Day #283 - London, England

Last hotel - Jesmond Dene - near Kings Cross Station

The London Underground - the Tube

Entrance into St. Pancreas Station

Wednesday, December 22nd

Well, for all practical purposes, this is my final day in Europe during my journey. It doesn't seem real. It started in Paris and will end in London.

I'm staying up by the Kings Cross/St. Pancreas Train Station. If things would have worked out a little better yesterday, I would have done some site-seeing today. But, I just had too much to do. I spent the better part of the day just shoring up things for my return.

I spent time at the Post Office, at the barbershop, at a few souvenir shops, and different Wi-Fi accessible cafes.

It's now approaching 7pm on Wednesday night. (If I was in STL right now - I'd be preparing for the big MU-IL Braggin-Rights basketball game) I have a taxi set for pickup at 5:30am tomorrow morning to bring me to Heathrow Airport. I feel really inspired right now. I have some people to Thank for the next few hours --- it might well bring me to my early morning departure.

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So, it comes down to the Final 2 countries. Who to pick? Albania and Serbia are both on the board. So are Bulgaria and Latvia. But-- it's not them. What about Vatican City or San Marino? Both excellent spots, but I couldn't spend a week there (1 of my requirements). Hmmm - Czech Republic and Sweden are awesome. Belgium and Denmark are great as well. These 4 are in my next best 10. If I've been true to myself and provided accurate descriptions this year -- you should already know the final 2. Would it surprise you that the final 2 countries both speak English very well -- it shouldn't. Comfort. Peace. If I had to live outside the US in Europe, I would only want to live in 1 of these 2 countries.

"Get on with it". Well, I'm currently sitting in my #2 country. Coming in tonight as my #2 most favorite country on my Gap Year 2010 is ........... UNITED KINGDOM

Israel (#12)

Iceland (#11)

Norway (#10)

Greece (#9)

Austria (#8)

Spain (#7)

Italy (#6)

Switzerland (#5)

Ireland (#4)

France (#3)

United Kingdom (#2)

UNITED KINGDOM (#2)

To be honest, this pick would have surprised me before entering my journey. I would have anticipated maybe Italy or Spain in this position. But, I kept an open-mind throughout. And, the UK stood out for me. So many things to see and do. I'll be looking at this later, but I've probably spent over a month in this country alone. It's like a country made up of 4 smaller ones: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

England --- It starts with London. This is a Top 5 city for me. I really enjoyed my stay here. Endless things to do. Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Picadilly Circus, River Thames, Wimbledon -- you could spend 2 weeks in London proper before you adequately saw everything. Then, the day trip possibilities from London are immense. One of my favorite spots: Oxford University and Blenheim Palace. You have Cambridge, the White Cliffs of Dover, Stonehenge, Bath, Shakepeare's Place in Stratford Upon Avon, Southhampton, the Lake District, Windsor Castle, and Warwick Castle.

Scotland -- This was my favorite. This area secured the #2 position. Going to the home of golf at St. Andrews and then golfing at Carnoustie and Turnberry - unreal. Edinburgh is a fantastic city. Then there's Inverness, Loch Ness, Aberdeen, Glascow. I spent a unique day at the Highland Games in a small town in western Scotland. What about my day in the Isle of Skye. I most definitely would like to return to Scotland at some point. I didn't even do any hiking - and Scotland is known for this.

Wales and Northern Ireland --- both interesting areas. I spent limited time in each, but both were neat places that offer more than most countries.

Adding up the sum of the parts --- the United Kingdom comes in as my #2 most favorite country.