A brief note: the passport control entry procedure in Heathrow is state of the art. If you’re from a list of ~20 countries which includes the US and the EU(?), you walk of to a kiosk, scan your passport, look into a camera which scans your face, and you’re done. No human interaction.

Another brief note: on most of my trip blogs, you’ve enjoyed my photography and writing (perhaps). But what you may not have realized is that you also enjoyed Sally’s superb editing skills. She’s not with me on this trip, so you will probably experience grammar, spelling and just plain thinking errors. Sorry.

I got to my hotel (the Radisson Blu) in central London around 10pm. The hotel is expensive and very simple, but in a very good location near Piccadilly, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, etc. All the hot spots.

I unpacked, then went out to look for some dinner. As usual, the food on the plane was mediocre, and while I ate the tiny portion they served for lunch, it was not really satisfying. I ate in a pub which was filled with people drinking, as the kitchen was pretty much closed already. The bartender took pity on me (and one other customer), and got the chef to agree to make us each a pizza. But she would only make a margherita, which was fine with me.

After eating, I walked around for a while. Lots of people were out on the street, although it was around midnight. I clearly didn’t fit the dominant demographic.

Some people seemed to take the happy atmosphere a bit too far and attracted the attention of the police, but everything was resolved quietly.

Then back to the hotel to get some sleep.