I lived in London for three years and feel I might have left too soon. Recently voted the best city in the world to visit by Trip Advisor, there are too many landmarks to mention but it's the unique atmosphere London has as one of the only world cities that always attracted me. No matter how many polls tell me the world's most livable cities are in Canada, Australia and Scandinavia, I've been to some of these cities and don't feel they're in the same league as London.
Now I return as a visitor along with countless others to see London's first major event of 2012. What interests me is not the Queen but the collective experience of over a million people showing up to celebrate. We tramp through the streets from Green Park tube as security explains the park is closed to a chorus of 'Why? How ridiculous!' from the thousands of others who had the same idea.
The Mall, unsurprisingly, is already full by 2.45 when we pass it. Police try to redirect the crowds toward Hyde Park to see it on a big screen. The thought of hanging around a park in the rain - collective experience aside - was not as appealing as finding a pub to watch the action on the telly.
The Bag of Nails near Victoria Station festooned with bunting and flags and filled to the brim with people in Union Jack hats, many of them not English and none of them Londoners. Everybody ran outside for the flyover which passed over us on Buckingham Palace Rd.
After a night out catching up with some friends in Islington and a family visit to St Paul's via Southwark, my short return to London came to an end. Going through the departure gate at Gatwick was heart-wrenching as I vowed to be back as soon as I could.
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