Why London is at its between Christmas and New Year's
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London is at its best between Christmas and New Year’s Eve - the time that no-one calls Betwixmas apart from people named after herbs – for one very good and obvious reason: there are fewer people. Alright, this is a slightly misanthropic way of looking at things. Especially when us Londoners buy into the idea that this city is an exciting hive of activity, an addictive place of industry and creativity where that very hustle-bustle generates a competitive battle to the top that can only be enriching.
But the truth is that London is loads better when it empties of half the people during Christmas. It turns out that half is the really annoying half because without them the seasonal cheer slides between the skyscrapers and thrills those of us Left Behind.
That much talked about ‘friendliness’ that you get in small towns around the UK suddenly appears in the capital. With so few people about, it’s a novelty when the Pret staff have a customer, or you walk into a pub in Soho to find it not a hellhole cramfest but a cosy sanctuary where you are greeted like an old friend. Meanwhile, staff in small towns suddenly get less friendly as their shops and pubs are suddenly filled with every Londoner on leave. They can’t cope and nor can locals. Everyone fights each other. Londoners disguise their accents and escape the melee.
Meanwhile back in London, we’re all skipping through the empty streets arm-in-arm, able to access art exhibitions with no queue, ride the London Eye again and again with glee, ride the Tube sprawled across three seats at a time, have crazed love affairs with deeply attractive – and superficially attractive – people who you would never normally see but who are also caught up in the air of free spirited abandon.
