Leaving London suddenly makes me appreciate how great it is. Ok, it might also be linked to the fact that I have the week off work to catch up with friends and can actually spend some quality, chilled out time here. But this happens often with me, the minute I am about to leave something suddenly all the great points come to light.
Why do people like writing lists? There is something amazingly cathartic about putting life into ordered categories. The best type of lists are to-do lists, especially when you can cross everything off by midday. (this might actually be an early sign of OCD, although as I turned 30 last birthday it's more likely to be the real McCoy)
So, what I've decided to list today are things to be missed, and not to be missed in London-town. And yes, I know I can pop back in under an hour, but still, nothing beats a bit of premature nostalgia. Here they are:
(not in any particular order before my family start thinking I will miss Camden Town more than them!)
London missable points
- The endless choice of things to do
- Meeting up with old friends for drinks
- The anonymity - being able to wander for hours completely anonymously
- Meeting someone, talking complete shite and knowing you'll luckily probably never meet them again
- Camden Town (nowhere in the world like it and although my mum rolls her eyes every time I go there, I still think it's ace)
- Family
- Being able to find whatever type of food you fancy
- Browsing books in one of the massive bookshops
- Buskers (although sure there'll be plenty in Brighton)
- Clothes shops (loads of...)
- Watching the 'taking off' of the Barclay's bike (how cute to people look on them?)
- Old red double-decker buses
- 24 hour supermarket 2am emergency visits (admit I've only done this twice but will miss it nonetheless!)
London non-missable points
- Rush hour on the tube
- Always missing the last tube home
- Aggressive people on the tube
- Massive escalators to get onto the tube
- The tube
- Travelling over an hour just to meet a friend
- Pollution
- Traffic
- Expensive tube/taxis/drinks
- Queuing for everything (trying on clothes/at the bar/to get on an escalator...)
- Meeting people whose first question is: 'and what do you do?'
- London's beach (haha! yes, it does exist...just take a walk along the South Bank)
3 comments:
Ah, now according to the list of things you'll miss, there are a few nice surprises in store for you.
We do have a few red buses; only this morning I saw one on the 26 route, and anyway, the cream-red livery here is nicer! We even have a couple of bendy buses which were bought from London and run the 25 route to the universities, though I've yet to spot one.
There are also two 24 hour Asda supermarkets - one of which is on the number 7 bus route which runs 24 hours a day, perfect for those post-midnight snack runs!
As for bookshops, clothes shops and finding whatever food you want, well, if you can't satisfy all of those desires in this city, you're either lost or have your eyes closed!
There's no such thing as the perfect city, of course, but here you can wander as anonymously as you choose whilst listening to those buskers (the sax player by the War Memorial is sadly not as good as he thinks he is) and be whoever you want to be without stares. You'll love it. Just as long as the inevitable 'I want to be somewhere else' feeling after a few months can be survived!
Looks like you really won't miss the tube then!
Hi Laura! This is great, it's nice to see you blogging! I like the idea behind your blog. Moving to Brighton must be exciting, but your list of London things makes me miss it even more...though you are spot in with the things you won't miss (I don't miss them either). I actually just started blogging too, about doing three interesting things a week in St. Louis to get the most out of it. Maybe you can join me and do three interesting things a week in Brighton!
Lots of love,
Yana
http://3interestingthings.wordpress.com/
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