We took a trip to London a few weeks ago (I know, I know...I'm behind on blogging) and I just fell in love with the city. Here are 10 things I love about London, in no particular order:
1. It's classy.
People speak properly, they dress properly, and the men are gentlemen. Oh, and they speak English. I sure love that.
2. Harrod's.
It is the world's largest department store. As intimidating as it is, I just loved it. It's everything a department store should be. Posh, elegant, and never-ending. Their perfume section is about the size of China. There's a line in the new version of The Parent Trap where the girl's takes her shopping and says, "Let's go get lost in Harrod's!" Oh, and it's totally possible. It's huge. I looked around the interior section and I found the most adorable accent table and teacups. I didn't want to take a picture though, because, for crying out loud, I was in Harrod's. It's kind of posh in there, you know?! I also looked around the children's section. Luxury lines of clothing for your baby. Christian Dior and Marc Jacobs for your little ones. Oh fabulous. The apparel galleries (yes, can I call them galleries? They definitely weren't like any store I have seen before) were just like the movies. You walk in and see a rack with one of each item--a fur coat, a cream jacket, a navy blazer. I didn't feel like I could even touch a rack without a salesperson taking the item of the rack for me. The best part--as I left Harrod's to get on the subway, I saw some Red Hat Society members congregating by one of the doors. It was quite an enjoyable moment for me, because I realized that is just what a Red Hat Society member should do--go to Harrod's for the day!
3. St. Paul's Cathedral.
One thing I definitely don't like about London is that it costs a lot of money to get in all the churches and many other places you could possibly want to go into. However, if you attend a worship service at St. Paul's it costs you nothing to enter. So that we did! I loved the choir--it was composed of half adults and half children, and the sound was beautiful. St. Paul's is designed in the neoclassical style, one of my personal favorites. It was so clean and beautiful. A lot of old churches and cathedrals feel dark and gloomy, but I love St. Paul's because it feels light and airy. St. Paul's is also the church on Mary Poppins, "...feed the birds, tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag..." I didn't realize this until after I had been to St. Paul's (and actually after I had left London), but I remember all the birds flying around St. Paul's. No bird woman, but I can put her in a memory of St. Paul's with the birds.
4. Kensington Gardens.
Most beautiful park in the world. I absolutely loved it. My favorite memory of London is getting up early to go jogging in the mist-covered gardens that seem to stretch on forever. I love the monuments, the wildlife, the Serpentine, all of it.
5. English food.
It's not bad like people make it out to be. They also have fabulous Indian food in London. Not to mention Wagamamas, a Japanese food chain restaurant that I just LOVED. We only have 2 in the US, one in Boston and one in DC. I'm making a pilgrimage when I get back to the States. Oh and scones. Scones from Harrod's. Mmm.
6. Shows in London.
Broadway, Shakespeare, you name it. I saw Shakespeare's As You Like it at the Globe and Phantom of the Opera in Her Majesty's Theatre...now doesn't that sound fancy.
7. Sunsets on the Thames
My first night I got to see this...and that's when I fell in love.
8. Covent Garden on Friday nights.
My friend Sara and I went to Covent Garden and walked around the beautiful quaint streets with their shops and restaurants and pubs. We saw an adorable restaurant with heat lamps around the tables and seating on the roof. We saw boys calling up to an apartment above for their friend to come down and go out with them that night. We saw men gathering and intellectualizing around jovial looking pubs. In the square, musicians sometimes come to play their music and maybe make some money, if they are lucky. We finished our night around the Covent Garden square listening to a guitarist in a small section of the courtyard. I can't even describe how perfect it was, the perfect London experience. It was dark outside, but the light coming from the restaurant nearby created the perfect ambiance. A small group was gathered around him, a guitarist who sang with a soft kind of roughness that fit in perfectly with the now-silent shops and streets surrounding us. His final song was Iris from Goo-Goo Dolls. The whole feeling was indescribable--with the quiet streets that still buzzed with people and the warm lighting and the cobblestone streets...another reason to fall in love with London.
This is a fountain close to the area in front of the National Gallery--it lit up with lights that changed colors--from blue to purple to orange and then yellow and green.
9. London is clean and tidy.
10. London just fit in with who I am--it was classy, friendly, safe, clean, proper, and absolutely lovely--and I loved it. A person can be alone in London. In Paris, I wanted to be with people, but in London I was content to be by myself. People get up early. They go jogging early. They go to work early. This city suits me!
