2. London to Belgium 1970

I met two people at the airport in NYC before boarding the plane to London.  Their names were Michael McKuen and Jessica.  Jessica's real name was Janice but for some reason she wanted to be called Jessica.  I cannot remember why.  Anyway I flew to London and hopped on the bus to the city center.  While taking the bus out of the airport into London the driver took great relish at everyone's gasp as soon as we are in two way traffic on what appeared to be the wrong side of the road.

A few of us got off the bus near the Western Union Office.  Those years everyone traveling on a budget stopped at one to check or leave messages and sometimes to arrange meetings with people or possibly buy a vehicle to tour Europe or sell one after touring.   It was there that I met with Michael and Jessica again.  They were just leaving with a friend who lived in London.  They invited me to stay with them.

We stayed at a luxurious two bedroom artist studio with an address of Chelsea, Sidney Close, Studio 6.  I just saw a place online for sale at Sidney Close that was similar for sale to the studio we stayed at for sale at a price of 3.4 million pounds.  It was my introduction to a new world. This place had a loft with two bedrooms.  There was musical instruments, art supplies, and paintings all over the place.  The mother of the girl who lived there was an artist and was away.  The father lived somewhere else.  They had a full time maid that was constantly cooking for and picking up after us!  It was quite an experience seeing how the "other half" lived!

While there I can remember us going to Hyde Park and napping underneath the trees for a couple of hours in the rain and then going across the park to a snack bar to drink some hard cider.  I also remember meeting some musician friends of our hostess who were practicing in their small studio in the wee hours of the night (they had an agreement with their neighbors to allow for a couple of hours of loud electronic music) preparing for an upcoming show at a local pub.  While there I also got to experience the street performers in Kensington Station and walked around doing a lot of sight seeing.

On the third day the girls father showed up and tells her that he has made arrangements with a new member of the House of Commons to stay there for a few days while looking for a place to rent.  This followed with a warning that he wanted to make a nice impression because he did a lot of business in the minister's home area.   Translation - It was time for us visitors to move on.

Jessica and Mike went back to the Western Union Office to buy a van to start their travels.  I was on a much stricter budget so I took the subway out of London as far as I could transfer without spending extra money and then hitch hiked to the Dover ferry station for a ride to Belgium.  While waiting for the ferry that night, I had my first "Fish & Chips" from one of the local kiosks.