To put my brain in order or perhaps simply to procrastinate, I have decided to make a list of what I’ve done so far in London, and what I have yet to do. For those of you reading who are on the London program with me, let me know what’s on your lists — perhaps we can go together.
So far, in London, I have…
- Eaten curry in Bricklane.
- Danced and drank red wine in the Cuckoo Club, then eaten KFC in Picadilly Square with new friends.
- Gone on the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
- Failed to see Buckingham Palace from exhaustion. I’ll have to get back to that one.
- Walked around Hyde Park with Amber, and on my own.
- Seen the Mousetrap. Absolutely fabulous! Go see it if you haven’t.
- Toured Parliament. The House of Lords was gorgeous in its scarlets and deep dark blues and gold gilding.
- Had a birthday party! I skyped the lovely Giselle and Rebecca, went down to a beautiful Italian restaurant/bakery, and had a chocolate cake with dessert wine.
- Saw Measure for Measure at Shakespeare’s Globe.
- Toured the Lake District, stopping at the Brontë and Wordsworth museums. We stayed up late drinking in country pubs and chatting, walked through heaths and over sheep-covered ridges, and took a boat tour of a lake.
- visited Danny and Chantaneu, my sister’s friends, in East London.
- Went to Soho with friends.
- Grabbed icecream and tea in Covent Garden with Amber.
- Went to Dinerama with some friends from my hometown in the area.
- Went to the London Literary Festival’s talk on the poetry of Angela Carter.
What I still need to do, and may have to find cheap alternatives to:
- See Buckingham Palace, damn it! Ideally well-rested.
- Shop Bricklane Market.
- Windsor Castle.
- Stonehenge.
- The London Eye.
- The Tower of London.
- Westminster Abbey.
- The Sherlock Holmes Museum.
- Resist seeing In the Heights and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which both look absolutely fantastic.
- Definitely not buy a gorgeous travel guitar and all these feminist fairy tale books on credit. I will not. I will not. God, I wish I could work in London.
- Portabello Market.
- The Chocolate Festival?
- Crimson Peak…
- Pan.
- Perhaps learn krav maga?
- Perhaps volunteer locally!
- Museums. So many museums.
- Camden.
- Oxford.
- Cambridge.
- Bath.
- Dublin.
- Edinburgh — for this, at least, I have flights already booked.
- Glasgow.
- Visit that detective-themed speakeasy where you have to bring in a case to get in.
- Phantom.
- Make some London friends! I may shop for clubs at the local colleges and see what looks fun, since that seems like a good way to meet people.
- Finish my novel, and write one short story a week, so that by the time Clarion comes along, I’ll at least be able to submit.
- Find a writing group to edit said stories and novel!
- Relax.
So there it is. A list of things I’ve done, and twice as much still to do, neat and orderly and ready to be checked off. I probably won’t get to all of it — I only have a semester — but all the same, I’m excited.

A picture of me and the lit program on our trip to the Lake District.
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wow! So much to see!
How about the Cotswolds
And dickens house, I believe is in Bloomsbury?
Sounds wonderful!
Hugs,
Naomi
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