We met a British man on the street tonight who is retired and walks around downtown with the purpose of being useful. He freely helped us find a gelato place, including walking with us and chatting the whole way. He really did just want to be friendly and welcome us to his city. When he found out we were American, he said he hoped we realized how lucky we are. True words.
I am lucky. Meredith and I have the means and the freedom to travel, and we both enjoy it. Most relevantly, we both have the health to travel. One of our good friends who was supposed to join us on this trip could not make it because of health reasons, and I almost was in the same metaphorical sickbed.
On Thursday, I started having an occasional dry cough and my eyes were stinging, which I wrote off to being tired. That continued on Friday, and I did not think about it much. I began to get worried on the walk home – I got so cold my teeth started chattering; it was cold, but not teeth-chattering cold (it was about thirty degrees). I could not get warm at home unless I was in bed under a ton of blankets. That kept getting worse, and I went to bed around 8:00 in hopes of getting well overnight. We were supposed to leave for the airport and then to London at 10:00 am, so I was not optimistic. Everything pointed to the flu, and that usually lasts at least a full day. By the time I got into bed, even the act of rolling over caused pain in my sore muscles, and I was cold if anything other than my head stuck out of the blankets. I warned Meredith that I would have to play London by ear, and maybe I could pay the change-ticket fee and join her later in the week.
My hopes were not raised when I woke up at 1:00 am and struggled to get out of bed and got to the refrigerator to get a Gatorade in an attempt to stay hydrated. By 3:00, I got up and took an Advil, hoping it would lower the fever I now had and the sore back that was keeping me from sleeping. London was dimming in a haze of flu symptoms.
When the alarm went off at 7:30 am, I was surprised at how much better I felt. I was clearly not one hundred percent, but I could move without pain and did not feel feverish. I proceeded to get ready for our trip, and I kept feeling better a little at a time. So, in the end, I made it to Toronto and on to London with Meredith and three other friends – Meredith N., Shelby, and Brianna. I do not know if I was healed by God having mercy on me or not – I know several people were praying for me, but many of us have been praying for other people who are seriously sick at school, and it is hard to see why a flu would be healed when other illnesses linger for people. I do know one thing, reinforced by our new British friend – I am lucky, and I need to be thankful. I am thankful to be with Meredith and we are both healthy enough to rack up eleven miles of walking on our first (partial) day of touring in London. Thank you, Lord.
The trip here was uneventful, and I was actually tired enough to get about three hours of fitful on-and-off sleep on the plane. Meredith, of course, just graded the whole flight. We got to our Air BnB in the middle-of-everything London (just a few blocks from Parliament and Trafalgar Square) around noon, but we could not check in before 3:00. We were able to drop our bags, and we headed back out, walking up to Covent Garden to the enclosed market there. While we were scoping out eating options, we were offered a free tasting of hot chocolate (which made my day) and got to listen to a lively string sextet (including a cellist who held her cello neck between her shoulder and neck). That was delightful. We then split up, as Meredith and I wanted to go get a picture of Meredith in front of St. Paul’s church (not cathedral), where My Fair Lady/Pygmalion is set, and then we planned on going on to Chinatown for lunch. The others wanted to stay in the area and do some shopping and sightseeing.
When we got to the church (a walk of about three hundred feet), there was a street entertainer there balancing on a round can and leading up to juggling knives. We stayed to watch, especially since he was right in front of the church. He was fun to watch and had good crowd engagement. We then got the picture of Meredith and walked up to Chinatown, which brought us through really lively and busy streets. It was a nice day, and Londoners seemed to be enjoying it. Unfortunately, the restaurant for which we were aiming was small, with only about a dozen tables, and all of them were full. We ended up going to the French bakery chain Paul, which was fine for our jet-lagged bodies.
Mer then walked us over to the bridge in front of Parliament, and we walked the area following a recommended walk from Mer’s Rick Steves guide book. We only got about halfway through it before seeing it was time to check in at the apartment, so we headed back. We bumped into the other three coming from the apartment, and they said the cleaners needed thirty more minutes. That was unfortunate, but we went to a park and ate some cookies that Meredith N. (“Neuf”) offered us. The others walked to the Thames while we ate, and then I wanted to see the pedestrian bridge across the river that followed the train line into Charing Cross train station. We ran into the others there. By then, we were able to head back and get into the apartment for a nap.
Or so I thought. Neuf and Shelby went back out for an English tea back at Covent Garden. They said it was wonderful. Meredith and I and Brianna all enjoyed a two-hour nap, and then I felt better after a shower.
The evening was mellow – we finished the Parliament-area walk and had supper in a pub along the way. The walk ended in Trafalgar Square, and while we were looking in our guidebook, our very nice British man introduced himself, ending our evening with kindness and gelato.
I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep to see if I can continue to feel better, but even if I feel a little worse, I would be sick in London, and that would still be something for which to be grateful.