It gets dark at 5pm, it's always raining, everyone seems so miserable, politics have gone off the rails and I'm also a complete scrooge, but despite all this, London I love you during winter.
I may scurry home as the evenings draw in, but there's still so much going on, and as long as I plan my evenings well, I try to get the most out of the cold months before I settle in for the night. And as always this month is full of things to do, and as always here's my top five of things I recommend to do in the wonderful month of November...
Number One
Sadly I'll miss this, but on the 9th of November I highly recommend getting down to the City of London to see the annual Lords Mayor's Show! A parade of over 600 people, marching bands, military detachments, dance troupes, ceremonial displays and of course the chance to welcome in William Russell as our new Lord Mayor!
Number Two
Perhaps a bit niche but I love a good in depth talk on subjects of British history, and this one looks right up my street.
How the English learned to hate Catholics on the 20th of November is a first come first served lecture at the Museum of London.
Number Three
Probably my top recommendation of the month is the Sound and Light installation in the Tower Bridge bascule chambers to celebrate 125 years. The website doesn't seem to give to much away but it sounds so cool! And I'm sure as soon as the word gets out it will sell out.
Number Four
It's probably the most talked about exhibition of the year, Tutankhamun at the Saatchi Gallery opens this month, with the largest collection of his treasures to ever travel out of Egypt. It's £25, sure to be busy, but sure to be in many peoples diaries.
Number Five
I've recently had the idea that whenever I have lectures in London Bridge, I have to buy something at nearby Borough Market. Now I've always loved this food market, from the amazing choice of street food vendors, the local produce and also the place to pick up Italian, Spanish, Turkish and further afield delicacies, but it's nice to have an hour to myself and buy something random and out of the blue. Ok my fridge is currently filled with cheese, I've eaten a loaf a bread a day, but I've also found some tasty bits and pieces I I ought to share with you. My top best bites I've enjoyed the past week are
Sun dried tomatoes from De Calabria
The.best.cheese.ever, Bianca Mora's Castelrosso – Salvacremasco
The highly addictive Cheese and olive stick from Bread Ahead, I'm embarrassed to tell you how many of these I've eaten recently
Enjoy November
Heard in London