Watching the BBC For Real

On my last Saturday in London (eek), I attended a recording for BBC Radio 2 for FREE. It was a celebration of the music of the late Marvin Hamlisch, that famous composer, and they totally give away tickets for free if you register online. So, along with my musical theatre friend (love that there are so many of these people in London) we sat down to watch the BBC Concert Orchestra and several notable vocalists belt out showtunes and serenade us with movie scores. The conductor was even a Broadway maestro himself, Larry Blank, who worked with Marvin for many years.

 

Some of his songs have special meaning for me so it was a great way to spend my last weekend in London humming the theme from A Chorus Line and thinking about What I Did For Love. I also did a little solo strolling in Notting Hill yesterday in the rain, and if milling about a crowded street playing umbrella chicken with tourists is not the true London experience, then I don't know what is.

 

I've only got a few days of work left as my last day will be this Friday, which is pretty surreal. It's been a great learning curve for me on the job and I've enjoyed it, but it will be nice to leave the world of Accounting for a bit and return to my nomadic tendencies. The big build up this week will be to the staff Christmas Party that's being held in coincidence with (or in honour of?) my last day. I made the wise decision to book my flight to Oslo the very next morning so we shall see how that travel day goes....

 

All that's left to do is soak up this last week in Londontown before I head out on my final hurrah of this adventure. That, and enjoy my last few days of comraderie in the Italian Share House. I'm not sure what I will do when I wake up in the morning and hear.....English?

 

 

 

Kiss today goodbye

And point me toward tomorrow

We did what we had to do

Won't forget, can't regret

What I did for love

 

- Marvin Hamlisch/Ed Kleban

Souvenirs

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

I have certainly seen a lot of beauty in my journey so far. I have loved seeing places with so much history built into them - Westminster Abbey and Shakespeare's Birthplace. I've loved the natural beauty of Norway's Nordkapp and the Scottish Highlands. I have loved meeting people from all over Europe and the world and seeing that their smiles and laughter are really not so different from my own.

 

Yes, there have been some down times in London. It is a big, busy and harsh city at times. It has kicked me down a couple of times undoubtedly. But I have definitely been looking for the good, for the beautiful and for the enjoyable in life over the past few months. In London and elsewhere, I have found it.

 

It's less than a month now till I am home sweet home in Canada and I am taking notice of all the things I will miss about London when I am gone. Just as I remember certain details about places in Canada, there are lots of tiny, special little memories that I will carry with me of London to remind me of my relationship with this beautiful city.

 

There's beauty in a gloomy, rainy day in this town, and in the rhythm of the tube taking me home from a night in the city. Joy to be found in eating pasties at the train station and buying cider at the convenience store. I've loved having to drink a lot of tea and the music of so many different languages constantly playing on my ears. I will always think fondly of London in the evening and how busy it is when you walk through Leicester Square. London to me will also always mean the thrill of sitting in a dark theatre when the curtain goes down, and strolling along the shops and cafes in the afternoon.

 

I know there will always be more to see and do in this city, in Europe, and everywhere. It would be impossible to do it all in this lifetime, and so instead I focus on the things I have done and seen so far and how wonderful they've been to me. It is these peculiar little things that are so beautiful and so specific to me and my time on this whirlwind ride.

 

 

 

 





On Top of The World

Edinburgh- Take 2

 

In which Amanda and Laura attempt to climb that very famous mountain/hill known as Arthur's Seat, overlooking the majestic city of Edinburgh.

 

It turns out that neither of us really knows why it is called Arthur's Seat. Or how to climb it, for that matter. Perhaps it was the seat of a giant named Arthur, perhaps it has to do with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, wikipedia knows as well as I do at this point. It turns out the real reason for climbing this mountain/hill (I'm just going to go ahead and go with mountain on this one to make myself feel better...) was part stubborness and part foolish romanticism. You know, in the book, One Day, where they climb to the top of the hill (mountain) and everything's going to change in the future but just for that one day they're together etc. etc. 

 

Reportedly this mountain is a "relatively simple climb" and takes "approximately 40 minutes" to reach the summit. Well, not on my watch...We did not take the "east approach" recommended to us, mainly because we did not know which direction east was and we saw a bunch of people going up the side of the hill and followed them. A prudent start then, to our brave enterprise...

 

An hour or so later, we realize that we are on one side of a very circular path around the mountain underneath some rocky craggs which are not in fact Arthur's Seat. Pause for refreshment break and some much needed guacamole. Stare at the guy who must be at least 65 sprinting past us up the treacherous rocky mountain path like it's his day job. Regroup. Continue up the path in the direction of what we now believe to be Arthur's Seat, keeping our spirits up by singing any song that has to do with flying, mountains, soaring, etc.

 

Eventually we did in fact reach the peak of Arthur's Seat. By this time what was predicted to be a "mostly sunny" day in Edinburgh had soaked our heroes through with rain. For this we can only blame the BBC Weather update. I have to admit the view was pretty awesome from on top of that misty cloudy hunk of rock. For which I was glad, even though we did climb it in the most roundabout way possible.

 

As we descended from Arthur's Seat we did in fact come across the "east approach" which involves a staircase built into the side of the hill with a handrail....Not that searching for handholds in the slippery wet rock wasn't fun, but next time I climb that mountain I will be doing so via the eastern approach. At the very least I will be bringing a compass.

 

At the end of the day all was not lost. Eventually feeling/dryness returned to my fingers and toes and nobody ended up having to pee in the wilderness due to getting completely lost, which is always a plus. Perhaps by taking the unorthodox approach and "making our own path" we were simply forging our own destiny, which is something I feel the Scottish would highly approve of. At least that is what the movie "Brave" has led me to believe...

 

There was so much inspirational singing that took place over our brief but blissful time in Edinburgh so it is hard to pick just one song to summarize this post with. But I am going to have to go with that songstress of heartache and whimsy, Miley Cyrus...

 

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

-Miley Cyrus' songwriters

 

 

Dreams Can Come True

One of my dreams came true at work today:

 

 

One of my co-workers who shall remain nameless set another co-worker's mug in jello after he returned from holidays. A truly amazing moment for me personally to witness and to reaffirm once again that if you work hard enough at something, you really can achieve anything - and I'm not talking about politics.

 

The days are dwindling down at the job and so I'm glad I got to experience this prank in the actual setting of an office as I don't know when next I'll be employed or in an office. Best to try and cherish these moments of clicking around on spreadsheets and having scheduled one-hour lunch breaks. Come December most of my time is going to be one big lunch break, which I'm quite excited about, minus the lack of paycheque.

 

However, readers will remember that November is the Month of the Motto, and so Money Isn't Everything must come into play here as well. So far this has led to me seeing the amazing Top Hat musical which is a take on Fred and Ginger's films and was so, so lovely. I spent some solo time walking around Trafalgar Square and the river this weekend which was also very nice. Trying to wrap my brain around this whole adventure will probably remain a challenge for the next little while as things warp into hyper speed for me.

 

There's always time for a good mug-in-jello prank, though.

Sweet November

Remember that awful movie? With Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron trying to make the most of their one bittersweet month together? It may be corny but it seems surprisingly fitting as my own love affair with London has only one more month to survive (at least this time around).

 

I've been trying to focus on what my priorities should be for the next 4 or 5 weeks of my life, and have come up with some truly inspirational mantras, such as: Rest Is Important Too, Don't Focus on Work, Money Isn't Everything and my most original one - One Day At A Time. Hopefully with these guidelines in place I will be able to enjoy the next month without allowing myself to get too overwhelmed.

 

Without trying to get TOO serious in one week, I've also been trying to embrace that old philosophy of loving yourself. In particular, loving the way you handle things. Most of the time, I'm ok with how I handle things. But sometimes I drive myself crazy with the way I choose to handle things and how I react to certain situations by getting too worked up or worrying needlessly. I had one of these moments this week after getting the run around by London once again. I can definitely change the way I handle things in future situations, but once I was lost in London without bringing a phone number or address with me the only thing to do was stop and really love how I had handled the situation. Just smile at Past Amanda and her lack of foresight and then have a little laugh at the current situation.

 

I don't know how I'm going to fit all this in-the-moment living and loving into one singular day as I've already spent half of it sleeping and lying around, but let's not forget mantra #1 (Rest Is Important Too). However it turns out, at least I will be Doing My Best during the month of November (mantra #5?).