London

I want to preface this blog by saying that it was wonderful to see my best friend again after 5 months apart! Don't get me wrong, London was a really cool city. But I was disappointed by it. I didn't expect to identify with what Blake writes in his poem "London":

I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

But after walking around the city and down the Thames, I can see exactly what he was talking about. I enjoyed my time in the city, but the whole time I'm sure I was talking about Ireland like an infatuated schoolgirl- Ireland this and Ireland that! I said in my first blog about leaving for London that I had hoped to agree more with Wordsworth's interpretation of the city; however, I didn't fall in love with it like I though I would.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and made my way to Victoria Station where I would meet up with Jeffrey. It probably would've been a good idea to designate a meeting place, but I wandered around for a bit and found him reading in a secluded area of the station. Off to a good start! (At least I found him!) We then got on the Underground (mind the gap!) and went to King's Cross Station. I got signed into his residence hall, and we took off to explore the city a bit.

The next day, after a failed attempt at visiting Platform 9 and 3/4 to pay homage to Sir Harry Potter, we visited Piccadilly Circus (my favorite place in the city) for dinner and some souvenir shopping. We got to see many of the theaters where some of the best shows are held, which was exciting. Plus, I finally got some much-craved Mexican food- which seems almost impossible to find in Ireland! We continued exploring the city the on Saturday- Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye. Walking down the Thames for what seemed like hours, we came across the Tower of London- one of the only places I really wanted to see. It was awesome to see such a historical place.

Leaving London was sad in the sense that I was leaving my friend, but I was excited to get back home to Dungarvan. Sitting on the bus from Cork to Dungarvan, I looked out the window and was struck by the thought that I would soon be leaving this beautiful country. I'm not ashamed to say that it brought tears to my eyes. I can't believe how much Ireland has worked its way into my heart!