Blog 28 – A year in the life.
We have now lived in London over 14 months.
During this time, we have been in the great situation of being both ‘tourists’ and ‘local’. We have done almost all the usual touristy things now; Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Jack the Ripper walking tour; but we have also been able to do more of the regular, everyday things too. That is what has made living here such a great adventure.
I keep a spreadsheet (no surprise there) of the tourist-like places in London we have been; it has a simple recommendation rating system of possibly, probably, and absolutely. The current list has 41 listings, of which, 25 are recommended ‘absolutely’. This includes some pricy options such as the Warner Brother Studios tour where the Harry Potter movies were made. This is absolutely a must-see for any Harry Potter fan. Live theater in the West End where we have seen such hits as Hamilton, Man of La Mancha, and The Play That Goes Wrong. Visiting Westminster Abbey, including the new Galleries. There are also many free items in this category, such as: The Museum of London, The British Museum, or any of the “Markets” like Camden, Burroughs, or Portobello Street. Some of the places I think a visitor can skip, but probably won’t, are: Piccadilly Circus; a true circus of people, not just cars going through a roundabout. I include Leicester Square in this category too, but it at least has a great Lego store.
Because we live here, we get to use London as a home base. We have routinely traveled within England and out of the country to places like Scotland, Spain, France, Netherlands, and Croatia. For the most part, these trips are documented in my blog postings and include my/our impression of the places visited. All have been worthwhile, with most earning a ‘we could come back here again’ review – with one exception, after the nine days in Prague because of the stolen wallet, we don’t feel a need to go back there, Prague is ‘done’.
And, we get to be ‘local’. We can walk to the Hammersmith Apollo by following the Thames from Chiswick to Hammersmith or take the Underground for three stops. This is a major event venue where we have seen performers such as Jerry Seinfeld, k.d. lang, and Hootie and the Blowfish. Also, in Hammersmith is Belushi’s Bar. Belushi’s is one of the few places in London that show American NFL games. The selection is limited; the provider (Sky Atlantic) selects one game to show from each time slot plus the Red Zone channel. Sundays at 6:00 pm, this is the place to be for any NFL fan in London. When the Ravens/Bills game was the selected game, Belushi’s was packed with members of the UK Ravens fan group. We have also been able to go a couple of the NFL games played in London. We saw Carolina Panthers vs the Buccaneers at the new Tottenham Stadium and the Rams vs Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley. NFL fans in London celebrate all teams, it is great fun to attend a game where fans are in all 32 team’s jerseys and rooting for the best plays regardless of team.
With more time here we have found smaller shows and venues that as tourists we would probably miss. We have gone to a couple improv musicals which are quite a fun way to spend an evening. Some of our favorite bands have come to London; Dustbowl Revival played at Nells Jazz Club in Kensington and Dawes was at the Islington Assembly Hall. A great evening was spent at the Simon and Garfunkel Story which is a combination of impersonated songs and historical context. The Union Chapel hosts Comedy Nights every month with locally known entertainers trying out their new material; proceeds fund their outreach programs.
We go to dinner, we go to the pub, we go to the mall. We go to Westfield Mall, the largest covered shopping development in London – and we can walk to that too, or take a bus. Westfield has a huge selection of stores and a beautiful movie theater, the VUE. VUE was our favorite for many months and was where we saw all the American movies you probably saw too, but then we found the Archlight Cinemas at Battersea; this is our current favorite. Built under the arches of the Overground train coming out of Victoria Station, next to the redevelopment project of the Battersea Power Station, this is a very comfortable and intimate theater. All three screening rooms are small, holding 50 – 60 patrons at a time; but the seats are comfortable, the projection beautiful and the sound system is great. We had the perfect seats for Star Wars, it did not disappoint.
It has been a great year with adventures and joys large and small. We are excited for 2020 and ready to see where the new year, the new decade, takes us. We do know that it will take us out of London. We will be moving again on, or about, April 1, 2020. Coty is moving their headquarters and consolidating many of the smaller offices currently situated around the world into a new location in Amsterdam. Andy has agreed to be part of this transition and has committed to 18 months in Amsterdam effective April 1. While in many ways we feel we have just now really gotten a handle on London, we are excited to move to another European city.
While we know it is less likely that friends and family may be in the neighborhood of Amsterdam, please let us know if you are; we would love to see you.
Wishing the best for all and to all for 2020 and beyond.