Shoreditch in my lexicon means the best date ever. In the summer of 2008, I had “the date” in the streets of Shoreditch. I was having a one sided affair with the Bohemian capital Berlin when I was asked out for a better job opportunity by London. A little reluctantly, I arrived in London in order to work for a prominent/boring finance company. Quite vainly, I was trying to find a quarter that reminded me of Berlin amidst the black-grey suits and ties. I was disappointed by the huge glass buildings of the City while constantly longing for the free spirit atmosphere of Berlin. I gave into my longing for Berlin. I made up my mind to go back to Berlin, reducing the whole London into a small finance city nonsensically.
On a bizarrely sunny Saturday, when I was having a pint with my friend, an extraordinary man asked me out. He was extraordinary as somehow you could not say “no” to him; he was the type of person charming and kind but in a relaxing way. We started talking about London, and I expressed how I thought London was this boring financial city, and so on so forth. He said “You haven’t seen anything then. I will show you the real London; meet me in Liverpool Street Station tomorrow”. He didn’t explain where he was going to take me or what we were going to do (the second part of the sentence is not written for provoking dirty thoughts –so please!!!) In my own stubbornness I was still thinking London was not my “cup of tea”. Where could this quirky, cute man take me as enchanting as the streets of Berlin full of students, and artists? Yep, you guessed right, he took me to Shoreditch.
As I was on the tube on my way to meet him, I had many questions in my mind. “Who is he?.. Is he a good guy?.. Is it going to be weird spending the whole day with him?.. I don’t know him anyway… Perhaps I should go back… Shall I tell him that I’ve already resigned and I’m going back to Berlin, or shall I just spend this day with him and forget about him tomorrow?” I arrived at my final destination my head floating with a thousand different questions.
He was already waiting for me outside of Liverpool Street Station with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a purple t-shirt that suited perfectly to his green eyes. “Check! I love purple” was what I was thinking when he kissed me on the cheek. He started walking fast straight away whilst talking about Shoreditch. I could see that he was nervous as he was talking non-stop and walking at such a pace I could barely keep up. We walked through Spitalfields into the Old Truman Brewery. We passed a few second hand shops and vintage looking cafes. I realized some extraordinary London was on its way. When we entered a street that had no name on it he explained that it was not a street normally, we were in a brewery which was now a complex of cool cafes, pubs and stylish shops. We stood in front of a shop-restaurant, and he said “I hope you like pizza” as he dragged me inside. It was the strangest pizza place I’d ever seen; a big place looking like something between an artist’s studio and a student community project room. This place was called Story Deli , and their pizza was unusually thin with lovely toppings. When we were served I started eating without a fork and knife, he did so himself. I was being surprised at my own ease as I never leave the formalities on a first date. I had a bite from the pizza and I was OMG, “Check! He knows good pizza”. He took me to the best place in a back street of London, a place I would have never found myself. I was lost in the jolliness of food when I remembered the complication of my situation “shall I tell him now?”…
PART 2 IS NEXT WEEK…
