Back from Sunny London

NECESSARY          NICE          NO THANKS  

Disregard the "rainy" in my What to Pack for a Rainy Long Weekend in London. It wasn't! 

NO THANKS: Londoners were enthused that the weather was more summer-like than fall and I found that I did not need my North Face jacket and could have easily left my Burberry 3/4 length jacket at home. My husband lamented that he took a heavy jacket (heavier than his North Face jacket).

Travel Advice - forget about what you think you know about a region's climate and login to the weather channel of the city or town, particularly if you are only going for three or four days. My personality type would still take the extra jacket, but perhaps not two.

NICE:  What did I pack? Because of the weather, my cashmere shawl was all I needed in the evening. Instead of two pairs of skinny jeans, I took a pair of black linen classic trousers and a pair of purple skinny jeans and was happy for that. As well, besides my black blazer, I took a jean jacket and in all likelihood could have managed well enough without the blazer. I took two colourful scarves and was glad for that also. 

I wore one scarf with the linen pants and jean jacket one afternoon of eating at Barrafina on Firth Street in Soho and shopping. The two scarves I did take were worn when out for dinner, with my LBD. We enjoyed Barrafina so much we ate at the Drury Lane location in Covent Garden a second time. I suppose the only negative was that there are no reservations at Barrafina and time spent cueing is at the least, a tad annoying. Londoners themselves are becoming a bit peeved at standing in line in what seems to be a trend of no reservations restaurants, whether it be breakfast or burgers. Amy Grier wrote an entertaining piece, End of the Line, on cueing in Stylist magazine and reveals how Londoners really feel.

NECESSARY:  I definitely needed to take another pair of good walking shoes. After wearing the only pair of loafers I took, the first day and walking 14 km, I needed a change into a different pair of flats the next day. Never anticipate that you will not walk that much because when you are visiting and the tram lines are closed or delayed, other than cabs or Uber, there's not much choice but to walk.

Speaking of (writing of) Uber, it seems that London is looking to tighten its rules with Uber. Search "uber" in the Financial Times. My experiences, after taking both cabs and Uber in London, leads me to support the Uber initiative.

It was a great four days in sunny London.