Damn that alliteration is good, if I do say so myself.
This morning I have been struggling to wake up and join the living (what else is new…) because it means that I will need to start taking care of some last minute details before I head back home to New York. (Can’t believe it! Berlin has been home for so long now!)
However, nowhere on the title of this post does it say “Good-by Berlin” or “Time to go home” and that’s because:
a) I am not going home for another 48 hrs or so
b) I had an amazing time in London, even after all of the premiere stuff was over, and am going to talk about it.
London is the first city, after Berlin, that I have visited while abroad, in which I can actually imagine living in as a normal person (as opposed to a tourist for a few days) and no it is not just because they speak English there. Or at least a version of a language that can be confused for English. There is a business in the city and an energy in the city that reminds me of New York and though they drive on the wrong side of the road, being there made me happy. Luckily I had a very good tour guide- my friend Pete (yes the same fool pictured in all of the premiere pictures) who is studying at King’s College for his year abroad away from Humboldt Universtät and after a very early 1 pm start on Sunday, we hiked all over the city, starting at Tower bridge, which is NOT London bridge, going to different areas such as Shoreditch and through Hyde Park over to Harrods so as to buy some holiday presents. You can’t go to London and not bring back tea. Customs would probably send you back in. After Harrods we walked back over to Westminster and took very poorly lit pictures with Buckingham Palace and Big Ben in the background. One of my personal favorites was the large memorial to “Animals in War.” Now don’t get me wrong, I love animals but it struck me (and Pete) as a bit strange that there was obviously quite a bit of funding put up for this memorial when in Berlin there is an ongoing debate on who and how to commemorate the lives lost in World War II. The lives of humans, might I add.
Okay time to get a move on – got to make the most of the 2 hrs of daylight!
