Big Ben/Parliament taken from the tour bus. Sorry it's a lil blurry!
My big head and Big Ben
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February 28, 2001 | 8:58PM EST
Sorry for the delay. As you can tell by the non-updates...i must be back at work and busy as hell =(. Anyway...last nite in London (last Thursday) was cool. Got out of work...got back to the hotel, then headed out to do some shopping. Thursday is the only day that the stores are open late. I went to Niketown and got some Niketown-London gear =) They're crazy about soccer over there...even had like 1 full floor devoted to that crap. I dunno...it just doesn't seem like "football" to me. I can't watch that stuff *yawn*.
I then went to a couple more shops and ended up eating at Aberdeen Steak House - ..maybe that wasn't such a good idea...what with Mad Cow Disease and all..but hey...i love me some steak! Steaks out there just aren't cooked the same as out here. Ah well...got back to the hotel and actually did some work out of the hotel room until late at night...only slept a few hrs before getting up at 7am.
Ate my last croissant at breakfast, then took the taxi to the train to the airport (phew) for my flight at 11am. Did some last minute shopping at the duty-free...gotta love duty-free =) eheheheh then flew back on a 8 hr flight to Philly. *tiring* Watched 3 movies on that trip - What lies beneath (dope...even doper was seeing the guy next to me jump out of his seat during a scary part *snicker*); Bait (action movie w/jamie foxx - ok); Almost Famous - pretty good except they cut off the ending cuz we landed =(.
Damn it felt good to be back home. =) I didn't realize how much I missed home until I got back....seeing familiar things and places *sigh*.
That's all for this journal - i'll be going back to the old layout soon. Stay tuned...i may be back in London at the end of the month! What antics will our host get into next?!? =P Thanks for reading.
February 23, 2001 | 4:25PM EST
Back home now...gonna head up north to visit the wifey and hang with some friends this weekend. I'll fill you in on the last day of my trip later. Gotta say...ain't no feeling like comin' home =) *sigh*
February 22, 2001 | 10:35AM GMT
Okay. *yawn* It's Thursday, and I'm about ready to go home. London has been cool and everything, but I'm sorta missing home right now. Add to this - jet lag and a ton of sleep debt, and i'm not a happy camper right now. Plus I didn't have a good night sleep. Apparently there is an American high school tour staying in my hotel, and the damn teenagers were running around yelling, slamming doors all night. Damn Americans! heheheh. My flight tomorrow can't come soon enough...
Work has been Hectic the past few days (notice the capital H), and I thought that I might be able to leave early yesterday and do some more sightseeing. Um, nope. Again I was trapped in a 1.5 hr train ride back to the hotel. SUCK.
I ate at an "American" restaurant last nite called "Texas Lone Star".. hahahah London's attempt to have an authentic Texan steak house. It was okay...the ribs were pretty good...(although maybe eating pork ribs wasn't such a bright idea?) The atmosphere made me feel like I was back in the "ole west" hahah right down to the cattle skulls on the walls and Shania Twain playing on the jukebox. LOL.
Wells..hopefully I can round up enough energy to actually go sightseeing tonite...and since the shops are open til 9pm, this is my only chance to get some much needed souvenirs for the ppl back home.
Oh btw...imissyou!
February 21, 2001 | 14:38PM GMT
Busy busy busy day at work yesterday. That plus a 1.5 hr train ride, and I didn't get back to the hotel until 7pm. SUCK. Didn't do much but order some room service and then crash.
Although my day at work was busy as hell, I did have a good day at lunch. One of my co-workers took me out, and while eating, we were discussing skiing/snowboarding. He mentioned to me that England has some "dry-slopes" since it doesn't snow much out here. Turns out that this "dry-slope" was close to our office, so we went there after lunch. This dry-slope thing is AMAZING yet weird at the same time. Check it out!
Check this out. Instead of snow, the small slope's surface is like nylon bristles...sort of a cross between a toilet scrub brush type/astroturf surface. This is on top of a chain link fence type material...which allows the surface to give a little, letting you dig your skis or board into the surface. No need for snow. You can ride in any weather...90 degree day in august? no problem. Only thing is that you need to wear long sleeves and pants since if you fall that stuff will tear off your skin. hehehehehe.
Hillingdon Ski Centre, in Uxbridge is where we went. (He asked me if I wanted to try, but I think i'd look somewhat funny skiing or riding down with my business clothes on. Besides, i didn't want to bust my ass and have to get taken to a London hospital. hehehe...) It's only 2 small slopes (not even half of a green run in PA mtn standards), and an even smaller bunny slope. (approx 15-20 feet long). One of the small slopes just went straight down, not too steep, and the 2nd slope had some jumps and rails (terrain park i assume). Pretty weird. It would be cool to have access to one of these so that when I get that urge in the summer, I could ride anytime!
That's about it for now. Nothing interesting else has happened to me...although I think i've picked up on some of the British slang - don't mind me if you see me next time and im using words like "dodgy" and "cheers". hahahaha
February 20, 2001 | 05:48AM GMT
I think the jet lag is catching up with me *yawn*. Had about 8.5 hrs of sleep last nite but i'm still tired as hell right now.
Had an interesting day yesterday. After getting out of work and getting back to London (45 min train ride!) I watched TV for a bit...there was some show on TV that sorta looked like a Bizarro-world Survivor. A British version of Survivor I guess?? It was called 'Shipwrecked' HAHAHAHA. damn it was mad corny too.
I then took the "tube" (London-speak for the subway) to Picadilly Circus. I then pretty much just wandered around/got lost in that area. It was cool though - its like London's version of Times Square. I found Niketown London, and unfortunately I looked around for about 2 mins before they closed. *mental note to self - go back on Thursday when they close at 9pm*.
I then walked some more and stumbled into the "red-light" district in the West End. hahahhaha. I started seeing all these pink neon signs and mad girls in the doorways beckoning me to come in. >=) but naw..i would never...ever...(well at least not until saturday at JERRY'S BACHELOR PARTY!). heh heh.
I saw a commerical being filmed in this area..which was pretty cool, and then I found Chinatown, which consists of about 2.5 small streets. Weird, but I found a small Japanese restaurant in this area also, and thats where I ate dinner. Pretty bomb too! Lemme tell ya. It's the weirdest thing hearing people talk in Chinese and Japanese WITH A BRITISH ACCENT! crazy. I can't even attempt to imitate that...its just something that needs to be heard. hahahaha
I then wandered back to the tube and got back to the hotel, just in time to see "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (British version). I think the show came out here first, but the US version copied EXACTLY the same set. The host wasn't Regis, but still annoying as hell. All the money is in British pounds also...which actually translates to more than US $. 1 USD= approx 1.55 GBP. Still an annoying show, even in England.
Well, im at work again. and its about that time that I actually start making that $$$...so see ya!
February 19, 2001 | 06:08AM GMT
Sorry for not updating yesterday. I think I spent around 1-2 hrs in my hotel room trying to get my damn internet connection to work. Damn ATT Global ISPs! =/
Anyway, I had a pretty busy day yesterday. Flew into Heathrow at around 8:30am. After getting thru customs it was like 10am. Got to my hotel at like 11am, then I went on "The Big Bus Company" tour for about 5 hours yesterday. It was pretty cool...i got to see all the big sites: Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, etc... I even went on a cruise down the River Thames. That was pretty dope. Only thing was...i was so tired from the flight (only 2 hrs sleep) that I think i dozed off a bit during the cruise =P
London is pretty cool...it actually isn't that bad wandering around solo. I thought i'd be bored, but its actually kinda nice. I can do what i want...see what I wanna see...etc.
I'm now at my company's UK office. The people here are really nice. It just seems weird hearing Brits speak. I think simply because of their accent, everything sounds so...so...proper? *shrug*.
At least I have net access here. I'm gonna have to search for an internet cafe tonite. If my camera cooperates...i'll put up some pics of me around town as well. (it's hard taking pics when you're by yourself! don't want someone pulling a Clark Griswold on me and stealing my camera u know? *European Vacation*
I'm out - as they say in London...Cheers!
February 17, 2001 | 12:22AM EST
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is a book written by Mark Twain (that I haven't read since grade school), about a 19th century Yankee finding himself in 6th century Britain during King Arthur's reign. (For a more in-depth review about this book, go
here.)
I figured the title would be appropriate for this journal of my trip to jolly old England. Work is sending me to our UK office this week. I haven't written anything interesting lately, so hopefully this trip will give me some good stories. I fly out tomorrow night...so you probably won't hear from me until i've arrived in London. Check back soon!
