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In this opulent building, Greater London House, the London Kieser weight training center is housed. (Though, before you get envious green eyes like the cat: it is in the basement).
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I think it quite ironical that the building formerly has been The Carreras Cigarette Factory - a huge Art Deco Building in Camden. One brand of cigarettes was The Craven.
"The building's distinctive Egyptian-style ornamentation originally included a solar disc to the Sun-god Ra, two gigantic effigies of black cats flanking the entrance and colourful painted details. When the factory was converted into offices in 1961 the Egyptian detailing was lost, but it was restored during a renovation in the late 1990s" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carreras_Cigarette_Factory - it's worth reading!
Well, people changed their minds, and now in the upper stores are media and advertisement agencies.
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Back in Germany in a month I will have to make a decision:
my membership at Kieser runs out (I have been there now for 7 years, can do the exercises in my sleep, but get good results. They have only weight training).
Additional I have another membership in a posh fitness club around the corner (you can't go there without elaborate make-up :-) - I used it mostly in winter for running on the cross-trainer, when rain, cold and snow made me sit on the sofa instead of walking through Berlin. This club is an Eldorado for almost everything: weight training, aerobic, large swimming pool, Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates - whatever you want. The fee is much higher than Kieser's - though, if you decide to come in the morning between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. it is affordable.
I got a training in different weight machines there the day before yesterday. Went again today, leaving the house at 9 p.m. Coming back I looked at my watch: oooh - 2 1/2 hours... (Kieser takes this time too, with going there by underground, BUT I can come in the afternoon, in the time when my vital spirits have sunk a bit.
My "prime time" for working (with my head, not 'out') is between 7a.m and 12 o'clock. So - if I come home from Elixia tired, take a shower, dress anew - my first 'best time' is gone. The second one will start later.
They tell you to come three times a week.
And now I have to read "Your gym is punk-ass compared to this in the Ukraine!" Look at those pictures! http://bzfd.it/14ciEq4
I miss 'Craven A' cigarettes more than I miss the gym...
ReplyDeleteWhile typing my reply, Suze comment pushed it to the bottom - there I will delete mine, putting it here up again:
DeleteSo you know they were of the delicious 'sweet' sort - we hadn't those in Germany, but I loved other oval Oriental cigarettes. Nowadays I - mind over taste - choose the gym.
By the way - I looked up the word 'craven' and think that the cigarette industry were mocking in advance todays Health worshippers.
Britta, I'm a lot like you -- morning is prime time. You wake up, brain energized from its night-time neural wanderings, and it's time to work.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to make sense to exercise in the morning first, then shower, then face the day -- but all of those things can soak up hours but quick. I've been giving this a lot of thought because -- outside of my family, home and friends -- writing, running and yoga are my priorities. When to write and when to run or practice yoga? The time in my life during which I was the most dedicated runner, I used to run in the evening or at night. This was when I was single, though. Now I am a wife and a mother. Different sort of schedule. It's a challenge to juggle everything, for sure. I'll be interested to see if you post a follow-up on what you decide in terms of your memberships.
And to think, Suze, that my husband can sleep like a log into the day! I am a lark as you, he is an owl. Today is Saturday - that's why they opened so late - normally I can be there at 7 (but have to watch how tired I'm afterwards). I run outside, but not in winter. And yes: being a mother changes the schedule very much, and often the ball lest thrown up high is dear little self :-)
DeleteSo you know they were of the delicious 'sweet' sort - we hadn't those in Germany, but I loved other oval Oriental cigarettes. Nowadays I - mind over taste - choose the gym.
ReplyDeleteIn the days of the USSR, I found a Russian cigarette - with the long tube and Baltic tobacco - hidden in a packing case sent from there. Very exotic.
DeleteI found those very smart too: you had to crease the filter, I remember, in a zig-zag-way.
Deleten GB I bought ahead the tiny half-long Benson&Hedges; in Germany I mostly had "Slim" (more for the look than for taste, I fear - the dark outfit went so well with my deep red nail polish 'Chilli Bean')
That is ONE. Art Deco cat
ReplyDeleteI owe you a whole post for this notice, John, thank you! (See my next post "Siamese Cats..) )
DeleteI am with you on the prime time Britta! I do Zumba classes at 10am Fridays and feel so fresh and alive and ready for the day afterwards!
ReplyDeleteZumba I haven't tried (yet), but I'm with you: one gets a "high" instead of a low after a work-out.
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