United Kingdom
Benjamin Franklin House

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    • Day 3

      Sherlock Holmes Pub

      August 28, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Beim Spazieren entdeckt, zum Essen wiedergefunden - Nichts Krasses,aber trotzdem interessant für alle die Sherlock Holmes feiern oder einfach mal ein sehr weirdes Setup beim Trinken neben sich haben wollen🕵‍♀️Read more

    • Day 3–8

      Lunch , walking, and sightseeing

      March 25 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      Westminster Abby, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, National Portrait Gallery, Buckingham Palace, and lots of walking (30 thousand steps today).

      Had lunch at an english pub - fish and chips with mushy peas, meat pie and chips.... afternoon tea at cafe concerttoRead more

    • Day 49

      Theatre + Dance!!

      March 20 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      I went to the matiné session of An Enemy of the People. I think I would say this is probably the best play I have seen in my life. Of course the social morality and philosophical topic of the play is in itself very strong, but the staging, the acting, and the very surprising involvement of the public make it all the more memorable.

      To celebrate the arrival of spring, I suggested we go to the spring equinox ecstatic dance event where Phyllis and I danced to our soul's content. This is a safe and respectful environment where alcohol and drugs aren't consumed and individual expression is absolutely free. So nice to shake it all out of the system!
      People kept going up to Phyllis and expressing their admiration of her!
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    • Day 45

      Iftar @ the Tate

      March 16 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      After being ushered out of the Yoko Ono exhibit, we were approached by some organisation individuals inviting us to Iftar; to break fast in the muslim fashion in the Ramadan period. It turns out there is an initiative all over London and the UK where public and open Iftar events are being held in order to make Ramadan more visible to people and to make Islam less separate.
      Before dinner we were invited to join in a prayer ceremony where Phyllis and I were among the few, if not the only, non muslims participating. Because of this fact we were interviewed both by national tv and the organisation.
      A tasty and generous dinner was offered to aprox 400 people of all nationalities, cultures and walks of life.
      Quite an exciting way to end a very eventful day!
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    • Day 44

      West end !

      March 15 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      After a full day of intense work at home we decided to catch some last minute tickets to a play in one of the dozens of theatres that are within 3 streets walking distance. Oh, the joys of being right near the West End.

      The Mirror is about a play being played within a play, within a play, within a play, set in an imaginary communist regime where the arts are heavily sanctioned and need to be done in secret. What initially seems like a wedding quickly turns into something completely unexpected. They managed to interweave the plot and the multiple layers of plays with a very smart use of humour.
      Highly entertaining!
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    • Day 42

      Lunch with guests

      March 13 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

      On thursday we had guests over for lunch. Phyllis set up a meeting so I could meet Dr. Alka Patel and Phyllis' business partner Gabe.
      Alka is a GP doctor who manages to get herself out of the system by setting herself up to work with a specific niche of clientelle offering services as a "longevity concierge". She basically offers youthening people's biological age through multiple lifestyle interventions and hacks with very sophisitcated biological age tests pre- and post-intervention.
      During lunch we all had a very interesting conversation about the Social Impact Game and its progression, Alka's expertise and vision, society, healthcare, wellbeing, the experience of being a doctor, etc. After that Alka and I had a chat over coffee where I was able to ask her some key questions about her professional trajectory and her type of practise. It was very eye-opening to learn her astute change of tactic and I received some sound advice from someone who has stepped out and made it for herself quite successfully!

      After that, Phyllis and I walked over the Thames to the National Theatre in South Bank to catch a play. We watched Dear Octopus, a 1938 story of a 4 generation family get-together for the grandparents' golden wedding. It accompanies us through the family dynamics and the issues of each of the components in a very entertaining, pleasant and funny way. The set was a turning set which very ingeniously allowed us to see them interactions in different parts of the house.
      What a treat!
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    • Day 42

      Chlling... Recovering...

      March 13 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      At this stage, I was so destroyed from all the Paris activity and the traveling and meeting up with people and doing things that upon arrival at Phyllis extremely welcoming home , I almost collapsed and had the luxury of retreating into this little oasis of colour, comfort and safety in the middle of the centre of London craziness.

      I was able to rest, eat healthy and do stuff that needed doing. Like contact the people that needed contacting and get some master's study in! While in Amtwerp I missed the latest module and had some real catching up to do.

      So both Phyllis and I spent our days preparing deliciously colourful, fresh and healthy meals while in between studying/working.
      We had some real quality catching up sessions in between, which were invaluably helpful to me regarding what my next professional steps should be. As you might jave noticed, I haven't exactly been in a huge hurry to get back go work.

      Also, she shared with me where her Social Impact Game project is at and how it is advancing at amazing strides. They are networking and have quite a few very interested large-scale parties, and they are currently undergoing a petition to integrate AI into their initiative which is going to make it take off!
      What a provilege to see all this cutting edge novelty happening and what hope to think that this is going to be having a social impact.

      Also... Phyllis introduced me to some very interesting people at her community in St. Martin in the Fields, as well as people in her work circle. What an exposure!

      On the tuesday I joined Seva in the London Buddhist Centre for a meditation session.

      On wednesday Phyllis and I went to a lovely mass where poetry was read and interpreted, as well as sung by the most beautiful sounding choir. It really brought me back to my choir days!
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    • Day 40

      Trafalgar Square chez Phyllis

      March 11 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      So after a miscommunication it ended up unexpectedly being a guest at Phyllis' place smack in the centre of Westminster, London. I couldn't have wished for anything better. Not only because I am within walking distance of Westminster and all the sights, or all the main West End theatres, but also because it allows me to save considerably on transport, which is so crazy expensive. Well, actually, everything here is crazy expensive.

      On my first day I took a prolonged wall through the horse guards near Downing Street, through St. James' Park, past Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Memorial Square (where all the famous royal family events get televised ), through Green Park and into Hyde Park. From there I ventured into South Kensington for a sneak peak at opulent Harrod's and its beautiful food courts and galleries.
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    • Day 39

      Eurostaring it to London

      March 10 in England ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

      From Paris to London in the Eurostar in 2 hours. How amazingly easy, smooth and modern! To think one rides under the english channel. Even those more claustrophobic would find it a rather pleasurable experience!

      What a culture change. From the french tube stations to the english, I met up with Phyllis at St. Martin in the Fields for mass and tea afterwards.

      An unexpected change in plans had me changing my lodging arrangements to her house in Trafalgar Square. But what an absolute pleasure to be with her smack in the center of London, on one of the most expensive roads on the monopoly board!

      In the evening I met up with Seva, a friend from 6 years ago in Barcelona!
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    • Day 22

      Ausflug nach London

      August 23, 2023 in England ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

      Heute steht ein Tag London auf dem Plan. Etwa 15 Meilen von unserem Campingplatz ist eine Endstationshaltestelle der Londoner U-Bahn. Dort stellen wir unser Auto ab und fahren zu unserem ersten Ziel. Daniel und Yuna wollen in die National Galerie. Dort angekommen müssen wir aber leider feststellen, dass diese heute geschlossen hat und so entscheiden sich die beiden, ins British Museum zu gehen. Petra und Lilly erkunden inzwischen die Gegend. Zuerst geht es nach Chinatown. Petra hatte bei „to good to go“ etwas am Vortag bestellt und das wird dann als nächstes abgeholt. Eine Box mit leckeren Cupcakes 🧁. Lilly und Petra legen eine Pause im Green Park ein, die Cupecakes werden aber verschont, bis wir uns alle wieder treffen. Danach geht es dann vorbei am Buckingham Palace und weiter zum Big Ben. Dort treffen wir uns dann alle wieder. Lilly ist ganz begeistert, dass wir dass wirklich wieder hingekriegt haben, ohne das sie eingreifen musste 🤭.
      Die 26 Grad sind für einen Londonausflug herausfordernd. Diese Temperaturen sind wir ja so gar nicht gewöhnt 🥵. Und so weiten wir die Stadttour nicht weiter aus und fahren zurück.
      Am Abend nach dem Essen fahren wir nach Southend-on-Sea, etwa 30 Minuten von unserem Campingplatz. Dort ist Adventure Island. Leider sind dort keine Hunde zugelassen., was uns am Eingang mitgeteilt wird. Petra und Lilly machen einen Spaziergang durch den Ort und Yuna und Daniel stürzen sich ins Getümmel. Um 22 Uhr macht der Park zu und wir fahren zurück. Als wir ankommen, stehen wir allerdings vor einem großen, etwa 2,5 Meter hohen Rolltor. Der Park, zu dem unser Campingplatz gehört, hat im wahrsten Sinne schon alle Tore geschlossen. Als wir am ersten Tag hier angekommen sind, hatte die Rezeption schon zu bzw. sie war nicht auffindbar. Da wir aber bei der Buchung schon eine Platznummer zugewiesen bekommen hatten, hatten wir uns dort niedergelassen und die verschiedenen Zugangscodes für die Klohäuschen bei den Nachbarn besorgt. Am nächsten Morgen hatten wir die Rezeption auch nicht gefunden und da wir uns ja versorgt glaubten, haben wir auch nicht weiter gesucht. Aber wir wussten ja nicht, dass es nachts ein Tor gibt und auch nicht, dass wir mal davor stehen würden. Ans Telefon ging um die Zeit natürlich keiner mehr ran. Und so kletterte Daniel über das etwa 2,5 Meter hohe Rolltor und machte sich auf, einen Camper zu suchen, der noch auf ist und das Passwort rausrückt. Unsere zuverlässigen Nachbarn sind noch munter und versorgen ihn auch mit diesem Passwort. Ein Glück, sonst hätten wir wohl alle klettern müssen.
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