London and Penzance: last-minute preparations

Made it safely to London after a long journey.  (But then long journeys are the main thread of this trip, no?)  Icelandair is very nice, but I will not fly through Keflavik airport again.  It is quite possibly the most inefficient airport I have ever traveled through; even worse than Charles de Gaulle in Paris.

I had a low-key couple of days in London.  I went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey on 14 July, and spent most of yesterday mooching around Regent's Park and Foyle's bookstore, people-watching.  I have to say, I spent most of my time in London wanting to be elsewhere and wishing I'd booked my train ticket for yesterday instead of today.  The nerves and homesickness that accompany the beginning of most long trips, combined with the anxiety about what I'm about to undertake, had me feeling considerably down.  And then it's the middle of tourist season, so there were far too many people about, including a busload of German high school students who rocked up to my hostel yesterday afternoon and proceeded to make continual noise until about 2am.

I got up and headed for Paddington as soon as the sun was up this morning.

Now that I'm in Penzance, I'm feeling somewhat better.  It's quieter, and I can focus on the task at hand.  I'm in the process of re-packing my backpack right now, and already contemplating what to throw away.  My hoodie is candidate number 1.  I expected to be wearing it for most of this walk, but the weather actually looks to be quite warm for most of my time in the southwest, and my backpack is already fuller than I would like.

We're gonna get there.

Cheers, y'all.