Dear London Town

Dear London Town,

I fell in love with you when I was 13. My passport got its first stamp at Heathrow and I got my first taste of jet lag. My sister was studying at Regents College at the time. It was spring break and I was excited about staying in her dorm room and visiting the sights of London.

I had the quintessential tourist experience. I ate fish & chips, fed the birds at Trafalgar Square, took photos in a phone booth and rode a double-decker bus. We wandered through parks and toured Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben, the Tower of London, and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We visited Covent Garden, the West End theatre district, and strolled along the Thames.

Today, those sights still hold a certain intrigue, though years later the skyline has changed with new buildings designed with modern architecture. I’ve declared since that first visit that some day I would come back here to live. I have wanted time to fully explore this city and all it could possibly offer someone who loves the idea of royal families and Jane Austen, but also finds herself a bit gaga over Burberry and Alexander McQueen. Yes, London, your crazy mixture of stiff upper lip and the avant-garde means that each day will be a new adventure.

I hope that I continue to fall in love with you. And I hope that you’ll love me back.

xx