The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 126

CosAngclee (Times Sunday, January 10, 1988Part VII 17 PLANS: Sometimes They Go Astray POT AW7A TTTT BARGAINS BONUSES (t Tl TK WEEKLY RATE Af Huduci feature Uncoln-Mmury and A. other hnecarv On All Islands. Split weekly rental between islands for a few dollars more. laugh at the same things. It's like it's really all just one page in the history book." Things don't always turn out the way you plan them.

Thank God. My wife and I have been to London many times, but we've never had a better, more rewarding or more fun first day than the one described above. For that reason, I've listed the addresses of those places mentioned: Chiswick Hotel, 73 High Road. Chiswick, London W4 2LS; Hogarth House, Hogarth Lane and Great West Road, Chiswick, London W4 2LS (ask directions in Chiswick and follow the signs); the Dove Pub, 19 Upper Mall, Hammersmith; Sir John Soanes Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields; Old Curiousity Shoppe, 1314 Portsmouth St. That first day we had breakfast at Victoria Station (not recommended for eating, but great for transportation) and our pub lunch at the Dove.

Nearer to the Soanes Museum and the Old Curiousity Shoppe is the Portsmouth pub. It has an exceptional Ploughman's Lunch, and the beer is pretty good too. We had our dinner at the Chiswick Grill, a block from the hotel. They serve a top quality T-bone steak and have a fine cook. He's also very good with fish and Greek dishes.

We had all our breakfasts after the first day at the Chiswick. Excellent full English breakfast and great coffee. Unlimited Free Mileage. would be enough curiosity for one day." It was like every illustration we'd ever seen of it. It was not a museum, it was a working store, but almost a miniature.

So small and compact that customers were asked to leave their coats and cases downstairs, not because of possible theft but because it was difficult enough unencumbered to turn around without knocking something off a table or a wall. Joyce and the proprietor searched through stacks for several minutes before they found it. "It's not original, I'm afraid. It's only a copy, made in 1802, but it's very faithful, don't you think?" Tickets to Musicals Back at the Chiswick, Julie had left a note on our bed. She'd managed to get tickets to "Cats," "Barnum" and "Me and My Gal." Joyce propped her picture of "The Politician" up on the dresser.

"It's been a big day," I said. "Tickets to three top shows, good hotel at about 'a furd the lunch at the Dove, went through two museums, saw an Englishman take his clothes off in public, found the Old Curiousity Shoppe and got your We were propped up in bed, ready to put the light out. Joyce stared at her print. "You know how you tell me that when you lean on the rails of old bridges or touch some of the old buildings, you feel the history creeping into you, up through your hands? "This picture does that for me. Julie's right.

It ties it all together. We're the same as they are. And 'now' is not so different from 'then'. .1 mean 1713 and 1987. We do the same things now, make the same stupid mistakes and even Free Pierre Cardin Luggage.

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Refuelling services, taxes and optional items are extra. Local rental requirements apply. See your travel consultant or call 800-527-0700 Continued from Page the caption, told of the problems in Europe. But the real point was that, though the candle had set fire to the man's hat, he was so intent on the problems abroad he was unaware of the more immediate danger. "You see?" said the custodian, "things really never change." "I like it very much," Joyce said.

Though the curator had no prints to sell, he gave us very careful directions to the Sir John Soanes Museum in London, where many of Hogarth's original paintings were on display and where, he was absolutely certain, we could get the print we wanted. We stopped at the Dove for lunch and a little refreshment while we waited for a table. It was a 30-minute wait. I got so "refreshed" I almost went to sleep, face first, in my steak and kidney pie. English beer is sneaky.

Excellent, but sneaky. By following the directions the Hogarth House curator had given us, to the letter, we arrived at Lincoln's Inn Fields and followed the signs to No. 12 and 13, a four-story brick residence with an ornate marble facade. The Sir John Soanes Museum faced directly on the green, which was filled with people enjoying the sun. Neither of us had ever been in a place like the Soanes before.

It was actually a fully furnished, early 18th-Century townhouse as well as a museum, and there were dozens of paintings, many of which we'd seen in cartoon or etching on the walls of Hogarth's home. A Fascinating House Additionally, the great English architect, Sir John Soanes, appeared to have brought home just about everything he'd collected on his world travels. It was a fascinating house. When we asked about buying a print of "The Politician," the curator said he couldn't help us but that we just might find one at the Old Curiousity Shoppe. "The Old Curiousity Shoppe?" Joyce asked.

"Charles Dickens' Old Curiousity Shoppe? It still exists?" "Oh yes, doing quite well, actually. Just across the green. Where it's always been." Lincoln's Inn Fields, backs onto the area adjacent to the Courts. As we were crossing the green, a man who looked like he might have been an attorney stepped off the path and onto the lawn. He put his briefcase down and began taking off his clothes.

He stopped when he got down to his undershorts, lay down on the lawn, put his head on his briefcase, his hat over the front part of his shorts and closed his eyes. An old lady who'd stopped next to us shrugged. "Well, we don't get all that much sun, you know. "Old Curiousity Shoppe?" She pointed on ahead. "Around the corner, but I should think this rentacar America's Personal Favorite.

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