A fever in the blood…

That’s how fast this city gets into your system.

It might happen the moment you first glimpse the famous skyline, or walk along or across the Thames and catch the cosmopolitan spirit of this place.

It might happen when you first pull up a chair and a pint in a warm, wood–paneled pub, or catch yourself looking the wrong way before you try to cross the street.

It almost surely will happen the first time you board an Underground train and hear the stern and endlessly repeated public–address admonishment to “mind the gap!”

But one way or another, sooner or later, it will happen. London gets into your system and refuses to let go. Resistance is futile.

Plan on returning.

The Piccadilly line on the Underground takes you straight from Heathrow airport into London's South Kensington, just north of the Thames near the West End. Not as fast as a taxi, but almost a convenient and infinitely cheaper.

From our very first visit, South Kensington became our neighborhood and the Oxbridge Apartments became our home. Right around the corner from Cromwell Road, sandwiched an easy 10-minute walk between the Gloucester Road and Earls Court Tube stations, and directly across the street from our favorite supermarket in all the world, Sainsburys. You have to bag your own groceries in Europe, but who cares?

Lemon curd, Irish oatmeal and clotted cream for breakfast, Twinings teas any time of day, biscuits and Seriously Strong–brand cheddar cheese for late–night snacks while watching the BBC (it’s Scottish, delicious and totally lives up its name),and chicken tikka masala 24/7 from the deli. Having a kitchen saved us tons of money, and fixing meals in our apartment made us feel like residents and less like tourists. The only thing lacking eas a washer and dryer, but with a coin laundry just across Cromwell Road, no worries on that score, either.

The other thing that made us feel a lot less like tourists was being with Jay and Irene Berman. They've been coming here for more than two decades and if there's something about this city they don't know, I can't imagine it. We saw and learned more of London in a day of walking along the Thames with them than we could've in a month on our own:

• Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
• The ultra–modern new London city hall
• The London Eye
• The historic World War 2 cruiser Belfast
• A near–life sized replica of the Golden Hind
• The Tower of London
• Tower Bridge (the one most folks think of as “London Bridge”)
• Hyde Park
• Green Park
• Kensington Garden
• Buckingham Palace

Kensington Garden is where Princess Diana lived. When she died, Londoners left a mountain of flowers at her mansion gate. Thanks to Jay and Irene, we saw it all.

We even happened to show up at Buckingham Palace on a day when Prince Phillip, the royal hubby of Queen Elizabeth II, was reviewing a parade of Royal Marines. Smashing, old chap!

The only thing better than seeing the world is seeing it with good and incredibly knowledgeable friends.

We soon, would return to London on our own, and Covent Garden and the London Transport Museum were among our stops.

Covent Garden is a mini–city where Europe meets Rome, at least architecturally. If you've ever seen San Diego’s Horton Plaza and wondered what served as the inspiration for that very unconventional mall, this is one of the answers.

Among the stalls and stores therein is a cart that sells soaps made to look dangerously like very edible cheeses. Had I not already seen the sign, I might well have asked for a sample)

On the other side of the piazza from the stores and the stalls and the counterfeit cheese is St. Paul’s Church — “the actors’ church,” they call it. It’s been on this spot since 1633, having survived accidental fires, Hitler’s blitz, and invading hordes of tourists and countless other heathens.

We also would pay a visit to Twinings tea shop, quite possibly the narrowest business establishment in the world, just across the street from the Royal Courts of Justice and a short walk from London University. It looks as if you could stretch your arms out from his sides and touch both walls at once. No joke. This slender one–aisle shop contains a range of teas that would boggle the brain of the average coffee–addled American.

The London Transport Museum is basically the history of the city on wheels and rails. If it’s red, old and has two decks, odds are it’s in here somewhere!

By the time you even get to the museum, you already will have developed a deep appreciation for the London transport system, especially the subway system known officially as the London Underground and to most Londoners simply as “the Tube.” Without this remarkable system, London would be paralyzed.

The one place we didn’t get to was the favorite hangout of Posse charter member Walt Baranger, an historic London pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. When the major London newspapers were located nearby on Fleet Street, it was where the reporters ended their work days with a pint or two (or three) and maybe a meal.

On at least two occasions, Walt and Jay have conspired to surprise Irene by casually showing up there during one of the Bermans’ annual trips.