Postcard From London: Highgate, The Brontes, and Saying Goodbye

I've been abroad for about a month now, though it feels like so much longer. The housesitting gig ended last week but I have been hiding away in the attic stealing wifi and subsisting on dust bunnies and the soothing sounds of Channel 4--just kidding. The family I house sat for were kind enough to let me stay on a bit longer, but as nice as its been, its time to move on. I head up to the Peak District village of Eyam on Monday and from there I'll go to Haworth, home of the Brontes.

As preparation, I covertly snapped this picture in the National Portrait Gallery. Afterwards, I learned that it is ok to take pictures and that they have security cameras in every room that the guards monitor 24/7. This can only mean that there is CCTV footage of me very obviously looking around, sneakily taking this photograph, and then pretending to read my phone like nothing was going on. 

After that, it's on to York for a few days before returning to London where I'll meet up with James and start EUROTRIP: PHASE TWO. We'll spend ten days exploring London,  along with a few day trips farther afield, and then it's off to Paris for six. I am beyond excited for so many things: Seeing James of course, turning 29 in the city of lights, checking out Glastonbury Tor, exploring Amelie's Monmarte--the list goes on and on and on. It's funny, though. I'm excited for James to come, but I also don't want this to end. I want time to move forward and back all at once. But before all that I have to say goodbye. 

I've really enjoyed my housesitting experience--the only downside is leaving Chilli, the wonderful dog I took care of. I lucked out with this one and it almost makes me a little wary of doing it again. The bar has been set pretty high. 

It has also been great getting to know a new part of London and marveling at just how big and varied this place is. Today I visited Highgate, another lovely village close by that borders the heath. I went for the cemetery (which is the final resting place of George Eliot and Karl Marx, among many others) but the village is, like Hampstead, very quaint and beautiful. You can wander around the East cemetery for 4 pounds or take a guided tour of the West for 12. Guess which one I did? For 4 pounds you get a map that points out the notable graves, so there's that. I was pretty shocked at just how crowded the place was, and not by the living. Headstones were literally falling on each other. Apparently, plots at Highgate were in such high demand the East cemetery was opened in 1860 and is still in operation today.  Then again, I guess it shouldn't be so surprising of one of the world's oldest 'mega cities'. 

Almost walked by George Eliot's grave. Then I shook my fist and said 'Ughhh Casaubon!'

However, it's hard to miss this one. Workers of the world unite for a more tasteful headstone?

Many stones were completely covered in ivy. Beautiful, but it also says so much about the brevity of life and the enduring nature of death, no? Maybe I'm reading too much into it...I bet George Eliot could riff on that for a few pages though.

Sadly, I'm not sure what my WiFi situation will be like up north so I might not do a blog post for awhile. I'll definitely be updating the Facebook page and Instagram so check those out for Peaks and Yorkshire goodness. And give them a "like" while you're stopping by!