In March we made our 9th visit to London, England, flying out of Detroit, transferring in Chicago and on into Heathrow. Terminal 1 was hassle- free on arrival and departure, and we would gladly use it again. Since British Airways has abandoned Detroit, and Northwest did not have fares to tempt us, we ended up flying United thanks to a great flight and hotel deal we found on Priceline.com. Once again we were able to nap on our way over, and this really helped make our morning arrival much easier. We landed very early, before 7:00 am. We took the tube into London and all the way across it to Tower Hill Station, transferring from there to overground services from Fenchurch Street Station. Our local stop was Limehouse, home to overground services, DLR (Docklands Light Railway), and several bus routes.

We were staying at a Holiday Inn Express just around the corner from the station. It was too early to check in, but the hotel allowed us to store our bags, so we set off to do some errands. We were very impressed with the hotel and surroundings, and its proximity to one of London's handy rail stations. We had excellent connections to London. The breakfasts were very good, the room was quiet, comfortable and quite large, and we would definitely stay here again.

We first headed off to Kings Cross Station to retrieve train tickets for the week's expeditions into the countryside. For the first time, our visit was to be centered around walking, rather than art and music. Of course pubs were to play a central role in choosing which walks to take, and "The Good Pub Guide 2008" proved invaluable to us in the planning stage. Our next stop was Stanfords Map Shop in Covent Garden, where I purchased OS Explorer Maps for our upcoming adventures. This is like a giant candy store for map and travel book lovers, and will always be a destination for me when in London. They have a fabulous cafe inside the store that serves organic and fair trade food and coffee. We had a light lunch before heading back to the hotel to check in and rest for an hour or so.

We had five major walking days planned, but we did a small one of Wapping and Limehouse Saturday afternoon and evening, sampling a few pubs as well. Our jet lag program worked once again, and we were able to use our arrival day to begin exploring. Sunday was busy, with Segment One of the Capital Ring being hiked, followed by a visit to Red House, built for William Morris. After this came a pub in Greenwich serving Meantime Beer, then a visit to Caroline to have champagne and dinner with her at her flat. We would meet with her three times for dinner over the week.

On Monday we did a walk in Islington that I had done solo on a previous visit, then headed to Kings Cross for our first venture out of the city. We explored a bit of Bedfordshire, discovering two fine pubs in Henlow. The best one was The Engineer's Arms, with numerous real ales and ciders available, as well as a perry. We spent a very fun afternoon here, meeting the locals and sampling the beer and ciders. The walk from the station in Arlesey was pleasant, and we got back there around sunset.

Tuesday we did a big walk, completing Segment One of the London Loop. Like the Capital Ring only longer, this long distance path circles London. Eventually we hope to complete both circles. We discovered many fine places along the way, though finishing up in Old Bexley Village was probably the highlight. We met Caroline and her friend Toby for dinner back in London, enjoying Turkish fare followed by a pub stop afterwards.

Wednesday we took a train from Paddington Station and headed out into the wilds of Berkshire. Goring-Streatley was the destination, followed by a visit by taxi to a nearby village pub and then a nice climb into the North Wessex Downs. Thursday we returned to Berkshire from London Paddington to visit the villages of Kintbury and Ink Pen, as well as to ascend the highest hill in the North Wessex Downs. This was our longest hike, totalling ten miles or slightly more.

Our final day was spent visiting a Flemish Painting exhibit at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, seeing the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, getting in a few last-minute pubs, and meeting Caroline for dinner at a Thai restaurant near our hotel. We were up very early on Saturday to get to Heathrow by 7 am. Our flights home were peaceful and restful, and we read and dozed all the way. We were given Economy Plus seats on the homeward journey. Not asking any questions, we are grateful that it happened, but we don't know why. The extra legroom gave meaning to our lives!

The weather for all days was spectacular, with clear skies and warm daytime temps. We encountered hardly any mud at all, quite a contrast from last year when we got it up to our knees. The trip was one of the very best, and we are so glad we went. It wasn't until near the last minute that we were able to find a suitable airfare and hotel package. We now have high hopes of going over again next year, and continuing the walking theme.