London Calling 🇬🇧
I fell in love with London instantly.
Easily on the list of my favorite cities and one that is certainly a priority to return soon. London incontestably offers more than the Harry Potter at Kings Cross, London Bridge, or Big Ben selfies that rule Instagram and dating apps.
I visited during the rainy fall season, which I found very charming. I was fortunate to experience rain, clouds, and one day of perfect sunshine. Leaves falling, cool weather, frequent rain - I got the impression nearly everyone in London hates the weather, but I found it tolerable and no different than fall in the states.
I was actually looking forward to the rain, which is a rare occurrence in California. At the point of not seeing precipitation ever, I was ready to endure something different.
RAINY METROPOLIS
I didn’t get a photo that screamed “city lights” so I figured I would share one I like from a few years back.
I am a FIEND for cities, lights, hustle, and night.
There’s something in the lyric “City Never Sleeps” —
part of the metropolis heartbeat that I find a hypnotizing gravity in.
“The city never sleeps,
better slip you an Ambien”
This photo said all of that to me. The rain drops, a cool evening, London surging with activity, the chattering street noises, and an eager await of the night’s adventure.
So many of my friends have described NYC and other cities to me:
“I don’t like it. It’s too busy, too dirty, too many people…”
I love New York and London.
Lights.
Unruly mobs of people.
There is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.
City kid all the way 🤙🏻
The London Scaffold
I was surprised to find flights so cheap when booking this trip.
When I arrived in London and walked up from the underground taking my first look at the city it was clear why.
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are under renovation, and the clocktower was nothing more than a taped-up scaffold. Renovations should be complete in 2021. I’m 0 for 2 on major attractions being renovated, not that that’s why I traveled to London, or any destination. The first was Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.
RÜFÜS DU SOL @ Alexandra Palace
RÜFÜS DU SOL was playing in London, I HAD to go.
Alexandra Palace is an extraordinary music venue. It’s a massive indoor hall with food, bars, and places to hang. I wish i’d shown up sooner.
Beers were served in hysterically oversized one and two pint plastic mugs. Two pints is like a Maß in Germany, but these mugs looked way funnier. I should have snapped a photo of the two-pinter. Classic! Watching people try to dance with these obtuse mugs was funny.
The show was lit and Rüfüs dropped some killer new beats in with their current stuff. I was out of body.
Rüfüs recently recorded Solace live in the desert. When I took this photo that’s what I was listening to.
I walked into the music hall exploring the venue, the opener Willaris. K was playing this song.
The escalation and beat drop give me chills. I felt like I was taking off on a rocket ship.
Westminster & Buckingham Palace
I am not one to spend all day taking selfies and photos of and around inanimate objects. It’s what interests me about travel. In fact, I do my best to avoid tourist traps altogether, but some things you have to see. I decided to run my own 10k through London to see the city including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, and Houses Of Parliament.
Listening to my best Rüfüs playlist coming off of the incredible high from the night before.
Not bad having a music, travel, and runner’s high all at the same time.
Proper manners and mutual affection
London is place where the natives loved my accent just as much as I adored theirs. I spent a few hours hours conversing with two Brit women savoring their traditional Sunday Roast before departing to the Arsenal fixture, mutually captivated by one another’s travel stories, affection for London, and differing accents.
Hearing them detail their upbringing and the culture surrounding football was fascinating. There is simply nothing in the US that compares to the universal passion and involvement of all human beings in the game. Imagine your grandma being as into NFL football as you. Seriously.
I had been finished with my meal for some time and hadn’t received a check, maybe out of politeness to not rush me out of the restaurant. I had experienced the night before so I figured I would ask what the etiquette was, hopefully avoiding being the typical ignorant, rude American.
How do I get my check here? Do I have to ask, get up and pretend i’m leaving, what is it? I don’t want to be rude.
The woman replied
People wouldn’t recognize rude here.
Ironically, England is also a place where people excessively say “sorry”— A shoulder bump, a look, or quite possibly nothing at all.
Sorry. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry mate!
I found myself apologizing to inanimate objects by the end of the trip. Sorry, Teacup, so sorry! From what I could gather, running an old lady over in the tube station was acceptable if you get a “Sorry!” in before running off.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
I had the amazing opportunity to score 5th row seats at the Arsenal v. Crystal Palace fixture on 10/27/2019.
Getting to the game was an experience in itself. Taking the tube, jammed with all the football supporters. A mob of red strolling from the Holloway Road & Arsenal tube stations meandering a road lined by small, two story brick homes.
A walk that’s certainly part of home game culture for supporters.
At the stadium, sections are completely segmented into pens. You enter a specified gate into your section which is cut off from other parts of the stadium. Thousands of fans rammed their way towards the small turnstiles trying to get in before the start.
The game kicked off and Arsenal was at light speed. Two corners and the Gunners were ahead two - zero with the first minutes of the game, but the tide rapidly changed as Crystal Palace mounted an offensive for the remainder of the match. The relentless pressure from Arsenal that made it feel the final would be 10 - 0 evaporated, and noise from all-black Crystal Palace supporter section adjacent to me by only a few rows of seats menaced the stadium.
Any goal, big play, or close call - every single fan would shoot up out of their seat turn towards the opposing team section, and scream the most unthinkable profanities. Arsenal fans are the types that clearly have the knife behind their back, ready for any mildly doubtful moment of an excuse to turn on their team.
I have never heard so many expletives including the seldomly used “C" word. The referee, coach, players, line judges, and opposing fans all earned this endearment.
A mystery of an overturned goal and a few exciting chances later, the match ended in a draw. I grabbed a post game pint and talked with a dad and his boy waiting for the crowds to die down outside.
Even if you don’t like sports of any kind, this is an experience you can’t miss. It’s paramount in English culture —universal to all.
Pub culture & Shoreditch hipsters
I didn’t really come across much nightlife in the city. The routine seemed to be exiting work and getting a pint at a nearby pub. There are some pubs that have been in business 150 years longer than the US as been a country.
It was mentioned to me lots of people get blind drunk, but I didn’t see anything unusual. Most blokes were parked at a local pub to hang and grab a beer with their chaps. On Saturday night I took the double decker to Shoreditch.
There was no room to stand inside the Hoxton lobby, which seemed to be the only reasonable place to get into without waiting an hour. The crowd was mixed and I guess I have a type because everyone I spoke to was from Italy, what a surprise. I met people from Northern Ireland, Italy, and England. After hamming it up with the locals over a few beers, I took a taxi back to the hotel well past 2am.
Southbank
I didn’t really know Southbank at all prior to arriving at the Bankside Autograph hotel, but quickly learned a lot of interesting places to see are in this part of the city. Best known for tourist trap major attractions, the London Eye and SeaLife Aquarium, this district has so much more than the first glance offers.
Anchor Bankside Pub
One of the oldest in the city, is a favorite among locals for food and brews. I went there two or three times for food and a pint.
Borough Market
Street market that has nearly everything you can imagine. At night it’s a great spot to grab a quick bite to eat from pop up food vendors offering almost anything your taste buds desire. A warm bite is perfect on a damp rainy night as you walk along the Thames. Borough Market has existed since the 12th Century, year 1014. Yes, over a thousand years ago! How’s that for your local farmers market!
Leake Street Arches
Former railway arches that have since become graffiti tunnels. If you have any street sense it feels like a place you would get jumped, but it’s totally safe. There are several great restaurants and bars that are worth checking out aside from the incredible artwork.
Riverside stroll
Southbank district gets its name because it’s the southern bank of the River Thames. End to end it’s probably a 2 miles one way. Not a bad stroll with some fun sights along the way including an original Shakespeare Theatre, Millenium Bridge, London Bridge, and others.
London Eye
Massive observation wheel just under 450 feet tall with stunning panoramic views.
Millennium Bridge
Pedestrian walkway as seen in the first season of Black Mirror on Netflix. That episode was a thought provoking work of art
London Bridge
It’s a bridge that’s yet to fall down. No more. No less.
BREXIT
I discovered literally nobody supports BREXIT, young and old, at least in London.
BREXIT had been delayed already and was scheduled to go into law on November 1, 2020 - the last day of my trip which would be spent in London. I was looking forward to witnessing politics transcend first hand in a foreign country, but it was yet again pushed off and my interest in taking a BREXIT MADNESS photo was on scrapped, so I settled for the protestors.
The universal sentiment is “politicians messed up and need to figure it out”.
Real world. I saw people protesting every day outside the Houses of Parliament. One occasion, an all Black Range Rover drove out of Parliament which people were particularly irate about, yelling profanities. I laughed and kept jogging through the cool drizzle.
The tube, double deckers, Piccadilly, and Leicester Square
Everything in London transportation wise is done via “The Tube” / underground, or the sea of double decker busses dominating the roadways.
I developed the love for this incessant tube greeting while queued —waiting to board.
Mind the gap. Please mind the gap between the train and the station.
Mind the gap. Please mind the gap.
It honestly couldn’t be a quicker or more efficient mode of transportation. Each tube station has the NFC scanners so you can effortlessly use Apple Pay, or a tap to pay credit card - the system automatically calculates the fare based on the scan in / scan out of the stations.
Friday, my final day of this trip in London, I was out at Piccadilly and Leicester Square. The transit was equal or greater than the New York hustle. Replace NYC cabs with red double decker busses and you have the scene. It was ridiculous how many of the red machines there were, and how rapidly they paced in-out-and-around each and every street corner.
My advice. Look both ways crossing the street and don’t get run over!
Piccadilly Circus is a smaller Brit version of Times Square with plenty of shopping and dining to entertain the masses. Leicester Square offered a more relaxed upscale shopping district to browse.
Stunning during every season
It killed me to leave. The final hours counting down were an utter and dismal, dreary— misery.
I had a conversation about the seasons in London with Shadzi, a local photographer, who spoke to me about his IG handle and his contributors.
“We love London no matter what the weather.”
His IG handle, @mylondonphoto showcases the loveliness of the city throughout the year. I hope to visit during each season - or live there 🤔.
Here are my favorite photos, one from each season:
The next trip to River Thames— London Eye is on the list.
I didn’t have time to get up there, but I wanted to. To me, the city would be best to see at night, but the Millennium Wheel closes early. Maybe that will change before i’m back. Checking out tourist traps over the course of many years seems like an acceptable means of feeling like a local.
Bars recommendations
Anchor Bankside
Just find a hopping spot honestly