BERNIE TAUPIN COPYCAT

I am about to cash in on my birthday present, which is a trip to London. After having had a good friend over for lunch today on my sunny terrace I went to work on my laptop to book tickets and hotel rooms. Yes, rooms plural, because we are taking daughter Sophie along, as we will be paying a visit to our suppliers who are located in Surrey. They send us the best frozen yogurt in the world for our Smoothie Bar - where Sophie is manager - and we would like to start importing some of their other stuff too - like soft frozen yogurt (eaten like ice cream) and sorbets.

The funny thing these days is that GETTING to London is quite cheap because there are a lot of options by low cost airlines, whereas finding a relatively affordable hotel for three people is NOT easy. And fully booked most of them! We are definitely not paying nearly 2000 pounds for 3 nights, there's a limit to everything. And the hotels with these prices are not even that great. Okay, we need two rooms, but still... My friend Grete however recommended a website to me called airbnb.com, and I think this might turn out to be my rescue. A fully furnished flat in Soho for three days? Well, why not!

Grete in London 1972

Grete and I share a huge affinity for England, and especially London. When we first went there together we were only sixteen - well, almost seventeen - and we still marvel at the fact that our parents allowed us to travel from Oslo by ship and by train, through three or four countries, to arrive at the YWCA in Russell Square right smack in the middle of the metropole! And all the time I was carrying my guitar! Talk about a dedicated post-hippie....

The entrance to the YWCA on Russell Square, 1972 (shopping, no guitar)

Oh, the discoveries we made! Oxford Street, Carnaby Street, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, discos and pubs (did we look older than we were)? And - greatest of all - Kensington Market on Kensington High Street - a three-storey building with stalls! Clothes, incense, records, hippie stuff in general - treasures everywhere! We each found and bought the same chequered shirt there that Bernie Taupin wears in a photo in the text leaflet inside the album sleeve of Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. Needless to say this was our favourite record at the time.

Bernie Taupin in Bernie Taupin-shirt

Bernie Taupin fan in Bernie Taupin-shirt

Many are the times I've been back to London - so many that I've lost count. While I was at University in Brighton London was only a short train ride away, and over the years I've had two boyfriends who lived there. (NO, not at the same time)!

So - London. Here I come again. Looking forward.