Sleepless in London

2012/07/25 1:31 am

Dear Diary,

It’s my first night in London. I have not slept a wink yet in my hostel bedroom, shared with my sister and one stranger. I even slept better on the 7 hour plane flight here!

I grab my laptop and start typing. My sister in the bunk above me tosses, then turns, and asks, what am I doing? She hasn’t slept a wink either!

I blame jet lag. But could there be some other reason for our refusal to enter dreamland? Some other internal workings keeping us fully conscious? Surely, we were already tired after the plane flight which provided, at best, 4 hours of turbulent sleep.

And since touching down at Gatwick Airport, we walked at least a couple of hours with our travel suit of armour, at least 15 kg of backpack gear on our chest and back, before finding our hostel. At least we stopped to take in Buckingham Palace along the way, as well as London streets, all glammed-up Olympic style. After settling into the hostel, using Barclay Bikes, London’s equivalent of Toronto’s Bixi Bikes, we leisurely cycled around Kensington Palace and Hyde Park, weaving through the multitudes of people enjoying the city’s wonderful park spaces. We capped the cool sun setting night with a stroll through a patio lined complete street where cars and pedestrians got along in harmony on the same strip of asphalt.

The highlight of the day though was seeing what at first looked like an old cathedral, but then noticing that it was actually a condo complex, a hybrid structure that was half crumbled cathedral and half modern steel and concrete. This is the kind of structure that makes cities like London magical, the ability to blend old nostalgia with new sparkle. (pics to follow soon)

Surely, we were even more tired from this first eventful day in London, which was a strenuous workout for our bodies. So why can’t we get any sleep? Must be jet lag.

A late party-goer enters our room. We say hi, you didn’t wake us, we just can’t sleep.

I turn off my laptop. Try to get some shut eye.