Easter Weekend/Mom's Visit - Sunday & Monday

Sunday - still rainy and gross.... We got up and went to Spitafield's market but not before filling up with a big English Breakfast: Sausage, Bacon, Beans, and Egg, Grilled Tomatoes and Mushrooms. So, Spitafield Market is one of the oldest markets in London and today it's a more of a clothing and jewlery/arts market for local designers.

After the market we thought we'd take our third stab at Westminster. What do you know...we just missed the service that was going on and couldn't get in!!! 0-3!

So, we hopped back on a bus and went across town back to St. Paul's to ensure we didn't miss their Easter Sunday service!

I don't know how we managed, but we were able to get 4th row seats and sit right under the dome for the service! St. Paul's choire is amazing!!!

After the service we stopped in at Somerset House (http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/) to see the Courtauld Institute of Art. They have such a wonderful collection of Van Gogh's, Degas', Cezanne's, Manet's, Monet's... I was really impressed!!

Around 6pm we made our final attempt to get in Westminster for their 6:30pm Easter Sunday Service and guess what? SUCCESS!!!! After waiting inline for 20 minutes in the freezing cold we were let in. It was all worth it because we ended up getting to sit in the pews where the choir usually sits!! This was a chance in a lifetime for my mom!

After the service we headed back up to Covent Garden for dinner at The Salisbury (http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=236). Covent Garden is one of the city's liveliest districts. It has sooo many cute restaurants and shops and it's close to all of the theaters.

Monday we had a bit of a slower start. We grabbed breakfast at a small little shop around the corner from my apartment and headed to Westminster for our 5th and FINAL time! This trip again was well worth it. Pretty much every King and Queen since well, forever, has been buried there!

After Westminster, we went up to Bloomsbury to go to the British Museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org/). You could probably spend a week in that museum and still not see everything! That's why we decided to do...I bet you already know: YUP AN AUDIO TOUR!!! After that we went home so we could both pack and relax a bit before getting up bright and early, mom to return to Chicago and me to go to Paris for work.

Well, that was my Easter weekend and like I said, I'm still recovering from it! I'll be in touch in a week or so - I'm leaving on Sunday to go to Paris for the week. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Cheerio!

Easter Weekend/Mom's Visit - Saturdat

Saturday morning it was still rainy and cold but we got up and going and took the bus to Borough Market - a popular fine food market that originated in medieval times! http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

A typical london bus ride in typical london weather

For breakfast I had probably the BEST grilled cheese sandwhich I've ever had! It was such a cool market! I will definitely be going back.

From the market we walked over to The Shakespeare's Globe Theater (http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/). The theater is built of wood and only half covered so because of the weather we didn't get to see a play but did get a nice tour. Here's a thought - in Shakespeare's time the front row was not desired. In fact that's where the lower class was crammed in - like thousands into a tiny little space. To make matters worse, there were no tickets so you paid to get in and if you left, like to go to the bathroom, you may have been charged even more when re-entering. So what did people do? They simply went to the bathroom standing up smooched all ontop of one another! Nice.

After the Globe Theater we walked next door to the Tate Modern (Britain's premier modern art museum: http://www.tate.org.uk/). Once we had enough of modern art (which thankfully we're on the same page and was about 45 minutes later) we walked across the Millenium bridge (which Londoners call the wibbly wobbly bridge) over to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Me standing on the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge

St. Paul's Cathedral is really something else! It's gorgeous !!! It was built by Sir Christopher Wren. He started it in 1675 and it was completed in only 35 years! This is where the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana took place - FANCY!

After an audio tour of St. Paul's we dedcided we'd give Westminster Cathedral another try however when we got there it was closed once again. So, we're now 0 for 2. So we walked over to Trafalgar Square - ok I dragged my mom over to Trafalgar Square so I could see it and then headed up to Notthinghill for dinner. We ate at Geales (http://www.geales.com/) just around the corner form the Nottinghill Gate tube stop.

Trafalgar Square/National Gallery

Easter Weekend/Mom's visit - Friday

Hi Everyone!!! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend! I'm still recovering from mine!! My mom came to visit and we pretty much covered the entire city!! However, there's sooo much to see here I still have plenty left on my "to do" list. My mom arrived on Tuesday and thanks to work she sawthe Florance Nightengale museum on Wednesday on her own! We started our adventures together on Thursday night by having dinner at a random curry restaurant along Brick Ln. Brick Ln (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Lane) is the center of London's Bengali district and is home to tons of curry houses.

Friday morning we got up and and made our way over to Buckingham Palace. I was hoping to catch the changing of the guards but all we got to see we some "guards" go by on horseback...

The Victoria Monument outside Buckingham Palace


After that we walked along the mall through St. James park and up to Piccadilly Circus to pick up our London Pass (it got us into a number of attractions at a discount price).

From there we hopped on the tube and went over to the Tower of London. The tower was built by William the Conqueror in 1066 and is best known as the sight where two of King Henry VIII's wives (Anne Boleyn 7 Catherine Howard) were beheaded. We posed for a picture with one of the Yeoman Guards (aka a Beefeater) took the audio tour and finished by taking a look at the crown jewels!!!

View of the Tower of London from across the Thames

View of Tower Bridge from inside Traitors' Gate

After the Tower, we jumped on a boat cruise, and just in the knick of time because about 5 minutes after boarding it started HAILING!! By the time we got to our destination though it had stopped - what luck! The weather in this city is seriously crazy!

Minutes after the hail storm...

Anyway, we got off the boat and made our first attempt to see Westminster Abbey. The Abbey was closed so we walked across Westminster Bridge over to the London Eye. We hit the eye just in time to see the city at dusk - it was pretty cool. London is probably one of the largest cities I've EVER seen!!

The palace of Westminster -home to both houses of Parliment & Big Ben!

Beneath the London Eye

From the London Eye we went up to Covent Garden for dinner at Porters (http://www.porters.uk.com/default.asp) for some traditional English meat pies! Delish!!

Greetings from across the pond!

Well, it's been about two weeks now since I left Chicago - what a whirlwind! I hardly had any down time to set up this blog. So, I'll give you all a recap of my first two weeks and then I promise the rest of my blogs will be mostly pictures. So, Mike and I arrived at the apartment we share Monday (March 3rd) morning. We tossed a coin to see who would get the master bed/bath - I lost...so it's tight quarters for now. Here's a couple of pictures of my place in London : http://www2.somerset.com/en/uk/london/st_marks.html

View from City Rd

Once we settled in we went out to explore and get our Oyster Cards - the equivalent to the "Chicago Card Plus" and pay as you go phone chips. Here's my temporary UK number in case anyone wants to call me: +44 07946223249. Our walk from the apartment to work is about 15 minutes. Here's an idea of the where I'm living/working in London (A is where I work and B is where I'm living):
View Larger Map

Tuesday we went into the office and got situated. I had conference calls with most of the french sales team however it was pretty difficult to hear/keep up with what they were saying. I definitely have a bit of a language barrier. I also made my first big language mistake! I was ending a call by saying "see you on Tuesday" which is "Je vais te voir Mardi" but pronounced "Mardi" as "Merdi" which means "shitty" instead of tuesday.... oh well. Here's some shots of the London Office:

That night I went out to eat at Wagamama with Wei (http://www.wagamama.com/index.php). Wednesday we ate at Shish (http://www.shish.com/). Thursday I went to Tabernacle (http://www.tabernaclebargrill.com/index.php) with a couple of people from work. Friday I went out with more people from work to a small pub, which was conveniently on my way home. Saturday I met up with my friend Margaret and walked around Mayfair. OMG SUCH GOOD SHOPPING!!!! I could spend a fortune here! Everyone is sooo trendy - I LOVE it!! Margaret and I ate at The Grand Bazaar (http://www.grand-bazaar.co.uk/) and afterwards met up with Wei and his friends in Soho.

Margaret, Wei, Michael and me

Sunday Margaret and I walked around Hyde Park. It was a little cloudy but it definitely felt like spring:

Daffodils in the park

The Serpentine

The Marble Arch

Carnaby Street

This past monday I took the eurostar to Paris. Only about 2 hours and I was in a completely different country! My home away from home away from home in Paris was www.hotel-helios-opera-paris.federal-hotel.com/page_en_1.html.


View Larger Map

Our office in Paris is 30 people big and everyone is really really nice! I went out for dinner with Martin (one of the sales guys) and his friends Monday night. Tuesday and Wednesday I went to an investment conference, where we had a booth set up, from 8am-7pm - both were SUPER long days. Thursday I got to go to a client meeting with Christophe (another sales guy) and then went out to dinner with Marie-Helene (she works in our data group). Friday I went to another 2 client meetings and then ran to catch my train back to London around 5. I'm really looking forward to going back and having more time to explore the city and figure out where I want to live.

My mom is coming to visit this Tuesday for about a week so I'm sure I'll have a ton of sightseeing pictures to post! I'll be in Paris again the first week of April and I think I'll be going to Brussells the following Monday and Tuesday for a couple of training sessions. So, I'll be in London for the next two weeks which will be nice. If you're interested I have a Skype account so we can talk for free!! I've tried it out with my parents a couple of times and it works really well.

Alright, well I think that's enough for now. Gros bisous a tout le monde!! Miss you all!

Cheers.