A fistful of events

Thank God for the weekend! It is Saturday evening and I am still waking up from last night's sleep of almost 11 hours. You might, understandably, be saying that I sleep too much and agree with my former room-mate who always rebukes my plentiful sleeping by saying that sleeping is a waste of time since I can sleep when I am dead. True, especially when you have so much things to do: read books, write stuff, watch movies and wander around London (weather permitting). But this weekend I needed to catch up on sleep and rest badly after a series of days packed with events...

Two weeks ago, my better half paid me a visit from Malta. A brief, 3-day visit but, albeit being short-lived, it was planned only a few days in advance and I always think that spontaneous events like this are the best ones! The days before were characterised by the big freeze of early 2010 but that weekend was dominated by a combination of blue sky, sunshine and chilly weather - in my opinion, the best for outdoor activities around London. It is amazing that after almost 2 years of being in London, I still manage to find new places to visit and enjoy, partially because of my obsession with buildings and architecture but I would debate that by saying, "Isn't it true that what make a city, such as London, is nothing else but buildings?" In the short visit in the best of company, I managed to visit the magnificent Wembley Stadium, participate (or rather, be an observer) in a real Hindu prayer ceremony in the largest Hindu temple outside of India, enjoy magnificent night views of London from a height of 42 floors, wander around the eerie Highgate Cemetery and the compulsory visit to the South Bank area. Not to mention the abundance of food consumption, including a trip to my favourite China Town restaurant. All in all, it was a great weekend!

Shortly after, another Maltese friend paid me a visit, this time for 5 days. An architect like me with a similar obsession with buildings, we did not fail to tour around the capital's most notorious architectural gems - Docklands, the City, Liverpool Street, Broadgate, Moorgate and the Barbican - as well as long walks around the West End, Camden, Borough Market and one final walk all the way from Victoria to Earls Court along the Thames, via Stamford Bridge. I estimate that in less than 2 days, we walked more than the equivalent of Malta's length - that's an entire country! Honestly, I had been to all of these sites (to some, more than once actually), but I dare say that each time I visit these amazing sites, I am still struck with awe and wonder at the beauty, design and detail of these structures. If only I had been to London before I started my undergraduate degree - seeing all the top notch buildings LIVE! Needless to say, while my friend was here, we exchanged hours' worth of chit-chat, debates and gibberish talk and a couple of good food too; we are, after all, Maltese! My friend's visit came to a end and I was left with my second consecutive weekend of almost 24/7 activity with no "weekend bonus" sleep...

The rest of the week was then filled with further out-of-routine events for me. My supervisor's father funeral was a sad event which demanded me and my Imperial colleagues attending to. I will not bother going into the whole metaphysical discussion of my views towards death; will just say RIP Mr. Louca, Snr. The funeral was "only" just outside London, but required train journeys and walks to/from the church, which further accumulated my tiredness. The following day was a more exciting day for me: a visit to the DSTL facilities at Porton Down in Salisbury. The visit required strict admission verification and all that usual political crap; I could not even keep my mobile phone turned on while I was there and had to be escorted by authorised personnel even to visit the bathroom! I am bound by professional secrecy not to reveal much content but it was an exciting day indeed...and, after all was done and dusted, while I was waiting for the next London train, I took the opportunity to visit Salisbury Cathedral before the sun set: a serendipitous trip to a magnificent Gothic cathedral which has England's highest spire! The trip to Salisbury required almost 2 hours each way by train and, in addition to a long day of talks, discussions and presentations, I was utterly exhausted.

Finally, Friday arrived! Thank God it's Friday, more than ever! The day went by less painfully than I expected and the weekend started! A brief trip to the pub brought the week to an end and finally I could sleep, chill and do nothing! I am concluding here, partly because I am getting hungry and need to fetch some dinner and also because there is nothing else to narrate! I am sure that there will be even more eventful posts in the pipeline, so watch out!