
Text by Tony Ward, Copyright 2022
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1980: My First Trip to London
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The first memory I have about arriving in London in 1980 was trying to get my rental car out of the Hertz parking lot at Heathrow Airport. I was a 24 year old novice at driving on the opposite side of the road let alone the opposite side of the car, that was the real problem I had with it. I circled around and around the lot trying to learn how to acclimate myself to the situation but what made it even more problematic was that the car had a four speed stick shift! Imagine the terror of that moment. I gave up. Took the keys back to the counter and asked where I could hail a taxi.
The taxi drive was my second vivid memory of London. Taxi drivers in London didn’t behave the same way drivers in the states behaved. No. These drivers wore a suit and a tie to work. They opened the door for me and happily and carefully assisted in loading my tons of camera equipment throughout the cabs trunk and interior. I was informed back in the states that taxi drivers in England-at least then- had to go to school to become licensed and had to take a specific test to show they knew the incredibly complicated seemingly unorganized street patterns that are a common trait of trying to get around in the enormous city of London and its surrounding boroughs.
I arrived at the White House Hotel in Covent Garden not realizing my company, Smithkline Corporation shared no expense in where to accommodate me during my one week stay. The place was just like you would imagine from old English films. The room were old, but neat and clean and the most charming thing is that the concierge told me I was just a 15 minute walk to Harrods department store. I heard it was the largest department store in the world at that time. I just had to do a little shopping there before I departed for home.
While shopping at Harrods I was waited on by a young woman in the men’s fragrance department. I was taken by her British accent and amazed by her makeup. So perfectly done for such a young person who wasn’t a professional model. After I commented about it she asserted that wearing proper makeup at Harrods was a requirement for all sales women at the store. One of the reasons why I suppose the place became so famous. Talk about attention to detail. Harrods embodied that mystique in spades. After a brief chat the salesperson agreed to meet me back at my hotel room for drinks and dinner. We spent the night together and that was the beginning of a most memorable trip.
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