EmmJays Travel Journal

May 1971

I had three weeks holiday so I decided to fly back to London, England to see some of my friends. I flew Caledonia Airways and I really enjoyed talking to a lady who was seated next to me. She was English and had lived in Canada for 15 years.

In London I stayed at the Mara Hotel which was run by a Yugoslav couple. I visited a former room mate Christine, who had married Ian, who was a Royal Navy Officer based in Scotland. I also met up with some friends whom I used to work with in London. I went out every evening with my friends over the 3 weeks that I was there. We went to the movies to see 'Love Story', 'There's a girl in my soup' and 'Statue'. On other nights we met at a pub for a few pints and just spent the evening chatting away with anyone who wanted to join in.

During the day I decided to go see all the stuff that I did not get around to seeing when I lived in London. I was off to Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, Whitehall, Scotland Yard, St James Palace, Regents Park and Westminster Abbey. I also went back to places I had visited previously like Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, The Royal Albert Hall and so many other places too numerous to mention.

When I left 18 months earlier the UK had not joined the EEC. It was now a fully pledged member and the one thing that I noticed more than anything else, the cost of living had gone through the roof. London was now as expensive as Europe. When I went shopping the prices were a good 50% higher.

I joined my friends at the Duke of Clarence in Shepherds Bush the night before I had to leave to fly back to Canada. It was a fun filled night. It was sad to leave and I was pretty sure that I would lose contact with these wonderful friends.