Day 65...already?
Hi everyone...it's been a busy couple of weeks. The big news, of course, is that I'm back in New York. I'm living in a great neighborhood in a gorgeous subletted one-bedroom apartment. I've gotten to spend some time with friends, do some kitty-sitting, watch some 4th of July fireworks, and learn to sail.
We had a really fun event last week: cocktails, dinner and dancing at the American Museum of Natural History. We had dinner in the Hall of Ocean Life, underneath an enormous blue whale which was suspended from the ceiling.
This past weekend, I left the city to attend my very oldest friend's wedding to another of my high school friends. It was lovely. (Congrats Chris and Kendra!!) I especially enjoyed seeing a bunch of my childhood friends, and having a weekend at home with my folks (and the puppies!). Yesterday, we lounged by the pool and then had some fantastic barbecue chicken.
Drop me a line if you're in (or coming to) NYC!
Day 49...Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today.
I'm going to be a part of it; New York, New York!
Just a short post to update everyone on my whereabouts. I'm leaving London in about an hour and will be in New York for the next six weeks. I'll be upstate the weekend of July 15 for a friend's wedding. Switch on back to calling my cell (as I switch on back from calling it a "mobile" with a long 'i'!).
The last ten days have been great. I'm really sad to be leaving today, but excited to see my friends and family state-side.
Day 39...
I haven't had internet in my flat for several days now, so I apologize for the tardiness of my update. I've also been super busy. This is my next to last week in London, and I'm finally starting to feel less like a tourist and more like I'm settled here. I suppose that's the way things go; I get settled in just in time to uproot to New York.
This weekend was a lot of fun! Saturday during the day, several of us went for afternoon tea at the
Orangery at Kensington Palace and then out to the opera at the
Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. The opera was great; it was actually
two short operas and an intermission. The first was Bartok's "Duke Bluebeard's Castle" and the second was Schoenberg's "Erwartung". Not exactly toe-tapping, and we certainly didn't leave humming the theme song, but they were both really interesting. The Schoenberg was like watching the embodiment of paranoia on stage. Afterward, we had dinner outside in a courtyard where a guy was playing guitar and singing the kinds of songs you sing along to (Billy Joel, James Taylor, the Beatles, etc.). It was a lot of fun.
Sunday I went with another summer associate to the
Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Not spectacular gardens, but really very pleasant. And, some of the things they have there are amazing. Like, for example, the
oldest glass building (older than the crystal palace) in England, which houses the palm collection. Also, a really neat
little glass house that held waterlillies of all shapes and sizes, including several lilly-pads that were maybe six feet in diameter! I'd never seen such a thing. A life-size
Kermit could certainly take up residence on one of these. We saw some
wallabies and climbed the 11-storey
pagoda and enjoyed the
rose gardens which are in bloom. I'd love to go back sometime when their lilac garden is in bloom.
This week, I went for an english breakfast (this morning at 7:30am!!! can you believe I was awake and out at an event at 7:30am???) and have caught a couple of the World Cup matches. I'm going to see the new Tom Stoppard play this weekend, which I'm very excited about.
Day 33..."The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory."
Hello again! It's been a while since I've updated you. That's a bad thing for you, since you're missing out on all my news; but it's a good thing for me, because it means I've been ever so busy! Let's see...what can I tell you? Last time I posted, I had just had a night on the town at Kensington Roof Gardens. (Seems like such a long, long time ago...) The weekend after that, I spent Saturday with a couple of associate friends wandering around Greenwich as it was a beautiful day (the first nice day since I'd been in London, but the beginning of what was a full week of sunshine). Later that night, I had dinner with a couple of fellow summers and some associates at a spanish tapas place and then went out dancing. I've started to enjoy a music genre called Drum & Bass, and we ended up at a place where that was playing. Two late nights in a row, though, meant that Sunday was mostly spent relaxing, with one excursion out for a walk in Hyde Park.
Highlights of the following week are as follows: several yummy lunches, including Cicada for asian tapas, Shanghai Blues also for asian tapas, Smiths on Smithfield where I had my first
pork belly (have since been back for my second pork belly!), and a lunch here at the office with 10 of the partners. Very informative...but I shan't bore you with work details. On Thursday evening, we went for a ride on the
London Eye, which is the world's largest ferris wheel and which distinguishes the London skyline. You can see EVERYTHING from up there! You don't sit, but rather ride in a large glass pod-like enclosure that holds lots of people, so it was kind of like a party in the sky. Our hostess (who poured the champagne) told us about kind of a funny thing that happens frequently on the Eye: couples will reserve a whole pod just for themselves (
Cupid's Capsule), and guys spring marriage proposals on their (sometimes unsuspecting) girlfriends. The girls, of course, are TRAPPED in a big glass enclosure, with some stranger standing within earshot pouring champagne. And sometimes, they say no! How awkward! After our trip on the Eye, we went for dinner at
Oxo Tower, and were the happy observers of some impromptu fireworks (which, of course, the firm suggested they had planned just for we special summers! ;o) ) . It was great fun.
The next weekend was the firm's annual European Outing, which takes place at a resort in the English countryside with all the attorneys from each of our European offices. Don't want to get into too many details here...but suffice to say it was a really fun time, and if you want to hear amusing stories, we can chat in a less public domain. Saturday morning, we went on a tour of
Windsor Castle (where the
queen lives) which was just beautiful. So much history there. Strangely, also, so much commercialism. There's a gift shop around every corner and a veritable shopping mall on the way into the grounds. Apart from that, it was three days of lounging in the sun, clay pigeon shooting,
ferret racing, tennis, and (for those who could provide proof of their handicap) golf. Further solidified my belief that I'm going to have to at least learn to lose convincingly at golf if I'm going to survive in the legal world. Sunday, upon my return, I went for another walk in Hyde Park, as I've come to enjoy doing. This time I saw the
Peter Pan statue and the
Italian Fountains. (Warning: That last link will make you dizzy!) Really neat.
This week has been action-packed already. On Monday afternoon, I had lunch at a place called the Bleeding Heart, which is named after a
horrific event that happened near its location many years ago, having to do with a brutal murder by a scorned lover of some princess or other. The story ends with her mangled and dismembered body lying in pieces all over the courtyard, and her *bleeding heart* still pumping blood onto the cobblestone. Creepy. Amazing food, just the same. I had venison with a spiced chocolate sauce. Mmmmmmmm. Later that night, I went out to see a play with a friend (
Enemies by Gorky...pre-Russian Revolution drama...very, very good) and then out to eat at a Turkish place. Very nice evening.
And, now for the title of today's blog. Today was the
England v. Trinidad & Tobago World Cup match. Now, I assume that if you're reading this you know me, and if you know me, you know that I don't like sports. At all. Not even a little. While at
Cornell, I embraced
Big Red Hockey, but
Lynah Rink is more about
rink culture than about hockey (or at least it was for me). For much the same reason, while in England, I've been persuaded by the rather compelling argument that, should I NOT take part in World Cup culture, I will be the only one in all of England missing out. So, along with everyone else in my office, I packed into our big conference room today to catch the match (taking work with me, like most of my colleagues). We won. I cheered at all the right times. That's really all I have to say about that.
Tomorrow I'm off to a Ladies'
High Tea at the Savoy, and this weekend I'm going to the opera. I'll update sooner rather than later this time...but please comment! I love hearing from you!
Day 20 (I think)...a follow up on the idea of too much good food
and further wondering whether there's such a thing as too much good wine! I'm pretty sure not. A couple nights ago, I had a lovely glass of Dom Perignon before dinner. Very ritzy.
Let's see...as promised, much as happened in the latter half of this week, and much is still to come! On Wednesday evening, I had dinner at a restaurant called The Pearl, which was french and fantastic (and the venue where I enjoyed the Dom from above). I ALSO enjoyed my very first frog legs. Not bad...not bad. A little like extra juicy chicken, but green.
On Thursday, we went on a 2 hour guided tour of the area around the office and up the Thames toward the London Bridge. It was really very informative and a lot of fun to see nooks and crannies of the city that I otherwise might never have found. My favorite place now is a church that was heavily damaged by bombing during World War II, leaving only (most of) the external walls standing. Instead of rebuilding the church, the city turned the interior into a gorgeous garden. It's so neat. I will definitely go back and take some pictures to share. Then, after the walk, we went to a medieval banquet. It was...um...amusing.
Tonight, we have an informal cocktail hour on the building's roof, followed by a 3-course barbecue at Kensington Roof Gardens, and then off to a private table at a club afterward. Busy busy busy. I'm looking forward to some relaxation time this weekend, which I'm planning to spend here in London doing some more exploration. I'll post again later this weekend.
Day 18...is there such a thing as too much good food?
It's ten p.m., I'm sitting at my office desk and I can't help but think about how I was feeling almost exactly twelve hours ago. At ten a.m., I had only just arrived at the office and was cursing myself for having overslept and, as a result, missed breakfast. I was hungry. Really, very hungry. Now, a mere half-day later, I can't imagine ever eating again. Wining and dining--NOT a misnomer. I won't bore you with the details.
Since my last post, very little has happened. The latter half of this week should be full of exciting things to share, though, so look out for a post this weekend. By the way, is anyone reading this out there? I've started to wonder if I'm not perhaps just talking to myself (and Simon, who kindly comments).
Day 15...some frivolous thoughts
After a quick update on what I've been up to, I thought I'd share some UK tidbits.
So, the Chelsea Flower Show was phenomenal. I really want a garden now. (And also a house and a backyard in which to put the garden.) Apart from that, I've been work, work, working. I'll spare you those details. I think this afternoon I may try to do some more exploring in
my neighborhood, in an effort to feel like I really have a "place" of my own in the city.
Now, some strange things I've noticed:
(1) There are potato chips here in basically every flavor you can think of. I myself just enjoyed(?) a bag of
Roast Chicken potato chips. Surprisingly, they actually did taste just like chicken. The other flavors (which you'll see listed on the previous link to the far left) sound even more bizarre...like Lamb & Mint or Heinz Tomato Ketchup. This reminds me of the
Jones Soda holiday pack of assorted sodas flavored like items from a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I understand that was TERRIBLE.
(2) In the ladies room at the cinema, there was a vending machine selling "
chewable toothbrushes". And, folks, this isn't gum. It's actually a little TOOTHBRUSH that you chew until your teeth feel clean. Check out the link. Weird stuff.
(3) There's a fantastic array of ethnic restaurants here, but many of the ones I've tried so far appear to have toned down both spice and flavor to a disappointing level. Perhaps to accomodate the English palate? Anybody know either (i) why this is, or (ii) how I can convince them to
kick it up a notch?
Day 12...it's finally sunny!
Up until today, there had been a grand total of 30 minutes of sunlight during my entire stay in London. Today, however, is beautiful. I had lunch at a restaurant called Just the Bridge, which is on the
Thames River, right next to the
Millenium Bridge (which I understand is called the Bouncy Bridge by the locals, because it was poorly engineered initially and had an uncomfortable reverberation when walked upon). The food was tasty, and the view was lovely. I had crispy duck and mango spring rolls and something else... Sorry Simon, still no fish -n- chips. I'm working on it. Along with downing a pint, etc.
A few nights ago (day 10, to be exact), several of us dined at Hakkasan, which is the only Chinese restaurant ever to receive a Michelin star. It was very trendy, dark, loud and smoky, but the food was excellent. I was put in charge of the wine list, and received no help from a completely un-knowledgable sommelier whose only interest seemed to be convincing me that I really needed to order a magnum (double bottle) instead of what I had chosen. It all worked out and everyone seemed to enjoy my picks.
I was given tickets to the
Chelsea Flower Show, which is apparently very exciting and "the beginning of the London social season." It's tomorrow evening, so I'll try to post shortly after with my commentary. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the long weekend that's coming up. I had thought of going to Paris, but it turns out to be prohibitively expensive on such late notice, so I'm going to put it off for a week. Perhaps I'll just have a very "London" weekend and find a good place for a
proper English breakfast and wander around
Hyde Park and
Buckingham Palace.
Day 8...in an internet cafe
there's no wireless in my apartment! so i'm sitting in an internet cafe until i can lay my hands on some ethernet cable and get back to life as usual. please excuse the lack of capital letters, as this keyboard seems only some of the time to want to recognize the shift key. London is great! there are so many
british people here! so far, i've spent the bulk of my time unpacking and settling in, along with sleeping at all the wrong hours, despite attempts to force myself into this time zone.
on my first day here, i couldn't get into my apartment for several hours after i arrived, which was pretty annoying since i hadn't slept a wink on the plane and was dead tired and not in the mood to have my first exploration. so, like any good american, i found the nearest
starbucks and sat with my book until i could move in. i finished all of
The DaVinci Code.
yesterday, i went out exploring a bit...got my tube pass, walked around in a bunch of cool neighborhoods the names of which i can't tell you because my map is in my apartment (or "flat"!!). as expected, the indian food here is fantastic.
what i'm especially excited about today is that i live just a few blocks from
Portobello Road (of
Bedknobs and Broomsticks song fame) which is home to a great market every weekend, including the famous antique market, along with a flea market and (what i'm most excited about) a farmers' market!
now i'm off to continue in what appears to be a never-ending quest for a raincoat. you'd think they'd sell them on every street corner here, but what i keep hearing is "it's not the right season." could have fooled me...
looks very much like rainy season from where i'm sitting. wish me luck and leave me comments!
Day 5...greetings from JFK
So much has happened already! I'll try not to bore with the highlights. I'm posting from the "international" terminal of JFK airport. It's only kind of international...American Airlines recently moved their London and Brussels departures from the *real* international terminal to their domestic terminal. Goodness knows why. No good food here...no duty free shop here... All around crummy. I'm trying to bask in the leftover glow from 5 days at the
Ritz Carlton at Battery Park.
I arrived in New York on Saturday evening after a terrible flight. My
little propeller plane nearly fell out of the sky. We vertically dropped several hundred feet, to the sounds of a confused pilot, a terror-stricken stewardess, and drinks hitting the ceiling. We eventually landed, and everything has been busy, but hectic, since. I met up with two of my best friends at my hotel, where we enjoyed
the best martinis the City has to offer, along with some really yummy food and wine. My friends helped me pick out my outfit for the first day of work, which felt unsurprisingly like the first day of school. I realized that I had managed to pack 10 (that's TEN) pair of black shoes, one pair of tennies, one pair of green flip-flops and nothing else. Today I finally found a decent deal on a pair of brown shoes, which should make dressing a bit easier.
Work has been simply three days of orientation. My associate class seems very nice and interesting. There are 8 Canadians in our company, and several folks from other countries. We were stuffed full of yummy foods for lunches and breakfasts, catered in by the firm, and had a couple of fun events in the evenings. Monday night we went to
A Taste of Wall Street, which was an event showcasing tastings from the menus of 50+ downtown restaurants, held on the top floor of the newly rebuilt
7 World Trade Center. Tuesday night the firm treated us to a welcome reception at a fun little pub near the office. Today I got myself a haircut and wrapped up the last of my pre-flight errands.
I think that does it for now. I'll try to post more often so posts will be both shorter and more action-packed. Next stop: my apartment in London!
Day Minus 8...
So, technically, the 92 days of my summer adventure have not yet begun. I'm still firmly in the throes of exams, with two down and two to go next week. However, a major step toward actually *getting* to my initial destination provided much amusement this week. In a terrible panic, I realized on Wednesday afternoon that I had not yet filed paperwork for my visa. This, of course, seemed problematic since I'm to leave next Sunday for LONDON. So, after much hustling and bustling about, I managed to get together all the necessary forms, certifications (including one from a professor that I 'play well with others') checks and atrocious passport photographs, and get them into a conveniently parked FedEx truck sitting on the side of the road. I do all of this in a terrible tizzy because, of course, 9 days couldn't possibly be enough time to turn around a government document. Not so. Exactly 46 hours later, a similar FedEx truck pulled up outside my apartment and deposited...wait for it...my completed visa.
Now, with visa, passport, and touristy-looking travel guide in hand, I am starting to get excited about my trip. My great love for ethnic food will have no end of satisfaction, and I'm very much looking forward to this spectacular
Michelangelo exhibit currently showing at the British Museum.
Keep an eye out for regular posts once the summer-proper begins. And leave me comments, for goodness' sake...I'm counting on you to make this a dialog and not just me, writing into the nothingness.
