A Love Letter to London

Dear London,

What can I say? I’ve missed you and your character. Will you take me back?

I miss the random chalk messages scrawled across your brick walls, the street art hiding around your corners, your ancient architecture and your new innovations.

I miss the excitement of hearing hundreds of languages spoken on your busses, the efficiency of your tube (no matter how many times I’ve complained in the past), the incredible opportunities just waiting to be uncovered.

I miss walking down the banks of your dirty old river, still gawking at your city lights, a picnic in Hampstead Heath, a stroll through Richmond Park.

I miss a good time at the Dublin Castle in Camden, listening to one of your undiscovered bands rock the night away or a day discovering art tucked away in your obscure galleries.

I miss trawling your markets for goodies, the street fashion, eating spinach-feta muffins and relax tea at the Sacred Cafe, a hot chocolate at Scootercaffe and smell of your used bookshops I’ve spent too much time in.

I love that you welcome the world into your borders, the brilliance of choice when it comes time to eat and all the people you can meet along the way, the parties that turn into scenes from the United Nations with 10s of countries represented in one house.

I appreciate the secrets you revealed to me in the four years I enjoyed your company before and I think you have more to give, the way you let me stroll through your street with a camera and still blend into the scenery.

Sure, you have your faults. You can be a lonely place, the tube can be a nightmare at rush hour (admit it) and there’s no denying those stereotypes about your rainy days. So sometimes I may have to get away, visit one of your neighbors. I hear Copenhagen’s nice or Barcelona or I may go further afield. But you have to understand that leaving means I appreciate you all the more when I return.

Yes, I know it’s been less than a year since I gave all my stuff away, shipped three suitcases and nine boxes across the Atlantic. Then I spent six months in a little village in Colombia. I decided there that I’m not finished with you yet.

So I’ll see you in January. What do you say?

Love from New York,
Steph

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