Street Where the Riches of Ages Are Stowed...

Portobello Road! Portobello Road! It looks slightly different from what Bedknobs and Broomsticks told me, but it certainly did hold the riches of ages.

My friend Rachael and I headed out to Portobello Road market today, knowing that the streets would be closed to traffic, all kinds of things would be out in booths for sale, and because we knew that there would be so much FOOD.

We walked through the whole market, which, with crowds, took several hours. I came out of the market with some of the most delicious fresh cheese and perfect fresh fruit I've ever tasted.

Have you ever seen such perfect strawberries?

Rachael and I got a couple of fresh pies, headed back to the dorm to drop off some of our purchases, grabbed two fresh lattes, and had a picnic in Regent's Park, right by our dorms. It was a perfect, restful day, even with all the crowd-navigating. 

A Dickensian View

MOVING DAY! I bolted from my AirBnB this morning, only to find the host was at the same bus stop as me. She was sweet as pie, but I had gotten almost no sleep and I'd had no privacy for a week. I would have moved to a hostel at that point.

I was early, and I got in before most of the other students. I have never been so excited to move into an 8x12 (maybe?) room in my life, but I shot up that elevator and unpacked my suitcase like a stocking on Christmas morning. My suitcase fit neatly under the bed, and I rejoiced at the speedy wifi. A week without decent internet is tough, y'all.

NETFLIX HAS DIFFERENT SHOWS HERE! Great British Bake-Off series 1-2, here I come.

Did I mention I have this sweet view? And, we live right by Baker Street station and Regent's Park. It's a great spot.

Happy Returns

There's nothing like a new journey, particularly when home base is 90+ degrees with nothing but blazing sun and fried chicken and careless driving in sight.

I visited England in 2016, while I was living in Ankara, Turkey. Before that trip, I was nervous about being in a place where everyone spoke English: I'd been surrounded by languages I only partially understood for nearly 7 years, and my brief trips to the US left me mentally exhausted, overcome by the flood of information exchange in an atmosphere of spoken English. Even so, I was beyond excited to go to London and see where some of my favorite authors had spent their time. Money was not an (overly-huge) issue, and I went to all the sights I could, took trips to Brighton and Portsmouth, and filled a suitcase with books.

It was hard to go back to Turkey after that.

This time, with a grad student's budget and a tight schedule, I'm in England for a month on a Library and Information Sciences course. Technically, I'm here for five weeks: I came a week early to get in some sight-seeing and adjust to inevitable jet lag. Travel is difficult for me now, with a house and two cats, part-time jobs, school work, and just being in the sprawling, travel-hard regions of America. I tacked on an extra week knowing that I wouldn't get the opportunity to travel internationally again for a while, and knowing that even a month in London just isn't enough.

While I'm here, I'll visit at least a dozen museums, archives, and libraries. I'll also try to get in a night at the musical, Matilda. I'll even head to the Roald Dahl museum to see what his life was like in England. Hence, my blog title: I've named it for the little girl who loved the library, who loved learning, and who, about a year ago, saw her 30th birthday. Matilda, my travel muse.

Today is "day one" (though it's more like "tail end of yesterday but somehow the sun never set end of a day that is maybe today and possibly tomorrow somewhere else?"), and I managed to eat a very British (cheese and onion) sandwich for dinner. Oh, and see this beautiful park (Battersea) before heading to bed at 6 pm. Many happy returns!