London's "Novel Destinations"- Footloose Part II

As tempting as were the double-decker buses, we set off on foot to continue our one-day tour of London, this time heading to Russell Square and into the lobby area of the stately Hotel Russell .

We made a stop at the British Museum (free admission; donations suggested) en route to the Soho District. and back. Although we spent a good bit of time at the Museum, it will require a much longer stop on a future trip.

Readers of  this blog know of our quest for novel destinations  those places we are drawn to because of novels that are set in them - and destinations that lead us to books.  So the most memorable stop of the afternoon for me was at a bookstore located only a few minutes walk from Covent Gardens Piazza.

Imagine entering a bookstore that actually had an entire wall of ceiling high shelves of books labeled "Novel Destinations". On the opposite side of the room were similarly high shelves of travel guides - written by folks from all over the world. . .many of which we'd not seen on US bookshelves. Filling the space between the towering shelves were Another wall held shelves of journals just waiting to be filled with travel tales.

Stanfords Maps and Books, is a must for those who have a passion for travel and books - real books on real paper that is.  As it was, I broke my vow of 'buying nothing more' and found a way to stuff three new books (they were 3 for the price of 2) into our small suitcase.  I would return to London if for no other reason than to visit this store again but the good news is: they have a web site and ship anywhere in the world.

We were then off in search of the perfect pub. . .and that story makes up the next post.