Reminiscence

This is a shout out to all my London girls, as well as an excuse to blog about one of my most favorite things in all the world, for today is a day of some significance. I can hardly believe it, but as of this minute, it has been a year since I left for London. A year!

I will never forget how it all seemed so new, so different, so unfamiliar when I stood in front of 27 Palace Court for the very first time- the rush of the black taxis, the colorful winding alleyways suffused by an enigmatic fog, the feel of warm raindrops against my cheek...How familiar every little {and large} detail would later become to me - how it would win my heart to the point that leaving it would mean leaving a portion of myself there.

I miss the cupcake shops. I miss the thrillingly mysterious old bookshops. I miss the rain. I miss the culmination of multiple cultures. I miss the cheaply magnificent Broadway plays. I miss the morning runs in Hyde Park. I miss the drama and the excitement that comes from living with forty amazing, beautiful girls. I miss the weekend excursions to a new country. I miss the thriving spirit of my most adored literary figures and the keen preservation of the promotion of writing. I miss Nando's. I miss the fusion of burning and freezing water temperatures between the sink faucets. I miss the afternoon fights for the last spoonfuls of peanut butter. I miss the rush of people in the tube and double-decker buses. I miss the Shakespeare plays. I miss the four-hour trips to and from church each Sunday. I miss deep class discussion, as we all sat barefooted as friends, as well as colleagues. I miss getting all tangled up in the city and discovering new gems we had no idea existed. I miss the amazing conversations I would have with people intriguingly different from me in so many ways, and discovering that we have more similarities than differences. I miss the trips to Cathedrals and other grand structures and learning about different faiths. I miss our holiday festivities at the center. I miss the picturesquely winding streets of London, that seemed more like a film set than actual housing. I miss my Scottlish friend. I miss the old woman that lived upstairs from us, crazy Mrs. Shepherd, who made for an intriguing fictional character. I miss traipsing across the English Countryside in the rain. I could go on and on.

What a beautiful, bustling, quaint, enriching, unique corner of the world, to which I dream most avidly of returning one day. Soon. Miss you, London ladies.

@ 2010 by Rachel Lowry. All Rights Reserved