Liberating Spaces

I made it. On Saturday, after missing my early morning London-Paris Eurostar train, I got to Gare du Nord, Paris, at 18.02 after a fantastic eight hour trip from London to Paris passing by Dover and Calais. At the end, it was easier than I thought, and much cheaper than any of the other options, i.e. Eurostar or bus. I spent £27.50 + €41.50, that is a total of €75, when the bus was €124 and the Eurostar €196!

It was as interesting and entertaining as I foresaw when I wrote my previous post on the train from Charing Cross (London) to Dover. This first leg of the journey started with my first encounter of the day while I was waiting for the 10 am train to Dover before the gates to the platforms. To kill time, I asked to a member of the staff (a Revenue Protection Inspector) in which platform he thought it was going be. This question gave place to a nice little chat in which this guy, who had the job of checking the tickets and fine people if necessary, confessed that he doesn’t like to fine but to help people while on duty. He just had helped a couple who bought a 1st class ticket to get £20 each back, for on the train there is no first class, so they needed to downgrade their tickets. Then I told him about my trip to Paris, and he told me that he was leaving for Las Vegas with his family in the afternoon. His dream had always been to visit the Grand Canyon and fly over it on helicopter. Now he was going to realise this dream he had had since he saw the Grand Canyon in a movie (unfortunately I don’t remember the title).

Being Saturday in the morning, the train was nearly empty. I had a 4-seat place for myself, so I turned on my recently-purchased iPad, and while surfing the Internet, listening to music and eating a cheese sandwich with a mango smoothie, I wrote the post on how far Paris was.

(more…)

I lost the train. This morning, for unfortunate circumstances I lost the 6.22 am Eurostar from London to Paris. A friend of mine was waiting for me on the train with a full breakfast (croissants, pain chocolate, fruit, juices…). And I missed it!

This trip has been planned for more than 10 years. All comes back to a night in Paris in 1999. Walking back home with a friend near La Bastille, we started to talk about the girl he was going out with. In the conversation I told him that my intuition told me that he was not going to be with her in six months time.
(more…)

I just come back from the Food Feast in the Hub, a weekly meeting of members of The Hub in London (Islington and Kings Cross), in which each of us bring a dish (normally vegetarian, I prepared two Spanish omelettes. They were quite successful), and we socialize around. Today, the theme was Guerrilla Food.

Across London, there are people running underground restaurants, growing things in weird and wonderful places, cooking in unpredictable locations and using food in ways previously not explored.

After dinner, we sung a “pro-vegetarian song” one can title as “You can eat less meat”. Watch the fun (with animal imitations included!):

(more…)

Today, it is going to be a beautiful day in London. I woke up early, and went for a run at around 7 am. I ran for 40 mins (slow, slightly more than 6K). With a shining sun, I took my camera and took some shots of St James’s Park (like the one above), where I always go to run, for it is very close to my flat (blue arrow on the GPS map of my run below).

Two extras for you to “connect” with my run…
A bird family I met on my way (don’t ask me which bird!, I just know it is a bird because it has beak and feathers, but I wouldn’t venture beyond that )

(more…)

Coming back from drinks with a friend, in front of Charing Cross station I met this saxo player playing nice jazz tunes. No doubt, the best street musicians in the world are in London.

I’ve just arrived from Barcelona to London. My easyJet flight was 3 hours late! It took off from the old terminal of Barcelona airport. It was a very sad experience. It is completely empty. Very few flights take off now from there, most of the shops are closed, very few people are using it. For me it was even sadder, because I used it many times with the person that shared my life for eight years. Our relationship is gone, I miss her and the darkness of the terminal alleys remind me of the sorrow of my soul.

This morning I met Jon Worth for an always-inspiring conversation. We exchanged some ideas and tips. I told him about some projects I am working on in Barcelona and the more ambitious League of Informed Citizens, and he shared with me his immediate and long-term life projects. Very interesting.

Later, I went to the Regent Street Apple Store to return the 15 inch Macbook Pro I bought after my 2006 Macbook’s logic board melted, which I replaced with less difficulty and cheaper than I thought. Then, I went to John Lewis to buy two new beds for the London flat – I should have them next week, my back is looking forward to it.

Now, I am @ The Hub in King’s Cross. The video on c’llr 10 for TweetyHall is finished, and a bit later I am having a conversation about a tech & democracy in Catalunya with some people in Barcelona. It looks promising.

So much to do in London, so little time…

After breakfast in my favourite spot for Sundays, Paul @ Bedford St., i went for a walk along South Embankment. In sunny weather it’s packed with tourists. A winter and misty day like today is the best moment to stroll along.