London. Fourty. Mamma Mia!!!

Every year Unilever somehow achieves to send An away for her birthday claiming the urgency and the importance of her presence in a business meeting somewhere far from her family. This year was no exception. Murphy's law were meticulously in track and her birthday, on March 19th was to be spent midway between Thailand and the Caribbean, namely London.

If you can't beat them, join them... (or the other one about the mountain and Mohamed)

I've never been to London. It was the only part of Europe I didn't visit during my backpacking years there. Always wanted to go and find out for myself how true was what everybody said about it. So I thanked Murphy for making this opportunity possible. And, as much as it was a gift for An to be together on this important birthday, it was also a huge gift for me to finally make acquaintance with this magical city.


Five minutes away from hearing the Big Ben chiming from the south shore of the Thames path, I was feeding the street artists, some statues, singers and an invisible man... going back in time to take their places and be grateful people who, like me now, where feeding me.

I brought a journal for my days in London and a page was skipped by accident. I didn't want to go back and write in the middle of my stories up to that moment, so I somehow thought I could draw something to fill up the space. Well, I'm not Alber, nor Rosa who are the artists in the family, but I was surprised that at the end it looked like something with a meaning. Humbly I sent it right away to Alber looking for his approval. He told me "stop doing presentations and starts with perspectives". It was kidding, of course, but anyway I loved it and kept drawing. Now I have another three drawings in my repertoire and still growing. [click to enlarge. Drawing was made from memory]

Then the big night came. As part of the celebrations of An's 40th birthday (don't worry, mine are coming soon too) we bought in advance tickets to watch one of the many musicals in London. We chose Mamma Mia, and have to say that we enjoyed every second of it. The actors, the dances, the songs (all ABBA songs) and the story itself were worth every pound (every pound!!!). All around London were tickets kiosks selling "last minute" tickets to all the shows in town. I have the feeling I'll be back in London sometime to watch more of those.

The night finished at "Floridita", a cuban restaurant with a band and DJ where we could dance some salsa while having some tostones with our food.

Happy Birthday Vida!