... you big, beautiful, crazy city! It was not quite the weekend I expected, but I was in London, again. As you can see, even (almost) a year after moving away, I still cannot let go of it. My connections with this big city still exist. And they better keep existing!
The reason for my trip was Ed Sheeran, meeting up with him at Wembley. Or more accurate, he was meeting up with 92'000 people at Wembley and I was just one of them. I was supposed to go there with my friend, who would have travelled in from Switzerland - we planned it all months in advance. Secured the tickets last year, then booked the holidays and once they were finally approved, we booked the hotel, in the middle of Aldgate. Then I got covid two weeks in advance and was worried I couldn't go, but I significantly felt better and then my friend tested positive ... Our cancellation policies meant we would lose all the money and the tickets were only accessible over the phone and assigned to my name, so no point reselling. To not let the whole trip go to waste, I made my way to London on Friday afternoon - alone.
It was just before 7pm when I arrived at Wembley, already crowded with couples, families and everyone else who wanted to see Ed. With a Dark'n'Stormy in my hands, I went down on the pitch and waited for the concert to begin. Ten minutes before the show was due to start, a countdown appeared on the big round screen and for the first time ever I was thankful that an artist told his viewers when he was starting with the concert. No endless waiting and dragging the start in length. Everyone was ready and so was he. The concert started with a banger from his "=" album: Tides. Then the slower songs started and my emotions took over, sad for my friend to miss out and for us to miss this weekend together. A friendly human being spotted me and just as Ed played the first few tunes of Castle On The Hill, she ran over to, put her arm around me and asked if I was here on my own. I nodded. "I think you should join us", she suggested and meant herself and her boyfriend. The offer was lovely, but knowing my emotional state and the nature of this concert (= couple-event!), I thankfully declined and enjoyed the show for myself, not ashamed to just dance-off when he played Shivers, Shape of You, Galway Girl and all his other hits. He smashed it! It was an absolutely great concert with fireworks, a great stage show and obviously, the crowd! Everyone singing along to all his songs was a goosebumps atmosphere all the way through the two hours.
The next morning, I woke up with a terrible headache and feeling queasy. Were two Dark'n'Stormy really too much for me to cope with? Feeling this uneasy and having a day ahead alone, I dragged it to get out of the hotel. I booked a hairdresser appointment for the afternoon and dinner with my old boss, so I had a few hours to spend on my own. I didn't have to walk far, before I stopped at Trade Coffee for breakfast. I was kindly seated at a table and after a little confusion about whether I had to order myself or would be served, I walked over to the two girls and placed my order. You won't believe me, but I didn't go for the avocado dish. I ordered the muesli with apples and almonds. Patiently waiting for my food, I felt even sicker and I worried that I might have to throw up. What was happening? Luckily, that was not the case and adding something to my stomach definitely helped. The muesli was a little too cold, so I ate it at a very slow pace, which was alright. I didn't have to rush off anywhere. I would have loved to sit outside in the little backyard with my friend and start the day just off right, making plans for the day. But that was not the case, so I made my own plan - which was to head to Trafalgar Square to Waterstones. The last time I was at Trafalgar Square I was waving my little Union Jack flag for the Queen's Jubilee Anniversary, and this time I could have waved the rainbow flag. It was Pride Weekend and a Pride Parade was taking place at Trafalgar Square. I just landed again in the middle of a huge crowd! To my own luck that wasn't the case for Waterstones, so I turned my round in it in peace and quiet, walking out after an hour with three different books. It's not safe to let me wander around a bookshop by myself. More to that a little later ...
With a bag full of books in my hand and the wrong time schedule in my head, I headed back to the hotel to get ready and then back to Holborn to get my hair cut. I was shocked to see how much it changed. First of all, Espresso Room is not in the same place anymore and all the other shops apart from the hairdresser and a Spaghetti House have closed on Sicilian Avenue. Rowan, my hairdresser, told me a little later that the council is expecting to renovate the avenue and all other shops have relocated already, while they are still due to move - and actually wait for the renovation to kick off. I had really been looking forward to getting back to Espresso Room, the first independent coffee shop I walked into in London!
With a new haircut and on time to meet my old boss, I headed down to Aldwych and was ready for a Saturday night out in London. The streets were buzzing, colourful and excitement filled the air. We went to the restaurant we had the reservation at, had a drink which we both didn't quite like and then moved on to wine. White for her, red for me. I made sure to drink a lot of water in between, under no circumstances did I want to wake up again with a throbbing head tomorrow morning. Shortly before 10pm, we headed over to The Alchemist, a place I've only ever read about and now suddenly I was there. It's a very dark, but a cool bar with amazing drinks. We pushed through to the bar and got carried away by the music, singing along to the songs while we were waiting to give our order. That annoyed the barkeeper, who told us to keep it down (party pooper) and animated the guy next to us, who was fighting to give his order as soon as the barkeeper was finished with the other drinks. The barkeeper turned to us first, which annoyed the other guy, so I placed the order for all of us, which in return, made him so happy that he paid for our drinks as well. Happy days! We danced to a few more songs, had anothe round of drinks and then we went to a private members club. A private rooftop in the middle of Soho!! With a view of a coloured London Eye and The Shard, an Amaretto Sour (not the best, though) in our hands, I didn't mind the cold wind brushing through our hairs. We called it a night at 1am and made our way home. It was a night out to remember!
On Sunday, the sun was shining and I was up at 9am. My new haircut still looked great, and I was out and about in the streets of Aldgate again. Trade Coffee shop sounded like a great option for breakfast again, but I wanted to go to another place. Wandering through Spitalfields Market, Liverpool Street and then turning into a narrow side street, I suddenly stood in front of Crispin. I walked into this asymmetrical building of a coffee shop bang in the middle of the little piazza and waited to be seated. The waiter seemed to not see me and served first the couple behind me (well ...). So I stood up for myself and made me visible (even though I think I am quite visible!!). The waiter brought me to a lovely table outside and I studied the menu. Today I really wanted the avocado on sourdough and ... couldn't get it. It was not on the menu! No avocado on sourdough for me this weekend, can you believe that?! I chose the Borlotti Beans, Chorizo and Fried Egg on Sourdough and an oat latte. How pleased I was to taste Oatly again, London knows which oat milk to serve! The breakfast tasted delicious as well and I did not regret my order. It was a perfect way to start this sunny Sunday.
My next stop was the Whitechapel Gallery, which was an obvious stop being only a short walk away. It was nice and quiet and interesting to see some quirky art. After that, I headed to Southbank and then to Big Ben! I had to see what they did with it, was it scaffolded for more than four years! The tower looked nice and shiny and I admit, the tourist still lives in me. When it comes to walking though, I could be a Londoner, rushing through the slow-walking tourists between Westminster and Trafalgar Square. My aim was to get to Paperchase, the big store. It turned out that the one on Goodge Street closed and the nearest shop - inside a Next, was a pure disappointment. A bit down, I just wanted to have a coffee and a cake, and as I was in the area, a stop at Drury Coffee sounded like the best solution. I stayed for an oat latte and a carrot cake, and then headed back to the hotel, where after a bit of contemplating, I decided to head back to Liverpool in the evening, rather than the next day.
Nevertheless, I kept my day off today and after a little housework in the morning, I took this opportunity to head to Waterstones (yes, again!), as I didn't quite find the book I was looking for in London. With already three novels in my arms and on the way to the cashier, I gave a last look in the stationary section and found the book I was looking for. So my own libary is seven books richer and that happened only in the course of 48 hours! 😝 In the late afternoon, I headed out to Mother Espresso, as I really fancied a piece of banana bread and obviously, where to write about a weekend like this no better than in a coffee shop? Exactly!
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