I took a trip up to London town this weekend to see some old friends from university. It seems this is the only reason I ever come to London, that and to see the odd gig. Maybe it is the fact that I have seen it all before and I have to come up by train that start me off on the wrong foot. It seems my negativity towards London is unique as the place is packed.

Walking around Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden I am amazed by the amount of foreign tourists knocking about. A quick straw poll would no doubt have highlighted that the English contingent are virtually non existent.

Our foreign cousins are obviously not put off by London’s high prices, overcrowded transport system and surly residents. For an English summer’s day it is characteristically pissing it down and I for the life of me can’t fathom why an Italian from say Rome would bother to darken our doorstep. Do they all just come once thinking they will meet the Queen and return home penniless and disillusioned?

It’s not just the tourists. Forget your Antipodean bar staff, the expansion of the European Union is bringing tides of Bulgarian plumbers, Polish carpenters and Romanian fortune-tellers to our shores. Quick, someone phone the Daily Mail but don’t mention Asylum seekers, it upsets them.

We order some overpriced lunch from a trendy gastro-pub and I am served by an Eastern European girl. From her accent I guess she is from Czech Republic. The rest of the staff seem to be from the same neck of the woods. I pay the bill and resist the urge to ask what her motivation is to move to London to work in a pub less I be confused for an immigration officer and beaten up by her gang master.

It isn’t just in the tourist haunts that this phenomenon seems to occur. My friend is staying in a swanky Knightsbridge hotel on business. The 5 star establishment is just around the corner from Harrods and as we enter the lobby there isn’t a single white face to be seen. By their appearance the clientele seem to be made up entirely of middle Easterners. Have I just been transported to Abu Dhabi or is this some sort of Arab oil conference?. Whatever the reason it is an unusual sight.

I know London has a few things going for it. It is a good place to get a decent job, you can come here to learn English (albeit with an Aussie accent) and there is money floating about if you have your finger in the right pie.

Sacrifices have to be made I guess.