My fabulous UK trip included not only the isle of Guernsey, which is apparently a "bailiwick" of Britain, but also a short visit to what was called in my youth, Swinging London. The difference in places could not have been greater!

Alice and I had been some of the only Americans on Guernsey; we encountered one other couple. As such, we felt a bit like rock stars because the Guernseyans (Guernseyites? I think they are/were actually called Sarnians after the old name for the isle) were so impressed that Americans would want to visit their little home. And when they asked why we were there, all we had to say was, "The book," and they knew. It was fun. Most of the other tourists came from Germany, France or England.

In London that was definitely not the case. That city is even more of a melting pot of cultures than NYC! There were so many different languages going on all the time. We stayed in Kensington--great location (1 block from Tube, walking distance to so many sites)--and ate at very good restaurants: Indian, Lebanese, Italian, and passed up Chinese, Japanese, and English. As on Guernsey, however, almost all the waitstaff came from other countries, Eastern Europe most commonly. But the owners/chefs came from the countries of the cuisines. And all the restaurants within a very short walk of our hotel.

Ah, our hotel. This was our street and the navy blue awning was our hotel.

The Internet is a wonder for enabling us to book and pay for our room in advance but for allowing us to see the room, not so much.

We definitely paid for location, location, location. We did not pay for space. My right hand, above, is about 2" from one wall and the other is maybe 8" if I'm being generous. There was no closet, no dresser, nowhere to put our bags. There was a teakettle on a tiny nightstand (not pictured, but at the forefront of the picture), an ingenious method of energy conservation, a television and a fan--2d (American 3d) floor could get very hot and stuffy. The en suite did include a shower and you could turn around carefully in it. The included breakfast we only included one morning because there were better ones to be had close by!

And again we walked. A lot. I'm a huge fan of urban architecture and London does have that. And not the modern NYC type, 

(although I really liked the "sail building!)

but the old-huge-city type: row houses and tucked away little beauties and churches that take your breath away. 

I loved this street. It wasn't far from our hotel.

I decided I could live in this one. Obviously I'd have to be a kept woman.

Construction was everywhere but the powers that be try to be oh, so considerate about covering it tastefully!

St. Paul's, of course. Talk about breathtaking ...

And this is the House of Commons. I'm thinking "Commons" here is NOT the same as "common!"

We walked through beautiful Hyde Park, which reminded me of Central Park, of course: very green, lots of paths to choose from, and lots of people and lots of languages. We ended at Selfridge's department store, of BBC series fame. We wanted just to get a bag with the name on it for a "Mr. Selfridge" fan but they had no idea what we were asking for. So I looked to buy something to get the bag. We were, um, out of our league is the kindest thing to call it. A darling t-shirt for one of my daughters was £75! We did not buy anything.

On to Harrods we bravely went, wanting to find the wonderful food department that's touted in descriptions of the store. Too many people. Too rich for our blood. The decor was amazing: the Pyramid escalator/landing was exquisite. In a store. ??? And we didn't find the food department. Curses.

We did go to the Tower, having been advised that it was worth the trip to see the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, we estimated the waiting line to be about 4 hrs. long, so we looked at other things. One exceedingly small spiral staircase again set this claustrophobe outside to wait for Alice; apparently that was a good choice on my part! But the feeling of being in the Tower enclosure was indescribable. Oh, history!

And on to more modern themes. The Churchill War Rooms Museum was fascinating. Those who worked there did so for five years, all underground. Dedication, bravery and patriotism kept them there. (I think there was no photography allowed. At least I think that's why I have no pictures of it.)

There was one thing I wanted to see the minute Alice suggested we add a few London days to our trip: the London Eye. (And apparently you always say the whole name, not just "the Eye." I learned.) It was terrific.

A quite large structure, wouldn't you say? The film of it being raised up to vertical was truly impressive! The oddest part of our "rotation" was the fact that you get into your egg--or whatever the compartment is called officially--while the wheel is moving. 

 A little unnerving, but really very smooth. We planned this one right: we were there for the first rotation and wound up with only 3 other people in our egg! The views were magnificent. 

And even acrophobes might be able to manage it because there is absolutely no sense of motion. Alice and I were both sorry that we didn't buy the photo (that is taken of every egg) of us on the way down, because later the £15 didn't seem like so awfully much. C'est la vie.

It feels like we did so much more in London but I really think these are the main points. If we had been there longer we would have gone to a play in the rebuilt Globe theatre; our river cruise narrator said that the production of Titus Andronicus that is playing this summer is so gory and bloody that people have fainted and have needed to be transported to hospital! Maybe another time. :)

So London does what NYC does: old and new seem to coexist happily

but London's old is something NYC won't ever achieve! We loved our visit and decided this is another place we could come back to. 

But there's so much rest-of-the-world calling. Hmmmmm.