Luminous London

Well, I’ve just landed in my 30^th country, back in Africa, where my journeys into overses travel first began at the beginning of 2009. But before I get into that, I’ve got to say something about London, in which I’ve just spent 5 full days happily tourist-ing myself out.

 

I really never expected to love London this much. I didn’t think I wouldn’t like it, I just never thought about it as much as I thought about Romania or Bosnia or Turkey. But after 5 days in London, I was in no way ready to leave- an interesting contrast to the end of my 5 or so days in Paris, which, despite being thoroughly entranced by, really stressed me out to the point of being ready to leave.

 

Perhaps I’m just more comfortable with the culture and language in London, although on that point, I didn’t find the French rude at all. People were always fairly helpful towards us. I honestly don’t know why two cities of comparable size/greatness should feel so different, but they just do.

 

I’ve recently spent almost 10-12 hours out every day, which is very different to how I normally spend my time. I’ve walked for an hour to get somewhere instead of using the tube, just so I could see more of London. I’ve taken fantastic, free tours of the National Gallery and Victoria and Albert, spent far too much on theatre tickets, and been shown some cool little spots by friends in the know.

 

I’ve also drunk Cornish cider (to the point of embarrassment, I fear!) eaten far too much (Camden markets!), been disgusted by post-mortem photographs (Jack the Ripper tour!) and been thoroughly entertained by many weird and wonderful stories from English history, including learning about the man himself, Winston Churchill, in the underground war rooms.

 

It’s only the fact that I know I’m returning to London in January that means I’m not sad right now. I feel that the final farewell in January is going to be tearful…

 

Concrete reinforcements in the War Rooms

 

Camden Lock

 

The band goes marching past, after the chaging of the guard

 

Christmas lights everyone make London seem magical