July 15, 2003

The Arrival

An excited Munn trio was reunited in Heathrow's Terminal 4. After a few minutes of hugging and a chuckle as we passed Starbucks, we headed to the Underground. The Piccadilly Line whisked us away and in just 26 stops we arrived at Caledonian Road station. It was a glorious stroll along avenues lined with old mattresses and burnt out cars all the way to 10 Hungerford.

While Kristin settled in and gave her eyes a bit of a rest after the transatlantic journey, Mom and I went out for a mini tour. First stop was, of course, the local library (next to the Holloway Women's prison). We then hopped on a #29 bus and got front seats on the top deck. 3 buses and a tube ride later, we were at Tower Hill. We wandered around the Tower of London and through St. Katharine Docks.

We were getting a bit 'peckish', so decided to dine at the Dickens Inn. It's a beautiful old wood building with lots of charm and fabulous views of boats in the water but I recommend you skip the food part. It didn't really matter that the meal was bad because the weather was grand, the company was wonderful and we were together in London!

After dinner we walked across Tower Bridge and headed west toward the golden setting sun. Lots of people were ambling along the south bank of the Thames enjoying the warm summer evening. We passed the Golden Hinde, the Tate Modern museum and the Globe Theatre. When the sun was just above the water, we headed back east along the riverbank and crossed over on the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul's Cathedral looming just in front of us.

A revived Kristin called to see what we were up to and accepted our offer to bring home Indian take away. I have the number for Hillmartin Tandoori programmed in my mobile phone, so we ordered the vegetarian set menu from the top deck of a #91 bus. We stepped off the bus right in front of the Indian food haven, chatted with Ali for a moment whilst collecting the savory dishes, stopped in to say hi to Mel the cornerstore Maestro who presented Mom with a gift bottle of red wine then headed back to 10 Hungerford and Kristin.

Mom's London photos 15-19 July