First Stop London

Brick Lane, curry paradise
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London!  I would make London my first stop on any trip if I could.  Whether you visit for a day, a month or a year, you can't get bored in London unless you want to.  There's always something to do, someplace you haven't been.

Since my first month-long visit in '71, I have made it a point to go back to London fairly often. 1971 was the "year they changed the money" (to the current decimal-based system) and not even the shopkeepers were familiar with the new coins and calculations, much less a couple of young Yanks who hadn't even known there would be a new system.  (We had diligently studied the old system.)

Jaffa Cakes!

Jaffa Cakes - cakey cookies with a dab of orangey stuff covered in chocolate. Its own food group!
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So ... I have a round trip on Virgin Atlantic arriving Heathrow 29 May and departing Gatwick 10 July.  London will be where I adjust to the time change, recover from jet lag, and maybe eat a good curry if I make it up to Brick Lane.  (And they now serve beer!)

I'll catch a day at the beginning and a week or so at the end of my grand adventure on the Camino Santiago.  What to do in London for a day? The tube and bus will take you virtually anywhere.  Check out "Journey Planner" on Transport for London's home page.  http://www.tfl.gov.uk/modalpages/2625.aspx

It will show you how many bus or subway changes, where to walk in between, and how long it will take.

But, this trip, I'm planning to stock up on Jaffa Cakes.  Yes, Jaffa Cakes!  One of the 5 great food groups; I am sure I will need some for my 800-kilometer trek across Spain!  Not a cookie, not a cake, though the distinction sparked a bit of tax controversy years back.  Apparently, biscuits (cookies to us Yanks) and cake are exempt from VAT, but luxury biscuits, such as those covered in chocolate, are not.  It was finally determined that Jaffa Cakes were an essential, and not luxury.

But I knew that; score one for Jaffa Cake lovers.