I awoke this morning after too little sleep to an identical day to when I arrived here a bit over a week ago - cold, rainy, and dragging my luggage all over London.
It was difficult tearing myself away from the comfort of the tv room in the hostel. The staff was a bit more subdued today, perhaps because of the wizard game the night before. Still everyone was so warm and friendly asking about our night and when we were planning on returning to see them.
It was there that JP and I parted ways. He was planning on running a few errands before going to the airport and since his flight is nearly three hours earlier than mine (or I should say was, I received a message from him telling me his flight was delayed 2hrs!) I thought the time would be better spent getting one last experience in before returning to the real world.
After absorbing more British food culture via the food network I finally got outside to the pouring rain. Armed with a railway timetable and some food ideas, thanks to the amazing Jerry, I hopped on the tube and headed to Ealing once again.
I'm not entirely sure why but whenever it's raining cats and dogs near central London, out here in the burbs it's relatively untouched. I made my way back to Jerry's apartment and then just past it to try out a pub that he'd recommended. It looked closed for lunch (and they were only displaying a dinner menu) so I double backed to an Irish pub called O'Neils.
It turned out to be perfect for my needs, good inexpensive food, free wifi, and a relaxing atmosphere. I enjoyed a delicious burger and a pint, a bit unorthodox for the first meal of the day but when you're faced with nothing but hours of airports and airplanes ahead of you sometimes it's just the meal you need.
Refueled and refreshed it was back to the train station to wait out the next train. When I arrived in London I took the tube to get out of the airport and it was a real pain - slow, inefficient, and crowded. This time I opted for the railway, I figured at the very least it would be slightly better then taking the tube. It's also another reason why I stopped in Ealing. The train took a while to come but I was still running early so it wasn't a big deal. I climbed on (literally, mind the gap indeed!) and was welcomed to a plush, empty train. When the announcement came on that you needed a regular ticket and not Oyster card I was a bit concerned since I didn't know that beforehand. When the ticket collector got to me it was 5.90£, making this option only 2£ more then if I had taken the tube the entire way. A small price to pay for speed and luxury.
I'm here now in the airport, having survived the horridly mismanaged security line at Heathrow, and shopped a bit in the duty free store (yay Kinder Surprise!).
Looking back on this trip I think that it was perhaps the best Christmas present I have ever received. It was just what I needed. Would it have gone a bit better if we'd planned more? Yes but it would have left less opportunity for the random places we found and the people we met. There were a few things that we missed, like the whisper dome at St. Paul's and abbey road, but I think if we had tried power-tourism (cramming as many sites in as possible) I wouldn't have had such a good time. I think our hostels were good but I'd have probably opted for more days at Quest in Queensway rather than St. Christopher's in London bridge. Staying in the east and the west though was great because both are so different from each other. The highlights of the trip for me were Greenwich, Borough Street Market, Camden, and of course seeing Jerry.
London is one of the very few places in the world that I could see myself living in long term and perhaps the only one that I wouldn't feel like I was missing America. Maybe it's because so many typical English foods are the ones I grew up with at home (missing certain foods is probably the greatest catalyst for homesickness). A lot of it is also because of how similar London is to New York. There were times that if I closed my eyes I wouldn't be able to tell you which city I was in. It definitely has me thinking of applying to jobs over here.
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