Arrival In London

The morning of July 6th we drove on to the rental car place near Heathrow, debarked, and then embarked on the Uber to Handel St., Bloomsbury, WC1, and our apartment there. The property manager met us, showed us around, and we then spent the rest of the day and next unpacking, moving in, and familiarizing ourselves with the appliances, amenities, neighborhood, and so on. We'll be here through August.

Other than the attractive COVID-era price of this updated one-bedroom Georgian flat, first floor, the location is what sold us. We're about 4 blocks either way between the British Museum and the British Library. The National Gallery and Covent Garden are perhaps a 30 minute walk. The Russell Square tube station is two blocks away; St. Pancras/Kings Cross four blocks. We are in the center of Bloomsbury, university buildings all around, parks all around, monuments and plaques all around, restaurants and pubs all around, quiet, tree-lined, but with a Waitrose and a Boots and such just down the street. The building dates from the 1790s, completely re-done in Victorian times, then again in the late 1900s. I have never been a fan of Handel, but, among the pieces in my musical repertoire of the 1960s was one of his oboe concertos. The hautbois was very big in the 18th century; not so much now. Vicki has always liked the "Hallelujah Chorus" from The Messiah. There is a small bust of Handel on the mantel, and a museum around the corner we have yet to visit has a section devoted to him. Handel, was kappellmeister to Prince George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 became George I. But of course it's not as simple as that.

We have been here three weeks. After the initial flurry and blitz of sightseeing, we have settled into a more reasonable routine, trying to do a major site every other day or so, minor walks daily, just resting and doing chores the rest of the time. The weather's a factor, also: too hot some days, too wet others. After thirteen years of retirement, we still have difficulty switching from tourist on-the-go mode to just-living-there mode. It's hard to do in a place like central London, where every block has something of cultural, historic, scenic, or other interest. But we're trying. In the three weeks we've been here we've visited the British Museum (three times), the National Gallery, Hampton Court, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, the London Museum, Tate Britain, St. Paul's, Covent Garden, Oxford St., and done a number of neighborhood walks. 

Extraterrestrial alien from outer space view

Closer up; the turquoise blip near the bottom is the British
Museum

Handel St.