24 January 2011

jet-setting

Even the most seasoned traveler isn't immune to the unexpected hiatus.  Both persistent illness and family duties kept me away, but now I am back and happy to be on the road again, or, at least to be writing about being on the road.  Unexpected ventures remind me of the time I ended up in London on just three days notice.  It was January 2001 and I had just returned to Leuven after the holiday break.  The London excursion centered around my cousin, one my all-time favorite people and his interest in an English girl he had met only two weeks prior at a wedding in Texas.  I went along to serve as his moral support (in case he should decide to chicken out), so you can already tell how this story will end.  A scheme was hatched on a Wednesday, arrangements were made to rendezvous with the object of his affections, and we were both in London by Friday.  One ill-advised meeting at a club in Wimbledon and a lost wallet later, and the romance was over before it began.  We did, however, manage to see some pretty decent sights.

Westminster Abbey:


Piccadilly Circus:


We even took in show:


84 Charing Cross Road.  Just a cafe now, but as immortalized in a great book, it used to be a lovely bookshop:


Buckingham Palace:


Portobello Road in Notting Hill:


Parliament and Big Ben:

No comments:

Post a Comment