To recap the last year:
Countries visited (in no order): Netherlands, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Monaco, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Montenegro, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, US (repeats not counted)
Favorite memory: Friendships made at work. I can't speak highly enough about the people I work with. It's been so great. Quarter drinks are the highlight....particularly my Q312 and Q113.
Favorite scenery: Norway's mountains/fjords (followed closely by the cliffs around Dubrovnik)
Favorite city: London (closely followed by Paris, Edinburgh, Budapest, Salzburg, Prague, Rome, Dubrovnik, and Vienna)
Favorite beach: The beach that I can ride to from my house.
Favorite guide books: Rick Steves!
Favorite Dutch food: Cheese and those little pancakes
Favorite time of the year: Christmas (markets and cold) (followed closely by a cool summer in the Netherlands)
Favorite weekend trip: Budapest
Suffice it to say, I'm in love with living over here. I love the fact that I can jump on a plane and in 2 hours be in a new country. I love the ease of public transport. I love biking to work and grocery shopping. I love my team. I love the fact that I love everything here. Lots of love.
Last weekend, I headed to London. I needed to be there for Tues-Wed and I can work from just about anywhere, so threw in Monday as well. Here's a recap:
1. Saturday was spent with a teammate. We started out shopping at Shepherd's Bush Westfield, which is like an American mall. Heaven - I even shopped in some petite sections. I found two dresses - one from A&A's wedding and the other for work. Exciting stuff!
2. After shopping, I convinced my friend that I really did want to see Cricket, even if it was only county cricket and no one was going to show up. She took me to the Oval (one of the Ashes venues this year!) to see Surrey vs. Derbyshire. Here are some pictures:
I read a book about cricket in NY. One of the memorable quotes from the book was something like "There's a limit to what Americans understand. That limit is cricket." Well, if that doesn't sound like a challenge, then I don't know what a challenge looks like. I've been studying up, making some of my teammates teach me the basics (via "Cricket word of the day") and texting regularly with them during the Ashes (Aus vs. England) whilst either watching it at O'Caseys or listening to Test Match Special on the BBC. I felt adequately prepared to see a match, so we went. I don't recommend going to a match without doing some basic research beforehand. Unless you get the basics, cricket is awful and frustrating.
Anyways, my friend was a member of the Surrey county team, meaning she had buddy passes to the matches and access to the clubhouse. I'm telling you, I have never felt more English or by extension, cool. Being in the Oval clubhouse was what I imagined the Kentucky Derby clubhouse to look like. It was really neat.
I had my first Pimm's - which is an English ice tea/lemonade thingy with alcohol. Quintessential London summer drink. It was great.
The cricket pictures above are of the action....we got lucky and had a really nice day outside (mid 70s and straight sun). I even have odd tan lines, but no burn!
At tea time (yes, cricket has tea time), because the crowd was so small (or maybe it's a normal thing), they let us out on the pitch:
Me and S on the pitch with wicket in back ground.
Going on to the field changed how I view cricket. It put it all into perspective. I'm hooked - I now have new bucket list items (see an Ashes test in England and Aus!) in addition to the Rugby items I added last spring (6 nations in each of the nations).
3. After cricket, we headed to dinner, which we had at Shepherd's Bush. It was the best burger I've had since moving to Europe. Amazing.
4. Then we caught a film, including VIP seats. We saw "The Way, Way Back" which is by the same team that did Juno and Little Miss Sunshine. Great movie!
5. I was up early on Sunday, walking through Picadilly and Leicester Square area. After that, I met friend C and his new fiancé A for a proper English roast near Highbury, which is apparently where Arsenal plays. No way I could have got a ticket, but cool to be in the vicinity. Another bucket list item was added - see an EPL game. Roast was great and the conversation was better.
6. C showed me how to use the bus and we took off for Covent Garden shopping which was fun. I tried to find the best book stores in the Charing Cross area....one was a store of only travel guide books and maps. Amazing. I didn't buy anything, but I consider that a fluke. It's a dangerous store. I also went to the Waterstone on Piccadilly, which is apparently the largest book store in London. I did buy 2 books there......couldn't resist. After that, it was off to cream tea and then walking the long way back through the park to the hotel. All told, I probably did 5+ miles of walking and felt great going to bed early.
7. Monday went well - work was great. I got out around 7PM and then wandered into the West End looking for a cheap deal. I found a ticket to a show called "Private Lives" (comedy from the 1920s) and it was awesome. The guy sitting next to me looked like William from Downton Abbey. There are several reasons to believe it wasn't him, but I'm choosing to believe it was him.
Oh and as I was headed over to the theater area, a red carpet premiere was happening at Leicester Square. I could see Ron Howard being interviewed and the lead actor in the new Formula 1 movie "Rush". I would have stayed longer to scream like a little girl, but couldn't get a spot close to the railing without pushing people out of the way. So seeing it on a TV screen is lamer than going to see a real show, so I opted for the latter.
8. Tuesday and Wednesday were work. K and I enjoyed a nice dinner on Tuesday night (I even met her sister!) and then a long walk back through the park.
Other random pictures:
MI-5 and random guy
5 guys London! I didn't have a burger there, but everyone will be happy to know the line was around the corner.
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