By 6:30 am in Amsterdam, it seemed I may not make it onto the train back to London, stuck in a backlog of anxious travellers, at the whim of the ambivalent early morning contingent of border security staff. Thankfully, a scramble as the Eurostar rolled into Amsterdam Centraal station spat me out into a window seat, where I dozed off immediately, and woke up to the excited late-morning frenzy of St Pancras International station.
London fields/ Image: Unsplash
Rubbing the stunted sleep out of my eyes and bracing for a £4 coffee, I readied myself to go east, to the beautiful bustle of Hackney, where both my cousin, Rory, and best friend, Adam, live.
I owe my fondness for London largely to these two, and probably the fact that I have had the privilege of experiencing the city in summer, or at the season’s shoulder. Again, thanks to them, I have stayed in two lovely apartments in Hackney, brimming with youthful energy and enough greenery between Victoria Park and London Fields to combat the red-brick dullness of reappropriated council houses.
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For a week, I could be anonymous in a city both foreign and familiar, in the company of those closest. But there’s a certain pressure to box tick in a place like London, and as I hauled my camera onto yet another tube and announced plans to go photograph Hyde Park, Rory asked, “What is your experience of London? Why don’t you tell that story?”
That story is East.
Colour Factory/ Image: Unsplash
Of course, I had my own boxes to tick outside of the borough. A visit to the famed five-storey toy shop Hamleys, which blew my mind, and taking the tube to Piccadilly Circus to be swept up by the chaotic rhythm of the high streets, with shopping bags, black cabs, red buses and Union Jacks.
I was lucky to travel to Selhurst Park, thanks to Rory, to watch Liverpool play Crystal Palace in the Premier League, and confirm that the stereotypical English football supporter is alive and well. On my final day in London, Adam and I experienced a very different crowd as we travelled south amid a sea of green jerseys to watch the Springboks beat Argentina at Twickenham and win the 2025 Rugby Championship title.
But mostly, I spent a magnificent week between Adam’s apartment, Milborne House, and Broadway Market. This 3km walk brims with a Capetonian aesthetic of activity that seems a tonic to London’s high-stakes workweeks; well-dressed cyclists sharing the space with runners in the morning, and in the crisp evening sun, dogs bounding around, body-weight exercise at the outdoor gym, couples smoking rolled cigarettes on park benches, and the welcoming hum of Pub on the Park, a nucleus of energy on the path down London Fields.
Broadway Market/Image: Unsplash
At the end of the path, Broadway Market is on a street that always feels like a Saturday morning. Light, fresh and full of promise during the day. Cafes, bookshops and retailers line the road, and every weekend, the two-day food market thrives.
Each night on the street comes with a different promise; one of 8% Belgian beer and hours of conversation outside a pub, The Dove. Further up the road, Okko serves some of the best Japanese food I have had.
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Closer to home, we crawled between other pubs, The Kenton and Chesham Arms, each with its own jovial white noise of friends and beer. There is a warmth, energy and personality to UK pubs that we just don’t have in South Africa. Another thing we miss down south is the glowing late-night institution of the kebab shop. Anatolia Ocakbasi, a Turkish restaurant, serves expertly wrapped döner kebabs, flavour-packed and the size of my forearm.
Pub on the Park/ Image: Oliver Keohane
As a child and teenager, I was fortunate to experience London with my parents. They took me to see Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and took photographs of me standing next to a wax version of David Beckham at Madame Tussauds. They taught me about the city through endless walking and a tourist-heavy itinerary.
As an adult, what endears the city to me is the energetic feeling in a borough like Hackney. Between the hole-in-the-wall retailers and shops, the cafes and bars and colourful murals scattered between off-licence corner shops and Lime bikes, there is an atmosphere of activity that animates the city from morning through to evening.
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