To London…
If I’m being honest, I think you and me got off on the wrong foot- a long travel day, an absolute hostel disaster, and simply not enough time. To anyone who thinks you can pack the entire city of London into less than 48 hours… I’m unfortunately here to tell you that you’re wrong.
Weirdly enough, before arriving I thought it would be a breath of fresh air to be back in a place where I could read all of the signs and understand (mostly) everyone around me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been such a great period of cultural and personal growth moving to a country that speaks a completely different language, but there’s no denying the hurdle that it placed in everyday life.
Well, to my surprise, upon touching down in England, I felt an immediate sense of overstimulation. This was quite perplexing to me, but then it all made sense…
Prior to moving to Italy, I was informed of this “slower way of living” and there’s no doubt I’ve noticed bits and pieces of this lifestyle here and there, but that wasn’t fully it. In reflection, I realized that although I am currently learning Italian- on a general level, I can’t understand most of the conversations around me, let alone understand the signage. Subconsciously, I feel this has led to me tuning out a lot of the outside world audibly, and instead I beginning to simply just focus on my sense of sight. To observe with my eyes, rather than with ears.
Upon arrival in the UK, all senses were in full stimulation. Not to mention, I didn’t truly realize just how big you were, London… Needless to say, I was unprepared.
Overall however, you were an experience- and that’s exactly what life and travel is about. Despite the hardships, my short time spent in your city will always always bring a smile to my face and even a little spurt of laughter. You reminded me that nothing in this life is perfect, and that our own happiness can only truly be controlled by oneself. That everything really does happen for a reason.
It’s here that I learned to let go of expectations, as they only ever really seem to disappoint- and the beautiful things come when we aren’t looking for them…
And although life has let downs, they are there for a reason. Every bump in the road is projecting us to where we are supposed to ultimately end up- and London, you proved that point immensely.
Admittedly, most of the weekend was spent craving my return back to Florence, and for the first time, I really found myself calling it home. But as this usually goes in life, of course upon my arrival back to Italy- although comforting- to this day I still find myself thinking of you, London.
I look back and I laugh at the craziness and lessons thrown at us. And I want to give you another chance… to come back again some other time. To give myself the proper allotment of time to spend with you and all of your nooks and crannies.
So, until next time…
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Take care!!