A day spent traveling. I can’t say it’s my favorite thing any longer. Leaving Tom's comfy apartment for Amsterdam Schipol at 11:30 am yesterday, I arrived at my destination in Wimbledon at 7:30 pm…9 hours with the time change. And the flight was only 90 minutes. Lots of waiting…and lots of public transport: bus, train, underground, cab.
But I’m here and it is so worth it. Daniel Batt, a philanthropist and entrepreneur here in London invited me to spend a few days here and meet some potential supporters for the Hospital of Hope. We had a delightful dinner with his mother Heidi. Our warm and embracing conversation ranged from gay issues to family issues to health issues. It was wonderful to be with them...a lovely continuation of the friendships in Amsterdam and Basel.
This morning I woke to sunshine and 100 acres of parks and grounds here at Cannizaro House. After my hearty English breakfast, I wandered around, up and down through the woods that are changing colors, over the lawn where I can imagine there have been celebrations of all types and into the gardens that are either completely English in their formality or wild in a tangled brambly sort of way.
It was a wild, tangled, brambly sort of day in London too…had a very successful meeting with a tech entrepreneur who is interested in supporting the hospital’s mobile clinic services. Introduced Daniel to my colleague Ken who is with Lenovo and one of the brightest, funniest guys in this hemisphere, and then we went to “Sister Act,” the musical based on the Whoopi Goldberg film. It’s closing at the end of the month after a very successful two year run…my hard-hearted self almost cried…something about finding community and one’s true self: it’s the universal, archetypal story of self-discovery through the love and acceptance of others. Magical.
London is turning out to be an amazing experience, just like all the rest. And Daniel is a very generous, very attentive and very kind host. Remarkable. And loving.
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