Arriving in London

Friday October 11 was a travel day.  It was mainly sunny in Ireland with a high of about 15C.  We took an 8:30 a.m. direct bus from Galway to the Dublin Airport.  It was a very comfortable 2 1/2 hour  trip, passing lots of beautiful green scenery.  We arrived at the Airport at 11:00 a.m.

Stopping at Marmalade Bakery at 8:00 a.m. before they opened--- hot scones out of the oven for our trip

Leaving Galway

Green everywhere en route
Our Aer Lingus flight was scheduled to leave at 1:05 p.m.  We were on the tarmac until about 1:45 p.m. waiting our turn for take off, but the flight just over an hour and we arrived at Gatwick airport in London at 2:50 p.m. only about 10 minutes after the scheduled arrival time.   It had just rained but was still warm at 16C.   We had to wait a while for our bags.   We then took the Thameslink train, which our Airbnb hosts had recommended.  This was a revelation as it was a fast train making only two stops before we got out at London Bridge!!  We were then to take a bus to Shoreditch (the part of East London we are staying in), but the bus wasn't running due to the Extinction Rebellion demonstration.   Luckily, we were able to take the Tube a few stops to Old Street and walk from there.

We walked on a small street called Rivington where we saw a sign for UK's First Ultra Low Emission Streets-- we'll have to check out what this is about.


We are staying at a great Airbnb on Virginia Road.  The hosts are an architect and an artist and we have our own room and bath and share a kitchen and living room area with them.  It is an airy flat with a view of a small nearby park.  We are minutes from the Sunday Columbia Road Flower market, which we went to during our late March 2018 visit.

The bedroom

Kitchen area--- lots of art throughout the flat

Living room and sunroom area with large picture at one end

View from our window in the rain
We unpacked, chatted with one of the hosts and then went for dinner at Oklava, a wonderful Turkish-Cypriot restaurant nearby. Very modern cousine - we have eaten there on our last two trips.  They have a cookbook and the food is wonderful.
Allan at Oklava

Lahmacun-- the toppings are served on a separate plate

One puts the toppings on the flatbread and then rolls it up and cuts it in half-- delicious

Chili Roast Cauliflower, red onion, pistachios--- yum

Hake with Olives and Marinated Tomatoes and eggplant
We also had a lamb kebab, of which we forgot to take a photo.   It was a great meal.  A taste of London- more to come as we are in town until October 17.

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