Brexit be gone!

It’s been almost nine years since Garry and I returned to Australia after living in London for five years.  Since then I’ve been back to the UK twice for business while Garry has never returned.  In January we both made it back as part of a business trip to attend the London Toy Fair.  The fair itself was an invaluable experience.  Our company picked up its largest brand in more than five years while gaining invaluable insights into running a progressive toy business.

In between days of business meetings, business dinners, planning sessions and industry visits we found time to revisit some old haunts and renew some old friendships.  We also squeezed in a quick trip to the observatory deck at The Shard.  This is London’s tallest building and its newest premier attraction. It was still being built when we left the UK in 2010.

Designed by Master Architect Renzo Piano, The Shard has redefined London’s skyline and quickly established its place as a dynamic symbol of London. At a height of 244m, and at almost twice the height of any other vantage point in London, visitors to its uppermost levels experience unrivalled 360-degree views over the city for up to 40 miles on a clear day.

While we didn’t quite experience the same view our early afternoon visit proved well-timed all the same.  Much of the city was covered in a light haze as we made our way up to its open-air observatory deck.  However, the afternoon sun progressively broke down the gloom opening up more and more of the city’s impressive landscape.  We were able to identify the high-rise towers of the Chalcots Estate at Swiss Cottage, along with many of London’s most iconic landmarks.

We also made the most of the West End, attending three live theatre performances including an entertaining dining experience modelled on the chaos of Britain’s classic Faulty Towers sitcom. Although, one of the most poignant highlights of our time in London was a brief excursion to our old neighbourhood. We landed early on Saturday morning and found ourselves with more than six hours to fill before we could check into our serviced apartment in Soho.

We made the best use of this time with a walking tour of Swiss Cottage.  We checked our luggage into storage at Paddington Station, then made our way by Tube to our old haunting grounds.  The tube journey was a surreal trip down memory lane.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I made the same journey to and from Heathrow almost monthly either for business or pleasure. 

Sadly time hasn’t been kind to parts of our old neighbourhood.  Shiny, new modern buildings that had once been local landmarks were looking rather worse for wear.  Even our old home seemed a little drabber than we last remember it.  Our favourite Chinese restaurant had also vanished. However, some things did surprise and delight us.  We discovered a new Farmers Market at the foot of Primrose Hill and a small picket fence we’d installed in the front garden of our apartment was still standing.

The view from Primrose Hill proved to the most unexpected surprise.  All the talk of Brexit doom and gloom had left us with a distinct impression that the UK was struggling.  However, standing on the hill’s summit we could see dozens and dozens of new high-rise buildings and an equal number of construction cranes spread across the entire skyline.  London is clearly booming.