The whole aim of this blog is to help you, the seasoned city pavement pounder, to put down the pints on the weekend and see the world on your weekends -Â LOOK OUT ALLITERATION OVERLOAD – yeah, that’s how I roll. Now I’ve got your attention haven’t I?
I am a massive advocate for exploring outside of your comfort zone, ever since I left Australia and came to London. Throwing yourself onto a plane and landing in a foreign country puts you into a scenario where anything could happen. Your bags could get lost, the bus into the city might never turn up, and you’ve gotta think on your feet and make the best of it.
The whole weekend getaway thing is fantastic, and I love discovering and exploring amazing parts of Europe, but it’s worth taking five to stop and appreciate where you live. Where you are and what you’re doing, and the world around you. That’s where London comes in.
London is where I call home now. I think I’ve seen every square inch of every airport here and can almost visualise the entire tube map in my head. I love it, it’s an amazing city. There is a consistent feel of “anything could happen”. That if you wanted to, you could go out tonight and learn salsa dancing with some Cubans, have some caiprinhas after with some Brazilians and then some fish and chips with a bloke from Essex on the tube home. It’s the most international, multicultural city around, and I originally thought only Melbourne could lay claim to that title.
Camden. Hampstead Heath. Standing in the middle of Piccadilly Circus and feeling like the whole world is revolving around you. Or catching glimpses of London landmarks like Big Ben, the London Eye and St Paul’s Cathedral down a laneway, are all compelling idiosyncrasies of this city.
Or when you cross the Thames in a black cab and suddenly, the closed-in density of the city bearing down upon you disappears, and all there is to your left and right for those 30 seconds is the expanse of the river and nothing else. That’s what London is about, this metropolis of experiences, feelings and urbanscapes.
So when I came across the video, you can bet I loved every second of it. It really epitomises everything amazing about London. So press play and enjoy everything I said ^^ up there, but in moving pictures.
You’ve Got to Love London from Alex Silver on Vimeo.
