I'm sure my esteemed colleague at Sincerely Bored of London (see link on the right) will disagree with me, but I love living in London.
I've lived here my whole life (just the right side of the border with Essex, thank god) and there's still so much of it I haven't seen. London is huge and it encompases so much. I love the fact that some parts of London feel like a huge metropolis and others like sweet little mead-swigging, morris dancing villages. We've got forests, parks, pretty riverside walks and all the restaurants / clubs / theatres / museums you can eat.
Okay, so it's got more than it's fair share of knife-wielding maniacs, the pollution of a sixty-a-day smoker and exorbitant prices, but I think its pros outweigh its cons. Infact, a recent study said that Londoners are actually healthier than other people because we tend to walk and use public transport rather than drive, which is a relief really because I don't want to know what's going on in my lungs.
The biggest plus point has got to be the mixture of people who live here. There's always someone weird and wonderful to stare at on the tube, and someone who'll stop you during your shopping trip to remind you that Jesus Loves You. And we do talk to each other sometimes, especially when you get a comedy tube driver who tries to make you laugh over the intercom.
I love being near to everything. I'm currently in walking distance of landmarks that some people come halfway across the world to see.
What's strange is that London seems to be such an easy target for people to insult. It's like a big, rich bully that's picked on kids for so long that it's time for everyone to get their own back. But my London's not like that. I don't like London to the detriment of other places. I've done my time living oop North and even abroad, and I've loved every second of it. London's right for me, but it's not for everyone and that's fair enough. I think that insulting someone's home town is a bit like insulting their sister - you can insult your own sister but god help anyone else who does.
Eventually I'll have to act like a proper grown up and buy a house, and London houses are somewhat out of my price range. But wherever it is I end up, I'm sure it'll only be a short train ride away in order for me to keep my sanity.
