Maundy Thursday, April 9, 2009
London
After weeks...no months, of waiting, I finally had my Orthotics appointment today. It took no less than 120 attempts to call the central appointment agency to obtain a date for this meeting with the person who would fit me for Orthotics that are supposed to help patients afflicted with plantar fascittis. It was thanks to one of NYU's staff members, Yvonne Hunkin, who suggested that I fax the place, that I finally was given an appointment. Not surprisingly, despite the fact that Llew and I went to bed at well past 11. 30 pm last night, I awoke at 5. 30 am so as not to be late for my 8. 30 appointment this morning at Belsize Road. Only I was mistaken--my appointment wasn't at 8. 30 am, it was at 9. 30! This meant a good hour's wait in the surgery, but we'd taken material to read and Llew got a chance to see how the NHS operates in the UK.
Rory Nottingdale was the man who fitted me with a pair of medically-designed insoles that fit into my walking shoes. They have the advantage of being interchangeable, i.e. I can insert them into any pair of shoes. Rory suggested I wear them for the next three months and if there is no improvement by mid-July, he suggests I make a follow-up appointment. I will, of course, fax him at that stage as I have no intention of trying to get him on the phone! But, hopefully, I will not need to call him at all and the Orthotics will make a difference to my posture and change the way my feet feel.
Since we were only a block away from Abbey Road, of course, Llew and I had to walk to the Abbey Studios and the crossing made famous by the Beatles' album that featured the Fab Four striding across the street in single file. We found other Beatles' fans taking pictures at the cross road and we, gigglingly, did likewise. There were walls outside the Abbey Road Studios that were filled with scribbles left by generations of fans which we read as we posed for pictures by the road sign that said 'Abbey Road'. I remembered that I had also posed besides the Penny Lane sign post not too long ago while in Liverpool.
We took the Tube back from St. John's Wood and I finally had the chance to unpack my backpack after our return from Rome and Istanbul, sort out laundry items, get our bedroom in order and then go out shopping to the Leather Lane street market to buy some fresh fruit and veg for salad as I felt as if I badly needed to eat some greens! Back home, Llew and I had our lunch and found our neighbors Tim and Barbara ringing our doorbell to say goodbye to us as they were leaving to spend the holiday weekend in Eastbourne and would not see Llew (who departs for the States on Easter Monday) again until July. After a short nap, I returned to my email (as I had loads of it to trawl through and several urgent messages to return--mainly from my former students in New York, most of whom want recommendations of one sort or the other).
Marilyn Rixhon had called me in the morning to confirm our dinner plans at her place for this evening, so Llew and I decided to get some rest before we left for the 5 pm service at St. Paul's Cathedral where the Washing of the Feet and the Eucharist will be celebrated. I had called our friends Cynthia and Bishop Michael Colclough and told them that we hoped to see them at the service. About an hour later, Michael called to invite us to their place and to take on seats at the very front with their family. This gave Llew the chance to visit their place briefly at Amen Court and to meet Cynthia's lovely boys, Edward and Aidan,again as also Michael's step-mother Alma who had driven down from Stoke-on-Trent for the Easter weekend. We made our way together to the Cathedral where loads of visitors thronged the steps on what was a perfectly delightful spring evening. Inside, it occurred to me again, how similar St. Paul's Cathedral is to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, though, undoubtedly, the latter is far more ornate. It's not easy to compete with Bernini, is it???
It also occurred to me how similar the Catholic and Protestant doctrine and services are--indeed, the Washing of the Feet of the Apostles is the central focus of this service and, in addition, we had the sublime acoustic sounds of the choir echoing mightily around the columns and domes of this grand structure. We had prime seats at the very front center and in an hour and a quarter, we were all done, having received Holy Communion and trooped out.
Because it was still too early to get on the Tube and head to Willesden Green for our dinner appointment with the Rixhons, we sat at Paul's and whiled away some time over an almond croissant and their excellent hot chocolate. You know that a new location is starting to feel like home when you begin to have a favorite coffee shop, a favorite book store, a favorite library, etc. and I do know that Paul's is my favorite coffee shop. Being that it is a chain in London, I do not have a particular favorite location. (In New York, Le Pain Quotidien is my favorite coffee shop chain and I wonder if there is a pattern to be discovered in the fact that both my favorites have French origins!)
We were ringing the doorbell at the Rixhons' beautiful home at exactly 7.30 pm and then had a fabulous evening with them. Llew, who was meeting Marilyn and Phillipe for the very first time, got along famously with them and found that they had much in common, the least of which was the fact that they had all spent a considerable amount of time working and living in Dubai. Their garden was at its spring loveliest with the pear tree in bloom and as Phillipe opened a bottle of champagne and we strolled through it, the evening assumed a magical flavor. Inside, Marilyn busied herself in her magazine-quality kitchen with her matzoh ball soup as it also, coincidentally, happened to be Passover. There is a wonderfully warm and welcoming side to their personalities that instantly makes their guests feel at home and as we returned to the comfort of the dining table, I sat down to look forward to one of Marilyn's simple but truly memorable meals. As it turned out, we had superbly baked cod with a zucchini puree served with matzoh, but the piece de resistance was the flourless cake with ground almonds and the tropical fruit salad with its hints of lime juice and zest made by their daughter that was so good I simply had to have the recipe. Indeed, it was a fine evening, characterized by friendship, fun and superb food. As we left, Marilyn actually presented us with a goodie bag--mangoes ("f0r your breakfast", she said) that she obtained from the Indian store and a very unusual fruit called a grenadiller that I have never seen or heard of before and which I am very much looking forward to tasting.
Llew and I got home at a quarter to midnight and while Llew hit the bed after watching a spot of TV, I sat up writing this blog and fell asleep much later. Though I had felt at mid-day that we had done nothing really interesting, our evening out with the Rixhons definitely 'saved' our day and made it feel less wasted.
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