From Pall Mall, and Circled Back to Pall Mall

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I am grateful to my client that I was back in London for several business meetings.  I flew out of snowy Chicago on Saturday afternoon, January 18th, and virtually hit the ground running on Sunday morning.

I spent the day at their offices on Pall Mall on Monday, January 20th.  That morning, I decided to track the route the taxi driver took to Pall Mall, so I could walk it back to the hotel that evening.  I pretended I was Liam Neeson in the film `Taken 2, who was abducted, covered, and taken to a hideout.  Well-trained and highly sharp, he kept mental track of sounds, distance and time, and later drew on these notes to help his daughter locate him.      

I looked at a London map, and what I saw was consistent with my mental tracking.  So I felt confident I could retrace my steps to Radisson Blu Portman.  I'd save taxi money, and I'd save workout time.  

It was challenging, to say the least, as that roundabout at the foot of St. James Park had me turned around.  I had three hurdles to overcome: reversing the route in my mind wasn't as easy as I expected, as it was dark and my visual cues were often not clear enough.  Plus, being on foot meant I couldn't just reverse the route, but actually had to modify it.  

An hour passed, and I was nowhere near getting a bearing on where I was.  I kept walking the whole time, as I wasn't in any hurry, my body felt comfortable, and I was determined to find my way back, even if it took two hours.  

Another fifteen minutes ticked off the clock, and I found myself at the Charing Cross station.  I went in for dinner at Burger King, and used the washroom afterwards.  I reviewed the map, and saw an alternative route.  I ventured back out, and once again the London streets had me turned around.  To make a long story short, I ended up back at the Pall Mall offices.  

Literally, right where I started.  

Two hours had passed at that point, and minus my dinner break, I had done a good amount walking that evening.  I decided, wisely, to take a taxi back, instead.  Enough was enough.  Thankfully, I was not hurting for cash, so this was not at all an issue.