I had not planned to visit London this year. I've never really had a burning desire to go, and I figured it would be a relatively easy place to visit in years to come (as opposed to, say, Cracow). But when my friend Elizabeth told me she'd have a great hotel room for 10 days, I decided to book a flight.My goal for the weekend was simply to see friends and have fun walking around. Thus, my only foray into touristy research consisted of two '36 Hours in London' articles, hastily printed before I ran out the door on Thursday (have you ever read these? The New York Times has a series of travel recommendations for people spending a short amount of time in almost any city--here are the ones for Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Winston. Next time you head someplace, see if they have one for your destination. The writing is crisp and the itineraries will give you a good mix of on and off the beaten path.)
Favorite moments--
- Seeing Phantom of the Opera where it got its start! Elizabeth and I had great seats. Set, singing, and falling chandelier were all spectacular.
- Walking along the Thames River--great views of the city, the Globe Theater, and interesting people watching.
- Grazing at the Borough Market. This was recommended by one of my 36 Hours articles. We had so much fun talking to vendors, watching Londoners mill around, and trying samples of cheese, cider, pesto, and various other delicious things. I'll be trying to recreate the following at some point--
We ended up with freshly made pumpkin tortellini for lunch--glorious--and a variety of chocolate truffles for dessert (the apple cinnamon and cayenne pepper were my favorites). I bought tea here; I would much prefer to support these people than Harrod's.
- Elizabeth and I met our mutual friend Andy on Thursday and Friday evenings for pints at places near the London School of Economics (Thursday) and Leicester Square (Friday). Andy is studying at the LSE for a year before heading to law school. (Unfortunately, Kate from Vanderbilt was ill this week and couldn't meet us, but I'll see her in Vienna in just a few weeks.)
- Window shopping on Oxford Street. Christmas decorations were out in full force...I'm sorry I didn't take some pictures for you.
- Walking through Hyde Park to see lots of little dogs, statues, and a Christmas market. Our hotel room overlooked Hyde Park (and the rest of London!).
- 3-6:30pm on Friday: a quick stop at the hotel turned into 3 hours of watching American television and eating the truffles we had picked out earlier.
- Thanksgiving dinner! What a blessing this was. Elizabeth connected with a lovely WFU-affiliated family when she was in London in September, and they invited us and other ex-pat friends for a classic Thanksgiving meal Saturday night. I won't get all melodramatic on you, but I will admit that sometimes it feels like a bittersweet privilege to experience the holiday season over here. Turkey with strangers doesn't seem as though it would help matters much, but I continue to be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to instantly connect with Americans living abroad. We all seem to have a similar hodgepodge of feelings, challenges, and triumphs that come with being away from America. I left that dinner with an invitation to come back and stay in the home of the family who hosted us as well as an offer to put in a good word should I decide that I'd like to be a school counselor in London next year.
(the obligatory Big Ben picture, which highlights the obligatory cloudy weather)
