For the past 6 months we’ve been functioning primarily in French & Spanish while trying to decipher Turkish and Arabic. Does that sign say Open or Closed, Push or Pull?  Is this baking powder or baking soda? Is the yoga teacher telling us to lock our knees or clench our bums?

It’s been exciting to decode different cultures through their idioms, cuisine, and driving patterns (do I look left or right when crossing the street?), but arriving back in jolly old England is a mental vacation. With the exception of a few drunk chaps in the pub (“There’s no bloody food here on weekends!” and clearly they’ve had none to mitigate their liquid intake), I fluently interact with every shopkeeper and friendly directions-giver. I understand not only the words in the menu but what the food will taste like (bring on the sticky toffee pudding!) Pretty sure that toilet paper goes in the toilet, not the garbage can (whoops, the “dust bin”, they still don’t speak quite normal English in England…) The constant extra brain layer of Working to Communicate/Understand can be turned off for a while, and in its absence I feel the afterbuzz of the constant energy it takes.

On cerebral cruise control, we take in the delights of old London town. A friend from our cold-water swim group in Schull, Ireland takes us for a living history walk past 10 Downing Street (part of me expects to see Hugh Grant living there - we rewatched “Love Actually” for Christmas - Prime Minister Hugh wouldn’t be afraid to give a fiery defiant speech against Trump and Musk…), Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc. We attend a Quaker Meeting where Mahatma Gandhi gave his first public London speech. Eat fish & chips wrapped in newsprint. Watch a fantastic production of Oliver! in the West End theatre district. Ride in the underground to Piccadilly Circus, and up-top of a double-decker bus across the River Thames.

Three days in London is the perfect length to enjoy the familiarity, marvel at the expanse of opportunity (theatre, events, shopping, sights…) and multi-culturalism, indulge in an actual slumber party with dear old college friends, and enjoy rather than be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people and buildings and sounds. For three days I’m cruising one of the greatest cities in the world, simply appreciating and enjoying - easy.