Friday-Saturday 25-26 April 2025 

London and New York

I decide to take an afternoon break from packing and go out for the ten-minute walk to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the largest collection of applied arts, decorative arts and design in the world. The collection, established by the afore-named monarchs after the Crystal Palace Exhibition (1851), ranges from the high art of Raphael's cartoons for the Sistine Chapel in Rome to the latest trends in men's clothing. It would take a week to see all that the museum contains.

I have a late lunch in the Cafe, visit the gift shop (probably the best in London), and marvel at all the changes in the building's design since I last visited several years ago. Like most London museums the V&A is free, except for special exhibitions.

V&A Main Entrance (1857; Aston Webb, 1899)

Two Views of the Raphael Room

Contemporary Men's Fashion in the Costume Institute

The Ornately Decorated Cafe

Saturday

Today is a long and busy travel day that takes me from London to New York. I have arranged a car pickup at 8am to get to Heathrow Airport, from where my United Airlines flight to New York/Newark Airport (EWR), departs at noon. Of course I am early, but it helps me get through the pre-boarding formalities without rushing. Interestingly, in London security requires everyone to remove shoes, unlike in the US where travelers over 75 years old can keep their shoes on. But I am soon in the United Lounge, where I wait comfortably for my flight to be called. 

But it is not quite as comfortable at the gate. The primary gate attendant, a woman in her 40s, coughs out loud constantly the entire time I sit waiting. None of the other United Airlines employees makes any attempt to relieve her and she never puts a mask on; she just continually coughs her guts out. As I state in my note of complaint to the airline, even if the attendant was coughing only from allergies, it is not very customer-friendly behavior to be forced to witness.

Once on board everything is fine. I have my business class lay-down seat and I manage a four-hour nap, just about the only time I'm not busy eating the excellent meals provided by the airline. The flight departs and arrives right on time; my suitcase is off the plane very quickly, and I am whisked into Manhattan by another hired car.

I am staying at the Hyatt Centric Hotel on 39th Street, just off Fifth Avenue. "Centric" is a sub-brand of Hyatt that is designed to cater to a younger generation and those with technical expertise. This one has surprisingly good rates for mid-town Manhattan, where it is difficult to find anything under $400.00 a night. The Centric costs less than $600.00 for two nights.

It has been a long day of travel and I have been fed very well on the seven hour and 30 minute flight from London, so I am ready to call it a night. LFLatSea will be back with one more blog from New York.