Well I’ve lost no time since finishing my job. The Sunday after I became officially unemployed I headed off to London to see my old roommate, Luke. He’s from England and we lived together in Chile. Now he lives in an apartment with his girlfriend in the city so I had the perfect place to stay during my first ever visit to the land of our forefathers. It was amazing to see him after so many years; as if not a day had passed! And his polola (oh, how I miss Chilean Spanish!), Greta, is lovely! Definitely heard a lot about her, so it was great to put a face to the name. And it was great to finally make it to England. Whenever I would tell my Spanish friends I’d never been there, they were always shocked (Spaniards love the British Isles, and vice-versa). So right before I left I started joking, “well, I’ve been teaching their language for the last two years, so I guess it’s about time I made it over there.
And it was well worth the wait! I love London!!! It was two full days of sight-seeing well spent. I saw all the major attractions… Buckingham Palace + changing of the guard, Piccadilly Circus (love it!!!), Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and my favorite, Westminster Abbey. I caved on David’s and my family policy of never paying to enter a church (it just seems wrong!) because after seeing sooooooo many Catholic churches it was nice to see something from my Anglican peeps. And the tour was amazing. I spent like two hours wandering around with that little audio guide. What can I say? Nerd at heart.
Another highlight of my trip was going out for real Indian cuisine. God, I miss ethnic food! We went to the swanky Hampstead borough (so cute! If I were a billionaire I would buy a place there) for an authentic curry and to explore Hampstead Heath, an ancient park in London. I had never heard of “the Heath” (as a matter fact I didn’t even know what heath meant) so it didn’t really register when Luke told me we would head over there on my last night. And then later on I misunderstood Greta’s accent and thought she said the place was called “Hamster Teeth.” Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever live that one down.
After a wonderful time with Luke and Greta I flew back to V-G only to turn around and
catch a train to Asturias. When I bid Marta’s family adieu after my parents’ visit, her mom made me promise to come back and visit one more time before leaving Spain. So, true to my word, I hopped on the Alvia en route to Pola de Lena for one last visit with my Spanish familia. Marta took me to my beloved Gijón to go out and spend some time on the beach, and also to see the rest of her family. I was sad when I said goodbye to everyone, but it’s nice to know it wasn't adios forever; I have a real family there.
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