Rosewood (Hotel) London, Sunday 15th September, 2024
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| Covent Garden yesterday in the sun |
Top of the morning to you all from London town and more precisely from our amazing 5 star hotel, The Rosewood near Covent Garden where we are surrounded by and swaddled in sheer luxury. I have stayed at many luxurious hotels over the years for work purposes but that was a very long time ago. So it's wonderful to experience such luxury again. I am here on a 4 day jaunt accompanying Olivia who will be presenting the prestigious World's 50 best hotels at The Guildhall this next Tuesday. It's wonderful to have mother and daughter time together and in London which is always fun.
But let me recap to last Sunday which was our last day in Santa Pola with Suzy, our eldest daughter. What a world of difference between the two even though they have had the exact same upbringing. I often wonder if we did anything wrong and can never help blaming myself. We had a quiet day together and Eladio and I only went out to have a coffee. That evening we had a serious conversation with Suzy who just before we left told me she was committed to her treatment, both medication and with her psychiatrist, Viriginia.
Thus on Monday we left her on the straight and narrow again. For how long? I don't know. Before driving home we went to Lidl to fill her cupboards and take stuff home. Our drive home was long and boring only brightened up by quite a decent lunch at the Venta San José. We were home by mid afternoon to be greeted by Tana who holds the fort so well in our absence. She is a real treasure as many of our Airbnb guests tell me.
The big news that day, in the UK, at least was the publishing of a personal video by Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
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| A still from the video published by Kate Middleton this week |
She told the world in a unique and unprecedented way for the British Royal family, that she has finished her course of chemotherapy but that doesn't mean she is totally cancer free. But it is good news.
Tuesday's news, of course, was the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. I didn't watch it but later read that the lady for the Democrats had done better than her awful rival. The actual elections aren't until November and the circus will continue. I just hope we don't have a similar outcome to when Trump beat Hilary Clinton by a tiny majority. Please may the world not have to suffer another term of Donald Trump at the White House.
My mind wasn't on the debate on Tuesday. We resumed our morning walks which we so need. I had guests going and coming that day as is the norm in this international guest house we have created in our own home. You must think we are mad but it helps maintain the house, it brings in income and we get to meet people from all over the world. September is a very busy month and I wish we had more rooms (one of the reasons for building the wooden garden house - read on). This week our guests have been from Lithuania, Mexico, Brazil, India, Iraq and Malta of all places. Today while I am away new guests will be arriving from The Philippines, Croatia, Armenia and Portugal. See what I mean when I say this house is a bit like the United Nations.
It was all hands on deck to get things ready for the 7 member family from Valetta who were arriving at about 2.30. But there was time for coffee out and some shopping which was a bit rushed as we got a sudden call from Oli to pick up little Juliet from school. It was a thrill to pick her up from the nursery and to get a bird's eye view of her in class (sweet). She jumped into our arms and soon we were home. As we hadn't been with her for her 3rd birthday when in Santa Pola, it was the perfect time to give her her birthday present - previously arranged with Miguel and Oli. So here she is trying on her beautiful new winter coat. She loved it although it looked a little incongruous on such a warm day.
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| Juliet in her birthday coat |
She ate her lunch with us and shortly afterwards Oli came to pick her up. No sooner had we started our lunch when the Maltese family arrived; 4 adults and 3 children (not the best combination). They were soon invading the house. When that happens we just retire to our own quarters or to the study. There are plenty of places to escape to hahahaha.
They went out later which is when the man who is most probably going to build our wooden garden house, came to see us and measure the space. This idea started a while back and we are only now embarking properly on this project which I know we will enjoy immensely. It is an investment as of course we will be renting it. Recently I saw an advert for the rental of a very ugly mobile home in someones's garden. Ours will have everything it needs and will be much nicer; that is if we finally go through with it. We have yet to see the plans and the budget. Basically it will be a two room one floor wooden cabin with a similar style to one I found on the internet - a typical Nordic cabin. It will have a full bathroom and then open space for a small kitchen, living space and a bed or beds.
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| The style of house we want. The front would be on the longer side and would have a terrace |
As to the size we are thinking 25m2 (269 sq ft). It doesn't sound a lot but actually for 1 or 2 people it's much larger than you would think.
We either needed to pull down the existing wooden shed which has deteriorated over the years, or build a new one in its place. One idea led to another and to cut a long story short, the idea now is to pull the old shed down but build a proper wooden garden home on the other side of the house where there is so much more room. This is a photo of the back patio where we would probably build it around where you can see a picnic table. If you look to the right of the picture, up the steps you will see the old shed.
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| The garden house is now going to go where the picnic table is, that is if we go ahead with everything |
That way the tenants will have complete independence and the house will face the lawn. They could even come across the lawn to the house and of course can park on the property and will be allowed to use the pool.
On
Wednesday we went to see the showroom the man from
Pergoland has. He, in turn, works for Leroy Merlin (LM) from whom we would buy the turn key house - completely furnished with water, electricity, internet, heating and air conditioning. We are making a real tiny house. The wooden cabin Juan Carlos had was 22m2 and as we walked in I was surprised at just how big it felt, so 25m2 will be more than enough. Here are a couple of really bad photos of the outside and inside.
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| Our visit to Pergoland to see a 22m2 wooden cabin with bathroom, kitchen and everything elese. |
We then sat down with one of the architects who began on a plan and we came away feeling thrilled. It is so exciting to be working on building a little house in the garden. It's like playing at houses. It will also be a wonderful distraction from all our worries and will keep us both busy and happy.
Thursday was the only day without errands but we did go out for coffee to Manacor. That's where we expanded on the idea of a change of location for the garden house.
With only two days to go for our flight on Saturday morning to London, I did my packing that day. The most difficult part was choosing a dress for the awards ceremony at The Guildhall which is "black tie". I also had to choose a dress for the Opening Banquet on a ship (
The Silver Sturgeon). Dammit, I wish I wasn't so fat as otherwise I would have a lot more dresses to choose from. Both events will be very exciting and you will hear about my experiences next Sunday when all will be over.
On Friday we didn't have any errands to do either but got our walk in early in the morning and had coffee at Manacor. Friday was Suzy's second appointment with her psychiatrist which she was so looking forward to it. I was very upset to get an audio from her to say she missed the bus. I rang the surgery and was told she could turn up any time but by then she was very out of sorts and refused to go. She did later ask me to get her another appointment which I can't do until Monday. She worries me so. I love being in London with Olivia but she is always in my mind.
We saw our grandchildren in the afternoon at the park next to their school. Juliet came running to hug "Booboo" and Grandma and fell over in the rush, poor sweetie. It was lovely to see them and also Copi, the girls' childhood friend who was over from Vitoria and came to see Oli and the kids at the park. She is getting married in July and of course we shall be going as we are a bit like her surrogate family.
And Saturday dawned, the day of our flight to London. We were off at around 8.30 for our 10.50 flight to Heathrow, just the two of us with no children or husbands. I felt slight guilty although I know we both deserved these fabulous days in London.
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| And we're off |
Everything went smoothly and once at Heathrow we were soon in a black cab - now electric - which took over an hour to get to our hotel in Holborn near Covent Garden. It was a beautiful day and we drove right through the very heart of the city. I commented to Oli that Madrid feels like a village in comparison. And here is my daughter paying the Black Cab. I told her the tables had turned. It used to be me taking her and Suzy on jollies with my work related travel and now it's her taking me. I am very proud of her.
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| Arriving at the Rosewood |
Our room wasn't ready which surprised us but we didn't mind as we had to rush to our lunch appointment at
Fishworks in Covent Garden. We both wanted to have fish and chips for our first meal in London. It did not disappoint.
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| Fish and chips was our first choice of food in London and we had it at Fishworks in Covent Garden |
Once sated with the best of British we ambled along the busy streets towards Covent Garden proper. Oli was navigating with her phone's Satnav and that day learned that there is no garden at Covent Garden. We did laugh. Covent Garden was fun with lots of street acts going on and enticing stalls and shops.
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| Lively Covent Garden yesterday |
We had decided to be real London tourists so from there we walked to Trafalgar Square a wonderful place to feel the vibrancy of London on a sunny day in September with no other agenda. Here are some pics.
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| Trafalgar Square needs no introduction |
By then we were exhausted and decided to walk back to our hotel, our wonderful home in London which was once the HQ of the Pearl Assurance Company. Designed in Edwardian and Belle Époque styles it was built in 1914. We loved our room as soon as we walked in. Just look.
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| Our beautiful room |
It was full of little surprises too such as an expensive bottle of Ruinart champagne and some amazing chocolate concoction with a note from 50 best to Olivia.
What took the biscuit though were her initials on one of the pillows. I had never seen that. Have you?
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| Oli's initials on one of the pillows on our bed |
So with no further ado and after exploring the bathroom where I declared the amenities a bit disappointing, we opened the champagne and started on the chocolate which was to be our dinner (how decadent). Of course, being me, I had to google the price of the champagne, a paltry 45 quid a bottle. It didn't taste much different to Cava but we loved the moment.
We later binged on more chocolate as there are baskets of it everywhere. So of course we did not go out to dinner last night. We just chilled in our wonderful accommodation. We got into our huge comfortable bed with the best pillows ever to watch TV on a huge screen. They didn't have Netflix so we had to use my iPad to watch the Amy Winehouse biopic which I did not like at all. I slept pretty well and got in about 6.5h and was up at 6.30 UK time and had my first caffeine fix of the day.
Today, Sunday, we have a whole free day in London and we shall play it by ear and enjoy every moment. I am very aware of just how lucky I am to be here. It's the perfect tonic after all we have been through recently.
Will leave you now to go and have a scrumptious breakfast in the famous Mirror Room.
Cheers everyone till next time,
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