London

We were so eager to arrive to London that our last 10 days in South East Asia were somehow difficult for us. It was tough on us mentally - we knew that so many things we were used to having while living in Europe are waiting for us there. I was waiting for a wide choice of chocolate which is more or less not available at all (except for Snickers and a couple of others wannabe chocolate types), all kinds of diary products especially cheeses, and weather which will hover around 20 degrees as opposed to 40 Celsius. I am by no means a food freak - neither a shopping freak but I like the idea of having a choice. In fact to fulfil my desires it is enough to see that I have a choice - I do not even feel then a need to buy things anymore. It was enough that once I had a chocolate, some cheese, a döner in Frankfurt (while already on the way to South America) to be mentally prepared for not having these choices for another six months.

Anyway London was wonderful in all aspects; we were staying at Rita’s cousin’s place at Gipsy Hill. She and her boyfriend made us feel very much at home at their beautiful flat. Gipsy Hill is a very quiet neighbourhood where we tried to recover from our extensive travelling.

We both have been to London quite a few times but it is one of those places for me which every time feels like I would be visiting it for the first time. We did not intend to move around London too much this time but just recharge before moving on; nevertheless we managed to experience quite a few nice things; we went to see painting exhibition of Cy Twombly at Tate Modern which did not impress me at all. There is quite much hype about his works but I can admire him only for one thing - with this kind of art to create such hype…There is no visit possible to London without ending up in Camden Town and of course some nice English pubs where Rita could enjoy the jacked potato and fish & chips she has been craving for. We have also visited the famous Banksy graffiti exhibition near the Waterloo tube station. We have found there Pope Benedict XVI posing in Marlin Monroe dress and Madonna kissing Britney Spears - though we are not sure whether any of them was done by Banksy.

On our last day we enjoyed the hospitality of our Indian friend from our yoga vacation in the Trivandrum Ashram in India. Our visit began with the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Temple in North West London, a contemporary masterpiece of Hindu architecture; its carved white marble with the lace-like windows letting the sun shine through makes your jaw drop when entering the temple’s interior. It is truly the most wonderful Hindu temple we saw out casting the ones in India. First time in our lives we were invited for a dinner to an Indian home, where we had a wonderful evening with our friend’s son and his wonderful wife overwhelming with their hospitality and of course delicious Indian food.

The one week in London passed very fast giving us a fast recovery we badly needed including a full laundry in a real washing machine, muesli and foamy thick coffee in the morning with endless excellent discussions, good smelling bed, a bathtub and washing teeth with tap water first time in 6 months. And of course a gorgeous hair make for Rita by her kuzynka. See for yourself.