A trip to London

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post about going to see several bands live in Southampton. Both of the bands that I saw were playing in a local music venue. However last Thursday I travelled all the way up to London to attend my latest gig.

The band in question were a semi-acoustic pop-folk duo called Paper Aeroplanes, who couldn’t be more different from the last band I saw in Southampton. The support acts were also acoustic-based; the first were a duo from Mississippi who had only formed at the start of this year, whilst the second was an eccentric solo artist from Australia. The usual moshing and head banging that feature at rock concerts were nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with warming hot chocolate and rows of seating – a very civilised experience!

Paper Aeroplanes’ magical performance

The venue was a beautiful old church, with balconies that overlooked the stage and stained glass windows that glinted in the multi-coloured lighting. It was a very unique setting, which helped enhance the music and make it a very memorable and special night.

The venue’s beautiful architecture. 

The reason for going up to London and to see this band was that my girlfriend and I were celebrating one year together and although the band was her suggestion, I actually enjoy their music too. Before the show, we had decided to eat out and had chosen to book a table at a small restaurant near Euston station, where we indulged on nachos, gourmet burgers and spicy fries, opting for real pig-out food!

After the gig we made our way to Victoria Coach Station and headed back down to the South Coast. The coach dropped of us on Highfield Campus, which just echoes what Kristin mentioned in her last blog: travelling to and from London is a very easy to do from Southampton! In fact, I’ve found getting to most places very easy, whether it’s been to the nearby Portsmouth, Eastleigh and Winchester, or places further afield.

The next day we went out to every student’s favourite ice cream parlour nearby. I had a gigantic brownie sundae with hot fudge sauce, which sadly defeated me. It was the second time I had been in a week, as I had also gone there with my housemates the weekend before, after trying out the (relatively) new and popular gourmet burger restaurant in the nearby Portswood area.

 A ‘little’ treat after a hard week of work. 

Although it may look like all I have been is socialising and enjoying myself, I have in fact also been hard at work with my studies. My modules are heading towards their conclusion and the word ‘revision’ is slowly starting to re-enter my vocabulary. My Master’s project is also progressing nicely; my project partner and I have almost finished the first half of our work load, after using our code to analyse several hundred quasars, creating a comprehensive catalogue of data in the process.

Going up to London and seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations in shop windows has made me feel all 'Christmassy' and with it comes the realisation that this term has almost finished. As I write this, my housemates are getting ready to put up our Christmas tree and I’m sure my next post will feature lots of festive spirit (and maybe the odd mince pie!).

James