A Fleeting Impression and a Request

There is something inexpressibly melancholic about a single balloon floating away in the sky. When thousands of balloons are released at a sporting event it is joyful, triumphant even. But when there's just one - floating off alone - it seems so sad. Perhaps I'm thinking of the child who lost this balloon and is, even now, looking up at it hopefully, trying to recreate that moment when she let the string slip through her grasp. Obviously the balloon I saw float over the building opposite just now didn't have this story to tell me. I don't know if it was from a child or a couple in love, a birthday or a new car. I only know that, as I saw the solitary balloon floating in the twilight, I felt the wistfulness of lost opportunities.

This melancholy doesn't reflect my mood today, it was just a fleeting impression. On the contrary, I've had a lovely few days enjoying a reprieve from massive deadlines and a mountain of academic work. This weekend has been relatively quiet as I've been getting ready for another visitor from home; my friend Jill is coming to see me and I'm determined to show her a fun time for her first trip to the UK (no pressure). While wandering around my reasonably simple life in London this weekend, I've only had occasional twinges of sadness/joy/regret/pride that I'm missing the opening weekend of Annie, Get Your Gun at Andover High School. There are (right this moment, in fact - there's a matinee happening as I type) students on that stage I've seen grow from the awkwardest of fourteen-year-olds into truly delightful people I'll be proud to continue knowing as they leave high school, and I don't like missing their final shows on a stage that has played an important role in many of their lives. That said, I know they're giving the best performances they can and that they're making me proud from 4,400 or so miles away. Really, they make me proud always, I just happened to think of it today.

To stop the self-indulgent turn this entry has taken, I'll include another picture. This is me and my new/old friend Paddington. (If you've ever been in my classroom, you'll notice the wall behind me is starting to look eerily similar to that wall of playbills...it's apparently my thing.) Isn't he super cute? He and Sunny are friends now, although Paddington's much better-equipped for the never-ending rain London's been enjoying as of late. I've been considering trying to jam my sasquatch-sized feet into those adorable tiny rain boots.

SO, now it's your turn, blog reader. Are there places you'd like me to visit and chronicle on my blog? I've got lots of ideas for Jill's visit next week, but if there's something you want to see and you think I've been remiss in not showing thus far, let me know. I'm delighted to do what I can. I can already promise we'll be making a trip to Stonehenge and Bath...and RENTING A CAR to get there. This is, incidentally, why it's important to always make South African friends in London. They also drive on the left and so are less afraid of turning into oncoming traffic.

That's all for me this final weekend in April (seriously, where on Earth has this year gone? Didn't I just get here?). Let me know if you have any London-y requests for my tour guiding!

Being a Tourist

You know when you're on a trip to a place you've never been and you feel the urge to see all the sights and do all the things and eat all the food and find all the culture and walk all the places and ... ? You've done this?

Well, I do this. In my heart of hearts, I am a traveller - there are few things I love as much as walking in a new city, smelling its smells and feeling its rhythms. If there are historically interesting sights, so much the better. But occasionally I embrace being a tourist and I can't stop until I see and do everything.

It turns out, even when I live in the city in question, I feel a compulsion to do this. London is a great place to visit, but it's seriously exhausting.

Ex.Haus.Ting.

My family has been visiting me for the last couple of weeks. Because they had been here before, they weren't interested in seeing the 'normal', first-time touristy sights. Instead we went a bunch of places where none of us had ever been, meaning that I was just as rabidly taking in the sights as on my first visit here (when I never put down my camera and didn't see anything that wasn't through a lens). For me, this was a wonderful reminder of why I fell in love with London over a decade ago.

Favourite new place: Kew Gardens. I had honestly never considered going there before - partially because it's in Zone 4 (that means it's both too far for me to walk and an inconvenient amount of time/train-changing on the tube) and I rarely venture beyond Zone 2. In fact, I rarely venture to Zone 2. The neatest thing about living in a dorm again is that the location really couldn't be any better. I won't pretend there aren't drawbacks, but the good far outweighs the bad (of course, I'm only speaking for myself. My neighbours may have a different opinion about sharing a wall with someone who sings show tunes all day). Anyway, Kew Gardens is really lovely (and massive), so if you're interested in plants/climate zones/walking outdoors/looking at pretty things, you should check it out.

Second new destination: the construction for the 2012 Olympics in Stratford. This was also an adventure to get to - mainly because we tried to do it by staying in Zones 1-2 because of the limitations of my parents' travel cards. The stop we wanted is right on the border of Zones 2 and 3, so it meant a little more train-changing to get there, but it also meant more time above ground (we took the light rail). Here's something I can say with a great deal of confidence now that I've lived in London for a while: if you've only ever been a tourist in London you probably know the Underground system pretty well, but that is really not a good way to get to know this city. It took me weeks of living here to figure out some things were only about a seven-minute walk apart but a twenty-minute tube ride. Also, London is better viewed from street level. It's fantastic to pop out of a tube station and have something breathtaking suddenly in front of you (my favourite place to do this is Westminster), but it's so much better to see all the crazy alleys and unexpected bits that are between tube stops. The Olympic construction site, aside from being cold and super windy the day we visited, was also massive (expected) and interesting in the maps and discussions of post-Olympics usage of some of the facilities. When I'm at home (weird that I don't know where that will be...) watching the Olympics on TV this summer, I'll certainly be saying 'Hey! I've been there!' Just wait. You'll hear it.

'We're going to Paris for the day': what you should always be able to say on a random Tuesday. This was a very short, but terribly fun trip. Though I had been to Paris before (best trip ever - ask me about it some time), none of my family had. And though I had been there, the city is so beautiful that I took pictures of the sights all over again. The pictures from both trips will surely look startlingly similar. It was a wonderful day, however, made better by running into one of my favourites in the Musée d'Orsay a week before he came to London to see me.

So how did this London correspondent fare with getting back to her humble student life following a whirlwind of sights and sounds and food and trains? Not well. I promptly got sick and used a whole box of kleenexes in two days. There's also a tiny chance I'm writing this entry to avoid writing an essay.

Moral of the story: being a tourist is exhausting even when it's where you live.

See more of my pictures from my family and friends' visits on Facebook: click HERE for Paris and HERE for London. (I really like the one of me as Paddington Bear.)