London Calling
Let's just say London could have been my Sydney but then I wouldn't know the people I do today who made my London weekend amazing!
Returning back to a city after 12 years with friends that live there has a completely different feel to it. I landed in London and was greeted by one of my oldest and dearest friends I've known literally my entire life and i felt like a local with the Oyster card and a SIM card all sorted for me even before I landed.
I then make it to my gorgeous French friends house and the door to house opens for me to find our friend from Paris right there greeting me as a surprise ready to kick-off an amazing girls weekend. We were all three together after 7.5 years and I don't think I could have asked for a better birthday present.
To make sure I don't get jet lagged we have a crazy busy day planned ahead to keep me on my feet and awake. We make our way to the borough markets to fill our bellies and have a celebratory drink before starting our long walk along the Thames while admiring the beautiful sites London had to offer on a gorgeous summers day. Our walk lead us from Tower Bridge through the Tower of London down past Shakespeare's Globe to the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern all along to London Eye and Big Ben - we covered it all.
Exhausted and very much in need for a good meal we decide to treat ourselves to some Peruvian food. With no clue about what the place is like we end up in flip flops and travel gear to one of the fanciest restaurants around - Coya. Have to say it was the most delicious meals. Every course was sublime and we sure felt like we treated ourselves to some luxury dishes. Day one was complete and already set the stage for an amazing 5 days in London.
Over the next 4 days I covered everything from the busy shopping streets of Oxford and Regent over to Hyde park and of course Harrods which honestly is a museum for fashion as you walk through stunning outfits and things you can only see and not touch until you get to the food hall - now that's something else altogether.
Over to Soho for lunch where I met an ex colleague and then my favourite area in Central London - Covent Gardens. There was dinner and afternoon snacks and drinks in this area and New York's Balthazar in this buzzing area just adds to it's charm.
Another suburb I did enjoy was Shoreditch. The hipster burb reminded me a bit of Surry Hills / Newtown of Sydney and well this was were I did have to admit that London's Indian food actually is pretty darn good - Dishoom in Shoreditch had the street Bombay food with a chilled out veranda and classy bar to meet your mood.
To wrap it up - all I can say is that at the end of this lovely 5 day trip I was ready as ever to move to London for a year and live close to Europe and for once a city that has a winter. Not quite sure I would survive and I'm probably just gonna want to get back to my little bubble in Bondi Beach but hey it's worth a shot before my 31st to make use of the working holiday visa!
