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Published: March 20th 2009
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Regent's Park
On 'Snow Day' - over a foot of snow in central London, the most in 20 years or so. So there I was at the post office, running a few errands for the hotel, when the man behind the counter got chatting to me. He was a jolly fellow, just trying to pass the time by shooting the breeze. He knew I was working at the hotel due to my heighth of fashion waistcoat and tie, and he started asking me about my job and whether I enjoyed it or not. When I told him I'd recently resigned and was leaving in a few days, he put down the air mail stamps and leaned over to properly talk to me.
"And where will you be working?" he asked. I noticed he had a lazy eye.
"Not sure," I replied. I wouldn't even say lazy. It was wandering, scanning, searching. I didn't know which one to look into.
"Not sure?!" he said incredulously, "What kind of fool drifts with the wind like some sort of lost soul?" (What was it looking for?)
He asked me my plans and I told him, all the while his eye roaming.
My plans didn't take long to share: a one-way ticket to Poland and a flight to Perth 6 weeks later (perhaps).
Wimbledon Common
With Sophie and Che I told him how I'd play it as it lies. Roll with punches. Float with the breeze. The guy leaned further forward, his one good eye wide, his other off in the distance somewhere near the inspirational card and magnets section.
As the queue of people behind us grew longer and more impatient, he said something to me which I'll remember until the day I die:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. (At least that's what I think he said, he had a really strong accent and the bullet/chav proof glass between us was thick). But what a speech! I'd never have thought that the man at the local post office was capable of such fine, inspiring words. Quite eloquent indeed.
Did you make that up? I asked, and he gave me a shy shrug.
I thanked the man and was about to turn and leave when he did a strange thing indeed. His lazy eye
Frothing at the mouth
Harry Potter sight seeing with Tom and James corrected itself, and he looked at me directly with two glistening eyes and a warm smile - and then he winked! Had I imagined the whole lazy eye thing?! Did it happen at all?! I walked away slightly confused, but confident and excited about the next leg of my adventure.
I had only taken a few steps from the counter when a lovely image caught my eye. It was a hot air balloon taking off over a beautiful sunrise. Above it were a few words, some sort of quote. I love a good travel quote so I stopped to read it - it was Mark Twain. "Twenty years from now..." it began. I froze. I didn't need to read the rest of it about the bowlines and trade winds. My mind flashed back to the man's lazy eye... his wandering, searching eye...
I turned back but he was already with another customer, a young woman. She was laughing at something he must have said, and he was grinning back at her. I shook my head. I couldn't believe it, the crafty fox. I was still smiling when I got back to work.
If you're stuck with the
Tate Modern
With Chloe and Chris. St Paul's Cathedral for a backdrop. moral of this mostly true story, allow me to help you: London is full of surprises.
Or I would also accept: Mark Twain is the master of travel quotes.
***
Anyhow, for anyone who hasn't stopped reading already - the real point of all this is to tell you that I'll be leaving London soon with fond memories and great friends - but the journey's not over yet. Here is a brief itinerary if you were wondering where to send the letters.
March 17th - Fly one-way to Gdansk, Northern Poland. From here, travel south an hour or so to Warlubie, the village where my workmate Michal lives.
A few days later - Leave Michal's house.
Over the following weeks I plan to train around the continent in any direction I see fit. Places that have attracted my attention so far include
Auschwitz - Prague - Berlin - Florence - Southern France - Greece - Croatia
If you happen to live in Europe, and have a bed that's empty
or enjoy cooking your national dishes for visitors
or want to hear a range of mostly true travel stories then, please, contact me
before it's too late.
If you have any suggestions for particularly worthwhile places to visit, please let me know as well. Almost all of those places I have listed are based on other people's recommendations and I take all suggestions seriously. Unless you recommend Naples.
And also, thanks to everyone who's come to visit, I hope you enjoyed this city as much as I did.
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J-Train
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Good work Ol, another crackerjack of an entry. I did quite enjoy the story about the man with the lazy eye.... that was until I started watching the comedy channel and this geezer doing standup starts off one of his crazy anecdotes with 'so there I was in the post office...' Nice try, but plagiarism is an offense that should be taken very seriously my friend. But altogether a very enjoyable little story mate, made my morning. Keep up the good work.... Maybe visit Kevin? Peace