The London Adventure Continues

The Stunning Maisa

Maisa and myself had just over a week left of our London adventure, although it proved to be the busiest of the lot. A few days after New Years Eve, Henry and Grace returned to Henry's home in Tunbridge Wells. As Maisa had not seen another part of the country apart from London and as I had not visited Tunbridge Wells since I was a kid - we decided to spend one night with Henry in his home town. Tunbridge Wells is a pretty little place that reminds me a lot of Hamsted. It has that same look about it. Henry's Mum and Dad made us a nice dinner before the four of us headed off to a local pub. It turned out oddly to be another small reunion. Henry's friend, Alex, who had worked at the Secret Garden with Henry during their time in Quito and who I had made good friends with, turned up for a small pint. But as well, I had also worked at the IG in Ecuador with a young lady called Elena, about a year and a half ago, where she did some volcano volunteering. She lived in London but just so happened, had headed up to Tunbridge Wells to meet a friend that night too - so she came to the pub also. We all chatted about the old days in Ecuador and about all our future plans of which no-one had any set in stone.

The following day, Maisa and myself left Henry and Grace and everyone else we had met in Tunbridge Wells and headed back to London. Maisa enjoyed the train ride back, which took us by some very typical English country-side. That night I was very excited. It was the first time in just over two years that I had been to a Spurs game. The last game I went to was the famous 9-1 thrashing of Wigan - a kind of game I hadn't seen before and probably wouldn't see again.......at least not for a very long time. I had naturally kept up with my beloved team for the entire time I had been away in Ecuador. It's one thing that will never change. It doesn't matter how many miles away I am from White Hart Lane, I will always be keeping up on the state of the football team I have supported all my life. Football in Ecuador is okay, but it's just not the same. The atmosphere, the quality, the stadiums - nothing compairs. For Maisa - it was obviously her first English game and I don't think she really knew what to expect. With us was my Father (who I had traditionally been going with since my first ever game - Spurs Vs Nottingham Forest, when Paul Gascoigne scored) and my Mother - who over the last few years, had become a huge fan. It was exactly as I hoped, the walk through the park, the packed out streets of blue and white, the smell of cigarette smoke and burgers, the narrow turnstiles, those first few steps out - exposing 36,000 people all cheering on our boys. To top it all off, Spurs won 1-0 against West Brom. It wasn't a great game - but it would do. Maisa really enjoyed the whole experience also, especially stepping out into the ground and the atmosphere when we scored. For me, it was just amazing to be there again!!! COYS!!!

After some more London sight-seeing the following day, we had a planned trip to see the West End theatre show - The Lion King. Maisa and I met up with my Father and Sister in town and first went to a very strange restaurant. If you have never been to Sarastro on Drury Lane - it is worth a visit if nothing else for the decor. It is one of the oddest looking restaurants I have ever been to - brilliantly decorated and all in the name of fun. The food was good too. Maisa particularly enjoyed the manic theatre style of the place. We then went off to see The Lion King. I can't even remember the last time I went to a London theatre show so it was nice to be back. We chose The Lion King because we thought it would be more visual and not too complicated for Maisa, who's first language is not English. It certainly was visual. The show was fantastic - two hours of colour, singing and story telling. It was very cleverly done and the whole thing was a lot of fun and as such, everyone really loved it. I also still have dreams about the half-time interval ice-cream!!!

Over the next few days Maisa and I did a lot more sightseeing. We toured the British Museum - displaying pretty much everything that my nation had stolen over the years. Boy did we steal a lot. We also went further along the Thames River and took photos of the famous Tower Bridge, before wondering out to further parts of London, including two shopping trips to the quirky Camden Market. Just a few days before our trip was to come to an end, Maisa and myself along with my family went to a very fancy restaurants. Galvin at Windows is located on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel in London's very expensive Mayfair area. The Michelin-starred restaurant certainly didn't disappoint. It was an amazing experience. The food, the service and the quality of everything was just incredible. To top it off, it had a 360 degree view of London as far as the eye could see. This was dining - in very high style. All of us were also very well dressed (even for me) and all looked beautiful of course. It really made for a magical evening.

I know all my family (and Maisa too) really enjoyed that night, but for me - it was even more special. Firstly, just to be with my family after being away so long really is a wonderful thing. Yes, I had already spent two weeks with them back in London but that night it was the realisation that soon I would be leaving again, that really made it more emotional for me. Secondly, to eat this sort of quality food after coming from a country where most meals cost US$2.50 and you're never quite sure what sort of animal you are actually consuming - is always a great thing. Don't get me wrong, some Ecuadorian food is great - often very tasty and being cheap is no bad thing. For example, they have amazing fruits. I am still discovering new fruits in Ecuador, things you just can't find in England or other parts of the world - for this, Ecuador is blessed. However, some things about Ecuadorian eating really bugs me. They often don't eat vegetables. For me, something green is essential on any dinner plate but out there they just don't eat them. It is not like they don't have vegetables - they have them, I've seen them - but no-one puts them in their gob. I have always wondered what exactly is happening to all the veggies in Ecuador - maybe using them as some sort of biofuel or something. If they are doing this - I will recommend them using the Brussel Sprout - which could produce enough gas to launch a rocket!!! In replacement to the vegetable they will just add another carbohydrate. So, typically a meal will consist of - some meat (or fish), rice (always rice) and then potatoes too. Ultimately, there's enough starch in an Ecuadorian meal to glue together the Great Wall of China!!! The other thing, is the variety - there isn't any. People will eat this meal of meat, rice and potatoes pretty much every day for years. I used to wonder why they didn't get bored but actually it's the opposite - if you take an Ecuadorian away from this food, they crave it. On two occassions Maisa actually cooked meat with rice and potatoes because she hadn't had it in two weeks. It worries me. All in all, my point is - I often miss English food (or at least the variety of English food) and this meal in Galvin at Windows was the top of variety. Yum. I would also at this point like to personally thank my parents for forking out a small fortune for that fine dining experience as I know for a fact the cost of that meal could have covered the wages of the entire Ecuadorian army for a year!!!

When all of us stepped out of that restaurant and into the cold London winter, I realised that Maisa and I had just two days left in England........and unfortunately for us (well, me especially) those days were all about saying our goodbyes....................