Sunday, 24th September - Cornwall to London

We drove to Exeter, returned the hire car and got on a train to London (that’s the short version of the story). A tip for next time – don’t return a hire car in a strange provincial city on a Sunday – Keith left Shelley with the bags at the station and dropped off the car at the rental place (which was closed on Sundays, but we knew that), and then had to walk 2 miles to the station – there were no cabs, and no suburban trains for the next 2 hours! Meanwhile Shelley was at the station minding the luggage (couldn’t even while away the time in the bookshop because there’s nowhere to leave your luggage in these terrorist-conscious times) watching the 1 o’clock train go past, in the end we only just made the 2 o’clock. Anyway, the train trip to London was very pleasant – beautiful countryside to look at, and someone else to do the driving.

We caught a London cab (a black one of course) from Paddington Station to the place we are staying, a nice little flat in St Johns Wood that belongs to a family friend, freshened up a bit and then took a stroll to St Johns Wood High Street. This is a chic little shopping street filled mostly with designer children’s clothing shops and trendy kitchen design places, and some nice restaurants. We noted a nice Kosher deli we’ll have breakfast in one morning, and a great Sushi place. We had a very nice dinner at Café Rouge (a fore-taste of France next week), got some things for breakfast at Sainsbury’s and retired to our flat for the evening. A nice welcome to London.