It's now Friday, October 12. I left Atlanta on September 11 and managed to spend an entire month in Britain. It was one my best adventures ever, and by far the longest. I traveled around in two countries by train, by bus, and by taxi. I saw three major cities, visited a few smaller ones, and passed through countless others. I saw tall mountains, covered with both snow and vegetation; I saw rivers, huge lakes, and valleys; I walked along streets that are hundreds of years old and visited buildings that are even older.
In my travels, I met and chatted with people from the main cities I visited (London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow), as well as other travelers from Manchester, Birmingham and further-out parts of London; Spain; Peru; Ireland; the Outer Hebrides (islands of Scotland) and North Berwick (in Scotland east of Edinburgh); India; South Africa; Kenya; Egypt; Italy; France; Australia; Hong Kong; Canada; the Netherlands; and other parts of the U.S. Many of these were just short conversations, others were people I interacted with several times.
It was a stressful trip at times, not just because of traveling alone and to places completely unfamiliar to me, also because of having a flexible schedule and making hotel accommodations with only a day or two notice, and needing wireless Internet access so that I could work when I wasn't playing tourist. But the trip was very worth it. I loved meeting so many different people and seeing so many different places, and understanding more about the world outside my little corner of it. I was about to say that I can only imagine what it would be like to go to Africa or India or another place with a drastically different culture...but I can't, I really can't. England and Scotland have cultures very similar to the U.S., and still the differences are enough to keep you off-balance.
One of my favorite realizations was that in writing this blog, I wasn't just describing my life, as if it was the only thing that mattered. This past month was my life, intersecting with and often running parallel to other lives. This wasn't just my story, it was a real-life play, with Britain as the stage, and a huge cast of characters. I was one of a number of characters with independent stories that were expressed, but only in part, to the audience. There were many other characters who have their own stories, but the audience doesn't know what those stories are. There were many scenes that were never shown on stage; soliloquies and dialogues that were never seen or heard; but they were still there. As Shakespeare put it,
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
I'm very glad that I went. I missed people back home, and now that I'm home I regret that most of the people I met abroad I may never see again. Each city I visited had its charms and its less attractive qualities, but each one was a player in its own right.
But enough of being poetic. I have to finish describing the end of my journey. I left my little hotel in Stratford and had breakfast at a little cafe (what I would call a diner) just up the road, then went back and finished packing and checked out. I had found out that my Oyster card works for buses as well as trains, so that saved a bit. I tried to take the 25 bus...sorry, doesn't go to the train station, that's 86. And 86 was jam packed with people, standing room only. But, I finally made it, and found the right subway train to take. I had to change trains about 4-5 times in total before I made it to the airport, three hours before my flight. I can be proud of myself for that. Security was not as tight as in Atlanta: I didn't have to take off my belt or my shoes, and I didn't get wanded or have to pose for a full-body screening.
I had to go to a different floor to get my VAT (British tax) refund, of about $6, on goods that I had purchased and qualified for. BUT, apparently the business gets to collect a portion of that VAT, so I ended up with less than $3 back, which they put directly on my checking account's debit card (with Visa logo) in my home currency. I was going to trade in my British money for American currency, but those places charge commission of course, and the cheap place charges a £3 minimum. After covering lunch, I would have hardly had more than it cost to exchange. So, I just kept it all, which thanks to some good planning comes to about £10 in paper and coins, which will make nice personal souvenirs. And if I can ever go back, I can just take it with me and spend it.
It was a good flight. I didn't get first class, but I was put in the middle section of a coach class row and the other two seats were vacant, so I had a lot of room to stretch out. I made sure to accept water whenever the attendants came by, and I constantly snacked a bit, partially to have something to do and partially so my body would stay confused as to when dinner time is. I left London at 2:25 pm or so London time, and landed before 7 pm Atlanta, about 8 1/2 hours in the air. I occupied most of that time by watching The Avengers, Madagascar 3, Brave, and Prometheus. It would have been extremely boring if I hadn't had movies to watch. Oh, and thank God for giving people the cleverness to invent Dramamine.
As I was in London heading to my gate, I passed a "Goodbye" poster that had Moira Cameron on it, the first female Beefeater. I got someone to take a picture of me standing next to the poster. It was a nice personal connection, since I had read about her up at the Clan Cameron museum in Scotland.
Customs was a breeze, the hard part was standing in line. I picked up my bag and headed to the public area where my parents were waiting to give me a ride. It was a very good trip.
I'm not quite done with this blog. I still want to post some pictures, and get my thoughts down about accents, and maybe a "lessons learned" post. It will be good to come back to, the next time I think about traveling.
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