I know, I know… you were hoping to come here and see some amazing long blogs about my adventures abroad. I admit, I have totally slacked on it. Namley, because work has been hella busy and anyone that travels for work knows it’s 99.5% and .5% fun and exploration.
I do have some pics to post that will show up in the coming days. Till then, here’s a brief recap on the non-office travels.
Wednesday of last week (I told you I was behind), I met my boss and a few other executives with our company and our partner at an amazing resteraunt called Hakkasan. It’s located in Soho and apparently is one of the places to go in London – so much that if you don’t order within a short while of arriving for your reservation, they ask you to leave. We had lots of amazing food, including scallops, duck, beef and fish. Every dish was like something off Top Chef. Sitting there talking work, it was funny to stop and think about how my boss and I were thousands of miles from the office, and happened to be in London (unplanned) at the same time. After dinner it was off to a nice lounge for drinks before heading back out to Heathrow.
Friday, Jeff’s cousin Ritchie who lives in the UK came in and picked me up to head out to his town of Whistable, which is in the neighboring county of Kent, about an hour and a half from London. We made it out his place around 2a and stayed up till just past 6a having a few beers and doing a lot of catching up. (Brief back story – I first met Ritchie and his family over the summer when they came to the States and spent a weekend in Austin floating the river and having a blast.)
After a quick nap, we were up and crashing the town of Canterbury with his girlfriend Lucy, about 20 minutes away. From shopping, to sights, to protesting Santa’s, Ritchie showed me the local side of the UK – outside the hustle and bustle of the business London. A stop at a local pub and a few beers and rounds of pool later, I was ready for a nap to regroup.
That night, we went and hit up a local pub before heading to Chill for lots of dancing and drinks. The music was awesome, the dancing was fun and the company was the best – Ritchie, Lucy and their friend Sarah. After burning off all the calories I was about to eat, we grabbed a takeout kabob from down the road. Here’s the fun fact – they can deliver beer, but they can’t sell it to you in the restaurant to go. Ever ask for a delivery with the address being “across the street”? We did. All the while I was getting lots of love from Jeff and the Fab Five via text, who were at the annual Christmas party celebrating sobriety and baking cookies 
Come 4:30a we all were set to crash and sleep in the next morning. We had big lunch plans – we were headed to the carver for, as Ritchie calls, a proper roast lunch. Straight off the carving station, it was roast beef, ham and turkey – so good after a night out. Later that afternoon, I caught the train back into town and prepared for the week – which is where you find me now. Many thanks to Ritchie, Lucy, Sarah and Mr & Mrs Taylor for their hospitality and for the awesome adventure.
Tomorrow afternoon wraps up my last day in the office. Thursday holds a 90 minute morning meeting, then a 9 hour flight back home.
Chance of snow tomorrow… We’ll see!
Pictures on the way – stay tuned.
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