Birthday in London

Today was a different sort of birthday. On this day, I turned 24 (ancient!), and it was the first time I’ve ever had my b-day away from my friends and family. Normally, today I would be receiving tons of phone calls and going out in the evening for dinner with my family; furthermore, I would be planning my party for the following weekend. Halloween would be in full swing just about everywhere (it’s practically non-existent in the UK), and I would plan my party accordingly – on Saturday Megan might have been over already from the night before, and we would be putting the decorations up. It could have been themed (last year was ghostly pirates; two years ago, it was Nightmare Before Christmas; this year might have been the 20s, with some kind of Halloween twist), or more general, with a sort of black streamers and cobwebs sort of look. The cake would already be in the fridge (either chocolate or glazed fruit & custard), and all the snacks would have been ready in the kitchen, with fruit and cheese Danishes for the morning following. The details of the party itself would vary, but as per tradition, at some point we’d be having cookie dough and watching movies into the wee hours.

Sadly, there shall be no cookie dough this year. Even if I wanted to (how sad would eating cookie dough alone be?), it would be “biscuit” dough… and that certainly doesn’t sound as appetizing. I don’t know what I’ll be doing this weekend, anyway.

But enough of being hypothetical and sad… Let me tell you about today.

It took some doing to get myself out of bed and into the world this morning. I had one of those “where am I?” sort of moments that follows deep sleep and a long, vivid dream (I forgot it instantly). Abby was the first to wish me a happy birthday when she brought me tea at 8 this morning (usually she or Gill does, every morning). I lay in bed for about an hour more, letting the chimes of bird calls, the “Unbirthday” song, and “London Calling” pass me by as each of my mobile phone alarms went off. At about 8:40, I’d realized I’d have to wait for the 12:17 bus if I missed the 10:17, so I quickly took a shower, dressed, and left the worries of hair and makeup for later. Gill left me a quick breakfast of cereal and a croissant on the counter, and with it a white envelope with my name on it. I ate quickly and jogged out the door, opening the envelope on the bus a little later – it was a very lovely birthday card with poppies on the cover, signed from everyone in the family. (Aww!!)

Once on the train, I actually had no idea where in London I wanted to go. For the past three weeks, I’ve always at least had an idea where I’m off to; there’s always some errand to accomplish. Anything else has been incidental. Today, however, I therefore decided to get off at St. Pancras (instead of Farringdon, from which I go to BUNAC usually) and from there head to Hyde Park. I had a few hours to spend; I wouldn’t be meeting Nicole and Katie till 3.

It was odd setting off on my own, still thinking of my birthday and how different this one would be. It didn’t feel particularly birthday-ish, and it was easy to feel a little sorry for myself (I wanted to call Kim & Megan so badly!). When I entered Hyde Park, even though I consulted the map at its entrance, I had barely the faintest idea of how huge it all was. I just picked a trail and went with it.

I’ll spare you the details of everything in Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens, but I will say that what I encountered reminded me of why I chose London. It’s easy to fall under the spell of familiarity, having been here for a little while, but there are certain things that are so strikingly awesome that I’m inclined to either pinch myself to be sure I’m awake or just stand transfixed, taking it all in and willing the scene to stay with me forever. There is nothing like seeing an amazing place for the first time, and today will stay with me for a long time. Once I got past The Serpentine and entered Kensington Gardens, I was convinced this was London’s birthday gift to me. It was like jumping into one of Burt’s chalk murals in Mary Poppins, only infinitely more expansive. It was one massive painting, full of Italian fountains, statues, memorials, and gorgeous landscapes; the old-world ideal of Man’s taming nature into a Victorian Eden. To see one highlight after another was a surprise, and I’ve still got plenty to discover yet. (By the way, I must say of the Albert Memorial: OH, MY. I knew Queen Victoria was in deep mourning for some time, but I didn’t quite expect to encounter such a huge and expensive tribute!)

(*YAWN!* Wow, is it already 2:15 AM?!)

To describe the rest of my day would be mostly a retelling of a series of conversations, which of course I’ll avoid here; I can, however, describe the venues…

I met Nicole & Katie at the Kensington High St. tube station, and from there led them to the Orangery. Neither of them had ever had an English afternoon tea, and from my previous experience there with my mom & Kathy last spring, it was the perfect place for it. Curiously, though, neither of them had tea; both had chardonnay and desserts (shortbread & scones/clotted cream, to be precise). I had one of the full tea settings – champagne, tea, scones, salmon sandwiches, and chocolate cake with heavy cream on the side. We probably spent like an hour and a half there, just chatting and enjoying the atmosphere.

That was as much as I’d planned, so after that I pretty much followed their lead… Katie had already planned to go to a lecture on the politics of climate change at the London Economic College (I think that’s its name) in Holburn, and Nicole and I went along with her. Andrew met us there.

The lecture was by Professor Lord (!) something-rather-Giddens, and he was enjoyable to listen to, even though the subject matter caused my attention to drift occasionally. Apparently he’d advised Tony Blair & Bill Clinton on the topic in the past, so that added an extra dimension to the experience. And apparently that particular college is famous among economic students… Not being one, I hadn’t a clue, but Nicole & Andrew assured me that it was kind of amazing just to have experienced a lecture there. Ah.

After the lecture, we sort of arbitrarily chose a direction and walked until we spotted an interesting-looking pub. On this occasion, it was The George on Aldwych. According to a golden plaque, it was built in 17-something and a famous con man that liked impersonating vicars rented a room upstairs in the 1800s. We each got a pint, and from there talked until almost 11, when Katie started to worry about having to be up at 5 the next morning. Even after that, when all but Katie were at Kings Cross, it took a while before we finally split for the evening; the parting of the ways seemed to cause more conversations than actual parting.

With 20 minutes left of my birthday, I finally got on a train to St. Albans. From there, I took a taxi. Back at the house, it took me about 40 minutes to get into the house… My back door key wasn’t working, and it took a long time before Gill heard the doorbell and let me in. (I was getting worried I might have to stay up all night, outside! My taxi was gone and there was no other way back!) Tired and relieved to be inside, I was pleasantly surprised to find a silver present with a card on my bed! All the frustration and anxiety of ringing the doorbell for almost an hour melted away. I unwrapped it; it was a book – The Most Amazing Places to Visit In Britain – and there was a note inside, dated and signed from the whole family. I’m still gushing over it, even though I feel like a complete zombie right now. (How I’ll ever manage to wake up tomorrow morning will be something of a superhuman feat!)

Well, hopefully tomorrow will be very productive. I have to leave this house before the weekend, as Gill’s 80 year-old father will be needing the guest room, and it’d be very nice to have my own place, of course. Otherwise, I’ll be staying at a hostel, which can’t be all that pleasant; also, I’d have to carry a lot more with me all the time – Nicole has already had her laptop stolen from her this week. Alternatively, I hope Katie’s hosts will allow me to stay with them. She’s told me they have a spare bed; she’ll be asking them tomorrow.