Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (kswl) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:09:37 GMT

Wonderful report, thanks! I've put the Saatchi gallery on my list for the summer, and very much appreciate the megabus tips to Oxford.

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:16:46 GMT

Thanks for reading this. While the trip was only 2 months ago, it felt like such a long time ago... With the pound being so low now, perhaps I can plan another trip to London...NOT!

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (elainesl) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:36:51 GMT

gosh, how did I miss seeing this wonderful report before now? I'm so pleased to have finally read it.
The details are wonderful. Eltham House has long been on my to-do list, as have Inns of Court.
This will I hope come in handy for me in the future.
Also glad to see someone else having gone to Hackney to see Sutton House which I too really enjoyed.
I'd never heard of "murder mile" before--just as well!

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (Kavey F) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:27:28 GMT

Strange, I am 100% sure I commented to this (WONDERFUL) trip report but maybe I didn't, or it didn't take or something!
Anyway, just wanted to say what a good report this is, with all the images interspersed and so much detail!

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (CrowGirl) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:27:55 GMT

As a new London enthusiast, your report definitely gives me some ideas for our next trip there.
Thanks for all the details!

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (DianeWoodard) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:34:41 GMT

Thanks for a terrific trip report! I love to spend a fair amount of time exploring cities I've come to enjoy. Hopefully we'll be able to get back to London again for a similar ramble.

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (Downunder) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:47:33 GMT

Your reports are quite wonderful and you really know how to take us a long for the ride in the tradition of Paul Theroux. How about posting a photo of yourself as with all that detail it is the only thing missing. Your efforts are too good to remain anonymous!!

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (Sheila Ritchie) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:20:33 GMT

What a report! Such detail! And wonderful photos.

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:55:34 GMT

For those of you interested in Rothko, you may also be interested in these 2 recent news bits.

#1 Tate 'lost out' on Rothko works
The Tate missed the chance to own 30 works by Mark Rothko, which would today be worth about $1bn (£630m), according to newly unearthed memoirs.

#2 Rothko art...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:53:58 GMT

What's The Damage
This is my favorite part of the trip report... figuring out how much money I wasted.

The £ fluctuated a bit while I was there. I'll generalize it to £1 = $1.6

Transportation
Airfare $618
Oyster PAYG £32
Oxford bus & other Train tickets £19.10

Lodging
$542 for...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:39:47 GMT

Holiday Inn Kensington Forum

As I have mentioned above, I got this hotel through a Priceline bid. My accepted bid was $90, which came out to $108/night after fees and taxes were added.

This is what I wrote on Tripadvisor:
-------------------------
ROOM:
A week before my arrival, I emailed the hotel to request a double bed and non-smoking room, as...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:26:08 GMT

Day 6 (Final Day)
Inns of Court and wonderful fish & chips

Hard to believe today is my last day in London. I was starting to settle in - looking RIGHT when I stepped off the curb, plus my spoken English started to become half British and half American (this happens every time I'm in London because I was brought up with Queen's English).

I finished packing everything in my 19" carryon and checked out. There is a luggage room at the...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:15:24 GMT

Day 5
Imperial War Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Opera House

This morning, I "treated" myself to breakfast at the hotel. The reason I use "" is because I didn't have to pay for it.

6 months ago, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Regents Park. There was a minor issue w/my stay so I wrote a complaint email to HI. As a compensation, they sent me 3 US$10 vouchers. Because my hotel stay this time was prepaid through Priceline,...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:06:16 GMT

Day 4
Red House, Eltham Palace, Westminster Abbey organ recital

I began my day with a coconut bun (80p) for breakfast, which I had purchased the night before in Chinatown.

My morning activity is to visit the Red House in Bexleyheath. To get there, I had to take the tube to Cannon Street and catch the Southeastern Train service to Bexleyheath (with a change in London Bridge). The train trip was 30 minutes. At Bexleyheath station, it is a 15-20 min...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:57:57 GMT

Day 3
Borough Market, William Morris Gallery, Sutton House, Aida at ENO

Today is Saturday and my plan was to arrive at Borough Market by opening time which is 9am.

Alas, I overslept and didn't leave the hotel until 9. As there's no straightforward way to get from Gloucester Rd tube station to Borough Market, I decided to take the tube to Monument and walk across London Bridge.

Since I was at Monument station, I might as well...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:25:36 GMT

Day 2
Oxford

Thanks to Fodorites, I found out that I could save some money by buying my Oxford bus tickets through Megabus in advance. Megabus acts as a 3rd-party discount outlet for Oxford Tube (not Oxford espress), and tickets can be as low as £1 each way. But I waited until last minute (48hrs), so I paid £5 each way for a grand total of £10.50 (50p booking fee). This is compared to the regular price of £16 same-day r/t ticket.

The downside of...

Re: London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:13:36 GMT

Day 1
Kensington Gardens, V&A, Leighton House, Royal Festival Hall

I got the Holiday Inn Kensington Forum via Priceline, for $108/night all-in. Naturally, the room was not ready when I arrived to check in at 8:30 am!

After I dropped off my luggage, I asked myself, Where to go now? As it was only 8:30am, nothing (I mean attractions-wise) was open. So I decided to head to Kensington Gardens.

The sun was out and the fall foliage was quite...

London/Oxford - 6 days of art, music, historic houses

feeds@yuku.com (y2000k) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:05:35 GMT

Hello fellow TTG'ers, I am back from my trip last week and have finished posting my TR over on TOP. But I always like to post it here because
1) thanks to those of you who pursuaded me to go on this trip
2) I love how TRs are indexed here and how easy to look them up

I spent a lot of time planning and finetuning my itinerary, as I like to pack 'em in as much as possible. To me, going on a solo trip is not about relaxing... it is about trying to see as much as I...