Caffeine Please

Bookended by two red-eyes, Dulles to Heathrow, and Heathrow to Accra, I found myself in London for a short 19 hours. Not wanting to let my precious time go to waste, I planned to meet my friend Rachel for lunch, and leg it across London all afternoon.

She suggested meeting on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral, to which I swiftly agreed. After having spent one sleepless night on the plane, I was running on adrenaline and prepared to sight-see, so I bought a day pass for the Tube, and set off for St. Paul’s. While on the Tube, I snuggly squeezed a second fleece over top of my first (since winter-weather clothing did not make the packing list) and was prepared to embrace the frigid air. Catching up with Rachel was great; she took me to a quintessential London pub where we both ordered fish and chips with a Kronenbourg lager. Her life as an expat mirrored mine in myriad ways. For example, we commiserated over the difficulty of starting anew with zero social capital.

After lunch, we walked along the Thames until she had to report to work. She pointed me in the direction of the tourist attractions, and off I went. Prior to departing, I casually asked my parents what I should see in the afternoon I had to explore London.

Mother: Well you should see Westminster Abbey, the Tower Bridge and London Bridge…

Me: Let me tell you a little something about London Bridge

Mother: …oh, Parliament and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and you should go to the National Gallery, Hyde Park is beautiful, the London Eye, Oxford Street…

Father: Probably Abbey Road and don’t forget to see Wimbledon.

Me: You realize that I’m there for an afternoon right? Does your recapitulation come with cliff notes? Wait…shouldn’t your recapitulation be the cliff notes?

Well, finding myself with the afternoon at hand, I set about my checklist. Unable to bear the arctic chill and with my adrenal glands taking a nap, I decided to reward myself. After each sighted landmark, I found a coffee shop for both stimulus and warmth. After splitting my time between Starbucks and UNESCO World Heritage sites, I stumbled to the underground in the direction of Heathrow, doing everything in my capacity to fend off slumberland.

Two sleepless nights and one hectic day as a tourist had me landing exhausted in Accra at sunrise. Lucky me, I arrived just in time for my first day back at work. Instant coffee. Blimey.