We were in London last week, and yes, it is expensive. We read that Tokyo and London are the most expensive cities in the world. We bought some fruit and there was coffee, tea, and Walkers Shortbread cookies gratis in the hotel every day. They also had these amazing electric teapots to boil water that were so quick. There was a Starbucks in the next block and my husband usually went out and got some kind of rolls or pastry there for breakfast. Marks and Spencer was across the street so we had cheese that lasted several days. After Paris, you look in the cafes, bakeries, and restaurants, and you really do not want to eat anything in London! There are Starbucks on almost every block in London, especially the more touristy areas. We like Indian food and ate at a very good one, Mahal, in the Edgeware Road several times. It was fairly reasonable. Often there are deals for lunch, so you can eat a late lunch and just have a snack if you are hungry for dinner. If we were hungry we ate at small cafes and restaurants that we found on the spot. We did not look at the restaurants and plan to eat at any specific ones. There are a lot of reasonable ethnic restaurants in the city, and you can get by reasonably and eat reasonably well too. We did spent a lot of money on plays (we saw four in a week), concerts (we heard two), and a movie.

Most museums are free to enter, but if you want to see any special exhibits, you pay for those. My husband wanted to see an exhibit of the photographer Lartigue at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank, and it was 9 pds each to get in. It was only 15 pds for an international membership so we joined and got in free (sort of)! You also got 10% off in the cafe which was essentially a Starbucks.

We also had one dinner in the crypt in St. Martins in the Field Church. It was tasty, nutritious, and quite inexpensive. St. Paul's Cathedral also has a restaurant in their crypt.

We did one of the London Walks (http://london.walks.com) I would highly recommend the walks. Our was interesting and the person leading it worked for the BBC. He was very knowlegable and quite humorous as well. Many are actors.

I plan do post a report on our trip in the near future.

Michele Missner Appleton, Wi.