Brixton

Wednesday 14th August 2019

Well, 29 hours of flights and connections plus over an hour in a cab to Brixton and I’m finally here, London baby!!!

As far as flights and travel go, have to admit, I had it pretty damn easy! After a teary farewell at the airport and a blubbering download of emotions on the Sydney flight, I encountered my first travel fail. Open my earphones case to find it empty. Hmmm, probs in of the hundred boxes I packed. Guess I’ll just have to indulge in some duty free shopping, if I must. The flight into Sydney felt like a fitting farewell to Australia, clear blue skies with views of the Harbour bridge and opera house, with Hugh Jackman’s rendition of I Still Call Australia Home playing in my head. Am worried I may have sung a few lines out loud… for someone that loves her home country so much, kind of an oxymoron that I was so excited to leave it!!!

In typical Holly fashion, I was prepared with my to do list at Sydney airport, which I’ll admit was mostly shopping. A stash of MAC makeup and gin later I decided to indulge myself in a new set of AirPods, my last splurge before I hit the ground in London jobless and homeless. Shopping done and I was headed for the Qantas lounge. I may have left packing, canceling health insurance and finding a job to the last minute, or not at all, but the thing I did organise was my freebie Qantas lounge access via my credit card, priorities right!!! A comfy chair, lemon tart and a vodka later, I spent the next few hours burning my ear off chatting to friends for the final goodbyes… well, not really goodbye, just see ya later alligator.

And now for my second travel fail, where the hell did I leave my brand spanking new AirPods?? Bananas. Searching every pocket of every bag and jacket and they were gone. Somehow between charging them and moving seats between toilet breaks, I’d flushed $230 down the toilet. With high hopes that an honest person had handed them into the lounge reception, my faith in humanity was restored. AirPods safely returned… or were they??? More to come on that one…

As much as it’s humanly impossible to sleep sitting upright on a plane, even after sleeping pills, I still love long haul flights. Binge watching movies and people bringing you food and drinks with absolutely no guilt associated with the utter laziness. Except for the hulk of a Fijian dude sitting next to me, it was smooth sailing through to Singapore with a pit stop to stretch the legs. After searching again for ciggies for Pattie with no luck, I found some empty seats to lay down, listen to music and chill. Hand in my jacket pocket to grab my AirPods and shit, I pull out two pairs of AirPods. Crap. I just stole someone’s AirPods. Is it stealing if you really didn’t mean to????

Back on the same plane, same seat, same hulk and I’m finally London bound. Sitting down I can smell it, the hulk must have ran a marathon cos he’s smelling not so delightfully like BO, even worse than before. Oh no, wait…. maybe that’s me??? Hmmm, let’s just say it’s the hulk… But smells aside, the hulk is awesome, hardly spoke a word of English but got me water while I slept and made sure I got ice cream while I was dozing… nice hulk!

More food, more movies and no sleep later and we’re within spitting distance of London. Excitement is at an all time high. Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m aware this isn’t just a holiday, I’m MOVING to London. Hmmm, future Holly’s problem…

A big bag of fruchocs later and it’s touch down in Heathrow, give or take circling in the sky for an hour. Feeling all up myself for having a British passport and expecting to breeze through customs, little did I know the Poms had introduced new rules since my last visit… aussies, kiwis, and all European passport holders could now “breeze” through the egates. Ugh, not so easy breezy, the line for people from timbuck two is short as hell and all us snobs are stuck in the long long line. Patience is not one of my virtues…

Having heard about the “heatwave” London had recently experienced and having packed for summer, you can imagine my surprise to walk out into rain, pouring down, gloomy AF rain. But in all honesty, I was ready to dance in the rain like a crazy person, so happy to be in the mother country and starting my new life. Or next chapter, still really love all those in my old life!!

Somehow I lucked out and bagged the best cab driver in all of London. Took me past Kylie Minogue’s house in Chelsea, little did he know she wasn’t my favourite Kylie in London… showed me the AFL goal sticks in Clapham Common, gave me tips on the “mad” places to party at night and most importantly, got my jet lagged arse to what would be my new home for as long as Kyles, Sean and Kam would put up with me cramping their style.

Hugging Kyles and seeing her gorgeous smile was exactly what my sanity needed, along with a shower cos geez bananas I smelt ripe, and not in a delicious cherry ripe kinda way!!!

Kyles being the bestiest bestie ever was working from home so I didn’t have to stand on her front porch and cry til 6pm. My challenge was to keep myself busy and eyes open til at least a normal bedtime and not fall asleep in my dinner at 4pm like Christmas Day. So how does one keep busy in a jet lagged state?? Sew buttons back on jackets, go shopping, open a bank account and bacon, all the bacon… and zucchini fries, and chicken and cheese… all while Kylie worked, she hardly got a look in for the food…

Come night time and in a zombie state, it seemed like a good idea to do facial masks, moisturizer foot socks and gin… just can’t recall if I have a face mask on in this pic or whether this is my face after about 50 hours of no sleep…

So life in London starts, equal parts excited and nervous for what is to come. But life is what you make it, either going to love it or hate it, the choice is mine.

Bender

A day of semi-rest was planned, with Kyles working from home so a contractor can paint her leaky roof and then only lunch and the theatre. Easy peasey.

It was my favourite kind of morning, a little sleep in then I cranked some tunes and took my time getting ready for a lunch date with my favourite Londoner.

Our lunch date was at Canova Hall… by golly, I want to live here!! Just a short stroll (or quick bus if you’re having a lazy day like us!) then into the coolest, industrial style warehouse/cafe/office. So first up, they cater to people who need to go somewhere and just work, a quiet zone with bottomless coffee and super fast Wi-Fi. Then for the ladies who lunch (that would be us!), booths and amazeballs food. And of course a bar and a small gin distillery, as you do. Had it of been bottomless gin I would never have left.

If I had all the money in the world, I’d buy this place and turn it into a warehouse style apartment and live my best life. Ok, if I had all that money, I’d also want to end poverty and make sure no one was homeless, but anyhoo… and yes, there are pictures of the bathrooms because they are super cool, wasn’t at all awkward taking those pics…

So after one of the best lunches possibly of my life it was a hop skip and a jump over to the West End to see the show I’d heard rave reviews about, Hamilton. I managed to snag a £100 ticket to a matinee show, single seats makes that so much easier. I had wanted to get Kyles and I tickets for her bday present but evening show tickets started at £250 for the time I was here. Wish I was that good a friend that I could have afforded it!!

The show was on at the Victoria Palace Theatre, one of the most beautiful and ornate theaters I’ve ever been to. Absolutely stunning, could have sat there for hours just looking at the ceiling and beautiful stalls.

After a sneaky gin or two while waiting, it was showtime!! It only took 30 seconds to realise this was the best show I’d ever seen in my life, trumping my faves Kinky Boots and Billy Elliot.

The story is about the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s founding fathers and right-hand man to George Washington. Washington being the dude who instigated the American revolution, achieved independence from Britain and became America’s first President. Synopsis sounds yawn worthy but add hip hop and R&B singing and dancing plus a beautiful African American cast and it blows your mind. I laughed, I cried, I got goosebumps multiple times and had a little dance in my seat. Can’t even explain how brilliant the show was, everyone will just have to see for themselves! I know I left there with a massive smile on my face and the feeling that I’d just experienced absolute artistic genius. Of course Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer and composer is this brilliant, he is a massive fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after all.

So once again with a big goofy smile on my face, I headed over the road to meet Kylie at The Market Hall, two floors of food truck like vendors serving mouth watering food from stalls. I guess with limited space in London, food trucks en mass wouldn’t work so squish them all together, add a bar and you’ve got a bustling market hall. Still full from lunch, we just stared longingly at people’s food, wishing we had enough space in our bellies for more. There was of course space for a few gins…

From there we took the scenic walking route to The Piano Works in Farringdon, an awesome bar with a live band that plays requests from the crowd, well, most requests. My request for Lose Yourself by Eminem went unanswered, maybe because in the tip area on the request form I wrote “Be nice to your mother!”, guess that didn’t go down too well…

It was a bloody brilliant night tho, dancing and singing and proof Kyles is now a London local, running into a couple of friends and producing the only evidence the night ever happened…

So this is where I be honest and disappoint my mother, it was a MASSIVE night. So much so that when we finally got home I set my alarm for 6.30am to get up in time for my tour, too bad it was after 6.30am when I set it…

Thursday 10th January 2019… and into Friday 11th January…

January 16, 2019 0

Box this…

First and foremost, the Bowie tribute in Brixton. Even more impressive that I ever could have imagined and a reminder of how one person can move so many.

And then in our infinite wisdom we decided to go shopping on Oxford St in the Boxing Day sales. Brave or crazy, we’ll never know. Imagine the whole population of Adelaide on one street, absolute bedlam. I remembered why I do all my shopping online. Besides the craziness of it, the twinkling angels on Regent St and Christmas baubles hanging down Oxford St were magical. Couldn’t help but add to the Christmas cheer with my lamest and favourite outfit…. no one really gives a shit what you wear in London, love it.

Between battling the streets, we of course managed to fit in a sneaky gin at a very English pub then leg it home for another epic Christmas dinner repeat from Kyles. Unfortunately I face planted a few minutes after dinner and missed the dancing to Copacabana on the tabletops…

Wednesday 26th December 2018.

December 28, 2018 0

Let it snow

Ah, Christmas Day – never have I ever had such a good Christmas present as hanging with my bestie (sorry Mum, Fireman calendar was my second favourite!). Although I’m missing seeing my monsters and the fam, we had a turducken filled chrissie on Sunday, so I think I’m forgiven for leaving…

There were tears in the eyes when I finally rocked up in Brixton, the driver made a sly exit while we hugged out the last 6 months. The bestie that knows me best had all the Christmas bests ready, prosecco and bacon for brekkie, gin and ham for lunch and mulled wine for dessert. Once I’d washed the stench of immigration off me, it was onesie and present time. Watching Kylie open the love filled presents from her family and friends is what Christmas is all about, oh yeah, and the dude that died on the cross…

And then it happened. The Christmas present that took me a full 10 minutes to understand, the card read “I look forward to seeing your face in the crowd, Jon Snow xx”. The person that knows me best got us tickets to the live broadway performance of True West, starring Kit Harrington, aka Jon Snow. Dreams do come true.

The thing I didn’t know I needed in my life happened at 3pm – the Queens Christmas message. I’m not one to buy into all the Royal hoo ha but for some reason, having queenie talk about peace on earth and goodwill to all warmed my heart. Getting soft…

Anyone that knows me well can guess what my third favourite thing of the day was… food, all the food and all the gin. Because bacon and prosecco and Lindt balls were burned off during present time. Kyles certainly outdid herself, gammon (ham to us Aussies), Yorkshire pudding, sprouts, parsnips and the best gravy I’ve had in my life. Would sell my soul for more of that gravy… if I had one left that is…

Christmas ain’t Christmas without Christmas movies and we all know the best Christmas flick around, Die Hard!! Too bad I passed out in a jet lag haze before the infamous and best line of all time… “Ho Ho Ho (insert expletives – my mum is reading this…)”. Apparently I kept waking up and asking Kylie’s if I’d missed it and promising her we’d get to the pub in a minute. Liar. I was passed out in a happy place of gin, full belly, bestie and finally those sleeping pills that kicked in 24 hours too late…