Day 4 - Goodbye Iceland and 'Ello London

So I'm chilling at the airport waiting to head to London. Iceland has been spectacular and I already know I must return for an extended period of time at some point in my life. While I was driving around with the windows down often blaring music per usual, I decided to listen to the local pop radio station cuz it came in clear and I never did manage to find the classic rock station. What I have learned is that the fact that our radio stations don't play the hits from all over means we're missing out on some bangers, that Iceland loves Ed Sheeran, Old Town Road is killin it abroad as well, and the one gift America has seemingly given is phrases, I heard thank God it's Friday this morning, damn straight, and shit mixed in with the Icelandic lol.

Excited for London and this next leg of the trip! Overall Iceland reminded me of the Pacific Northwest but just on a grander scale. Things are very spread out though, however once you're in Reykjavik they have a pretty decent public bus system and there were trails and bikers everywhere. The place was so clean though and the air felt amazing in my lungs.

Welp I passed out on the flight and the rest of the day was a damn whirlwind and we've got an hour to wait in line until Windsor Castle opens, so I'll try to get through yesterday. The Airbnb I'm staying in has a piano, I usually can't help myself when I see one, I have to touch it, and oftentimes end up playing heart and soul, a song my mother taught me when I was a kid and it always makes me think of her, but now there's a memory of someone else attached to that song that I hadn't realized. All of a sudden a wave of sadness came over me because it's someone I've lost and not necessarily because I wanted to, even if perhaps it's for the best. Grief is funny that way, popping up even in the midst of an amazing adventure like this. I recently relayed to a friend this analogy of grief I really like. It's this idea that you're in a square room and your grief is this giant red balloon that pretty much takes up the entire room. When the loss first happens, you can't escape it and you can't really get a handle on it. But eventually it starts to lose a little air over time, and soon you can get your arms around it, maybe even manage to find the tie and suck a little more air out of it. Eventually it's small enough it bounces around the room without touching you and then without notice it fucking does. I don't think the pain of loss ever really goes away, it just stops being so encompassing, and even when you get triggered, it does not negate all the progress you've made because that balloon is still SO much smaller. I think what I've been internalizing lately is that how other people feel about you is actually none of your business. It's everyone's individual perogative to make sure the people important to them, know that they are, and if someone is ok with you wondering, well then you're not that important and it's on you whether you want to accept that kind of limbo. I can't control other people's actions, just my own, and my own reactions, and I feel pretty confident that if I care about you, you know it, no questions asked.

So I don't typically plan activities for travel days, being in an airport is enough lol. But I had no desire to wallow and it was only 5:30 so off I went and I'm so glad I did. I managed to do quite a lot. Seeing all the really old architecture with all this history attached mixed in with newer development was a very cool experience. To be honest there were so many important looking buildings and I had no idea what I was looking at or why it was important for the most part but I was in awe nonetheless. Overall though the area I walked around reminded me of all the redevelopment along the Schuylkill. All these areas that once supported industry, then became vacant, and now reimagined. They're doing the same thing here, but lord knows all this investment in the waterfronts is gonna be a waste if the eventual flooding issues weren't taken into account...

First view of London

This is the courtyard of the building I'm staying in located in St. George Wharf. It was right at the Vauxhall tube, super convenient that I was able to take the underground all the way from the airport. I had to take the Piccadilly line towards Cockfosters. Yes I laughed the first twenty times the recorded voice said it. I thought it'd get old, but I'm apparently supremely immature lol.

 View of the Thames

Walked across the Vauxhall bridge and looked back at the complex I'm staying in, it's the Emerald City looking place on the left.

 I decided to walk along the Thames Path

 I ended up in Victoria Tower Gardens

 Westminster Abby

This is Emmeline Pankhurst and she was a real badass.

The Jubilee Greenway is a 60km path built in honor of the Queen's jubilee. It's quite lovely, at least the sections I walked.

Series of fancy buildings that are definitely important but not enough for me to know...lol

So many beautiful details throughout the city, everything was just so ornate. This was outside what looked like just a typical residence.

 I saw this on the map, Royal Opera House and totally thought it'd be an ornate theater. I felt duped, but the area this is was very cool, Covent Garden.

View from the Thames Path towards the London Eye

First real view of Big Ben which is still under construction after two years and has an estimated two years left to go.

 Jubilee Gardens, this area was super fun and lively with street performers and everyone just enjoying the weather.

 So I decided to go on the London Eye, however there was a stupid long line and I wasn't feeling that. There was a VIP champagne option for an additional 14£ and I decided what the hell. This was the entrance the private lounge I waited in to be called for my ride.

 View of Big Ben from the lounge enjoying a local cyder.

The views from the London Eye were spectacular. While on the ride the tour guide shared that the Eye was initially meant to be a 5 year attraction but that it made so much money they kept it. My eyes must have gotten wide at the idea of a structure designed for five years going on its 19th year because she then said to me on the side that they close it down for two weeks every January to perform serious maintenance and that it is perfectly structurally sound.

So after my ride turns out a friend from grad school who currently lives in London was out at a pub not too far away, so I took the tube towards her but was without internet...so meeting up became a saga. On my way though I was admiring this cool underlighting when out of no where a crazy bike parade descended upon me.

 I regretfully did not snag a photo with my classmate...but I eventually found her and her collegue and just barely got a food order in for a fish pie. It was salmon inside a pie of mashed potatoes. It was actually amazing. We then all went to meet up with the colleague's studio partners at a bar that just ooozed college. I immediately felt old but honestly seriously enjoyed the DJ's playlist. It was literally Snoop, Fifty Cent, Destiny's Child, Flo Rida, and Nelly amongst others all from my end of high school early college life and people loved it.

On the way home I walked past the Shard, the tallest building in Europe.

And this is me at the end of the night, clearly I had no idea I'd end up at a bar dancing.

I'd say day one of London was rather successful.