The Secret Garden

So i had arrived at Regent's Park by bus and i entered the park and looked at a map at the entrance with the usual "you are here"

According to the map Baker Street Station was a 2 minutes walk away. But this is only the case when you take the correct way. Which I, of course, did not. Here you can see where Baker St underground station is and also Chiltern Street where my hotel was. And you can see the way I took




Now all that wouldn't have been a problem but by then I really had all too human needs (hunger, thirst, in need of a loo!!)
The 2 minutes walk to Chiltern Street turned into a 15 minutes walk to my discovery of St. John's Lodge Gardens. There was this open gate and a sign explained this garden is supposed for the enjoyment of small groups of people and you should under no circumstances leave behind any rubbish (the green sign on the gate at the photo below). I decided i am a small group of one and entered.

The Gate

A pergola leads inside

At the end of the pergola, take a turn left at this vase

Once you are through this hedge-bordered lane you are in the Secret Garden

London, day 1, July 22nd 2016

After a pretty short night (the hotel only serves breakfast till 9 a.m.!) I was ready to start my first day. Last year i wanted to visit Temple Church but alas

So this year i was determined! I took the tube to Embankment and walked from there. For the first time ever i discovered the Victoria Embankment Gardens. When i arrived at Temple Church underground station i took the wrong turn, or rather i shouldn't have taken any turn yet and i got lost for the first time (not the last time though) I was wandering around streets, ending up at Strand and St. Clement Danes. somewhat baffled. I am so totally useless with maps, really. (yes, i get lost with a map, for me that is nothing unusual) 

Back to London

I travelled again to one of my most favourite cities and this time i went there on my own, for the first time, C. alone in London. As usual i was super nervous beforehand and planned it with military precision.
Booking the flight and the hotel was the easiest part. As i was taking the same late flight as last year i wanted to make sure again to already have the tickets for the Stansted Express train to not lose time at the ticket machine. I wanted to order them from directly from their website and then came across my first obstacle. When i wanted to pay them with my credit card there was some pop up window which informed me about 3 D Secure. It turned out to be a payment system which is supposed to add extra security in money transactions. Well, it was so damn secure that i personally couldn't buy the tickets with my credit card. I did get in touch with my bank and the guy explained a lot of things to me of which i only understood very little