London.  A bastion of buildings with no views.

“I’ll meet you at the cafe – top of John Lewis” I said to my cuz.  “Um, not sure how much I like a department store restaurant, S”.  “Well, there are big windows, R” I replied.  “Let’s try and see the sky when it’s this blue.”

I got to that most comforting of stores and asked for the correct floor.  “You do know we’ve got a roof top garden at the moment, don’t you?” a helpful assistant told me at the entrance.  “No?!” “Yes! It’s to celebrate our 150 year anniversary.”

I didn’t need to be told twice and texted to tell my coffee morning companion.

At the fifth floor a hundred assistants showed me the way to the roof – John Lewis didn’t want me to miss this, that was for sure judging by the number of people trying to get me there.

I wandered around the corner to see a lady handing out see through umbrellas – just in case. ‘Welcome to the roof garden!” she said.

I stepped out onto green everything.  Astro turfed from wall to wall, gazebos, ‘grassed’ over seating, a bandstand, large TV screens, deck chairs and plants galore.  What a sight!  I smiled as calm immediately descended on my mood and I headed for the ‘pop-up’ juice bar.

“What’ll it be?” I was asked by three boys manning the blender. Fresh avocados, carrots, bananas and strawberries stood to attention as I purused the menu.

My chat with Matt, Luke and Craig led onto all things music.  “Apparently there’s just one guy on Radio 1 who says yea or nay to all the new releases – so I’ve heard.”  “I’ve been on Radio 1 actually” Matt said.  “Really?  What as?” I replied looking at his curly adventurous hair, t shirt slashed to the navel and chunky earring.  “A stripper” he said, laughing. “No, seriously, I’m a singer.”  “He’s a very good singer” Luke chipped in.

We exchanged (new) Twitter addresses.  “I think I’m ‘at’ – you know, like the ‘@‘ sign ..?” I gesticulated. “Didn’t see that one coming!” Matt said.  He keyed in the address and read aloud ‘This Friday’s post dedicated to John McEnroe.’  “Is that the tennis player?” he asked.  Then, “Sure, I’ll follow you.”

My cuz arrived as Lattes won the day. We sat in the kids corner.  “Isn’t this great, R?” I said as the sun beamed down, “And, they’ve got wi fi.”