If you'd like nothing more than for London to slap you in the face, get out at Euston station after having spent a few days in the countryside. From picking pears and apples in the orchard -- yes, in the orchard -- there is nothing quite like the shock of a people-crazed train station at rush hour.
Luckily, just like in the movies, the friend who was meeting me came out the tube entrance into the main hall and almost ran smack into me. Unlike in the movies, she was fifteen minutes late and in my state of generalized anxiety -- so many people! so many English people! -- and in recognition of the futility of my fervent wish that I was of an ethnicity that stood out, I positioned myself just where the tube exit was spewing the most people.
We did what city natives do, i.e. go to a museum but only to eat in the cafe, and enjoyed a cup of tea. Yes, my Englishness is coming out in spades. Soon I shall be writing "cuppa." There is nothing quite like a friendship that can survive years and years apart only to snap back into place like a rubber band in slow motion.
Later, I visited my favorite London couple, the Meeks! It is with much nostalgia and tender feeling that I walk the familiar route to Acfold Road. With its rooms and rooms of books, gas fireplace, and seriously comfortable sitting apparatuses, I can say that in addition to loving the witty, warm, and charming Meek family, I love their home. Besides, their name is Meek -- what's not to love?!
It appears that women in London seem to have confused leggings for pants as much as any woman in New York. Some things are impossible to escape, I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep me from getting lonely -- leave a comment!