London Baptism ©

You’ve always got a choice between sadness and joy.

Joy is there; sometimes it feels like it’s at the back of the cupboard in a dusty corner that you haven’t checked in months, but its there.

The first weekend in July arrived to mark a month in London and a month being single. Now, if there is one place in the world that you would be lucky to be stranded alone in, it’s London.

My little changeling, the Internet would guide me to the best places. I decided to take myself on a weekend long date.
There was a Picasso exhibition on in the national gallery. The title was “Challenging the Past”, very appropriate, booked it for Saturday.
Coffee in Covent Garden before and a drink in Soho after. Nice one.
Then, Sunday would be spent exploring the South Bank.
To complete my internet planning, as every good newbie does, I logged on to “Transport for London”. I still hadn’t connected the city in my head. It consisted of fragmented little pieces. I just popped up in places from the subway like a mole poking its head out of the earth in the middle of a huge forest.

Picasso was amazing. He challenged all the masters that came before him by painting in their style and then brazenly wrote: Yo Van Gogh or Yo El Greco on the canvasses, which means I am Van Gogh, I am El Greco and why not? Don’t revere, challenge.

I thought I had relationship issues? Picasso was always just out of one and into another. I envied him for it. There is a sort of lightness about that.
I’d like to be like him. An artist immersed in what I’m doing, liking my partners but not taking them too seriously, never giving my heart away.
Yes, I think I can learn from Pablo. Yo Picasso.

The next day I started my walk in the evening at London Bridge and slowly explored the South Bank. The weather was glorious, the Thames sparkled as the sun went down and everyone was in a good mood.
And there in the middle of the hustle bustle was the Wooden O, the beautiful Globe, which He wrote for. All the wisdom of the world in one mind. I wonder what he’d think of Starbucks and the Real Greek right next to his lovely theatre. Would Shakespeare enjoy a Frapuccino or would he be an espresso man? I think the latter.

Then on to walk the Wobbly Bridge (this is what Londoners call the Millenium Bridge that connects the South Bank and Saint Pauls). It seems the architect wanted to share the picture of what he saw the first time he imagined it. St Pauls stands proud across the way beckoning you to come towards it. Postcard-perfect picture.
The bridge doesn’t wobble at all but it’s open on both sides giving you a feeling of walking on air and on the water at the same time. At night it’s majestic.

I stood there, on the air thinking: You know what Venus? Life is good. You’ve come here, you’re free, the world is your oyster. Just be and enjoy.

And suddenly my mobile rang. Who could it be? No one knew me.
The screen flashed "Mark", one of my work colleagues. Apparently he and his friends were in a private club in Shoreditch; having drinks by the outdoor pool and he wanted to know if I’d join them since I was new in London and didn’t know many people.

Yes please!

15 minutes and a black cab drive later I was at the top of Shoreditch House, with a unique view of the Gherkin, sipping Veuve Clicquot and making new friends.
The more champagne I had the more I lusted after the pool and told Mark I wished I could swim in the water that looked so calm and clean.
-Your wish is my command, he said and threw me in.
I had just received my London baptism.

Everyone clapped and cheered as I floated, fully clothed gazing at the urban skyline in the starlight.

What a lovely weekend to be newly single.