London, my London...

So I first moved to London when I was 19 years old, from Sunderland, in northern England. I'd never been to the capital before. I have no idea how I knew it was calling me - or why. From almost my first day I had an eerie sense of belonging. And while I was only there for two years, then I essentially moved to Canada for the rest of my life (to date), that sense of belonging has never left me. Every year I've come back has been a trip down memory lane. One of those "sliding doors" experiences where a part of you wonders what your life would have been like if you'd never left. Today I walked from my old stomping ground in High Street Kensington, through Hyde Park then down Oxford Street. Then I took the bus back to Turnham Green where I am staying. Taking the bus in London is my favourite way to travel - landing the front seat upstairs is like your own personal panoramic tour. Even in the rain and the cold, I was reminded how much I still love this place, and I'm sure I always will. There are other amazing international cities and they're all fantastic to me. But there is nowhere like London, and still to this day I can't put my finger on why.