a digital scrapbook

My parents arrived to London Saturday morning where we met at their hotel in South Kensington. It was a pretty eventful next 3 days where we went sightseeing and I had the chance to show them around (namely via Tube). During their stay we went to the Natural History Museum, Westminster Cathedral for Sunday mass, Big Ben & the Parliament Building, the London Eye, the Victoria Station area, the Tower of London, and Chinatown. By far, my two favorite places we visited happen to be the most popular tourist attractions in the city: the Eye and the Tower.

The London Eye is one of those attractions everyone should really do at some point during their stay in London. I mean, who can pass up being suspended 500 feet in the air in a bubble overlooking the entire city? The lines were surprisingly speedy too. My Dad also purchased the little guide book that described the buildings in each direction. You really can’t beat the view.

The Tower of London was pretty sweet, in the nerdy history-loving kinda way. It was just neat to walk (sometimes run) around a place that I’ve read so much about. The Yeoman Warden tour was pretty entertaining and insightful, another must-do. However, I was particularly enthusiastic–admittedly, I was the only one in my 100+ person tour group who took notes the entire time.

The Crown Jewels were also a highlight of our visit there. I didn’t think I’d be too interested in that sort of thing, but it’s pretty crazy to actually see them in-person. So much sparkle… As I left the Jewel House all I could think of was how badly I wanted diamonds, hah. Read more

Six months ago this city was pretty foreign to me, so it was comforting to arrive and actually know my way around, more or less. I spent my first 3 days in London working from our office here and really enjoyed it. Not to mention, my jet lag wasn’t nearly as bad as it was the first time I traveled here (melatonin supplements for the win). It was good to meet with folks, see familiar faces, do project work in-person, and have an overall productive business trip. I was actually a little bit hesitant to leave on vacation because there are just so many things going on right now that I’m excited about. I managed to overcome my workaholic-impulse though and promised myself not to come into the office on my holiday. Instead, I only worked a bit Saturday from the hotel to wrap up things that needed to be done before I left.

Work aside though, I had a couple chances to go out for drinks with some colleagues which was great. Had previously never met the [User] Experience team here and they were a lot fun. Also, on Friday night (after an office-wide gathering at a nearby pub) I had the opportunity to meet up with Jake! We had dinner in Soho and it was nice catching up with him. Overall, it was a good first leg of my trip and I look forward to my next opportunity to go back.

With that, I’ll leave you with a few funny UK-customs I’ve started to get accustomed to:

1) Being asked if I want still water or sparkling (have learned to ask for tap)
2) Drinking on the sidewalks (think pub overflow)
3) When looking for “take out” ask for “take away”‘
4) Everything being terribly expensive
5) Using an Oyster Card

Eh, I’m tired. That’ll have to do for now. I’ve spent the last 3 days sightseeing with my parents who have just come off their two-week European cruise. Tomorrow I leave to Germany. More on both these counts later. In the meantime, check out my Flickr. Later!

Hello! It’s Day 6 in London and I haven’t had much chance to sit down and post. In the meantime will post photos and will fill in the words later. :)

Day 1: Arrival to London. Walking through Oxford Street to the office after a 20-hr commute from Seattle.