When we confirmed that we’d be flying back from England via London on Decmeber 31st, I was so excited about my quick trip. London…
The Happy Couple
Okay, okay no I’m not that heartless, I was also super excited to not only see Andy and Gianna get married but also to see Andy and Gianna after weeks of being away from them. The wedding was seriously beautiful and the venue outstanding. If you ever happen into Wakefield, I would recommend at least having dinner and a couple of beers Charlie’s Bar inside the Waterton Park Hotel. It’s a really cozy place and you can tour the wedding grounds after. It’ll give you a real English feeling. Lovely.
Two short days of wedding bliss and we were on the train to London’s Kings Cross Station. By the way, trains in England are nice. Seriously wake up Italy (and maybe the rest of Europe), it’s not 1965 anymore!
After we arrived at the hostel we sorted our stuff and headed out to finally walk the city, the one that everyone dreams about. Until I met some of my international friends in Australia I never had the desire to visit London. I didn’t get what the big deal was, it seemed stuffy and grey to me. Then I met some really great people from there and I decided I must see what all the fuss was about.
I honestly can’t say what I had in mind, but it wasn’t what I saw. London was not what I was expecting, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. That day, everything around me seemed hidden, closed off from the world and grey. I looked for the open, vast picture of the city I thought everyone had painted for me. Don’t get me wrong, I was still excited to see London icons I had heard about and to walk and walk and finally drink beer in a normal pub!
This moment did make me happy
That night we were meant to meet up with Lorenzo’s sister, mom and sister’s boyfriend for dinner. What are the odds that you are in a foreign city the same time as your family members? I don’t know if it was the pile of jalapeños that smothered my nachos at lunch (mmm… I can still taste them) or all the travel but suddenly I felt the twisting pain. I stayed fairly quiet, hoping it would pass, and gave my opinion on where to eat dinner. Everything was full. No space. And my stomach was not happy. I whispered to Lorenzo that I think we should head back to the hostel, so yet again, I felt like the negative-nancy. We went back to our room where I had to call and cancel my much anticipated meet-up with Dylan (The Traveling Editor), Chris (The Aussie Nomad) and Justin (48-hour Adventure). I had to call it a night around 9:30pm, no dinner, no delicious beer, no nothing.
Laying in bed I felt the sadly lonely feeling of disappointment creep over me. I had been so excited to see London, I was sure that like Prague it would be a city I would fall in love with, now I wasn’t so sure. I had seen the sights; Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, even Westminster Abbey. What was wrong? I closed my eyes and hoped for better insight tomorrow…
