It feels good to be back in London. The flight from Singapore was what long flights always are… a blur of wriggling, half-sleep and clock-watching until you tumble out the other end. Heathrow greeted us like an old friend – it is huge, mildly chaotic, a bit grubby, but ultimately efficient. A couple of hours later we’d wrangled ourselves to our flat in West Kensington, raided the local Sainsbury’s for breakfast supplies, and collapsed, dog tired, into the kind of sleep only well managed jet lag can deliver.
We woke sensibly early, a little restless, and decided to simply walk. No plan… just exploring the city. The tube ran as it always has, the myriad of supermarkets we explored all had good gluten-free food – cafes, not so much. Not yet. The whole place felt unchanged: busy, noisy, and instantly and totally familiar.
From Westminster we drifted along the Thames, through Charing Cross, Covent Garden and Neal’s Yard, into Soho, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street, Piccadilly, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square… a greatest-hits playlist of my old stomping ground, revisited with the ease of practiced tourists who already know where the nearest M&S food hall is.
By the time we stumbled home our feet had given up, but the city had already welcomed us back. Tonight we’ll see friends for dinner.
Dinner took us across town to our friends’ splendid place in Archway. There’s nothing quite like home-cooked food and easy company to anchor a first day back. It also gave us an excuse to wander a pocket of London we don’t know well, which felt a bit like a small adventure. Now, a little groggy from jet lag (or maybe just the day) this stout party is ready to collapse.
The Obligatory Blog 