Aha! It so happened that I had an entire day free ahead of me before my flight from Heathrow at 915pm. A Sunday at that. And in London, not a very favourite city with me because of the weather which is so extreme or dreary
Faced with 2 choices – laze around in the hotel, paying minimal extra for late check out. Or make the most of the day by being outdoors and enjoying London. Of course I chose the later. It was a glorious sunny day, bright and cheerful, light fluffy clouds flitted lightly and the world beckoned.
I had a light breakfast of fruit and cereal, and decided in my mind that while I am going to spend time here in the city it will be haute and not massy. So, Tita picked me from the hotel at 10am, my baggage was nicely locked in the boot of her car, and we were now hands free, baggage free.
Tita’s surprise for me was the appointment she had taken in advance, she knew the marketing head of this fantastic spa in Mandarin Hotel, Hyde Park, so we headed straight for a snappy consultation and I was ready for the Life-dance routine that the spa offered.
Jane, the therapist assigned to me, informed me that the Life-dance ritual was based on Ayurveda but was modified to get the most out of one session. I confessed to overwork and exhaustion and sound sleep and was led to this heavenly smelling room which was obviously made with Rip Van Winkle in mind. The soothing colours, the fragrant candles, the gentle lamp lights and the soft bed with flowers strewn all around made me sleepy instantly. A combine of hot stones and soothing milk cleansers massaged with gentle strokes did me in for the next couple of hours. I was asleep for over two hours and when I finally surfaced they got me invigorating honey blended coconut water with mint, refreshing!
One of the nicest things of wrapping up at the Mandarin was being right in the middle of the shopping district. The sales were on, Jimmy Choos caught my fancy so I strolled in looking for something simple and stunning, but did not get my feet size. All sizes surprisingly were for large feet. So along the road was Harrods, where we made our next stop and here I bought a couple of beautiful gifts for family and a lovely red tote for Tita who was happy with my thank you We walked out armed with bags in tow, and headed in to Gerard Darrel for a beautiful cream silver trench, my favourite piece from this trip.
We then headed to a café and slurped my way through a lovely soup and salad and a huge gelato sundae, and then walked a mile to shed it off. Having rested and having consumed high energy stuff, the day came to a close and we made our way to Heathrow I felt a twinge of sadness (UK is not my favourite destination) for a beautiful day had come to a close. Purse and heart lighter, I stepped into my flight, watched a movie, ate some short eats and slipped into my i-pod dreaming of home and my own bed on landing:)
