i realized what a big difference the weather makes. when I stepped out of my building, the sun made my mundane and tedious walk to school seem more enjoyable. It instantly got me in a good mood.
the highlight of my day was from 12 - 2, during my break between my morning and afternoon classes.
it started with my venture to find a coffee shop. my friend aspen sent me a NYT.com article titled "London Sips a Different Cup," about "london's emerging status as a coffee town." Until then, I was struggling to find a good, local coffee shop and had been frequenting Cafe Nero, which is my favorite chain coffee store in London. (I refuse to go to a starbucks here, or any other american food chain). Though nero lattes are tasty, going to a chain store didn't feel very authentic. So, I decided to try "the Espresso Room" mentioned in the article because it was conveniently located in Bloomsbury, which is where my campus is. This required that I venture to a new part of Bloomsbury: the west side of Russell Square. Every day, I walk down Woburn Place and turn right or east on to campus, but after class I walked west for the first time.
To my surprise, I found "the Brunswick," which is a small, pretty modern, local mall. It had lots of different american brands and little delis. While strolling around, I stumbled upon "apostrophe," which i've been looking for since I got here. It was less hole-in-the-wall and more posh than I thought it'd be, but I got a sandwich there anyway. I got it to "take away" (their equivalent of to-go), and sat out on the plaza. It was so sunny that I eventually had to take my jacket off. There, I munched on my sandwich and watched the locals go about their daily business.
Then, I walked down Southampton Row in search of the local coffee shop. I turned onto Great Osmond street and found a tiny little square called, Queen's Sq. very modest and not particularly green, but there was one fruit and vegetable stand where a few locals were buying stuff, and chitchatting away. After ten minutes of pleasant wandering, I found the Espresso Room. it was very much like what I had envisioned. a hole in the wall with people lining outside. I got a flat white, as opposed to my usual latte, because the article had raved about it. It's basically a smaller, but stronger, latte and it was infinitely better than nero latte. (or maybe i'm just convincing myself it is.) I like their coffee so I'll definitely be returning there and hopefully i'll become a regular before I leave london.
With a flat white in hand and an hour and a half to kill before class, i started wandering. i walked down random streets to get myself lost, and I found myself in an area that resembled the east village of new york city. low brick buildings, quiet pathways and my favorite part, local shops! I found cheap delis and local bookstores that i'll be going back to. Then, half an hour later, i was able to recognize where I was, back on bustling Southampton row, but further south. I loved that moment when everything made sense again, and I was excited to be able to locate myself. london is a huge city, so i've been seeing it in bits and pieces . So, when I accidentally end up in a familiar place while exploring, I'm able to put two or more pieces of london together. it's very much like completing a mental puzzle of london. slowly but surely the fragments of london are coming together to create a bigger, a more cohesive, picture in my head.
I decided to spend my remaining hour simply sitting at russell square and enjoying the sun, which I had yet to do in london. I grabbed a seat on a bench near the fountain and started to peruse my 'little black book on london.' Reading through the guidebook, I realized that there is so much of london that i have yet to see and experience! I hadn't even fully explored my area of islington, and clerkenwell and smithfield! After exactly 7 weeks, or half my semester in london, I realized how much more active I have to be in order to know the city. but better late than never, right? im just glad that I caught myself slipping into lethargy.
then, I just sat and watched the scenery of the park. I watched the students hanging out on the grass, the old lady reading, and people eating their lunches. the greenery, the students and the fountain all reminded me of washington sq. back in nyc, except I'm in london. that was my moment of epiphany. the moment where i became extremely grateful that I'm studying and living in london, in EUROPE! the moment when i re-realized how amazing this city is. i regretted that I let london seem jaded, even for a moment.
With this thought in mind, I watched a group of spanish middle-schoolers fool around the fountain. They all cheered for this one boy to run through and jump over the fountain, and he successfully did without getting wet! This sparked a competition among the boys, and lots of chanting. a few of them got wet, and few of them fell, but they were all laughing regardless. their carelessness made me smile and it made me want to stay in the park indefinitely. that hour in the park made me feel like i was really living in london.
perhaps it was the sun, or the coffee, or the spanish children that got me excited for london again. whatever it was, it livened the city again for me. today's casual stroll around bloomsbury made me reevaluate my past 7 weeks, and look forward to my remaining 8 that Im determined to make more exciting than my previous 7.
on my first day here, our tour guide quoted samuel johnson, "when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in london all that life can afford." for the past week i may have been tired of the academic humdrum, so i didn't really pay attention to london. but london's too great a city to be a mere backdrop, and I'm definitely too young to be tired of life.
i wish I had brought my camera around with me today, but im going to retrace my footsteps tomorrow and take photos so ill make sure to put them up soon.
to those reading this blog, especially those in nyc, i encourage you to rediscover your surrounding city!
lots of love.
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