I love London…
…and when I visit London I like to pretend I live there. In my imagination I don’t have to go to work; I have the freedom to wander day after day, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. If the weather isn’t great, I can stay in because there will always be another day, and my inner city apartment is modern and spacious with a glorious view of the river.
In reality, we never have enough time in London to do everything we want. We like to stay in Bloomsbury, an area we’ve come to know well. Each time we arrive in Cartwright Gardens, it feels as if we’re home.
The studio apartment we always book is the size of a matchbox and it’s on the third floor, so we get our daily exercise going down the staircase in the morning and up again that evening. Instead of the Thames, we can see the pretty garden between the buildings if we lean far enough out the window.
But the location is marvellous. It’s just around the corner off Euston Road, yet the traffic noise can hardly be heard. From Kings Cross tube station in one direction or Russell Square in the other we can go anywhere in the city. We buy our fresh fruit and vegetables from the friendly man at the little stall on Marchmont Street. There are several grocery stores nearby and even more pubs. Our favourite is Mabels Tavern on Mabledon Place, and in the evening we walk around the corner to join the after-work crowd for dinner and a drink.
I will probably never live in London, but when I visit I like to imagine I’m a local!
Weekly Photo Challenge ~ Local
What a great place to stay. Location is everything, isn’t it? And it is fun to go back to the same place time and again so it does feel like a home away from home. You’ve discovered a gem there. 🙂
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From there we can walk to the British Museum and Covent Garden. It’s also very close to St Pancras International so a great place to stay if you want to go to Europe on Eurostar. We’ve done that twice. We so enjoyed checking out all our favourite places this time. Even the man in the apartment across the way in the other building on the second floor who never closes his curtains was still there. 🙂
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It sounds like home away from home to me! Wonderful. 🙂
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Love your post. I have never visited London (although many hours at Heathrow Airport) so love to see your photos and read your posts. My friend Channel loves visiting London also. Thanks for sharing.
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I’m about to start a new series on our recent visit to England and our time in London was at the very end. So you will have to wait a while for more London stories.
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Look forward to reading about England, and seeing great photos.
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I am the same wherever I visit – I pretend I live there and you are so right to stay in an appartment rather than an hotel. It makes all the difference. Bloomsbury is gorgeous …. I imagine myself one of the Bloomsbury Set of course whenever I find myself there (which is rarely since I left England) … I rather fancy being Virginia Woolf though if I were a man I would be Forster! This was a lovely post – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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I loved visiting London – but was always amazed at how dirty I was when I got home. (Home being Canterbury in Kent) Your home away from home sounds just perfect!!
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Can’t say I’ve noticed that. I was probably too busy enjoying myself and trying to take it all in to notice. And the shower in the studio is so small you can’t bend over so I just soap up and rinse off. I wouldn’t be able to see the dirt washing off. (That may be a bonus)
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Sounds like heaven to me. 🙂
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I’m good at daydreaming.
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A romanticized notion not to work in a foreign land and play all day!
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Wouldn’t it be wonderful.
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Love it. You described it perfectly, just as a local would.
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Thanks. It’s a wonderful place to visit.
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It looks like a home away from home.
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We like to think of it that way. 😀
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Love your blog and really enjoyed reading your posts!
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Thank you!
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What a great post – I almost feel as though I live in London too, after reading it. 🙂 An excellent location for a holiday can really make all the difference.
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You’re not as far away from London as we are. 😀
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I love to imagine the same things. I’ve never been to London, but really hope to get there one day xxxx
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A kindred spirit! I hope you do get to visit London, Dianne. It’s amazing.
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London is such a great city to visit but I don’t think I could live there (too cold) but yes I also imagine what it would be like to live there!
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I think it would be the wet grey days that would get to me. But seeing as it’s usually beautiful when we’ve been there, that’s how I like to think of London.
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And how does Justin Beaver feel about this? 🙂 🙂
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Justin sees himself as a man about town so he’d love to live in London for a while. 🙂
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