Back to London.
I had initially hoped we could take a bit of a meandering drive back from York to London, but a couple of days ago realized that we have a rental car to return, which has to be back in the Kings Cross area by 5:30, which of course changed to picture. No rambling drive back, with stops here and there, as I’d planned/hoped, but pretty much straight back to London, as we first had to drop off our bags at Hilary’s and then drive to Kings Cross, heading toward central London. The goal was to get the car back by 4.
And off we went, deciding to visit Cambridge on the way, just about 1¼ hours or so from New Barnet where Hilary and Claudi live, and at least give Tom a sense of one of the two famous university towns (the other being Oxford, of course, also close to London; the two universities are often referred to as Oxbridge). Planning no other stops along the way, we headed straight down the motorway, the fastest way to go, but, as in the U.S., also the least interesting and most boring way to go. Still, it was only about 3½ hours, about 160 miles or so, and off we went, stopping just for some food and gas (petrol). But, we got hung up along the way in some traffic, and by the time we got there, figured out just where to actually go, and parked — it was sort of time to leave. if we wanted to get back to New Barnet by 2:30.
So, the day was a bust, and so was Cambridge, with respect to having Tom get any more than the most cursory sense of the town and its famous university, founded in 1209 (about 113 years after Oxford, which was founded in 1096, just thirty years after the Norman conquest of England). Just as we got to pretty much where we wanted to be, for some walking around and seeing the River Cam, it was time to leave if were to meet our self-imposed deadline, so we turned around and headed out of town for London, arriving back at Hilary and Claudio’s around 2:45.
We emptied the car of our belongings, grabbed a bite to eat, jumped back in the car, and drove to Pentonville Road, near Kings Cross station. Quite the difference in driving style from the day we picked it up and I had to orient myself to a right-hand drive car with a manual shift and London streets and traffic. By now, I was pretty much a champion (although not entirely). The return was simple and straightforward, and we were soon walking back towards Kings Cross Underground station where we caught a Northern line tube to High Barnet station, and walked back to the flat.
We went to one of my favorite fish and chip shops for Tom’s last dinner, where Tom kindly treated us, and back to the apartment for a while, before Tom and I walked back to the Barrington for Tom’s final night at the Barrington and his final night in England. After saying good night to Tom, I walked back to the flat and chatted with Hil and Claudio for a while before going to sleep (although I could be chatting with Hilary until 2 in the morning, often her normal vampire time to go to bed). And Bob’s your uncle.
Tomorrow morning I’ll meet Tom at his favorite breakfast place, Vibe, near the pub, and we’ll come back here, get ready, and take the Underground to Heathrow, to be there for noon. Until then, good night.