Throwback: a Summer in London
Before deciding to make the move down south, I decided to take London for a trial run. Thanks to a few well-timed events, I was able to spend a beautiful summer month, working remotely on my Master's dissertation, but mostly enjoying the many joys London had to offer. My visit coincided with a horrid heatwave and the football World Cup, making sure my experience was as drastically different from Edinburgh as it could've been.
While a fair chunk of my time was spent researching text-to-speech models sitting in the Imperial College campus, I present here a run-down of some more London-y things I got up to.
Ben & Jerry's Sundaes in the Park
I've a HUGE B&J fan since I first had a B&J Mississippi Mud Pie at a Vue cinema five years ago. My fondness of them has only grown since learning more about the founders' commitment to social causes (despite their more recent struggles with Evil Magnum Overlords). So when I first heard of an ice-cream festival being organised by B&J, I naturally made it a mission to go check it out.
Hosted at Chiswick House & Gardens, Sundaes in the Park was a cute mix of a music festival and a community fair. There was a diverse line-up of artists across the various stages, and a whole bunch of stalls aimed at promoting various social initiatives. There were some very adorable ice-cream themed fairground games: albeit with slightly unjustifiably long queues, completing these games earned us some fun merch at the end of the day.
And of course, the ice cream! There were flavours aplenty to try, in various serving slices, from a tiny cup to a vertically sliced half-tub. There were ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars. All-you-can-eat, included in your ticket. By the evening, I'd had enough ice cream to last me through a month. Or ten.
If you're planning to visit next year (which I wholeheartedly endorse), I would definitely recommend going earlier in the day. Some ice cream carts started running out of flavours, and the queues only grew longer as the day went on. Plus, you get more time to enjoy everything, as we definitely didn't get to everything that was on offer in our afternoon at the Park.
UK & Ireland Speech
A very different activity from the one before! As I approached the end of my Master's programme, I was very keen to see the work that was being done across labs and universities in the UK. Across the 24 hours of the conference, I got to meet dozens of researchers, have some very illuminating conversations, and even get some ideas that influenced my dissertation. Despite it being a very hot 24 hours, the organisers at King's College did a fantastic job at putting the event together, and if you know who did the catering at the social, please give me their contact, that was some excellent food. I was also quite impressed by the bits of the campus I saw -- definitely one of the better universities I've seen!
Harry Styles: Together, Together
After Coldplay in 2022 and Taylor Swift & Hozier in 2024, I was quite keen to continue my alternate-year-big-concert streak, and, being very impressed by Harry Styles' latest album, the stars were certainly in our favour when he announced his tour dates. And, the icing on the cake, with Shania Twain as his opening act.
Grabbing some nice-and-yet-not-breaking-the-bank tickets from the Amex presale, on another hot June day in some very busy tubes, off we went to Wembley stadium. If I liked "Kiss All the Time, Disco Occassionally" before, I came out of the concert positively obsessed. Some of the tracks sounded like they were meant to be performed and heard live. The fan engagement was very fun, and much unlike other concerts I've been to before. I have also come away very, very impressed with Harry Styles' stamina.
My top 3, in no particular order: Carla's song, Fine Line, Coming up Roses. I may have cried a little bit.
The V&A Museum
Spending as much time as I did in South Kensington, there was no way I could've not been to one of the museums. With the sunsets being so late, we decided to take advantage of the Friday late opening. Before we even entered, the golden light falling on the building was absolutely stunning. The collection in the museum was very fun to browse through. My favourite section was on Consumption and Identity, and it was very cool to see some pieces from 2026 making it into the collections: besides the fact that there was some interesting commentary on AI, it was also fascinating to be living through what would be history for tomorrow.
Formula One
With the Formula One British Grand Prix in Silverstone in early July, a lot of F1 teams do pop-up stores in London in the summer. I managed to catch the McLaren x Velo pop-up (although we went there late enough to miss the free merch) and the Williams one.
The latter (picture attached) was much more extensive, with so much more to do: photo ops, games, challenges and a racing sim competition! They also had some members of the team come down, including the drivers and the team principal, so next year, I will certainly be better organised.
Football
While I'd never been much of a football fan, all the frenzy around town encouraged me to give it a shot this year. It only took the duration of one game to wrap my head around the rules, and then it was nice to be able to join into the sports conversations with friends. It has to be said that my first game, Cape Verde v. Argentina, was an excellent one to start with, and the emotions certainly ran high in the house. For the weeks to follow, the World Cup became a great closer to our intense work days. My favourite was the Norway v. England game, for which we managed to drag our sofa down a spiral staircase and outside the house, to spend a few hours in the cool night instead of the boiling sauna that is a house in a heatwave. Some pizza and some beer, I almost felt like a real football fan.
Other bits and bobs
Although the ones above were highs, even the more mundane things only enhanced what were hands-down my favourite four weeks of the year.
I watched Backrooms, upon a friend's recommendation. Admittedly, I went into the experience with no background. I'd missed the whole 4chan creepypasta lore, and I don't usually watch trailers before I see a film. So when I sat down with my popcorn and my ice cream, I had no idea I was signing up for a horror film (which is a genre I try to steer clear of). Putting a side that bit ... actually does no good. Not a film I'd rewatch.
And finally, that fact that this month was a taster for a longer adventure meant that I needed to get a taste of the London rental market. Our first flat viewing was in Paddington, which was ideal location-wise. The flat fell short of our requirements, but we enjoyed a lovely stroll by the canal in Little Venice. We ended up confirming our second viewing, and that is a much smoother process than anything I'd experienced in Edinburgh. Granted, our circumstances and requirements were very different than previous flat hunts, so don't take this as a direct comparison between the two markets.
Considering the fact that I'm now living in London, it's clear that the taster was successful. I'd never before gotten the chance to try out a place before actually moving there, and I'm very grateful to have been able to do that this time around. I'm now experiencing the colder seasons, which bring with them their own charms, but I can't wait for summer 2027. I hope that it comes with fewer heatwaves, more friends and many more memories.
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