Love It Or Hate It? 10 Bittersweet Moments In London You’ve Undoubtedly Dealt With

Lucie Turner • 10 September, 2015

Every single time I think London living is the worst thing to happen to me since finding out Wentworth Miller from Prison Break was gay, a ray of (blue) light (from Piccadilly Circus screens) blesses me with a moment of pure ‘Thank God I live here’ happiness. Not saying that Piccadilly Circus is what keeps me in London. It most definitely is not.

1. Getting the Tube.

We love to get up as late as possible and be smug in the fact there will be a new train in 2 minutes.

We hate that we have to fork out a small fortune and sacrifice all personal space boundaries for it.

2. Making packed lunch.

We love saving money knowing that eating out in London at lunchtime is expensive as hell.

We hate being the only sad sap to nibble cheese sandwiches while everyone else tries the new sushi pop-up.

3. Seeing a famous person.

We love that we live in a city deemed cool enough by Brangelina, Tom Hardy and um, the Queen?!?

We hate that we’ve been mown down by desperate paparazzi who have no qualms about tackling you mid sandwich to get a quick shot.

4. Riding a Boris Bike.

We love that they’re available everywhere, 24/7 and if you only need them for under half an hour they’re free.

We hate that everyone seems to have no idea of the rules of the road or if they do they’re screwed by those who don’t.

5. Going to the theatre.

We love that you can see every performance you’ve ever thought possible come to life e.g. The reading of Othello whilst naked, smoking hookah. With Fezzes.

We hate that you have to remortgage your house in order to do so.

6. Tourists.

We love that they rake in maHUsive amounts of revenue for our capital every year keeping us in our lap of luxury that we couldn’t otherwise afford.

We hate that this comes at the price of our sanity and patience, as we patiently wait behind yet another group of excitable Spanish schoolchildren with M&M World suitcases trundling behind them.

6. Wearing white.

We love that when we do we tend to feel like the most elegant and sophisticated person we’ve ever been.

We hate that once we’ve worn said white outfit in London, it’s never the same shade again.

7. The nightlife.

We love that we feel totally on the pulse about where to go, what to eat, where to be seen etc.

We hate that we cannot afford where to go, what to eat or where to be seen. Weatherspoon’s/Pizza Express/151 is more of a regular than we’d care to admit.

8. Pop-ups.

We love that you’re unlikely to find an early morning rave, a cat coffee shop or a scotch egg burger anywhere else. On a weekday.

We hate that there’s usually a half mile queue, hairballs and indigestion involved.

9. Boris.

We love that everyone can laugh at this jolly, floppy haired blondie who zip wires through London waving Union Jacks.

We hate that we’ve become slightly too obsessed with him (case in point: this mention).

10. Londoners.

We love that we get to call this beautiful, brilliant, boisterous city our home.

We hate the person we’ve become since living here…actually that’s a lie, WE LOVE IT.

What do you love/hate about London? Or what do you love to hate about London? Tweet us @Secret_LDN.

Tags: funny, list, love/hate