Walking down Kingsland Road at 1 am on Friday night

In Italy whenever the boys and girls go out, they spend little time in the bars, and as much time as possible, strolling up and down the streets looking at each other. They love it; and I love it to; there's just so much to enjoy about it.

Trading piazzas with a classic renaissance style with a dirty old Roman road - Kingsland Road in this case - I get the same buzz from walking back home at 1 in the morning.


Walking down Kingsland Road from Stoke Newington, every so often you come across a small crowd of scruffy hippy trendy types, all having a fag and a bottle, huddled up, smiling, chatting, slightly freezing and doing a bit of end of the night theatre, outside some dingey bar.

My mate and me, after getting a beigel and a piece of cake, found ourselves receicnig a round of applause from the other side of the road, from a group that were stood outside one of the pubs. Given that most of our night is dedicated to infectious laughter and marvelling at the surprises that greet you on this melting pot of a road, we lapped this attention up.


My mate said he's never received a round of applause like that before.

Neither had I.

Compared to a northern town, Londoners do seem to be a bit more cliquey when they go out, they tend to be more confined and stuck to their group. It is of course possible to approach someone; but its just not expected here. We are altogether a lot more Italian about everything.