When: 2014
Where: London
I mentioned a while back that I had never been to London
until last year when I went twice. It was in the space of a few weeks too. My
family had already booked up to have a trip in summer time and then my friend
Nic found out that a certain Stevie Wonder was playing at the Calling Festival. Two things you need to know. Nic is obsessed (and I don’t say
that lightly) with Stevie Wonder. Two, there was no way she was taking no for
an answer.
So we spent as little money as we could getting a room
somewhere for the night and the transport down there. We went on one of those
mega buses. I swear sometimes you would think we were still teenagers instead
of pretend adults in their twenties. We laughed so hard for the full journey. I’m
talking eight hours there and back. Just looking through the silly photos we
took is making me giggle.
When we got there I was a bit overwhelmed with how busy it
was, especially the underground and what not. I knew it was going to be a bit
chaotic, but nothing like it was. We got to our hotel pretty unscathed though
and literally took an hour or so to have some alcohol and various shots (classy
birds) and then headed over to Clapham Common. Our hotel was two minutes away
which was great.
The concert was just unbelievable. The buzz from everyone and the music were just amazing. Even the spitting rain didn’t spoil it. In between songs Stevie was making jokes and trying to be cockney which was hilarious. We only got one drink at the festival as it was £9 a go. (Another thing I learned about London pretty quick, it isn’t cheap.)
The next day we took a walk around the park and watched the ducks. It was different without huge food tents and stages. We stopped by a pizza place near Victoria and got some lunch. We had planned to go and see some sights but instead just went with the flow and walked around the Victoria area knowing we had to get back there for the coach.
One place we did go was a tiny ice cream place called Olivogelo. My God!!! I have never tasted ice cream like it in my whole life. It’s was…I don’t even have words for it. I loved it so much that when I went back with my family I dragged them there too. I had the pistachio, coconut and salted caramel. (Absolute dream concoction.) Just thinking about it is making my mouth water.
Sometimes it’s just good getting away for a day or two. It’s
even better when it’s just you and your best pal and you can behave like right
idiots. I love going to new places and exploring. I have an ever growing list
of places I just have to visit. I can’t even begin to imagine how many more
things there are just to see in London. I know I’ll not leave it twenty five
years before I next go back though.
Where are your favourite places to visit in London?
