Breakfast was included with our room. A continental breakfast is pretty much the same everywhere -- various juices, rolls and croissants, cereal, and coffee and tea. The staff quickly learned to bring a large pot of coffee when we came for breakfast. You know Americans and their need for caffeine in the morning.

The cereals they served were interesting. There were Rice Krispies and corn flakes...they looked familiar. Another that was good, but different from what we get here, was muesli. It was kind of an English version of granola with oats and raisins. Another form of cereal turned out to be Weetabix, though I didn't know the name until I saw it at a grocery store. It looked like a brown bar of soap but turned mushy when milk was added.

Dinner was more varied. There were lots of ethnic restaurants around London and we took advantage of some of them. Indian restaurants were quite popular and one night we had an Indian dinner in Soho. Another night we went for Chinese food. We also went to a pub for fish and chips. Probably the least successful dinner I had was lasagna on the night before Paul and David arrived. It qualified for what I think of as English food.

Pubs were one of the best things in London. While they serve alcohol, they aren't like bars or cocktail lounges in the U.S. They had a very warm atmosphere and if I lived in London I think I'd hang out in a pub every night. As it turned out, we did go to one just about every night. Paul would order a pint of bitters, I'd have a pint of cider (hard), and David would have a Coke. A couple of times we ordered pub food, and it was a pleasant way to end the day. Tea is a London tradition and I had to have tea at Harrod's. It was everything I hoped it would be. When you came in you were greeted by the maitre d' who seated you at a table set with fine linens. A trio of musicians played classical music to help set the atmosphere. The menu itself was very short. Your only real choice was in what type of tea you wanted; I ordered Earl Grey. The waiter brought the tea and asked if I wanted it with milk. He poured the tea through a strainer -- wouldn't want to get a stray tea leaf in your cup now, would you? Then he brought out a tiered tray with goodies. On the bottom tray were sandwiches -- salmon and cream cheese, cucumbers, ham. All trimmed of their crusts, of course. The second tray had scones -- rather sweet dough with raisins. He also brought a caddy with apricot jam, blackberry jam, and clotted cream. Sheer heaven! The top tray had sweets including a chocolate pound cake with cherries, a tart with strawberries and cream, and a layered pastry with chocolate cream and a wonderfully flaky crust. It was wonderful and I felt truly pampered.

London Scrapbook

Acknowledgement: Background from