Summers are magic times when the beams of sun warm the body, you dream infinitely, temperatures soar, and everyone is positive about life…right?

Almost.

I found a place where their summer is merely an absence of drenching rain, anything above 15 degrees is considered sun baking material, and if it gets ‘too hot’…say 25 degrees…then complaints are the only thing that are endless.

I could only be referring to one place…

London.

After settling into my Notting Hill apartment with two friends from The Mont Blanc trek it was straight to the theatre.

First was Shakespeare In Love which is a wonderfully written work by Czech-born British playwright Tom Stoppard, also a fantastic movie.  The play was very well reviewed by critics whom I am sure watched the movie instead…for the play I saw was terrible and I renamed it Audience in Hell.  Thankfully the London curries were as good as ever, and seeing my friends, a welcomed change of travel pace.

Second was The Crucible by Arthur Miller at The Old Vic, starring English actor Richard Armitage.  Kevin Spacey is the artistic director, which gave me much hope…I was rewarded tenfold as the play was one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen for years.  Richard’s delivery of the climax line of the piece “For its my name, I have none other” had almost the entire theatre spell-bound.  The one person it didn’t was an usher in my line of sight reading a book inside the theatre…he would later wish he had another name.

Last was A Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.  They played one of my favourite pieces, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in C minor, perfectly and their encores a great laugh.

A day trip to Oxford University took me back to my boarding days and seeing some of the Harry Potter movie locations was lots of fun…if there was only a spell back when I was at college to make me study harder!

We also visited The Red House in Bexleyheath – Southeast London.  A slightly underwhelming building that was an arts and crafts hub, thankfully it was made interesting by our guide that seemed to be Yoda’s mother which kept me in hysterics and wanting Luke Skywalker to appear at every turn.  He didn’t, but at Somerset House in London we saw an exhibition called Return of the Rudeboy which reflects the cultural heritage of the Rudeboy phenomenon…if you like urban fashion look it up as it is very cool.

In search of King Arthur we went to Winchester, finding a statue and something that might be his round table…it was enough for me, I was inspired and looked for swords to pull from stones.  At this stage my Knighthood date seems to be as big a mystery as whether or not King Arthur actually existed.

No visit could be complete without a football game and Tottenham’s defeat of Queens Park Rangers by four goals was thrilling…I felt homesick for my beloved Sydney Swans…especially hearing the post match congratulations of fans to themselves for the win.

We were told about the Notting Hill Carnival and how huge it was…by the end of the two days I thought it as strange as warm beer with a cold pie.  For seven thousand police are needed to manage a carnival in a small suburb that all the locals have left, boarded up their houses and shops, employed extra security, which when added up changes the very nature of why you would go there.  Making matters worse it rained on the second day, the carnival went ahead consisting of just four floats.

The highlight in the papers about the Carnival was the report of how six people were charged with attempted murder during the parade…adding a whole new meaning to something you must do before you die…and we are considered the convict cousins!