saturday (Dec. 6th, 2008) via Northwest Airlines flight #106 at 7:00 p.m. to London’s Heathrow Airport. It was a good flight, nonstop (YAY!), not too crowded and very peaceful.  We tried to get some sleep, but weren’t smart enough to grab one of the many empty center sections to lay down (that would have been sweet).  We arrived in London a little early (around noon), got through their customs/border very quickly.  We took the London Underground (aka The Tube) to our stop in Bayswater, then we found our way the eight or so blocks to our hotel.

THE SPACE APART HOTEL
36-37 Kensington Gardens Square, London W2 4BQ

We stayed at a nice little boutique hotel called The Space Apart Hotel, located in Bayswater section of London.  This area has great vibe to it.  There are a lot of locals (it’s not a big tourist area), neighborhood restaurants and pubs. 

When we first arrived, we were a tad early and our room wasn’t ready, so we left our luggage at the hotel and went off to the park for a walk. 

It was a very nice day, the sun was out, but a few clouds in the sky to make things   interesting.  The hotel is located about 10 minute walk away from Kensington Gardens Park, a royal park right where Princess Diana used to live and walk.  We meandered through some lovely gardens and saw these amazing 20 foot high hedges shaped like giant gumdrops.  Amongst these hedges were lots of squirrels that would come up to people and take peanuts out of their hands.  One man had a squirrel digging around in his jacket pocket for them.  All you could see was the furry tail sticking out of his jacket.  It was really awesome.  I wished that I had my camera out at the time.  We also walked around this lovely pond that had dozens of different species of water birds swimming around and eating the breadcrumbs that people were feeding them.  This seemed to be a favorite activity of a lot of families. The sun was beginning to set and after an hour or so walking, we headed back to the hotel – we were getting exhausted.  While in London it was about 3:30 p.m., for our internal clock, it was like staying up all night ‘til 5:30 in the morning.

THE SPACE APART HOTEL & OUR ROOM
We got back to the hotel and were let into our room.  This is a nice hotel, recently remodeled in a contemporary design. All of the rooms are small furnished apartments. We were only able to get their smallest sized studio apartment (called a standard).

HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY IT IS A GREAT PLACE TO STAY
*  great central located - close to 2 different tube lines, walking distance to excellent food, and you're in a neighborhood with locals, it's not entirely full of tourists
*  kitchenette - I love having the fridge and the stove.  I had cold juice, milk for tea, and yogurt available, plus I could make a cup of tea any time
*  Free wi-fi (some hotels charge $10/day for this
*  Very friendly, helpful staff
*  A good price compared to other options in the area
*  Adjustable bed to sit up while watching TV, using computer

Our room had a bed, armoire, nightstands, flat screen TV, DVD player, kitchenette with stovetop, microwave/oven, sink, electric kettle, refrigerator, plates, pots, utensils and glassware. There was a small bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower.  Soap, shampoo/conditioner, towels, hair dryer and sundries like cotton swabs were provided.

We got in our room, took a few minutes to get things squared away, then caught a much needed 3 hour nap.  In the evening we met up with a very nice couple, Gary and Linda, who answered a post Brooke made in his Aces High bulletin board asking to meet anyone interested to have drinks or dinner at a pub in London. They gave us a guidebook on London, which was very thoughtful and we appreciated this very much!! 

So Brooke and Traci and Gary and Linda went out on an adventure to get some delicious Chinese food at Royal China Restaurant on Queensway street (about a 5 minute walk from the hotel).  Gary and Linda are excellent dinner companions, great conversationalists and we really enjoyed our evening with them.  We ordered a multi-course meal that started with a big appetizer plate (eggrolls, spareribs, fried prawns, seaweed).

The second course was MY FAVORITE - crispy roast duck with scallions, hoisin sauce and ancakes.  MMMmmmMMmmm.  You take the duck (they shredded the meat up for us) and put in in  at very thin crepe-like pancake, load it with scallions & hoisin sauce. EAT UP!

After the duck our main courses arrived: stir fried mixed vegetables, Sautéed Beef with Ginger & Spring Onion and Sautéed Chicken with Chili & Black Bean Sauce.  It was a ton of food and we couldn’t even accept the fruit dessert.  We closed the restaurant down and walked back to our hotel a grin on our faces.  We said goodnight to Gary and Linda and promised to meet up with them the next morning to our visit to the Royal Air Force Museum.