Hi all!
Well, I have been in London for almost a week now and I realize this is the first time that I am writing ... this week has not been what I expected in the slightest - MUCH more work and very little play (even though I had scheduled 3 days of vacation, I managed to work enough hours this week to wipe out those 3 days plus add a bit of OT as well!) But that is the reason I am here in the first place is to work, so no biggy.
We left Monday for London and due to bad weather, changed planes/routes and wound up at London Gatwick airport without luggage. We headed to the hotel anyways and because our plane landed at 7 AM and I hadn't thought to ask for early check-in, my room was not ready yet. So, my first few hours in London were not the best but I have to say ... it was better than spending them in London's Gatwick airport like my last trip to Belfast! After taking a walk to Trafalgar Square, catching a bite to eat, and walking around Piccadilly Circus for a good while, I figured my room was ready so I headed back to get checked-in and settled. My luggage arrived a few hours later and once I got situated, I headed to the Starbucks across the street to work a few hours. It absolutely amazes me that many hotels in the UK still do not have high-speed internet connectivity in their rooms! Starbucks easily became my friend this week considering it has been the only place I have been able to get connected when not at the office.
Wednesday morning, I headed to the BP office in Sunbury. Being that my hotel is located in Mayfair, I walked for 10 minutes to the nearest tube station, took a 10-minute tube ride to Waterloo, took the train from Waterloo to Feltham, then boarded a shuttle bus to the BP office. This commute took me about 2 hours after it was all said and done ... I cannot imagine having to do that every day! I worked Wednesday and Thursday at the BP Sunbury office - met some Accenture people from the London office that were working on a BP project too. Somehow, they knew I was coming to town for the week and I still have yet to figure out how they knew that exactly - they work in Downstream & Chemicals, while I am in Upstream and they had no idea who the Accenture Partner was that I was meeting ... so ??? Small world, I guess. Friday, I was planning on a full day of shopping and walking around the city; however, I was exhausted and managed to pull myself out of bed at the early hour of 11 AM! I think my body was telling me to get some rest, ya' think? I headed to my trusty Starbucks (the shopping would have to wait) and worked for about 2 hours - I planned on working longer but something told me that when I was nodding off in the coffee shop that it would be best if I took another nap ... oh don't worry - I did manage to get over to the shops in Covent Garden for a few hours!
Friday night I was well-rested for a night out on the town. A few of us headed out to dinner and then to the Zoo Bar located in Picadilly Circus. The Zoo bar was pretty cool - it always amazes me how many people who live in London aren't actually from England, much less London - the city is full of transients, especially from other parts of Europe. We had a great time and I was glad to be out on the town!
Saturday, I went to meet a few friends from Northern Ireland at an Irish bar to watch the Ireland vs. France rugby match. The Six Nations Tournament is still going on (Ireland, England, Scotland, Whales, France & Italy) ... but this week the only two teams that were still undefeated were both Ireland & Whales. These teams were the only ones with "Grand Slam" hopes - meaning they had the chance to win the tournament in a full out sweep. Next Saturday, Ireland plays Whales - so if Ireland beat France and Whales beat Scotland this weekend, then the two teams would be playing head-to-head for the Six Nations Tournament Championship PLUS the "Grand Slam". I have to say, and many of you will not be surprised, but my throat was a bit sore after watching the Ireland vs. France game! I absolutely LOVED it - every minute of it - I wore my Ireland rugby jersey and was all decked out!!! I know enough about the game now to follow it pretty well ... and it doesn't hurt when you are surrounded by loads of others in the bar screaming "C'mon Ireland!" - then there was little me screaming "GO GO GO!" ... it was humorous. Unfortunately, Ireland played a terrible first half and even though they gave us a great second half trying to come back - it ended up not being enough. I must say, there was the BIGGEST guy I think I have ever seen on the French team; he is the Captain of the team and just massive - all these players are - I think the circumference of one of their thighs equals my two put together! These guys were fast too - unreal. I have yet to get into the football here (soccer) but the rugby will do just fine ...
Today, Sunday, a few of us will head out to watch a bit of the St. Patrick's Day parade that they are having near Trafalgar Square. Apparently, there is supposed to be a great Irish band there playing traditional Irish music - so I am very excited about that! I find it funny that I don't have a lick of Irish in my blood yet I have such a connection with that country. I am half French and half Italian - yet I was pulling against France yesterday when they played Ireland and against Italy when they were played England ... I am sure my family is frowning as they read this! I couldn't help but think of my brother all day while watching the rugby --- I just know that he would have loved watching too and most definitely would have played it if we had grown up in the UK. I also had flashes of my brother-in-law playing the game as well actually, he is the fastest person I know and these little guys were the ones that were taking off and scoring - no one could catch them!
Anyways, I leave Monday for Stavanger, Norway. Norway is where I will be conducting training on the web-based tool that I have been working on for the past 18 months - it is our big kick-off! I am looking forward to it but will be glad when this first week is behind us because that will mean that most of all the prep work is finished ... now we just have to execute. I am hoping that when training starts, the hours will get back to normal. Also, Cathryn will now be working on the project full time (instead of part-time as she has for the past few weeks) - so I couldn't be MORE happy about having the extra help! It truly has made such a difference so far.
I hope all is well with everyone and I will write from Norway! Enjoy the pics from London.
keely :)
Well, I have been in London for almost a week now and I realize this is the first time that I am writing ... this week has not been what I expected in the slightest - MUCH more work and very little play (even though I had scheduled 3 days of vacation, I managed to work enough hours this week to wipe out those 3 days plus add a bit of OT as well!) But that is the reason I am here in the first place is to work, so no biggy.
We left Monday for London and due to bad weather, changed planes/routes and wound up at London Gatwick airport without luggage. We headed to the hotel anyways and because our plane landed at 7 AM and I hadn't thought to ask for early check-in, my room was not ready yet. So, my first few hours in London were not the best but I have to say ... it was better than spending them in London's Gatwick airport like my last trip to Belfast! After taking a walk to Trafalgar Square, catching a bite to eat, and walking around Piccadilly Circus for a good while, I figured my room was ready so I headed back to get checked-in and settled. My luggage arrived a few hours later and once I got situated, I headed to the Starbucks across the street to work a few hours. It absolutely amazes me that many hotels in the UK still do not have high-speed internet connectivity in their rooms! Starbucks easily became my friend this week considering it has been the only place I have been able to get connected when not at the office.
Wednesday morning, I headed to the BP office in Sunbury. Being that my hotel is located in Mayfair, I walked for 10 minutes to the nearest tube station, took a 10-minute tube ride to Waterloo, took the train from Waterloo to Feltham, then boarded a shuttle bus to the BP office. This commute took me about 2 hours after it was all said and done ... I cannot imagine having to do that every day! I worked Wednesday and Thursday at the BP Sunbury office - met some Accenture people from the London office that were working on a BP project too. Somehow, they knew I was coming to town for the week and I still have yet to figure out how they knew that exactly - they work in Downstream & Chemicals, while I am in Upstream and they had no idea who the Accenture Partner was that I was meeting ... so ??? Small world, I guess. Friday, I was planning on a full day of shopping and walking around the city; however, I was exhausted and managed to pull myself out of bed at the early hour of 11 AM! I think my body was telling me to get some rest, ya' think? I headed to my trusty Starbucks (the shopping would have to wait) and worked for about 2 hours - I planned on working longer but something told me that when I was nodding off in the coffee shop that it would be best if I took another nap ... oh don't worry - I did manage to get over to the shops in Covent Garden for a few hours!
Friday night I was well-rested for a night out on the town. A few of us headed out to dinner and then to the Zoo Bar located in Picadilly Circus. The Zoo bar was pretty cool - it always amazes me how many people who live in London aren't actually from England, much less London - the city is full of transients, especially from other parts of Europe. We had a great time and I was glad to be out on the town!
Saturday, I went to meet a few friends from Northern Ireland at an Irish bar to watch the Ireland vs. France rugby match. The Six Nations Tournament is still going on (Ireland, England, Scotland, Whales, France & Italy) ... but this week the only two teams that were still undefeated were both Ireland & Whales. These teams were the only ones with "Grand Slam" hopes - meaning they had the chance to win the tournament in a full out sweep. Next Saturday, Ireland plays Whales - so if Ireland beat France and Whales beat Scotland this weekend, then the two teams would be playing head-to-head for the Six Nations Tournament Championship PLUS the "Grand Slam". I have to say, and many of you will not be surprised, but my throat was a bit sore after watching the Ireland vs. France game! I absolutely LOVED it - every minute of it - I wore my Ireland rugby jersey and was all decked out!!! I know enough about the game now to follow it pretty well ... and it doesn't hurt when you are surrounded by loads of others in the bar screaming "C'mon Ireland!" - then there was little me screaming "GO GO GO!" ... it was humorous. Unfortunately, Ireland played a terrible first half and even though they gave us a great second half trying to come back - it ended up not being enough. I must say, there was the BIGGEST guy I think I have ever seen on the French team; he is the Captain of the team and just massive - all these players are - I think the circumference of one of their thighs equals my two put together! These guys were fast too - unreal. I have yet to get into the football here (soccer) but the rugby will do just fine ...
Today, Sunday, a few of us will head out to watch a bit of the St. Patrick's Day parade that they are having near Trafalgar Square. Apparently, there is supposed to be a great Irish band there playing traditional Irish music - so I am very excited about that! I find it funny that I don't have a lick of Irish in my blood yet I have such a connection with that country. I am half French and half Italian - yet I was pulling against France yesterday when they played Ireland and against Italy when they were played England ... I am sure my family is frowning as they read this! I couldn't help but think of my brother all day while watching the rugby --- I just know that he would have loved watching too and most definitely would have played it if we had grown up in the UK. I also had flashes of my brother-in-law playing the game as well actually, he is the fastest person I know and these little guys were the ones that were taking off and scoring - no one could catch them!
Anyways, I leave Monday for Stavanger, Norway. Norway is where I will be conducting training on the web-based tool that I have been working on for the past 18 months - it is our big kick-off! I am looking forward to it but will be glad when this first week is behind us because that will mean that most of all the prep work is finished ... now we just have to execute. I am hoping that when training starts, the hours will get back to normal. Also, Cathryn will now be working on the project full time (instead of part-time as she has for the past few weeks) - so I couldn't be MORE happy about having the extra help! It truly has made such a difference so far.
I hope all is well with everyone and I will write from Norway! Enjoy the pics from London.
keely :)
posted by Keely @ 2:21 AM
2 Comments:
At 6:14 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hey there, finally had a chance to get into your blog. Sounds like you are having a blast. I am sure you have a blast wherever you go. Anyway, enjoy and take care. You should try to look up Kristian Kvam while in Norway. He is a pretty good guy..tell him i told you to look him up.
Take care.
KB
At 6:16 AM,
Anonymous said…
p.s. who are all these guys you are hugging? someone back home is bound to be getting jealous!
kb
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