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LifeHouse Spa – I spa, you spa, we spa,
Who doesn’t like to spa? This place is near Clacton On Sea. I thought Clacton was a place of caravans and grannies. Maybe it is? I saw the county of Essex and got the fear of turning up at a spa and seeing blond supertanned supertoned Ken and Barbies. But that was not the case. First off everyone bar two spray tanners were normal. All shapes and sizes were present at that pool. Groups of women, couples, but no groups of men though. The pool was heated. The jets in the Jacuzzi could knock over a small child and probably do.
The grounds are gorgeous and serene. Everyone who works there are super friendly. The treatments are as you would expect from a spa and to a high standard. Now lets talk about the room. A King Size bed people. I don’t even think I requested it and I got it. What kind of lushness is that? And GHD’s in the room as standard? I mean where does that happen?
I was as happy as they were
Now lets talk about the food. This is no spa of a couple of bits of green beans over salmon. Oh no. You can have a 2 or three course dining menu that is better than a gastro pub. And the small choice of wines are excellent. It’s perfect turn up stressed. Have treatments and relax immediately, pig out and drink and indulge. Sleep in a King Size bed.
I went on a Bank Holiday and it was busy and I’ve got to say it wasn’t even that busy. I was so overwhelmed by spa choices but now I’ve Lifehoused I doubt I’d want to try anywhere else for a while. I can’t wait to get back there and drink Malbec.
New York, New York Days 7 to 10
Spring in New York
So after resting up in Florida and moving onto New York I turned up still exhausted. Who on earth escapes from a city like London to come to a city like New York to rest? Lucky for me that I have a couple of very good friends in New York and I was looking forward to spending some quality time. I didn’t have an apartment arranged until Day 11 so I stayed with a good friend until then on the Upper West Side.
The Upper West Side is probably my favourite area of New York to be situated in. It’s residential but has a lot going on with cafe’s, supermarkets and of course banks. You can’t not look up and see a bank so no need to worry about that for a second in Manhattan. Banks that have the biggest waste of space known to man. I entered through the door and then turned to left and walked what felt like a mile to some cash machines. There was nothing in that empty space apart from my thoughts. I could have moved into that space and it would have been bigger than an average studio apartment in Manhattan.
Although I was staying in an apartment that had a married couple and two small children it ended up being a pleasant experience. The little girl aged three could rationalize like a thirty-three year old so that proved challenging at six in the morning when the life, universe and everything needed to be discussed. Even trying to convince her when she put the light on that maybe we needed more sleep time I was met with ‘ No it’s daytime and in the day time we get up and are awake.’ By day eleven, the conversation was flowing with
‘Morning’
‘ Morning’
‘Sleep well?’
‘ Yeah.’
‘ It’s awake time? ‘
‘Yeah.’
End of any argument.
The second child who I stayed with is an anomaly to all babies. At five months old I’ve never seen such a happy chilled out little chubster. I was told that if you get the timing of the milk wrong by the minute you will certainly hear about it but honestly I was present in the room whilst the baba was changed and bathed over half hour and I didn’t even realize that had happened. His mother’s nightmares are that she forgets him somewhere because he can be so quiet. She is not wrong.
A place to walk
So the first few days I was in family land. Eating home cooked food and chilling out. Watching rubbish TV and going to bed early to rise early. Central Park has become a place to go walking. I didn’t realize that from Broadway you can walk a few blocks one way and come to Riverside and walk by the Hudson and go the other way and you are in Central Park within ten minutes. And Central Park is huge. A sudden haven in the concrete jungle. I already have a favourite place to walk around which is the Jackie O Reservoir.
Day 9 the Sunday I ventured out to a place in the Lower East Side called Fat Buddha. And one thing I love about New York bars is that if you sit up at the bar and you are friendly enough the drinks start coming for free. Yes you heard it free. You don’t know this is happening until the end but when would that ever happen in London? The place where alcohol is measured by a thimble, here they may as well be holding you down and pouring it down your throat and for a borderline British alcoholic and most definitely a lush this was Manna. The next morning of Monday (day 10) waking up at half six to work was most certainly not.
Florida Day 1 to 6
Clearwater, Florida; a home from home that I have grown up in for over twenty five years and am full of memories. Some happy, some sad; mostly of being bored when I was a kid. As time as gone on it has become a place of comfort. An escape from the City and a place to recharge.
It’s a place of solitude. You can get nowhere easily without a car, perhaps a bike if you are lucky. Forget walking to a local shop – are you mad? There is no local shop. There’s a beach with rows of Condos (expensive blocks of flats to us) or houses on the sea. And I was lucky enough to be in a house on a sea to witness the sea safari.
To be in a dwelling on the sea with only a murmur of cars behind you is a grounding experience. I arrived exhausted from the energy of the city and I knew I had minimal time to rest. Is it not ridiculous that life can be so hectic in the city even for someone without children that they feel so ill they have to rest? I’d over eaten and over drunk for months. Well that didn’t stop in Florida but the food was at least healthier and the booze less. I blame all that sea air for having to go to bed before 10pm.
During some time with family that reside there I got to see a strange experience for a person who has no children, which was babies learning to swim. My niece of 18 months was going for swimming lessons and I was impressed by her ability to actually swim albeit a panicked tiny amount but still it was impressive. Unfortunately I was distracted by the other half of the pool containing some pensioners doing a class of swim aerobics. I couldn’t help but notice how full of non movement their class was. If anything they just seemed to be still in a circle and not really treading water at all but then why should I have been surprised? The guy taking the class was bigger than all of them. How could they have a sense of hope looking at him?
So not much to report on the first few days, except relaxation and watching the dolphins swim by morning and eve. A baby turtle even popped by to say hello. A dead seahorse had been discarded on the dock but that wasn’t as much of a shock as the giant dead fish in the pool that some Pelican had had enough of.
It’s hot in Florida the sunshine state; too hot for someone as fair skinned as myself to enjoy but I got out there and soaked up the Vitamin D. I don’t think my body had seen the sunshine due to the UK’s miserable weather from the summer before.
I ate seafood galore (although the lobster was from South Africa which I think might ruin the local seafood idea a tad) and enjoyed the stillness. On my last day at the house, I threw my bread to the fish (always one to give back to nature even if it was garlic bread), and then panicked as a sea of crust lay atop the waves and started to roll towards the neighbours. I thought fish ate bread? I would be forever known as the polluter or poisoner of wildlife. Well I didn’t have to worry because after not so long the birds like a Hitchcock movie came pelting down. Problem solved. If the birds died it would be nowhere near me.
It was farewell to the Sunshine State and onwards to New York City.
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