Project Runaway

• 30+ trains
• 6 long haul bus rides
• 5 plane rides
• 3 ferries
• 2 car rentals
• 1 long ass taxi ride
• 15 Hotels/Pensions
• 6 Self Service Apartments

It is the halfway point in our journey. We have battled homesickness, language barriers, food poisoning, hair frustrations, the dreaded budget, and even each other. We have had to wrap our heads around 3 different currencies and navigate through 5 different ways of life. Along the way we have to understand and accept (sometimes grudingly) our strengths and weaknesses. We love, laugh, and fight with all we got, and when the dust settles we are always still standing.

We are in  London, Westminster to be exact, smack dab in the heart of it all. Our distinguished old hotel is next door to New Scotland Yard. Buckingham Palace is a 5 minute walk. Big Ben, the Thames, and the London Eye are a 10 minute stroll. Pubs abound everywhere, filled to overflowing with dark suited business persons discussing their work, football, and politics.

We have had several days of crisp clear fall weather, and we have walked through St James park kicking up leaves and laughing at its most famous resident, a large (and I mean LARGE) pink pelican. London is lovely in the fall and we have found that we have liked the city more than anticipated. We had given ourselves a strict daily budget while here and it has been fun watching the kids plot and budget their meals and split costs when they can.

Nicole’s eclectic fashion sense finally has a home and a name. It is pure London style. She fits in here like a glove and I think she has fallen for this city the hardest. She went out with a friend from Canada, Greer, who is going to school here. She had been under budget and used her allotment to go out partying London-style on Halloween.

The next morning Dwayne and I swung by their room to get the computer, and this is how it went:

I knock. Nic says ‘We are watching T.V.’ ‘So, I want the computer’ I respond. There is giggling and shuffling and then Luc opens the door a crack and slips me the laptop. I wedge a toe in. ‘I need the cord’, I say, getting suspicious. As he turns to get the cord, I manage to get my head in the door to have a look at what is going on. There are 2 heads popping from under the covers in Nicole’s bed, and one is not Luc. ‘There are two people in Nic’s bed.’ I say to Dwayne. He now thrusts his head through the door. Nic squeaks ‘This is Simon, he needed a place to go last night.’ Oh, well, of course. She is just being a good Samaritan. Dwayne asks Simon, who is still covered up to the neck in bed, in fact all 3 are like this now mainly because the room is as cold as a meat locker for some reason, where he is from. Simon tells us he is a good Victoria boy here visiting Greer. “Well, then that’s a relief’, Dwayne comments dryly, ‘I was worried you were from London.’

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