New Year in London

Ah, new years eve. It brings back fond memories of watching the fireworks, drinking wine and then walking home in the moonlight. In Sydney.

Sadly, its just not the same in London. The weather is probably the main reason.

And prior to this year, so it seems, the fireworks in London were ...... well, pitiful is the best word to describe them. Apparently, this year things are much improved, though we have warnings of wind and rain. The weather, again.

I remember making an effort to get out and enjoy a London new year in 1999/2000. I mean, quite a memorable year to do it if ever I was going to. So there we were, a bunch of us sitting in the dark and cold on the south bank, looking out at .......... nothing. Just the Thames in front of us. In darkness. Along with around 100 other people in the immediate area.

Around midnight someone claimed they saw a flash of light, but it quickly vanished. I think it was wishful thinking on their part.

Apparently, extra effort had been put into the London new year fireworks that year - people say they were quite good but you had to be standing right near the London Eye. I think they fizzled out before they reached the south bank, a mile or so up river. Not sure if it was planned that way.

Where we were, we weren't even sure it had struck midnight. Eventually, figuring it must have, we celebrated - for me, it was as much about being able to finally go home and get warm. We walked home - in the cold and dark.

Right at this moment, the Sydney fireworks have started - see the picture above. Two hours before midnight. The Aussies sure now how to have a fireworks party and to celebrate new year. But its probably due to the weather.

Icons of England

Yes, the list of English icons has been updated again. Now we have the likes of Winnie the Pooh, the V for Victory hand signal and ............... the English weather. The English weather?? An icon ??

London on heat

Why is it that it FEELS so hot in London when it is actually not any hotter than places like Thailand, Greece and Sydney that I have visited in summer?

Reasons?

1 - London shops typically have crap air conditioning and refrigeration. I was talking about this with a cabbie yesterday. How come when you go into a corner shop in say a little village in Crete, the drinks are icy cold. Always. Yet, go into similar in London and the drinks are at room temperature, even when in the "fridge" (and I use the term loosely.)

2 - London transport has no air conditioning. Get onto the overground metro in Bangkok and it is like walking into a cool room. In London, I hear the tube resembles a furnace and temperatures are so high it would be illegal to transport livestock in them.

3 - Lack of water to cool off in. Let's not go into the hose pipe ban, but the only places for Londoners to cool off in are probably their showers at home, public swimming pools (yuk, remember - people who swim in these are hot. Hot means they are probably sweaty. Then they get into this body of water - with other people. Yuk.) or the Thames (think cholera, dysentry, anything but safety really.)

Anyway, my poor kittens are suffering in the heat and probably think the end of the world is nigh. This is their first summer. So I have been pouring water on our lawn so they can sit on it to cool down. As for me, keep in the shade and drink loads of cold water - and think of the pounds I am hopefully sweating off :-)

Leaving London - when and why?

Every year - usually between January and March, when the weather in London is grim - I think about heading back to Oz.

And so it happened today. There I was, sitting at my laptop at 7 am on a cold and drizzly "day" (still pitch black, really, outside.)

In accordance with my usual work morning routine, I browse the Sydney Morning Herald web site over coffee, just to check the place is still there and the natives haven't been too restless while I've been sleeping. And on the home page this morning is an advert for new waterside apartments at Twin Waters, on the Sunshine Coast.

Any place with such a happy name deserves a look - and besides, I already happen to own an apartment in that area so it sort of feels like my second home anyway (even though I've never seen it - long story.)

So, looking at the photos, it got me thinking (again) about why I would want to leave London.

• crowds
• rubbish on streets
• the general cost of living
• has to be, the weather
• rude or unfriendly people

Now, I would probably also get most of the above if I moved back to Sydney - so I'm not. But somewhere with loads of sunshine, brilliant, clean, uncrowded beaches, plentiful tropical fruit and not too many people sounds just ideal to me, sitting here in London at this time of year.

The question is, when will I bite the bullet and make the move. After living in London for nearly 17 years, it will be tricky. I mean, there's 17 years of accumulated crap, for starters. Maybe I'll do what I did when I left Oz to come here all those years ago - bring over what I could carry in a backpack and sell the rest.

Maybe next year.......... or the year after.......... or maybe after that...................

Let's talk about the weather

why not, most people in London do.

It's very odd. For a country so small in size, the weathermen spend a lot of time analysing it. Even the news bulletins for London provide an analysis of the weather across different parts of the city. Places that are less than 10 miles apart.

It's going to rain - or it isn't. Probably all we need to know, surely.

We can figure out the rest based on the time of year.