Summer's Lease

The summer was really good for me. It was a period of non-stop activity, and barely a moment's rest, and for the first time in months I was able to have fun, and enjoy the weather. On every weekend between the start of June and the end of August, I was either out of town, attending a big festival, or was playing host to a friend. I've previously blogged about some of the bigger things, like Bletchley Park, and my road trip through Bavaria and Austria, but here are some of the other things I got up to, that were equally as fun:

The summer fun effectively began on June 10. Earlier that day I went to Guildford with Troy, then rushed back to London to attend Mark's birthday at a tapas restaurant in Fitzrovia, followed by a Soho night adventure. By this time, Mark had decided to return home to Australia, so we all shared a collective eagerness to enjoy our nights out together. The following month we all went to Love Box, a huge alternative music festival organised by Groove Armada, in the East End's Victoria Park.

On July 15, in dire need to see a beach, I visited Southend-on-Sea in Essex. I chose poorly. Southend is on the north bank of the Thames Estuary, which of course empties into the English channel, so the waves are near non-existent... and the pebbly beach is laughable (and painful to lie on). BUT, once I lay in the sun for a few hours, with my eyes shut, listening to the waves, I felt like I could have been anywhere else, and so the trip was worth it! The Southend seafront may not be beautiful, but it was delightful to visit a typically English seaside town, especially the amusement park, built adjacent to the pier, that has the distinction of being the longest in the world. But the rest of Sowf'fenn - as the locals might say - was chavvy, high street, Anywhere, England.

August was the busiest month of my summer, with two civil partnership ceremonies (Kurt and Max, and Howard and Barnaby), and two friends from Australia in town, Brendan and Geoffrey. This was Geoffrey's first extended trip to London as an adult, and it's fair to say he fell in love with the city in no time. He was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday, but we also managed to fit in a helluva lot of sightseeing. Brendan now lives in Canada, and has lived in London before, so our activities were a little less tourist-oriented, though we did visit Buckingham Palace to tour the state rooms. In honour of the Queen's 80th birthday, the palace presented a retrospective of 80 of her most famous gowns. Organised by colour, the exhibit was quite a spectacle, but a chronological arrangement might have been more forgiving. The Queen had a top figure in her youth, as evident in the gowns of that era. But placed side-by-side with more recent gowns, they only served to highlight the ravages of time, with lowering hemlines, rising necklines, expanding waistlines, and ever-so-shrinking bustlines. As for the rest of the palace, it is spacious and impressive, but devoid of any real style. Most rooms reek of Royal rococo bling, and wouldn't hold their own to say, some rooms in Blenheim Palace.

At the end of July, we (Kurt, Max, James and I) day-tripped to Stonehenge and Winchester. Stonehenge is impressive, but the feeling is fleeting. It's not long before you realise you're looking at an assortment of stoens in a field next to a highway. The nearby town of Winchester is very pretty, and has an impressive cathedral. But we were equally taken with the politically-incorrectly-named Black Boy pub where we had lunch... that also happens to serve XXXX on tap!

But the highlight of the English summer is the plethora of music and outdoor festivals. I love how Europeans really take advantage of good weather in warmer months, and go all out to enjoy every last ray of sunshine. Take for example the fantastic roof garden of Le Coq D'Argent, where we had afternoon drinks one Friday. In addition to Love Box (mentioned above), I went to no less than three gay pride events this summer:

Europe's collective pride event is EuroPride, and London was this year's host. The centrepiece event was a street parade through the West End, which was fun, but nothing on Sydney. At the conclusion of the parade, everyone moved on to Soho for a street party.

Soho Pride is my favourite event, and the original Soho street party that inspired this year's EuroPride effort. It's a really fun and very relaxed afternoon.

Brighton Pride, surprised me by its sheer size. Thousands of people crowded into a large public park, with a fairground atmosphere. Even the dance tent was huge. And unlike some of the other events, there was something for everyone at Brighton, including line-dancing, if that's your thing.