Laundry run!

You can only get so much into a suitcase and can only get so many wears out of a limited supply of underwear, shirts, socks and jeans. And so, today we searched out a decent local launderette near our hotel. After a sightseeing session to St. Paul’s Cathedral and a walk along the Thames that covered most of the morning and the first part of the afternoon, we took a cab back to the hotel. There we loaded up a carry on with the bulk of our dirty laundry and headed for Nancy’s Dry Cleaning & Laundry (just around the corner and down the street from the hotel).

These kinds of launderettes are not uncommon, and we have taken advantage of them before. This one is fairly typical; a galley configuration, with a bank of washers and dryers on one side and a counter on the other where the person overseeing the operation sits. Entering the establishment, we are directed to a couple of empty washers. Whites in one, colored items in the other. Load in the soap, pump 5 £1 coins into the slot, hit “start” and, voilá – all systems go.

The bonus that comes with Nancy’s – the Duke of Kendall pub sits right next door. As a result the wash cycle and the half hour of drying allow time for our fearless foursome to partake of a coupe of pints (evidenced by the photo below). An hour later, we walk from the pub to the launderette next door, fold our now clean and dried clothes, load up the carry ons, and head back to the hotel. Having killed two birds with one stone; a routine chore taken care of fairly painlessly!

Tags: London, pub, vacation