Sunday 4 January 2015

With Love from London


I moved to London straight after university to get a job because that’s what many of my friends were doing. I moved to Clapham because that’s where everyone I knew lived, and it felt like a safe extension of university life. I no longer live in Clapham and have moved around different boroughs and experienced my fair share of interesting rental properties. The most memorable was the flat with mites in the sofa, and badger paintings on the walls. Lovely. Seven years later I’m still in here..

When I've been out for dinner in London and I've got the time to walk to the station instead of getting the tube, that’s when I love London. Walking over any London bridge when it’s late and the lights are twinkling makes my little heart sing. London has an incredible buzz and there really is always something going on. It’s awesome that I can go to the theatre on a week night (The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night was epic), and go to museums for free, and eat an amazing array of food. We managed to get tickets for the Olympics in 2012 and the atmosphere was incredible, and my love for London came to an all time high. I remember watching the Hockey while the rain beat down. I had soggy feet all day (I still haven’t learnt to always prepare for rain), but when I got home I said ‘that was one of the best days of my life’, and I meant it.



The London parks are stunning and I’ve enjoyed many a run through them with one of my best friends. I’ve run the Royal Parks Half Marathon and tried to take in the beauty, while attempting to keep my heavy legs going. Richmond Park is the largest of the Royal parks and it’s amazing for marathon training (11km circumference), and there are even deer wandering around just minding their own business. We took our Kindle’s and a picnic blanket last summer and read for hours with no awareness we were even in London.

Part of why I love London is because it can feel like everyone is here, and that’s also part of the reason I struggle to love it. It’s just so blinking busy. I’ve become acquainted with so many armpits on the daily commute, and sometimes it’s tiring battling through another crowd. It’s also silly expensive to buy a house/flat/studio/shed. I would love to own a real home someday and paint the walls, and have, dare I say it, some outside space. Ever the optimist I went to see a few flats, which looked amazing in the estate agents pictures. When I arrived the first one was above a Chicken Shop and the extractor fans pumped out the smell of their ‘secret blend of herbs and spices’. All that being said I’m aware of just how lucky I am to live in this wonderful city, so for now we’re staying put.

With love from London…


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