In the words of Passenger,
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
I’m not saying I’m going to miss the Northern line in rush hour, or the way the Central Line turns into a sauna the moment the mercury goes over 19 degrees, but there is also a long list of things about London I will miss.
It’s weird, you stop seeing the city you live in after a while. You stop looking up.
And I know this because recently I’ve been soaking it in, trying to distill as much London into my bones as possible before I get on a one way plane to Sweden.
So here’s what I will miss, friends and family notwithstanding, about this lovely city:
- That look we Londoners share on the tube when it’s been held at a station for more than 2.5 minutes
- Tube drivers who make funny announcements, like the driver on the picadilly line who gave us a run down of the sights at Turnpike Lane in case any of us fancied exploring
- The sheer chaos that happens overground when TFL strikes
- The fact there’s always something new and weird and wonderful happening
- The stubborn north/south divide
- The history
- The MUSEUMS
- Hearing the accent all around me
- Baffling tourists with Cockney rhyming slang
- The mass migration to the city’s parks that takes place between May and July
- The food
- The pubs
- Roast dinners on a Sunday
I’ll stop there before I get too carried away. I’m sure they have marmite in Stockholm…
Now, I’m guilty as much as the next person of saying “I’ll get round to it.” There’s still an awful lot of London I haven’t “gotten around to” despite my years here. So I made a list of things I want to do this summer before I go. Some things I’ve done before and want to do again, but some things (like St Paul’s, I know – how!?) I’ve never done.
- Ride through Hyde Park (it’s the price tag that’s been keeping me at bay…)
- Watch Wimbledon with Pimms and strawberries on Henman’s Hill
- See the Tower of London again (I don’t know why I’m so fascinated with it, I must’ve visited 6 times)
- Go meet the deer at Richmond park
- Visit St Paul’s
- Actually buy food from Borough Market rather than just drinking there
I’m sure there’s more. And I’m also sure I’ll be back, at least for Christmas, so I shouldn’t get too carried away with my farewells as it’ll be somewhat anticlimactic when I rock back up in 3 months time.
London, I love you. 💖
Sophie Writes 