The queue at Gatwick was long. Police men indicated the fastest way to the border control. Litz hold her passport tight. She had understood many years before that it was one of her most precious belongings. At that time, more than ever, she realized how those EU letters marked in gold were important: the UK was living a tough transitional moment and no one knew how it would end up. “So far, so good”, Litz thought. She didn’t need any visa to enter the country.
London had a special meaning for Litz. It had been her first travel alone, many years before. She would just stop for 24 hours, being her connecting flight the following day. Unfortunately her old friend Margareth was not available for a quick breakfast in the City. Litz decided to stay in Horley, the closest town to Gatwick airport, and enjoy a bit of the English countryside.
She knew Horley a little bit: she had been there for a connecting flight already. She slept at her usual hotel, feeling at home. The staff even wrote her a nice letter to show her where the room was, as she arrived late at night. The room was all white, her favourite color. Litz appreciated it a lot, as it gave her peace of mind, what she was looking for the most. She took a long hot shower, then went to the double bed, looked at the void next to her and tried to imagine who could fill it. Sadly, no one came to her mind. She fell asleep.
She naturally woke up with the sun. Quite an event in the UK. Litz smiled, the last time she had slept at the opposite court of the hotel and she had had to put many alarms to wake up. Her devices were off. Unfortunately, she had forgotten the electrical adapter. No problem, she was used to find her way without internet. She looked around, found an elegant lady waiting in front of a beauty shop with her little daughter and her dog and asked her the way to the town center.
Luckily, she had brought her mobile with her, hoping to find a place where to charge it. The restaurant she chose was exactly what she was expecting. A nice place full of different people, both locals and travellers. The food was not expensive and fairly good to be in the UK (let’s say espresso – her reference measurement – could have been worse). There were magazines to read the news, music in the background and pieces of art on the walls. And, most importantly to Litz, they had an adapter!
She spent some good time at the restaurant having brunch, then packed her backpack, called a local taxi and reached the airport. The taxi driver was not British and told her to be Catholic. She found the conversation a bit awkward, but apparently he was a believer and really wanted to let her know about it.
Litz had learned the hard way that such personal information should only be communicated to close friends, unless you were ready to take a stand for it. She had experienced during her travels that discrimination for personal choices was sadly still present. However, Litz took pride for having open minded friends, so she answered the driver about her faith without any fear of rejection.
While she was leaving London, she looked at the airplane’s window asking herself when she would be back again. Then she realized it was not a one way ticket that time.
“I’m coming back soon”, she thought.
