Friends,
I'm ridiculously homesick today. I'm sitting in front of my computer trying to do something productive, but all I can think about is London. Sure, my "real" home is right here in Newfoundland, but god, I left a piece of me in London when I left.
For those of you that are just tuning in, or simply have no idea about my life pre-blog, I used to live in London, England. The big metropolis, the land of Big Ben and Harry Potter, of tea and crumpets. Yeah, I called that place home for a brief period of my life.
It all started when a friend, who was sick of hearing me whine about how much I missed studying in England, told me to man up and do it. Move there he told me. So I did. It was the most impulsive thing I ever did with my life, but it was the best. I arrived at Heathrow with nothing but the obscenely large suitcase I could barely drag and a promise of teaching work in the city. I lived in a glorified shoe box deep in the city centre and I mastered the Underground. I would spend my free time sipping an Americano at a coffee shop or reading a book while picnicking in Regent's Park. I had a library card for The British Library (my all-time most prized possession) and lived only a few blocks from the British Museum. I had conversations with A.S. Byatt about the state of the British education system and was hit on by Martin Amis. I spent an entire month of my life in a pub with Canadian teaching friends watching the World Cup. I spent my 25th birthday at a little pub in Dublin. I even got to work at a Bed & Breakfast in the Scottish highlands.
These were some of the greatest experiences of my entire life and now I'm missing the place deeply. So, in celebration of all things British, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite English things with you.
(From left to right) Wading in the fountains in Trafalgar Square, the food stalls at Camden Market, Foyles Bookstore (my favourite bookstore of all time), and Yumchaa Tea Shop in Soho.
I can't wait to go back. Even just for a week.
Where would you like to revisit if you had the chance?
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I got to go to England once for work but didn't have any time to spend in London :(. I would love to visit. But I would LOVE to go back to New York. I went for Thanksgiving a couple years ago. The shopping, and street food, and sight seeing. Oh I loved it.
ReplyDeleteI would give an unimportant appendage to go to New York in the Fall. I had a brief stop over in New Jersey this summer on my way to Disney World and just seeing the New York skyline tugged at my heart strings. Maybe sometime soon!
DeleteI wish I was in Canada now - how about a swap?! hehe!
ReplyDeleteI lived in London for 6 years and never wanted to leave. Loved Camden market. I didn't think I would find anywhere in the UK I loved as much, but Cambridge is the best place ever to live :-)
Claire x
Claire, Cambridge is my second favourite city in the world, next to Edinburgh. I lived in Harlow for a while when I studied in the UK so we would take the train to Cambridge every second weekend. I could honestly see myself living there because it's just the right size. Any time you want to swap, you just let me know ;-)
DeleteLondon is a great city so I could understand why you're missing it. I guess i feel the same way about Chicago - it's a special to me because it's where I had my honeymoon but I don't know, there's something magical about it that keeps wanting to draw me back there.
ReplyDeleteThere is something magical about London, I agree! I have so many lovely memories of the place that it always draws me back. I feel that way about York as well. I had the BEST time there. My classmates and I did an era pub crawl there and it's a memory I will never forget.
DeleteI wish I had the guts to do something like that. I'd love to move to another city in the snap of a finger! Maybe I can find a Master's program in Europe...?
ReplyDelete