Three Times in Three Months

I am aware that the title leaves a lot to the imagination but that is exactly what I was going for. It is important that you, the reader, starts this story off with not much of an idea of what it is about. Now that I’ve got your attention, I will elaborate by noting that this story is about the trips I’ve made in the past three months – November 2012, December 2012, and January 2013.

I knew I had a special love for London since the first time I came here back in 2011. To this day I’m still not sure what it is about this city that I love so much, but what I do know is that it has continuously brought me back here time and time again. The fact that two of my best friends live here, which means I have more of a reason to come up and pay a visit, may be the biggest contributing factor, but if I’m honest it is probably not just this fact that keeps pulling my attention to this city.

My first visit here was in 2011 when a couple of friends and myself decided to plan a holiday to London where we would stay with another friend of ours who lives and works here. That particular holiday comprised mostly of sightseeing so involved a lot of walking around and rushing to see all the landmarks and places of interest in the short time that we had. Though I’ve been here with friends from Malta, I’ve made the journey here alone more times than with others. The main reason for my trips to London has always been to watch some band play live at one of the many music venues available in this city. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Black Keys, The Macabees, The Cat Empire and Alt-J are all bands I’ve had the pleasure of watching in London and since I consider music to be a very big part of my life, I never minded the expense and travelling time involved in getting to the city. I’ve also been able to watch some local football games while in London such as Fulham vs Sunderland at Craven Cottage, and more recently, Arsenal vs Swansea at the Emirates Stadium, which is one of the most beautiful and luxurious stadiums I have ever seen.

The number of times I’ve been up here alone have been great, mostly due to the fact that my friends living here always take good care of me by keeping me entertained in any way possible. Also, when alone it gives one the time and freedom to do and see whatever they desire. Case in point would be an Alan Turing exhibition at the Science Museum I had the pleasure of viewing a couple of days ago. Due to the fact that I’m possibly the only person in my entire group of friends remotely interested in science, I would probably not have been able to do this had I been with other people while on this trip without making somebody unhappy or extremely bored. That being said, my friends will always try to keep everyone happy even if they would have to walk through an exhibit they have absolutely no interest in, so I’m pretty lucky in that respect.

This time around I was lucky enough to wake up to snow on one of the mornings. It was the first time I had seen snow in years, and the very first time I’d seen it in London. Although, snow is probably the norm or even a nuisance to most Europeans, it is a novelty for us Maltese as it never snows on our little island as we do not have the right weather conditions for it. In a way, it is a blessing that it does not snow in Malta, as if it did the entire country would cease to function.

Well, basically I think you get the gist of my story. I like London and will continue to come back here time and time again. I may even possibly live here one day that is still to be determined and will not be the case for at least a year or two due to certain factors keeping me in Malta.