Monday 13 August 2007

London in the Summer

This blog post was originally written on Wednesday 8th August.

So somewhat suitably, this first blog comes as an “outside broadcast” style. I’m sitting in a Starbucks on the Strand, waiting to meet some of my family for dinner before going to see Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. First and foremostly, whilst I’m looking forward to it, I’m not a man who likes his musicals (although I did enjoy The Lion King at Christmas), and I’m definitely not the type who follows the selection of the leads of West End Shows on these new reality TV programmes that BBC and ITV broadcast – something that puts me at odds with my younger cousins! So its with trepidation that I see what this performance is like – for me, Joseph is always going to be Philip Schofield (yes, I’m that old), so this Lee whathisname has something to live upto.

Anyway, to the point: its lovely down here and the sun is shining (a rare pleasure), and it makes me happy to see London so buzzing and so busy. In a mere 5 years time the Olympics will be upon us, and this time in twelve months the next Games will be kicking off in Beijing, something I’ll be looking forward to.

What makes London so special is its beautiful blend of people from across the world, each who have made their day here in London their own – and all for different reasons. As I write this and watch out the window, it’s great to see tourists from every corner of the world, business people making their way home, people who are in town for the day and those who are out for the night. I can see the historic London Routemaster buses go past (thank God Politically Correct Ken Livingstone hasn’t managed to get rid of them all), and see the Black London Taxi.

London is a vibrant place, a wonderful city and everyone should come visit. The UK should be proud of this place, and proud of everything it brings – from the multiculturalism to the business, from the tourist pound to the financial pound, from Royalty to Politicians. This is London – and I’m remarkably proud of it.

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