One of the main advantages to university study is the massive amounts of free time you have. 2 weeks off for Easter? Don’t mind if I do! Instead of spending my time mostly bored playing video games until my eyes hurt, then playing some more, like my younger a self would’ve done. I try to make the most of the added freedom university gives me. After the arduous journey from Paris to Liverpool, getting sick along the way. I spent 5 days at home catching up with friends and family. It was exactly what I needed after 3 months in France. As much as I love living abroad and travelling around there are certain home comforts that you just can’t replicate. It’s the little things: lying on the sofa, watching The Chase with my Nan & Grandad… Laughing at how terrible my Grandad is at The Chase. Waking up in the morning with my dogs lying around my feet at the foot of my bed. Helping my little sister with her homework. No amount of sightseeing or exploring can give me those exact feelings.
After relaxing at home I took a trip down to London. Now, London is a weird city for me. My previous encounters with the capital have all been pretty negative. Overly touristic, over crowded, over priced, I was over it. But I wasn’t going there to see the city, I was going to see a friend. Before this weekend I hadn’t seen Joel since early 2012 – so a catch up was loooong overdue.
The London I knew consisted of inferior monuments when compared to the rest of the continent. A Ferris wheel, a clock(bell) and a bridge. Whoooop Deee Doooo. Big deal. This trip has given me a much more well rounded view of London. The diversity the city has to offer once you get outside of the hordes of selfie stick wielding drones.
I could try and list off all of the things I’ve seen this past weekend in chronological order, but I know full well I’ll get it completely wrong and no doubt forget at least 40% of what I did. So instead, I’ll talk about the experience and how it’s somewhat changed my outlook on the once dreary capital.
Is everyone still rude in London? Yes and no. The waves of cockney suits storming through the tube stations with pound signs in emblazoned onto their retinas, yes. Very, very, rude. But the people who in my mind make the city special, the people who have moved there with the almost “American Dream” mentality of making their way and living life to the fullest. Those people. Lovely, friendly, polite. Everyday people make a city what it is. Paris is amazing because of the people’s keen sense for art and fashion. Paris also sucks ass because the people come across rude as sin. It’s a double edged sword.
Is London just a tourist trap filled with tacky royalist souvenirs? Absolutely not. Will you still see the queens face or the Union Jack at ever corner? Most corners. But amongst the bustling buses barrelling by and the overflowing underground there’s so much more on display if you can see past the swarms of people in your immediate view. I got to see a side of London you’d only see by living and working there. There’s an overwhelming amount of choice in the city. I got to spend time seeing each walk of life in London, from the traditional upper class white houses of North London, to the open spaces in West London. Grass and open space in London!? Well I never. Movie set London in Notting Hill. Urban, multiculturaled Brixton, Camden and Portobello Markets. Trendy SoHo and Shorditch. The hidden unground graffiti and skate tunnels underneath Waterloo. I stumbled across a fricking music video being shot for gods sake! Claudio Marquez-Made in Lisbon. In case you’re into Grime with a Portuguese twist. London showed me much more than I’d previously given it credit for.
Food and Drink played a massive part in this trip. To the point that I’m scared to check my bank balance – it’s far too easy to spend on your card without realising quite how much!! Outside of the Starbucks’, the Pret A Manger’s, the McDonald’s, there are some really amazing places to eat and drink. This weekend just so happened to be the London Coffee Festival. My drug of choice-Caffeine keeps my heart beating. We decided checked out the opening night, There were some amazing independent coffee stalls and some sensory enhancing exhibitions which were pretty cool. Apparently “espresso martinis” are a pretty big deal in London? Personally, I found them to be pretty awful. I’ll stick with my flat white thank you very much.
London’s multiculturalism is what makes it special for me. I love that you can get so many different things in one place I ate paella made by a Spaniard, Pizza and Gelato from Italians, you get my point. It’s similarities in differences that make London a great place to be. Everyone brings something to the table.
Over the last 3 days, this graffiti tag kept popping up all across the city. Something about it is striking to me. After looking into it online I found out that the artist usually tags it on temporary locations, wooden planks, constitution panels, hidden crevices. Something about its simplicity is beautiful to me. Now, art is subjective and to me good art is anything that induces feelings in people, regardless of what those feelings are. So if it doesn’t appear this way to you, that’s fine. But this is London to me. The best parts of London aren’t the landmarks, the constantly changing skyline, or the royal family. They’re behind all that, lying in the shadows there are gems within London. They’re in the independent restaurants, the art, the people who’re doing what they do for the love of it not the commercial success. The scenery you don’t see stood on Oxford street, the people who aren’t barging past you to be 30 seconds earlier to work. Much like life, it’s the little things that make the bigger picture special and well there are a lot of amazing little things in London.
Flynn!
Let's go on an adventure. 