Day 31: lost in London

Clare

During the ferry trip back to the UK last night, the girls had not only managed to wangle performing to the captive audience on the boat, they had also earned a fair few pounds/euros and also secured a bed for the night at one of the passengers home.

This morning we found the girls fully rested having had a good nights sleep at Cat’s family home just outside Portsmouth. Cat had heard the girls’ plea last night for someone to offer them a room and she had dutifully taken Lindsey and LiLu under her wing and looked after them for twelve hours. After a good breakfast from their latest host, the girls continued on their journey and headed to London.

Arriving at Waterloo the girls were keen to see how London would compare to other cities visited on this trip.  Both were optimistic that London would be good to them, mainly due to the lack of a language barrier.

First stop in the city was London’s local radio station, Capital FM. They were keen to do a shout out for anyone to help them, whether it be financially, transport wise, accommodation wise or in any other way. Unfortunately they couldn’t even get past the front door. Security were not going to let them in. Slowly the girls’ optimism for the city was fading.

Plan B was to play in Leceister Square to make some cash. Before even a note was played the girls were moved on and told they couldn’t perform in the park area and had to be outside the gates. Moods were really beginning to decline.

Next stop was to play in Trafalgar Square. Three lines into one of Lindsey’s songs and they were yet again told they couldn’t play at that spot and had to find somewhere  else to perform. LiLu set up her base a few meters on in a legal busking spot and managed to draw in an audience who loved her playing. Although no records were broken financially, LiLu regained her enthusiasm, especially when she discovered that one of the audience members had heard her play earlier on in the trip when they were in Cremona in Italy.

Lindsey watched on and was struggling to have the same passion for performing, for the city and in fact for this whole trip. She admitted she was completely over the competition, she was bored of singing on the streets, exhausted from the travelling and all she really wanted to do was get to Edinburgh to see her much missed boyfriend.