A long walk

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It’s bright and early, and I’m heading to London for a very long walk.
I won’t get into the details of the route we’re taking, but needless to say, my father can plan a bloddy hike. Before leaving he lent me the camera that I’ve been using (supplemented by my Treo when needed), his suitcase, various cabling, a book on London, but most importantly advice and a highlighted map of the route he took the last time he was in London. After learning where good shopping for Lindsay was, we incorporated it into the bright yellow line and set off from the train station at St. Peters. As I said, I won’t get into all of the boring details. When I say we saw everything, I’m being literal, if it’s an attraction, we probably saw it or didn’t know it existed. We may not have gone in, but we saw it!
Mostly we walked, ate, shopped, and walked some more. Here’s what I learned, London has a better pizza place than St. Albans. Gourmet Pizza is on the Thames, and anywhere you can eat the finest pizza in the world while watching business people running along the Thames on their lunch break, that’s where I want to be! Fools, running all day while my fat American butt is sitting drinking a couple pints eating the best damn pizza I have ever had. This is a vacation!
Alright, in all seriousness, I learned that London is truly multicultural. The mix of different races, ethnicities, even religions that I witnessed was not to be believed. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, the skeptic in me would’ve dismissed the possibility outright. Coming from the “Great Melting Pot” that is America, I can tell you, we have a lot to learn. I did not witness a single clique. I did not see people feeling the need to be with like people. I saw intermixing of punks and businessmen, nuns and hoochies, black, white, asian, hispanic and any other combination you can think of. No one looked at them oddly, and they didn’t do it to produce a reaction, but because they liked the company of the other.
After catching the tube (tube=subway, while subway=sidewalk under the street) we caught the train back to St. Albans, very tired, and with quite a bit to think about. We stopped by my b&b so I could grab my laptop to take over to Robin’s to post my blog, when we got there there was a note on the door telling us where they went for dinner, and the walking continues. We get there about 15 minutes later to find out they’ve just paid the bill. We sat down and had dinner and they left. It’s a really lovely time, and after dinner and dessert we set humbly back, both of us having killed our legs earlier. After walking her back to her brother’s, I begin looking for a wireless signal. I walk up and down sidewalks just trying to find any kind of wifi signal, then I finally get one. I’m perched atop a brick wall, and I have just long enough to read two emails when my battery dies. There’s a pub just caddy cornered from my boarding house, so I stopped in to see if they were unwittingly supplying me with my connection, and if there was a place I could plug in? The answer to both was no, but I figured, since I’m already here, I’ll have a pint! It has been my experience that when left to my own devices, I make friends pretty easily. Phillip, the manager of the Glass House, Katie, the bartender, and her husband Paul were lured straight into my web. The four of us were fast friends, smoking Silk Cut and Marlboros, drinking Carlsberg while talking about our respective countries’ social policies, finances, politics, and everything else that strangers have the freedom to discuss. There was nothing to lose, no time invested, just pure honesty, and only friendship to gain in this type of exchange. Up to this point, that was my favorite, and most fulfilling, three hours I had spent in Europe. Closing the pub with my new friends, me thanking them for a lovely time and wishing them well, they were bidding me a good journey and asking me to please return someday. I will likely never see them again, but I’m doubtful I will ever forget them either.
Funny, the things you’ll find on a really long walk.

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