The Last Day 7/27

I spent my last day in London doing some last minute shopping. Thanks to some Tube closures, I ended up walking through parts of the city I hadn’t seen before. I accidentally ended up on a street that was entirely made up of used and antique book stores. I browsed a children’s bookstore and saw some really cool old editions of classic children’s books. Everything was way out of my price range, though. I went in another store that only carried first editions and signed copies of books. I was looking for a signed copy of Harry Potter, but considering that a signed copy of a random YA book was £75.00, there was no way I would be able to afford one.

On my way home, I kind of thought that the Tube closures was the City’s way of testing me to prove that I’d learned enough about London’s public transportation to navigate even when thrown a curveball.

That afternoon I had to pack. I feel like I doubled the amount of stuff I had through souvenir shopping, and 90% of those souvenirs were breakable. I had to completely start over three times before I managed to get everything safely and securely packed. Packing all that bubblewrap did have the bonus of keeping the weight of my suitcase down, and I overloaded my carry-on until my suitcase weighed less heading back the states than it did leaving them.

We had planned on one last group trip down to the Thames for chips and cider, but with the heatwave broken, real London weather caught up with us, and it was pouring out. Instead, we went out for dinner, and then splashed our way back to the dorm. After weeks of hearing many of us mention Doctor Who constantly, Liz finally decided to give the show a chance. So it was that on the last night, a few of us crowded around a laptop in our flat kitchen and watched Doctor Who on Netflix. Occasionally, someone else from our dorm would wander past and end up joining us.

At one point, Alison and I ventured out for snacks from the vending machine, and found the change return full of money. Apparently, returning students no longer saw any value in their British currency, so snacks were on those guys. The next morning, we also found a pile of change in the courtyard. Knowing that money is money, several of us gathered it up to spend at the airport or donate to the UNICEF bag on the airplane.

Watching Doctor Who in that kitchen and listening to it rain with my classmates was a lovely end to our stay in London. I’m so glad that Facebook and email will allow me to stay in contact with these fantastic women with whom I’ve become good friends over the last few weeks.