London

I wasn’t terribly sad to leave Brussels. I enjoyed the city, but being surrounding by men with machine guns was something I was happy to leave behind. Also, at the risk of sounding like an ignorant American, I was glad to head to London, where I could communicate in my native language. Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely love languages, and whenever I travel, I like learning new phrases and studying up. Plus, I believe travelers have a responsibility to at least try to communicate in the language spoken in their destination (so, I'm certainly not one of these people who demands English whenever I'm traveling abroad). I’m also still pursuing my lifelong quest to be more proficient than a toddler at Spanish. But, sometimes it’s nice to be able to ask more than just basic questions or have conversations with nuance.

I was also excited because I love London. When I was in college, I studied abroad there for the summer, and it was one of the best times of my life. It was my first time in Europe, and I pretty much fell in love after stepping off the plane. I loved the architecture and the combination of old and new. One of my favorite things to do while I was studying was to walk everywhere because I got hooked on feeling cobblestone streets under my feet while looking up at tall, modern buildings. It just reminded me that London truly had it all.

So, I was pumped to return.

 I hopped a train to the Brussels Airport, and was surprised that I had to go through security before I entered the airport (passengers were also required to go through security again to enter the gate area). I was in such a rush that I immediately just began stripping off anything that was metal. I didn’t take a mental note of what I left in the bin, and I, sadly, left my favorite watch behind.

It was lovely knowing you.

My flight to London was only about 45 minutes long.


I think I spent more time eating than I did flying. There were very few people on my flight, so I got the entire row to myself. Score!



After getting through customs at Heathrow (which took a while), I boarded the subway and set out to find my digs for the next four days: Imperial College. The college rents out its dorms to adult tourists during the summer. Not only did I get to stay in a dorm with its own bathroom and balcony (which, may I add was nicer than any dorm room I had in college), but I was also given a meal card to eat in the dorm cafeteria. It was just like college…except this time around the “students” had mortgages and weren't familiar with tinder.

My balcony.

Since I would be staying for four days, I unpacked and got comfy in my new room. I also set out to explore the neighborhood a bit. Imperial College is located on a square that reminded me a lot of Washington Square Park, where my alma mater, New York University, is located.



Imperial College is also located in a museum district, and it is close Notting Hill (no Hugh Grant sightings though, sorry). Much like when I was in Oslo, I immediately envisioned myself living there. However, when I stumbled upon a real estate office and saw posters in the windows declaring the average price of a 2 bedroom condo to be 1 million pounds, I figured I would only be living there in my mind.

So, instead, I focused on a more affordable priority: finding food. There was a cute little grocery store right on Imperial College’s campus. There I found many vegan options, including curry ramen noodles and avocado hummus.

Whoever invented this = genius in my book.

I ate some of my food in the park, people-watched, and listened to the trees swaying while I reminisced about doing the same thing in New York when I lived there. There’s something about sounds of nature overlapping with car horns and sounds of the city that seems so comforting to me. I think it’s the juxtaposition of the two, in that I feel so grounded by nature, but I also love how exciting cities can be. It’s like knowing there are endless possibilities, but also feeling that you’re so connected to the earth that anything is within your reach.

I headed back inside and had a quiet night. Between the train trip and flight and also having a whirlwind trip to Brussels, I was pretty pooped. So, I cozied up to my curry noodles, put on some Stranger Things, and planned out my day tomorrow.