One more night

It is my last night in London. My last night in the UK. I haven't updated as much as I originally wanted to and I apologize for that. I thought poking words into my iphone wouldn't be that annoying but it was. I did not update or email as often as I should. Good thing to remember for my next trip: bring something to type on with two hands.

I will do a quick re-cap of my last days since I last posted from Wales. I went to Bath and got in somewhat late but thanks to the crazy sunshine out here I had plenty of hours to walk around in daylight. Bath is so serene and one of my more favorite cities in England. It was relaxed. Nobody was rushing anywhere. The buildings were amazing beautiful. The air was warm with just enough breeze. I would happily go back there in an instant. There were a lot of green spaces that were just begging for me to sit in them and read but I could only do so much. After my first day of wandering about it was time to go to bed. It didn't go as well as planned. My first attempt of sleep ended up in a coughing fit and I found myself sitting in the common room watching "Angels & Demons" with a creepy local Bath resident who wanted to talk to me about the different ways of spelling and pronouncing yogurt (yoghurt). I tried to go back to bed again but that didn't last long because I didn't want to keep those around me up all night so it was back to the common room again. I fell asleep on the couch, sitting up, while the TV showed reruns of Friends. It was a pathetic sight but the weird Bath resident pointed me in the direction of the local health clinic. I went there the next morning.

The clinic was helpful with no wait. The nurse listened to my lungs and said 'ick'. It was pretty bad. She told me I should have come in much much sooner. I never learn. I was prescribed Amoxocillin for seven days to clear up the widespread infection in my lungs. Four days later it has helped me falling asleep but my lungs still feel heavy. Looks like I'll be visiting my doctor when I get back into town. I'm dubbing this the 'hobo cough'. If you ask nicely I'll tell you how I think I got this hobo cough but I'd rather not write about it online. It's embarrassing and gross.

The rest of Bath contained the Roman Baths for me which were fantastic. And HUGE. I thought I'd see a couple of old rectangular pits with dirty water in them and I was sorely wrong. It was a fantastic sight.

Then I went to Oxford and WOW. I thought the buildings in Bath were neat but these were neater. Old large buildings and a big university. I would gladly live in Oxford for a year. It was humming with energy but surrounded by gardens and old buildings. Plus there was a river flowing through the middle which means in my future canalboat holiday I could pull up anchor there for a bit.

The next day I got a fancy hotel room to myself so I could pack my bag and get a good nights rest. When I unpacked my bag, to repack, I couldn't find my pants. In a span of 12 hours I lost my only pair of jeans. Where I have no idea. Maybe my hostel in Oxford. Maybe they fell out of my bag on the train when I got my sweater out. Now I'm pantsless.

My fancy hotel had a swimming pool and it was so warm outside I couldn't contain my excitement. I gathered up my items, book and towel and camera and a snack and antibiotic, but the elevator said to get to the pool go to level '-1'. Bwah? It was a small indoor pool next to a steam room with an old lady watching over it. I felt like she was judging my every move in the water. Weird. Hotel pools should be outside in the sunshine. Always.

Now it is my last night in London. I didn't do much besides sit in a park and read. I walked by a flower market but they were closing up. I ate some ice cream. I made my last microwaved dinner for a long time at the hostel. The bus to the airport comes to get me in 8 hours. I should get some sleep but I'm too excited and nervous. Heathrow to JKF to SFO. It is going to be a long day but it will pay off when I get to hug two friends at the airport. It's been a long time since I hugged a good friend. It's the little things you end up missing. Oh and Ness. I'll see you soon. You better remember who buys your food.