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that I was in London right now. God I miss that place.

For those of you who have never been, do yourselves a favour and get there at some point as there is no other city like it in the world. I am not a fan of cities (I far prefer smaller towns and the country) but I absolutely adore London. Even though I am Scottish and should like Glesga, Edinburgh, or my hometown of Ayr more (alright, Ayr comes damned close to rivaling London in my heart), I simply cannot get over my love affair with London. I have never felt more at home, or more as if I belonged, than I do when in London.

At this time last year I'd been living there for about three months and, although I wanted to see my parents and some of my friends, I didn't want to leave. Ever. I'm sorry now that I did. I can't move there permanently because I won't leave here while my parents are still alive but, once they are gone, I'll be on a plane within a month. Thankfully I have British citizenship and won't have to apply to emigrate - I can just show up and start working right away.

I'm not sure why I felt the need to share this with all of you but I just had to get it off of my chest. It is a holiday weekend up here and I decided to take it nice and easy tonight so I'm currently sitting drinking and looking at photographs that I took while over there last year (any of you who have me on Facebook can check out pictures from Britain - both 2005 and 2008 - as there are several albums linked on the left side of my page). I guess that is what got me missing London even more than I normally do. The drunker I get, the more I'll miss it. If I could afford to do so, I'd commission CB&B to do a painting or two of photos I took while over there. For now, I'll just have to content myself with the pictures and with figuring out when I'll be able to go back again.

I saw your FB post referencing your wish as well. There are some places that we feel most comfortable with and draw us in. It's not always home, obviously it's London for you. I'm still looking for that place for myself, luckily I'm happy where I am and have no urges to be somewhere else. Durham has changed too much for me, so even though it will always be my hometown it will never be home for me again. I wish you could be where you want to be right now, but I'm betting in the long run you will be there again. Not being where you know you should be can be worse than a broken heart. Vibes to you.

I've never been to London. I think I would enjoy it.

Have you ever visited Hadrian's Wall? That's on my list of 43 things to do before I die.

I do know how much your heart can hurt when you're missing a place. I hope that you can visit London soon. Maybe you can get a job that requires some travel to London.

CathyCA wrote:I've never been to London. I think I would enjoy it.

Have you ever visited Hadrian's Wall? That's on my list of 43 things to do before I die.

I do know how much your heart can hurt when you're missing a place. I hope that you can visit London soon. Maybe you can get a job that requires some travel to London.

I've never actually visited the wall but I have gone past it on my way from London up home to Scotland or vice versa. There isn't much there but I get why someone would want to visit it.

In an ideal world, I would get a job that required regular travel to London so that I could have the best of both worlds but I doubt that is in the cards for me. Then again, one never knows.

CameronBornAndBred wrote:I saw your FB post referencing your wish as well.

That is actually a reference to a song - Home For a Rest)by Spirit of the West. The bars along Charing Cross Road are all tourist traps and I would never drink in them but the quote encapsulates how I feel so I used it (I tend to use it quite regularly on FB- my future sister-in-law usually comments that I should just move already*). Even though I wouldn't drink in the bars along Charing Cross Road shopping for books is another matter altogether as that is my favourite place in the world to go book shopping. The collection of new and used bookstores makes it my version of heaven.

Not being where you know you should be can be worse than a broken heart. [/quotes]

I've never thought of it that way but you are dead on - it does feel worse than a broken heart.

Vibes to you.

Thank you. The more I drink tonight the more I'm going to need them.

And when I do have some money to spare I'm going to have to commission you to make paintings of a couple of the photos I took as I'd love to frame them and hang them in my living room. For now I'll just have to get Jen (future sister-in-law) to blow some of them up for me as she is a photographer and can easily do it.


*My brother and another friend have already done so.

colchar wrote:that I was in London right now. God I miss that place.

Do they have good pastrami there?

I KNOW that I miss breakfast there.

AND I miss the bitters.

AND I miss the Tube.

AND I miss good football (oh well, one that you won't agree with ;) ).

CameronBornAndBred wrote:I saw your FB post referencing your wish as well.

That is actually a reference to a song - Home For a Rest)by Spirit of the West. The bars along Charing Cross Road are all tourist traps and I would never drink in them but the quote encapsulates how I feel so I used it (I tend to use it quite regularly on FB- my future sister-in-law usually comments that I should just move already*). Even though I wouldn't drink in the bars along Charing Cross Road shopping for books is another matter altogether as that is my favourite place in the world to go book shopping. The collection of new and used bookstores makes it my version of heaven.

Not being where you know you should be can be worse than a broken heart.

I've never thought of it that way but you are dead on - it does feel worse than a broken heart.

Vibes to you.

Thank you. The more I drink tonight the more I'm going to need them.

And when I do have some money to spare I'm going to have to commission you to make paintings of a couple of the photos I took as I'd love to frame them and hang them in my living room. For now I'll just have to get Jen (future sister-in-law) to blow some of them up for me as she is a photographer and can easily do it.


*My brother and another friend have already done so.

Lavabe wrote:
AND I miss the Tube.

I LOVE the Tube. Absolutely love it.

colchar wrote:I LOVE the Tube. Absolutely love it.

I am SO not touching that one!

bjornolf wrote:

colchar wrote:I LOVE the Tube. Absolutely love it.

I am SO not touching that one!

I'm totally with you, colchar. I left Charleston feeling the same way about that place...I can't really explain it; I just belong there.
I've never been to London, but am really hoping to get a grant to go for a while next summer. You may all commence sending vibes now.

wilson wrote:I'm totally with you, colchar. I left Charleston feeling the same way about that place...I can't really explain it; I just belong there.
I've never been to London, but am really hoping to get a grant to go for a while next summer. You may all commence sending vibes now.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I hear ya colchar. I just came back from my second trip to London, and I could definitely live there. I'm not a city guy, but London is one city I could live in.

I say this although my ancestry is all Boston Irish Catholic, so we're supposed to hate the English. Oh well. They do have a lovely city.

I came home and had a serious discussion with my wife about trying to go over there to live for a couple of years before Katie goes to school. We both would love to do it, but feel the burden of having involved parents (hers) who would be offended if we left. So we'll see. We'll probably keep wishing we could do it, but not sure we're brave enough to actually tell her parents we're leaving the country for a few years with their granddaughter.

Hadrian's wall is cool. We stopped at one of the forts along the wall while driving back from Scotland on our first trip. It's neat. The most well preserved building in the fort was the latrine. I'll try to see if I have any photos.

DukeUsul wrote:Hadrian's wall is cool. We stopped at one of the forts along the wall while driving back from Scotland on our first trip. It's neat. The most well preserved building in the fort was the latrine. I'll try to see if I have any photos.

Oh, goody! I can't wait to see your pics.

And I'm glad to know that they valued bathrooms as much as I do.

You're a good son colchar........I'm sending you a hug.

DukeUsul wrote:I hear ya colchar. I just came back from my second trip to London, and I could definitely live there. I'm not a city guy, but London is one city I could live in.

I say this although my ancestry is all Boston Irish Catholic, so we're supposed to hate the English. Oh well. They do have a lovely city.

I came home and had a serious discussion with my wife about trying to go over there to live for a couple of years before Katie goes to school. We both would love to do it, but feel the burden of having involved parents (hers) who would be offended if we left. So we'll see. We'll probably keep wishing we could do it, but not sure we're brave enough to actually tell her parents we're leaving the country for a few years with their granddaughter.

Hadrian's wall is cool. We stopped at one of the forts along the wall while driving back from Scotland on our first trip. It's neat. The most well preserved building in the fort was the latrine. I'll try to see if I have any photos.

As a kid, I remember hating moving around so much (Dad was in the Navy) but as an adult, I look back and have fond memories of my adventures. Five states, and some time overseas in Scotland make for some great memories and learning experiences. My brother and I spent about two years in Scottish schools because the American private school was a wee bit expensive and too far from where we live. Just saying... it was freaking sweet.

I also adore London. I was there January '05 when I was still in undergrad at Elon. I decided to to go to London for study abroad. We were there for 3 1/2 weeks. Everything we did as a class, I would have done as a tourist. We were all over the place from London to Statford Upon Avon to Dover. The class I took was Social Psychology and it was fascinating. We went to plays, the ballet and art museums. I have been ready to go back since I was on the return flight on British Air (which, btw, rocks!!).

I hope Stevo gets a job at a college that has study abroad in London so we can go one day. They're also starting PA equivalent programs in Great Britain called MCP, Medical Care Provider. The concept is heavily based on Physician Assistants and they're hiring people to teach over there. Hmmmm, that's a thought too!

I'm such an Anglophile I drive a Mini and drink hot tea instead of coffee. Bring on the bitters!