She Loves London

Tag: Other places vs London

  • A Complete Guide to the Best Animals I Saw in the Galapagos

    A Complete Guide to the Best Animals I Saw in the Galapagos

    In April I went to the Galapagos Islands.

    If you watch Planet Earth on the BBC you’ll know it as the place where David Attenborough, aka the Animal King aka Captain Nature aka Chief Inspector of Wildlife spends our licence fee, something I am actually more than ok with.

    If you’re not familiar, they’re basically an isolated group of volcanic islands about 1000km off the coast of Ecuador where Darwin rocked up and was like holy cow, this place is nuts, I need to write a book.

    The next thing you need to know is that it’s the coolest place in the world you could ever ever go, even better than France. And the other thing you need to know is that there isn’t a single animal species in the Galapagos who gives a shit about you.

    This is kind of hard to swallow when you get there because you’ve essentially saved up three month’s rent to go, so a little bit of recognition for your efforts would have been nice.

    But it’s also a good thing because it means in the Galapagos, animals are the boss. They’re top of the food chain; the kings and queens. They are protected, and you humans, quite frankly, are not. You’re not even on their radar. You’re just there to fund their long, evolutionary life. If anything, if animals in the Galapagos learnt to use cameras, which given the weird stuff I saw, wouldn’t be an impossibility, they’d be taking photos of you.

    Anyway, I saw loads of animals on my trip, and although I don’t discriminate because officially they were all very good, here’s a non-scientific guide to my favourites.

    1. This sealion who was basically me on a hangover

    Swap the bench for a sofa and the similarities are astounding.

    2. The Marine Iguanas who were well aware it was a shared path

    But, being the only species of their type on the entire planet, they also really don’t care that you want to get by.

    3. The blue-footed boobie who’s looking pretty pleased with himself

    Although to be fair, if you were called a “boobie” and those were your feet, this would probably be your face too.

    4. This Giant Tortoise who’s half the size of a tree

    ..and older than your entire family. It’s a long, slow life, and this guy has Seen. Some. Things.

    5. The Frigatebird who knows the way to a woman’s heart

    And it’s through his massive inflated red chest pouch, obviously.

    6. The Galapagos Penguin who just wants to know what you’re up to, really

    And is flagrantly ignoring the two metre rule in order to find out.

    7. The short eared owl who looks smug because no one’s trying to kill him.

    In case you were wondering, this is the face of a usually nocturnal bird who’s evolved to do daylight because he’s got no natural predators. The bones of his prey were scattered opposite on a rock. Be polite.

    8. This red-footed boobie who’s looking absolutely radiant in blue

    Imagine for one second, a world where all birds had multi-coloured beaks. Actually, imagine if you had this beak. It’s a great beak.

    9. The land iguana who’s completely nailing camouflage

    This season I’ll mostly be matching my food to my clothes in homage to South Plaza’s resident rock-and-flower coloured lizard.

    10. The 3 metre long Galapagos Shark(s) continually circling your boat looking for lunch

    Unfortunately, lunch wasn’t getting in the water that day. Lunch was very much staying on the upper deck.

    11. This pelican who can and will wait all day for a fish

    Patience. Patience. And then, when the time is right: GULP.

    12. And finally, this brown labrador puppy

    Really not sure how this one got onto the beach. Pretty sure there were no dogs allowed.

    To see more photos from my Galapagos trip, go have a look at my travel photo account on Instagram.

    Or subscribe to this blog’s newsletter below so the next time I bang on about it, which will probably be soon, you’ll be all over it, won’t ya? 



  • Here’s What They Do After Work In Switzerland. Sorry In Advance For Ruining Your Day.

    Here’s What They Do After Work In Switzerland. Sorry In Advance For Ruining Your Day.

    One of the best things about working in London is finishing work.

    That’s when everyone looks at each other over their computer screens at 5.20pm with a quizzical expression which roughly translates as: pub? as if going straight home was ever going to be an option.

    Of course you’re not going to go straight home. It’s summer, which means it’s probably raining, and a little bit chilly, so naturally you’re going to drink beer outside the pub until you’re pissed and the sun goes down, then you’ll abandon the pavements and carry on inside.

    This Friday ritual is about as London as its gets.

    And for years it never really occurred to me that it might not happen everywhere else in the world. What do you do after work? I’d ask my emigrated friends. Why wouldn’t you go to the pub? In fact, where are all the pubs? What do you do after work if not proceed, with your colleagues, to the pub?

    Then I went to Bern in Switzerland, where they do not go to the pub.

    And to be honest, I can sort of see why.

    This is Bern. Say hello to Bern.

    Bern is the capital of Switzerland.

    This is something I found out five years ago when my sister moved there. Before that I just assumed the capital was Zurich, much like everyone else. Well, it isn’t. The capital of Switzerland is Bern, which explains the slightly ostentatious bear pit, the volume of traditional hats bobbing around, and the city centre’s unnecessarily giant sized clock.

    I’ve been there a few times at different times of year. In winter, the centre of town after work is pretty much just hoards of people heading towards the main train station with skis.

    But summer: mate. This lot have got it nailed.

    Swiss man and dog nailing summer.

    Like most things in Switzerland, everything in Bern looks like it was custom built to make you jealous.

    And likewise, the Aare is exactly the sort of river you’d want running through your city, in that you won’t find the bones of 13th century sailors, horse-sized rats or dysentery lurking in the depths.

    Even its mildly unsettling fast flow and the vague threat of death-by-grates if you don’t get out in time at the end is mitigated by the fact that you can see the bottom, something even the Serpentine hasn’t been able to offer swimmers since about 1859.

    Londoners: that water colour you’re seeing there is “turquoise blue”

    Bern’s river is so good that people go there after work instead of going to the pub or straight home to annoy their partners, parents, or kids.

    Instead they go to the Aare, strip off, chuck all their clothes into a dry bag, or just leave them by the side for literally no one to steal, and float down at the end of the day.

    And if it’s been a particularly tough afternoon, they’ll hire a flotilla of large inflatable rafts, fill a barrel with booze, assemble their mates and do it that way instead.

    Which is why it’s not at all unusual to see a procession of floating flamingos, sharks, dogs in life jackets, and occasional unicorns whizzing past you while you take selfies and chill.

    But yes, good question:

    what if you don’t want to swim because your WFS (Work From Switzerland) day has left you tired?

    This is Switzerland, so naturally the river banks are also idyllic mini beaches of calm where you can lie down and just, y’know, listen to your neighbour’s bangin’ Jamie xx / Caribou tune selection, put your bottle of wine in the water to chill, and nip in for a gentle paddle or just sit on a rock.

    The whole thing is very much better than the pub.

    Especially if there is also a dog.

    So there you have it, proof that Switzerland is basically wiping the floor with the quality of life you enjoy in London and oh yeah, lol, they’re all paying less tax, too.

    Enjoy your trip to the pub after work on Friday, guys. I know I certainly will!

    (River Thames: your move.)



  • Everything You Need To Know About Going To Sonar Festival In Reykjavik

    Everything You Need To Know About Going To Sonar Festival In Reykjavik

    In February, me and my housemate went to Iceland.

    It was the weekend after Valentine’s Day, so naturally our trip had all the hallmarks of your average romantic break: music so loud you can’t hear the other person speak, copious amounts of duty free rum, an inability to get out of bed before 1pm, and fancy dinners including a 3am trip to Subway and an incident we will only refer to as “milk pasta”, which involved an unsuccessful attempt at using mozzarella to make cheese sauce.

    Luckily we weren’t in Iceland for the food, we were there because at some point in December, Sonar Reykjavik drifted onto my radar in the midst of a coma brought on by Christmas excess and one too many episodes of Monkey Life on freeview.

    It’s in these vulnerable, sofa-bound moments when the urge to travel usually gets me, and this time was no exception. I’ve wanted to go to Sonar for years – the Barcelona version has a reputation as being one of the world’s best festivals for music, technology and creativity – and Iceland is one of the best countries ever, so pairing the two could only ever go to go one way.

    Four days of roadtrips and raving? Off. We. Go.

    If, like me this is pretty much your ideal holiday, let’s be friends. And here’s some stuff you might want to know before you get there.

    1. As far as music festivals go, this one is tiny

    You’ll be one of 3,500 people, most of whom are Icelandic, very excited, and have the sort of exquisite Nordic cheekbones you only find on people who survive without daylight for half of the year.

    2. It all happens in one big venue by Reykjavik harbour

    Everything goes down across four stages in the Harpa Concert Hall, which they helpfully cover with flashing lights so even if you’re drunk you know where to go.

    Harpa at night.

    3. Keflavik airport is the best place to stock up on booze

    Iceland has a pretty weird history with alcohol. Beer was actually banned until 1989 – and even though these days Reykjavik goes pretty hard on the partying front (the bars will deffo still be going well after the festival closes at 3am) you can’t buy booze in supermarkets. Vínbúðin (literally “wine shop”) is the only place you can buy booze in Reykjavik, but you won’t find any special offers and the opening hours are limited. So do your booze shop at the airport – it’s cheaper, and easier than trying to get some when you’ve just arrived and want to get the pre-game started.

    4. No, there isn’t any camping involved – it’s February are you mad

    Accommodation will probably be your biggest expense – but the good news is that Reykjavik’s a pretty small city, which means it’s hard not to be within stumbling distance of Harpa wherever you end up. We found an Airbnb about 10 minutes away (around £78 per night – one of the cheapest I found) and it was the cosiest, loveliest, warmest little back-garden out-house ever. This also means you don’t have to eat out every night, which saves £ and means you can schedule regular disco naps between meals.

    The crash pad.

    5. You won’t have to spend ages trekking between stages

    Because the whole festival is spread across four different rooms in Harpa, you won’t spend an hour schlepping between stages only to find that you’ve missed half the set because you got stuck in a crowd, lost your mate, had to dig your welly out of the mud and then couldn’t get anywhere near the stage because it was full. There’s even escalators between floors if you’re struggling with the concept of stairs, which, by the third night, you probably will be.

    6. …but there’ll still be a bit of this

    Even in a relatively small festival venue like Harpa, you’ll still find yourself writing surprisingly detailed text messages trying to explain exactly where you’re standing within a featureless, loud room which is packed full of constantly moving people. It’s just the inevitable festival way.

     

    7. You won’t have to queue for the bar

    Even compared to London, alcohol is expensive in Iceland – and by that I mean you’ll be paying around £7-8 for a can of beer and more for a glass of wine in Harpa. On the flip side, not many people really seemed to be going hard on the booze front, so at least you won’t have to queue to get it. From the second night onward we took advantage of the non-existent bag searches and brought in our own sneaky supplies of rum. No one seemed to mind. We saved money. Job done.

    8. There’s not a port-a-loo in sight

    Just in case you were wondering. Which you definitely were.

    Up the front for De La Soul

    9. You’ll find yourself going batshit to music you’ve never heard before

    Iceland’s music scene is banging anyway, and the headliners were all bonafide pros (De La Soul, Moderat, Fat Boy Slim in 2017), but probably the nicest surprise was finding myself going nuts to acts I’d never even heard of before Sonar. In fact, I would now absolutely make a beeline for any of the following if I saw them on a line-up: Sleigh Bells, Gus Gus, FM Belfast, Kerr Wilson, Dillalude, and a woman whose name I can’t pronounce but will always remember for her sparkly mermaid dress.

    10. If you manage to get out of bed, you can spend the day doing roadtrips

    The festival doesn’t kick off until about 9pm each night, which means theoretically you’ve got the day time to actually go and see more of this ridiculously good looking country. I say theoretically, because there’s no way in hell we were getting out of bed for a 8am tour bus and neither will you. So instead we rented a car (Sonar festival ticket holders get a discount) and took ourselves out to thermal spas and the black sand beaches of Vik on the south coast at our own pace. Warning: if you’re feeling fragile, an encounter with an Icelandic horse might legitimately send you over the edge.

    Me harassing one of Iceland’s very therapeutic horses

    11. And if you can’t be bothered to move, Reykjavik has excellent cafes

    Between the hot dogs and soup served in bread, Reykjavik pretty much has your morning-after-the-night-before munch covered. Special mention to our mid-afternoon chill spot of choice, Sandholt Bakery: to me, you are perfect.

    12. But PSA: thermal spas are A+ at curing hangovers

    Most people are all over the Blue Lagoon, which is a very nice place to spend a few hours on your way to or from the airport if it’s not fully booked. But if planning ahead isn’t your strong point then don’t worry, it’s ok, because if there’s one thing Iceland goes completely mental for, it’s swimming pools. So instead we went off to the Secret Lagoon, which isn’t that secret but was a very nice, chilled, slightly quieter (definitely cheaper) alternative. And after a night of jumping about to techno in an underground car park, a steaming hot, open air bath is exactly what you need.

    13. You’ve got a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights

    Yeah, the big one: February is peak Aurora Borealis time in Iceland. You’ll be at the festival Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, so the best idea is to stay until Monday, then that leaves Sunday night to cross your fingers for good weather and a clear sky. The trick is not to book your tour until you get there, or you could end up paying to see nish all. If all else fails and you happen to be there when it’s cloudy and rainy all week like us, you can make do with staring in wonder at the other pretty lights: of which – I can assure you – there will be plenty.

    And if that doesn’t convince you: seriously. Look at this place. Look. At. It.

    Þingvellir National Park

    Iceland, I’ll be back. You’re ridiculous.