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!