Cheers.

They say cheers to mean goodbye, thank you, excuse me, and anything else they want it to mean.

So, dear London, to you I say cheers.

Goodbye for now. I'm leaving on a jet plane and I don't know when I'll be back again.

Thank you. For gelato, for chocolate, for clothes, for great art, for ever-green parks, for shows. Thank you for the memories-- like the time I face-planted walking down Queensway in high heels. And the time I sketched in front of Cezanne's Old Woman With A Rosary. Thank you for the girls that I lived with in the famous room one, and for the princesses we helped each other become. Thank you for the good food. Thank you for being so, so, so lovely.

Excuse me for my silly Americaness that seemed to stand out in your classy city-- you were nice to make me feel at home regardless. In fact, sometimes you even seemed to like the American in me that was so swept up in your charm.

And like the English say cheers to mean whatever they want it to mean, I want my cheers to mean hooray. Hooray for you. Hooray for your wonderfulness. Hooray for London.

Cheers.