Greetings from York!
My time in London came to a close on Saturday, and if the lack of entries didn’t give it away, I have to say I was growing tired of being there. It was never my plan to stay in London for 12 days, and I was quite glad to board the train to leave.
In the end it worked out okay because my original travel plans took me to the southern coast of the country so I could end up in Southampton to watch a former student-athlete that I covered play there, but that game was canceled because of a cup game his team was playing at their home gym. With the rail strikes going on, it would have been difficult to get to Brighton and then on to Southampton anyways.
I hated having to cancel my stays in Brighton (my Southampton hotel was, alas, non-refundable), and it was interesting communicating with the hotelier there and hearing his perspective on the industrial action. As one might imagine, the hospitality folks aren’t necessarily thrilled when the transportation folks aren’t working, and so I really appreciated that he refunded to me what he could when I would have completely understood if he hadn’t.
But let’s back up to the final days in London. First off, let’s broach the subject of food.
Most of you that I heard from were aghast that I went to PF Chang’s. And I get it.
What then is your reaction to my going to the same Mexican restaurant three times?
Look, I am no exaggerating when I tell you that Wahaca is absolutely, positively, without a doubt the best Mexican food I have ever eaten. Period. Full stop. I’m not claiming it’s the best Mexican food ever because I haven’t eaten all the Mexican food ever, but oh my goodness gracious it was amazing. I had the best server the first time I went, and she had to stop herself about halfway through the menu from making any further recommendations. I have no doubt she could have continued.
My favorite thing I had was a sweet potato bravas, and I could bathe in the jalapeño aioli they drizzle it in while using a drinking straw to suck up the smoky hibiscus dip that accompanies it. Two of the most delightfully tasting things I’ve ever had.
Anyways.
I visited the Natural History Museum early in the week, and apparently I was museumed out because I was over it in about 30 minutes. It would be a fantastic place to take young children, but I didn’t enjoy it. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have been great if it had been the first place I went to. I just didn’t care for it on this day.
I tell you a place I did care for was Westminster Abbey. It is absolutely on the Cannot Miss list. The combination of historical and spiritual significance weighed heavy — not in a burdensome way — as you toured the grounds. Though it was one of the “smaller” places I went to, I would return numerous times because there was simply no way to fully appreciate the ornate grandeur that accompanied your every step in one visit.
And while yes, I did seem like I was complaining about my extended time in London, I am viewing that negative — loosely used there, of course — as a positive since it will help me in planning as I go deeper into this journey. Instead of spending so much time in the bigger places, maybe I’ll spend just a night or two and then find a smaller place outside of town to use a home base. If there’s something I missed, I can always go for a day trip or something.
While yes, I want to see the sights, my travels’ primary focus is to experience other places.
That finally started for me when I boarded the train to Hemel Hempstead to watch Seth Swalve’s basketball team play.
It was a national cup semifinal game, and the gym was sold out and loud and raucous. A bunch of locals crammed into this tight space cheering on their basketball team reminded me exactly why I love sport so much. It felt so pure, and it also showed me a tangential reminder that sport transcends across all of humanity.
I have been given so many reminders of this, that so much of life isn’t actually unique at all. We have so many common experiences that cut across cultural lines and whatever other lines we’ve artificially created to differentiate ourselves. This should be so obvious, yet it is still striking to me, even when here in the UK where it just really isn’t all the different from the US, right?
I wish everyone could open their eyes — and their hearts — and see that we’re all on this planet together. All striving for the same things, and just because we go about accomplishing life in different ways, no one subsection of folks is better or worse than the other.
I greatly enjoyed getting to hang out with Seth, and I had to text Coach Lennie Acuff while on the train leaving town the next day to tell him how much I appreciated that what he built at UAH was so much more than a successful program but rather it was and indeed remains a family. I picked up so many younger brothers through his teams, and I’m glad to count Seth among those.
From Hemel Hempstead I swung back to London to head north to York and arrived here yesterday.
I am already in love.
Yes, it’s a touristy area, but it’s so much smaller than London. I’ll have more to say later, but I know that I am going to wish my stay here was longer.
Rails to Ride 