Leona's birthday celebration

Good times on Saturday as I met up with Leona and some of her friends at Gordon's wine bar. This is one of the oldest places in London and always has a great crowd. It's basically in a cave so has a great feel to it and has yummy food and wine. After having met the group, we begin to play some random game that one of the guys swears is the best tool to pick women up....aside from being entertaining it was quite lame and we spent a solid hour explaining to him why that was. Needless to say, he does not plan on giving it up. Anyhow, the best part of the night came when we left the place. We were going to get food so we're walking down the street when about 5 girls walk up to me and ask if I am American. Ummm, yes, why? You sound American..ok... they proceed to ask me to speak like an American. What would you like for me to say? Anything...ok..umm aren't you cold out here in those little dresses and no jackets? Naaah they respond..we're going to the club so it doesn't matter. Ok but you're not there yet. They continue down the route of speak like an American when I ask them where they're from. I get this garbled answer, so ask Essex? Now for my NY friends, people from Essex are basically like people from Jersey. They get a lot of shit for it, people make fun of them, their voices can be a killer...one of the girls got really excited because I figured out where they were from (OMG) but her friend realized that I wasn't being as nice as I could have been ;) and that I was probably making fun of them...hehe. She dragged her off and our group from Leona's party nearly died because they were laughing so hard. Yes, shame on me for being rude---but it was kind of funny. Lesson: wear coats when it's cold and wear a dress that's meant to be a dress, not a t shirt!!

Work travels

So now the work traveling really begins! I may get fun of for starting too many sentences with, you know it's recruiting season when ...but it's very true. I have begun the new job supporting the front office so my event schedule is looking pretty different.

Trip 1- St Gallen, Switzerland
I fly out to Zurich and hop a train to St Gallen. Not to self once again, learn German. I get to the hotel and upon arrival into my room, I find that I have the world's smallest bed. I am not even exaggerating! At 5, 3 barely I hardly fit into the bed length wise. I had dinner in the hotel restaurant, watched some bad British tv and then went to bed. In the morning, we had a presentation, networking reception and then interviews before heading off to the airport. Luckily, I was with a guy who went to the university and knew the good places to eat (obv a priority) and we had an amazing sausage and bread before leaving.

I knew this was going to be my first lesson on the difference between my old job and the new one but it really did make me laugh. Rule 1 on trains, book economy. Rule 1 of the front office, book first class. I walk to the train to get into my seat and the sales guy and trader ask why I am going that way. Response? Umm...that's the car I'm supposed to be in. Without trying I made them feel so bad that they joined the common folk in second class. Rule 2 on planes, book economy unless you are flying a long distance (flight from LN to Zurich might be 90 min). We get to the airport...question comes again, where's your seat? To their horror, economoy. After a failed attempt at paying to move me and asking them to move me once we got onto the plane, I got champagne from the flight attendent bc she felt bad that she couldn't upgrade me.

Trip 2- Vienna
I leave for Vienna on a Friday afternoon for a nighttime event. The event went well but had one of those, I feel old moments when I could not wait to get back to the hotel to rest, eat, sleep and the analysts on the trip were planning their big night out in Vienna. Worked out for me though...some dinner, a little wine, an amazing shower, cold air conditioning and then I slept for 12 hours. Amazing! I wanted to steal the bed. I was interested to figure out who was staying at this place because there was heavy security all over the lobby and on my floor.

Trip 3- Back to St Gallen
I get on the flight to Zurich, which couldn't be more of a business flight if you tried...London city (which is by the financial district) to Zurich. Upon boarding, we all realized that about 10 very interesting characters were joining us. 8am flight and they are yelling, laughing, drinking and carrying on. I nearly had enough when they began discussing why they were traveling. They were flying through Zurich to Milan where they were going to see the Tottenham football team play Milan. All I can say is omg...grown men acting like frat guys...awesome. The event went well and enjoyed meeting another one of my new clients. Parted ways later in the day and flew back to London. It was a really long day but was happy that the event worked out well.

Trip 4- Warwick
Nothing that exciting about this trip other then the fact that I went north in England and saw a lot of sheep and grass. It's amazing how college towns around the world all have the same feel- nothingness, backpacks, kids looking to steal food ;)

Trip 5- Madrid
Obviously, I was very excited for this one. It was a Monday night event, so Drew and I flew out there late am and headed off to the hotel. We were delayed out of Heathrow so only had enough time to quickly change, grab a snack and head down to the event. I heart the Spanish but god do they not care about time. I am 100% sure they hated me for acting american and reminding them that we needed to get started but cmon..it's already 8pm! We kicked off and finally wrapped up around 10:45. I can chalk this one up to practicing my espanol because the business insisted in doing the presentation in spanish- alrighty then! Synopsis of this trip- plane, taxi, hotel, taxi, plane....I am ok with it though because it was significantly warmer and the sun was out :-)

Barcelona

Melissa and I decided that we'd head to Barcelona for a little birthday celebration! Upon arrival on Thursday night, we went straight to the hotel to check in and get ready for dinner. We went to this tapas place which had been recommended but we clearly did not go on the right night because it was pretty empty- which is unheard of there! Anyhow, we had some yummy food, wine and then crashed in bed!

On Friday, I had to work so Melissa decided to sleep in. Upon awaking, around 1, we decided to get ready so that we could go out for a nice lunch. We had been recommended a great lunch spot which wasn't too far from the hotel, so we took a walk. As we were walking I got a bday phone call from my good friend Oms and then went in for lunch. There were only smoking section options (man Spain, you still smoke so much!!) so we decided to head back to this nail salon we had just passed :) Melissa and I both decided on mani/pedis which felt amazing...oh, nail salons of ny...how do i miss you! We then went back for lunch and had one of those meals you invision Spaniards having...wine, yummy food, not rushed and chatting. We had such a nice meal and really enjoyed this wonderful local spot!! We went back to the hotel so that I could finish some work and Melissa could nap. As she got up, we began to get ready for our big night out. We went down to the old section of town for tapas and drinks---all of which were yummy. Began with some champagne (ok, celebration evening), wine (ok, you're in spain..red wine is yummy), mojitos (ok, not so necessary) a beer (budweiser none the less) and maybe 3-4 vodka sodas. Clearly, going out dancing that night ended up being fun, esp since there was an amazing dj on stage that night. Seriously though, probably the best dj I've ever seen. We danced the night away with random stray Spainiards and then went home around 4:30. Man were we hungry.

We woke up on Saturday and I was shocked that I felt fine. Yeah, that was until I sat up.....fast forward, we're hung over through some food and then went back to sleep. Fast forward, we miss our biked tour....fast forward, we wander through Las Ramblas, see the marina area, go to the market for some cheese and bread and then go back to the hotel for another nap. We end up a dinner spot that was recommended to us from someone at work. We knew there'd be a wait, so we grabbed a drink and hung out. Upon getting seated, after chatting with our new found friend at the door, we order tapas and have a little bit of wine. Yes, we still felt like shit. We both decided that we were tired, looking worse then tired and would only be going out to go out so we decided to go home. Before we did, a guy (about our age) wonder over to chat. He asks if we're going out and if we'd like to join him and his friend. God knows if it was the right decision but we said thanks but no thanks because we both just couldn't be bothered to worry about our attire and get motivated to go clubbing again. Welcome to 28, 2 big party nights in a row is wayyyy too hard!

Sunday we get up and wonder about before we had to leave for the airport. We hit some of the architecural sites and just enjoyed wondering about.

It ended up being such a great weekend and really appreciate the chance I've had to travel to such a cool place and attempt to recoup some of the language skills I used to have. It made me want to go back to Spain ASAP and enjoy their wonderful culture. Te amo Espana!!!

The Boys in London

Alex and Frankie made their way to the UK a week ago ...yay! Not that any of us are the best planners but we had very little on the agenda aside from, pub lunch, maybe a "football" match, Sunday football and hang. Clearly, we ended up doing much more then that!


Thursday...

Upon arrival, the guys went to sleep since neither of them managed any real sleep on the plane. I left them several notes around the house since there are several...hmm, how the hell does that work things in this place? They napped, ate and then came to Canary Warf for happy hour...or happy hours as they like to say in London. We went to HA's for Ramesh's going away "do". Most of the HR team was out as was OpsRC for Melissa's welcome drinks. Good times had by all...the guys got to meet some of the cool people I work with and some of the odd ones ;) We definitely spent 15 minutes debating how to say aluminum. OMG silly but so funny. They also enjoyed Frankie's american accent...I kept hearing, "say that again!" After a few jokes re: pints vs half pints we decided we needed food and went with Claire, Meliss and the guys for Mexican. We heart Claire! Fast forward --->go home and attempt at sleep/hang out for a while.


Friday....


I leave for work which was brutal since I was tired, definitely had stayed up too late and probably had 1 too many drinks. Awesome! Unbenonst to them, I said goodbye and went to work. Fast forward---> they sleep in, have a pub lunch and then because of POETS, I got to come home a little early and hang out before we went to dinner/went out for the night. Not sure who I was pretending to be..oh yeah, I dont need a nap..lets go. Sure--a 30 min nap later we're ready to go to Brick Lane for dinner. This area is pretty cool because you can basically negiotiate free food/drinks etc just to get you into a place. Its a million times worse then walking around Little Italy when those guys stand outside and try to get you to come in. We ended up sitting next to this Canadian/Aussie group who had THE most annoying woman with them. She was listening to our convo and then striking up that topic in their convo. There is absolutely no chance that we were talking about cookie vs biscuit and then 5 min later you start discussing the same topic?!? After dinner, we meet up with Meliss and head to a couple of very random bars and into a club (of sorts). We basically ended up in a free style dj dance party (our scene obv) and hung for a while. It ended up being a lot of fun but we def stuck out a bit. Fast forward---> we get home and hung out (again, just what I/we needed...stay up later and drink some more). This was when Alex pulled an Alex. We're playing Scattegories and something comes up about a 4 letter word that begins with _....he enters a word and is trying to convince us that his word counts....yeah, until Frankie calls him out on the fact that the word had 4 letters. (Insert Homer Simpson noise).


Saturday.....


We wake up and go to Borough Market. Yum! I show the guys around and then we decide on meat on a stick on a roll. It was awesome. Pics to follow. Grabbed a glass of sangria and sat down in a mini park to hang out before we went to the football match. We had a lovely little morning. The next hour or so wasn't so nice as we got lost on the way to the Tottenham match but ended up having a great time while there. The chants and songs were amazing! They had one that literally said 1, nill you fu$@#ed it up! hahaha. We then went back in to central london and went to the pub for a couple of drinks. Fast forward through dinner, some drinks etc and then off to bed we went. We wanted to be fresh for Sunday...lots of plans.


Sunday.....

We decided to have old school brunch at the apt...eggs, streaky bacon (as they call it here), biscuits (not the cookie) and mimosas. Compliments to the chefs. We then went to this wonderful wine tasting type of place where the guys had an opportunity to taste absinthe and couldn't pass it up. Pics to follow but Alex couldn't help himself to make the women at the table make a new batch because wanted to see it on fire. After tasting some nice wines and wondering around we went over to Bodeans to watch the fins game. Yay for NFL in London. This place even had the sound on. For those of you who are used to games always being on and never worrying whether or not you'll be able to see the game, you wont understand but for those of us outside of S FL it can prove quite challenging. Anyhow, ate some good food and watch the Dolphins win!! We came home and then decided to nap before the Giants game came on. The game was starting at 1:30 so we got up and the guys got a couple of drinks while I tried to rally. I end up watching pieces of the game but was too tired to be totally into it. I'm pretty sure the times I was awake was when Frankie was yelling at the Giants for playing like total garbage. I get sent to bed and completely pass out!

Monday...

I wake up....uggg. The guys ended up coming to Canary Warf to have lunch with me before they headed over to Greenwich for the day. They went over there which is where the GMT line is but also where a brewery is supposed to be. Meanwhile, they find some weird museum and they play with blocks. Who knows?!? We met up for happy hour in the Warf and went to a place that, without question, had the worst smelling bathroom I could have ever been in. We left around 7 to make it home for family dinner. Melissa was kind enough to cook dinner for us. We had a great night eating, laughing and just spending time together. After dinner, we played poker...seriously like the good ol days although this time we drank wine when we were lucky if we had beer in a glass bottle. I ended up winning (shocking, I know) but then we continued to hang out in my apt. The issue? Well, it's late and Frankie and I were both working on Tuesday. What a great idea!?! So...it's getting quite late and we're several drinks into it before we decide it's prob a good idea to go to bed. Meanwhile, I wake up in the am and grab my water glass. Phew..I'm feeling thristy and I'm so glad I have this....realization: I have just taken a sip of an old vodka/soda. OMG, I could have died and/or thrown up then and there! I say goodbye to Alex since he's leaving that afternoon and then off to work I went!

Tuesday/Wednesday....

So, Frankie and I go to work....we meet for dinner that night to celebrate his last night in London. We chose a French place over by Charing Cross and had a nice last meal. We end up walking home and hanging out before heading to bed.

I had a work event in the morning but then came home to hang with Frankie before he needed to leave. We spend some time just bsing before I have to go back to work. Booooo to friends leaving. Now that both of the guys are going to be gone I got really sad :( because it had been such a great week!

Overall- I am so happy they came to visit and couldn't have asked for a better time. Cheers to great friends...especially since they had shopping lists for both me and Melissa which included: color catchers (apparently we do have them here), pashminas (one of which got described as barclays blue), brita filers and marshmallows...this is why I love these guys :)

Cannes & Milan

After the wedding and spending Sunday afternoon accomplishing as many of my NY errands I wanted to get done, I met Melissa so that we could begin our trek to JFK. After a sad goodbye with Laura on the curb of 19th and 8th ave, off to Kennedy we went---> fast forward---> arrive in Nice. Wow, let's just say even the landing was amazing and gorgeous. We boarded a bus to head to the hotel but it ended up being a little more challenging then we'd hoped...wayyyy too many bags given that Melissa was moving to Europe that week ;)

Upon arrival at the hotel, we got dressed for the beach, had some food and then made our way to the hotel's private beach club. All I can say is- you must go to Cannes at some point in your lifetime. The sand, water, mountains and boats make for such an incredible view you just never want to leave!! Melissa and I ended up spending several days in this routine...sleep, beach, food, beach, drinks, nap, drinks, food, out....my idea of a perfect vaca! We got great tans and really got an opportunity to rest, read and enjoy a few days off.

One night while we were there, we went out to this random Irish bar (I know, pub in Cannes?). They had live music and we enjoyed singing along a bit and the massive "stag do" aka bachelor party that was in there. We befriended some Brits who were there for a wedding and were clearly enjoying their time in France. Their advice to us at one point in the night, "go to Nice, go out all night, wander around until the trains start running again and then go home". Hmm...dont think so! Anyhow, we hung out with them for the night and ended up having a blast. Pub + club = late fun night dancing around in France.

Our adventure then continued on to Italy where we were staying the weekend in Milan. We got to the hotel and went to dinner- a place that Pam recommended and was just as I would imagine- super cute, all locals, amazing (non US italian food). We had one of the best cheese plates ever! Fast forward--> we are wondering around Milan to see if we can get in to see the Last Supper...not so much. Sold out for 2 weeks....we then walk around the Duomo and eat these amazing cheesy, fried doe things. Pam did say that she dreams about them sometimes. Now I see why! Fast forward---> we decided Sat night will be our big night out in Milan, so we head to the trending night area of Milan. We enter---I kid you not--the Pit Bull Cafe. That's right my FL friends---its a lounge all about Pit Bull---OMG. We hung out with a guy who swore he was Snoop and then made a move to a club. It was so overcrowded but fun for the 15 minutes we could breathe/actually dance. Man do the Italians like to party...sparklers and all! Sunday was the end of our adventure...back to London we went...it was exciting though because Melissa was moving into the building. More to come on life at 64 Buckingham Gate :)

Liane's Wedding

I flew home last week for Liane's wedding and a significant amount of errands that needed to be done. I got in on Tuesday night and went to the apt to crash for the evening. Frankie was kind of enough to have marshmallows...the right ones ;) and dinner waiting. I tried to work London hours so that I could have the afternoons to myself which wasn't too bad on Wednesday. Wednesday was great because I went into the office and saw the old team. It was so great to see the girls :-) Later on in the night, we went for drinks to catch up and then off to dinner for Emily's bday/engagement celebration dinner at Otto! The food was awesome and it was so nice to spend the night catching up. Last stop for the evening was over to McSorley's to have a pint with some of the MS folks. Thursday I went to the neurologist for a follow up to my odd episode at work. The first test showed some abnormal activity but then after wearing a brain cap for 24 hours (awesome btw..it looked like I was walking around with a bomb) it looks like I should be fine. I've been ordered to not do death defying activities, climb laters, drive, get sleep, don't get stressed and not to party too much....some are easier then others! Friday night I went out with Alex for dinner and whatnot to catch up. We went to Buenos Aires which was amazing, as usual. We then went to Common Ground for a couple of drinks afterwards. We had a blast and even got to play some board games while we were there. It was a great night but we were out a bit later then originally planned. Given that I needed to be in NJ around 9/930 for the wedding, coming home at 2ish was probably not too smart. I got upgraded to maid of honor so was running around trying to be as useful as possible. Fast forward through hair and makeup and we started to get Liane dressed. Aside from a couple of awkward pics from Li's mom, the getting ready process wasn't too bad. We jumped into the limo and went over to the hall. Fast forward again---the ceremony was really sweet and Li did a good job holding it togetherish. Fast forward again--- I gave my speech which I think went well and then it was off to dancing. We did have a creepy dj man who ended up doing splits during a random song at the end but overall the party was fun. Went to the after party for a bit and played some pool but then called it a night.

Cinderella plus the rest of the weekend

Deciding I needed a Sunday activity, I picked up a ticket to go see the English National Ballet's rendition of Cinderella. Sadly, there was no Bruno or Gus Gus (taker easy cluck cluck, taker easy) in this version but it was still a great show. Such beautiful and graceful dancers and their costumes were spectacular.

I do continue to wonder though how in the world they dance like that. Look at the ballerinas on point <----- it hurts me just looking at them!

It was a great weekend across the board. I enjoyed a very quiet night at home on Friday which was then followed by a lazy Saturday of tv and a pub crawl. I made some cool new friends (and one odd one) last night but got to explore a new part of town and found a bar with live acoustic guitar. The only down side was forgetting to leave with enough time to catch the tube that will take me all the way home. Grrr...Oh well, it was a great night out and am very happy that I went.

Another wonderful weekend in London in the books!

France and Italy continued...

Day 7

Wine and Sightseeing Day...

We were picked up around 9 to start our tour for the day. We were joined by another 4 people- 2 from Canada, 2 from HK. Off to the vineyards we went! Our tour guide was a former wine specialist so was quite knowledgeable about the wines and wine making process. We did two tastings at two different vineyards....both vineyards were excellent. I purchased two bottles- story about these bottles to follow on day 10. The afternoon was spent touring around the small villages and towns in the region. The sights were to die for. Fast forward- we end up sleeping in Nice....fast forward

Day 8- we leave Nice and end up stopping in a beach town in Italy. In order to get there though, we had to obviously cross the French/Italian border. OMG, madness. So many people, such insanity. We spent a really nice day at the beach and had delicious pizza. Italy was welcoming us well! Fast forward....

Day 9- Florence- we begin the day by looking for breakfast. Ok, well apparently in Florence you eat Gelato for breakfast. Not that I mind dessert in the morning but was hoping for maybe a little protein or carbs even?? We ended up finding fresh foccacia which was fine by me! The lines into the museums were nuts so we made a reservation (4 euros) and sat down for lunch. Let's be clear....that was probably the smartest 4 euros we'd spent the entire trip. If you could have seen the line. I get that the Italian Renaissance started here and all but my god. Anyhow, we had another amazing meal. Who knew that pear and cheese within a fresh noodle could produce heaven. Went back to the museum (sorry, no pics allowed) and then back to the hotel for a rest. We needed a plan for our last night on vaca so we asked the concierge for a dinner suggestion. For anyone who has been to France or Italy in Aug knows that literally everyone is on vacation. Hence when we got to the restaurant it was closed. Fearing we'd end up in some tourist hell hole we walked around for a while in search of Italians eating in a restaurant (our rule..if locals eat there, it must be good). Luckily, we found one and it was probably the best Italian meal I have ever had. If you ever go to Florence, let's talk so that I can give you the name of this place. It was so sweet...as we were leaving everyone was so appreciative of our business/tip that they were shaking our hands, wishing us safe travels.

Day 10

We really couldn't leave Florence without seeing David, so we got in line at 8am. Doors opened at 8:15 and we were in (minor slow down bc of a bottle of wine in ra's purse..this is one of the wines from above which will continue to have a story). Saw David which was much larger than expected and left for the train. We were attempting to drink this bottle of wine on the train because we weren't checking bags so didn't want it to go to waste. Needless to say, we had issues opening it on the train so some kind soul took pity on us and opened it for us. Upon arrival in Pisa, we checked our bags and went over to see (what else?) the leaning tower of Pisa. Cool but not that exciting. Now to the airport drama- I will summarize by saying based on that experience the following is now true: I hate Ryan Air, dislike a particular Italian woman at security, a very nice bottle of wine was wasted and I will never fly during the afternoon unless absolutely necessary.

Home

This trip was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget. We did an insane amount of traveling but went through two of the most amazing countries in the world while surviving train mishaps, creepy ally ways, screaming babies, breast feeding moms and roller bags that don't like cobblestones. I am so happy that we were able to take this trip and enjoy ourselves as much as we did.

France and Italy

Pre trip night out: I met Rachael and Vanessa at Vinopolis for a wine tasting (which for anyone who has been there knows that its wine, beer, rum, champagne) and evening out. If you are ever in LN, you must go to this place! Afterwards, we went for food- although the mission wasn't executed too well because we ended up with just some small cheese plate. Deciding that additional food was needed, we wandered around a bit and found a pub that should have still been serving food...not so much. Made some new friends- americans working here in LN- and hung with them for the rest of the evening (steak beer...that one is for Chicago Todd).

Day 1: we left London for Paris to begin our adventure around France and Italy.

Day 2: we started the day with a walking tour of the city. Our guide was entertaining and did a great job of showing us around and giving us the history of the monuments etc. Way to go Nottingham for sending stray students to Paris for course credit. After the tour finished, we went to a wine tasting--random French white and red wines with a Champagne tasting. What was completely random was that we had 8 other people in the tasting who were from FL. Two were even wearing Gator t-shirts (It's good to be a FL gator). After our tasting we went back to the hotel to get ready for the night and join our bar crawl. Fast forward through a fun night out and potentially 1 or 2 too many drinks.

Day 3- off to Versailles for a bike tour. What an amazing town. We had time to shop in a little market and pick up food for our picnic later in the day. We got bread, cheese, wine, chicken and dessert :-) We then road around the town and saw the palace- what a place! The hall of mirrors is incredible...very French and ornate. Upon arrival back in Paris, we went to catch our train to Avignon. Well....this is where the fun begins. Our train ended up being sold out (what happened to the trains being wide open?!?). After several hours pondering about what to do we decided to stay another night in Paris.

Day 4- I like to call this day....what the hell are we doing day? After doing some research we decided that we'd head out to Normandy to see the beaches. We booked a hotel and train and within a couple of hours, we were off. We spent the afternoon roaming around Caen and then headed out to the beach for dinner. What a spectacular sight! We had a truly amazing dinner

Day 5: off for a tour of the beaches. All I will say on this one is you must go out there. It's hard to describe, so just take my word on this one.

Day 6: Avignon- we got there around lunchtime, so we went into town for lunch and sightseeing. We had probably the best lunch imaginable. Between the rose wine, apps, meal itself and dessert we basically in heaven. This crumble dessert was one of the best things I've ever eaten!

I will post the remaining days tomorrow...for now, au revoir!

Concert at the O2

Rachael and I got tickets to see Rod Stewart at the O2 last week. The best part was that we got to use the MS corporate box! It was a great show and really enjoyed seeing him here in London.

Unusual Friday

So...yesterday started off like any other Friday. Was at work and quite excited for my weekend in Frankurt. Fast forward 11 hours and I'm leaving the hospital still feeling shaky and being driven home by my boss. What happened? Good question....here's what I remember. I am sitting at my desk doing work, now I am on the floor looking up at Sheena (the floor admin) wondering what is happening and why I can't remember the answers to questions they're asking. How old are you? Emergency contact? The next thing I remember is being outside and being put into an ambulance with Sam Davis who was going to accompany me to the hospital. Fast forward a bit again and I'm getting blood drawn but not sure where I am....I also get a CAT scan. After several more hours later, I see the dr who informs me that they found nothing wrong in my blood tests, nothing too unusual in the scan and that this could have been a once in a lifetime thing that happened to me. I will have to go back this week for a follow up with a specialist who will give me an MRI to ensure that nothing is wrong with my brain. Good times! Anyhow, at the end of the day work, my family and friends have been great through this and I appreciate all of the support. Work actually even offered to pay for Rachael to come and be with me so she's here within 24 hours of this happening. Pretty impressive. Stay tuned for more.......

Cheerio

Another week in the books! I finished up work on Friday and went to meet up with a NY co workers friend who just moved to London. I went over to the Bank St area and met Jen at this place called Bluu. We had a Pimms, which is quite nice on a hot day, and chatted. We decided to make a move...this is when I knew Jen and I were destined to be friends...she grabbed her flip flops out of her bag and put them on before we left. I, of course, had just done the same thing. We ended up at a cool little pub down the road and got some snacks and enjoyed the beautiful evening in LN!

On Sat, I went with Lynette and Carolyn down to the beach. Keep in mind that this is no ordinary beach...it has pebbles instead of sand! huh? It's the most bizarre thing you've ever seen (pics to follow). We enjoyed a nice walk, fresh air, hanging on the beach and a very yummy lunch. This adventure made me realize that while the US and England are very different, when it's sunny they are IDENTICAL. Literally, the train could not have fit 1 more person if they tried. It felt like a long weekend on the shore if the NJ turnpike had been shut down. Upon arrival back into London, we went to a pub to watch the Germany match. We found this cute spot just down the street from my apt that has a really nice backyard and a cozy dining area. They had a big screen tv showing the game, so it ended up being a good time.

Sunday ended up being a brunch/random shop/attempted but failed nail day. Carolyn and I went to Orange for coffee and then this cute store/restaurant for brunch. Everything was from farm to table which was amazing. Afterwards, we went down Kings Road to check out the shops. I found a Kiehls and was hoping they had the pear lotion I have been dying for since I purchased it a year and a half ago in LA. No such luck! Ended the day at the pub to watch the Spain match....once again, awesome weekend in LN :-)

It's been a while!

I went to Budapest for work a couple of weeks ago. Upon arriving at Heathrow I discovered that there isn't an international standard for allowable liquid size. Really?!? Why isn't that standard? So I say to the screener, but this is TSA approved. Response: who is the TSA? OMG. I arrive in Budapest and am amazed at how modern some parts of the city are and others look like you've gone back in time to 1980. After work, I went with the girls to dinner and enjoyed some Hungarian specialties- goulash, wine (who knew?). I decided to walk back to the hotel which was along the Danube and came upon fireworks over the river/castle. After a busy day at work, Carela, her Mom and I headed off for Vienna! The train station was interesting...again, from Communist times...but we got on a headed off. No more then 10 minutes out, the train suddenly stops. Given that none of us speak Hungarian, we had no idea what was going on. We eventually find out that we lost power. 100 minutes later, we were off.

Upon arrival, we head to the hotel and grab a quick drink/some food at the hotel and go upstairs to pass out. Saturday - we went to the Grand Opera House which was beautiful and had some very interesting artwork inside. Such a civilized event. You could reserve a table in this stunning marble room where they serve you wine and cheese.

Sunday started with us trying to seek out what I was told were "posh horses". Who knew that posh horses could charge 26 euros and that they were on such a tight schedule. We passed that up and wandered through some gardens where we saw thousands of roses. We then went into a cafe to have pastries, random meats and some wine/fab coffee. Overall, it was a great trip!

A weekend of friends

A quick recap of the weekend....

With the world cup starting this weekend, London began gearing up for a month long party. After work on Friday, I met up with Corey, Angie and London Tom for a late dinner. We went to a great Eastern European place that also specialized in fruit infused vodkas. They even had homemade pear vodka...yum. Esp since GG pear doesn't seem to exist here. The meal was wonderful and had a great time just hanging out with the group!

I got up on Saturday and met up with Carela and some of her friends at Borough Market. We ate at Roast and then went down to an oyster bar for a small snack :) We then wandered around a bit, had a couple of drinks by the river and just enjoyed a beautiful but windy day in London.

After that, I left the gang to go meet up with Jobina, Kazai and Angie for the US/England game. We reserved a table at a bar called Bar Soho and watched as the Brits wanted to pull their hair out. After hanging out for a bit after the match, we went over to Convent Garden to grab a bite. We found an awesome mexican restaurant and hung out over a great meal and a margarita.

It has been a great weekend and I'm really happy I got to hang out with so many friends this weekend! Now...back to resting on the couch :) Yay to lazy Sundays.

Belgium

Off to Belgium I went...

I jumped on the Eurostar and within 2 hours, I was in Brussels. I did little research as to what I wanted to do or where things were located in the city which ended up being an interesting decision. Arriving with no euros also probably not the best of ideas. I went to jump on the metro to check in at the hotel and of course their machines only take coins. Their booths only take cash...sigh. I miss NYC where even a bottle of water can be charged!! I end up taking a cab to the hotel- why not..im on vaca (better known here as holiday). We drove by a very large protest and what appeared to be a wedding party on horses. Really odd..I wish I had gotten pics.

After checking in, I decided I was going to walk around and see the sites. I roamed around for a while, grabbed some food and a drink and enjoyed sitting outside.

On Saturday, I woke up early to take a tour to the Belgium countryside. It was a beautifully sunny day and I got to enjoy it by walking around 2 very quaint towns. Brugge felt a little like New England, or the other way around I guess. Cute stores, food, history etc. Seeing Michelangelo's Madonna sculpture was truly amazing. It strikes me how I always imagine things like that to be massive when in fact they are not that big at all. Ghent was a smaller town but with another amazing cathedral. After sitting outside a bit more, it was time to head back to Brussels. The tour ended up leaving a random Spanish couple in Ghent because they were over 30 minutes late back to the buss (random side note but that still makes me chuckle).

On Sunday, I got up and went for a bike tour of Brussels. Note to anyone who wants to do a bike tour in ancient cities...be careful of cobblestones. I will spare you the details of the falling ...all I will say is that I came home with souvenirs that I didn't need. I met some great people on the tour and got to see the EUC which was an impressive part of the tour.

Overall- awesome trip. Yummy waffles in many forms, good beer, sunny days and chocolate! Can't complain :-)

Back from the country where I apparently like to fall!

All I will say for tonight is...seriously, why must I always trip in European cities?!? I have come back to London with some fresh bruises...awesome! Damn cobblestones being 3 inches apart. Couldn't they tell that they were leaving spaces? Jeez. Too tired for the whole story tonight but stay tuned for an update on my trip to Belgium!

Canterbury

Went down to Canterbury today---it was a fairly long bus ride but I got to see a lot of beautiful countryside. I started the afternoon with a boat ride down a small river in the middle of town. Between the weird pigeons, stray 3 and 4 year old boys yelling at the boat during the tour and our tour guide chugging what looked like blue powerade, it made for quite an amusing experience....well guided though.



Did the tour and then went for "the best fish and chips in town". Final verdict---not bad. I went after the lunchtime rush, so it was a bit colder then I would have liked. Oh well..moving on. Headed over to the cathedral to wander about. The inside of this place was breathtaking. Honestly, the architecture is remarkable! A service was just starting as I went in, so the choir had just begun. It could send chills down your spine as your listening to them in this massive cathedral. The echo made you feel like you were in an episode of the tutors. I really want to dress up as one of the queens this Halloween (sorry, that was a very random sidebar). Anyhow, stuck around to listen to the choir and roam around the church grounds. The gardens, like with all of these ancient churches, were spectacular and made me want to have a picnic--def not allowed. Upon leaving, I ventured out into the town to check out the shops, random tourist traps etc. Decided against the reenactment center of Canterbury Tales. I think I will stick to reading it- don't really need people to dress up and act for me. Also decided to skip the old town center where you can see where they used to butcher and tie up animals. Really...why is that a tourist stop?? After my lovely day in the country, I came back into London and grabbed a drink at the pub which for the life of me I couldn't remember it's name from the last time I was here- Youngs! Yay...it was down the st from where Melissa was living and it's taken me 6 months to figure it out! They have a reggae night, which I am quite excited about...in addition to a patio, stools at the bar (that is rare here) and games. All in all..nice spot and fun day.

Billy Elliot

It's a Bank holiday here, so was deciding how I wanted to spend the weekend. Since yesterday's weather was less then desireable and not condusive to being outside (although PERFECT napping weather), I decided to go see a show. Tried for a matinee of Mama Mia but then realized, upon arrival, that I left my wallet at home. Seriously...why do I always loose that damn thing?!?! I am glad I did though because I changed my mind about what I wanted to see and ended up at the evening showing of Billy Elliot. If you have not already seen it, I highly recommend going. Even for you "I don't see shows" people, you will appreciate the dancing, music and humor. I also especially loved that their snacks were all Cadbury products (yum) and on your ticket it tells you to order your intermission drinks before the start of the show. Seriously?? You could order a drink and then they'd place it out with a card with your name on it for you to collect during intermission. Only in London!!

Off to Canterbury today...should be fun, so come back later

Royal Parks

Sunday was another beautiful day here in LN. I went to St. James, Green and Hyde Park to sit outside in the sun and read my book. The pic above is from St James....

I quote my mom, "look at the pretty flowers"

Below is from Hyde Park

GMT line

The weather made for a spectacular afternoon walking around Greenwich. Took a boat up the Thames and then toured of the naval academy, the old palace, church and then the obsurvatory. I recommend anyone in the area to check this out- it's a really cool town and the history of the palace is really amazing ...unless you don't enjoy royal history. It kind of made me want to sing Henry the VIII I am I am..They had a bowling alley in the bacement of the palace that we were allowed to play in! I managed to hit all but 1 pin down. The balls were made of stone and were beyond heavy. Glad they changed the process a bit since then. After the palace, we went up to the observatory and stood on the GMT line. It's def a tourist trap but I enjoyed it. Went to the Greenwich market and sat outside for a beer with 2 new friends. Overall, a very cool and beautiful day!

What time zone will I be in???

Greetings from sunny London..yes, you heard me right..sunny! High of 73 today and 77 tomorrow. That's basically unheard of or so I am told. Anyhow, I proclaim that I am no longer Eeyore. Everyone has said that I brought the beautiful weather and that's the story I'm sticking to. Perfect day for a boat ride, so I am heading to Greenwich where you can stand on the GMT line (google it if you don't know what GMT is). The pics should be fun! Is it 12, 11, 1pm? Stories from the day to follow.

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Welcome to the UK

Greetings all!

I thought this could be a fun way to keep you all in the loop on how my short term assignment is going. Better yet, you will read and decide to come visit :) Anyhow, once I finally got to the airport and boarded the plane I realized that this wasn't going to be a normal flight. If you haven't been on a Virgin flight, book one! "Upper class" as they call it is a truly insane experience. You get a sleep suit, champagne as you board, tv, music, a fully reclining bed--including a down comforter and a full dinner and breakfast. Upon landing at Heathrow our pilot came on and announced, "morning folks..sorry again for the delay...we have just landed behind a 747 from India. I am going to rush us to the gate so that you can beat them to customs". Haha..love it!

I got picked up a driven to my new flat. I was fighting my tiredness but we all know how well that goes. I put my bags down, hit the food store, ate and then passed out! As you can see from the pics, I live right down the street from Westminster Abbey. Amazing views! I also live right around the corner from Buckingham Palace. Queen, please drive by and wave!

I met up with Ken this afternoon and had lunch at the Hard Rock (original one). We then walked around a bit and then I was off to try and find a darn adaptor for my computer. I brought one but needed another that had 3 prongs...ugg. Anyhow, finally found one and am now back at my flat doing what Sunday's are meant for...relax!! Off to work tomorrow. Should be interesting, especially since I am basically the new kid in school who is showing up in the middle of the school year. "What do I wear? Will I get lost?"...haha. Fingers crossed all goes well. Stay tuned for more....