It’s not often that I share my visits over to London where my best friend lives. Usually because it’s a rushed weekend involving laughing till our cheeks hurt, putting the world to rights and a whole lot of crisp white wine. But the last time I was back in good old Blighty we decided to make the most of the sun and spend a fun day out in Lahndannnn town.
Let me be totally honest here. London scares me. Shove me half a world away in the middle of nowhere in Bolivia and I’m totally fine. Put me on the underground and ask me to get somewhere and I suddenly crumble into this panicking stressful hot mess. Without the hot part.
Luckily Jen and her fiancé Rich are pro’s at tackling a tube map. So getting over my irrational fear of spending a day travelling up and down the same ruddy green line (I can only get places by the colours I haven’t the foggiest idea of the names of the lines – shameful I know) we braced it into the big wide world of London. If adorable baby Harry can manage it, then I can man up too.
I swear Rich should write a London blog as he knows all the coolest places, impressing me with tracking down hidden gems and showing us a side to the city that I’ve never experienced before. The same went with our trip to a pop up bar and farmers market on the roof of the former BBC Television Centre multi story car park. I know, a party on a car park roof. But bear with me on this.
Walking past a smiling bouncer and cramming into a knackered looking lift we rode up to the top floor of the car park. There wasn’t a clapped out Volvo or oil spill to be seen. Instead the two level concrete parking had been transformed into hipster heaven. Laid back DJ’s played funky soul classics, mismatched stalls sold food from all over the world and old beer barrels and boxes were transformed into snuggly seats and day beds. The vibe was welcoming, relaxed and fun. I felt like I could have been in one of those Bulmers adverts as I gazed around at people of different ages and styles laughing with their friends in the warm sunshine. Not that we were sat on the roof of a car park in West London.
Greg and Rich picked up two enormous jerk chicken burgers from White Men Can’t Jerk street food stall, which just fitted into their wide hungry mouths. Just. Jen and I posed for selfies, entertained Harry who was entranced by cute pups racing around, sipped on homemade cider and tried but failed to keep our box of chips to ourselves.
Cool graffiti and huge eye catching murals brightened up the rough grey walls, thanks to the talented people at the charitable organisation somewhere_to, showcasing the work from young artists and London street artists, which competed for your attention along with the panoramic view over West London.
Once the sun had started to set, we rolled our way out of there feeling happy, full and oh so cool. I even managed to survive the tube journey home, I reckon I’m getting the hang of this underground lark now.
It’s free to enter, children and dogs are welcome and takes place every weekend, details can be found here. However, you’ve got to be quick as this unique event will be closing the 9th-11th October, so experience it whilst you can!
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