Day Ten: Home

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Michelle and I spent it together in Newark. We had several hours to reflect on our trip while waiting for our connection (which, of course, was delayed.)

London was a great trip. It was so good to see Chris, Tara and Jess. Michelle and Noelle were perfect travel partners. There was a pretty good balance of relaxation and true Spring Break action. There were some things we missed out on that I would have liked to see (Ice Bar, Fabrik, Vanity Fair Exhibit, sun) but it was great to revisit places I didn't appreciate enough in high school and visit places that were completely new to me. It's weird that we hardly interacted with actual British people. There is so much to see and do in a city like London. It's hard to establish a perfect itinerary for such a short period of time. Next time I will definitely bring an alarm clock. I will also leave time for random wandering. We only wandered the last day we were there, at which point I realized there was a lot we were unaware of that I would have liked to spend more time seeing (especially in and around Trafalgar Square.)

It is so difficult to experience all a culture has to offer. Tourist destinations like the Eye and the bridges are must-see places, but I feel like I experienced more of London walking along the river watching people walk by and kids skateboard and old people sit and read. The beer festival wasn't at all what we expected but I feel like we gained a pretty accurate perspective of British life. Those old guys really care about their beer and their main concern is "protecting the pint" so they are never jipped in a pub. That's culture.

There's no perfect way to experience a city in one week. It's important to think about goals and objectives. Mine were to catch up with friends I miss, explore the city, drink legally in pubs, relax, see tourist sites during the day and a variety of entertainment at night. I accomplished my goals. And some bonuses. Like Chris' wrestling matches and nipple salads, Noelle's fake accent, Michelle's weird phrases, Jess' delicious home cooking and knack for showing people a million tourist destinations in a few hours and so much more. We met new people, had some fun and made it back to Boston in one piece )even though I did miss a flight for the first time in my life.)

Spring break two-thousand-GREAT!



Now back to school.