My Welcome Home

I made it home from the airport Sunday afternoon and hung out at home that evening unpacking and doing laundry and all the other fun things that come upon return home from a trip. Monday morning I decided to let someone else deal with my grubby feet! I kicked back in the large massage chair and got myself a pedicure. Felt absolutely lovely. That evening I started to fee a little queasy. A little bloated. I figured it was my body's response to going from a diet of rice, meat and eggs back to fruit and yogurt and veg. By evening my stomach was really putting up a fight. I called it a night early in hopes of sleeping it off.

No. Such. Luck. I was up every 1-2 hours all night long. By morning, I was pretty certain that I was not going to survive (I tend to get a little dramatic when I am sick and sleep-deprived). I started googling my symptoms, like all good doctors do. Unfortunately, it was not too reassuring. Turns out food poisoning and malaria have almost identical symptoms. The main difference is that food poisoning has fever and chills, whereas malaria has cyclical fever and chills. Great, apparently I should be timing my fevers like a pregnant woman keeps track of her contractions.
My flat mate finally get up around 11, and I begged her to go into Wimbledon to get me a thermometer (to see if I am going to die of malaria) and some orange juice (so hopefully I don't pass out from fluid loss).
My fever was pretty much gone by the time the thermometer got back and told me that my temperature was exactly normal (impossible!). I stayed in bed and by evening was feeling much better. I decided to get some fresh air and some dinner. After throwing on some clothes, I headed out to Wimbledon - much to the viewing displeasure of the public. I got myself some soup and a nice bun for dinner and figured I was pretty much cured.

With Maggie by Big Ben

Wrong. Again. Another night of running to the bathroom every 2 hours or so. I am loving Air India  food right now - I curse you! If there is one good thing coming out of this, it is that I am at least getting some exercise going up and down the stairs all day and night.

Wednesday morning it was my brother's birthday (happy birthday), but more concerning, I was supposed to meet a family friend in the city who had graciously offered to give me a tour of Parliament. I have been looking forward to this too long to miss it. I took a gamble and downed some Immodium and jumped on a train. The tour was absolutely amazing. Parliament and the House of Lords is stunning. I am still astounded every time I see art from the 1600s, I don't think I will ever get used to it. And I was completely speechless when I saw the library! Not to mention the archives of every issue of the Times since 1765!! Unbelievable. The best part, I seemed to have finally gotten rid of my bug.

The rest of the week I took it easy in hopes of aiding my recovery. Sunday morning Andi and I went on a day tour to Windsor Castle and Oxford. As we waited on the bus, the driver started telling us about some riot going on in Tottemham. Sounded pretty crazy but we soon forgot about it. Until Monday night when we were watching the news and things seemed to be spiralling out of control. We watched as people started wreaking havoc randomly around the city. This was no longer a riot, it was mindless destruction. It looked like the maps of BC wildfires that we see each summer with flare ups across the province. Except that these were groups of people who were damaging property, setting fires, and looting stores. But, just like the wildfires, there seemed to be no connection and no reason for the choice of location. Wherever these hooligans could get to easily and do significant damage, they were heading.

Windsor Castle

 

Harry Potter dining Hall

Christ Church College, Oxford

Tea for Two!

Tuesday things seemed to have calmed down a bit. I went to get my hair done then met Andi at the Victoria and Albert Museum. We got to Wimbledon around 5:00 and immediately noticed the police presence. Then I saw that my favorite wedding dress store had completely emptied it's window display and all other goods were hidden out of sight. We then started noticing that other stores were already closed down and some were even boarded up. Then we saw a sign saying "Due to local disturbances, we have closed early". Wimbledon was on lock down.
Luckily, we found a sushi restaurant that was still open, then we made our way home to lock up early. Doesn't seem like anything went down last night, just a lot of precaution, but I sure hope that the 16 000 police get this under control soon.

Good ol Sunday Roast

At V&A Museum - new hair cut

Wimbledon on lock down