I’m not just ‘a Londoner’, I am possibly ‘The Londoner’. Which I state matter of factly and with no condescension or implied superiority over those poor souls who sadly live in provincial towns and cities, sometimes even ‘up north’!!!

You see, I just love London. Ok, north London. I don’t have that much to do with South London, though I do look at it longingly whilst walking along the Embankment on my way to the tube. Because the bit we can see from the north bank is now really pretty and special. Making you think that all of south London is filled with London Eyes and County Halls and Bermondsey markets. Because you can’t see the crappy bits from our side. As it should be.

So on Sunday we went to a wedding. A real London wedding. So ‘London’ in fact that you were never going to park anywhere. So we took the tube. Even though it was an exceedingly ‘posh’ wedding, with tuxedos and evening dresses and bow ties and shit.

The ceremony was in the totally fabulous Bevis Marks synagogue, in Aldgate. Its been there since 1702 and since then, strangely, they’ve done a lot of building works in the area. The place is surrounded by massive skyscrapers, yet sits in its tiny little space, right in the middle. Sunday’s bride was the 15th generation of her family to get married there. Think about that. Its simply incredible. Jews love a bit of ‘continuity’ because so much of our history is ‘broken’ by ‘events’ and disasters. Fabulous.

The wedding was at 12.30. So at 12.10 I was in the ‘Tisch’. That’s where the ‘boys’ go (women not allowed!) and the groom signs the marriage certificate and everyone else drinks whisky. I didn’t want to, but you have to. Or you’ll go to hell!! And it was really good whisky and somewhere in the world it was 6 o’clock, right?

After they were truly betrothed, til death do they whatever, we were bussed over to the Savoy. (told you it was posh). For the reception. Where I was greeted by a man holding a tray of ‘Old Fashioneds’. Oh well, more whisky. What could possibly go wrong?

We ate, we drank, we ate more, danced, talked, listened to speeches and drank.

And we spanned The City. Aldgate was, doh, a City of London ‘gate’, I’m guessing the ‘old’ one. From when it was walled. And its at the Eastern end. Where ‘my people are from. The Savoy hotel is just past the western end of the old City at Temple Bar Gate. Ahhhhh, ‘my’ City.

Happy Wednesday

A xxxx