Thinking Allowed: Walking fast in the West End

Staying in inner city London seemed like a privilege I should not take for granted. Honestly at first London is a bit of a shock. It is full of noise and movement. Everyone is so incredibly fast and busy. It is an always overbooked running late trying to keep up kind of place. London changes fast and the residents all have to focus entirely on their next step to keep up. In Paris the locals sat in parks reading novels and chatting over their lunch breaks. In London locals grab uninspired grocery store sandwiches and eat while walking. Greatness always comes at a cost. And for all its faults and lack of humanness - London is great. There are more free museums and sights in London than a person could explore in a lifetime. There is history in every brick and scrap of river mud. There is a diversity in the streets and culture of London that is unlike I have seen anywhere else. What a novelty to be in a place where we speak the main language and are unremarkable in our differences.

Aside from a relaxed pace and inner peace, London has everything. As travelers our children often have to make certain social and life style sacrifices - London was a chance for them to pursue some harder to find hobbies. Tova got to take a few flying trapeze classes. These classes inspired rather than satiated her flying trapeze passion. Tova got to join tumbling classes that focused entirely on flips. There seems to be a definite flying propensity in her hobbies. Sophia and Tova joined the local gymnastics squad. And all of us got a one month climbing gym membership. We also took advantage of the West end performance offerings. Even Jakob got to see a Shakespeare play at the Globe as the standing area was the perfect fit for him.

We will be happy to move back to a slower pace of life and cost of living but it was a very lovely month in London.