Tuesday 5/20 My flight wasn’t that bad, but as I write this on the return flight, I realized I got one of the lesser quality Virgin airlines planes that route. (this one is much nicer, has one of the those 60’s-esque swingers bars in the “upper class” cabin… le sigh). I have gotten quite good at beating jet lag. Aparently it’s mind over matter, mostly and we all know I have a fantastic mind. :P
I was 100% less disoriented landing this time around. Made my way to the Heathrow express, stopped in Paddington for a bite and headed to Holland park for my hotel. The walk was a bit more than I bargained for from Holland, but I found the hotel with not too much worrying. My room wasn’t ready so I had to change in tiniest locker room ever. And it was unisex. But finally I felt a bit more real and headed to my offices in Chiswick.
Our office park is fabulous. Feel like you are walking in a architectural model. I took a bunch of pictures but it’s hard to capture people in lounge chairs eating lunch by the duck pond and waterfall, or playing a giant lawn version of connect four. Had good meetings with my coworker in London and then with our DVD partner. It’s fun to impress people with stuff you are working on. :)
Then I was done and decided to wander. I walked thru Holland Park area and Portobella Road, which is quite empty around dinner time on Tuesdays. With a bit of difficultly, I found a bar with a single empty seat that wasn’t too empty and had a beer and a nice asparagus salad. I was getting disheartened with my lack of conversation, even with the room full of increasingly drunk older men and cute bartenders, when someone came up tot the bar and calmly told the bartender one of the tables was on fire. Sure enough, I look over and a newspaper caught the flame on a nearby candle and was full ablaze on one of the tables in the bar. The next minute was fun to watch as noone really did anything, so the gal who spotted the fire first took the paper outside and then finally the old men started talking with me about how crazy that was.
Then 2 men sat down next to me and ordered half pints of guiness. The bartender poured them for them in tiny half glasses which I had never seen before. My asking if that was a normal glass for a bar in London to have started my friendship with the 2 portugese wine distributors. They were in town for a conference and we all ended up have a couple more pints together, before deciding to have a sushi dinner together as well. Great conversation and a new goal to explore Portugese wine was had.
When I got back to the hotel, I decided to have one more glass of wine at the bar. It was there I met a bunch of guys in town for some sort of financial conference. Had great conversations again, even got a demo of a “chinese handstand” from one of the guys (hilarious to watch in any outfit, but especially the suit and tie this guy had on). I ended my first night in town thoroughly impressed with London, at least withit’s ability to have good conference people. :)
Wednesday, 5/21 I had a pretty normal workday Wednesday, albeit in London. Met with our IT person in London, got to know both my coworkers there quite well, showed off a bunch of stuff they hadn’t seen of our cartoon and video game and generally worked on bridging the divide of our offices. I am hell bent on remote teams, but they ned the right tools to make it work. Had a lovely patio lunch in Chiswick park. The fish cakes were yummy.
After work, I met Chris, my friend the states, out at a pub in the Oxford Circus area. We were supposed to meet up with Amy, a colleague we met online who was also in town for the conference, but it didn’t work out (we certainly spent plenty time together the rest of the week, tho :) ) Chris and I had a few pints and a nice fish and chips dinner. Not as raucous as my first night, but just as nice.
Thursday, 5/22 I got up as early as I could to go the conference. I had a bit of jet lag set in, but I plowed through it. I totally misread where the conference was, so even though I left with ample time, I got the conference just in time. I was supposed to meet with a partner before hand and was frustrated that I had possibly missed it. It was fine and I settled into the conference.
I tell you, going to a tech industry conference is WEIRD if noone is on computers. There was no wifi, but I don’t think most of the participants cared as I think I may have only seen 3 computers the whole day. It was an ok conf, didn’t learn too much new stuff, save for some BBC statistics and tons of fun gossip to take home about industry happenings. Missed lunch, but that was no matter as I finally connected with my meeting person and it went well. New favorite industry term - FrieNDA (say it, you’ll get it). We are such a secretive lot!
Had pints and dinner afterwards with Amy and Chris. Have I mentioned that I love my job and industry? Well I do. Good people, good ideas and good times.
Friday, 5/23 Had another day in the office, this time not as long as everyone had Bank holiday and long weekend in their mind. Only had bread and butter all day, so on the way home, when I got off at the wrong tube stop and got caught in the rain, I stopped in a Marks and Spencer for some hotel room treats. By the time I got back the hotel, I was beat and just wanted to take a nap before heading out for the night. The maid halted my plans, but I eventually got my nap, my afternoon of work I had planned lost to my sleep tho. When I got up, I only had time for a couple emails and a short chat with Izzy. I hate that she couldn’t come, would have had so much fun with her. But I managed. :)
Ended up just catching a play in the Angel area. It was a musical called Betwixt and it was actually good - I hate musicals. Then Amy and I ripped up the town. Really, we hit 3 bars, danced, talked with a bunch of people. I had a blast and stayed out all night. Poor amy missed her flight in the morning, but even with the headache she texted me with in the morning, I am hoping she had fun.
Saturday, 5/24 With my late night and steady sleep deprivation, I let myself sleep until noon the next day. I had big plans to go to Oxford for the day, but didn’t manage to get going. I don’t think Oxford is going anywhere, tho. When I did leave, it was a beautiful day. I walked along the Thames via Westminster to the Eye. Tons of crowds, but still a nice time. Thought of my mom and how much she would have been loving it. She raised me to understand that not only were were all supposed to have been born into British royalty, she was destined to marry a Brit. So she is top of mind whenever I am in London. (Btw, if you know any eligible 45+ Brit men interested in a hot American lady, let me know :P )
I ended up in Covent Garden at a little french bistro. I had snails and sea bass and fruity wine. It was great. then I had a recommended hot chocolate in Leichester Square and ended up by Hyde Park before heading back to the hotel. I watched a movie and turned in happy.
GREAT TRIP, once again. This time, I had a goal to have a work/life balance. Some people think this is by shutting off “work” when you are working on the “life” part - and for most, I am sure this is true. But I am a lucky person to have found a career I adore, filled with cool and smart people who are fun to talk shop AND not shop with. I worked and had fun. And they weren’t mutually exclusive. :D yay me.
1 year ago
