Final Week in London- (7/17/2006- 7/22/2006)

I am back in California, I flew in yesterday afternoon, and a holy heaven, California is having a heat wave (105’F). Anyhow, here is a little synapse of my last week in London.

London also had a heat wave with temperatures around 30-37 degrees Celsius the whole week. The office was miserable as European’s really don’t do A/C. They think they have A/C but it’s not the same. The afternoons at work really hard to get through. My boss, David, kept running to the bathroom to dunk his head in water. It was super funny!!

We found the best place to eat for lunches while working- the Baguette Shop. They made fresh whole wheat baguettes with whatever you wanted. I was adventurous and tried Hummus & Roasted Veggies the first day, however, the veggies were soggy, so I switched to my favorite staple, turkey & Cranberry (just like Togos). It was delicious and surprisingly inexpensive.

Monday July 17

On Monday night Me, deepy and her cousin Davey went to this awesome vegetarian restaurant, “Eat & Two Veg”, a play on the traditional English “Meat & two vegetables”. Davey also informed us of another meaning to it, but it’s not G rated, so I will not share. The food was delicious, fresh & healthy, finally!! I had broccoli for the first time in 3 weeks... it was a little hard to swallow after weeks of Cadbury & gelato everyday. We also got this amazing hummus appetizer. I highly recommend this place: www.eatandtwoveg.com/eatv.php

After we ate, we headed to SoHo, a hot spot for clubbing, restaurants, and London’s gay crowd. We walked around- and get this, it was a Monday night around 10:30pm and the streets were hopping! No festival, no holiday, no real reason, Davey said it is always a party in SoHo. We went into this club called “G-A-Y”. (and yes, it is a gay club). They played the best dancing music! Christina, Madonna, and all this British pop that I haven’t heard before.

Tuesday July 18

After work Me, Harmandeep & our boss David went to an English pub around the block from our hotel. It was so nice outside; we had to fight for an outside spot- the place was packed. We initially were just going for a quick drink (ie- brewsky’s for them, Diet coke for me), but we met some nice locals and ended up eating dinner there and leaving around 11pm. I got warm chocolate fudge cake for dinner. You see, it was primarily pub fare (ie- deep friend), so I thought, well, at least this will taste good. Yum, I Love Chocolate Cake!

Wednesday July 19

Tonight we had dinner on a Boat “Hispaniola” on the water, right across from the London eye. It was a work thing. Lots of wine involved. I had diet coke J The menu was really lame-o. It seemed like a washed up restaurant that hasn’t changed its menu since its hay day in 1970, but is still ridiculously expensive and had terrible service. http://hispaniola.co.uk/. Don’t go!

Camille arrived at my hotel that night and was waiting for me upon my return. It was SO nice to see her!

Thursday July 20

Yipppeeeee--- My last day of work in London! I love the last day of an audit. It feels like the last day of a semester of school. I get butterflies in my stomach, and am really zoned to wrap up and get on with it. Work went fast, and we ate a Lot of treats today! There was cake left over from a work party the day before, and they gave out snickers ice bars because it was so bloody hot. Not that I needed it, but I ate it anyways, and boy was it delicious!

Harmandeep took off to Darby after work to see her family, so it was just me and Camille. We went to the hotel gym together (to work off the snickers bar), and then went out to Eat and Two Veg again. I just can’t get enough of that place! Camille didn’t appreciate it as much though. She wanted Thai, but Thai food and anything else that is 90% grease or deep fried burns a whole in my stomach and leaves me rolling around in agony for hours. After dinner we walked around London, going through Soho, Leicester square, Piccadilly circus and Oxford Street. We finally made it back to the hotel around midnight, and then hit up the hotel lounge for a bit to giggle and catch up.

Friday July 21

Friday was my last day as a tourist in London. I woke up, went to the gym for a quick run, and then me & Camille ordered room service for breakfast. I love room service. It is my favorite thing about hotels. And in London, it’s pretty much the same price as going down to the restaurant, in fact maybe even cheaper.

We were out around noon, and headed to Leicester square to pick up discount theater tickets to see “Footloose” that night. Next, we headed to the London Eye, the British air Supersized Farris wheel that gives you a great aerial view of the city. It was a little pricey ($20 each), but so is everything else in London.

Next we checked out Harrod’s-- the massive luxury department store that princess diana’s lovers’ father owns. The place is the size of 4 Nordstrom’s. We looked around, but not for long as I’m really getting over the whole “window shopping” thing, since everything is double price in London. It gets old and depressing after 3 weeks of not buying a thing!

We met Harmandeep back at the hotel around 6pm, ate in the hotel restaurant, and then got ready for the night and headed off to the Novello Theatre for the 8:30pm performance of Footloose. We had AMAZING seats- 16th row in the stalls, and we only paid $50 each. As beautiful as the theatre was, there was no A/C. It was like a sweat factory. Everyone was undressing. We all took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and took as many layers off as we could without looking like tramps. Not that there was anything to worry about, as there were middle aged, large & hairy Persian men behind us that had their shirts off, with their big, hairy, sweaty, bellies hanging all over the place. This would NEVER happen in America. It was sooo funny, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Footloose was an amazing show. It was high energy, lots of dancing, fantastic songs, and a lot of comedy infused into the story line. It was my FAVORITE show ever!!!! Camille didn’t enjoy it quite as much and me and deepy though. She has a trained eye for dancing, so her standards are a lot higher than ours. I loved it though... you should totally go to see it if you have the chance. My favorite scene was the “Hero” song which showcased a fireman, tom cruise from top gun, a policeman, and some other uniformed hottie. Everyone was singing and dancing in the aisles. GO SEE FOOTLOOSE!!

After the show Camille headed home and me & deepy went out to a club with her cousin and his friends. I forget the name of the club, but it was SO Awesome! There were 4 different rooms and the décor was kind of eclectic- think Rococo infused with funk. The music was all house—hard house, funky house, ect. We danced and danced!! I haven’t danced that much since my days with Jessie in LA. (BTW Jessie, what are you up to?). We left around 2:15 am, and headed back to the hotel. Camille, the most thoughtful person ever, packed most of my things for me- all tightly rolled and in my suitcase. What a sweetheart, thanks Camille!

Saturday July 22

D-Day. I was so tired after only 3 hrs of sleep, and no one would shut up! The taxi driver to the airport was this old man (who should have been retired), and he talked from the moment he picked us up, to our drop off at Heathrow- a 45 minute ride. He was giving us a history lesson of London. A very sweet old man, but I just wanted to sleep. Then, on the plane I sat beside this 50ish Irish guy, who again, would not shut up. Talk talk talk. I do NOT need to hear about your daughter, your job, your home ect when I’ve only had 3 hrs of sleep. Plus I did not get an Aisle seat- ulgh. I hate being trapped in the middle- but at least there were no crying babies in the vicinity. Then, my car ride home, the driver wouldn’t shut up either. This guy was super annoying. I cannot go into detail. Nonetheless, he did not get a good tip from me.

Oh, did I forget to mention that Harmandeep was actually booked for Sunday’s flight? It was quite traumatic at the airport, as the guy could not find her on the system anywhere. I had to leave her there in order to get through security to make the flight- I felt sooo bad!!!! As is well though, and she should arrive today.

Conclusion: I LOVE to travel. I love seeing new things, learning a little bit of history and trying out new foods. I love nice Hotels. I love the Marriott dream bed. I love room service, and I LOVE European architecture. Go to Europe --- book your trip for next year!

XOXO
Eve