Falling of the Wagon

Ok my blogging has seriously gone down hill, which sucks since I'm getting ready to end my journey, which makes it even more critical that I document my last few months. Especially my trips. Even though I've taken tons of photos I don't want to forget what it felt like to be in that country, or the things I did and how I felt. I am going to make sure I do a post on all the places I've visted. So far I'm missing my Almafi Coast trip, so that will be added later this week.

In the meantime I thought it would be good to start a list of the things I've going to miss about London. Yes, I said missed!!! I'll start the list now and keep adding on for the next two months.

• Reading the Metro on the train to work every morning
• Crisps, they'll never taste the same back home
• Making reservations on Top Table
• X Factor
• The accent and pretending to copy it
• Shopping at French Connection
• Hearing the guy/girl say "mind the gap" on the Tube
• Seeing the cute boys and girls in their school uniforms every morning
• Heinz Baked Beans with eggs
• Fruitella
• Ribena
• Boots
• Pret a Manger
• Booking flights on Easy Jet
• Digestives
• My local- Goat in the Boot

To Be Continued....

Turkey, Turkey, Turkey!

Remember "V", well he got married. After two years being on and off with his Turkish girlfriend, he popped the question earlier this year in Rome. Few months later they're sending out save the dates for a wedding in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey was never of my list of my places to go, but there was no way I was missing this wedding so I booked myself a ticket. My first solo trip and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't freaked out about it. I kept envisioning Turkey as a place in the Middle East therefore not safe. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

Turkey is an amazing, beautiful city filled with so much history but at the same time very cosmopolitan. You have the mosques and the sultans home next to Saks Fifth Avenue and the hottest clubs. The best part of the city was staying by the Boshporus River. It felt like I was in the Mediterranean. The Boshporus river split the Asia side from the European side of the country. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the Asia side. Next time! The food in Turkey was also fantastic. Really fresh seafood and delicious desserts. I think I had my life time quota of baklava while I was there!

V's wedding was spectacular. The setting, the location, the music, the food, were all amazing. He definitely set the bar high in terms of lavish weddings. I mean, who gives Faberge eggs as favors!!! The wedding was like a couture runway show, with all the Turkish women dressed in their finest. I wish I had taken more photos of some of their gowns. Yes, I said gowns. These women were ready for Fashion Week. Apparently, one of the key elements of a Turkish wedding is shots!! We started the evening (meaning even before the ceremony) with shots and during the entire ceremony shots were being served every five minutes. Not just any shots, but rows of shots served with sparklers. It was insane!! Luckily, they weren't too potent so doing five or so was no big deal. The wedding ended at 1 and the couple had rented a club on the water next door in order for the festivities to continue well into the morning. At the club, we were greeted with what else, shots!!!!! There were fruits and nuts on the tables and bottles of alcohol ready for consumption. These guys really party hard. The bride and groom stayed out till 4 am!!

The best experience I had in Turkey and definitely my most memorable was the going to a Turkish bath. Or a Hamman as they call it. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I have to do my best to describe it. You basically walk into this dodgy hotel type building where they separate the men from the women, thank god. You are asked to put on a cloth, yeah no robes here people. You walk into a steam room and they immediately pull of the cloth and you're buck naked in a room with a ton of women. That part is not so bad. You sit there and steam and then a bunch of 60 year old Turkish women, who are also naked with the exception of their matching lace black underwear come in and start dragging you onto the tiles and scrubbing you down. I was quite disgusted by the amount of dirt I had on my body. They then proceed to give you a good scrub with bubbles. Now this is all supposed to be relaxing, but when a 60 year naked Turkish women is lathering you up and her boobs are swinging and hitting you on your cheeks its hard to relax. The treatment ends with them washing with your hair.. Not like when you go to a saloon and get your hair washed. More like when you're 2 and your mom is giving you a bath and pouring cups of water down your face and the shampoo is getting in your eyes and you can't catch your breathe between the cascade of water falling down your face. I totally get why babies hate having their hair washed. That was not fun! Although the spa experience was a bit weird, to say the least, I'm glad I tried it. I will never forgot it, that's for sure!

Turkey has moved up into the top spot of places I've visited and loved. I would go back in a heartbeat as I'm pretty sure their is a whole lot I didn't get to see.

Up next, Barcelona Spain!

That Time Already!

I was told this week that my last day at KFC would be Oct 1st. I can't believe it's already time to leave. I'm not ready to leave, nor do I want to leave. How did 2 years go by so quickly? Time for the countdown to begin. About 100 days left, with about 100 things I want to do before then. I need to get a ticker going on this blog.

Spring has Sprung!

The coats, scarves, and gloves are back in their boxes because spring has finally arrived. The temps are in the high 60's, the sun is shining and there isn't a drop of a rain in the sky. You know what everyone does when the weather gets like this in London? People hit the parks! No one wastes a single moment inside and when you have a place like Hyde Park where you can soak up the rays, you go.

My natural inclination isn't to go to a park when it's sunny. I've always thought of parks as something people with kids to go to. But I've never had access to something like Hyde Park. Back home when it was sunny, which was all the time, you didn't necessarily do anything special. Yeah, you went outside, but you still hit the mall, or went to the movies, or did normal stuff. But here you make special occasion out of it. It was a whole new experience for me to spend a day at the park but that's what I did and so did every other man, women, and child in London. What do people do there? Let's see , I saw people rollerblading,riding horses, playing Frisbee, having picnics, making out (get a room!), rowing boats, sleeping, reading, even working. You name it, it was being done in the park.

I embraced my day at the park but found myself getting a little ancy after awhile. I realized that day I just wasn't a park person, but don't get me wrong I do enjoy the occasional stroll through one every now and again, you just won't find me there with my blanket rolling around in the grass with god knows who!

My roommate on the other hand could live at the park!

Ireland or Bust!

Finally I'm getting a chance to try write about my trip to Ireland. As I mentioned before my trip was in two phases. Dublin was first in the end of March for three days. Then over the Easter bank holiday weekend I did the south coast of Ireland for four days.

Dublin- Part I

• I have to say that Dublin is like an any other cosmopolitan city. Lot of shopping, restaurants, bars, good public transport. The only difference between London and Dublin is the accent and the number of pubs per square mile. Can you believe that my friend Jane, who I went with had never been here to Ireland her entire life? The girl grew up in England but had never been in her backyard. That was so hard for me to imagine.
• As far as history goes, we took in some cathedrals, the famous college (Trinity College) that was set up Queen Elizabeth, we saw Oscar Wilde's House, etc...
• But by far the best thing about Dublin was the Guinness Factory. We practically spent an entire day there! They've done a fantastic job with the tour of the factory. You get to see the whole process from beginning to end. This includes how the beer is made, the founders of Guinness, the advertising story behind the brand (which I loved, of course) and even how to pour the beer.
• Now the men in Ireland are hot! The accents, the dark hair with the blue eyes, it's just too much! Jane and I would run into guys on the street and our mouths would just hang open at the sight them. Unfortunately I had no luck convincing any of them to run away with me to America.

South Coast - Part II

• The plan was here to hit all the must see spots starting at Cork and ending up in the city of Shannon. I had never planned a road trip before in my life and let me just say it's no picnic. Not having a GPS, or road signs or any familiarity with the country you're about to drive through makes for quiet a difficult trip. But somehow we made it through without getting too lost or killing each other on the road!
• In Cork we got our festive little Ford Fiesta and headed onto the motorway. Our first stop was the Blarney Castle, which was a must see. Obviously, the main goal was to kiss the blarney stone. For some reason a lot of people think if you kiss the stone you'll be lucky in love, but that's not true. The myth is if you kiss the stone you'll have the gift of eloquence. As many of you saw in my pics on facebook the castle was gorgeous. When we arrived it was pouring rain but by half way into the visit the sun was shining, which made the castle even more stunning. We made our way up to the top of castle, via hundred or so stairs, and got in line to the stone. Did you know that kissing the stone is one of the items on the "99 things to do you before you die"? I can't believe I did something on that list! Now, a lot of people told me that you shouldn't kiss the stone because Irish men pee on it because they think it's so silly that tourists kiss it. I can tell you that for someone to get up there and pee on it is virtually impossible. First off you have to pay to get in the castle. Then you have to climb a bijillion stairs. Then there's a guy whose sole job is to sit there and help you kiss the stone. Who is going to go through all that just to pee on a stone? Anyhow, I kissed the stone with the help of the lovely old man who mans the stone and he said, and I quote "I was a very gentle kisser!" hee hee!
• From here we went to Killarney which is a small town known for its massive lakes. We stayed at the cutest B&B that was above a pub. The B&B was run by a mother/daughter duo who were so fantastic. They made us breakfast every morning and always made sure we were taken care of. The first day in Killarney we did the Ring of Kerry. It is basically a ring with beautiful views and landscapes of Ireland. I drove half of the ring and my flatmate Sima drove the other half. I have to say getting used to driving on the other side of the road was hard. I kept veering into the other lane or I would get to close to the side of a bridge, which I incidentally swiped once, and I kept looking for the controls on the wrong side of the vehicle. After awhile I got the hang of it but the narrow roads didn't help matters or the sheep crossing the road (J/K about the sheep)! The Ring of Kerry had some beautiful parts, specifically the lakes and the waterfall.
• The last day in Killarney we drove the Dingle Peninsula. This was far more picturesque than the Ring of Kerry. We were practically stopping every mile to take photos. The beaches reminded me so much of home, and we would drive through the cutest towns, and no matter where we stopped to eat the food was always delicious. We got great weather on this day as well. The sun shined almost all day.
• After we finished the Dingle Peninsula we drove to the city of Limerick. Now the town sounds much more cute than it actually is. Limerick was pretty much a dump. Our goal was to just stay the night here so we could cut our drive in half to the Cliffs of Moher which was our last stop.
• So, our last day in Ireland we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. A lot of people had told me this was a must see and how gorgeous it was, but nothing prepares for you its beauty and vastness unless you see it in person. It was my favorite part of the entire trip. The cliffs were breathtaking. I couldn't believe that this was created by nature. I would just stand there and stare at them. I took a ton of photos and no matter what angle I shot every picture seemed better than the next. We decided to hike on the cliffs themselves to try and see if we could make it to the farthest point but we only got about 3/4 of the way there. I have to say at times I started to freak out a little because of how high up were and looking down didn't help matters but I'm glad I did the hike. I will probably never be there again, so I had to take advantage. After spending an entire day there we headed to the airport for our flight back home out of Shannon.
• All in all I loved this part of Ireland, more than Dublin. Seeing a country by car was such a different experience. I felt as though I really SAW the country. Everyone always tells you how green Ireland is, and it is! It's just hill after hill of lush green landscape. It is such an incredible country and I feel so fortunate to have had a chance to see it.

Now I can tick another place of my list which is getting shorter and shorter, finally! Next I am going to the Amalfi Coast the first weekend in May. This has been at the top of my list for awhile so I'm really looking forward to it.

The Luck of the Irish

I was planning on writing a blog about my trip to Dublin but since I'm headed to Ireland again this weekend for Easter break I figured I'd do an entire blog on the Ireland as a whole. Four whole days driving through the coast of Southern Ireland. First stop Cork to visit the Blarney Stone, then to Killarney where we will check out the Ring of Kerry. Then the Dingle Peninsula and finally drive through Limerick and fly out of Shannon. Road trip baby!!! I'm extremely nervous about driving on the other side of the road, since I've never driven in England let alone Ireland. I pray I don't drive us off a cliff or get into accident. I'm hoping for my very own PS I Love You scenario. For those of you who've the seen the movie you know what I mean! I'm off to pack.

So Not Me!

Or is it.. I recently got the chance to go on holiday with my roommate to St. Lucia. Her aunt and uncle built a house there about 2 years ago and invited us to come enjoy the place and all the island has to offer. It was such an incredible trip! I figured each day would be filled with nothing but drinking, laying by the pool and swimming. That was pretty much what we did the first two days of the trip. From here the decision was made to explore the island and all it had to offer. Now the old me, would have poo poo'd this idea and said no immediately. Normally, my thing is stay in one place, that way I feel safe and comfortable. I'm always too scared to venture out somewhere, that's how I've always been... until now. This trip made me realize how adventurous I had truly become. Of course, there are people out there who way more adventurous than me, but my starting point was low :)

One of the things we decided to do on the island was go ziplining through the rainforest. Yes, ziplining! The whole way to the rainforest I was shitting bricks. I was so nervous. Who did I think I was? I can barely get on the London Eye let alone go flying through trees on a single cord. Even while the guy was putting on my gear I was thinking of ways to back out but I knew I would regret it. I wanted to be able to look back on this and say I did this. That is what this time in my life is all about. Doing things I've never done, taking advantage of all the opportunities I've been given.

After a few sweaty palms and half a Xanax :) I did my first practice round. I screamed bloody murder the whole way down, but at the same time it was the most thrilling feeling in the world. Now I know what people mean when they say they get an adrenaline high. We did a total of 11 zip lines and half way through I was volunteering to go first in our group! Me, the girl who was afraid to take a subway, fly overseas.. I had to document the experience with more than just photos, so I had my roommate record one my flights :) Now, I'll always remember this moment.

Next time bungee jumping! Yeah right!

Snow Day!!!

Today I experienced my first snow day ever! The snow began falling last night and basically hasn't stopped. It's still snowing as we speak. They closed our offices for the day, so there was nothing left to do but play in the snow!! That is exactly what my flatmate and I did. I felt like a kid again. Growing up in Southern California I never got a chance to build a snowman or throw snowballs. I never expected to get that chance here in London. Even though, it's snowed here before it usually never sticks. According to the news this is biggest snowfall England has seen in 17 years. So, I guess I'm part of history, very cold history that is! They're expecting the snow storm to last until Wednesday. That could mean a couple more days at home.. one can only hope!

Happy New Year!

Ok, I realize we're 17 days into the new year but better late than never, right!? one of my new year's resolutions is to blog more. I have gotten so bad in the last few months, sorry! I'm more sorry to myself because I know there are so many memories I haven't captured that one day I'll forgot. Not good!

So, quick recap on the last month. December was full of Xmas parties, holiday fun, a flu from hell, and a trip home. One of my great memories was our company xmas party at a beautiful old country club called the Wentworth Club. It was a giant white castle from the outside and a prestige golf club in the inside. Had a wonderful time with my co-workers dancing the night away. My camera died very early that night so sadly I have no pictures. The other great memory was going ice skating at the Natural History Museum. I went the year before with "V" (who by the way lives in Russia now and is practically engaged to his girlfriend from Turkey) and Tenielle. This year I went with three girls who have become great friends of mine over the last year. It's a tradition in England to go ice skating for the holidays so I'm glad I've been able to uphold it. It dawned on me as December came to an end that this could be last holiday season in the UK. It struck a cord and I started to feel sad. This meant that a lot of things going forward could end up being the "last time".

Now, 2009 has begun and this could be my my last year in the UK. I barely remember arriving here almost a year and a half ago so thinking about leaving seemed so strange. It feels like I've just begun appreciating and embracing my time here, which made me come to the conclusion that I didn't want to leave so soon. Yes, folks I want to stay longer. Trust me, I can't believe it either! Not forever, since my heart will always be back home in California, but at least for one more year. The problem this decision is not entirely up to me as I've come to find out. When you work for corporate America you come to learn very quickly that you're at the mercy of the Man. Sure, you can tell them what you want but at the end of the day it's not about what best for me, but what's best for the business. Therefore, even though I've expressed my desire to stay, I have no clue whether or not it's going to happen. All I can do is be patient and enjoy each day I have here. Not an easy task for someone who likes everything planned way in advance and hates the unknown.

What does 2009 have in store? I've got some trips in the can, a wedding in Kentucky for my dear friend Heather, her bacherolette party in NY, more visitors, and finding the man of dreams. Oh and I guess I should learn some more stuff at work too. Sounds like a fun year to me!