The final London hurrah

My final day of sight-seeing, freedom and fun in England. Wouldn’t you know it? After torrential rain and flooding yesterday, the sun is out.

As much as I would like to do the Star Wars Exhibition at County Hall, I opt for some quiet time and reflection at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Second time to London: if I don’t do it, it really will be embarrassing to admit. A bit like going to Paris and never having been up the Eiffel Tower. Outside the cathedral, an elderly woman wearing a stone-coloured trenchcoat with a salmon coloured dress stops to smell the roses hanging over the gates. It makes me smile. While I’ve seen many a church, St. Paul’s Cathedral really does take the breath away with its grandeur and sheer size. The magnificent views of London from the Stone Gallery (thankfully no portraits of stuffy old men with frilly neckpieces) are worth the +400 stairs up to the apex. I pick out identifiable landmarks from the ant-sized hive of activity below. Clear skies gives good visibility. Oh yeah – for anyone who thought my ‘visually enhanced’ student ID wouldn’t work for concession entry, I’ve been flaunting it all over London and Paris. Never underestimate the power of being 4’11. Pfff. I rule. 8P

Mid-afternoon, I rendezvous with Sergio at Patisserie Valerie in Soho. I am embarrassingly late (apologies yet again!). I owe him an ice-cream. I trade in food. We’re at this café because I’ve requested tea and scones – which I’ll bet only the tourists do in the city, and local geriatrics do in the country. We talk academia, PhD dissertations, kooky supervisors, living in London, living in Australia, the future, the past, and ultimately how life should be lived – without fear and regret, and with great passion. And Sergio is still feeling like a disgruntled member of Fitness First – a number among many numbers (I will have to convince him otherwise). It doesn’t matter that we have 1.5 PhDs between us (he’s halfway done), we still have problems figuring out the hot pot of tea and hot pot of water arrangement. If we’ve embarrassed ourselves (a certainty on many occasions), we’ll just pretend we’re from out of town.

We need to pick up Sergio’s friend-from-Italy-who-speaks-not-one-lick-of-English from the British Museum late afternoon. When I am left alone with Luka when Sergio is off and about doing errands at Birkbeck Library, we attempt a conversation with the use of
he-who-speaks-not-one-lick-of-English’s Lonely Planet phrasebook. I try to describe the weather over the last few days, but keep coming to the ‘Gastronomic’ section. Can I call the weather ‘spicy’? When all else fails, we revert to charades and the universal language of man-perving: specifically Elijah Wood. When Luka shows me a clip of Elwood on his camera phone from the film Bobby, it borders precariously on funny, endearing and slightly creepy. It’s all good.

Sergio appears 20 minutes later, in time to chat to Caroline on my mobile to give her completely bogus directions to get from Russell Square station to our destination (the lawn in front of Birkbeck Library).

SERGIO: Head for the northwestern corner of the park. See that big white building, we’re behind that. You’ll see trees.

As it turns out, there are several white buildings in the vicinity (never mind that the white building the boy is referring to can’t actually be seen from the station as it’s hidden behind a big brown building), and it’s Russell Square. There are trees everywhere. Never get a man to give directions. We forgive you. 8P

It’s the final farewell. I could get used to this whole "kiss on the cheek hello-and-goodbye ritual"! Ciao Luka (who actually speaks some English and who has fabulous shoes), and ciao to the sweetest bloke I have met in a very long time. And I realise that the sun has come out every time I have gone out to see Sergio. Everyday was beautiful, my friend.

In the evening, Caroline and I take out our hosts – Ann and Peter – to dinner at a Thai restaurant in Pinner. I am touched by their open invitation to stay with them when I come back to London. The other night, they presented me with a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the other night (hmmm, how on earth did they know I liked Harry Potter?!). London – the weather, the people, the experiences – everything about her today is beckoning me back. It is a most wonderful finale to my growing affection for this city.

And I get to thinking about all the people on this trip – those I met at the Glasgow conference, friends (old and new) in Paris, friends (old and new) in London – and a glow and smile spreads over my face that I could not get rid of even if I wanted to. I miss them all already. Big love to you all. Au revoir. Ciao. See ya later. Because there will be a next time.