Working on a London-related project this afternoon got me seriously pining to go back! No matter how long you've been away, it's too long. Coolest bloody city on the planet. Always something to do...even if you don't drink! I've been flashing back to things that stood out most on each trip. Back...
...to my first trip at 18... Youth hostel at Earl's Court with all the Australians, discovering Fosters Lager before Crocodile Dundee ruined it, the tail end of punk rockers, pub crawls on double-decker buses, Stonehenge, Bass Ale, Hampton Court, Fuller's London Pride Ale, discovering Go West, Wham! and Level 42 before they hit the US, Newcastle Brown Ale, Sherlock Holmes Pub, The Albert, dim sum near Leicester Square, feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square, saying goodbye to new friends while toasting with Fosters Lager...
...to staying in Hampton & Lewisham in my early 20s...Spitting Image puppets on TV, Hither Green station, Courage Ale, coin-operated room heater in the cheapest B&B in Edinburgh, rediscovering Scotch in an attempt to keep warm, Giulford, Samuel Smith's India Ale, touring Europe with absolute strangers on a crowded motorcoach and loving every person I met, toasting Fergie and Andrew's wedding with Whitbread Pale Ale...
Now that I think about it, It's amazing I remember anything about London. Let alone enough to make me pine for it! But I do. Now just sit listen to the first two songs on the playlist, and you will too. Cheers mate!
...to staying in Hampton & Lewisham in my early 20s...Spitting Image puppets on TV, Hither Green station, Courage Ale, coin-operated room heater in the cheapest B&B in Edinburgh, rediscovering Scotch in an attempt to keep warm, Giulford, Samuel Smith's India Ale, touring Europe with absolute strangers on a crowded motorcoach and loving every person I met, toasting Fergie and Andrew's wedding with Whitbread Pale Ale...
...to my 5th trip for my honeymoon at 29...Liberty of London, the ceiling tiles at the Euston Plaza Hotel, Carling Black Label, the ceiling fan at the B&B in Tenby Wales, G&T in one bottle, train to Wales, the ceiling tiles back at the Euston Plaza (it was our honeymoon--I spent a lot of time looking up), Sunday dinner in Saundersfoot, 36 pubs in 14 days, rum balls from Harrod's food court, Slug and Lettuce Lager, Slug and Lettuce Light, having tea at the table next to Bill O'Reilly at Covent Garden back when he was only a semi-jackass, first Stella Artois, discovering Belgian beer kicked British beer's ass...
...and to my last trip, when my son first met London...Stella Artois within a hour of landing, no more pigeons in Trafalgar Square, the London Eye, Jennie's graduating, Stella, Evan digging up bones and pipes at the Tower Bridge, finding out pubs let kids in before 6, Stella, boat down the Thames to Greenwich, Stella, finding a hidden creperie along the river on the East End, discovering Stella doesn't sit well with crepes...Now that I think about it, It's amazing I remember anything about London. Let alone enough to make me pine for it! But I do. Now just sit listen to the first two songs on the playlist, and you will too. Cheers mate!
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