London, Day 2: The Tourist Part

After 10 glorious hours of uninterrupted, deep sleep, I took my time preparing for my day. I was meeting an author friend for lunch at 12:30 at the steps of the National Gallery ( just behind Trafalgar Square, a 5 minute walk from my hotel), so rather than heading out into London to explore first thing (I didn’t want to be on my feet all day), I hung out in my room reviewing the details for race morning and planning my afternoon.  I have been assigned to the red start, corral 5 (my bib conveniently matches my running gloves). Like the New York City Marathon, the first miles of the course are divided so as to avoid congestion. The elites will be running the blue start; alas, I will not be able to follow in Deena’s footsteps each exact mile, just for the last 21. I figure I’ll have to get up around 6:30 to eat and get ready, the race starts at 9:45 for us regular runners (9 AM for the elites; that’s 4 AM for those of you on the East Coast of the USA who are thinking about watching the race streaming on UniversalSports.com). 

Lunch with my author was a delight. She walked me through the neighborhood just northwest of the National Gallery, the Covent Garden area and then up towards Holborn. Along the way there were these fantastic little side streets full of posh shops, I could have wandered down every one of them! We strolled around Lincoln’s Inn Fields, which is a big green lawn which was originally put there for the barristers who leased chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Hall. Can you imagine–oh, you’re a lawyer so we’ll just reserve this massive green area for you in the middle of the city? Then we had this fun sushi lunch and sat at the bar, where you pulled what you wanted to eat off a little conveyor belt that snaked round and round.  After lunch I hopped on the Central Underground line at Holborn and headed up towards the neighborhood just south of Regent’s Park, as I wanted to check out the shops just south of Regent’s Park, including Daunt Bookshop. I spent a couple of lovely hours strolling around in the sunshine, and felt so at home in Daunt’s. My professional instincts kicked in and I snapped photos of favorite book jackets and even of a clever display to show the sales team when I get home. 

>Looking north up St Christopher Street

From there I made my way down Marylebone High Street and over to St. Christopher Street, towards Oxford Street. I came across some absolutely adorable dresses at Whistles, which I could never wear seeing as they are cut for women who don’t need much in the way of support up top, shall we say. Oh, but they had these sexy zippers that went all the way from neck to hem! Me: covetous. Pub life is so curious to me, as well. I love how, right in the middle of the day, there are folks in suit & tie, standing on the sidewalk outside the local pub, sipping a pint, smoking a fag (ooh adopting the local terminology!) and basking in the sun. It would be nice if I could join them; maybe I will on Monday!

Entrance off Oxford St. to St Christopher St.

St. Christopher Street is a remarkable little alley, really, closed to auto traffic (cars couldn’t fit down it, it’s so narrow). There’s an entry off Oxford Street but if you didn’t know to look for it you would completely pass it by–it’s only as wide as a doorway. started at the top, so I exited onto Oxford Street and was simply delighted by this seemingly secret passageway into a quiet, peaceful lane of shops and restaurants.

London is a wonderful city. The Underground is a cinch (and so clean! No rats, no passageways that smell like urine), the restaurants are world-class, the shopping is eclectic–even their chain stores are different from ours so it’s not like I’ve come here to shop at the Gap, and the citizens are city people (read: my people).  It helps that I have a fuzzy familiarity with a few parts of the city, as I’m popping about I’ll come across an intersection and get a delightful zing of recognition. As I walked through St. James Park this afternoon, I caught bits of conversations as couples strolled by, young professionals walked through chatting on their mobile, or chubby middle-aged couples discussed dinner plans. I thought, these are the same conversations we have in New York, at 5PM on a Friday, with our friends and family. Even though they are strangers, and I am from New York, at that moment I felt connected to the people around me.

My home has found me even in London!