Hamleys Hating.

I like London a lot. For someone who doesn't live there, I would say I visit quite frequently even though this isn't really an achievement as I only live about an hour away...

Anyway, I usually go there for gigs as London happens to be the closest place to me where all the bands play. This is where I take a moment to pay tribute to my favourite venue which was so cruelly knocked down and demolished to make way for trains. Goodbye Astoria.

So, basically I spend most of my time in some dark and sweaty room full of strangers when I go to London but I sometimes like to go other places. I like the art galleries and and London itself and... Wait a minute!...

Hamleys! Don't even go there. Actually I have and I will. I have a great dislike for Hamleys. Over priced, over crowded and full of screaming little children... the fact that it is a toy shop does not excuse this. It seems that everywhere you stand in that stupid toy shop you are in the way of some greedy children or their generous parents. I say generous because Hamleys is ridiculously expensive.

And then to make it worse it turns out that there are seven floors. Why? Did they not consider the children who are too old to appreciate puppets and scary men wearing face paint? Did they not think that we have to get dragged around all seven floors of this place and then battle our way out again?

Once, when I was short and looked like an exact clone of Dora The Explorer but a British version without a tan I could appreciate that place and looked at it with wonder and joy. Now I would happily drive one of those trains that replaced the Astoria right through its shiny front doors...