Currently sitting in a bar in Central London sipping on a dark Arabic coffee. It’s a place I have frequented for over ten years. Inside the decoration has changed beyond belief since the first time I ever stepped foot her for the first time.
Gazing outside the window it’s apparent to see how the landscape of London is adapting to modern times too. The old shops once adorned the streets are now replaced by a plethora of strangely shaped glass buildings. The buses are no longer the iconic ones seen on posters. Yes, there is no denying that London is changing.
Each time I come back now it feels more and more different. It was funny at first, after living here for over ten years. The little things that would always drive me mad (tube, cyclists jumping red lights etc.) were now things I would laugh at. London was a different place, I was no longer a resident but a stranger. I remember once I could almost know exactly where I was going without looking at a map, now I need a sat nav to find my hotel.
New buildings rise, old haunts are torn down and the memories that I once had seem to be discarded into the wind. A whisper of yesteryear. Most of my friends have gone, moved away or simply vanished into thin air. The pubs I shared delightful memories in are either called something else or just don’t feel the same.
Yet amongst the forever-changing skyline there is the familiarity of all that is quintessentially London. The black cabs, the old outdoor food markets and of course the throng of Traffic Wardens.
It is a city that I called home for all of my twenties. I arrived a fresh-faced child and left a grown man. It made me laugh and made me cry. I had the best and worst days of my life here. I made friends and enemies. I loved and also lost.
London is a city that owns me. No matter where I go in life I will always somehow return. I remember when people used to ask me where my home town was I could never answer. Now its unassuming…
London.
