the worst part of a good day is the one thing you don't say

I have arrived in London, which I would be more excited about if there wasn't a large part of me that really just wanted to go home today. Not that I really want to go home - if I was just hanging out in London for the next few days, that would probably still be great. But I have to do some day job work, and I need to work on the book, and I have to go to Dublin Sunday night to continue my work activities, so that's all kind of weighing on me. Add that I slept really badly last night and woke up this morning feeling like all the hangovers I didn't have this week hit me all at once, and that all of my travel companions are gone and I suddenly have to do everything myself (an unusual thing to regret, since I'm used to doing things myself), and today was just kind of miserable.

It didn't help that Frankfurt continued to be a bitch to me - my omelette was good at first but then made me feel sick to my stomach, I had to walk like ten thousand miles to deliver something to someone at the book fair, and then I got to the airport, sat in a miserable haze with a latte, went through security, and discovered that my flight was delayed for two-ish hours because of weather in London. Stupid. I was way too exhausted to do anything meaningful during that time, which is kind of embarrassing - I basically just stared off into space.

But I slept on the plane, which was v. restorative, and so I arrived in a slightly better mood. Then I got through immigration, dragged my bag for miles to the Heathrow Express train station, took the train to Paddington, and got a taxi to bring me the rest of the way to my (v. posh) hotel. But there was a bus accident that seriously snarled traffic, so I walked the last two blocks in pouring rain, which made me feel v. not posh upon arrival.

However, the hotel immediately and immeasurably made everything better - my room is gorgeous, I was able to get a great steak from room service within fifteen minutes of calling for it (although I forgot to wash my hands before eating and after going through customs/bag claim/train/taxi/etc., which means I'll probably get twenty different kinds of diseases), my bed is super comfy, and the room includes all the tea I can make (with milk in the fridge!). It's also very close to everything I care about Regency-wise - Hyde Park, the Serpentine, Kensington, Mayfair, the V&A Museum, etc.

So I'm going to go to bed now, sleep as long as I can, and then hopefully spend the morning walking around and getting inspired, and maybe the afternoon reading Thorington straight through while drinking tea in the super posh library area of the hotel. Hopefully the week off I've had from writing will be helpful and not harmful. Goodnight!