London Bound

After a few days in the village of Langley, Manny and I headed for London on a brand new adventure - to deliver my very first international publicity seminar.  It was a 45 minute drive to the train station at Didcot, followed by a 40 minute train ride to London via Reading - a few memories there for me! We arrived at Paddington Station and made our way to the Underground, changing lines and getting off at Victoria station.  The crowds weren't too bad, but all those great tube features came flooding back - the dreaded tube wind that blows a gale through the myriad of underground tunnels, that awful smell of metal on metal and the hazy air full of pollution.  So glad I'm not communting daily anymore in London! 

We found our hotel, the Stanley in Pimlico - pokey but an ok place to stay in a really nice area.  We enjoyed a meal at a Brazillian restaurant with non stop offerings of grilled meats, some red wine, a stop at the Italian cafe for coffee and an early night.  The heating was baking, so even with the window wide open we sweated, strangely.. for London.  Next day it was off early for another tube ride to Tottenham Court Road and the CBI Conference centre for my big presentation. I was rather nervous and fearful that the Aussie cultural divide might be too great for my audience, but I needn't have worried.  The audience was wonderfully receptive and sales conversions very good.  I felt truly honoured to be speaking in London, to have come this far.  And very grateful to Manny for his support in helping me get there.  A relief indeed to have done it.. 

Afterwards, I left Manny in starbucks doing a conference call to Australia while I walked Oxford St and all those department stores.  I checked out my old haunts include Top Shop, H&M, Miss Selfridges and Next - and managed to not buy a thing!  It's all summer gear and I think my tastes (and age!) have changed.  There's always time for shopping when I come back in a few weeks from Greece.  Last night we enjoyed Mexican for a late lunch, before I crashed early with a sore throat (lack of sleep I think - all catching up with me).  Manny headed out to for a glass of champagne at a nearby hotel in honour of champagne friday (had to do it in London!) and then the local Cypriot cafe for a kebab before heading home and an early night.

This morning Manny made his way to St Sophia Greek Church for a liturgy in honour of Lazarus (Les' name day) while I rested and minded the bags back at the hotel.  I'll let Manny tell you about the Church - he says it was one of the most beautiful he's been in.

We made our way back to Paddington station - this time in a black cab, hopped on the train back to Didcot and the drive to Langley (oh yes, and a stop at a roadside breakfast van at 2pm!).

There was a warm welcome from the girls - and then some naughty behaviour as a payback for leaving them I think...  I'm at home tonight with the girls while the others are having dinner at the local pub.  Looking forward to hearing what was on the menu - warming British pub fare no doubt.  Tomorrow is the spring open garden day for the village so we're looking forward to welcoming visitors, and enjoying a BBQ with Tim's family (his sister is in town from Sydney).  Desi (and Cassie) have been working so hard in the garden - planting, weeding, pruning, raking - everything is looking ship shape!

Monday we drive to Gatwick to stay overnight in a local hotel (it's a 2-3 hour drive to Gatwick) before heading to Greece and the next chapter of our Greek/UK Odyssey.

chat soon
Sue