Ich bin ein Berliner!

Hello!!

I know it has been a bit since I have last updated but there has been SO much going on! Each time I get home from a trip I am so exhausted then work is busy and I never have time to update!

First and foremost I would like to welcome two new little guys to the world - Vincent Greer and Matteo Marzilli!! Welcome to this wonderful place. I am looking forward to getting to know you both!

Now, an update regarding my trip to Berlin. It was absolutely fabulous. I LOVED this city. My old work colleague and friend, Jane, was wonderful enough to host me for the weekend and take me on a fantastic tour of Berlin to see all the historic sites I was hoping to see. Now I shall tell you a little about my trip.....

The Old East
As you may or may not know, Berlin is a city that was entrenched in the middle of Communist East Germany during the Cold War. A small little capitalist camp-out in the middle of the worker's paradise.

Our first stop was the DDR Museum (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) - or the GDR as most of you would have known it. It fascinates me to no end to know this country existed for almost half a century, then just disappeared. This was my first experience in a former communist city. The DDR Museum had wonderful objects that were donated by people who lived in the DDR and kept these relics from a way of life long forgotten by most...

This is a view of the Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm Berlin) - which was built by the DDR as a symbol of the strength of the communist state. It is the tallest structure in Germany.

Here I am at a desk that is a replica of what communist party leaders would perhaps have used in the DDR. I am talking to my Comrades on the phone - long live the Party!! (just kidding - I love Capitalism).

Ah. Brandenburg Gate. Characteristically, there was a protest in front of this gate - during the Cold War, no person could even go near it. Can't you just see the Hoff dancing in his light up coat and singing 'Looking for Freedom'....and thanks to this freedom, I am able to enjoy a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee while I bask in the awesomeness of this experience.

REICHSTAG!!! The center of the German government. Conveniently located right next to the hotel where Michael Jackson swung his baby out the window.

This is the East Side Gallery - the longest stretch of the wall that is still intact. In 1990 various artists came and decorated the wall. Before the wall came down, people on the Western side were able to write all over but the people on the East were not. The photo below shows how creepy it looks - and this is without the 'death strip' which contained electrified fences, attack dogs, long stretches of sand and no place to hide when the East German border guards were trying to shoot at you.

Ok - that is all for now. I may add a second post later this week. I also will update with photos and stories from Drew and Sahar's visit and our trip to Scotland!!

xoxox

Military Weekend

I title this entry Military Weekend because I visited the Imperial War Museum. And it was AWESOME. It also was the only productive thing I did all weekend. Since I have plans for the next 5 weekends I thought it would be nice to enjoy downtime.

So the museum covers World War I, World War II, Post WWII Conflicts (my personal fave), Crimes against Humanity, a Holocaust exhibit (incredibly moving and sobering), a little portion on the UK's secret service ( I mean I come from the land of the CIA so this didn't really interest me), as well as some other UK related stuff which I didn't know about but was happy to explore.

 As I said my favorite part was the post WWII conflicts - namely the Cold War. I was able to see a real uniform worn by Leonid Brezhnev (General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982).

Those of you that know me know that I have an intense interest in all things Soviet so for me this was especially cool. Unfortunately, Gorbachev did not donate any of his wardrobe.

It was very weird to see a museum that did not center on the US - I think this was my first outside of the US historical museum. There was only one small section on the Vietnam War, and many sections on conflicts I haven't even heard of. It was extremely interesting to view conflicts that the US participated in from another country's viewpoint.

They also had some great life-size weapons and war machinery donated to the museum after the conflicts were over.

Well that was it for the weekend really. On the way home I did pass by the most amazing flowers. The color was so bright in contrast to the generally gray row houses that it looked like it was fake. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Then in the evening, it doesn't really get dark here now until around 8, there was a gorgeous sunset. This is the view from my room. It love the little chimneys, so Mary Poppins. I can almost see Dick van Dyke jumping and singing on the roof.

Well, that's all for this weekend. The next few weeks should prove good photo opportunities. They are as follows:

April 9-10: Berlin, Germany
April 12-18: Drew and Sahar visit!
April 21-24: Easter in Marseilles, France
April 29 - May 1: Royal Wedding Weekend!
May 6: ROCK (Nicole) VISITS!

Have a good week Everyone!!

xoxo

Versailles is More Modern Than I Thought...

Please listen to this song to really get you in the Parisian mood (but don't look at the girl she's creepy). And think of smelling cigarettes and old urine, like I had mentioned before - ahh, the sounds and smells of Paris.

Also there is a post called 'Je m'appelle Claude' that I created right before this one - that details Paris Day 1!!

Paris: Day 2

Today we decide we're going to see Versailles. We check out a map of the Metropolitain, Paris' subway system, and we see a stop for the Port of Versaille. We think, hey, this must be it. Rob says, 'I don't think that is Versailles, I think it is further out.' I say, 'no, that has got to be it! Look at all the buildings on the map!!' So we go. And we exit the subway. And this is what we see..

Yes, that is actually the Port of Versailles CONVENTION CENTER. Not the historical place we thought we were going to! So, we walked around. In Building 7 there was a lovely dermatology convention. Well to make the most of the trip, naturally I decided to recreate the Treaty of Versailles by having a picture taken of me signing it....

 Next - the Eiffel Tower. We were sure this was the real thing and not a casino or something. It was BY FAR my favorite thing - it was so cool!! Love love loved it. Also ate baguettes and brie in the park to really get the full Paris effect.

Next from here was a walk to the Arc de Triomphe. This thing is in the middle of a CRAZY rotary, so you have to go to it via an underground tunnel. We saw two guys try to run across the rotary and literally they almost died!!

All in all it was a fabulous trip - glad I was able to see all of the sights, yet if I never returned to Paris, I would be ok with that!!

I prefer the Cote d'Azur :).

Well I will be putting up more pictures on Facebook, but not tonight as I am tired :(

xoxo

Je m'appelle Claude

Paris: Day 1
Please view the clip from 'Friends', above. This pretty much sums up my relationship with the French language.

So, we begin the journey on the Eurostar from London St. Pancras to Gare du Nord. The train was nice, went really really fast, and we didn't get stuck in the Chunnel so that was a good time. Below is a picture of the entrance to the tunnel...

 Then we had lunch outside of the station - poulet and frites. Very good. This also was the only time we were given free water at a restaurant.

Next - We walk. First to the Louvre. We didn't care to go inside really but the grounds were great.

Next stop - Notre Dame. It was SO beautiful - I loved it. I really wanted to light a candle for Meredith and Spellman, which I did, and then I continued walking around and found candles to take away! I donated a few Euro to say thank you. These were the types of candles that I lit. Also below is a beautiful stained glass window.

Next, a  view of the River Seine. Note the Eiffel Tower in the background! You can magically transport yourself there if you close your eyes, and think of the smell of cigarettes and old urine. This is part of the aromatic mystique of Paris.

Please see the next post for details of Paris: Day 2...

If the Hat Bothers You, the Hat Bothers Me...

Just outlining a few of the trips/things I have planned for the end of March and the month of April - this way, when you see I haven't posted, you'll know why!


March 26-27 - Weekend à Paris

 Heading to Paris for the weekend via the Eurostar train - departs from London St. Pancras International and arrives at some Paris train station. Approximately a 2.5 hour journey. Upon arrival I hope to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. I also want a lot of cheese. 

April 2-3 - Exploring England

This weekend I plan to see the Imperial War Museum and the British Museum.  I am in history mode and I want to take all of it in! Also I hope to visit Kensington Palace and gardens. Need to get in my Princess Diana sightseeing of course. Maybe will take a day trip to Stonehenge?

April 9-10 - Allemagne, Alemania, Niemcy, Deutschland....GERMANY! 

That's right - I'll be heading to Berlin to visit all the awesome historical sights the city has to offer, including the Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the DDR Museum as well as a 1 night stay at Ostel (http://www.ostel.eu/en/) - I am SO excited for this! Also my lovely pal Jane, whom I worked with at Dewey & LeBoeuf, now resides in Germany so I am looking forward to seeing her and doing some sightseeing!

xx

FOOTBALL!

Hi!

Sorry I have not posted in like a week - work is very busy and I figured no one wanted to hear about my job and my train ride because that's pretty much all that happened this week!

Now for the weekend...

SATURDAY
My very first ever English Premier League football game. It was SO MUCH FUN. We had really awesome seats which makes for way better viewing than the non-HD Fox Soccer channel I would watch back at home.
We saw Tottenham Hotspur v. West Ham - these are both London area teams. Since there is a such a risk of fighting and rioting breaking out between fans, they segregate the fans so the visiting team's fan sit in one specific section - so there is a visitor entrance and a home team entrance. Imagine if we had that at Fenway!

On the way in to the stadium, we walked through the parking lot where the players park their cars. I saw a Lamborghini, Bentleys, Ferraris, a Range Rover Overfinch, numerous Porsches and one random guy who decided he was going to drive a Nissan pick up. So cool - I couldn't take any photos because there was tons of police around and I didn't want to risk looking like a super tourist!!

So Tottenham are in the white kits. The goalie for West Ham is the terrible guy who let that really easy goal happen during the World Cup when the US played England. They also did a full minute of silence for the people in Japan which was nice and it was cool to see the entire stadium of 36,000+ people be completely silent for an entire minute.

Also we were not aware that Tottenham is essentially London's version of Roxbury. I think we saw at least 17 different fried chicken places. This one was my favorite:

New Jersey Fried Chicken. I mean, isn't that on everyone's list of places to visit when they come to London? We then got beers after the game at a local place - they had a lovely outdoor seating area:

It was a great cultural immersion experience. I even bought a sweatshirt at the Tottenham shop (I bought a child size one because it was cheaper - obviously).

SUNDAY
Today I took the tube into town to meet my friend from law school, Sadie, and her friend Cathy. Sadie is doing her co-op in Galway and was visiting London for the weekend. We went to Byron Burger which is a burger chain and they had excellent burgers - and American cheese!!! After that, we went to Hummingbird Bakery (similar to Magnolia and Buttercup in NYC) and had a cupcake. SO GOOD!!

Then, we headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington. This is the world's largest museum of decorative art and design - it has over 4.5 million pieces!! It was very, very cool. We saw a jewelry room with all kinds of awesome jewels. My favorite was this hanging glass sculpture thing in the foyer when you enter the museum:

Then I came back to Wimbledon, did some grocery shopping and headed home to relax. And that is all for now.

I will try to write more this week - I am going to Paris next weekend so there will be a ton to report from there!!!

xoxo

Under my .....

.....bumbershoot oot oot oot under my bumbershoot oot oot oot.

Yes, that is correct. A bumbershoot is another word for umbrella here in the glorious UK. Today's blog will be devoted to a few words of the day, with an update at the end with a new flavor of crisps I tried today at work.

A few of my favorites.....
prawn = shrimp
torch =flashlight
bits and bobs = things
scouser = a person from Liverpool
cashpoint = ATM
trainers = sneakers
pants = underwear (i.e. don't tell someone there is a stain on your pants)
trousers = pants

Peter Luger's......crisps?

So I tried these today - a mere 50p. I could not believe how much they really tasted like steak. I gave them two thumbs up. Tarique also gave them two thumbs up. He is from South Africa so a lot of these weird flavored things are new to him as well.Next week we are going to try the Smokey Bacon flavored ones.

Public Toilets
So, I have about a 15 minute wait period from when the coach drops me at the station until I catch the train home. During this period, I sit inside the waiting area (there are some tables and stuff and its attached to a little store). There is also a public bathroom. YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE the amount of non-homeless people that use this restroom. It is ridiculous. And it is clean. The Brits really know how to treat a loo.

Well, headed to central London tomorrow for work at our Cannon St office. It is right across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral. Fabuloso.

xoxo

Last Train to ....

...SUTTON.

Please listen to this song as you read today's entry - Press Play Above :)

THE COMMUTE
Today I will give you details of my commute. I'd love to share some photos, but understand how awkward it is to take pictures of people and trains during rush hour during the week. Plus, they are super strict here regarding public transport safety due to the 7/7 bombings so its not really kosher to take photos of the trains (kind of the same thing in Boston, NYC, etc.)

Anyway, I walk from my home to Wimbledon Station in Wimbledon Town Centre - You can see some pictures and a little bit more of what Wimbledon has to offer on this site: (http://www.wimbledontowncentre.co.uk/). The trains here are privatized, so individual companies run different routes (unlike how the MBTA runs all the commuter rails). My journey from Wimbledon to Sutton takes about 17 minutes.

When I reach Sutton, I grab a newspaper and go around to the back of the station to grab the coach bus that takes us to Kingswood Fields. This is about a 20 minute drive. This is where the office complex is. It looks like an old boarding school in the middle of an English field, absolutely beautiful. There are about 4,000 people in my office throughout different buildings.

I love taking the train because I can look out the window and see the pretty houses and fields and just relax. I usually listen to some Lil Wayne or Phil Collins on my iPod. Did you just picture Lil Wayne and Phil Collins gallivanting around together in an English field? Because I did.

British Word of the Day: Gammon - a type of ham - essentially a hamsteak - very common in sandwiches. This word of the day was a suggestion from my coworker, Tarique!

This weekend I plan to take some more photos of the town centre and my neighborhood :) See you all tomorrow. xoxoxo.

Shrove Tuesday

 Fat Tuesday, Máirt Inide, Fastnacht Day ....
 ....Yet in the UK Today is known as Shrove Tuesday. On Shrove Tuesday EVERYONE eats pancakes. Except not our style IHOP pancakes - they actually eat crepes and call them pancakes (technically that is a cake made in a pan I guess). So today at the CANTEEN (recognize this vocabulary?!) they had sweet and savory pancakes. The sweet pancakes offered toppings of maple syrup, sugar or lemon. Apparently here everyone loves sugar and lemon on their shroves. I know a pancake isn't a shrove but we're going to call it that anyway. THEN, the savory pancake - it was tuna and shrimp in a mayonnaise sauce wrapped in a pancake. That is one shrove I did not want to try.

Skeleton Key....not so unique
After lunch today I was telling the people in my work group about the huge skeleton key I have - and they were curious as to what it looked like - so I went through my bag and showed them. "Look at this ridiculousness!" I proclaimed. Then, they all went and retrieved their house keys. They all had skeleton keys. I then felt awkward. They were like, "You don't have these keys in the U.S.?" - to them this was a normal key. Good times.

The Canteen
This is the best place ever. They have an awesome salad bar which and it is £2 per container - it is NOT measured by weight. I think salad bars in the U.S. are the biggest rip off in retail - they offer you marinated mushrooms, huge tomatoes, potato salad (very heavy foods here as you see where I am going....) - and then charge you by weight. This is my most fabulous discovery so far.

British Word of the Day: Jacket Potato - this is just a baked potato. Apparently, the skin is a 'jacket' the potato is wearing. 

Ok I have a small cold so going to bed now. I hope some of you are enjoying Shrove Tuesday.

xoxo

Weird Britain

Well, there are a few things that are a bit odd here in the UK, and most of it I can make do with. The really small refrigerators, the sometimes non-existent freezers (luckily I have one, unfortunately Kat does not), keeping to the left ALL THE TIME (I keep running into people). However, there are three things that are just plain weird....

Exhibit A: The Plug

 
This, my friends, is the step down converter I had to purchase in order to be able to charge my camera battery, as well as my Sonicare. These were the only two products that did not convert the voltage automatically. However, can you CHECK OUT THE SIZE of the plug?! Really UK? Do you really need 240v?? I feel like I am going to electrocute myself every time I touch it.


Exhibit B: The Keys

What is with the skeleton key?! Everyone I know here (ok, so that's only about 4 people) has one of these things. And they USE it as well, a working key. I feel like Sherlock Holmes gave it to me. Elementary, my dear Watson.

Exhibit C: The Glamour Glazed Krispy Kreme Doughnut

Who in their right mind would eat this thing - not to mention pay $2.02 for it. Also, I was an extremely shady character when i took this photo as there was a security guard standing right in front of the doughnut case just staring at me.



Also, I would like to thank my dear friend Steve Bender, who is a fantastic blogger and has given me some wonderful suggestions, including British Word of the Day. Please check out his blog which is highly entertaining:  http://www.theweeklybender.com/

Today's Word: Canteen - this is used interchangeably with the American word "cafeteria".
 

Roasted Chicken....

.....flavored potato chips. That's right - it tasted as unpleasant as it sounds. My hands still smell like roasted chicken, Don't even get me started on Prawn Cocktail flavored chips. I took a jaunt over to Tesco Express - a wonderful little 24 hour mini-grocery to grab a 'glossy' (British for tabloid magazine) and some orange juice. Any store here that sells food just amazes me. The British interpretation of food in general amazes me. So much I want to write about it.

Krispy Kreme

Apparently, Krispy Kreme (yes they love Krispy Kreme here) is doing some type of public relations with Glamour magazine and helping Glamour to celebrate its anniversary by promoting a special type of Krispy Kreme doughnut with pinkish glittery frosting that resembles nailpolish. Tomorrow I am taking a camera because you have got to see this thing.

Dallas BBQ and Down Home Tennessee Cookin'

These are the names of TWO 'take-away' food places in my neighborhood. They are literally feet apart from each other. I don't understand this. Only when I travel do I realize the true size of the U.S. It is gigantic. We have so many different cultures, foods, styles, sports....it really is truly amazing if you think about. So for the mere fact that I am able to get down home Tennessee cookin' in Wimbledon, London, I salute you U.S. for your greatness! 

Eggs

Brits really love their eggs. Especially in sandwiches. Please read the following text as if Bubba from Forest Gump was speaking: Egg salad sandwich, egg and pickle sandwich, egg and salmon sandwich, egg and gammon sandwich, egg and rocket sandwich,  egg and bacon sandwich, egg and British beef sandwich, egg and butter sandwich, egg and prawn sandwich.......(these sandwiches exist at the Tesco Express...just a few aisles away from the nailpolish doughnut)

xoxo.

My Offshore Account

Yes....that is correct. I have an offshore account. Doesn't that sound shady? Offshore accounts are things that Kim Jong Il, Ahmadinejad and Putin have, surely not I. But yes, I do. It is held in Jersey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey). This is cool, however, if I need to travel to a branch of my bank, I must do so in Jersey, The Isle of Man, or in Gibraltar. So looks like we'll be calling customer service if we have issues!

In other news, I have my monthly pass for the Tube which costs a whopping $315. This is for all travel zones (Zones 1-6) in central and greater London. I guess the price is equivalent to having a monthly Boston commuter rail pass. In addition to this, I saw someone on the train who DID NOT MIND THE GAP. A poor man was basically pushed out of the train at rush hour by people moving into the train, he dove across the platform and rolled into the wall. Then he got up to apologize for making a scene. This is what happens when you don't listen to the Tube lady.

I didn't take any photos today, but wish I did. I went to meet my coworkers and boss at the downtown London office literally next door to St. Paul's Cathedral. Oh my god I could not believe the size of that Cathedral. Coolest thing I have see thus far in my Cathedral-viewing life. I'll be at that office probably once a week so I will for sure take some photos.

I really need to see Kensington Palace - I am going to have brunch with Kat tomorrow(she lives in South Kensington) so I think I will build that into my trip. 

That's all for now.

xoxox

Harrods - The 34th St. Macy's on crack

I couldn't even go to the levels where they actually sell perfume, clothes, bags, shoes, etc. I went right for....

The Harrods Food Halls

 
Literally everything you can imagine here. From a bakery that makes a princess cake costing $3,500 to a Krispy Kreme shop, Harrods has it all. This was the cheese counter, I couldn't decide what to get. I felt like my mind was going to explode. So I went for the cupcakes, naturally. Then there were the candies, and this freakin AWESOME Easter cake - shaped like a duck, with a chocolate head and white chocolate wings. WHY DON'T WE HAVE THESE AT HOME??

So after walking around here for a bit, when I headed to the Palace (before the Mews) - I stopped by the official shop. And picked up....

THE OFFICIAL WILLIAM & CATHERINE TEA TOWEL - COMMISSIONED BY THE QUEEN. So cool. Not sure what one does with a tea towel really, but I shall add this to my collection of Princess Diana mementos. Oh and here is a picture of "The Glass Coach" that royal brides take to the church on their wedding day, including Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (the Queen Mother) in 1923, the Queen in 1947, Princess Margaret and Princess Anne, and most famously Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 - YET, not Kate Middleton. She's being all 2011 and taking a car. I mean COME ON - take the freakin coach!

The $8 Coca-Cola

The $8 Coke
 Well, it seems as if I haven't learned my lesson from yesterday when I purchased the $5 Coke. Today, at Harrods, I just couldn't resist. I mean doesn't everyone come to London for a $25 pizza and an $8 Coke?

She was beautiful. Perfect amount of ice. However, I drank this very fast to get my moneys worth, which then lead to the title of the next section...

A Loo in the Mews
I hopped on the Tube to Buckingham Palace. I then realized I could've just walked, but oh well. I think the Queen was home - her flag was up.

It is as grand as you could imagine. So I took a few pictures, checked out the other tourists, 7 minutes later, when the Queen did not come out to invite me in for tea as I had expected (haha) - I headed to the place where it all happens - the heart and soul of British state events - pomp and circumstance at its best....The Royal Mews.

The Royal Mews gets relatively little attention in the States. However, THIS is where the horses live. THIS is where the carriages park and only come out every 13-27 years (and once a year for the opening of Parliament). THIS is where the fancy looking men who drive the coaches live and work.

Sure, the Royal Family is famous. Sure, we love seeing the horse drawn carriages for Trooping the Colour (http://www.trooping-the-colour.co.uk/) Sure, everyone loves the Kate & Wills hype (including myself). But who is there making all of these splendid events possible? THIS GUY. Sir Ed (instead of Mr. Ed). Sir Ed is groomed day and night, always practicing, always looking sharp to get these folks where they need to go. I salute you Sir Ed. Thanks for traipsing along at an incredibly slow pace so instruments such as this (see below) can bring future monarchs to their coronation.

Also, during my audio tour of the Mews (you know where you put the headphones on and the little thing tells you whats going on at each stop) - I had to stop at the Royal Mews Loo (I figured since I had such a great time at Loo of the Year, I might as well.) From the classical music to the tiles painted with roses, the Mews Loo was even better than Loo of the Year. I am thinking of nominating it for next year.

Rough Sleepers & Loo of the Year

Hello my friends -

Yesterday was a superbly busy day so I didn't have much of a chance to blog. The most important news - I found a home! I;ll be living in South Wimbledon, about a 10 minute walk from Wimbledon Town Centre where there is a huge shopping plaza and some other fun stuff. Only 2 minutes away from the Underground and tons of buses that go just where I need to go for work.  Now on to more exciting things...

If Target and Walmart Had a Baby
They would name it Primark. This, folks, is the equivalent of a Walmart and Target spawn (however there was no garden center or counter selling guns. respectively). There is actually a REAL equivalent of Walmart here, under the name Asda - but Primark works just as well. Here I was able to pick up a duvet, a duvet cover with matching shams, and THREE pillows for about $45.

Rough Sleepers
One of my favorite things here is that they give away the Evening Standard for free in, you guessed it, the evenings. This is a REAL paper folks, not a Metro with only 6 pages. Its very nice to have something of substance to read on the Tube. In this Evening Standard, I came across an article debating if soup kitchens were beneficial to rough sleepers. Now, I thought, hmmmmm, is it common for people who can't sleep to go to soup kitchens? Do they go late at night because of their insomnia?? Oh, no, I was wrong. Apparently "rough sleepers" is a term the British use for homeless people. Ha! It makes sense, but it definitely threw me off.

Loo of the Year 
So today I decided I wanted to see the London Transport Museum which is a short walk from my hotel down the Strand. They had an exhibit about the underground stations being used as shelters during WWII. To me, this equals something cool. So I went. It was cool, took a lot of pictures, and the ticket lets you in to the museum for free for the rest of the year. Not bad. On my way out, I realized I had to use the loo. Where should I go? No fear folks, look no further than the Loo of the Year:

There she is - the Loo of the Year. It was the cleanest bathroom I have ever visited. How do I know it was the Loo of the Year, you ask?

That is how. Apparently if you are in Westminster, you can text "loo" to a certain number and it will text you back all the locations of public bathrooms. This is ideal.

After the award-winning loo visit, I saw the Royal Opera House, and headed over the the Waterloo Bridge that crosses the Thames. Here I spotted a fantastic scenic photographic opportunity:

Then I headed back towards the Strand, took a walk around Somerset House - a gigantic old building that was used for something important - presently in the winter they turn it into a skating rink and in the summer they have a bunch of fountains in the plaza.

Then I had a lovely Thai meal on the Strand and headed home and here I am writing my blog.

Tomorrow is MOVING DAY - woohoo! but that's not til around 5pm so during the day I hope to sightsee some more depending on the weather. Until then, stay classy.

xoxo
J

Mind Your Own Gap

The Tube. 

I was scared. 

I was nervous. 

I was confused. 

However, I was successful! The maps are way scarier than the tube actually is. Directions are super easy to follow, trains are nice, they have those signs that tell you how long until the next train arrives - all in all I was impressed. I minded the gap just like they said. Thanks tube lady. 

Purchased a mobile from the Carphone Warehouse - I know what you're thinking - carphone? One of those gigantic Motorola things in the pleather bag with the curly cord? No, my friends. It is your one stop mobile shop - they have every phone ever made and can set you up with any network you want. Fantastic. And I saw on the Daily Mail once that Coleen Rooney went there so I figured it was good.

I had dinner with my friend Kat in Kensington at Riccardo's (http://www.riccardos-italian-restaurant.co.uk/). Note that you have to pay for bread, like how in Asian restaurants they sometimes charge you for a soda refill. Also, Kat ordered mint tea. What she received was a cup of mint leaves and a small kettle of boiling water. Apparently this was mint tea.I had the aubergine ravioli (that's British for eggplant).

I saw two apartments - one in Chelsea by the river, one in West Kensington. I liked the Chelsea one better but there were many other people viewing it so I won't know whether I was offered the room until tomorrow.

Last night I had some issues with the thermostat - forgot we're doing Celsius here and turned the thermostat as high as it went because I was freezing. Woke up at 4am cooked - stick a fork in me Jerry, I'm DONE!

Ok, time for bed. More tomorrow!

J

I MADE IT!

Well folks, I made it to London. Flight was great, besides a small child puking 3 inches away from me upon landing. Lucky for him, his British accent made him so cute the vomit smell didn't even bother me. And then he said, "Mummy, my nose seems to be a bit snotty now." So cute.

Heathrow airport gets 2 thumbs up. From the time we landed until the time I sat down in my black cab, only 20 minutes had passed. When I got to the baggage "reclaim", my luggage was already going around - I didn't have to wait for 35 minutes! (Hint hint - Logan International)

Had a lovely taxi ride in - despite the fact that my taxi ride was about $160 USD. But, thanks to Fidelity, we don't care about that! I saw the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Harry Nichols and a few museums. Oh I also saw St. James's Palace! Prince Charles' humble abode.

Arrived at my hotel, hit up the Tesco Express for some snacks (the only thing I DID enjoy in Ireland was the Tesco) - and then headed to "The Sherlock Holmes" (http://www.sherlockholmespub.com/)  across the street from my hotel. The quintessential pub. I ordered a lovely lager and sat down to enjoy it. I then realized I looked ridiculous reading a London A-Z book and drinking a pint by myself. It was invigorating nonetheless.

I also managed to call my mother from the hotel phone (Thanks Fidelity) - AND correctly plug my hairdryer in without blowing a fuse or killing myself. I am quite impressed. Now it is time to relax and watch some lovely TV. BBC1? BBC2? E4? Sky News? Sky Sports?! SO EXCITING - No baseball or hockey anywhere!!! :)

Tomorrow I purchase a mobile. Yay. And then some sightseeing before I head to visit a few flats to meet prospective flatmates. The weather is supposed to be SUNNY all week (Thanks Mere!)

Check back tomorrow.

J

I am Leaving for London in 4 days!

Hello Everyone!!

Welcome to my blog!!! This is very new to me so please try not to be too critical as I have no idea what I am doing! :)

I wanted to set this up before I departed to make sure everyone has the address, can see what I am writing, etc. This is the second blog I have set up because the first one - well, I can't remember for the life of my what program I used so its floating out there blank somewhere on the information highway!

I officially leave Sunday, February 27, 2011. I do not begin working until Monday, March 7, 2011. During my first few days I will be:

a) securing housing

b) Purchasing a UK MOBILE! 

c) navigating the transport system

d) adjusting to the time change!

 Very soon after I will continue to update the blog.

Happy reading!!!

Jackie xx