For the last three weeks a friend, I haven't seen for ages, and I have been trying to link up. When I had the idea to meet up he couldn't make it. When he could, I couldn't. So two days ago, after I had forwarded him an email he asked if he could take me out to lunch. I said yes and we agreed to meet up the very next day.
During the bus journey to meet my friend, a lady sat beside me and was chatting on her mobile phone. When she mentioned something about open house my ears pricked up. After she finished her conversation I told her that I'd heard her speaking about the Open House and I was wondering if it was this weekend. She said yes.
Open House London Annual Event is our highest-profile public initiative, inviting people to experience, explore, and understand architecture, design and the built environment. As London’s largest architecture festival, each September over 600 buildings new and old all over London celebrate design excellence by opening their doors at no charge to the public, all within 48 hours! Open House LondonI told my friend on the bus that I've been to the Open House a few times. She said she always makes it a point to visit a few buildings. She was hoping to visit ones around where she lives. She recommended other buildings to see. She said I could download the brochure from the Open House website.
We talked about our mutual love for London. My friend said her parents, who live in Berkshire, can't understand why she and her husband would choose to live in London, which is "smelly and overcrowded." She said London doesn't appeal to them because they're only interested in gardening. She said London is fantastic if you're into culture and the arts. We discussed the wonderful activities available in London such as galleries, museums and festivals. I told her there was a festival around the Thames at the weekend but I couldn't remember what it was called. She said she'd just come back from New York on a business trip and found it very strange paying to go to their museums when they're free in the UK. Within that short space of time there was so much to talk about, where we've both been, where we've both lived etc.
When I got off the bus I walked to my friend's house. Although I've been to his place a few times, I couldn't find his flat. I looked up the address in my address book and had a feeling I had missed out part of the address. Just as I was about to call him on the mobile to find out, I saw him standing outside a building watering some flowers. It was so good to see him. After exchanging hugs, he showed me his flower garden and I admired his flowers. Then we went to his flat where he showed me a bed he'd designed which is totally original. I was really proud of him.
On our way to the restaurant I told my friend about the Open London weekend which he was aware of. I said I was hoping to go at some point. I also told him there was a festival going on around the river Thames. It turned out the restaurant my friend had in mind was a vegetarian restaurant I used to frequent over 10 years ago. It was exactly the way I remembered it. We ordered some soup and bread and I looked for vacant seats. The restaurant is very tiny and has limited seating capacity which you have to share with others. The only two seats available were in front of these two woman. We chatted with them about the restaurant and the quality of the food which was excellent. Then my friend and I discussed his recent trip to Ghana and the insights he gained from that trip and other exciting projects he's involved in. My friend discovered that the women sharing our table had brochures from The United Grand Lodge of England. It turned out this building was open to the public as part of the Open House London initiative. Wow, fancy us sitting in front of them! My friend asked for more information and we decided to visit that building after we'd finished our lunch.
After lunch my friend stopped off at the Donmar Warehouse, which my friend believes is the best theatre in London. They were currently showing the musical, Parade. He asked if they had tickets available for that evening and they had a few. He asked me if I would like to see a show with him and I said yes. The day was getting better and better.
Then we headed off to the "United Grand Lodge" to explore the building and discover what we can about Freemasonry. My friend told me his father and grandfather were Freemasons, but he isn't.
"Freemasonry is a society of men concerned with moral and spiritual values. Its members are taught its precepts by a series of ritual dramas, which follow ancient forms, and use stonemasons' customs and tools as allegorical guides." What is FreemasonryHow can I describe the building? In two words: grand and ornate. I was fascinated by the aprons, swords, emblems and many symbols.
While we were exploring the building, I noticed someone had left a brochure for the Open House London on a table which I picked up. My friend and I flicked through it to see if there were any interesting buildings we could visit later.
We headed off to the local park so we could chat. My friend had photocopied an article about "dark energy" which he wanted to discuss. We exchanged ideas and insights.
By the time we left the park, it was too late to see other buildings. We still had some time to kill before the musical that evening. I had a thought that it would be nice to walk by the Thames to explore that festival whose name I still couldn't remember. My friend asked me if I wanted to walk by the Thames and I said yes. Then he said he had another idea and wanted to visit a friend in hospital which overlooks the Thames. Maybe we could give him some healing based on truth principles. I agreed to go with him.
The festival was in full swing at the time and we push through the crowd and stopped off to admire street performers. By the way, the name of the festival was....drum roll please....Thames Festival. Pfff! That was way too easy! Is it any wonder I couldn't remember it?
My friend introduced me to his friend at the hospital and he was lovely and in very high spirits. It turned out he knows a friend of mine. He invited me to his birthday party later in the year. We stayed for about an hour and then walked to the theatre.
Parade, set in Atlanta Georgia in 1913, is based on true story about a Jewish man from Brooklyn who has been accused of the murder of a young factory girl and is sent to prison, even though he was innocent. It was superb and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was sitting next to this young lady who was there to support her friend, who was playing the girl who gets murdered. She was so proud of her friend.
What a day it turned out to be, a real treat.
I'm so grateful to my friend for inviting me out in the first place.
I'm grateful to all the new friends I met that day.
I'm grateful to the United Grand Lodge of England for showing us what It's made of.
I'm grateful to the organisers and participants of the "Thames Festival."
I'm grateful to the hospital staff.
I'm grateful to everyone at Donmar for putting on such a wonderful show.
I'm grateful to Leo Frank whose story the musical was based on.
I'm grateful to everyone who made that day so special.
Thank you Infinite Love for putting on such a perfect show of a Day.
All my love.
Enocia
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