it’s 9:45, our taxi which was supposed to have picked us up at 9:30 is still not there, and our train is due to leave bangor station at 10:18, slowly but surely our adrenalin level is reaching new heights. our landlord phones the taxi company once more and returns with the good news that “she’s just seconds away” — which turns out to be literally true. we hurriedly say our goodbyes to our landlord and landlady of marteg bed & breakfast and get into the taxi as quick as possible. the drive to bangor station is a bit a race against time, particularly so when we hit a traffic jam just 0.5km from the station — luckily our taxi driver knows her way around and does a u-turn and weaves her way through a couple of side streets and we make it with a couple of minutes to spare! phew…
the train from bangor is a direct, fast train to london euston and we
are travelling first class again today (which, thanks to our britrail
flexipasses, comes out cheaper than buying 2nd class tickets in
bangor) — complete with free drinks and coffee 
the weather has turned wet — as forecast, but we are not really
concerned 
and as we move further south again the rain slowly
ceases and it’s sunny and rather warm when we arrive in london
euston on the dot at 13:40. we take the underground to earl’s court
station and then head south to 6 oakfield
street our b&b for the next two nights.
6 oakfield street is a narrow, three floors victorian terrace house
in a side street of “little chelsea”. our double
bedroom is to the front and on the top floor of the
house — nicely done, has a bit of a changing rooms flair to
it, “oliver heath’s grey area”, as mrs d so aptly summarizes it we
even spot the famous MDF! a bit of a curiosity is the fridge,
which i at first mistook to be the b&b variant of a mini-bar but which
on closer inspection turned out to be the “overflow” fridge of the
family fridge containing vegetables, a cake, and other stuff.1 but,
in total, a very nice room
we unpack and then make our way to the victoria & albert museum, the v&a, which is “close by”. mrs d is interested in the fashion exhibits, i’m looking forward to the photography collection. we also intend to get a little walk through south kensington in sideways to offset the hours of just sitting on the train…
it’s a bit past 16:00 when we arrive at the v&a, leaving us with just about one and a half hour to spend at the museum. mrs d decides to look at the fashion through the centuries exhibit, i make for the photo gallery…
…which turns out to be rather small but also rather interesting, motivating, and inspiring! if you are in the vicinity and have the time, go pay a visit — it’s completely free but worth the effort.
we meet again at 17:00, stroll through the v&a shops (finally pick up that birthday present for my sister-in-law, mrs a) and then go on that mini-walk of south kensington.
before returning to earl’s court we stop for a look around at a nice little independent bookshop. mrs d very kindly points out the latest elizabeth george, careless in red — a grave mistake as it turns out: once i get started on it i just have to keep reading, reading, reading…
dinner is at a local restaurant, balans, at the corner of old brompton road and redcliffe gardens. nice food, charming waiters (according to mrs d ;-).
tomorrow it’s kew gardens and, perhaps, if i dare, the new tree top walk…
all in all: nice train trip. interesting exhibits at v&a. exciting new
book. nice dinner
-
…explaining why all the rooms had no keys: otherwise it might be a bit of a problem gaining access to the fridge when the double is occupied. ↩
