In 1960 I spent the summer in Europe. I had been awarded a United Nations scholarship to study summer school in Madrid, and I took that opportunity to tour Europe. I sailed "steerage class" on the HMS Queen Mary I (our cabin was so far down in the hole that the portholes were painted black!) We arrived in Southampton, took the train to London, and booked into a hotel in Russell Square. The next morning, from the moment that I stepped out of the hotel into the greenery of the square I knew that I was hooked.

It took some time until I returned. 

My doctoral studies continued in 1983 at the Univerity of London. At first I rented an apartment, and later I purchased a studio that served me and the boys quite comfortably for short periods of time off and on for the next 16 years. For a variety of reasons I sold it, and quite by fluke I bought another apartment - this time spacious enough to spend leisurely vacations. That apartment was sold in 2009.