Last Day & Reflections From Home

Yesterday was well and truly my last day in London.  As I write this I still can't believe it.  I woke up in my own bed at 7 this morning feeling like I needed to get ready to set out for the day.  I guess this is a good sign of getting to work early tomorrow but I could use the rest after staying awake 24 hours.

I'll admit, I really don't like traveling by myself.  There's always a concern that I'll get lost or I'll get harried when I walk down the street alone.  There is something about London though that makes me feel confident and yesterday I did quite a bit of traveling on my own.  It all began at the Charles Dickens Museum, which is just down the street from the Great Ormond Street Hospital that received the rights to Peter Pan from J.M. Barrie.  I expected a ridiculous queue outside but found none when I arrived.  

The museum is situated in the only home owned by Charles Dickens and where he wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby.  It's a modestly sized home, especially considering it housed Dickens, his wife, his sister-in-law, Dickens' brother, 3 children, and servants.  It's filled with many priceless portraits, letters, books, and furniture used by Dickens and his family.  I learned so much and the staff were fantastic about introducing me to the house and the special things it contained, including Dickens' writing desk.

After the the CDM I revisited the British Museum.  I took a slower pace this time and explored the areas I hadn't seen the first time around, including the Chinese, Indian, and Americas areas.  Unfortunately, there wasn't time to visit the Pompeii special exhibit but I did get to go up close to the Rosetta Stone this time and I saw one of the Easter Island heads.

After that it was time to leave.  Adding to my list of firsts was my first time hailing a taxi and my first time buying a train ticket.  All went smoothly and I arrived at Heathrow three house before my flight (amazing since I set out a half an hour later than I intended)!  I had about an hour before my gate was called so I explored Heathrow a little.  Look what I found:

1963 Dalek

If I had been leaving a few days later, I would have actually seen a Cyberman walking around.  What a great way to celebrate Doctor Who's 50th anniversary!

It was a full day but that didn't make leaving any easier.  I loved London.  It's a city that runs at a slower pace and where people are generally polite.  Mass transportation is almost always available and it's generally clean as well.  When I think of cities, it's usually the opposite of all the things I just listed.  London is a city that makes you feel confident and safe and I certainly never expected to feel that.  If you asked me before I left if I would ever consider living in a city I would probably have told you no but London has definitely made me think differently.  It's a beautiful and quirky city and hard not to love.  But it's not just London I fell in love with.  It's Cardiff, Oxford, and small towns.  Really, I fell in love with the UK.

Historic Trafalgar Square with a Giant Rooster

London, I'll miss you.  Classmates, I'll miss you.  It's not goodbye forever though.  We'll see each other soon.  Until then...