Leaving London
Upon my return from Amsterdam, Thursday and most of Friday were spent in the company of the only UK Demartini teacher, an intelligent and motivated amazing new friend. It is always nice to meet like minded people and share experiences in a similar field of work and life.We drove from her home in St Albans into London at lunchtime Friday, a wet rainy day and checked into the Hilton Metropole in Marylebone. Then I went shopping in Oxford Street. Packing for this trip was all about comfort, travelling and warmth – I had no clothes suitable for facilitation at the Breakthrough – one pair of well worn boots – yup - it was time.
Selfridges, Marks and Spencer, Evans, Faith, Next, Gap, Russell and Bromley – clothes, bags and shoes – it was still sale time and there was no shortage of options for me. Nothing fancy – but it was nice to see the unfamiliar and different. I must admit, M & S are a great store – would be nice to have them in Oz.
I walked home back along Edgeware Road which is crammed with a multitude of Middle Eastern retailers that include newsagents, bookshops, hairdressers, pharmacies but especially it seems cafes, restaurants and Shisha bars. Customers can smoke the hookah pipe while relaxing on wooden (my only association would be) Moroccan style seats with exquisite carvings on the arms and legs. Shisha is the Arabic water-pipe in which fruit-scented tobacco is burnt using coal, passed through an ornate water vessel and inhaled through a hose. The smell is attractive and enticing, comforting and inviting – I felt rather envious as I strolled back to the hotel room arms laded with goodies.
Addicted to sunlight as we Aussies are, when darkness envelops you at 4pm, your body seems to think it is 9pm and becomes tired and slow, just wanting to curl up in bed as soon as possible. I’m still not used to these limited hours of light.
After dinner we attended a Demartini Facilitators meeting with John in preparation for the weekend. Here I met the team – there’s 12 of us for 200 clients this weekend. Being the only Australian, I all of a sudden felt inadequate and sub standard. It’s got something to do with my accent - having always admired the English accent and growing up with the American accent on TV and in the Movies, the European accent always seems so exotic, in comparison I felt self conscious and horrified with every word that I spoke.
Yes I sound like the biggest bogun when I speak. Rounded tones could not help. Now this is an unexpected perception!
Eventually I got over such nonsense and learned much from meeting these inspiring new teachers all participating in a huge event that was managed in an alternative manner to my customary standards – which of course was perfect for me – challenges become my driving force for evolution.
Early to bed, early to rise and it must be said that this Breakthrough Experience was very special indeed. The content of the program appears to have undergone something of a transformation – (or that is possibly just me) much more user friendly and instantly effective. All the teachers were incredibly experienced and bought a wealth of knowledge to the event, adding value to every single client in that room. As usual I experienced much synchronicity with the clients that I worked with however am beginning a catalogue on quite a pattern emerging within this paradigm of the human species. Working for many hours on the Sunday to facilitate the final completion was an exceptional experience filled with smoke and mirrors, adding up to undeniable proof of beauty of this grand organised design called life. (My heartfelt thank you to Mark)
Sunday night I met a couple of cousins for dinner in a pub near Paddington station. Simply by virtue of blood they made the time and effort to meet up in a foreign city. In those two beautiful talented intelligent yet relatively unknown men, I saw my children, my brother, my mother and myself. There is no real knowing or major connection between us other than family. Yet hugging a familiar stranger when you are thousands of miles from home is such a great comfort isn’t it?That actually made my night - love ya guys!
Monday morning my body awoke with aches and pains in unusual parts of my body. I’ve been walking everyday except for the Breakthrough days in order to maintain some sort of exercise routine. The weekend event was held underground with 4 sets of steep stair cases between the seminar room and reception. Wearing new shoes and taking many trips to reception for various reasons my core muscles and thighs were given quite a workout and were stinging and aching in protest upon awaking. Yup nothing is missing!
So as a total crybaby whinging and whining - I took the first half of the day to do some Pushworth work and enjoy the view from my desk - actually just not to move and sit for a bit to rest. I would’ve stayed in front of that window all day if it wasn’t my final day in London. Ok up ya get then!
Taking the tube was an unexpected trial on Monday afternoon – just when I got all pompous thinking I had it all sorted! The Circle and District lines were closed so to get to Harrods, I was given the opportunity to become creative and find my way around the Monopoly board another way. My aunt told me that once you master the tube you master London and she was right.
Before I knew it, I was stepping inside Harrods on a mission to find a teddy bear shopping bag for MR. Gaining entrance via the Beauty and Parfumerie departments; I discovered the room of luxury which kindly led me to the arcade where several varieties of teddy bear bags greeted me. There were some nice bargains in the January sales however all I could think about was how would I get it home? Considering space and weight really is a great way to save money isn’t it? Otherwise if Harrods was in Brisbane, my credit card would have taken quite a beating.
Taking the Egyptian escalator I reached the Food Hall and almost wept. If only Niko had visited with me while the boys were in London!!! It was heaven! Weaving my way through the fish meat and poultry sellers and food outlets, I was met with a bouquet of the most exquisite aromas. I felt like a child walking through a wonderland of colour, seasonings and cultural menus. I couldn’t dare stop not for one moment. My feet took me on an adventure through the Charcuterie, Fromagerie, Traiteur, Flowers, Fruit, Vegetables, Bakery, Chocolaterie and Confectionary. Every piece was presented as art. The Middle Eastern sweets, naturally of interest to me since working with John on Filosophia, displayed their sweets as if they were pieces of the Mona Lisa in Le Louvre. I was too afraid of stopping as it was simply too irresistible NOT to purchase one of everything. I must admit that was my first rush of excitement experiencing a food hall on the same paradigm as a museum of antiquities.
Niko, you would have had quite a religious experience – and considering your relentless atheism, that’s saying something!
Leaving Harrods was an important step in self control and I felt my purse breathe a sigh of relief as I stepped outside onto Brompton Road. Next stop, Notting Hill Gate. Emerging from the tube onto Pembridge Road at the exact same moment as a heavy hail storm was fun. I made it into Portobello Road just as the ice was bending my umbrella inside out. The antique shops and funky little cafes that I DID catch a soggy glimpse of were closing up just as my umbrella took its final breath. Taking refuge in the Prince Albert, where hundreds of others had the same idea, was a welcome ten minutes of warmth. The storm decided that it would settle in for the afternoon so there was nothing to do but to visit the very old and eccentric looking Coronet cinema and watch Charlie Wilsons War for a few hours until the ice and rain had enough and dried the street up enough for me to venture back to the underground station on my way home. Three wet souls paid a handsome three pounds 50 pence and sat in the lower of the three tiers in a Victorian cinema that opened in 1898 previously lauded as one of the finest societal venues in its time.
So much for my final day in London. In my fantasy, I didn’t accomplish much. As a tourist, I like to squish in as much as possible – who knows when I’ll return – I want to make the most of this city while I can. So Harrods, a smidgeon of Notting Hill and back to Marble Arch for dinner before retiring for one final night with my exceptional view staring down Park Lane as it winds around Hyde Park, snakes close to St James Park with the feint outline of Big Ben gazing up and over at the London Eye being closely watched by the Big Pineapple in the Financial District.
Samuel Johnson said that “You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
