London

The surprise arrival

First time in London. I was flying in to meet Moksha, and I had told her I would land on the 15th. I actually landed a few days earlier and wanted her to find out only when she opened the door. I messaged Anjaly with a cover story: a surprise order was on its way for her. I got to Stratford, could not navigate the apartment block on foot for the life of me, and eventually gave up and took an Uber the rest of the way. Once outside, I messaged Anjaly to come down and collect the delivery. She came down expecting a package and saw me instead. She was properly surprised. She then took a recording of me walking in to meet Moksha. Moksha did not know I was in the country. She was in the kitchen washing dishes when I came in. She turned, saw me, and started crying. It was wholesome in a way that does not quite come across in the retelling.

I rested for a bit and then jumped into some work later that day. The rest of the visit was mostly on foot. Regent's Park in the morning. Hyde Park on a colder afternoon. Covent Garden for the buzz. Borough Market for the food, which lives up to everything it is meant to. Ramen at Uzumaki one afternoon, then straight into the British Museum, which is a place you can walk around in for hours and still leave feeling like you have seen a fraction of it. We saw Big Ben, the London Eye, and Tower Bridge, then walked the bridge across and continued on to St. Paul's. London is a city that rewards walking and I did a lot of it that trip.