Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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 :-)
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 :-)
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
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!!!
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!!!
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