And just like that, it’s time to leave England in a puff of contrail. Well, almost just like that. After a surprisingly restful night on a series of café chairs and later a floor in Stanstead airport (poor planning, but such is the price of making all decisions last minute) and several hours on various forms of transit. Just like that.

The last few days in London had plenty in them, and there’s still several things I want to do when I come back through. Discovered the loveliness/frustration of non-tube based London transit. The overground light rail system is surprisingly slow, for a train, but clean and shiny and revealed to me some of the more distant boroughs of the town. They do have giant, square skyscrapers here, they just stash them out of the way in big clumps. I also rode a couple of busses downtown, which are a wonderful way to see the city, as long as you’re not in a rush. Perched in the front of a massive double-decker, I had a great view of the teeming rush-hour crowds all around, while sitting almost alone, listening to the air exchanger. It probably says more about me than about the bus that I liked being above and separate from the crowd so much, but it was at least an interesting perspective.

Managed Greenwich and a few other wanderings. London works very well, though the tube is uncomfortably full at rush hour, and traffic is terrible, it works very well. The bustle of the centre is a bit much, really, but I’d love to thoroughly explore a random neighborhood or two, to get more of a feel for the non-downtown character. The glimpses I managed on the way from here to there make it look worth an extended wander.