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! ; )