If there happens to be a day when I'm not sure what to do, when I don't have any concrete plans or when I just want to see something or do something different without expending any real effort in researching, I go to London's Southbank. There is always something on. If it's not a festival, there is a concert, exhibition, book market, place to eat out, daily markets, seasonal markets like the Christmas Markets, or people watching. It also doesn't hurt that it has a view of the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. There is always something to see or do at Southbank.
Last weekend, the Streets of Spain festival was on. Londoners and tourists flocked to the stalls showcasing delicious foodie delights from Barcelona. The line for the Paella was so long that a whole pan of paella would finish before you reached the front.
The line for Churros doubled up on itself to fit, and there had to be 2 Sangria stalls to cope with the demand. People were everywhere. It was so packed it was occasionally hard to move! My friend and I waited in line chatting away, and working up an appetite before grabbing our plates and finding a spot away from the crowds to chow down.
If you missed the Streets of Spain festival, don't worry, there are loads more festivals coming up and if you happen to be the planning sort, check out the Southbank Centres "Whats on" page. Even if you don't want to go to a particular festival, just go for a wander, there are places to eat, chill out and if your lucky, you might spot a dance crew practising their routine. I confess have spent a lot of time doing this, I'm fascinated by how much energy these dancers have and the patience to repeat a tiny part of the routine over and over again to get the moves, timing and coordination just right. It does tend to make me feel super unco though. hehe.
By the way, did I mention there was a rooftop garden cafe there too? Its a secret London location. OK well yes, its mentioned on the Southbank Centres website, but not many people actually know its there, not even the London locals!
And, in case you haven't been on the London Loo tour, the Southbank Centre has free loos ;) haha.
Whats your favourite part of Southbank?
Thanks for your delightful accounts of life in London. Your casual journalistic style is a pleasure to read & I'm really impressed by your eye for composition in your photographs. Your choice of my good chum Alissa's drawing for your header also marks you as a person of rare taste & discrimination! :-) I had to look twice at the "Southbank" photo: architecturally it bears a striking resemblance to Brisbane's "Southbank" & you could take a near identical photo facing upriver to our Melbourne St bridge o(f course the way that crowd's dressed it would be mid-winter for Queensland).
ReplyDeleteHi XLibris, thank you for stopping by and commenting. I'm really flattered, but it's easy to see how lovely Alissa's work is. I'm such a bad Aussie that I've never been to Brisbane, but I guess I can now, kind of, imagine what it looks like ;)
DeleteA secret rooftop café? I never knew about this, and I've been to the Southbank around a hundred times!
ReplyDeleteLOL! Wow, Im stoked that I know about it then! We'll have to go for a bevvy sometime :)
DeleteI work across the river from Southbank and stare onto the National Theatre. It is definitely one of my favourite places in London so do let me know if you're ever in the area!!
ReplyDeleteWow, you are lucky! Will tweet you when im in the area for sure. We can do lunch or coffee :)
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