9 Days To Go...

I often get questions about the location of the Allen House in London. It’s located in Kensington on Allen Street, which is immediately off of Kensington High Street. The district is one of the more desirable and affluent in London. Rather than repeat facts from elsewhere, here are a few overviews from LondonTown and Wikipedia.

When I’m really missing our “home away from home” in London, I always turn to my favorite Kensington-related site that provides a virtual walking tour of Kensington High Street. For those unfamiliar, Allen Street is located at the intersection of the blue and green segments on the map and is on the southern side of High Street Ken. You’ll also note that Allen Street is flanked by a bookstore (which is immediately adjacent to the Allen House) and a coffee shop on its corners, thereby allowing me to live happily without moving more than 50 yards from our flat! Although should I be in need of more substantial provisions (food and wine, say), Kensington High Street doesn’t disappoint. The rest of the Kensington High Street virtual tour is fairly self-explanatory with its mix of mostly national and multi-national retailers, services, and restaurants.

Unfortunately, the virtual tour fails to highlight the shops inside High Street Kensington Station. This is indeed a pity, as it overlooks Pret a Manger, the West Cornwall Pasty Company, and Ben’s Cookies. These UK establishments all offer tasty, affordable, and convenient takeaway (“fast food”) that represents a refreshing change to most of their American counterparts. Of course, Pret (in New York) and Ben’s (inexplicably in Salt Lake City, Utah) have locations in the United States.