ISH International Students House

Day 23. Friday, August 8.

10.1 Miles. 24,294 Steps.

Premier Inn, Woolwich to St. Giles Hotel, London.

Figuring out tube lines and transfers for routes to get where I would like to be - challenging but solve-able.

Poundland equivalent to Dollar Tree, possibly not as junky.

Nice outfit.

Going Up and Up.

Back under the Thames River to pop out on the north side.

Man sitting across from me was dictating a sermon into his phone, complete with heavy vocal inflections and hand usage. Heard a good portion of what his audience will hear on Sunday. Thankfully he got off at Poplar. Possibly to visit those nuns 😁

Another underground tube station where it was necessary to go down to -5 to be lifted up to street level.

BT tower used to be the tallest structure around. Now the city of old buildings is dwarfed by skyscrapers.

Remembering that last morning in 2000 before the bus came to collect everyone from our group for the trip home. I took a last walk down Great Portland Road to Oxford Street and back. A final goodbye. I didn’t want to go home. Olivia was ready, but after a few days at home she missed the excitement of living in London.

Easily found the way up to ISH - International Students House. So familiar even 25 years later.

Great Portland Place/ISH

Walked into the main building for ISH. Young lady greeted me and asked if I had lived there? YES I did!!!

Explained when, 2000, and how most of our group from Wisconsin had been in the other building, York Terrace, on the edge of Regents Park. She said sadly York Terrace had been sold just before COVID. But next year they will have a new location.

Our windows on 2nd floor (1st floor here).

Went by York Terrace. Talk about muscle memory-the legs knew exactly where to cross Marylebone (Mar le Bourne) Road, extra little jog to get over to Our Street - York Terrace.

After ‘paying’ my respects to home for 3 months continued west towards Baker St. Past the Royal Academy of Music whose backside we had been able to see from our window.

The line queuing for Madame Tussaud’s was quite long. Back in 2000 we could see into the lobby after it was closed as Olivia and I would return late coming back from ballet class at the Royal Academy of Dance. Today, all the windows are covered with advertisements, no need to give away glimpses of what people will pay for.

Sherlock Holmes museum.

Outside the entrance to Baker Street Underground.

The museum Gary, Olivia and I did was a tribute to the actor Jeremy Brett, which was the one we had mainly been watching. That museum no longer exists.

Take Away Pints into Regents Park. London Zoo is at the north end. Finish those pints before approaching wildlife 😀 (we have Florence the stuffed leopard at home from this zoo).

Walked down Baker Street to Oxford. Part way there had to stop and have something to eat and just sit. Body and legs tired.

Waiting for that person to come along and play The Queens Gambit.

On Oxford Street turned east towards where my pillow will be for 4 nights - St Giles Hotel just off Tottenham Court Road.

Paid homage to ‘Mr Selfridge’ and his Fantastic store. Selfridges took up an entire block width and length. What a fantastical store it is.

Macaroons to eat.

Food not to eat - candles.

More candles.

Exhausted! But feel like I have returned to a well loved place. Irritated that the body has failed to live up to expectations. Plan to do as much as possible and be grateful to be back in the city.

Along the curb of Oxford Street.

What a great idea for an escalator to have a length of flat moving steps before they separate and go either up or down. I appreciated the relief of stress of stepping forward.

As Samuel Johnson said “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life for there is in London all that life can afford.”