On the final day of our journey, we found ourselves back in London. I had lobbied hard for a visit to central London, but traveling had gotten the best of Susan and she was not doing too well. Being the trouper she is, she indulged my desire to have one more visit. We caught a bus from the hotel to the nearest Tube station. It was in a little town populated almost exclusively by Indians.
In keeping with our preference to balance tourist locations with local “slice of life” experiences – and given Susan’s deteriorating physical state, I suggested we just wander around the area we were in. It was a short commercial strip in a community near the airport. I suspect the residents were of modest means. We had our choice of about a dozen Indian restaurants. We chose one that specializes in southern Indian cuisine. It was very good. I suppose it would need to be to stay open in such an area.
The street was also lined with little green grocers. I imagined the locals stopping to pick up the fresh produce for the evening’s meal on their way home from work. It’s a different lifestyle than the “shop once per week” approach we take in the suburbs. Such is life in the big city. We were not locals here. Our surroundings were soon to change back to the familiar. However exciting it is to see other lands, it’s always good to be home.
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