The Hospital Annual party, 14 November 2008

Yesterday night was the annual party of the Hospital, the select member's club near Covent Garden. If you are not familiar with this place, here is a brief history: it was built in the 18th century and used to be a maternity hospital for poor women. When the hospital closed in 1996, Paul Allen purchased the building and renovated it into an amazing space which is slightly reminiscent of the MOMA in New York. You can become a member only if you are working in a creative industry, and the club is really good at supporting and investing in young artits whose talent they believe in.

Yesterday night then, all the Hospital people came together to celebrate in 1930's style in the collection of bars and salons on the four floors of the building. The crowd was stylish like never, men in trench coats, double-breasted striped suits and fedora hats, women in low waisted dresses, feathers in the hair, long ciggarette holders at hand, and you could have believed yourself back in the Prohibition era if you hadn't had free alcohol flowing freely everywhere. The canapes where amazing as well (isn't canape the ultimate fashionista food?) with mini cheese burgers cooked to perfection, finger-sized hot dogs and acras like you wouldn't eat in the Antilles. Lucky there were so many, because they helped me absorb the liters of mojito I downed during the night. I still feel a bit numb and like I left a part of my brain there, but by God it was one of the most amazing evenings of the year.

There was a poker game on in one of the living-rooms, where men pretended to smoke fake cigars bigger than their heads, there was a cabaret show on with performers singing songs from Chicago in corseted outfits, and street artists in every room acting impromptu dramas like a murder of a man by his mistress over a piano. Then the corpse was taken away by two very sullen looking men in trench coats. Everybody was so interesting as well, friendly and in sweet dispositions.

Such a wonderful night, I am still smiling about it... Somehow I haven't felt that happy in a long time.

Champagnista V