Hi!
Guys welcome back to London and welcome to 2017
today I'm starting in the shadow of the London Eye
Now for you it will be 2017 but for me it is still New years eve 2016
Tourists take the stairs we will take the tunnel
it is New Years Eve 2016 but for you it will be New years day or New years 2017
So if the context of what I'm saying gets a bit muddled just roll with it I'm talking
about the future from the past which is now the present
I've come to the Southbank of the river and importantly Big Ben
The bank of the River here is very much and Big Ben and as a Londoner when I say Big Ben
I'm talking about the whole thing we do not differentiate between the Elizabeth tower,
the clock and the bell inside its just all Big Ben
the building next door is the houses of parliament just roll with it
the clock is very much and the bells are very much the focal point for New Year tonight
and the banks of the river will be lined with people there is a firework show
waiting for the bells to ring out 12 and the end of another year and the start of a new
one so today I thought I would come down here check out what is happening and plans and
preperations for New Year and maybe check out the last time that will ring 12 for 2016
and also take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year and outline my plans for
2017 so yeah first up let me wish you all a healthy happy and prosperous 2017 my plans
for 2017 I'm quite excited for new year there is going to be both Roberts London and Roberts
&co much and much of the same but there will be some changes well changes is the wrong
word there is going to be some additions for Roberts London there will be some cooking
videos and I want to make some blog posts on Roberts & co's website for recipes and
I will start off with, I've already started filming some British classics and also I want
to make some more London tour guides and yeah maybe some simple guides to some of the areas
in town but yeah it is ten to twelve now
I think maybe I will narrate the rest it is super windy here on the banks of the river
and then we will check out Big Ben hitting 12 for the final time of 2016
when it does it tonight in just over 12 hours time there will be a huge celebration here
on the river and I guess the crowds will be singing old Lang Syne or well they will sing
the first verse and then mumbling the rest because no one knows the words
London Eye If you think it looks busy on the banks of
the river today this is nothing compared to how it will look this evening in fact when
I was a kid people would gather in Trafalgar Square to see in the New year rather than
on the banks of the river and a lot still try but they barrier it off
quite a bit to prevent it in fact they've always tried to deter it the powers that be
have always tried to deter people gathering in Trafalgar Square it is the very reason
they put the fountains in was to restrict the amount of people that could gather there
so yeah its never been popular with the powers that be a big gathering in Trafalgar Square
anyway from there in parts of Trafalgar Square you can see Big Ben and you can hear it ring
out 12 O'Clock so it was always the natural focal point for a party but I guess late at
night it is difficult to see the difference sometimes between a party and a protest so
yeah there was always a big police presence there more recently I would guess since the
Millennium there has been a firework show a free firework show around the London eye
it was the millennium wheel back then and it was free see they usually turn the London
eye into a huge Catherine wheel at some stage in the show so the focal point and the meeting
point for the masses became the banks of the river Thames around here and around the London
eye the crowds grew year on year despite the cold and the rain so the crowds are so big
now that it has to be ticketed and tickets are only ten pounds and sell out months in
advance but without tickets your best bet in in front of a big screen at home or in
bar with somewhere warm with a drink even with tickets you have to get here at least
an hour and a half before twelve and at some point they shut the bridges so the only way
to cross the river here in the centre is by tube so you have to be pretty committed if
you want to see the fireworks in person here now so what can you expect in 2017 from Roberts
London mainly more of the same life here in London Roberts London vlogs and blogs there
will be the addition of more cooking and more tours of specific parts of London and for
Roberts & Co my website I'm planning a ladies ready to wear which will require quite a number
of changes to the website and the pieces should start to launch in spring so yeah I'm excited
for 2017 and excited for the additions that are going to come about this year
OK this is kind of a part of London that I won't often share with you because I try to
avoid it that is the huge slow moving herds of tourists we are tourists central right
now and the pace is pretty slow going but yeah all of these things are a huge draw with
visitors to London so yeah a lot us try to avoid these areas at all costs but I will
head over to Parliament square and hopefully we will get a good view of Big Ben which should
go off strike twelve in about five minutes on both sides of the river where I have been
walking today there have been huge stacks of these metal barriers and railings which
later on this afternoon will all be put in place wherever they are going and there will
be road closures and street closures and the police will be kettleing people into various
parts or large open spaces here in town like I was saying you have to be pretty committed
to come here and see the fireworks and firework show it is a 12 minute amazing but not something
you can just walk into and admire if I was earning crazy YouTube money it would be good
fun to get one of the hotel rooms or suites overlooking it but they cost a fortune so
until I'm earning crazy YouTube money I'll be watching the BBC coverage in a warm bar
somewhere watching it on a big screen the BBC do capture amazing coverage of it and
you can see the multiple locations of all the camera crews already setting up there
is one here already OK next to Big Ben is the palace of Westminster
AKA the house of parliament which is the meeting place of the house of commons and the house
of lords and next to the palace of Westminster this church here is Westminster Abbey and
it is neither an Abbey or a cathedral it is a church and most famous for being the favoured
spot for Coronations, weddings and burials by Kings and Queens of both England and now
Britain OK I will see you in five minutes when the
clock will strike twelve bing, bong, bing, bong
bing, bong, bing , bong Bong!
Bong!
OK pretty cool huh in 12 hours time when BIG Ben strikes 12 again
that will mark the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017 and there will be huge celebrations
here fireworks on the banks of the river and I will be somewhere far warmer it has been
a really foggy week here in London freezing fogs most nights so I'll be somewhere far
warmer with a drink watching it on a big screen you can see all the TV crews setting up already
the BBC invariable gets amazing coverage of it and it should be interesting to see if
its a foggy evening tonight and how the fireworks look in the fog I reckon they will look pretty
amazing and atmospheric if a fog descends tonight so yeah I wish you all a happy healthy
prosperous new year and I will see you very soon for more videos from here in London so
until next time Toodles!
Big Ben black taxi and a red bus could do with a red phone box and it would be all the
iconic images of London in one I think the red phone boxes are that way
on the other side of the road this is the phone box one of London's famous red phone
boxes but this one if you step out of it you get the image of Big Ben behind you and a
London bus black taxi and there is a queue believe it or not not to use the phone but
to take a picture or selfie stepping out of the phone booth with big Ben behind them
there is plenty of red phone boxes still left in London and nobody uses them to make a phone
call but that one there I guess just give s tourists the iconic image of a red phone
box house of parliament Big Ben and if they time it right a red bus and a black taxi behind
them more here more queues to take a photo from a phone box
check it out a YouTube bus if enough of you like and subscribe they will
stick my face on the side of it so like and subscribe
I'll settle for being on the back of the YouTube bus
OK for you guys it is 2017 its new years new years resolutions health fitness well being
but remember for me it is still new years eve 2016 its all about the McDonald s double
cheese burger that is good
for those of you on a diet only eating salad hitting the treadmill Happy New Year!
one pound forty nine delicious