Remember when I told you about my ‘Week-End Sandwich’? I went to London for the week-end. On the Friday we went to the Imperial War Museum to see an excellent exhibiton ‘Once Upon A Wartime’. On Saturday I went to Cybermummy. Well, I have still to tell you about the Sunday.

It was the last slice of bread but what a feast we had! We visited ‘new’ friends who live very close to Canary Wharf. That is the area of London that has become the financial centre. There are also a number of newspaper offices there (but I won’t dwell on those at the moment!)

Canary Wharf is noted by the tower with the light that flashes like a lighthouse. The regular throb of light seem to call all those bankers and other wheeler-dealers who have now moved out of the City.

It is no longer a dock area but a thriving community not only of the workers who commute in each day but also residents who have decided to buy one of the stunning apartments that are now situated along the water side and look across the river to the Royal Observatory and Greenwich.

I was really amazed at the architecture and landscaping of the area. Yes, the buildings are all glass and steel but they have been designed with the eye of a sculptor rather than a builder. The area around has been skilfully landscaped providing greenery, water and plenty of space to sit and relax.

David and Christopher have lived here for a number of years. Sadly Christopher suffers with Parkinson syndrome. It is first experience I have had of this dreadful condition, my previous knowledge being limited to seeing Muhammad Ali on television. I just thought that the sufferer would experience shaking but oh my goodness in its severest form, it is so much more than that.

Thanks to medication, he is more able to live an active life but still finds it extremely difficult to walk and talk. To the lay-man it seems to be a case of his brain not being able to process more than one message at a time. So for instance, if he wants to go across the room, open a drawer, get out the cutlery for dinner and lay the table his system freezes right at the beginning because there are just too many messages at once. By making himself deal with one action at a time, he is able to follow that sequence successfully. Speaking is much the same. He may have a sentence in his head but it is only by physically ‘counting’ off the words on his fingers that he can make himself clearly understood.

All that energy to achieve what most of us take for granted! I learnt so much about the disease and about the bravery and tenacity he has to overcome the hurdles that Parkinson’s puts in his way.

We had a wonderful time exploring a new area and getting to know a super couple. David has a penchant for Art Nouveau and there are several pieces of Clarice Cliff around their apartment. I couldn’t help but include the window setting in the slideshow!

Enjoy!

Canary Wharf – a great piece of the sandwich! 

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