It just hit me!

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So it's Good Friday, I'm slightly hungover, and I'm excited that it's my last day of work. I turn up on the doorstep at Skype, my place of work for the past six months, only to be greeted by a security guard telling me there is no power and I'm not allowed access. Apparently it's going to take a couple of hours to fix, and he suggests that I take a pew on the couches in front of reception. Bugger that, I thought. It is such a nice day, a rarity for London, and I'm about to leave the country for good. Without any further ado, I grabbed my stuff and set off to take advantage of the beautiful weather.

London was eerily quiet. I work just up the road from Oxford Street and I'm used to the constant barrage of tourists, preventing me from accomplishing even the most simple of tasks. I walk along Oxford Street and turn up towards Oxford Circus. All the flags are up for the royal wedding and every souvenir salesmen in town is flaunting his cheap 'Will and Kate' memorial plates. The lack of people has allowed my mind to focus on the beautiful architecture surrounding me, and I get this depressing feeling that perhaps I have been taking London for granted for the past year.

I made my way to Regents Park, a place I have always wanted to visit but never got around to. The sun was shining through the beige blanket of pollution that shrouds the city, and I watched as a woman's dog had a nervous breakdown over a squirrel scampering up a tree; dogs are such stupid (but loveable) animals! I followed the maze of footpaths leading around the rowing lake, noting the heir of formality in the way trees were planted and how sections of garden were separated from each other with little iron fences. Very proper, very English!

One thing I'm really going to miss about England is the squirrels. There is something fascinating about how they dance on the tips of branches, or hop across the footpath like it was made of hot coals. Sometimes I think they are as interested in me as I am in them, as they peer down at me from the tops of the trees. More likely, they just like being fed by tourists with nothing better to do. With this in mind, I unzipped my backpack and tore off a bit of my muesli bar to feed to the beady-eyed tree-rodent.

Walking back to Skype, I pull out my Mexican Spanish phrase book and practice constructing coherent sentences; ¿donde esta el baño?, ¿cuánto cuesta la habitación?, and most importantly, ¡una mas cerveza, por favor! It's hard to believe that my girlfriend and I are off to Mallorca tomorrow, New York a week from Sunday, and we'll be in Mexico on the 10th May. Our world is about to be rocked.... watch this space!

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Comments

[szemrani]

Have a great trip!

[TheFrinkleFiles]

Really great (and entertaining) blog have fun on your trip