British Snow...

Sorry for not writing in a few weeks.  Life has been pretty crazy, and I haven’t found the time until now.  For the record, I am writing this next blog entry while I am sitting in a taxi STUCK IN THE SNOW!...

The past few weeks have been quite eventful both in good ways and in bad ways as well.  I have spent most of the past few weeks commuting from clients in Bedford, Egham, and now Leicester (pronounced Lester).  I have had the chance to ride trains to and from work, which have been quite enjoyable.  Each morning I would walk to the tube, ride the tube to the train station, and then take a train for at least 40 minutes out to some small suburban town.  On the train, I got into the habit of having a nice cup of tea while looking outside and admiring the countryside.  To and from the train stations have been quite entertaining, including one taxi driver basically interviewing with one of my colleagues and another one that slurred his words so bad that I was gripping my seatbelt while we spun around turns.  The end of the week included a train ride and a bottle of wine… I don’t think I have ever been able to enjoy a commute home during rush-hour so much.

One of my really good friends visited me this past week, and we had quite a fantastic time.  We went to Les Miserable for £20 a ticket (granted we did have ‘limited views’).  We had a wonderful couple of days of shopping including around Oxford Circus and at the Stable Market.  Of course we did the standard: Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, London Eye tour, which I am proud to say that I will be a fantastic tour guide by the time I leave London.

Thanksgiving was a little rough this year considering that I had to work instead of run the Turkey Trot and eat yummy Cuban / Thanksgiving food.  Friday was our shopping day, so I did get to participate in this part of the holiday... minus the sales.  This past Saturday, my friend Athena made an AMAZING meal for Thanksgiving, including turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, stuffing, bread, green beans, and two delicious pies.  It was around 11:30pm when we began to count the bottles of wine that we had ‘put-away’.  With 10 of us drinking, we managed to finish off 18 bottles of wine… yes, that works out to be almost two bottles of wine each.  The attendees were both American and British, which made the night quite amusing with good stories and good laughs.

Back to the present moment, it snowed for the first time while I have been in the UK.  On Sunday, in London, they had placed BEACHES of sand outside of the tubes… at the time I had laughed because I had only seen about 10 flakes of snow.  However, now that I am in Leicester Monday through Wednesday, it has picked up quite a bit.  I couldn’t help but smile because it reminded me so much of home.   The drivers seem to be quite terrified of the snow, and the ice has officially frozen.  I can’t help but think, “Ughh, I probably should have left earlier and remembered that the British may not be as used to driving in the snow as Coloradoans…”  The good news is that my hotel is the British version of the house in the Shining.  It is called Bosworth Hall Hotel, and it is beautifully decorated with Christmas Trees and garland.  It took me about 10 minutes to find my hotel room, because there are so many turns and stairs.  I had to help two little old English ladies find the reception desk because they were so turned around.

Well… I arrived back at the hotel, just in time for my computer to die.  Unfortunately, like all annoying situations, it got worse… My laptop needs to be switched out because the encryption software has an issue.  That means that every time I restart my computer, I have to call tech support to get me past the encryption screen.  Well, my laptop died right when I was about to plug it in… So, I had to run up to reception where I ironically had phone reception to talk to Tech support.  Then I ran back down and started my computer.  The blue screen of death greeted me and my computer shut itself down… again.  I made the 5 minute journey again back to reception to call tech support.  Because it is afterhours, I made friends with Herman who sits in the US tech support office.  Finally, I got through the encryption and my computer is working again.  Haha, wow… what a night!

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

The past couple of weeks have been astronomically busy, filled with my best friend visiting, a piro-holiday, and an unfortunate visit to Scotland Yard.

My best friend in the whole world, Jonny, arrived on Wednesday, November 3^rd.  Unfortunately, her timing was aweful, as yet another tube strike lingered on…  We met up with my flatmate, Gary, for a drink to wait out some of the ridiculous traffic, and then caught a taxi home.  While we were stuck dragging around a plethora of bags, I managed to leave my laptop bag in the taxi.  The next morning, I received a phone call from a bus driver saying that my pens and business cards were found in a grocery bag on the bus…  Jonnah was unfortunately asked to spend the morning in the nearby Scotland Yard police station with me on her first day in London.  The police were extremely nice and keen on helping.

The next day, Friday, the 5^th of November, was a holiday in London.  It was the day celebrating when Guy Fawkes and a group of hooligans tried to set fire to the House of Parliament and failed in 1604.  Like the Fourth of July, this holiday gives piro-maniacs to play with fire.  We attended the Battersea Park Firework Display, which happened to be the biggest and best in London.  We were running a little late, and when we arrived at the gates of the park, there was a massive crowd waiting just to get inside!  Luckily, some of those hooligans that I referred to earlier, began to push on one of the fences and create an opening.  Next thing we knew, our small group was caught up in the mob and herded through this tiny little opening.  While I was squeezing through one fence and jumping over another, I could hear the chuckles coming from the naughty little individuals around me.  When we entered the park, we went towards the largest bonfire that I have ever seen!  It was about 20 feet in diameter with firemen at the ready.  The main event finally started, and I must say… the show definitely rivals any that I have ever seen.  The fireworks were choreographed to music and lasted for well over the usual half hour.

Jonny and I did a few touristy things as well, including walking through Soho and Leicester Square.  We went out in Covent Garden and watched a live ‘cheesy’ cover band with a few English blokes.  We also went on a boat ride from Little Venice, through the London Zoo, and arriving at the Stables Market.  The market was huge within this old stable built in the 1600’s.  Later in the week, Jonny and I ended up going to the club in the market that was hidden by all of the shops during the day.

On Sunday, I helped Jonnah get to the airport and proceeded to sleep for the rest of the day.   These couple of weeks have been very eventful, and now I need to rest up for next weekend when my friend Lindsey arrives.

Fancy Dress Party = Fancy way of saying “Halloween Costume Party”

Birthdays are a funny thing…  When you are younger, you wish that your birthday would last forever, because it is your one day to be special.  As you get older, the birthday hype is more about the party.  And then you hit the age where you just don’t want to celebrate being another year older.  For me, I am glad to say that I am the second of the three.  My third and final birthday weekend was… AMAZING and not just because Halloween is my favourite holiday!

On Friday night, we celebrated one of my coworker’s birthdays in Picadilly Circus at a club called Jewel followed by a fancy club in the West End.  It was supposed to be a girl’s night out, which meant not so comfortable shoes.  Like true London style, everyone changed there high heels into the comfy flats for the treck to the second bar.  Then, the party bus arrived… by party bus, I mean the double decker London bus that you see in all of the movies.  Honestly, this might have been the funnest “party bus” I have ever been in.  In fact, we were all laughing so hard at one point, that we didn’t realize that we had come to the end of the line for our bus.  Luckily, it was exactly the bus stop that we needed to stop at.  The night at the club was also a good time with the “fancy dress party” celebration for Halloween.  However, I was unable to stay too late because I had to go prepare for my own “fancy dress” party.  Yes, “Fancy Dress” is what the English call costume parties, but Halloween is only about dressing up as something scary, bloody, creepy, or disturbing… I was to be a Pirate… I think that is a pretty good compromise =)

Saturday, was full of running errands and picking up various tid bits for the first party that I was to hostess at my flat.  Unfortunately, my flatmate was away for the weekend, but I like to think I did a decent job.  In mid afternoon, I had arts and crafts time and made some cute colored paper cutouts of a witch, ghost, bat, and vampire… I also carved a Jack’O Lantern!  Many an English person was impressed with my pumpkin including our Maid that practically wanted to take it home with her on Monday. 

Belton came over early and became the Super Chef in the kitchen while I was told to chop and cut.  He made a cheese ball that looked like a pumpkin and some amazing spinach dip!  The food was clutch and the party was thriving with the decorated food as the center piece.  I was expecting about 15 people or so, until I stopped to figure out that people who hadn’t RSVP’d were at the party.  Next thing I know, we were 30 deep in my tiny flat.  Thank goodness we had the garden area!  The garden area has a heating lamp that is red that ended up being perfect for a spooky Halloween night.

The party had two rules: 1) Bring something to drink that begins with your first or last name; and 2) You MUST come in costume!  People took these rules very seriously, and we had a beautifully stocked bar as well as some fantastic costumes.  We had Clark Kent / Superman, a Ghostbuster, a Couple of Zombies, Pirates, Black Cats, Toothpaste, and Fred Flinstone.  I have said it once, and I will say it again… I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!  The party died around 4am, at which point I started picking up a few things.  The party was great and the people were amazing.  I couldn’t have asked for my Birthday to end on a better note… Until next year! ; )

Madrid Birthday to London Birthday

The second week in Madrid went smoothly at work, and we ended up going out to dinner with the client on Wednesday night.  Our reservation was for 9:00pm at a Buey y Champagna place in a very nice area of Madrid.  It was an all you can eat meal with salad, onion rings, tomato bread with chorizo, champagne and Ox.  Yes, Buey = Ox!  It was so incredibly delicious, but somewhat strange since they had pictures of ox on the walls that happened to be staring toward the table.  It was a very delicious and ended up being my favourite meal in Spain. 

On Friday, my manager and I really wanted to try to get on an earlier flight than 6:40pm, so we went to the airport at 11:30am.  Once again, the US wins on customer service; because there was no way they were going to let us on an earlier flight for less than €380.  So, we ended up having a little bit of time before our flight…  We had started to get through security and get to the correct terminal, when we decided that we should stay in the main terminal and do some shopping.  Unfortunately, this decision happened after we went down an escalator that had no up escalator in site.  Because we were very motivated after standing in line for an hour to find out we couldn’t change our ticket, we decided it would be worth running up the wrong way on the elevator…  After eating it twice on the escalator and stubbing my toes multiple times since I was in flip flops, we made it to the top.  We decided to have a few glasses of wine after we had finished our shopping, and ended up watching the X-men dvd that my manager had brought.  Six hours later we saw that our flight was going to be delayed another hour…  At this point we had another couple of glasses of wine, and ended up having to run to the gate because we lost track of time… Good times…  We finally made it back to London and were relieved.  Unfortunately, the day was not over, because a Spanish woman was in a great hurry and ran over my toe with her wheely bag.  The lady didn’t stop and just kept going after looking over her shoulder at me.  Half of my toe nail was pulled off, but I guess it didn’t warrant an apology.  I was determined to make it through customs, so I kept walking.  I had to stop when my manager noticed that my toe was gushing really bad.  I then proceeded to get home and find a letter on the counter saying that the landlord was raising the rent by 15%...  What an incredibly annoying day!

Saturday was much better and included a great workout followed by Chipotle (the only one in Europe)!  My friends also took me out to some fantastic bars near my house.  Even my flatmate, Gary, who had had a pretty rough night the night before, made it out to the bars with us.  It was so fantastic to celebrate the big 2-7 with friends.  The party ended up back at my flat where my flatmate brought out his new toy, a huge table size cd deck turntable.  At 2am, we thought it would be a great idea to watch The X-Factor, which is a show similar to American Idol.  We all proceed to argue about who we thought was the best and the worst.  It was hilarious.  The night was super fun, filled with good people and fun places.  Altogether, I think it is a going to be a great 27^th year of life =)

La Vida Fortunada!

First of all, let me apologize for not writing last week.  Things were a little busy involving another tube strike… my buddy’s cousin’s birthday… a crazy b-day party for my friend / co-worker… and preparing for a trip to Espana.

I woke up last Sunday morning due to my Flatmate reminding me that I needed to pack and get on a plane.  The night before had been a party for one of my co-workers and upon returning home, ended up chatting with my flatmate until 8am…  Luckily, I made my flight (with an incredibly hecticly overpacked suitcase.  In Madrid, we were staying at a beautiful modern hotel that was about a 10 minute walk from the client.  Work has been very interesting speaking a mix of Spanish and English…  One woman was explaining one of the processes and ended up switching from English to Spanish.  Instead of interrupting her, I let her continue until one of her co-workers turned around and asked, “Sabes que estas hablando en Espanol?”  I immediately switched into Spanish too, and let her know that I understood everything that she had been saying.  During lunch, we developed the habit of visiting the fruit man at the near by Centro de Comerciales.  The fruit is amazingly delicious, and I have become very addicted to the plums and pears.  There was also a holiday on Tuesday, so we worked early and then around siesta time, we wondered to the Plaza del Sol.  We were in the search of food, when we stumbled upon a Cuban Restaurant.  It has been two months without Cuban food, so I was SOOO EXCITED.  After ropa vieja, arroz con frijoles negros, platanos maduros, and a pitcher of Sangria, I thought I would cry with happiness.

On Friday, my manager and I proceeded to walk to the nearest subway to get to our train to Valencia…  We did not know at the time that we would be lugging (in my case) huge suitcases uphill for 20 minutes…  We had been reassured that the subway was “muy cerca”  but I am inclined to say “MENTIROSO!”  After 3.5 hours a “documentario” that was called El Trabajo Embarazado with Lindsey Lohan… (yay… documentary??), we arrived in Valencia.   We went directly to our hotel, the Hotel Neptuno, which was located on the beach.  We wondered along the boardwalk to a bar, where the waiter couldn’t quite what language to speak with us.  In the end, the only thing I wanted him to know was that a Cuba Libre came with a lime and NOT a lemon.  The third time he FINALLY brought a lime and rum shots, and we all cheersed saying, “Salud a las limas!”

Saturday started out a little rough, mostly due to the “ron con coka light… Y LIMA!”  We purchased a day pass for a jump-on-jump-off bus tour which took us around Valencia.  We went to the Catedral en La Plaza de Reina first, searching for a place to have lunch.  The thing to remember about Spain, is that food is not served ANYWHERE between 11am and 1pm… because that is when they set up for lunch at 1pm.  We ended up in a Starbucks, because we were starving... I know… Americans…  Our day progressed at some of the most awe –inspiring sights.  We went to the Mercado, where people could get fresh fruits, vegetable, meat, and fish.  I literally had to run from the pungent fish booths, because rum and fish smell do not mix well. 

My manager (Katie) had told me earlier in the day that the last time she was in Spain, her friend had been pooped on by a pigeon and freaked out.  The Spanish woman that had also been with them had tried to make Katie’s friend feel better by saying, “ES FORTUNADA!” (It’s Good Fortune!)  All I have to say, is that God has a sense of humor.  While we are deciding our next plan I felt something hit my shoulder (bare shoulder), and we both had thought it was a bug or lizard… nope… apparently, I was FORTUNADA… to have a very healthy pigeon bless me while I was standing under his tree.  Needless to say, I will be laughing about that with my manager for years to come.

For my birthday dinner, we went to a great small Spanish restaurant where we had a bottle of wine, cheese, pimientos de padron, and paella.  We went out later to the party street and had a few drinks.  We made it back to the hotel “early” at 2am and fell asleep. 

Today (Yesterday) I had one of the most amazing birthdays!  I woke up and went to the beach and laid out.  I felt much like a solar panel, because I was storing up the sun for the next few months in London.  We had “brunch” on the beach including café con leche and a Tortilla Espaniola.  We then packed up everything to check out of the hotel before going to the Ciudad de Las Artes y Las Sciencias.  The area was very much like a city with beautiful modern architecture that housed the Natural History Museums and the aquarium… Oceanográfico!  I hadn’t been to a Zoo or Aquarium in years, so I felt like a kid who couldn’t take in enough sights of these amazing animals.  I saw pelicans, flamingos, sea lions, dolphins, beluga whales, sharks, sting rays, jelly fish, swordfish, and many other types of creatures.  The tanks were created with a hallway below so that one could look up and see the fish and mammals.  The shark exhibit was the best.  I mentioned to my manager that I really wanted one of the bigger ones to come over closer to the window, and the next thing I saw was two BIG sharks swimming towards me, which totally gave me the creeps.

My birthday ended with a train ride back to Madrid where my manager and I continued to celebrate with a few glasses of wine.  It has definitely been one of my most memorable birthdays, but I must say that I am looking forward to spending my 28^th with family and friends… that is… if life doesn’t surprise me and take me on another traveling adventure!

Sightseeing and Enjoying Freedom

The past week went be very quickly but happened to be the first week that I was able to do some site seeing…

On Tuesday evening, Belton and I went to the last of four musicals that we had signed up to see… Jersey Boys!  While our colleagues could not stop raving about the show, we found it a little boring.  The music was spectacular with songs that we knew like Big Girls Don’t Cry, Walk Like a Man, Let’s Hang On, and Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.  However, the story was one that has been told many times before about the rise and fall of a musical sensation.  We walked out and immediately agreed that Legally Blonde was by far the best musical so far.

Thursday evening we tried out a wine bar in the back alley of a street near our work.  At first, I thought it was a little dodgy, but it soon filled up with soooo many people!  The wine was quite delicious and the bar itself was packed with people all ordering bottles and bottles of wine.  However, I was good, because one of my coworkers was planning on taking me to the Supper Club on Friday night.  On Friday, we stopped by at a neighborhood pub before going to Supper Club, and ordered some fantastic cocktails.  In the States we refer to cocktails as anything that isn’t beer or wine… However, cocktails are very fruity and are more of a work of art here.  The bartenders were making complicated drinks using at least 5 ingredients in each.  They would even take a straw and dip it in the drink to make sure that it was made right or start all over.  No wonder the price is astronomical!  Supper Club was fun and posh, but what I wouldn’t have given to hear some good ‘ole fashion bar songs instead of the constant thumping of House / Techno.

Saturday was very laid back, but Sunday I was determined to be productive and do a little London siteseeing.  I first went to church at St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was absolutely beautiful!  There was even a choir made up of young boys from 6-10 years old, and then older men from 30 years old and above.  The young boys had voices of little angels that echoed in the glorious archways of the cathedral.  I then went to Buckingham Palace to do some sightseeing with Belton and his cousin.  At this point, Belton informed me that there was a US newsflash, warning all Americans traveling in Europe to avoid all tourist sites.  So as I am standing in front of Buckingham Palace, I am reading about the terrorist threat against Americans traveling in Europe… interesting… 

Sunday was the first day that I think I really understood the idea of ‘Terror’.   It is an interesting feeling when trying to decide whether to stay away from potential danger or to continue living your life as planned.  Even if you aren’t directly affected by some horrid attack, you still are affected just because it can cause you to live in fear and not enjoy your freedom.  Either way, terrorists win because your life is negatively affected by their actions or inactions.   For this reason, we continued our journey.  We kept ourselves on “orange” alert, and continued our sightseeing across London.  “As Canadians,” we then walked to Big Ben and Parliament, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, and the British National Gallery.  Needless to say, we returned home safely after enjoying a beautiful rainy day of sightseeing in London. 

Home to London

Home to London

Throughout the past month and a half while I have been writing this blog, I had chosen to leave out the instances where I felt a little homesick.  After living in Costa Rica and in New York for extended periods of time, I knew what was coming. .. Week 4 and 5 are usually the hardest, because it finally hits you that you are not on vacation…  Luckily, the trip to Athens helped me ease over this difficult time.  Athens was fantastic and beautiful, but when I jumped on the plane to end my holiday, I was going home… to London.  I arrived in London with a new sense of comfort, knowing that this is MY home (for the moment at least), MY flat, MY bed, and MY life.  I essentially made my peace with London as not only where I work but where I live as well.

Wednesday night, I had a friend from college in town for work, so we went out to eat in Leicester Square.  I knew the tubes to take and the blocks to walk down, and was even able to make some suggestions about places to go.  I have officially become the London guide for my friends… So don’t forget to visit =)

Belton and I continued our theatre night on Thursday night with Legally Blonde.  I know that most of you must think, “Why would they want to spend time seeing a theatre show in London that is made from an American movie?”  Well, I was just as skeptical going into it as well.  The theatre was packed with women of all ages and the occasional gay man or tricked boyfriend.  OMIGOD! The show was AMAZING!  The songs were upbeat and happy, and the jokes were classic.  For instance, in the scene where she is tricked into dressing up as a sexy bunny for a party, they made a joke about “Going and going and going…”  Belton and I cracked up laughing, while the rest of the audience sat in silence… I guess it was an American joke.  The BEST part was the courtroom scene where Elle needed to prove the pool boy was gay and not having an affair with their client… (you would know if you saw the movie)  Well, the musical portion of this scene was by far my favorite.  One singing line was, “Look at what we’re seein’… Is he GAAAAAY?........ or EUROPEAN?”  My friends know that this has been my only complaint regarding the men in London…  I can’t tell whether they are gay or metro.  I literally had tears in my eyes laughing so hard, and it seemed like the “Europeans” in the audience thought it was pretty hilarious too.

After returning from Greece and eating delicious Greek food, I decided that it was time to start making the gym part of my routine rather than just a “spur of the moment, if I feel like it” deal.  I have now done a few classes including yoga, body pump, aerobics, and LBT.  LBT in true British fashion stands for Legs, Bums, and Tums J  In the US, instructors have to be careful to show the “lighter” version to make sure that no one feels uncomfortable or clueless.  In London, that is not the case, and it is more of a, “If you can’t keep up, you should be coming more often to practice!”  My favorite part of each class was the instructors, who reminded me of Billy Blank from the Tae Bow workout videos.  They were all very loud and VERY motivating, including staring at you and saying , “NO RESTING!”  I half expected them to yell, “NOW, DOUBLE TIME!”

Although I didn’t get a chance to go to Scotland this week, it has been very nice having the opportunity to rest.  We even have a cleaner now for the flat that comes once a week, so it always smells like my own mother’s hard core cleaning.  Next week, I look forward to Jersey Boys, more Billy Blank workouts, and perhaps doing some London site seeing next weekend!