Dear Readers,London is -- what else could it be? -- wonderful.
Tightened security meant that our plane was late arriving in DC from Heathrow, which meant in turn that we were late in taking off (1 AM). Despite having everything stacked against us for major jet lag and juvenile temper tantrums (and I'm just talking about me, let alone the kiddies), everyone has been cheerful from the very start. Our flat turned out to be at the center of London's gay pride parade, so getting there took quite a lot of time as well. Both kids are just out and out thrilled to be here, taking in everything with wide eyes and wider grins.
So far we have managed to: take a boat to Greenwich and straddle the meridian; ride the London Eye; visit St Paul's; view the remains of the Roman amphitheatre under Guildhall; visit the Tate Modern; eat chips with malt vinegar; take a tour of the Thames via catamaran; walk over the millennium footbridge; go to a street fair (where Kid #1 purchased a wooden gun that shoots elastics; he is terrorizing Kid #2 with it right now). We've been rained upon and have had the sun beam down on us in alternation. Tonight, off to a tiny toy store on Regent Street followed by dinner at Masala Zone. Does life get any better than that?
No, life does not get any better, unless you're in Paris. Having just returned from my own mini-vacation, where I did not turn on a computer or cell phone for four days straight, I can relate. It would be interesting to find out everyone's favorite city to visit. There are so many that I have never been to that I would like to visit: Prague, Tokoyo, Berlin, Rome [which I will rectify in February], etc. But Paris is my favorite, probably because I read too many Anais Nin diaries and Henry Miller novels [and watched too many Truffaut and Goddard films] when I was an undergraduate, and when I finally visited Paris many years later, it was exactly as I had imagined it. That rarely happens, I think.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, continue to enjoy!
It would be interesting to find out everyone's favorite city to visit
ReplyDeleteCurrently Paris. And I'm living in my other favorite city to visit, the Great Urban Empire of Brooklyn. But I haven't done much traveling outside North America: so I've yet to visit Rome, Vienna, &c. Florence and Venice knocked my (little Virgin Airways) socks off, but I don't think they can hold my attention like Paris.
Favourite cities? This is one of my favourite games, but one I find increasinly hard to deal in. London - although it has changed beyond almost all recognition in the last 50 years remains the primus inter pares for me. I haven't yet found anywhere which combines the depths of history with the diversity of modern cosmopolitanism, the blissful countryside (try the view west from Richmond hill) with the architectural innovation of the ever-changing 'City' or Canary Wharf.
ReplyDeleteBut my old answers would have been Priene and Chicago - both perfect if utterly different visions of utopia.