In London, you will find red buses, red phone booths, pubs on every corner, black cabs, iconic buildings, the royal family, calling French fries -chips, calling potato chips -crisps, and streets that change names every few hundred feet- I LOVE IT ALL
London is one of my favorite cities in the world, but like many places in the world, both large and small, London can feel lonely after a few days.
I hope today's small world post can offer you a cure for that.
Several years ago, my hubby was working on location in London for a few months. The production was putting him up at a FABULOUS five-star hotel. The Soho Hotel- not to be confused with the Soho House. The Soho Hotel is part of the Firmdale Hotels.
https://www.firmdalehotels.com/
My husband was there on a project so we would have coffee together in the morning and dinner together at night. I’ve traveled alone for decades for work, and I'm comfortable going anywhere alone. At first, I didn’t mind spending my days alone.
The first week I walked myself silly all over London. The museums, the palace, the parks, the shopping, the sites. But after a week I thought- "I'm going to be here in London for several more weeks. I need to make some friends.
If you haven't been to England there is something you should know. Englanders are not nearly as chatty with strangers as Americans. It's not like I could walk up and down Oxford Street and say to a stranger "Will you be my friend?".
One afternoon, I emailed my friend Robin Hirsch who lives in New York City, but was raised in London
"Dear Robin" I said in the email "I'm in London for several weeks, and I don't know anybody. Is there someone you could introduce me to"
Some people are stingy with their rolodex- Robin is NOT. He is very generous with introductions.
Moments later I receive a group email from Robin and the first few sentences read.
Dear James, John, Dollie, Terry
Writing this round, you should pardon the expression, robin to introduce some of you English theatre/comedian/politico people to Jennifer Rawlings who is in London for a couple of months.
The first person to reach out to me in the group email was Terry. Terry Jones. YES, that legendary Terry Jones from Monty Python. Terry invited me to meet him to his local pub. Terry and I became fast friends talking about everything from politics, comedy and family. Until his death-I would continue to visit Terry every time I came to London. Often, we would walk to his favorite local pub where we would share a laugh and a pint.
Dollie Henry an incredible dancer and choreographer was also on that group email. Over the years Dolly and I have had many lunches, teas, gone to museums, and had long conversations about family, and the arts.
James was another person on the group email. At the time James was the creative director at the St. James Theatre. James invited me to perform my solo show at the St. James Theatre!!!!
John was also on that email list of four that Robin sent out. Lord John Alderdice helped to broker The Good Friday Agreement. The first time I met John invited me to lunch at the House of Lords, and in preparation for the lunch I googled dress code for House of Lords a dozen times. A few weeks later John and his wife came to my show I ONLY SMOKE IN WAR ZONES at the St. James Theatre. It was after that show John suggested "You should meet Eva Grosman- she runs The Centre for Democracy and Peace Building."
Lord Alderdice wasn’t wrong about introducing me to Eva. Not only is she a very close friend we have also worked on several projects together.
Robin's group email on my behalf is what makes the world so small and stitches humanity together. If someone is lonely connect them to a friend. And if you are going to a new place- dont be afraid to ask your friends to make some introductions. Who knows what will happen….
Travel changes the way we see the world, and the people we meet on our travels changes us.
Keep laughing with love,
Jennifer Rawlings
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