Knowing the back streets like the back of my hand, the Thames and the southbank walk, fry ups on the weekend, lazy Sundays, your mp3 player being an integral part of your sanity, reading on the tube, constantly moving, free trashy newspapers, Amy and Peaches always on the front page, our little Moroccan café before the ban, Pret, Wardour Street in all its glory, the Fitzroy on a Tuesday afternoon, VQ in the early hours of the morning, match days in your local, Radio 1 and Radio 4 (and appreciating the difference), being a trendy in Notting Hill, King's Road on a nice day, anywhere on a nice day, Trailer Happiness, the Baker Street and Prince Charles cinemas, Prime Time Video on Goodge Street and the guys who work there (thanks for all the good Korean movie recommendations guys), Oxfam Books, Bang Bang and their magazine cut-out wallpapered walls, obedient dogs in Southwark pubs, discovering Bloomsbury Bowl before it became trendy to bowl, Wembley Stadium, jogging to Cutty Sark, being so busy all the time, fresh coffee and croissants in the morning, Belgian chocolate courtesy of the Belgian flatmate, the laughter that came after the mouse invasion, cooking in the kitchen all the time, milk tea on the couch with plenty of gossip, always having people over, bargain shopping trips, Selfridges Selfridges Selfridges - could there be any other heaven on earth?, Boombox and Sketch, the smell of freshly cut grass, Roman Road market, the DLR during the day, Kate Moss with all her blips, penguin feeding time at the zoo, moody goth kids in Camden, the ruckus of Borough Market and the free baklava, worrying about your 5-a-day, Big Issue guys with a sense of humour, Friday evening after work sessions at the Bridge followed by dinner at that little Thai place, Dick and Dom on a Saturday morning, running to catch a bus and making it, the beep of my oyster card, chatting to taxi drivers about the price of property and football teams (all those QPR fans, who would have thought), awful 70's theme nights when you're the only person dressed normally, seeing other people grimace at the Hare Krishna Hare Ramas, taking in shows, the Young Vic, summer dresses the minute the sun comes out, boots and macs, Khan's, walking for an hour and not getting tired, giving up your seat for older women on the bus, buskers who play good old fashioned music (like George Harrison's "Here comes the sun"), nice streets off dodgy streets, words like "Fuzz" and "Cotch", Primark, the V&A, M&S, swans on the river, bold fashion statements, the satisfaction of slipping on the tube just as the doors close, walking out of work to breath-taking views of Tower Bridge and the lights of the City, appreciating the little things, men always holding doors open for women, always seeing the bigger picture, living in the City and feeling like you're going somewhere…
And there's always more...
