Confession time… I haven’t actually been writing these posts when their date-stamps would suggest. From the moment our feet hit the ground I’d intended to keep a steady blog of our trips and travels in the UK. Since then I’ve learned that the best-laid plans fare poorly under the weight of the London work-life balance.
I’m determined, however.
A blog has been in the back of my mind for a long time and moving to a new continent is a great opportunity to put proverbial pen to paper. While I’ll be playing catch-up with the now copious notes in my notebook, bear with me and I’ll eventually get this thing running at a reasonable clip.
I do have to say, I’m enamoured with this country and city so far. Even the smallest and most mundane things here are new to me, which makes distraction a constant state. Not only that, but nearly every step is steeped in an amount of history that can aptly be measured in ‘oodles’. I walked by 13 oodles worth on my way to work today alone. I’m certainly not lacking things to write about.
Did you know that dozens of plague pits were peppered throughout London? Many of which were never excavated. One existed not 5 minutes from where my office currently stands? Fun fact: many of these pits are so dense with remains that excavation is next to impossible.
Charles Dickens used to live a stones throw away…
During The Blitz, nearly 30,000 bombs were dropped within the city limits? Seriously, check this site out if you’re at all curious. While the borough we’ve ended up living in wasn’t a prime target, several explosives landed in a park shockingly close to our flat. In fact, unexploded ordinance is being uncovered to this day.
Dipping even further back, you can view remnants of bomb damage from WWI along the facade of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Atlas Obscura is a fun rabbit hole to jump down if you’re curious about hidden sights and finds in your travels. While I wouldn’t recommend a number of the entries as ‘destinations’, all are at least worth a look if you’re in the neighbourhood. I’ll often crack the app open while walking around just to see what’s located nearby.
Peter Pan, Enigma machines, The Golden Hind, and numerous sights that are kept tantalizingly out of reach.
…..
Everything above accurately illustrates the difficulties of writing on any sort of schedule. When we haven’t been working we’ve been settling in, when we haven’t been doing either, we’ve been sight-seeing. Somehow, in the midst of that, sleep has happened, albeit often in very short supply.
The adventure so far has been just that, and it’s only just beginning. If you’re enjoying reading this blog so far, I encourage you to sit tight, as more is certainly on the way.