We’ve been going to Bygga Bo, a Swedish café in Walthamstow, often as a bit of a treat on weekends, for a latte and freshly baked kanelbullar. That way the baby can listen to a bit of Swedish and Nicklas feels a little bit less homesick. We’ve also attended a scandi parents meet up a few times, which is great fun, and I’ve even had a dozen Swedish classes on Monday evenings! It’s a great little hub. Hej då!
I’m not what you’d call the sporty type, but I do love London and the ice rinks that open during the cold season are some of the most beautiful winter spots in the city, especially during the dark evenings.
Last Friday I finally saw a West End musical. My parents and I took our seats in the front row of the Prince of Wales Theatre at around 8pm and sat through a highly entertaining 3 hours. I’m glad I won’t be leaving London without experiencing one of its iconic productions. Although I wished I had seen maybe one or two more, Mamma Mia! was probably the one I was most curious about.
Last Friday, after work, some of us headed to the Cask, one of Pimlico’s locals. Alas, I’m not sure how much of a pub I can evaluate when I only had a glass of tap water and crisps. Apparently the Cask has the best and most unsual beers. The interior looked like somewhere I wouldn’t have minded spending a few hours over a nice pub meal. Maybe some other time.
Last weekend I saw the Time Of The Signs exhibition at the Lazarides Gallery in Rathbone Place. Truth be told, we stumbled across the gallery on our way to Charlotte Street Hotel for some cocktails (I had tea), but I had never been there before, so it counts as something new. It was an exhibition by the hyperrealist painter, Boxi—a nice addition to a good day out.
London is a beautiful and exciting city.
Earlier on this blog I mentioned how one of the best things about London is knowing you can do all these wonderful things, if you want to, while most of the evenings are spent indoors and most of the weekends are spent close to home.
I feel I need to get to know London better, to enjoy it a little bit more. From today on I will attempt at doing as many new things as possible. Life has the habit of getting in the way, so I won’t commit to a specific number or a specific frequency. Keeping this challenge until December is as much a commitment as I am willing to make.
Suggestions are welcome. It can be something from going to the end of the Piccadilly line to visiting Buckingham Palace, anything can count as new.
This was not my best week. It wasn’t the worst either, but the lack of energy and inspiration to do anything didn’t help.
Luckily, I’m in London, so getting out of the house and walking around its streets (even under this cold weather — ignore the photo) seems to be enough to cheer me up.
It reminds me that the things I’m stressing out about are probably seen as good things by anyone else other than myself, and, if not, well, we can’t have everything — we might as well be happy with the things we’ve got.
I love this city and it’s starting to get really hard to image my life without it.
I have been going to a lot of concerts recently. In the past twelve months I’ve seen (just in London) Vampire Weekend, Nine Inch Nails, Arctic Monkeys (three times), Lily Allen, Ben Harper. In the next couple of months I’ll see She & Him, Gorillaz, Rage Against The Machine and Caetano Veloso (which sadly clashes with LCD Soundsystem — bittersweet).
This is one of the things I love about London: there is no lack of music events. No matter what you are into, there’s something for you. No matter which new band you’ve just discovered, they will most likely be stopping in London within the next few months.
The only problem is choosing. And not going bankrupt.
Last Tuesday I saw the UEFA Champions game Chelsea vs Apoel, at Stamford Bridge. Apart from some minor Under-21 games with the Portuguese team, that was the actual first proper football game I had ever seen live.
It was easy to get to the stadium and even easier to get in. It was a bit of a pain to leave and get on the Tube, but I wasn’t expecting anything better, really.
Overall, I loved the atmosphere, the game and even the cold was alright. Gotta do it again sometime, but hopefully in the Emirates Stadium, which I can easily just walk to.
I went to the ballet yesterday. We saw Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House, in Covent Garden. We had a drink at the Champagne Bar, and were smartly dressed, like everyone else. I loved it!
It turned out to be a rather expensive evening, but it was worth every cent. It’s good to know that the opportunity of doing it again is right here at me doorstep, every day.