I have always lived inside the confined lines of the United States. Always traveling within the borders of each state, never crossing either ocean and never exploring anything new. There is something safe about remaining in the U.S. that cannot be said for traveling abroad or maybe it is all in my head. As of a week ago, I traveled "across the pond" so to speak, and discovered a whole new world that has forever changed me.
London was completely worth all the headaches and all the stress of planning the trip. As soon as I saw the city I knew my life had been changed. For so long I had desired to see the world outside of the U.S. and for so long I was too afraid to actually go for it; until I finally faced my fear and ended up in London, a city I now adore.
The city itself is amazing. It encompasses villages built around churches that have been there for hundreds of years. There are skyscrapers and streets filled with apartments that housed literary geniuses such as Melville, Dickens, and so forth. The entire city is standing on top of mounds of history that span farther than the few hundred years the U.S. has been around. Thousands of years settled beneath the streets I roamed.
Looking at the outside of a building such as the famous Westminster Abbey are statues within the structure of people like Martin Luther, there are stain glass windows that the sun illuminates when it peaks out of the clouds, and there is an overwhelming awe that comes over as you gaze upon its historical beauty. Still a fully functioning, open to the public, church; Westminster Abbey is also the place where Kings and Queens are buried and there is an entire section called Poet's Corner, which is where literary icons, Charles Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, Tennyson, Eliot, and the first poet to be buried within the walls of the Abbey, Chaucer. Those names only skim the surface of the historical figures that lay within the Abbey walls. As you scan the tombs and listen to the audio recording you are struck by the historical figures you are hearing about just as much as you are in struck by the marble tombs that are so artfully crafted. Each tomb telling a story, each person having made an imprint on history, and all persons standing engaged in the historical knowledge they are being filled with.
Almost all the buildings in London are similar to the Abbey, the outside is just as much of a reflection of the inside. There are stories, myths, and legends residing in the walls of the amazing city and even on the streets. You can tour the home of Charles Dickens, see the hospital that inspired him to write Oliver Twist, or walk through home of Sherlock Holmes. Even simply walking through the streets you stumble upon homes occupied by some of the world's most famous persons, for instance, Herman Melville.
A simple drive through the city will allow you to glance upon the street that gave us Mary Poppins, or maybe land you at the Florence Nightingale Museum, and so much more. The options are endless in a city like London, just walk the streets and I assure you there will be some form of history you stumble upon, or a museum to visit, or a bus tour that will navigate you through the city.
One week was definitely not enough time to enjoy the entirety of such as city as London; however, it was enough to stir up some wanderlust and have me craving to go back for more.
