'Cheers' defined

Thanks to Jon for finding a nice definition for proper use of the word 'Cheers'. I'm still struggling to use it naturally in sentences, but I will master it before I leave. It's making its way into more of my email sign-offs, though.

April 28: Salisbury and Stonehenge

Penny and Anna from my Paddywagon tour in March, and Anna’s friend Georgette met Houman and me at the Woking train station last Saturday morning for us all to take a day trip out to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Less than an hour after the train left Woking we arrived in Salisbury, where we found a pub for lunch, The King’s Head Inn, then met a tour bus at the train station to take us out to Stonehenge. Claiming student status, we all boarded for ₤13.50 each (₤3 cheaper) and enjoyed the commentary by our guide on our way out of Salisbury towards Stonehenge.

The view approaching the ancient monument is breathtaking (above). The stones rise in their impressive formation much taller than I expected, and really stand out from the grassy slopes around them. Our bus tour included entrance, so we breezed past the queue and into the monument area. Stonehenge is 5000 years old, built in the times of the pyramids in Egypt. The stones themselves come from up to 250 miles away and were hauled to this spot most likely with the aid of the River Avon from the Western part of England. The outer circle would have once served as a calendar: based on which slot the sun shone through, a visitor would know what month he/she was in at the moment. It is still unknown if the site served as a monument of sorts or as a temple.

Behind Stonehenge, there is a field enclosed by an 'electric fence'. I marvelled that these sheep just graze casually every day next to one of the oldest structures in the world that sees thousands of visitors daily, as though they couldn't be bothered. Oh, and the fence isn't electric.

After arriving back in Salisbury, we walked to the Salisbury Cathedral, where we found many people enjoying the sunny and warm weather on the lawn outside the cathedral. – Yes, I do love this English weather; it’s been sunny and pleasant the whole time I’ve been here. – The cathedral is much larger than I was expecting. Completed in 1258, the spire wasn’t added until 1320, and the structure was never really meant to support its weight, so there is still trouble with support, even after the flying buttresses were added. The 5 of us sat in the sun for a while resting before moving on the Salisbury markets.

We all marveled at how wonderfully inexpensive all the wares seemed. Though Woking is 33 miles outside central London, you wouldn’t know it from the prices of basic things like sandwiches and groceries. Houman and I bought several items, like bags of nuts, from these markets since they were such a bargain.

That evening, we cooked a big dinner at our flat for the 5 of us, plus John, who came out to Woking for his last night in London. It was our first dinner party, so we learned the hard way that we only have 4 large plates and exactly 6 forks. So we won’t be able to have more than 4 guests at time. We made do for the missing plates with small plate + bowl combo for our feast of spaghetti Bolognese with salad. Thankfully our big red leather wrap-around couch could accommodate us all, so we could watch the English competition for the next Grease Sandy and Danny pair.

Our conversation turned into a heated discussion about the Australian vs the American twist on the English language. It was nice for the match to finally be evened out as there were 3 of each nationality represented, as opposed to my Paddywagon experience that was pretty much just me against 13 or so Australians. We proved that Australians add ‘r’s to liaise words ending with a vowel to those starting with a vowel (i.e. ‘I’m going to visit Australiar and New Zealand’) - the English do this as well - and that they can’t for the life of them say ‘No’, but rather ‘Niaohw’. The Australians made their way on the train back to London from Woking around 11 PM to make sure they made it before the tube stopped running at midnight, and John, Houman and I continued on to party it up in Woking at the R.S.V.P nightclub. This club is a favorite among the local teenagers and plays pretty rubbish music. The DJ refused my request for The Killers ‘Mr Brightside’ because it wasn’t R&B, and it was allegedly ‘R&B Night’ that night, but when he started up with techno, I marched back to plead my case since he’d set precendent for non-R&B music, and was turned down again because apparently The Killers are considered ‘Indy’ music and no one would like it. Total rubbish. We found ourselves instead trying to dance to music that came out while we were in high school or earlier, but not the good songs. Oh well. There are many great things to be said for English life and culture, and I definitely love it here, but Americans really have it right when it comes to new and popular music. Or maybe it’s just Woking.

April 25: Germany – WORK TRAVEL

My manager, client and I arrived in Hamburg, Germany late Tuesday night, April 24; our British Airways flight had been delayed significantly – thanks BA – so we didn’t have much time Tuesday night to see the city. As I came through passport control, I got to experience some language barrier discrimination: the customs officer babbled some German to me, I looked blankly back and apologized that I didn’t speak German. He looked over arrogantly to his colleague in the other booth and rambled off some more German with a head jerk in my direction and a smirk, then continued speaking in German smugly to me as he stamped my passport and handed it back, smirking all the while. I hate that many of us assume everyone will speak English when we travel, but I certainly don’t have an arrogant attitude as though everyone should know English for my own benefit. But I didn’t expect insult because I don’t know German. Maybe the US passport contributed as well as Americans are generally not in good favor around the world right now. Carrie, I wish you had been with us to translate!

On the way to the hotel, our cabbie strongly suggested that we check out the Reeperbahn that night; in fact, he said that we ‘could not see Hamburg’ without going. So we checked into the hotel and took the U-Bahn to the Reeperbahn area.

I think the cabbie was playing a trick on us. We found ourselves deep in the Red Light district of Hamburg. After walking around blankly for 15-20 minutes searching for a ‘normal’ bar, we finally had to ask two German girls for suggestions. We found an Irish pub on a side street that was playing ‘American Woman’ as we walked in, definitely a good sign.

We each got the special drink: Hefeweizen with grapefruit, and enjoyed the live band that started up their last set soon after we got our drinks. The crowd changed from mildly enthusiastic to a bit rowdy when a group of 7 or 8 19-year-old boys entered the scene. They belted the lyrics to American songs and danced around in front of us. It was funny to hear them sing, since they didn't know much English, so “Always look on the bright side of life” came out more like “Aways ook on a right side o life”.

We didn’t stay for more than one drink as we had early morning wake up calls to make out meeting at the German National Office the next day.

Wake up call indeed! The most annoying phone ring in the world jolted me from a sound sleep at 7 AM … and 7:03 AM … and 7:05 AM … and 7:09 AM ... and while I was in the shower at 7:16 AM. So much for my snooze plan with my cell phone alarm. All three of us experienced the same thing and we alerted the front desk to the problem when we checked out.

Luckily, our primary contact in the Hamburg office, Gabi, was not content to let the Reeperbahn adventure from the night before be our only impression of Hamburg, so she took us in her own car out to lunch in the older downtown area next to the large lake in the centre.

I know I sound like a broken record, but WOW what fantastic weather we had! It was once again sunny with clear blue skies, balmy, and around 70 degrees outside (I was too warm in that turtleneck). We enjoyed lunch on the deck next to the lake and then Gabi drove us quickly around more of the historic downtown area where there are buildings that survived the WWII bombings that leveled much of the rest of Hamburg, and around the harbor where there is a great deal of construction underway to attract more residents to the area. That was about all the time we had to see Hamburg, but it was significantly more than we’d seen on our own and we were grateful.

Back to the airport in the afternoon to fly home to Woking - delayed again, boo BA. I’m making up my lack of work travel experience from being staffed locally for 2 years in just 3 months for this project! And next week we’re off to Dakar, Senegal in West Africa all week!

April 21: London with Bryce

I left work just after 4 PM Friday, April 20 to finish packing and drop off my laptop bag before meeting Bryce in London that evening for our last weekend together. We splurged a bit and stayed at the newest Club Quarters – London Trafalger Square. Where most CQ can offer the discounted rate because you sacrifice space, this new location was sparkling and spacious, but still offered much better rates than any other large name-brand chain, like Marriott. And we were practically on top of Trafalger Square right in the middle of Northumberland Ave.

That night, we grabbed dinner at a nearby pub so Bryce could experience British pub food; his bangers and mash was fantastic. We then made our way around the corner from Trafalger Square and down Jermyn Street to meet Adrian and Travis, my friends from high school, at a pub called The Red Lion. We had a great time catching up and chatting until the pub closed at 11 PM, a routine I’m getting used to, and we walked back to the hotel. It’s actually kind of nice being forced to ‘call it a night’ before midnight.

Saturday we got up, ate the large continental breakfast included in our room rate, and then walked it off down The Strand and Fleet Street to St. Paul’s. I, of course, showed Bryce the Accenture office on Old Bailey just around the corner first.

At St. Paul’s Bryce paid our incredible ₤9.50 entrance fee (EACH!) and, still reeling, I paid the extra ₤3 (EACH) for a 90 minute guided tour of the cathedral for us. Yes, that’s $50 for two people to tour St. Paul’s Cathedral. I will never say that Chicago is expensive again. Adding on the tour made it really worth it, though. Not only did we learn a great deal more than we would have on our own, we were also the only people there for the 11:30 AM tour so we got a private session with the guide until two more joined us halfway through. St. Paul’s Cathedral was designed by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of 1666 leveled the church that had stood in its place before. We were shown several areas that were off-limits to the public, such as the southwest staircase that circles around the inner tower where each step relies on that beneath it for support, creating an incredible counter-balance flight of stairs circling for more than two storeys.

After the tour of the cathedral and the crypt, we mustered our strength to climb the 400+ stairs to the top of the cathedral. We took a breather in the whispering room, where you can talk to each other across dozens of yards if you’re both up close to the rounded wall of the dome. Bryce and I tested it out with him on the opposite side of the dome from me. I looked over at him in shock when I clearly heard him speaking by pressing my ear close to the wall.

Hundreds of stairs later, we were finally at another stopping point, where we could walk all the way around the lower part of the dome and get a very good view of London. This was not enough, however, and we continued another 172 steps to the very top of the dome and got a fantastic panorama view of London.

Once again exhausted from going up and then down so many stairs, it was definitely time to find a lunch spot. We ate on a patio overlooking the river and St. Paul’s very close to the Tate Modern and then walked along the river walk to the London Eye where we met John Rolston, in town for work for the week, and took the tour. Each ticket was ₤14.50 with no discount or two-for-one offers for my train ticket or for John’s day Travel Card. To reiterate some of my earlier sentiments: London is absolutely unaffordable. And if the exchange rate continues to spiral downwards, the US is likely to become the next India …

Back to my story. We went up in the eye and got another incredible view of the city falling and then rising beneath us as we went around in our capsule on the great wheel. It was certainly a theme of Bryce’s and my Euro-trip to experience bird’s eye views of the cities we visited: top of Notre Dame, top of the Arc de Triomphe, top of the Musée d’Orsay, hilltop of Sacré Coeur, top of St. Paul’s, and the London Eye.

We then changed and ate a quick dinner before walking to the Adelphi Theatre where we had tickets to see ‘Evita’. Though we sat as far back as you can get (I booked us the cheapest seats available through seetickets.com), we still really enjoyed the show. The music was beautiful; all day Sunday I had ‘So what happens now?’ and ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ stuck in my head.

Bryce’s flight back to Amsterdam where he was catching his flight back home was at 7:30 AM out of Heathrow, so we had to say our good-byes at 5:30 AM when he left the hotel. 4 months apart, then 7 intense days spent together in 3 different cities in Europe, and now we’re back to a long-distance, cross-Atlantic relationship. Hopefully the remaining two months of my assignment here will be broken up by another visit by him, but if not, it will not be until my cousin’s wedding the weekend of June 22 when I fly back for good until we see each other again.

I spent the rest of my sad Sunday with Penny and Anna from the Paddywagon tour sitting out in Hyde Park along with hundreds of others who came out for the nice weather before heading back to Woking in the evening. It’s been a fast-paced week and a half.

April 16-18: Finland and Norway – WORK TRAVEL

Plan International flew my manager and me to Helsinki, Finland and Oslo, Norway to visit the National Offices there. Plan is an International Non-Government Organization that raises roughly 70% of its funds from individual sponsors in developed countries in the ‘North’. There are 17 offices in developed countries who recruit and maintain these sponsors and secure corporate grants and other ad hoc donations for specific projects in the field. This money is channeled through headquarters in Woking and then distributed appropriately to the regions and Country Offices where the program work with children is taking place. In order to appropriately evaluate the existing web strategy, or lack thereof, we needed to visit some of the ‘clients’ for the centralized services, i.e. some of the National Offices. Finland and Norway have both been on the central Content Management System (CMS) but are now committed to pulling out and paying for their own service. We wanted to know why and to capture ideas and requirements from them as inputs to the web strategy we will create.

In short, we had loads of meetings.

This didn’t leave too much time for sightseeing, but Monday and Tuesday evenings I saw a bit of Helsinki and ate at a fusion Finnish–Italian–Thai restaurant. Who knew THAT existed?? Our key client contact in the Finland office is 7 months pregnant, so she told us all about the Finnish health system. I was impressed. A pregnant woman gets 1 month off work before she delivers and then 9 months after that for leave. All fully paid. If she wants more, she can take up to two years I believe with decreased pay and a job secured for her. The father gets time off for the child as well, and the couple gets a hospital room with all meals provided overnight completely for free when the big day comes.

Helsinki was a nice town, but it didn’t grab me quite as I was hoping. I wasn’t able to give it proper tourist time, but from walking around the city area in the evenings, I found the majority of buildings to be of modern construction with bright neon signs advertising company names everywhere. The church near the dock was very impressive: it was astonishingly large and bright white with green domes. (I know the pic is bad, none of the buttons on the camera work anymore for some reason, so can't turn the flash off...)

Wednesday morning, April 18, I woke at 4:30 AM, wondering when I was going to get a good night’s sleep again, and we met in the lobby to take a pre-ordered taxi to the airport to fly to Oslo, Norway. Of course, with my bad travel luck, the taxi never showed and after standing in the drizzling rain for 15 minutes trying to hail one as the sun started to rise faintly in the gray overcast background, we called for one and were taken to the airport 35 minutes later than planned. Luckily, the Helsinki airport was very quick and efficient: we were able to check in at a kiosk and walk straight to the desk to drop our bags, then went quickly through security. They actually have a full security staff working at every security booth, what a concept! This kept the flow of traffic steady through the gates and we were in the gate area in no time.

We arrived in Oslo at 8 AM, having taken advantage of the 1 hour we gained (Finland is GMT + 2, Norway is GMT + 1) and realized after waiting in the baggage claim until everyone else from our flight had left, that our bags had been checked through to London Heathrow since we were flying back that evening. Apparently we were just laying over 12 hours in Oslo. Free of our baggage, we took the express train into Oslo and a taxi to the office. Norway, as I learned, is not part of the European Union. They do not use the Euro, and their currency is 6 Krones to $1. This meant my little box of apple juice at the airport cost about $2.80. Yikes. I realize now how I’ve taken the convenience of the Euro for granted. Since we were only in Norway for the day, none of us really wanted to pay the ATM fee to withdraw yet another currency, so we paid for everything with credit card (yes, I paid $2.80 for my juice with a credit card).

Our meetings didn’t start for a few hours, so we walked quickly to the town center towards the parliament and the palace. It was a beautiful area with charming buildings and tree-lined sidewalks. The main street was lined with large flags on either side leading down to the palace. Oh and ‘palace’ was lost in translation: we were told to look for a ‘castle’ and were surprised to find this (building at end of street) representing what we were picturing as stone ruins with a moat. There is still a royal family in Norway, and apparently the crown princess (the wife of the prince) used to be a bit of a party girl and her reputation has followed her to her current position in the tabloids, even though her behavior has changed since then.

At lunch in the free canteen at the office, I tried some Norwegian goat cheese, which has the consistency of provolone and came sliced, but is a strange brown color and tastes totally different. It was sweeter and very tasty.

We had another beautiful sunny day, though considerably colder than Finland had been. Our two days in Finland had also been nice sunny days, with only a little bit of rain for us on our last morning. I am amazed at the luck I’ve been having with the weather in the places I’ve visited.

After an afternoon of meetings, we had a quick deli dinner (which was still $11 for a baguette sandwich and a juice with no table service – ouch) near the harbor and then set off for the airport. At the deli, I noticed to my delight that Doritos sells Cool Ranch flavor in Norway, but calls them ‘Cool American’. I wish I could have fit a bag into my carry-on to bring back with me.

We arrived that night at London Heathrow airport around 10 PM, having been to 3 different countries with 3 difference currencies in one day. I had been to 5 countries in the past week. I was definitely ready to get back to the flat in Woking, particularly since I knew Bryce was waiting for me there, having arrived from visiting his cousin in Madrid that afternoon. :)

April 15-16: 10 Hours of Airport H'll

I made it to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with plenty of time to check my bag, make my way through security, get a light dinner, and find my gate. But of course, these are precisely the times when flights are delayed – when you are on time. My flight was delayed an hour, none of which was made up in the air, and so it landed in London Luton airport (not at all near Woking) around 11:15 PM instead of 10:15 PM. By this point, there were very few options for getting into London, so I took the bus leaving as soon as possible that allegedly took 1 hour to get to Victoria station. We should have left at 11:40, we actually left closer to 11:47 and then didn’t arrive at Victoria station until 12:53 AM. The last train to Woking leaves Waterloo Station (NOT Victoria) at 1:05 AM. I raced into the streets looking for a black cab, flagged one down, and we took off across London trying to get me to my train.

I raced through Waterloo in my flipflops dragging my suitcase behind me, and ran up to the Woking train, completely out of breath and frantic. Though it was still stationary on the tracks, the operator refused to open the doors as I pounded on them and a minute later pulled the train out of the station to my dismay. Utterly unsympathetic and unhelpful, even though I explained my flight had been delayed and it wasn’t my fault that I was late, the station attendants virtually threw me out on to the London streets in the middle of the night telling me that my only chance now was a taxi back to Woking. Luckily my cabbie from Victoria, Jay, was exceptionally kind and had given me his card with his number on it in case I encountered any trouble. He was my only hope since Woking taxi service wasn’t answering, so I called him and he kindly returned 25 minutes later to pick me up at Waterloo. He then took me to a private car hire company he knew of and trusted and arranged for a driver to take me home to Woking for ₤50, much less than a black cab would have cost (Woking is 33 miles outside London, and you have to pay drivers for the return trip, so 66 miles total). My cab rides with Jay had come to ₤20, so EasyJet’s “discount” flight had ended up putting me back an additional ₤70, or $140. My flight cost about $180. I am utterly disgusted. I could have taken the Eurostar for $300 and arrived on time at Waterloo for an easy transfer to Woking. Never again will I fly into Luton or Stansted airports, and I will hesitate quite a while before booking EasyJet again. Our delay was purely an EasyJet mistake and had nothing to do with weather or airport problems.

I got home at 2:30 AM, quickly transferred my Paris clothes for work clothes in my suitcase, and set my alarm for 5 AM to get ready for work the next morning in Helsinki, Finland.

My manager and I arranged for a taxi to take us to Heathrow Airport at 6 AM so that we would arrive just around 1 hour before our flight. Little did I know that there was an email waiting for me from the client warning that Finnair recommends check-in 2 hours in advance. Though we tried to get pulled from the slowly creeping check-in line by a BA representative (BA managed the flight operated by Finnair), we arrived at the desk about 1 minute after check-in closed, missing the flight. I thought I might get an ulcer after all the airport madness I'd been through in the last 10 hours, but I was too exhausted. Then some good luck came our way: since we'd missed the flight, I was afraid we were going to have to purchase a ₤500 or more replacement ticket on the next flight out, but luckily due to Plan's not-for-profit status, we had a special rate that was transferable so we flew stand-by on the next flight, which didn't leave for 3 hours. We made ourselves comfortable in the departures lounge; I slept while Houman shopped Duty Free, and we finally made it to Finland for a quick introductory meeting with the Web Team at the Finland National Office around 4:45 PM (Finland time).

April 11-15: Amsterdam and Paris with Bryce

Wednesday night, April 11, I flew into Amsterdam, took a train from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal Station (yes, there are two As in the station name) and met Bryce, who has returned to the Western world after 6.5 months spent in Africa. Bryce had been active during the day in Amsterdam: he rented a bike (I don’t have the courage – Amsterdam is teeming chaotically with bikes, trams, cars, and pedestrians), and visited the Van Gogh museum, which I saw when backpacking with the girls in 2004. It was rather late at night by the time I arrived since I lost an hour in the time difference, so we stayed in our first night. On Thursday, we started out with the Anne Frank House using the tickets I purchased online weeks before, thereby passing up the significant queue and walking right into the exhibit.

It was a moving experience. I of course read the book The Diary of Anne Frank many years ago in school, but never learned a lot of the background information. The building the family hid in was a canal-side warehouse for manufacturing a gelling product used to make jam. The average visitor would never guess that there were additional rooms in higher floors of the building, and it certainly didn’t seem like a home, as it was really used for manufacturing. We walked past the swinging bookcase and entered the ‘home’ that the 8 hideaways inhabited for their two years in hiding. Without the furniture, it seemed more spacious than it actually must have been. And you have to remember that dark curtains were hung over windows, they didn’t set foot outside once for two years, and no noise could be made during working hours when the factory workers were in the warehouse. This included the sound made from plumbing to run water from the sink or flush the toilet. The family was given away to the Nazis by an anonymous tip, still unknown to this day. The mother died at the camp and the two daughters, Anne and Margot, perished from typhoid at Bergen-Belsen where they had been taken away from their mother. It's believed that Anne and Margot died a few mere weeks from the liberation. Only Anne’s father, Otto Frank, survived; he had been held at Auschwitz until the liberation in 1945, and then recovered his daughter’s diary once he'd lost hope she'd survived, to finally publish it in 1947. It was a sad and moving experience to tour the house.

After lunch in the large Nieuwmarkt square a bit south of the train station, we ventured to the dock area and got onto a canal tour. Amsterdam, as with many cities based around rivers and canals, is best seen by boat. We had another beautiful, breezy and sunny day and the view of the canal houses was fantastic. The audio tour was in 4 different languages, so the information included was limited in light of the amount of time it took to deliver each message 4 times.

We then made our way to the Oude Kerk (Old Church), located in the heart of the red light district, and so in stark contrast with its surroundings. As we approached the church, I realized I was the only ‘non-working’ woman in the streets and the wares being advertised were not the kind to take home with you. Never has a church felt so much like a ‘haven’ when we went inside. The church has a very peaceful interior, and though not on the scale in terms of size or beauty of Notre Dame or St. Paul’s, it contains one of the largest and most elegant organs in the world and has a few other interesting carvings and features.

Bryce and I enjoyed the fading sunlight on a canal-side patio over a Heineken – what else? – before heading back to the B&B to rest before dinner.

Friday began far too early for us both – I had booked us on the first train leaving Amsterdam bound for Paris leaving just before 7 am. It was worth it to arrive at 11 am and have much of the day stretching before us, though. We packed a lot into the afternoon and evening.

We started at Notre Dame after checking into our very ‘basic’ hotel in the 2nd arrondissement. After walking around the vast and stunning interior, we climbed to the top of the cathedral, which offers one of the best (in my opinion) views of Paris. At the top, we could see beyond the stone gargoyles to Sacre Coeur high on the hill to our right, the Seine running alongside us as it splits around Île de la Cité and Île de St. Louis, and the Eiffel Tower shooting up to the sky straight ahead and to the left. We even went into the south tower and saw Quasi Modo’s bell, then climbed all the way to the top of the right tower for an incredible panoramic view of Paris.

The hundreds of stairs in tight, winding stone passageways both up to the top and down again left me pretty weak, so Bryce and I ponied up for an expensive touristy brasserie right next to the cathedral for a glass of wine and a crepe. Refreshed, we walked west along the river to the Louvre, where it’s free after 6 PM if you’re under 25 and discounted otherwise.

It was nice to see the Louvre on a Friday night; it was a different crowd. The discount certainly appealed to many 18-26 year olds, as well as others who enjoy a similar discount, such as teachers. We caught all the classics: The Winged Victory of Samothrace, the Venice d’Île, and of course, the Mona Lisa. We also walked around many galleries with Greek statues and saw the original foundation of the Louvre when it served as a fortress rather than a palace. Even after all the times I’ve visited the museum, the sheer size of the building still amazes me. What must it have been like to call a place like that ‘home’ and to have guests and receptions in the vast halls? Even with its wealth of art attracting visitors from all over the world, many entering on more than one occasion, it is too large to ever view the entire collection.

Tired from our 2.5 hours in the Louvre, Bryce and I enjoyed the warm evening air outside in the courtyard and admired the lit buildings before mustering up the energy to walk up the grand boulevard towards the Opéra, also quite a sight in blazing yellow light, to find a restaurant serving authentic French food in the area. Our choice included a very reasonable prix fixe meal with great French dishes to choose from.

We collapsed after a day that started at 5:45 AM, included a 4-hour train ride with all the sightseeing above, and ended around midnight. We did well on our first day in Paris.

The second day proved no less efficient. We started out by taking a walk from our B&B all the way past the Louvre and down the Champs Elysées. We also detoured slightly to see the Grand Palais, a beautiful building constructed for the exhibition in 1900, which has been under renovation for years. In my prior trips to Paris, the entire façade has been covered in scaffolding, so it was a new sight for me. We even were allowed a quick peek into the interior, a large open space for exhibition, lit naturally by the glass ceiling, and trimmed throughout with green, arabesque-style steel supports. We continued our walk up the Champs Elysées and I introduced Bryce to the sumptuous pastries of Ladurée. At the top of the street, we purchased tickets to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and enjoyed another beautiful bird’s eye view of Paris, with the Louvre stretching far before us and the Eiffel Tower rising much closer on our right.

At this point, it was time for lunch – I told you we were efficient!

Stomachs satisfied, we walked to the edge of the Seine and crossed over the Pont d’Alma to the other side to walk around the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. Again, the weather was truly cooperating – it wasn’t searing hot, but also not too cool. My only complaint would be that it was slightly hazy all weekend so distant monuments were harder to make out than usual. We relaxed on the grass under the immense tower completed in 1889 until it was time to change for dinner. We had booked a dinner cruise on the Seine and had to be there for boarding by 7:45 PM.

If you have never done one of these dinner cruises on the Seine, I highly recommend them. Bryce generously got us a table next to a window and we once again saw the best of a European city from the river, this time over live music, a 3-course dinner, and wine. It was beyond memorable. Notre Dame in particular is truly breathtaking at night all lit up, and best seen from the river. I will never forget this wonderful and perfect evening.

Sunday, our last day in Paris, we sought to round out the major sights of the city with the Musée D’Orsay in the morning and Sacré Coeur in the afternoon. The D’Orsay is my favorite museum in the world. It really has the best collection of Impressionist art I’ve ever seen, though the Art Institute in Chicago does a really great job as well. After going through the Impressionist gallery on the top floor, we enjoyed yet another great view of Paris from the terrace outside.

Sacré Coeur is in Montmartre, which was a bit too far from the D’Orsay to walk, so we hopped on the Metra and sped to the base of the great hill upon which the cathedral sits. There, we finally found some good ‘street crepes’ and we each got one handed to us over the counter and wrapped in a paper sleeve.

We picked the perfect time to visit the cathedral of Sacré Coeur – Sunday in the early evening. We sat along the side and listened to the choir singing for the 4 PM mass; it was incredible. We also witnessed the effect of the colorful and abundant stained glass windows as the light faded through them and onto the white stone walls of the interior. It was a visit to Sacré Coeur like I’ve never experienced before.

It was getting close to time for me to make my way to the airport, so Bryce and I parted ways – a difficult task even though it was only going to be 3 days before we met up again. I was flying EasyJet back to London and Bryce was taking a train to a train in order to get all the way south to Madrid to visit his cousin there.

April 11: Bryce!

Today's the big day, I'm finally going to see my boyfriend, Bryce, again! It's only been 4 months and 2 days since I last saw him in the international terminal at Johannesburg airport, but who's counting? We're meeting in Amsterdam tonight, spending the day tomorrow (Thursday) in Amsterdam, then taking a very early morning train from Amsterdam to Paris on Friday. We part ways Sunday night as Bryce heads to Madrid to visit his cousin studying abroad there and I go 'home' to Woking.

SO EXCITED!

April 9: Fire Alarms

After my exhausting weekend in London, I was very keen to get to bed a bit early and get a good night’s sleep in order to get up Monday, go for a run, run some errands, and get ready for the busy week ahead of me.

But a nice night’s sleep was not in the cards for me. Maybe it’s karma for having gone to The Church instead of a church on Easter Sunday.

When my manager and his friend visiting for the weekend arrived back from the Woking club RSVP just after 2 AM, a guy loitering outside followed them in through the front door, promptly broke the glass to the fire alarm, setting it off, and ran away. I came out bleary-eyed in search of any telephone number I could find to the building management company, but to no avail. Houman called the police, but apparently there was nothing they could do, either. Since the alarm was going off in the whole building, I felt that surely some other resident would make a call to the management company to get someone to shut it off.

At 4 AM, the alarm was still going off.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and looked up the UK emergency number -- thank you Lonely Planet -- like 911 in the US. I was quickly transferred to a local fire station manager who promptly sent a fire brigade out after I clarified the location. They couldn't get it to stop initially, but finally as they were leaving the building, the alarm turned off. I was finally able to fall asleep once the ringing in my head subsided somewhat...

April 6-8: Easter Weekend in London

Thursday, April 5 was the big day: Mary Poppins. My manager and I had meetings at our client’s office in Campden in central London that day, so we just stayed downtown. After dropping our bags at Carrie’s hotel and picking her up, we cabbed it over to Prince Edward Theatre, though I think the tube to Tottenham Court stop and walking might have been faster, thanks to all the traffic… We got our tickets and made our way up to our nosebleed seats just in time, and without any dinner. Ever wonder what the view looks like for the spotlight guys? Yeah, we found out first-hand. But that’s what you get when you order the cheapest tickets available online, and they still put us back ₤29 each. The show was charming and has inspired me to rent the movie at my next possible opportunity. The set design and special effects were particularly impressive: sure enough, on-stage Mary pulled a coat rack, large potted plant, and even a twin bed out of her carpet bag. During the final number, Mary Poppins rose out into the audience lifted by her umbrella and all the way up out of sight.

After the show, we were pretty hungry, so after tracking down an ATM for Carrie we made our way into Wetherspoon’s on Chancery Lane. Turns out, this is a pretty large chain of pubs; Carrie and I had just had dinner there in Woking the night before! We quickly ordered food and beers before they closed the kitchen at 11 PM. The pub/lounge/restaurant was huge! There’s a huge open room with a screen showing the music video of the pop song playing at full volume, a room in front, a room even farther back, and an upstairs area. But like so many pubs in London, despite the relaxed law around closing at 11, Wetherspoon’s shut down around 11:30 PM and we headed back to the Marriott Marble Arch.

Friday was a bright and sunny and warm day, just like Thursday had been. It didn’t feel like London at all. Carrie’s friend, Helen from Newcastle, arrived at the hotel in the late morning as Carrie and I were still getting ready. After lunch at an Italian café down the street we made our way to the Embankment dock to catch a Catamaran Cruise. Helen’s day travel card got her a 30% discount and my train ticket into the city from Woking from the day before got Carrie and me a two-for-one deal, so all of us managed to avoid paying full price. Though we were on a ‘hop-on, hop-off’ tour, we didn’t do much hopping until the boat pulled up to the Greenwich pier. We alighted there and grabbed a half-pint at a local pub before heading out to explore. We walked through an open-air market and then went into the park near the dock and up to the front of the Maritime Museum before making our way back to the dock for the next boat back.

We were getting a bit cold and hungry as the sun went down, so I got in touch with some high school friends who wanted to meet up. Adrian Baker and Travis Aylward are both studying this year at the London School of Economics to get their masters degrees. Adrian had only just a few days before found my contact information on Facebook and realized that I was also in London. It was a pleasant surprise to see them and catch up again. We met them out at Nottinghill Gate in Bayswater, and after a few unsuccessful attempts at finding a pub that was both still serving food and had available tables, we settled for the TexMex place near the tube stop. After eating and catching up over a few pitchers of red sangria, we headed out to a few pubs in the area. But the 11 PM closing time plagued us still as we were just barely able to get a pint at the first place before they stopped serving and then were unsuccessful at the several pubs we tried after that. Adrian and Travis were generous enough to offer us a drink back at their flat, so we got the grand tour. Let’s just say that their living conditions were in stark contrast to the giant flat-screen TV and high-end Grey Goose they were serving… Aaaah, the life of a student. We didn’t get too far into “Swingers” before it was time for us three girls to call it a night and make our way back to Marble Arch.

On Saturday, the weather once again cooperated and provided a sunny, warm day for us to spend outside. We walked the entire distance alongside Hyde Park until we were back aroundPortobello Road for the famous weekend market. Here, Helen had to bid us farewell in order to retrieve her bag and meet a friend on Oxford Street before catching her train back to Newcastle so she could spend Easter back at home. Carrie and I put blinders on as best we could in order to make our way all the way to the end of the market in order to meet another of Carrie’s friends, Marie, who lives in the area. We got a tour of her lovely English home currently under renovation, but which is going to be fantastic when the work is completed. Marie proceeded to then guide us through the market and showed us the ‘best’ area to get good quality wares. Carrie and I found some great pearl earrings before going in search of the crepe stand we’d seen to have some late lunch. My ham and cheese crepe cost ₤5 (yes, that’s US $10) and I ate it off a paper plate in the street, but it was delicious. Though granted, Portobello Road Market is a tourist trap with inflated prices, London is truly unaffordable. Fares and prices continue rise, sometimes monthly. And we won’t even mention the US exchange rate right now, or I’ll start to cry. If you’re curious, check it out: XE.com. Regardless, I wasn’t going to let it stop me from getting a cute casual dress, so Marie and Carrie helped me pick one out and Marie brilliantly bartered the guy from ₤20 down to ₤18 and we left the market victorious. Nottinghill Gate, but this time we made a right and headed up towards

Carrie and I needed a rest back at the hotel, and we wanted to raid the Executive Lounge for snacks and waters, so we parted ways with Marie and headed back.

Once we were refreshed once more, and all dressed up for a Saturday night out at the pubs, we met Adrian and Travis out at the Indian restaurant in Holland Park where they had just been served dinner themselves. Adrian used to live very nearby when he worked in London at an insurance company as an internship the summer before his senior year of college. When they had finished eating and Carrie and I finished the beer we’d shared, we made our way to another local pub that mercifully had a non-smoking section. London is going smoke-free in July, right after I leave. Please make note that this is a full year before Chicago gets its act together and follows suit. Ridiculous.

Closing time once again came quickly and so we left to try one last place: the boys’ favorite watering hole near their flat where they’re known by first name by the manager. We were thus able to be served past closing and enjoy several rounds of English Trivial Pursuit on one of those pub TV game systems that steals all your change. So addictive.

We called it a night as this pub closed its doors as Carrie and I had an early morning ahead of us.

For Easter Sunday, we arranged to meet up with some of my Paddywagon friends to go to The Church. For those of you from London, you’ll know right away that this is not a church at all, but a converted theatre where people go to continue their weekend partying on Sunday morning. It was great to see Penny, her friend Larissa, and Megan again, and we got to meet the legendary Irish guy from Galway that Megan hooked up with during the tour. The venue played good fun music and we generally had a good time, but I think I’ll tick that box and not feel the need to go to The Church again. It got a bit ‘rowdy’, to put it nicely, and watching female and male strippers is not my idea of fun on any day, let alone a Sunday. I was happy to leave with Carrie at 3:30 PM (it closes at 4 PM anyway) to help her try and make her flight back to Barcelona that evening.

It was a good Easter weekend, I was so happy to do the boat to Greenwich and see the Portobello Road Market, as those were both items on my London 'to do list', and I cannot stress enough how beautiful the weather was the whole time. We were really lucky to have so many days in a row of sunshine. Hopefully the streak will continue, at least until Wednesday when I head out to meet Bryce in Amsterdam.

All photographs are made possible thanks to the Michelle Elson Foundation for Laura's Photography

I have been meaning to thank Shelley Elson for her generous contribution of her old camera to sponsor my weak photography skills while abroad. If it weren't for her old Canon complete with case, memory card, and uploading technology, none of the photographs on this blog (other than those taken by friends like Paddywagon peeps, Carrie, and Jon) would be possible.

Thanks Shelley!!!

Jon is my Winnie-the-Pooh hero

I would like to take this moment to give a shout out to Jon, who went during his lunch to explore the Wren Library and even sneak this photo of the original manuscript of Winnie the Pooh for me. (for reference, please see blog post: Cambridge). It's a little hard to see because poor Jon was dodging the 'burly' library guard paid to keep people from taking photos of the manuscript. Please note the clear sign in this picture with a slash mark through a camera. :)

He also found some other remarkable old manuscripts on display. Of the several images he sent me, I find this one to be one of my favorites: original Shakespearean writing. Note that all other manuscripts allow photography... I hate when museums try shamelessly to sell postcards; I'll buy them anyway! Musee D'Orsay, room housing the Mona Lisa, you heard me!

Thanks again Jon, you're the best!

April 3: Cheerio, my lovie

Yes, a woman at Sainsbury's last night actually said that to me. I love it.

The hardest adjustments to life in the UK:

1. Looking the wrong way before crossing the street
2. Figuring out how to work appliances, like stoves, washing machines, dishwashers
3. Figuring out how to turn on showers
4. Being away from family and friends, especially in times of celebration

The best parts of living in the UK:

1. Going to see Mary Poppins tomorrow in London
2. Having tea all the time and that not being ‘weird’
3. Healthier food and lifestyle
4. Gateway to the rest of Europe

By the way, if anyone can send me information on the proper use of the word 'cheers' here, I would be much obliged. Thusfar, my manager and I have identified it as a replacement for 'Thanks', 'Good-bye', 'You're welcome', and 'Excuse me'.

March 31 - April 1: Cambridge

This past weekend, I took the train out to meet Jon, my friend from Core Consultant School training, in Cambridge.

Cambridge is located about a 1 hour train ride north of London. The train departs from King’s Cross station, and all you Harry Potter fans will be thrilled to know that there is a Platform 9 ¾ complete with a cart that has mostly disappeared into the solid brick wall. I got a perfect view of it as my train to Cambridge departed from Platform 9.

Cambridge University was founded when there were riots at Oxford between the scholars and the townspeople and the students fled to found their own university in the early 13^th century. The university consists of several separate colleges, notable of which are King’s College and Trinity College. We didn’t enter King’s College as there was a steep ₤4 admission fee, but we walked into the green expanse of Trinity College, just off a busy cobblestone street. I was awed by the start difference between the bustle and noise of the narrow street we’d entered from, and the quiet and calm of the central quad of Trinity College. It’s hard to believe students actually go to school there, it’s so serene and beautiful. Trinity College also houses the Wren Library where the original manuscript of Winnie the Pooh resides, written by A A Milne. Both Milne and his son, Christopher Robin, were graduates. Unfortunately, the library is only open during lunch hours Monday through Friday, so Jon has promised to take a photo sometime during the week to send to me. J

John Harvard belonged to the Emmanuel College of Cambridge University. After graduating, he was one of 30 men to sail to New England, and ultimately left the funds to start the university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The timing of my weekend out to Cambridge, England was certainly fortuitous.

It was a fantastic weekend; Jon picked me up from the train station, cooked me lunch, took me on a walking tour of downtown historic Cambridge, and punted me around the River Cam. Luckily, I was able to return that favor as I tried my hand at punting as well. Punting has got to be one of the most inefficient ways of getting around. It involves using a very long pole to propel a long narrow boat (punt) along the river, similar to the gondolas in Venice. I didn’t do too badly: we didn’t have a crash (that was our fault), lose the pole, or fall into the water.

Punting was actually a magnificent way to see the Cambridge campus. The river is lined on both sides with lush green grass and willow trees, with the historic buildings of Cambridge University visible on one side. We were fortunate to have the perfect, sunny spring day for it as well.

Saturday night, Jon took me to meet some friends of his at a pub called The Eagle. This pub also featured in my guidebook for having a few claims to fame. The first one is that Watson and Crick (the scientists who discovered DNA) spent equal time at this pub as they did in the laboratory. The second is that American WWII airmen spent a lot of time here and left their signatures on the ceiling of one of the back rooms. Over a pint or two of ‘real ale’, I witnessed both the plaque to Watson and Crick and the ceiling of signatures firsthand.

Sunday’s highlight was a huge home-cooked lunch care of Jon’s friends, Elaine and Jinko. It was almost like Thanksgiving in the US, there was so much good food. Maybe I’m too accustomed to the American way of dismissing meals as quality and restful time, because it was a real treat to have such a lavish and well-cooked meal like that when I wasn’t at home with my wonderful mother cooking for me.

The weekend ended with dinner in London with my (Chicago) roommate, Carrie, near her hotel at the Marble Arch. It’s great to see a Chicago face while here, though I’m not feeling homesick quite yet; it’s only been two weeks. We’ve gotten tickets to see Mary Poppins in London on Thursday night, I can’t wait!