London loves me

"Piccadilly Circus" painting by Linnea Pergola

Clear sky. Amazing night. See the moon for the first time over this city. Usually hidden behind the clouds. Nice flight, although sitting for 3,5 hours next to a stranger got me thinking: when was the last time I spent a whole 3,5 hours with a friend? Couldn’t remember. What are we doing with our lives? Heathrow airport. British eyes look at me, I look at them back. We are all tired. It’s late. A homemade cd in my discman (I’ll write about it in a separate post). Music is my companion. Train platform. Heathrow Express, the fastest trip to London. Everything passing quickly outside my window. Paddington station. I remember A. Polite taxi driver, we drive past favourite places. I am tempted to say: don’t stop, keep driving. People outside pubs drinking the last pints before everything shuts down. Expensive hotel. Glad someone else is paying. Miserable room. Shoot the decorator. I think about you every night when I brush my teeth. I feel lonely. How many people have slept on this mattress before myself? Insomnia. Tomorrow is only a step away. Silence inside and outside me. Favourite city is sleeping outside my window. I get some sleep at last, but it’s already time to wake up. No moaning today, it’s always nice to wake-up in London. Beautiful clouds. English breakfast. Kate Moss apologises in public while Pete Doherty spits TV journalist and sprays TV crew with beer. The winter fashion is Bohemian: browns and ruby reds, mauves and lilacs. Peacock feathers, long skirts, aerial cardigans and Oscar Wilde shirts. I have no money to spend :-( Gwen Stephany is on the radio non-stop and I think I like this song (Cool) or, most probably, I am brainwashed. Business meeting, nice people, cool building. The hub of music industry? Maybe. It starts to rain outside. Lunchbreak. I skip the chef's specialties and indulge in favourite british junk food: cucumber sandwiches, a ton of crisps and hoolah hoops, huge Cadbury chocolate bar. Chat with British colleagues. They are happy to see me again and so am I. We also have the familiar Friday feeling added to our enthusiasm. We go for drinks (although some of them are already drunk after lunchbreak). There is so much excitement and so many things to share that I almost miss my plane. I receive text message from Athens saying: hurry back, it’s raining here at last! But I don’t want to go. This place feels like home, again.