Giving Thanks in the UK

It was a strange feeling to wake up today and carry out my normal work day on Thanksgiving. I survived working on the US holiday but still abandoned my desk at 3pm so I could finish my day by thinking about all of the things I am thankful for from my couch. The move-out activities have begun and the rental company is taking back my flat screen and DVD player on Saturday morning. It will leave me without a tv for 20 days and a true challenge. I haven't decided yet what I will stare at when I am drinking my wine on the couch. It is not on the top of my list for things I am thankful for.

In honor of the holiday I rounded up all of the ingredients and baked a few pumpkin pies in order to introduce the joys of Thanksgiving tradition to my UK colleagues. The act of finding canned pumpkin was a major victory and the reaction to my baked goodness was a success. I'm not sure I totally convinced them on celebrating turkey day, but I definitely introduced an appreciation for pumpkin.

Dolce far Niente

I finally had an opportunity to have some non work related jet-setting and took a mini trip to Milan to meet up with my dear friend Aimee. She was in Florence for work so it only made sense to cook up a scheme to meet in Italy for a Saturday lunch. So that is exactly what we did. We found each other around noon on Saturday and departed on Sunday at dinner. The perfect amount of time to indulge in too much food and wine, catch up and make friends with Italian bar staff.

I managed to select the perfect guide book for the last minute trip. It came with a map I could actually read and pretty much had the advice to not worry too much about site seeing and just relax and have some good food and wine. So, since we didn’t reserve our tickets a year in advance as most do to see the The Last Supper, we found a few good restaurants, drank our weight in wine and prosecco and focused on chatting and people watching.

We did squeeze in a trip to view Milan’s Duomo and admire a brilliant building that only took 430 years to complete. I stepped into the role of tour guide and did a dramatic reading of some facts from the guide book to Aimee. My favorite of which was the phrase “la fabbrica del Duomo” which is a phrase the Milanese people use to describe anything that seems to take forever to complete. I enjoy that they have a good sense of humor about their famous landmark and the ridiculous amount of time it took to finish. The builders probably read the same guide book I have and spent more time eating and drinking than on construction.

A true miracle was the fact that I managed to leave Milan having only purchased a magnet. We did visit the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle shopping arcade which houses many of the famous designer brands, but we simply admired the store fronts. While there we did take a break from window shopping to participate in a good luck tradition. A mosaic tile image on the floor by the entrance depicts a flag and bull to celebrate the king who the building was named after. According to local tradition stomping on the bull’s testicles as you walk past brings luck. Aimee and I joined the crowd and stomped away as it was our turn to pass through (photo o fmy good luck stomp is above).

The only thing that did not cooperate during our weekend break was the weather. It was cold and rainy and everything in the entire city was a dreary shade of brown or grey. This of course prompted a nasty allergy attack upon arriving. By dinner on Saturday Aimee got tired of having to say god bless you over and over again and we found an Italian pharmacy. The lovely pharmacist took one look at me and produced a box of something called Reactine. The only thing we confirmed with him was whether I could still drink wine if I took it and we received a thumb up and a smile. 12 Euros and two reactine later and I was back in action. So I guess technically I came home with a magnet and the remaining box of miracle allergy pills as souvenirs.

The highlight of our Italian adventure was meeting Marco the bartender at StraRipa bar. He kept our glasses filled with a delicious secret cocktail, protected us from smarmy dudes at the bar and even gave us his favorite recipe on how to make the perfect salmon (Aimee if you are reading this I still need you to send me that from your notebook). Marco and I promised to be pen pals and while I’m still waiting for my letter from him (and aware of the fact that he will never write me) I was certainly left with some fond memories of a fantastic evening in Milan (and the worst hangover ever the next day).

Ein Prosit

Yet another delinquent post for all 14 of my fans. Publishing this meant my big trip was over, my visitor went home and I returned to my daily life. I realized I needed to stop stalling and introduce all of you to the catchiest tune in the world and share my German adventure.

Before reading on I invite you to click on this link for the full Oktoberfest experience...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR8VmCDdt5o

The song that never ends
This is a song that I still hear sometimes when I am walking down the street one month post Oktoberfest. I found myself humming it in the grocery store this evening which I took as a sign to post this blog already. It is played approximately every 15 minutes throughout the fair and the rough translation is “a toast, a toast to the coziness of it all”. There is very little encouragement needed in Munich for drinking, toasting or coziness. It all seems to happen naturally. Jessica and I are proof of this as Munich was the first city since our early twenties that got us both to dance on tables again. Famous German last words "I really don't want to fall on that giant tray of meat".

Welcome to Muenchen
Keeping on trend with my new love of guided walking tours, Jessica and I hooked up with a local to follow around and soak up some culture before we started our agenda of drinking giant beers. The walking tour in this case turned into more of a guided jog since our fearless leader had legs that started in her under arms and the group had difficulty keeping up. Despite the light sprint that was required we managed to cover a good part of the city, learn a few facts and visit some important historical sites. Looking back on my photos, I now realize I should have taken better notes as the afternoon in the beer tents that followed killed off many of the brain cells that were storing all of the important historical information.

It’s a bike and a bar – let’s get a beer
Just as we got tired of sprinting in an attempt to keep up with our leggy tour guide, we happened upon Lenny’s bike tours. Lenny built himself an eight-man bicycle with a bar in the center and a bench in the back. Being the professionals that we are, we managed to join the tour without peddling and got to sit back while the others did the work. Jessica grabbed a spot on the bench while I sat on a crate with the bartender in the center. We traveled about 50 feet in 30 minutes, drank a beer and listened to some fabricated German facts. Best part of the trip – someone lost their shoe, and it wasn’t me.

Bring it on Bavaria
I am still overwhelmed by how large the fairground was , but more so by how many people were there. I did some research when we got back and almost 7 million people visited Oktoberfest this year. It was especially impressive that everyone turned up in their traditional German fashion. Jessica and I composed a drunken plan on a napkin Friday night in the heart of our beer tent tour to wake up early the next day for dirndl shopping, but to the relief of our wallets and already over packed suitcases, that shopping extravaganza never took place.

It took us a little while to adjust to walking in and finding a place with strangers at tables, but once you stand for too long in a beer tent without a beer in your hand you learn the logistics of the operation pretty quickly. We even managed to score some free drinks from someone who told us he was a prince from Switzerland celebrating his birthday. Happy Birthday Prince Swiss my name is Sophie Hardgrove and it’s a pleasure to drink your free beer (my alias is now officially international). The most handy guide we had to navigate the crazy was the beer tent app Jessica downloaded for her iphone. I’m just not sure how people handled the festival back in 1810. Why walk to a tent if you can already know it is closed due to maximum capacity.

L is for Lebkuchenherz
One of the honored traditions of Oktoberfest is to purchase a heart shaped cookie for your lovely to wear as a necklace around the fair. Each gingerbread cookie has a clever saying written in frosting so you must choose carefully to ensure you are communicating the right message to those around you. Jessica chose a cookie for me which said “you are my little sparrow”. I selected a heartwarming slogan for Jessica which translated to “nice ass”. Those few words are not only true but came in handy for us as we were searching for empty seats in crowded tents. We should all wear gingerbread cookies around our necks displaying messages and body part compliments. The Germans know how to roll.

Hold the cheese please
Germany was certainly not short on delicious snacks and foods to keep us fueled during our tourist mission. Any place that serves giant pretzels the size of my head is an okay place in the world. The giant sausages from the street carts and schnitzel were equally delicious. The one item we could not get behind was the mysterious butter/cheese hybrid spread that our German friends like to apply in a thick layer to almost everything. It was everywhere and we could neither escape it nor figure out exactly what it was. Even Lufthansa airlines has a giant tub of it on board with the captain spreading it all over there in flight snacks. I’m still researching what this condiment is and attempting to reach out to its creator and ask them to hold off. I’m thinking of starting with a stern complaint letter to Lufthansa.

Auf Wiedersehen
We left our heart shaped cookies (took a bite and they were not tasty) in Muenchen and ended our trip with a few days in London. We did some reminiscing from our exchange program days at Drexel wandering around our old hood, visited the longest champagne bar in Europe (conveniently located in a train station) and had afternoon tea in South Kensington. We also had to drink a bottle of red wine each just so we could go back to the hotel and sleep since I managed to find the worst hotel in the UK for us to stay at. I will no longer fall for hotels.com or their promises. Luckily I took a break from my angry cheese spread e-mail to provide my feedback on finding the worst accommodation in the universe.


I hope you enjoyed the highlights of our 2010 adventure. It was something I was looking forward to all this year and a trip that I will never forget (especially since I finally got around to posting this so I have it written down :)

Yanks in the UK

I realize how delinquent I have been with any updates and keeping in touch. My lazy weekend outlook has motivated me to send an update and trick myself in feeling like I am having a chat to catch up with everyone.
The UK survived the Smalley Triple and me, Hollee and Hope had a fantastic time. I played the role of tour guide and packed a five day London itinerary into three, and while they were both sad for the trip to end, I think they were also secretly happy to depart for home and have the feeling in their feet return. We covered a mix of the typical touristy attractions and even found a few unique places. Part of our travels included a tour of Buckingham Palace since the girls were here during the brief open season and I had never been to visit either. I convinced them to abandon the headset audio tour in favor of my dramatic reading of my guide book. A small group of Asian tourists also found my tour more appealing and started to follow us since clearly my description of the various palace rooms was much better than what that dusty headset was giving out.
We took a risk on the accommodations and rented a room at the London School of Political Science and Economics. During the summer months they rent the rooms to tourists while the students are away. Definitely redefines what we would think of when you see Bed and Breakfast. Also confirms that it is a good thing there are so many years between each of us since three Smalley girls at college living together would definitely be a disaster (or a really lucrative idea for reality TV).
During this visit I also discovered a new found favorite – guided walking tours. I always knew they existed but passed over in favor of my own pace and itinerary. However, we joined one in Oxford and I now have a new found appreciation for following someone else around for 2 hours, sipping on a coffee and pausing to take a picture every now and again. I found this especially interesting since I have been living in Oxford for almost a year and had no idea about how much was surrounding me. Turns out my daily walk to the train station and back to my apartment does not contain as much rich history as some of the other parts of the town. We lucked out and had an enthusiastic (AKA manic) Austrian woman who has been living in Oxford for 50 years and during that time has developed some serious underground connections. She was sneaking us into closed university property, had us skulking down alleys and whispering. I’m convinced she was making up some of the facts, but we enjoyed every minute of it and confirms my thinking that history is a little more interesting when you exaggerate some parts.
I really enjoyed showing a new city to my sisters and pointing out history, reading stories from our guide book, or making up new tourist information (can anyone really confirm what the Queen does in all of those rooms – I think not).
Next up – Oktoberfest. Auf Wiedersehen!

And Along Came August...

As I have been enjoying the last few weeks of summer, I have not been diligent about keeping up with documenting my shenanigans. I passed my 6 month mark and the feeling seems to have shifted now to time ticking down toward the end of my UK stay. I have focused on seeing more than the inside of the office and have managed to keep myself out of trouble in the process.

I returned safely from my Belgian adventure the first weekend in August and can say that Belgium has left a much better impression than my first visit and experience many years ago. Considering my first trip in college left me and my friends camping out in a train station overnight to catch a flight from a sketchy airport due to some poor travel planning (sorry Mom and Dad but I never told you that story for a reason), I knew anything would be an improvement over that experience. After my work meeting finished up I started a few days of relaxation with a shopping trip to Longchamp in order to treat myself and celebrate a successful work meeting. Nothing says “that girl is a fabulous project manager” better than a new tote bag. With my new handbag in tow, I took the train to Bruges and spent the weekend working through my “Around Bruges in 80 beers” guidebook. I am quite proud of the ground I covered. A few of the places were no longer there, some had changed names and some required too many euros for me to enjoy, but overall I covered visiting 15 locations and sampling 8 different brews. Not bad for a day and a half effort and the fact that I have become even more of a light weight and some of the beers had a double digit %. I made sure to add a brewery tour to my itinerary so that I could add some education to my drinking and limit the beer samples in order to find my way safely back to my hotel. Between beer stops I also made a trip to the frite and chocolates museums to soak up some carbs and knowledge on the other famous Belgian specialties. Any museum that spells like french fries as you are walking through is worth a visit. I learned quite a few interesting facts about the potato. In addition to being a delicious side dish, the potato is also a natural antibiotic, can help relieve stomach aches, heartburn, gout, arthritis, diabetes and even relieve dark under eye circles. It's like science and nature want me to eat fries.

This past weekend I made the trip to Jamie Oliver’s Recipease school to flex my culinary muscles. I was torn on what to wear and finding a balance between something functional for a two hour class, and also trendy in the event that Mr. Oliver rolled through the door. Sadly, he was not on site but one can never be too prepared. My coworker Josie joined me and we succeeded in preparing a delicious pea and mint risotto. I loved the class and had a fantastic time but have to be honest and admit the biggest lesson learned from it all was the reminder that you can save the risotto for when you order out and leave all that endless stirring to a real chef – preferably Jamie Oliver.

The best update to provide is that some Smalley sisters will be arriving next week for a visit. After selling my soul and wiping out my gold status, I was able to get Hope and Hollee flights. I can’t be certain that Delta isn’t storing them with the luggage during the flight, but they will be here in a week and I am beyond thrilled to have my first visitors. I have been planning out our itineraries and will be escaping from work to lead them around and play a little bit of the tourist role myself. It will be fun see how the United Kingdom handles three Smalley girls at once.

I continue to receive updates on the hot weather back in Philly, but the summer season here his coming to an end. The short weeks of hazy heat we experienced have faded and the first signs of fall have started to show. This is always my favorite time of year and reminds me of how things can subtly change around you. For some reason this time of year always makes me evaluate life and things around me. I suppose because there is some sense that I have time to make changes or accomplish goals before the year is through. This year is different for me for obvious reasons, but I still have some of those same feelings. I hope to use the rest of this year to explore some more, spend time with my favorite people a little bit more when I have the opportunity, pause to appreciate the places and people in my life, slow down instead of rushing by and focus on keeping both of my shoes on in the process.

You Say Walking...I Say Rambling

UK Heather went on an adventure this past weekend and completed a +10 mile journey on foot between the quaint villages of Amberley and Arundel along the South Downs Way in East Sussex. My friend Brian was visiting the UK for work and encouraged me to join him, his sister and brother in law who live in London for a “walk between pubs”. Brian assured me it would be more pubs than walking and that someone not as acclimated to the outdoors like myself could keep up; however I quickly discovered once we stepped off the train and started our journey that it was a proper hike. Luckily I was smart enough to leave my heels at home and even wore a backpack to submerge myself in the outdoors spirit. We had a really great time walking along, chatting and stopping for a few ales and ciders between the towns. We reached our final destination of Arundel on Saturday afternoon and still had smiles on our faces which of course meant we needed to celebrate our rambling success with a few more pints. On Sunday, we explored Arundel castle which has a recent claim to fame for being part of the movie sets for the film The Young Victoria. It is amazing how a dash of pop culture makes history a little bit more exciting. The castle is still occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk and I can say that wandering around the home of royalty is not a bad way to waste away a Sunday afternoon. My feet are still a little tired from the weekend adventure, but I now have a brand new appreciation for exploring the English countryside and am hoping to have the chance to take a few more walking trips. Now that I know I can do it, it also gives me a reason to invest in some outdoor fashion to fully expand my experiences. Brian’s sister Monica has proved to me that a rucksack and tearaway pants can be on trend and I am looking forward to a shopping spree at the North Face store. I would say I am still not ready for camping, but now that I have entered the world of the great outdoors I could probably rationalize starting to carry around a walking stick or storing a lantern in my giant handbags.

This week I finished a really great book which I would definitely recommend. It is call "One Day" by David Nicholls. It’s a simple story about a man and woman who meet at the end of university and follows their friendship and lives. Despite it’s simplicity, it is a page turner and one of those books where you feel like the author must have gotten inside your head since the characters are clearly just like you. I felt myself wanting to read it under my desk at work to find out what happened and am now suffering a mini depressive state that I am finished with the book. For me, a story is really great if you feel like you miss the characters when you reach the last page. I hope to write a story like that one day. For now, my story writing is on hold and I am on the train to Brussels for a work assignment and then a mini break to Bruges for the weekend. My coworker lent me a guide book titled “around Bruges in 80 beers”. If I come across a pair of tearaway pants on sale, I am totally buying them. You never know when the terrain between outdoor cafes can get rough ….

Do they have 4th of July in the UK? ... Yes it's After the 3rd and Before the 5th

Without the Philly Art Museum fireworks and my rooftop pool at the Hop House to celebrate the 4th of July holiday, I over packed a bag and set out for some English site seeing. I started my weekend in London by attending some events for the Big Dance 2010 festival and trying out a burlesque course. The class was fun and the teacher was an amazing performer, but I don’t think I’ll be investing in my own feather fans and boas any time soon. In keeping with the dance spirit, I was able to score a discounted ticket to Dirty Dancing the musical. It was definitely on the cheesy side of musical theatre, but I had "the time of my life" and would definitely see it again. I love when British actors put on an American accent when pretending to be at a vacation resort in the Catskills in 1963.

I also tried my luck at staying at an Easy Hotel. I’ll stop you right there and confirm that this is not rented hourly or imply anything about the social choices of it's guests. It is a part of the low budget airline chain EasyJet and offers “affordable accommodations” in some of the larger and pricier cities throughout Europe. As a single and someone booking a hotel for a Saturday night in London at the last minute, I was able to book a sleeping pod. It was essentially a closet fit with a double bed and a small en suite shower room. The décor was a giant orange wall with Easy Hotel stamped on it. I supposed this was in case you forgot where you were. The description was accurate and warned that this would not be for the claustrophobic. While ridiculously small it offered a comfy bed, clean sheets and towels and air conditioning! All in all a success and I don’t know why more people don’t position the toilet directly under the shower – built in seating and convenient for storing toiletries.

My Sunday travels brought me to Brighton beach. The weather was amazing and I parked my bum on a chair on the beach for hours and dedicated myself to a stressful combination of people watching and magazine reading. Brighton has the charm of Europe with a sprinkle of Atlantic City on top so it was a nice comfort for the day as I was feeling a bit home sick. I attempted an outdoor lunch but a seagull had different plans for me and stole it. A young man who witnessed the theft asked me how I felt about a swan stealing my lunch – I asked him how he felt about getting that far along in life thinking a seagull was a swan.

I did a swing by Jamie Oliver’s store to see if he wanted to grab a drink or make me lunch since mine was stolen, but no luck.

Since there were no sleeping pods to be found in Brighton, I booked at a bed and breakfast named Motel Schmotel. Of course the name caught my eye during my research, but it got amazing reviews and did not appear to be the type of stuffy B & B that I usually steer clear of after a few weird Vermont experiences. Motel Schmotel is run by some really awesome people and they served me the best breakfast I have had in the 6 months I have been in the UK and delivered it right to my room. The fab location was not only a block from the sea front but also a block from where Rufus Wainwright happened to be performing the final show of his European tour. I of course was obligated to go. No way to be that close to Rufus and not go say hi.
Overall my travels were great and I got to spend some quality time with myself and chill out a bit. Now if I could, I would like to break up with myself for a little bit. Too much alone time is driving me crazy. I’m looking forward to heading home next week so that I can annoy friends and family instead.

I experienced an exciting milestone this week. It has taken 6 months but the man at the coffee shop in the train station has finally remembered my order. We’re still working on my name, so for now as I approach we wave and smile and I answer to “yummy, yummy, delicious latte”. I don’t know – could be a new nickname for me. It has a nice ring to it. I’m not sure if that would fit on the Easy Hotel registration form though.

See you in a week!

What Do You Do When You lose a Shoe on the Way to a Stevie Wonder Concert?

Short version of the story - you freak out and then go buy a new pair of shoes.

Longer version of the story: I set out for London early yesterday before the Stevie Wonder concert. I had a full schedule of window shopping and cafe sitting planned before meeting up with Margaret. I was happily making my way on the tube when disaster struck. As I was exiting the tube a clueless man stepped on my foot causing my shoe to fly off while 50 other passengers were also making their exit. As I managed to partially get hold of the shoe again, clueless man number 2 proceeded to kick my shoe again and it tumbled right into the famous "gap" leaving me with 1 shoe, 2 feet and standing in a dirty subway station. I swear is happened in slow motion as I watched my poor sneaker tumble to its death. Both men just looked at me and kept walking saying nothing. I can assure you I said a whole lot and loudly. If I wasn't already exiting the station I am sure the London Transit official standing there had his own plans to remove me. My favorite part was two other men who just started pointing and laughing at me. I love people. Their karma is certainly out of wack now. Luckily someone was watching over me because I threw a pair of flip flops in my bag as I was leaving the apartment yesterday so I was able to quickly change and continue on my way. Also, my keen sense of fashion direction pointed me toward the nearest H&M so I could replace my cheap pair of canvas sneakers. RIP cheap canvas sneaker - I am sorry I had to leave you behind at the South Kensington tube stop and our time together was cut short.

Next time anyone wonders why I carry giant handbags and what I am carrying, I would say it is safe to assume a spare shoe.

The drama of the morning did not ruin the rest of the day. The concert was a lot of fun and Stevie Wonder put on an amazing show! England is having proper summer weather right now (nothing compared to Philly of course), so I melted in the sun through most of the performances, but it was a great show and day in the park.

Time to get ready for another week as another weekend winds down. Hoping to get all of my pictures together finally. Stay tuned for the link for your viewing pleasure.

An American Shopper in England

So after a few weeks of being quiet on the blog front since my return back from the US, my retail triumph yesterday has broken my silence. In an attempt to treat myself to something pretty as a reward for completing a difficult work assignment this week, I decided to take a trip to Day 1 of the Harrod's summer sale yesterday. Each year the start date of the sale is a secret and advertised only a few days before. This week's Time Out magazine described it as "a sale not for the faint-hearted that attracts a diehard fanbase". The newspaper was estimating 250,000 visitors and I made the decision to be a part of the madness. At 5 am I packed my snack pack, loaded up my purse with provisions and set out for London. I can describe it as a Black Friday sale multiplied by 10! My perseverance paid off as I am now the proud owner of two magnificent pairs of shoes and while I am not proud to admit that I actually took a shoe out of another woman's hand, those feelings of guilt will quickly fade when I am walking around in my new Burberry beauties. After hours of bargain hunting I found a rest area (stool at the in-store champagne bar) to refuel and hydrate (champagne) and was able to do enjoy some people watching. It was amazing to watch the crowds of people and the energy in everyone's eyes scoring designer deals. Something I did not understand were the ladies who forced their boyfriends and husbands to come along and stand on the sidelines. The look in their eyes was fear and panic since the ladies' shoe department during the Harrod's summer sale is no place for the weak. I certainly would not even want any boyfriend of mine to see me in such a state. Best to wait until I am wearing the shoes and looking pretty and not bother with how I secured them or how much money I spent. Sadly, I left a few coveted items behind, but I ran out of gift cards and money and also knew that I wanted to be able to eat for the rest of my time in England and while a DVF clutch bag is fantastic, it's pointless if you don't have any more £££ to carry around in it.

I returned from my trip home a few weeks ago determined to find a dance class I could go to. My expert googling produced some excellent results and I have found a class to go to twice a week. The name of the class "Raw Diva" did deter me a bit since it was being advertised as an urban hip hop class for women and I thought that could have just been a fancy way to say "learn how to be a stripper in Oxford on Tuesdays and Thursdays". Luckily that was not the case and really has been a great chance for me to get out of the office at a decent time and dance it out (no poles included).

Last week I finally got the chance to see the new Sex and the City movie. The movie was not great, as I expected, but an improvement to the experience was the fact that you can purchase alcohol at movie theaters in the UK. Even better - Christina asking them to bring us cosmopolitans to our seats, and the movie ushers did! Gotta love it.

In an attempt to continue in my culinary journey during my time here, I started my very own herb garden. Inspired by watching too many episodes of Jamie Oliver I am now growing basil, coriander and parsley. Stayed tuned for my blog in a few weeks for the blog where I update you on the herb garden I over/under watered and killed. My mom and dad did not pass on their green thumbs but I am giving it my all.

Next up - Stevie Wonder in Hyde Park, cooking lessons at Jamie Oliver's Recipease school, London's Big Dance Festival, and another trip back to Harrod's before the sale ends.

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day... but You Can Go There for One

I am writing this update from the comforts of the first class lounge on my way home to Philadelphia. It has been a trip I have been looking forward to for weeks and the US Airways guardian angel shining down upon me this morning with an option to upgrade has already started off my travel on the right foot (and right hand holding a free glass of champagne). I am happily munching on my omelet bap (fancy Bristish talk for egg sandwich) and sipping a latte eagerly anticipating the annoucement of my flight boarding.

My work travel over the last two days has been quite busy. I was in Rome for less than 24 hours and am now at Heathrow airport for the third time in two days. I have officially beaten my personal record for fastest turn around time for a work meeting. The meeting went well but of course my anticipation for returning home for a visit pulled me through the long hours and lack of sleep over the last week. I did manage to enjoy an excellent glass of wine and the taxi drove past the Collosseum on the way to the airport - so an overall success!

Over the last few days I have battled the airport security in my usual organized and no-nonsense fashion; however I would estimate that on 1 out of every 5 trips I get separated from the rest of the business traveler herd and end up in the line of people that must be living in a cave and are trying to convince security the 32ounce Listerine and Pantene that they are carrying should be allowed in their hand luggage. I suppose they missed the 500 signs on the way to the security gate that make it pretty clear if it doesn't fit in a sandwich size baggie - that it is not coming with you on the flight. All I can do is stand back and wonder where these people have been, where are they traveling to and where do you even buy a bottle of shampoo that big?

While I have been counting down to my trip today, I have had a chance to do some weekend exploring. Last weekend I visited my colleague Christina and her kids in Henley-on-Thames where they are living. I am now convinced that adding "on Thames" behind a name will automatically produce a quaint and picturesque village. It was just like a British version of Dawson's Creek, although sadly I did not find any Pacey lookalikes wandering around. It offered great 2nd hand shopping and people watching. I am now the proud owner of a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress that someone wore once and decided they didn't need anymore. I think my new weekend hobby is going to be visiting all of the small affluent English villages to buy up all of the designer merchandise they no longer treasure. What better way to remember my year abroad than fashion finds from across the world. My closet will certainly be happy and my wallet will catch up eventually as well.

Henley is famous for it's boating and while I was strolling along I got to admire many families out on the water enjoying the warmer weather and afternoon boating. I also am amazed at what people name their boats. I sat on a bench and marveled at all of the ridiculous names sailing by. I have decided to add getting a boat to my life list of to dos; however I really only want the opportunity to select a crazy name for it or sit by it and eat sandwiches. I'll have to get one that includes a captain or skipper for any activities that are actually related to the boating part.

I took a shopping break and joined Christina and the kids at a drive-thru safari park just outside London. I had mixed emotions about some of the animals living in the UK climate, but it was pretty awesome to see. Nothing like driving by and watching a family try to get a monkey off their car to pass the time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I took some pretty good pictures which I will have to post to share. Sadly, I have not taken many pics since I have arrived, but I figured a photo op of a giant ass North American Black bear crossing the road as we were driving by would be a good place to start with the online photo album.

Time for one last swoop to clear out the first class lounge of high quality snacks before the flight. Looking forward to seeing you all in the same time zone...

Kiss My Ash Iceland

So instead of lying on Jessica’s couch in Philadelphia today recovering from too many El Vez Margaritas, I am still in the the UK. I’m currently sitting at a Krispy Kreme trying to steal free Internet. Iceland and the volcanic ash have grounded me and my trip home to visit, which is already long over due, and will now be rescheduled for a 2nd time. I’ve spent the last few days sulking, feeling sorry for myself and sad over all of the important plans I’ll be missing and many cocktails I should be sharing. However, I woke up today feeling tired of my own attitude and decided to try and make the best of it. I sat down a few days ago to write about this and the entry sounded like a Dear Diary page stamped with tears and streaky mascara. I’m back to feeling like myself (dead inside) but still am not a fan of 1.) Iceland, 2.) volcanoes and especially 3.) volcanoes in Iceland. However, I realize how lucky I actually am compared to so many others that are stranded in airports all over the world running out of money, their medications, food and in many cases hope to get to where they were intending to go. To me this is just more of an inconvenience and as much as I want to visit my friends and family, I am able to wait this out from the comfort of my apartment.

Reading all of the scientific facts about the ash cloud have been fascinating and I spent a good part of my day on Friday comparing all of the stories and reports of damage volcanic ash can cause. Despite the fact that BBC news has reported that 600,000 people have been affected by the airport closures, and that this is the biggest airspace disruption since WWII, I still think the most important fact is that this has cancelled my flight and forcing me to miss my little sister’s guitar concert. I tried to call Heathrow to explain this, but strangely my calls were not accepted.

It’s somewhat funny that I did not even hear about the volcanic ash situation until I was on a conference call with work late Thursday afternoon. Since I have been settling into my new apartment this past week, I am still without proper Internet connection, a television or a radio. I was happily unpacking suitcases, packing others, and writing work reports without any clue what was spewing from the mouth of a volcano that would ruin my plans. I have decided that I now have documented proof that I should never be without a television. Not only do I enjoy sitting in front of it to watch cooking shows and silly dramas, I also am a complete and total media mole without it and miss out on internationally significant events.

I pulled myself together this morning and decided that I would spend the day enjoying what was around me and not what I was missing in the states. I grabbed my camera and just started walking. Just to be clear, I never intended to be sitting in a Krispy Kreme but it was time for a coffee break. For the past few weeks I have been walking amongst some pretty incredible history, but never stopped to notice as I am usually just in a hurry to the train station and back again. I stopped to read one of the tourist maps today and found out some incredible facts about my new address. I live on the edge of Folly Bridge which I thought was simply a picturesque and convenient spot for people to do some outdoor drinking and rent boats for small trips up the river. However, Anglo Saxon chronicles describe a settlement where people would drive their cattle across the river. They believe the town came to be known as Oxford because it was formed from the words “ox” and “ford”. The very bridge where this occurred is my new address. More interestingly, a man name Lewis Carroll took Alice Liddell and her sister’s on a rowing trip from Folly Bridge and told them stories during the trip about a girl named Alice. These stories came to be better known as Alice in Wonderland. For some reason, the estate agent left all of these cool facts out of the leaflet with the apartment measurements.

Since I needed to stop hitting refresh on the US Airways website yesterday and start talking to people again, I joined my co-worker Christina and her family with our other colleague Margaret in Bath. I was there years ago when I was here for school and it was as beautiful as I remembered it. It was a great day and so much fun to walk around and enjoy the great weather that we have been experiencing here. Also entertaining to see how people in the UK tend to wear close to nothing at the first few signs of nice weather. My co-worker Christina has two young kids so it was also fun to be around them, run around in the park and have my biggest challenge of the day be which Thomas the Train toy we would play with first. It was a great distraction for the day and Christina has already promised me that I can join her and the kids throughout the year for all of the activities that a 29 year old gal can’t attend alone anymore – LegoLand and dinosaur exhibits are always more acceptable when you are escorting little people.

So I am going to carry out my Sunday as I normally would – grocery shopping, errands, cleaning and a little retail therapy thrown in to make me feel better. Nothing rationalizes an expensive shoe purchase like a deadly volcanic ash cloud.

Stay tuned for updates on my new arrival dates for the US. I put a call in to Iceland for them to pull it together and build a lid for that damn volcano. I have a flight to catch...

There is no place like home... or a temporary one anyway

My dear friend Jessica has lovingly informed me that a blog with one entry is not actually a blog. I could fill many pages with updates on the status of my work schedule and projects, but then this would just become a blog that no one reads :)

After next week I can say that I not only had the chance to moved to the UK this year, but that I lived in a few apartments while here. The current apartment I am living in has come with too many quirks than even I have the patience for so I am moving to a new address. I’m not looking for much, just consistent plumbing and heating so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I quickly discovered that searching for an apartment in the UK is not unlike the search in Philadelphia. Estate agents sound so surprised when you tell them that meeting at the property for a viewing at 10:23 am on a Wednesday is actually not a convenient time and when you request a Saturday viewing, through the silence on the other end of the phone you can actually feel them disliking you. They also do not care what your likes or dislikes are with the particular apartments because right after they spoke to me on the phone, five other desperate people called for a Saturday appointment as well and if you don’t like it someone else will. I’m fascinated by real estate though and love seeing what apartments look like inside buildings that I walk by everyday and never have the chance to peek inside. In Philly I would sometimes go to open houses just out of curiosity while I was out running errands or I happened to see an open house sign, so my apartment searching here felt a little like home. After a few failed attempts including a viewing of a room with a hotplate in London, my most recent experience in searching for a new apartment here was very successful. I met with a great estate agent who showed me a few really nice places in Oxford and next week I’ll be moving in to a new flat closer to the city centre (yes I have converted this to European spelling just to see how many of you reading this are annoyed). For the first time in my life I can say I have waterfront property since the flat is right on the river. The building comes complete with a café in the lower level with outdoor seating. It’s a dream come true for a gal like me who doesn’t really like to walk too far for her glass of chardonnay. I’m not sure the estate agent really knew I was joking when I asked his opinion on whether he thought the café would let me in wearing my “comfortable pants” since I will be a building tenant. He just smiled politely and asked how quickly I could hand over the cash to secure the place. So I’ll be packing and moving and settling again in a week’s time and even though it will be a bit of a pain, this experience has provided a valuable life lesson – avoid moving abroad and selecting an apartment online two weeks before you move. Securing an apartment is not like buying a handbag on eBay.

Last week also brought the Ricky Gervais show. The seats were fantastic. I was in the 5th row and sitting so close that I could actually see how badly he was sweating. You know you have good seats when that happens. It was a much needed break in the week from all of the drama and stress at work. I decided not to stalk him in the alley since he started off the show with how much he dislikes people that do that. Of course he was referring more to geeky guys that do that but there was a small part of me that felt like he was speaking to me, so I decided to put my celebrity crazy on hold for the evening.

I made a bit of sad discovery last week in the grocery store. I can’t seem to find ham steaks anywhere in the UK. I have somewhat of a routine on things I make for dinner, and ham steaks were always the star of the menu. Everyone has always argued with me that this is just like any other type of ham and I disagree. There is something tasty and comforting about an individually packaged slice of ham and now there is a void in my life and diet. I’ve discussed this with my British colleagues and they have recommended I try something called a gammon steak. So, with Easter this weekend perhaps I will take on the challenge of preparing a gammon steak feast. Thank you for being the friend that you are Jessica and listening to me give you an update on my grocery list. The $32 phone call to discuss the limited availability of pork products I like in the UK was totally worth it.

As some of you know, I was actually supposed to be leaving for a return trip to the US last week. However, some changes in my work schedule have delayed my arrival for a visit home for a few more weeks. Instead of the US, I am writing this blog from a small town in France where I have spent the last two days for work. It is a town near the French Alps that requires you to utilize many forms of transportation to get here. I navigated a plane, bus and taxi with directions I received in Frenglish so it has been an interesting experience. I don’t have a lot of criteria for hotels. If a quick look under the duvet at the sheets and towels in the bathroom appear to be clean, than I am usually fine. However, I also added to my list years ago to try and avoid hotels that don’t leave the hairdryers in the rooms and require you to walk down to the front desk to request one. I want to meet the people that go around stealing hairdryers from low budget hotels and find out their motivations. This was the situation I was presented with here and since I did not know the French word for hairdryer, it resulted in me waving my hand around my head like a maniac making a wind blowing sound. Luckily it did the trick and I walked away with hairdryer in hand. I’m sure the hotel staff also enjoyed that dramatic re-enactment of how I style my hair each morning. Most importantly, the work portion of my trip was successful and am leaving with a sense of relief that all of my hard work and insane hours this week paid off; however I still have not been able to find a fridge magnet, so if that doesn’t happen this how whole trip could quickly end in disaster. I’m longing for my safe return to the UK in a few short hours.

Adieu pour maintenant…

It's about time I started

On this lovely 13th of March I have decided to end my procrastinating and start documenting my days here in the UK. I certainly can't promise that I will be able to provide intriguing reading material, as most of my time is spent working, but I'd like to give it a go. Today was actually the first day since my mid January arrival that I have not been attached to my laptop hammering away at work deadlines, so I am feeling quite rejuvenated. I managed to get a successful haircut and manicure and enjoy the first signs of spring weather breaking through the bitter cold English days. While the beauty treatments were great, I quickly discovered that getting a manicure in Oxford is a lot like trying to secure a kidney on the black market. I am missing the ladies at Allure Nails in Philly just as much as I am missing my family and friends.

It's a great time for theater here in London as many celebrities are trying to get back to their roots and appear on the stage. I have had the opportunity to see a few shows starring some pretty big names. I decided not to stalk them all by the back stage doors as you might expect, but enjoyed seeing Phylicia Rashad, James Earl Jones, & Saana Lathan in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Sir Ian McKellan in Waiting for Godot and most recently Keira Knightly in The Misanthrope. After too many glasses of white wine last night I also purchased a ticket to see Ricky Gervais for a last minute stand up show he announced. Turns out being a single pays off since you can score a ticket in the 7th row for an otherwise sold out show! I may have to stalk him in the alley behind the theater.

For those of you that know me all too well, you will be not be surprised to know that my obsession with celebrity chefs has not subsided despite my move. I have simply redirected my attention to those chefs closest to my current postal code. Yesterday evening I had the opportunity to dine with my fellow work exchange peeps at Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian Kitchen. It was probably one of the best meals I have had since arriving. Unfortunately Jamie was not there for me to introduce myself, but maybe next time. I also intend to hit up a few more of his UK locations. In the meantime, Barbora and Margaret are subject to recipes that I am attempting to recreate for our Sunday night dinners. They have been very gracious in coming over to test all of my culinary attempts.

Until next time....