Why I Bloody Love the South Bank!

More than once, this blog has been referred to as my love affair with London.  I began writing it, rather apathetic about our capital city.  I’d never lived here, and had been stuck under peoples’ armpits on Tube carriages one too many times.  That was how I saw London.  And then I began my 30 Blind Dates challenge, and realised just how much fun dating in London can be.

One of the places I visited several times during the 30 Dates challenge was the South Bank.  And I’ve returned countless times since.  I met The One with the Sign beneath the bridge outside the BFI, and explored the international food stalls with him in the sunshine.  I saw Limbo in the Spiegeltent at the London Wonderground with the Fake Pimpernel (and Madonna!), and checked out Adam Buxton’s ‘BUG’ at the British Film Institute with the Superhero Alter-Ego.  Later on, I skated beneath the London Eye with Mr Mauve, went to the London Dungeons with the Legal Eagle and jet-boated down the Thames with Mr SC.

The South Bank has been my dating playground.  Obviously it helped when I was living in Clapham Junction, and my train stopped at Waterloo, but long before I became a London resident, I fell in love with the South Bank.  I’d even go so far as to say that I have never had a bad date which began under the Waterloo clock … and I believe the proximity of the South Bank, and all the exciting things it has to offer is part of that.

And so the other day, when I read a review of the new London rom-com ‘Man Up’ and saw another dating blogger slagging off the choice of date venue in the film – The South Bank – I have to admit I was taken aback.  To see a London dating blogger slag off the South Bank is like a member of the choir sticking two fingers up at the Church!  I’d put good money on the fact more first dates have started under the Waterloo Clock than anywhere else in London!

One of the things I learnt early on in my dating journey is that you need to enjoy it.  If dating isn’t fun for you, there’s no point doing it.  And one of the simplest ways of ensuring you have fun in the dating process, is to become a tourist in your own city.  If London is your city, then one of the best places to get that feeling is on the South Bank.  It’s the heart of London, and when the suns out, you forget the concrete slabs and look past the cheap chain restaurants, and see all the other fun and beauty the spot has to offer.  I have no idea how many times I’ve walked along the South Bank, but the view across the river still takes my breath away.

If you also love the South Bank … or if you’re willing to give it another chance … check out the 30 Something London blog.  They have details of a fun competition running down there all this week, where you could end up winning a holiday to San Francisco!