kicking it old skool

Annelie and I spent the weekend celebrating our one year wedding anniversary in style. Yes, it has been one whole year since that very windy day in March and to make up for the horrific wind on the day proper, mother nature gave us a whole weekend of cloudless sky and sun (it was however still fucking cold… but whatever). Point is, we’re still going very strong and I can’t believe how happy we are! It should really be illegal to have it this good…


Originally we where thinking of heading out to Spain or Morocco or somewhere sunny and warm to celebrate, but after looking at the tickets and considering the pain of getting visas and so forth we decided against it. I also wanted to make sure that we just keep things tidy until we have our indefinite leave to remain application sorted out.


As such, I wasn’t privy to all the plans for the weekend, save for the spa day which
she organised on the Sunday. For the rest, I was simply told not to make any plans. On Saturday morning I received my marching instructions and was told to pack my unmentionables, swimming trunks and “something sexy to wear out” on the evening.


First thing on Saturday morning was writing our Living in the UK test. Don’t know why we thought this would be a good idea, to schedule it on the day of our weekend “out”. We have been studying for it on and off for the last few weeks, and that was accelerated on the Thursday and Friday evenings. I forgot how horrifically tests agree with Annelie (or perhaps vice-versa). She was a mini-wreck! I guess me goading her on how I will have to ship her home if she fails didn’t help. Whatever the case may be, we piled into the testing centre just up the road and along with 2 halls full of other hopefuls wrote the short test. It was a bit harder than what I thought it would be, but we passed none the less. One less thing to worry about!


After that, we headed back home where Annelie had a drink and passed out for about an hour (did I mention tests don’t agree with her?)


Back to her old self, we finished packing, locked up and were on our way. It was nice to not have to work over the weekend for a change and surprisingly so to just get out of the flat for a change. Under the pretence of swinging by a friend to pick something up, we rolled into the Park Plaza hotel in Waterloo and settled in the bar for a Mojito. Leandra greeted us there with a big smile and curious about what our plans where. Annelie took her off to a corner an animatedly explained… something. I continued to sip my drink and help myself to the complementary bar nuts. The Park Plaza in Waterloo is a very impressive structure and they recently completed its sister hotel across the way: all glass and steel. The interior of this 4 star hotel is very smartly decorated with the restaurant and bar area placed in an “open air” space. The “open air” bit is in quotes because the top is covered in a glass ceiling, but it certainly creates an impressive area.


Before we leave for wherever it was I was being kidnapped to, Leandra mentions that I should come up to the 14th floor and check out the view with my camera. We’ve spoken about this before so I was very keen to and didn’t even give it a second thought! Not before stealing the rest of the bar nuts, we piled into the all glass elevator and headed to the top floor. Very cool experience, reminded me of the glass bubble elevators they used to have at Tygervalley… only this one goes all the way up to the 14th floor.


Up until this point, I was still under the impression we where going somewhere and this is just a detour. Silly me. As I step into room 1407 everything becomes quite clear. I’m not sure if all the rose petals arranged in the shape of a heart was my first clue, nor perhaps the chocolate covered strawberries or the Brut Champagne on ice. At that moment I felt like a dumbass, but in a good way.


I won’t go into more detail on how we spent our time in the room until dinner. But we did pop the bubbly on the balcony of our 14th floor suite in the nude, overlooking a stunning view of the London Eye, Westminster, the most of the embankment and a beautiful skyline of London. I’m sure the patrons of the ‘Eye got more than they bargained for at 14:50ish on a Saturday afternoon. It was a liberating experience. Like a fucking rock star.


Hit the sauna downstairs after polishing off all the chocolate strawberries and so forth, then back to the room to dress up for dinner. I decided to try the 28 day English 8oz rib eye steak with creamy mash potatoes, buttered young carrots and a Madeira sauce. Annelie opted for the Pan cooked sea bream, lemon rösti, watercress and dill lemon cream. We shared a starter of Smoked duck and chicken terrine with a citrus mustard dressing, polishing it all off with a nice full bodied Red wine, vintage 2004 (I forget the name). And finally, Espresso crème brûlée with Amaretto biscuit and a (properly made!!) cappacino.


Leandra checked in from time to time to make sure everything was still in order and to make clear that everything was on the house, including the room. WoW! Blown away, we couldn’t thank her enough! I did however explain that my young wife needs to be naked in the next 10 minutes and we took our leave.


The next morning we had breakfast (room service, of course) next to that fantastic view and lazed around till check out time at 12:00. We headed down to Carnaby Street near Oxford circus for our spa treatment at Sanook, nestled under The Great Marlborough Street Magistrate’s Court, now renovated and called the Hilton Courthouse Hotel. The whole hotel is a wonder! When they renovated they kept the original courthouse and made it into a restaurant. The detention hall now serves as a bar, with the holding cells converted to private booths. We where a little early, so we kicked back in the area and had more Mojitos.


Before our treatments we spent time in the indoor swimming pool and sauna. I can’t really describe the treatment other than to say it was a sticky exfoliation of some sort! A quick rinse and back in the room for creams and scalp massages. All in a daze, we moved back onto the bright, sunny (but still very cold!) street and passed the Cape Town fish market. Feeling hungry yet again, we thought why not, let’s actually give it a try. We’ve heard mixed reviews but thought we’re see for ourselves, and though it never came close to the real CTFM back home the food was very, very good. I’ve not had calamari that great in London EVER, the sushi was fresh and the Savannah’s cold. We ate like royalty.


After yet another wonderful meal of the weekend, we strolled to the nearest bus stop and headed for home. The rest of the Sunday was mostly spent lazing around and planning… planning for Monday.


Because on Monday we start with Detox 2010!


…to be continued


[G, out]


you think as I do