I have London fever. I dream about London almost every night -- I really do! The last three new movies I saw were all set in London. Last summer, when a lot of things were up in the air in my personal life, the main thing that got me through was planning way in advance for a return to London next week, although now that's not going to happen.
On this day exactly ten years ago, I arrived in London for my fourth visit. It was my first time staying at a bed & breakfast in the borough of Kensington rather than with my friends Kim and Kevin in Tottenham, and my first visit in late winter. That became my favorite time of the year to visit because the weather was still a little nippy and overcast, yet spring flowers were already in bloom everywhere I looked. And until recently, cheap airfares were easy to find in March.
Some of the unique things I did on this fourth of eight London vacations included attending my first West End play (the classic Mousetrap at St. Martins Theatre), seeing the American swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers at an intimate venue, touring Westminster Cathedral, and taking a wonderful day trip by train to explore the southern coast city of Brighton. It was also the only time I ever saw my longtime vegetarian friend Kim eat prawns, her excuse being prawns were too ugly to live anyway.
There is a small chance I could take a short trip to London this summer, but I've not ever gone in summer because it is so much more expensive. Even more so these days, with the value of the American dollar so low. So if I don't make it this year, I will probably wait until 2012 and take my Ben with me. That will be the 20th anniversary of my first visit, Ben will be eight and just old enough, and all eyes will be on London that year as it hosts the Olympics.
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For future reference because the movie list on the side of the page will change, the three London movies all set in the past were The Other Boleyn Girl, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, and The Bank Job.
My London dream nearly always ends in trouble, as in losing my wallet and/or passport and thus being stuck at the airport unable to leave the country. I believe this is because I actually lost my wallet for a few hours during my 2002 visit (luckily, recovered at an art museum security office). I was so traumatized that I kept worrying about losing it again for the rest of the week.
I think the real reason I seem to want to go back to London so badly is merely because I am unable to right now. During all visits so far, I was always really, really ready to get back home... and in fact, last time I went (in 2005), I regretted going and felt guilty the entire time. However, my wife and my Ben were visiting her grandparents in Gulf Shores, Alabama that week, so they weren't just sitting around at home missing me. It is only that kind of arrangement that would allow me to go again for a quick solo return... who knows, it could happen.
Today is the day I was going to fly out. However, it is a beautiful first day of spring in Louisville, so no regrets.
And now, a few words of tribute from Roger Miller:
England swings like a pendulum do,
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two,
Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.
Now, if you huff and puff and you finally save enough
Money up to take your family on a trip across the sea,
Take a tip before you take your trip; let me tell you where to go,
Go to Engeland, Oh;
Mama's old pajamas and your papa's mustache,
Falling out the window sill, frolic in the grass,
Tryin' to mock the way they talk fun but all in vain,
Gaping at the dapper men with derby hats and canes
England swings like a pendulum do,
Bobbies on bicycles, two by two,
Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben,
The rosy red cheeks of the little children.
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