My Summer in London
A city of illusion that will change your life
I’m back in London and my little cozy Victorian home has opened its doors to me again. But I am certainly not the first to come here from a distant European country to live in exile.
Our house, built in the 1870’s, has had many tenants in its long history. Now a lady from Russia and her Italian husband occupy the second floor, and a very nice elderly couple from Spain live on the first floor. The Ground floor is occupied by us — a historian and a dreamer (my wife).
My country is at war right now and leaving it was not easy and involved tremendous stress. It is an experience I will probably never forget. The peaceful and relaxing atmosphere of the British capital seems almost unreal in this context, a lingering dream that is hard to wake up from.
London has always welcomed political emigrants. From the anarchist Bakunin to the Westernist Herzen and the Slavophile Aksakov, they all met here not only the respectful address of Sir, but also a creative atmosphere and conditions for intellectual work. Leo Tolstoy, who visited Herzen’s house in Paddington in 1857, told him passionately about boxing…