Picture of the Moment - All Hallows’ Eve

Autumn day - Abney Park Cemetery in London

Classy

I couldn’t resist sharing this exciting milestone. I traveled to London in complete style on Friday. After tens of thousands of miles globetrotting around the world on United Airlines, I am finally seeing some rewards for my loyalty. On this journey I was able to use a systemwide upgrade certificate to upgrade to Business Class for my flight from Denver to London Heathrow. Not just any Business Class seat, but United’s brand new Business Class seats that they are rolling out to their newly configured Boeing 777’s. Lie-flat beds! 15in screens! I must say it was quite an enjoyable way to travel.

Truth be told, I almost wish I didn’t know how the other half live on the long international flights. Must push these memories aside when I am on my long flight to Hong Kong in December.

London - How Do I Love Thee?

My heart races wildly. The palms of my hands turn cold and clammy and the anticipation makes me feel slightly lightheaded and a little giddy. Okay, very giddy. I must look a sight grinning as if I alone am holding the secret to happiness. And maybe I am. This is how I feel whenever I think of being in London. I can’t help it. I am hopelessly, helplessly, utterly in love.

It wasn’t love at first sight. When I first visited London 14 years ago, at the start of a three year on-again off-again residency in England, I was overwhelmed by the vastness of the city, the bustling crowded streets, and potpourri of architecture lurking around every corner. But after a few months of courtship, these are the very qualities that stole my heart and quite honestly, I haven’t been the same since. The life and energy of this historic, hodgepodge, and chaotic city, beckon to me frequently and I just can’t resist visiting as often as I can.

On each visit, I carve out time to see dear friends, revisit favorite haunts, and have new adventures. And believe me, there are always new adventures to be had. In honor of my annual journey to London this month, I decided to put together a top ten list of things I love to do when visiting London. This was harder to do that than I thought; many gems didn’t make it this round. Perhaps it just means that there will be future love letters to London.

Current favorite things are:

My First Love

Being that thoughts of travel are never far from my focus, it is hard for me to recall a time when I wasn’t passionate about travel and history. Yet, when looking back, the first seeds of my passion were only ignited my sophomore year of college when I took my first art history class. I was in no way prepared for the impact that this class would have on me and the strong foundation it gave me when I started my first travel adventures a year and half later.

From day one, the professor’s zest for art history transported me to a world I had never been exposed to and that I hungered to be a part of. Art and the history of ancient cultures came to life under his touch. He was a magical storyteller and would regale the class with tales of political intrigue, deceit, love and all sorts of juicy historical tidbits expertly woven alongside his own travel tales. I can still vividly recall his stories about zooming down the narrow cobbled streets of Venice on a motorcycle, or seeing Michelangelo’s Moses housed in San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome for the first time, or what he felt when roaming the marble corridors of the Louvre surrounded by unimaginable treasures. Fifteen years later, I still think of him when I encounter a painting or sculpture that I studied during that semester with him.

Picture of the Moment - San Diego Bay at Sunset

October Sunset



Kudos!

Last week, the 2010 edition of The Best American Travel Writing was published. I was delighted to find out that David Farley, my talented Gotham Writers’ Workshop travel writing instructor, was one of the lucky few to be recognized for his work; in particular his article, On the Perils of Travel Writing. Congratulations to David and heartfelt thanks for all his support and encouragement when I first started writing about my travel adventures. Thanks for another healthy dose of inspiration to keep me moving forward!