Farewell London...

So tomorrow I'm jumpin' a big jet liner, headed back to my homeland of Texas.

It has been a long day of packing and getting things ready to leave, and I'm almost ready. My taxi is scheduled to arrive at 9:15am and I'm meeting Jo at Victoria station - where we'll meet up and she'll accompany me to Gatwick for me to catch my flight back home.

I'm going to miss London terribly, but I defintely plan to come back. London will always hold a special place in my heart - for it truly is an AMAZING city to live in and experience.

Top 5 things I'll miss about London:

1. The fact that the city never sleeps - there is ALWAYS something to do here.
2. The AMAZING choice of food from all regions of the world. Indian curry dishes are my new fave - Mmmmmmm!
3. The incredibly diverse people that live here - you routinely meet people on a daily basis from all corners of the earth. London is DEFINITELY not a "bubble."
4. The shopping and the clothes! Monsoon and Marks & Spencer in particular...maybe I'll be able to order from them off the Internet (I hope!).
5. One word...PIMM'S!!!! ;-)

Top 5 things I will NOT miss about London:

1. The fact that it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get ANYWHERE in this city!
2. Being nestled under a smelly dude's armpit for the better part of the morning commute on the tube.
3. "Signal failures" on the tube - sounds like a bogus excuse for people not showing up to work if you ask me...
4. Walking home from the grocery store with bags of groceries cutting into your wrists b/c they're so heavy.
5. The level of customer service!!! It wasn't as bad as I predicted originally, but was still quite maddening! I learned a lesson though - not enough people over here complain about it and demand better results, so I made DARN sure that I did and even got several perks b/c of it! :-)

Sadly, this is my last official posting on the blog. The blog has been more successful than I ever could have imagined and gave many people back home a lot of laughs. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing postings on the blog and sharing my wild and crazy adventures - and have appreciated all of the comments from you guys. Living abroad for 7 months has been an incredible experience as well as one heck of a ride - and I recommend it to anyone.

I've decided to start a NEW blog once I get back - and here is the new address: http://texasaggiemoose.squarespace.com/home/

Check it often, as there's sure to be many hysterical "culture shock" moments as I slowly ease back into life in Texas.

Thanks again for reading and for sharing in this incredible experience with me...

-Vicki :-)