On Saturday everyone in London was out. I was with the majority, lined 10 people thick along the banks of the Thames and all the bridges for the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race. I knew the boats where coming when I heard screaming and was lucky enough to see the boats for about 2 seconds when a friend lifted me up in the air. Other Londoners were marching to protest government cuts on public spending.

Then on Sunday I had breakfast at my all time favourite London cafe Ginger and White in Hampstead, followed by a walk on the Heath where I can walk in the footsteps of Keats and which is in fact my favourite part of London. We met so many attractive dogs, blissfully muddy, more interesting in running free than pats. Rather ironically as I love the city but this wild wooded space is where I am happiest, just walking around either thinking or not thinking. Afterwards I caught the tube to Camden markets and met another friend where we spent hours selecting clothes and presents.

The first few times I visited London I hated it. I had Britpop expectations and instead I found the city and the people grey and gloomy after places like Italy and France. I didn’t understand  the trade off of extremely polite manners that merge on a severe rudeness that cuts to the core.

Now that I’ve changed and I know where to go I love it and right now, it suits me perfectly. If people complain about the coffee I explain that it is clearly a regional taste of locals, they like it, this is their home, respect it.

1. The rush of wind you feel seconds before a train on the tube appears.
2. The ducks.
3. Fur is socially acceptable.
4. That Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters and Tennyson’s portraits hang next to each other in the National Portrait Gallery.
5. The free newspapers on the tube.
   
6. Europe is 2 hours away.
7. The fact that no-one is a part of the city. Its simply too big, everyone is anonymous.
   
8. The buzz. That there is always something on whether it is music/literary/academic/art/comedy/party.
   
9. That I turned down a permanent job in favour of freelancing. That the city is large enough to enable me this career freedom.
   
10. That I have never once had the need to wish I was English or a born and bred Londoner, I am happy and grateful to be an Australian living in London. London allows me this.