London and back

Just got back from my three-day adventure traipsing through London town, and it was quite possibly the best weekend I had since I came to Europe. Unfortunately that distinction falls with a city outside Scotland, but more on that later.

Kate and I stayed at a hostel for the first time (for both of us), and happily, both of the places we stayed at met my requirements for acceptability: a) the bedrooms were clean, b) the bathrooms were clean, and c) there were no wacky foreign dudes that looked like killers. On the first night, we shared a mixed room with 21 beds total, which while being initially concerned about, wasn't really bad at all. The people there were very laid back and friendly and there was a cute little breakfast cafe next door that served excellent coffee. The only setback was the location - London Backpackers was about 30 minutes outside of central London by tube. However, even that wasn't a problem because I strangely missed taking the subway places. I practically lived riding the T back in Boston and I felt at home while being jostled and pushed into a moving subway car by complete strangers. No kidding, really I was. By the second night we had moved into another hostel - this one was called Smart Russell (where we met our fellow adventurer Nishant - which although it was closer, we didn't like as much. On the surface, it was technically a "nicer" place, since it looked more modern and had a big screen TV in the lobby area but the staff wasn't as friendly and neither were many of the people we met. However, like I said, CLEAN bathrooms, so who am I to complain?

OK now to the good stuff. London is the most amazing European city I've ever seen. This really doesn't say very much, because hell, my choices so far are London and Edinburgh, and while Edinburgh is a beautiful city, it doesn't really top London. On Saturday we actually had absolutely perfect weather so we walked around, doing the touristy stuff - ie Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park, and the National Gallery. On Sunday, we hit the British Museum, Tate Modern, and walked to the Tower of London. OMG almost forgot - we also rode the London Eye, which is this huge ferris wheel that overlooks the entire city from the Thames River. It sounds corny, but this was absolutely breathtaking. Worth the 15 pounds it cost for admission.

We didn't really experience much of the nightlife since the first night we were exhausted and the second night we wound up at this really awful club called Walkabout or something and it was just filled with what looked like American students who were really badly dressed and the music was horrible. (Playing Queen at a club? Seriously??) Anyway at least Kate got to meet up with her good friend from home. Our third and final night there we just hung at the hostel since we had to catch a 9 a.m. bus this morning. And after spending a total of 18 hours in total on said bus, we are back. Back to reality, where I have two essays looming and a sinking feeling that maybe I should've studied at Goldsmiths after all.

Perhaps what this trip has taught me is that I tend to regret my decisions a lot. Or perhaps "overanalyze" would be a better word. I always am thinking "I wish I had done that" or "said this" or whatever, and it's quite an exhausting way to live. I'm trying to stop, yet I also know that this a part of myself that I have to accept too. Even though I loved London, in a weird way, at least on the bus ride home, it made me want to start to appreciate Edinburgh more. I've been here for almost two months, yet I've spent most of my time thinking about things I'd rather do outside of the city. Berlin. Prague. Amsterdam. London. Yes, I want to travel to these places, but shouldn't I be experiencing more of the city I chose to study in? I'd to start seeing more of Scotland and more of the city. I'm planning on starting small. My first stop is to the National Gallery of Modern Art. Then the botantical garden. Then definitely to Loch Ness and the highlands by the end of my stay. As March approaches, I'm starting to realize how quickly time is passing. I don't want to leave here without saying that I know well where I studied. Even if it's not what I had envisioned, it would be a waste not to take advantage of what the city has to offer.