West End shows its spirit with a summer of fun

Bright lights

Bright lights, big city London is back with a bang this summer.

Article by Cliff Edwards

After two years of travel restrictions and dread-full national lockdowns, the West End has emergedfrom the darkness to sparkle once again.

It seems like every street is bedecked with the Union flag - more than 4,500 are fluttering above thethoroughfares and byways.

It seems like the eerily empty, dulled walkways of the pandemic period are once again glittering,paved with gold.

What sacrifices were made, what angst was lived through by the hardy - but creative -  souls who bring us the heady mix, we’ll never know.

But to see the life and bustle and feel the excitement once again is something else.

As a seasoned visitor, I sense something has changed from the pre-lockdown years.

Perhaps I sense that people no longer take for granted what they get handed on a perfect plate inthe West End.

The typically jaded visitor, who does the rounds of restaurant and bar and theatre and lovely shops as if ticking them off, is no more. There is a new light in the eyes we encounter.

Coming to the West End is once again a celebration. Of life.