London calling.
London Walks connecting.
This is London.
Streets ahead.
Story time, history time.
On Sunday, I was joined on the Hampstead Walk by a lovely young American couple – Brian and Courtney from North Carolina. They’d been in London all of 27 hours, having just flown in on Saturday morning. They turned up Saturday afternoon on the Kensington Walk, and there they were again yesterday. Up in Hampstead. They were brand new – not just to London, but really outside the U.S. for the first time. So we sat down in the churchyard at St. John’s at walk’s end and had a chat.
Their impressions of London –London seen through brand new, fresh eyes. And that’s what today’s podcast is all about: you’re going to hear from Brian and Courtney.
And what a delightful young couple they are. Boundless energy. And by my lights, doing it right. They’d really put a lot of thought and research into how to get the most out of their five days in London. So they weren’t just doing the achingly obvious bog standard tourist stuff that you’d expect a first time visitor would lock onto. Some of it, yes. A visit to the Tower of London. Tea at Fortnum & Masons at the Royal Exchange.
But they’re also thinking outside the box – pushing the envelope – doing lots of walking – doing the sort of sophisticated, confident savvy exploring that first time visitors aren’t often equal to.
Full marks to them.
And what’s so interesting is the way they’re comparing. This is how we do it at home. But it’s done a bit differently over here.
We, dyed in the wool Londoners, tend to take things for granted. You see the place through the eyes of someone to whom it’s all brand new, it’s revitalising and refreshing.
Anyway, here they are. Let’s hear from Courtney and Brian.
[Interview with Courtney & Brian follows]