What to do in the morning? Go for a walk

Cool air, freshness of the morning and fairly empty streets. I honestly cannot think of a better way to start a spring day than going on a  walk with a friend. Freshly brewed coffee and a favourite magazine could compete? Nay. There is nothing better than a morning walk. 

Recently, I went back to my home-town Warszawa to spend time with family and friends. It was a great time filled with reflection, laughter, relax, interesting chats and, of course, walking. I couldn’t resist.

On the last day of the stay I met a very good friend for last one morning meeting before going back to England. We met at 8am, to be precise, and headed to a local park – Morskie Oko*.
 

We walked, we chatted, and we breathed in the morning atmosphere, reflecting on motherhood, work and life. Children going (or rather scootering) to school, brave morning runners and dog owners with their pets – that all surrounded us. Idyllic.

Morskie Oko has a special place in my life as this is the park that my dad went to as a child, our parents took me and my brother to when we were young and later on I strolled there with my friends during high school and uni years. On one of the visit my husband met there another Ethiopian who ended up being best man on our wedding and a good friend of the family. The park is always on the way and guarantees a place to escape from one of the busiest streets in the city. So strolling across this park with a friend, looking over the hills and ponds is one of essential things for me while being in Warsaw.

But the morning walk can be done anywhere. Even if you stroll along Oxford Street, if you can call that strolling, or have only ten minutes to wander around your local park it’s worthy to use the opportunity. Maybe you can walk through back streets and grab a coffee and a croissant (in Warsaw I would grab one of the sweet buns with poppy seed, cheese or curd...mmm)? Or look above your head and admire the architecture or a blue sky on a good day? Maybe, like me every day, you can only walk along the canal, watch cats playing and ducks wandering too far from the water? Appreciate that! The morning walk, no matter how long or how short, how beautiful or how ugly will give you a time to concentrate before a busy day, pray, think, meditate and start the day afresh, filled with new energy. And morning walk benefits go way beyond just that - it may even change your life like in one Bollywood movie with surprising title... "Morning Walk".

After the stroll around the Morskie Oko, I went to a bakery to buy fresh bread and in another shop I bought fresh lettuce and tomato for breakfast. O, how different they tasted after such a great beginning. And how different the next day looked when the same friend asked by me how her day began, replied that it wasn't as good as the one before. I couldn’t agree more.

*I’ll not attempt to translate the name but you can look it up – just write in google ‘Morskie Oko Warszawa’. If you write the name without the city you will probably be transferred to a website about Morskie Oko in Tatry Mountains on the other end of Poland.

Adventure of a lunch hour

What can you do within an hour? Let's see - go from South East to North West London by tube, run few kilometres, walk probably half of that distance, and cook a casserole. You can also waste it in the queue in the bank or at the post office. But you can choose to do something what will enrich you and make your daily routine more exciting, like take part in a discussion, attend church service or learn how to sing. During lunch break most people rush in the direction they only know, others sit in the restaurants enjoying their meal with business partners, colleagues or friends but you can try to spend it differently  I attended different lunchtime events within an hour and here are is the result.

I work in the part of London where there is nothing interesting to do and nowhere interesting to go, maybe apart from one big field. So on one of my days off I wanted to see how is it to take a 'real' lunch break in Central London. Before I arrived to Oxford Circus at 1pm I had to prepare good logistic plan and get to know what's available out there.

 

I started with lunch time service at All Souls Church at 1.05pm I was greeted by the church staff and took a seat at the back of the room as I didn’t want to disturb anyone later on when I would be leaving before the end of the service. The service lasts approximately 30 minutes and is followed by sandwich lunch, so you don't even need to eat later at your desk or spend extra money on your way back to the office. The service I attended gathered about 50-60 people. It started with a song followed by teaching. The theme was based on first two chapters of the book of Nehemiah and was part of the series – “In the workplace with… (fill in the gap with any Biblical character).” I had to rush off to another event, so I left All Souls Church before the service finished but it was a time well-spent and if I was working in the area I would be their guest more often.  

I quickly walked to the tube station and took Bakerloo line to Trafalgar Square to attend the next event - a lunchtime talk in the National Gallery. I had problems with finding the room it was taking place, so I strongly advise you to find out the exact location before attending any lunchtime event. After all, you don't want to waste your precious time on running around a gallery or a church only to listen to the message for last few minutes and miss on the whole experience.

The room in Sainsbury Wing was packed when I arrived, mostly with middle age and elderly people listening to the lecture about “Post-impressionism and Roger Fry". The lecture was planned to last 45 minutes and even though I got there for only last ten minutes it still was a pleasure to get a bit of cultural knowledge and watch some interesting paintings with a commentary.

I managed to fit these two events within an hour and that included travelling from one place to another. Pretty good, isn't it? There are many more events available during lunch hour and you can enjoy them on different days of the week. One day you can attend a lecture, another a church service, a workshop or just walk around you workplace. Whatever you choose it will be time well-spent. Just don't plan too much for one hour as instead of enjoying one thing to the fullest you will get back to the office even more tired. The following day after church/gallery experience I went for a talk in Photographers' Gallery, also at Oxford Circus, and spent there most of my 'lunch break'. Meeting with people with similar interest in the middle of the day is refreshing and gives you inspiration to take back to the office for the rest of the day.

Spending lunchtime in a different way is a unique and positive experience. It showed me something new, it enriched me with knowledge and… logistic skills.

I appreciate all of those who organise lunchtime activities. They are creative in offering the public the best they can in a very short time. So instead of having your lunch 'al desko' go out there and check all those singing classes, scientific lectures, gym exercises, volunteering opportunities and many more…

World's Greatest Jewel

Can you imagine 300,000 pieces of puzzle spread on the floor? Do you think you would know which two pieces put together first? Sounds difficult,  doesn't it? But this is exactly what Chris Chamberlain did to create his portrait of the Earth entitled “Jewel of the Universe”. It has been made from precious gems, stained glass and LED lights. The artist (innovator? performer?) has created map of the world from 260 carats of jewels, 330,000 hand-cut pieces of stained glass and 6,900 LED lights. If that's not yet enough, every major city has been marked with a different precious stone.The result is stunning.

Chamberlain's work was exhibited in ROA Gallery on Pall Mall and can be still viewed can on artist's official website.

by Paula 

The whole picture is breathtaking - all those little piece matched perfectly together to show our precious planet. Map of the world is something unique and fascinating in itself but the way it has been presented by Chamberlain makes it not only a practical object but a piece of art. It sparks imagination. It’s amazing how much effort Chris Chamberlain put into this work just to show “the vibrancy, uniqueness and beauty of Earth”.

I have never seen something like this before and I admire the artist. It took him 26 months to complete the project but it is worthy any amount of time. And it will be reminding its owner about beauty of this world.

“Jewel of the Universe was created in loving honour of our world ... and especially its precious life ... a world that’s so endlessly fascinating, so endlessly beautiful … and with an aliveness that beams out into space as if with the chorus ‘here we are, there's nothing better, there never will be.”
Chris Chamberlain 

Covent Garden: Classical music with a modern touch

Oopsie Mamushka combines classical music and modern approach towards performance. Their improvisation of Vivaldi's Four season or another classical piece, will amuse you. 

As Hyde Park has its Speakers' Corner, Covent Garden has its informal musicians' corner. Located near Nauticalia, next to the steps in the market's courtyard, it tempts visitors with beautiful sounds. Instead of shopping they start searching where the sound is coming from. When I first heard Oopsie Mamoushka, a group of string players, playing I just followed the sound to find them.

That day, late in the afternoon I was passing through Covent Garden market, breathing in its Christmas atmosphere, when I heard the sound of my favorite violin. I followed the sound to the lower part of the market. In one of the corners I saw a group of four people having a lot of fun while playing classical music.

As many other passers by I just stood amazed and hypnotised, not only by beautiful sound but mostly by the show the group was giving. Two men and two women were beating the rhythm with their feet, moving and playing scenes while playing the music. They were interacting with the listeners, smiling and really feeling the music.

As I listened to their music and watched the show, I felt so joyful. I thought that there were still people who are not that serious about classical music and want others to follow them. And that all for pleasure and fun of playing only. They made formal and sophisticated pieces of music into something completely opposite, Isn't it easy to make someone's afternoon magical? 

Brixton Village: 21st century village?

It is a village like no other. Market called previously Granville Arcade, established in 1920s, now exists with a name of Brixton Village. It was rejuvenated a few years ago and now it has a new spirit created by local traders. 

Margot, the owner of Leftovers, a shop with vintage French clothes, Anna, co-owner of Cornercopia, a restaurant selling only local food products, Emy, owner of Brixi that sells various items made mostly by young local designers, and Leona who sells vintage clothes tell their personal stories about Brixton Village.

Margot, Leftovers: Two years ago, in the village there was, among other units, a Colombian restaurant, a hairdresser but mainly drug dealers. It wasn’t a nice place, rather dodgy.

Anne, Cornercopia: No one was here before us. Units had no electricity or any other facilities. Simply nothing.

Margot: It was Spacemakers agency who wanted to re-create this place. I was coming to Brixton for shopping and found out about competition to run the business in Brixton Village.

Anne: Me and my partner had been living in Brixton for many years and heard about empty shops’ competition. We were really broken that time but wanted to give it a try. We were chosen as one of fifteen businesses and won three months free from rent. We started from making products ourselves and bringing one piece of furniture after another. Three months had passed until we got table and chairs. By the summer we had four sets. Friends helped us to paint and decorate the space – we were doing that during the day and in the night we were making jars to sell. It was exhausting.

Leona, sells vintage clothes: I was coming to Brixton Village for shopping and a friend, who is doing sequins work, recommended me to sell my vintage clothes collection in one of the existing shops. The clothes I sell are unique, authentic, different and one of a kind. This is why Brixton Village is good place to show them.

Emy, Brixi: I came here in the beginning of 2011, around a year after it had been reorganised. It was already well-developed and most of the shops were fully functioning. I saw and see a potential in this market. It has mentality of market and it is community oriented.

Margot: Brixton Village opened in December [2010]. The time before Christmas was successful but January and February were really hard because it was so cold and we didn’t have any heating here.

Anne: We were encouraging people to come but it wasn’t an easy job. Every evening and night there was an event – concert, movies screening, artistic performance or a workshop. During first six months around one thousand performances were organised in here - you never knew what was going to happen. The market became a theatre.

Margot: As a result more customers started coming in the summer. We weren’t using any advertisement, apart from the word of mouth. It was the best strategy, because people perceived Brixton Village as something mysterious and yet undiscovered, so they wanted to come and see.

Leona: Brixton went through an extraordinary change. It’s growing and now it reminds me about Brooklyn, New York. Brixton Village is going vintage and becoming very characteristic. It’s getting its own style.

Margot: It offers great food for fair money. I don’t know about similar place anywhere else. There is the Elephant with Pakistani street food and Cornercopia with ultra local products.

Emy: Village has a mix of old and new traders. Here, you can find an art boutique opposite a Colombian restaurant or Chinese medicine shop. You can’t get it anywhere else. It became more commercial than it had been in the beginning but still it has unique spirit.

Leona: It’s a collective spirit.

Emy: We are rather complementing each other than competing. Traders borrow things from each other. All together we’re family.

Leona: It has special vibe. Different ethnicities meet here. Sometimes, I feel like I was in Caribbean.

Emy: Brixton Village became a venue. Whenever you come, there is something going on. It’s popular but hidden and not so obvious for everyone. All traders share enthusiasm for this location and money is rather a bonus.

Anne: Now it’s a bit less of collective spirit but still the atmosphere is unique.

Emy: Brixton Village is developing in a good direction but it would be good if there was a balance between food places and traders, so it doesn’t become only a food destination.

Leona: I would like more shops to open here, not only with vintage clothes but with different range of products. It would create more chilled out atmosphere. And they should put Wi-Fi here. Come on we’re in 2012 and there’s no Wi-Fi in Brixton Village.