November 13-27: Two Weeks in Hawaii
	September 18-23, 1977: A Trip to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
	Return to Index for 1977

In early September, Cullinane got a call from Citibank requesting an additional class on EDP-Auditor, and they requested me by name, as I had done some training for them in New York City last year. This is not the first time I, or others on the training staff, have been asked back to one company or another. The neat thing about this class was that it would be held in Lewisham, a suburb of London, which would make it my first overseas trip for the company. Planning ahead with Steve's help, I turned the four-day class into a twelve-day business/pleasure trip. The class would be the 10th-14th, so I left four days early and returned three days after the class ended.

Traveling from Chicago to London

I flew from Chicago to London on Thursday, October 6th, arriving early in the morning on Friday, October 7th. I planned on touring London for three days before the class began on Monday, and then doing some other trips after the class. Steve and I decided that in the time allowed, it would be rushing things to try to get to the Continent and spend any length of time, and so we planned the entire trip around the London area.

I flew over on a British Airways flight, picking it because it was a 747, and I have found them very roomy and nice to fly in. The flight might have been fine, but at the very last minute, British Airways changed the equipment from a 747 to a 707, probably because the load was fairly light. As a result, the 707 was packed, with no space to move around. Had I known earlier about the switch, I could have used TWA, which flies an L-1011 to London from Chicago. Another problem was that the British Airways flight, which was scheduled to leave at 8PM, did not finally leave until way past midnight. I've not flown overseas before on a flag carrier, and I suppose that this kind of thing occurs often.

I arrived in London later in the morning than scheduled because of the delay. My time sense was really screwed up, as for me it was still the middle of the night. I stayed at the Chelsea Hotel (now the Millennium Hotel Knightsbridge), a very nice one in the Knightsbridge area, on Sloane Street. The trip in from the airport was first to Victoria Station on the train, and thence by taxi to the hotel.

I arrived at the hotel about eleven in the morning, about three hours later than I'd planned, but the hotel was very accommodating. Steve had told me that I would probably have to check my luggage for a while until check-in time, but, perhaps because I was late, the front desk was able to allow me to check in right away and get up to my room.

It was overcast and misting on and off when I arrived, weather that is typical of London at this time of year. I hoped that this would not be constant, as I planned on doing a lot of walking around the area in the next few days.

The image at right is a view of the hotel in 2019; I did not take a picture of the hotel itself when I was there this year. I can recall, though, that the front of the hotel has been entirely transformed. It looked more like a typical older London brownstone building when I was there. I actually don't recall if the tower existed, but I do recall that my room was more than just a few floors up, and so it must have.

The other thing was that the name of the hotel in 1977 was simply The Chesea, and so I assume that the Millennium Group purchased it and renamed it at some point. But as I said, everyone was very nice and helpful; at one point I called upon the concierge to get me tickets to an Agatha Christie play then on the London stage. More on that later.

This album page will be an index to the pages for the three major things I did here in England (other than the class itself, of course)- my walking around London, my trip to Shakespeare's birthplace, and my trip to Stonehenge and the town of Salisbury.

At left is a map that covers the London area and also extends far enough to take in both Salisbury, and the nearby location of Stonehenge, and Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

On the map, you will find three red stars- one for Stonehenge/Salisbury, one for Stratford-upon-Avon, and one for London. To get to the album pages for any of these three locations, just click on its red star. On the album page for that location, you'll find a link that will return you right here so you can choose another location.

When you are done with these three album pages, I'll return you to the top of this page so that you can continue through the photograph album if you simply click

Enjoy coming with me on my travels in England!

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	November 13-27: Two Weeks in Hawaii
	September 18-23, 1977: A Trip to Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
	Return to Index for 1977