London with Fresh Eyes

Over the thirteen years I've lived abroad I can count the visitors from home I've had on almost two hands. My parents have been here twice, my sister once, my brother never. My godfather and his family came to visit last year. My best friend came to visit back in the early days of UK life, when I was still a grad student. A few other friends have passed through over the years but their visits have coincided with larger trips. I am not complaining about these latter visits in any way--I love to reconnect with the denizens of my past life. 

But in years without the prospect of any visitors, it does become difficult to see yourself as little more than an afterthought. It comes with the living internationally territory and something you begin to develop a thick skin about. So I was overjoyed when two of my oldest friends from middle/high school, Erin and Lauren, decided to organise a trip to London. 

September saw affordable flights with Wow Air and so they booked. And then March rolled around, Wow Air went bust and we were back to square one. It all worked out in the end because the girls found a cheap trip to London for the October half term; I had the week off and could serve as friend/tour guide full time. 

Lauren is one of the few people who have visited me in the UK before so I put together an itinerary that rode a fine line between tourist essentials for Erin and real London. In the end, the balance felt right and, mercifully, the weather played nice. 

For a taste of the tourist trail, we walked from Trafalgar Square to Whitehall and up to Hyde Park. The girls organised a horse ride in Hyde Park. 

We chose the one day with hideous weather to go to the Sky Garden (free and great views of the city IF the rain stays away; I timed it perfectly so that we went up on the only day that this wasn't the case) and then the Museum of London (definitely worth a free visit), the Tate (and Dali's lobster phone);

and Postman's Park, a public garden dedicated to Londoners who gave their lives in saving others.

The girls wanted to see Waitress in the West End and so we started at the nearby Port House, a cave of all things Spanish and Portuguese and then made our way to a fabulous theatre that piped in the smell of pie and sold slices in the lobby. 

And then I took them to some of my favourite haunts: Highgate Cemetery for a touch of the literary and the gothic (and as one of London's 'Magnificent Seven Cemeteries'--London has seven 19th century private gothic cemeteries scattered from North-South--it's a favourite spot to visit);

to Gordon's Wine Bar where we ate cheese, drank wine and actually got a seat in the cave; 

to the Backyard Cinema where we watched Dirty Dancing under a transformed 'Winter Garden' warehouse in South London;

to Neal's Yard Dairy (because cheese AND the girls work with the proprietor's niece back in Michigan); Borough Market (and local pubs); to Camden Market and Carnaby Street where, to all of our surprise, we each bought a pair of Dr. Martens. 

And finally, because the weather remained good, to Brighton for a day trip to the pier and various Brighton goodness. We got Frank a jumper at newly opened Holler Store, a shop run by two delightful men with a passion for pooches. 

In showing the girls the best of my adopted country, it reminded me of all the places I love, of all that is wonderful about this expensive, often-rainy (but never when guests are here) metropolis. When my friends left, I was exhausted; I haven't done this much in the city for a very long time. And so the exhaustion represented the perfect London week (with a Brighton sidebar). 

So if you believe in the power of manifestation, if I put my wish into the universe, it will become. And so my wish for the future is that more friends and family come to visit. We have a spare room. Our dog loves a snuggle. Come stay!