The last time I was in England, the money was made of paper, it was hard to find south-east asian food outside London (it was all Indian etc curries), and people could still smoke everywhere (including restaurants – bleurgh!). This was a quick visit for a week-ish. It was enough to remind me that there’s so much history in Europe. Aotearoa New Zealand really is rather young.
A lot hasn’t changed of course – all those old buildings! The English still love their parks, the public transport is outstanding, and the magpies look different to the Aus/NZ version.
I stood at Gatwick airport and looked at the long list of departure destinations while I waited for my flight to Split (Croatia). How about Tenerife, Athens, Rhodes, Belfast, Madrid…. the list was long. So many places, so much closer to each other in this part of the globe. I have plenty of ideas for next time!
