If you wanna be a dancer, dance

Tonight, Ann and I saw the musical Billy Elliot - and it was the best musical I have ever seen. It was phenomenal!! Absolutely phenomenal. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. Ann miraculously managed to get 6th row center seats for £20 each - one of the the LUCKIEST days of our lives! The show was overflowing with amazing talent, most notably from the kids in the show; the story is about a young boy (Billy Elliot) and lots of kids are featured.

Things I Fancy from My Office - Part 6

At work, there is a cereal and crisp wall (crisps = chips and chips = fries). Today I was excited to see this chocolatey cereal available:

Earth to Britain, these are COCO KRISPIES. Not Coco Pops.

There are places I remember...

Today after work, Nargis and I went to Abbey Road to walk that famous walk of the Beatles! The infamous crosswalk seemed pretty small actually - it's across a 2 lane road - but it's right outside of Abbey Studios, where the Beatles recorded 90% of their songs. The outside wall of the studio is covered in graffiti, most of which is Beatles lyrics with the occasional proposal. It was only one tube stop away from work, so it was a perfect post-work activity.

Walking the Walk

Things I Fancy from My Office - Part 5

We got a new intern today. Her name is Amy. She, like all the other interns but me, is British.

Amy thinks the idea of Peanut Butter & Jelly is disgusting. She finds it to be the strangest combo.

I can't believe this.

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go."

My Saturday morning began with Shakespeare. The program set up a tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The theatre itself is not the original (a bridge was built over the first Globe), but it was recreated using all the same techniques and materials that the first was built with. Our tour guide gave us a fascinating depiction of life in the time of Shakespeare, the nature of the theatre, and how his plays were designed to be performed in spaces such as the Globe. It made me want to see a Shakespeare play there! I don't know if I'll have the time to do that (plus the only area available is standing, and I don't think I can stand for the entire duration of a Shakespeare play). We'll see.

The outside of the Globe Theatre

The inside of the Globe Theatre

After the tour, Nargis and I decided to head uptown for my first trip to Harrods. What an overwhelming place! It is definitely a must-see of London, but be prepared! I found Harrods to be overcrowded and cluttered. The layout was not at all easy to navigate, and they didn't have maps. But it's a fun place to explore - my favorite sections were the pet department, the instrument department, and of course the dessert bar and food court!

The rest of the day was filled with a little shopping and a relaxing evening of a movie and laundry at Nido.

On Sunday, Katelyn, Ann and I went back to the Harrods area for church. I was intrigued by Katelyn's description of it, so I decide to accompany them this week. It was a protestant church, and they sang the whole time. I had a hard time digesting it all after being so used to Catholic structure.

Church always makes me crave donuts. There's something about waking up early on a Sunday to go to church that seems to make one very deserving of baked goods. Good thing we passed a French patisserie on the way back! Cream-filled donut mission accomplished.

We then walked to Hyde Park, the largest park in London. It's amazing how you can walk down the busy, urban streets of downtown London into the quiet serenity of its parks and feel like you're in a whole different region. Our goal was to visit Kensington Palace, where many people of royalty have stayed over the centuries, including Princess Diana. Hyde Park is huge, however, so it took us a while to find it. It was a beautiful Sunday for a walk in the park, so we enjoyed every moment of it!

We eventually found the Palace and settled down by a beautiful garden (pic below) to wait for Nargis to join us. We found out that the palace is undergoing a huge restoration project, unfortunately, so most of it is closed for the next two years. I was really bummed - it is rumored to be gorgeous, and they have dresses on display from both Diana and other women of royalty. Cest la vie. We saved £11 though, so that was good.

At Kensington Gardens outside Kensington palace

The beautiful gardens at Kensington Palace

The rest of the day brought some more shopping, relaxing, picture sharing, and enjoying each other's company. I enjoyed a nice long video chat with my mom and then with Ryan, and I ended the day with a rejuvenating run. I can't believe I only have one weekend left in London; Before I know it, I will be back in the States in less than 2 weeks.

Galleries, Bridges, and Art - oh my!

My second-to-last weekend has begun! Unfortunately, this weekend brings quite a bit of sadness as Katie leaves tomorrow morning :( I can't imagine my London experience without her, and I have a strong hunch that the last two weeks will not be nearly as fun without her. It was amazing to have such a close friend so close by to help me adjust to being here, and to have someone to relate to who really knows me. I couldn't have been luckier to have her for as long as I did! The sheer coincidence of our situation proves to me that there are people who come into your life for a reason and are meant to stay in your life for a very, very long time.

Katie, you will be so badly missed here in London, but this is still just the beginning of our lifelong friendship, and I will see you back home very soon!

Then...

...and now.

So in honor of Katie's departure, Katelyn, Nargis and I went out last night to meet up with Katie. Our unsophisticated London phones weren't working to our advantage, unfortunately, so it took a while to meet up. But in the meantime, we hung out in Covent Garden for a while before meeting up with Katie and Melissa in King's Cross. I'm so glad we had one last chance to go out together and enjoy each other's company.

Low-key night out after a full work week

On this lovely Friday, I once again enjoyed not having to go into work. Instead, Nargis and I had a day in the city visiting some of London's top sites! We left after a semi-shakey morning of me locking myself out of my room, but all was fixed and back to normal in no time and we headed to the station to embark on a day of culture.

Our first stop was the British Museum, a London classic. The British Museum is a great collection of historical artifacts, the most famous of which is the Rosetta Stone, which helped decode ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The British Museum

The Rosetta Stone

Om.

Nargis and I grabbed a sandwich for lunch between stops, then we traveled down to the river. We walked across Millennium Bridge to get to the Tate Modern, aka the most amazing art gallery on earth. I am completely in love with the collection at the Tate Modern. I love modern art; I find it very thought-provoking and inspiring. So the Tate was the place for me!

On the Millennium Bridge on the way to the Tate Modern!

The Tate Modern was my favorite place I've visited in London. I just wish it could have gone on forever! But alas, the time came to move along (and Nargis isn't as enamored with contemporary art as I am). We swung by Topshop, a London "must" store, before heading home. A whole day on our feet becoming more cultured is always exhausting! So I got to spend the evening relaxing, catching up with my bffaeaeae Theresa and getting an overdue dose of healthy laughing with Seester.

Later on in the night, I decided that Nargis and I were being boring. My initial plan was to take her to see Platform 9 and 3/4 (yes, the one from Harry Potter), but we ended up checking out a classy pub nearby with a cool vibe that a staffer recommended to us. Then we got McDonalds and it was amazing. The end.

A Really Big Post (including Paris)

I've had a lot going on lately, so I haven't been updating the blog as I should be! Here's an update of the end of last week, my weekend trip to Paris, and the beginning of this week.

Last week

Last Tuesday night, the girls all went to see the new Twilight movie Eclipse at a nearby cinema. I must admit, I enjoyed it a lot actually. It was a lot better than the first two films. Then on Wednesday I had a program seminar and info session about Paris. The seminar was about networking - a skill I really need to work on.

Thursday was pretty exciting. Tilly and I went down the road to Proximity London, another agency in the network, for after work drinks with some new friends who work there. Proximity London is SO much more exciting than what we've seen of BBDO London - they have a bar, a softball team, and an office dog! The people I met were really nice, and being American gave me an interesting edge to talk about. After hanging out in their bar/cafe area for a while, 8 or so of us (including Tilly) went to Pizza Express, a chain of Italian restaurants, in Soho. It was nice to get out with people who also worked in the network, since our part of the office isn't the most social. Then I went home and had to pack! Katie came over for a while to help me, and then it was off to bed to prepare for my early morning.

Friday

My day started at 5am to get ready, finalize packing, and head off to catch the 7:30 Eurostar train to Paris. The trip was organized by University of Dreams, so all 50ish of us went. We were split into 2 different train groups, and luckily I was on the second group (apparently the first was super rowdy -- oh American frat boys).

When we arrived to Paris, we hopped right on the underground and went to the hotel to drop off our luggage. Then Katelyn, Nargis, Ann and myself headed out for a walk through Paris and some early sightseeing! As we walked through the area around our hotel toward the river, we stopped at a creperie for a delicious crepe lunch. I had a "crepe complete" with ham, cheese, and eggs, and I had a sweet nutella crepe. Heaven!! We continued on after lunch and came across the Notre Dame. After walking through, we went on to the Louvre. Finally, I get to see the Louvre! As a big art fan, I was ecstatic to explore the huge gallery. We saw the Mona Lisa (underwhelming as expected), but we also got to see a bunch of Spanish art, which is my favorite. The coolest part about the Louvre was seeing the lavish decorations of Napoleon's apartments. Very regal and elegant! It was really cool to see.

The Louvre is so huge that it makes you exhausted in record time, so it wasn't long before the girls were ready to head back to the hotel for a rest. I got cleaned up and then it was time to climb the Eiffel Tower at night! A long queue and hundreds of stairs were totally worth it - the tower lit up while we were on it! What a beautiful view of Paris.

After climbing the Eiffel Tower, I really wanted to meet up for dinner with Katie and Melissa who were also in Paris for the weekend, but they were staying on the opposite end of town so they had to get back before the metro closed. But I got to give Katie a I-can't-believe-we're-both-in-Paris-right-now hug before they left the cafe where they had dinner. The Dreamer group (Katelyn, Nargis, Ann, and myself) stayed and had a so-so dinner there. We walked back to our hotel and crashed for the night, but I did get to chat with Ryan for a bit before going to bed. Always a great way to end the day :)

Exploring the streets of Paris for the first time

Paris

Crepes for lunch

Ann and me at lunch on Friday

Le Notre Dame

In front of the Louvre

Napoleon's apartments

River Seine

In front of the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Starting to climb the Eiffel Tower stairs

The Eiffel Tower

Saturday

I woke up on Saturday morning to the promise of a big breakfast - and I wasn't disappointed! The hotel definitely delivered with croissants and pastries, really good coffee, yogurt, eggs, FRUIT, bread, the works. To start the day, the Dreamer girls went with Stefan, our program director, to visit the Sacre Coeur in Montmarte. I briefly got to see Katie and Melissa there before they headed toward central Paris to do the things we did on Friday. The Sacre Coeur is beautiful, but I prefer the Notre Dame. Montmarte is a super cool area though - there was a square overflowing with artists offering to sketch passersby and tourists and to sell their paintings of the city.

From Montmarte, we walked with Stefan through north Paris. He is a native French speaker, which is always nice to have on hand when in France! On the way, we stopped in a small bakery and grabbed some bread to munch on. I shared a baguette with Ann, and I also got a macaroon - and oh my goodness my life will never be the same. It was definitely the best part of the trip! All the problems of the world could be solved with Parisian macaroons I swear.

Stefan took us through the posh area of Paris, where the high-end shopping and residences are located, as well as the Ritz (where Princess Diana used to stay of course). From there, we walked down the infamous Champs-Elysees, where we were able to do a little bit of shopping on the way toward the Arc de Triomphe. Nargis wasn't feeling to good, however, so we went back to the hotel for a rest before heading back out in our area for some more shopping.

While Nargis rested, Katelyn, Ann, and I wandered back out to the streets of Paris. Ann was on a Longchamp mission for the afternoon - a French accessory brand. Longchamp bags are big in the States but even bigger in Europe - everyone has them in London! She was super excited to get her 2 new Longchamp bags from the actual Longchamp store in Paris. It was quite fun!

Before we knew it, stores began closing up and it was time to find a restaurant for dinner. We found an amazing looking menu that featured an eye-catching salmon dish, so we quickly grabbed a table (and I grabbed Nargis) for an exceptional French meal! I started with a traditional French Onion Soup (when in France...), and I did get the salmon dish, as did Katelyn and Ann. We were blown away by the sweet potatoes au gratin that accompanied it - amazing!! We all shared a bottle of French wine and a creme brulee to finish the meal. It was by far my favorite dinner of this entire trip! Katelyn and Ann were too tired to go on, unfortunately, and I was really bummed when they went back to the hotel to go to bed before 10 o'clock. I couldn't bring myself to retiring that early on a Saturday night in Paris - my last night - so Nargis and I went to a nearby Jazz club. Kind of random, and we were definitely the youngest people there,

but it was a chill atmosphere with live music, so I wasn't complaining. We did go back after a while though, and Ryan called the hotel when I got back so we could chat again :)

The Sacre Coeur

Lifelong friends meeting up in Paris

"Dreamers" outside the Sacre Coeur

Highlight of my trip - this chocolate macaroon!

I found heaven in Paris in Macaroon form

The Arc de Triomphe

Katelyn and Ann with the amazing salmon and sweet potatoes au gratin dish

La Marquise, where we had dinner

Sunday

My last day in Paris. Katelyn and Ann were bit by the retail bug this weekend, and they wanted to continue shopping. Unfortunately, we found that everything is closed on Sundays in Paris, so that wasn't a reality. But we did come across a great market that was really fun to explore! Then Nargis had to get some souvenirs to bring home, so we walked to the touristy areas by the Notre Dame.

The weather was superb all weekend, but especially on Sunday - a perfect day for a picnic in Luxemberg Gardens! We picked up some food at the store by the hotel and went with some staffers to the beautiful garden for lunch. I picked up some brie and a nectarine at the store and grabbed a baguette on the way to the garden. I felt very French :) After lunch, I split off from the Dreamer group and went with Katie and Melissa to go on a cruise down the River Seine. What a lovely way to end my weekend in Paris. It was a really relaxing cruise, and we got to take in all the beautiful sights of the city one last time before heading back to London.

Paris is crazily accessible from London - 2 hours on a train and you're there! I got to catch up on some reading on the train ride home, and before I knew it we were back in London preparing for another work week. I enjoyed my last bits of Parisian food on the way home - I grabbed a final baguette, a small quiche, and 3 mini macaroons for dinner. It was perfect.

I really enjoyed Paris a lot, and I'm really grateful that I had the opportunity to go. It was a little strange to be there without people I was really close to, though - being in the most romantic city in the world with girlfriends was quite fun, but didn't always feel right, haha. And European travel always reminds me of Rink family European trips that I miss and appreciate so much. I definitely want to go back to France in the future, but I want to speak French when I go! I learned as much of the language as I could while I was there, and I promised myself that I would learn it before going back.

Exploring the Sunday market

Picnic lunch in Luxemberg Gardens with Ann, Katelyn, Nargis, and 2 of our program staff members

Katie and Melissa boarding the river cruise boat

This bridge was covered with padlocks where people wrote their names and wedding dates - so sweet.

Monday

I had my big presentation at work. It went very smoothly. It wasn't for many people, there were oly about 20 at the meeting. But the network head of Europe (who, ironically, is also American) was there, as were people from several departments. And at the end of the meeting, I found out that I was nominated for "European of the Month", someone who is recognized from that group. I didn't win (the guy who did was doing 10 weeks placement at BBDO Germany), but it was nice to be recognized! The meeting rocked because there was chocolate amaretto mousse. After work, I got to skype with the rents, and then I went for a run.

Tuesday

After a normal day at work, I met up with Nargis and Katelyn to see the movie Inception on Britain's largest screen. It was really good. And intense. Lots of gun shots. But it was really well done. Then I rushed off to Soho to meet up with Katie and Emmalilly for an NDP reunion. Unfortunately, we couldn't find Emmalilly, but Katie and I had a nice time grabbing a drink (and dinner for me) and talking about life, feminism, friends, home, and leaving London :(

Things I Fancy from My Office - Part 4

Today, I am wearing my basic black patent leather flats. I was talking to my boss when the following conversation happened:

Boss: "Oh, I like your pumps" as she pointed at my shoes.

Me: "Thanks, they're flats actually but I really like them"

Boss: "No, they're pumps"

Me: "No, pumps have heels"

Jo: "Pumps here are flats."

WHAAA?. Weird British-isms.

When I got back to my desk, I Google-imaged the word "pumps" and only heels came up. Booyah.

Things I Fancy from My Office - Part 3

Me: "Tilly, how do you say the word f-i-l-l-e-t-s??"

Tilly: "Fill-its".

Me: "Are you serious???"

Tilly: "How do you pronounce it?"

Me: "Fih-layys"

Tilly: "This will never get old."

Berlin, Germany

This past weekend, Nargis and I ventured outside of England to Germany's capital, Berlin. We had booked our trip without knowing what we would find there, so I didn't have a lot of expectations going into the trip. But I found that it was much more challenging than I had anticipated.

Friday

We left London after some 2 hours of sleep at 2am to catch our train out of London. Then we took a shuttle from the train station to the airport. We flew with Easyjet, a bizarre cheap airline that isn't so easy. They don't post the gate until a few minutes before boarding, so when that gate number goes up, everyone rushes to the gate. Then, there's no assigned seats so it is a zoo to try to sit with your group. Luckily, Nargis and I got to the front of the queue and sat together.

After a train, an underground, and 2 buses (we initially got on the wrong way), we finally reached our hotel. When I went to grab my camera to take a pic of our room, I soon realized it was nowhere to be found. I'm super bummed about it, I absolutely loved that camera. But I got a new one on Monday, not nearly as good but it will suffice. So we used Nargis' camera all weekend and still ended up with great memories.

The first 2 things about Berlin to adjust to were the language and the HEAT. It was so incredibly hot this weekend - without a doubt, the hottest temperatures I've been in since India. And it felt like India. We made our way around language barriers for the most part all weekend, but the toughest part was decoding menus.

We spent our Friday afternoon on a sightseeing bus tour of Berlin. It was great to get to see the city and hear about its history a bit. Of course, I almost lost my bus ticket so we were just about to be kicked off when a girl found it on the floor - it was a miracle. I was just a total mess on Friday.

The city of Berlin itself is fascinating. Its history is evident everywhere, and it's shocking to realize how recent the city's history really is, especially when considering that the Berlin Wall was built 41 years ago and was taken down only 20 years ago. There's quite a bit of construction, but the construction has a lot of significance because it's an indication that the city is still rebuilding after everything it has been through.

An old church that was bombed during the war. It was never repaired - rather, it now stands as a memorial.

The East Side Gallery - the only remaining part of the Berlin Wall, which has now become one of the world's longest art galleries. The works of art calls for peace.

In front of the Brandenburg Gate, which once stood as a symbol of the city as divided. Now it stands for Berlin's reunification.

The Brandenburg Tor [Gate]

The Berlin Dom [Cathedral]

Reichstag, the German parliament building. We climbed to the top of that glass dome!

Berlin Fashion Week 2010!

The Holocaust Memorial

We got around mainly by the underground, which was easy to navigate as long as we could read the stops (pronouncing them wasn't a reality for us). On Friday night we just crashed at the hotel, since we had been up and moving since 2am.

Our hotel was nice but a little far out of the city. Definitely manageable though, and it was SO nice to get a nice, clean bed after a month of Nido beds. Our first day in Germany left us nervous about the rest of the trip, but our outlook definitely improved as the weekend went on.

Saturday

On our second day in Berlin, Nargis and I decided to visit Sachsenhausen, the first concentration camp. Sashsenhausen was designed for concentrating mass numbers of human beings together and putting them to slave labor, and an unfathomable number of atrocities against humanity took place here. It was definitely a hard historical reality to face, but we both felt that it was an important thing to experience.

The camp is located outside of the city, so we had to take a train to get there. We went through a tour company that took us from Berlin to the camp and back, which was really helpful. We learned so, so much on our 4-hour tour in the blistering summer heat. It is definitely difficult information to digest, so I will not share much about it here. Sachsenhausen was built to hold 10,000 prisoners, but it held up to 58,000 at any one point from 1936 to 1950 - but numbers changed every day, given the conditions that people were forced to try to live in. Our tour guide took us through the multiple phases the camp went through; it has been used at different times by different groups, but none of its purposes were at all good.

"Work Sets You Free" - the ironic mantra of the slave labor camp.

The road walked first by hundreds of thousands

Taking a peek into solitary confinement cells

We definitely needed to unwind after such a draining experience. So after our train back to the city, we went on a hunt for Prater Beirgarten, which was recommended to us by our Sachsenhausen tour guide. It was a little bit of a hike, but well worth it!! Prater was an outdoor area with a bunch of picnic tables. They have live music often during the summer, but we didn't stay long enough for that. It was a fun, chill environment.

So much better now!

Pretzel and Beer - How yummy does that look?!?

Afterward, we headed to Alexanderplatz, a central plaza in the city, for a drink and some people watching. Then it was back to the hotel to crash again - but we heard the city come alive when Germany won the football game. We could even see fireworks from our hotel window!

Hanging out in Alexanderplatz - one of the central plazas in Berlin

Nargis and me in front of the iconic TV tower

Sunday

Our last day in Berlin. We checked out in the morning and headed out to a day of museum visiting. We started at the Pergamon museum, which is filled with historical artifacts from civilizations past. It was really cool! My favorite things were a city arch from ancient Babylon and a wooden ceiling from the Alhambra, even though I didn't understand why it wasn't in the Alhambra.

At the Pergamon Museum

At the Pergamon

We were starving by the time we left the museum, and a menu promoting salads (a rarity in Europe) caught our eye. I had a chicken caesar salad as a bit of comfort food; it was really good! After the Pergamon, Nargis and I decided to walk around and explore (despite the heat), staying in as much shade as possible. We came across a few churches, the Berlin Fashion Week tent, and the most amazing chocolate store of all time!! The German chocolate company Ritter Sport has a very fun, colorful, and air-conditioned store in Berlin. The multi-level establishment even has it's own chocolate museum, where visitors can learn about how they make chocolate. We hung out here for about an hour enjoying a drink and the air conditioning. It was pure heaven.

Nargis learning about how chocolate is made

Giant tower of Chocolate!

We had one last sightseeing stop in the city before we left - Checkpoint Charlie. This is a small post that acted as the American checkpoint from when the city was divided 4 ways - East Berlin was under control of the Soviets, and West Berlin was divided into American, British, and French-run territories.

I had an unfortunate run-in at Checkpoint Charlie however, which wasn't a happy way to end the trip. Nargis was looking through some nearby souvenir tables. She decided not to buy anything, and when we turned to leave the old man running the table spit on my arm! It was absolutely disgusting. I turned around and he was just scowling at me. I don't know what he expected to accomplish by spitting on me, but I washed my arm 5000000 times and quickly moved on since there was really nothing I could do about it. It was gross. Not fun.

Checkpoint Charlie

But then we went back to the train station and went on our way back to the crowded airport. Our flight was delayed about a half hour, so we didn't get home till about 2am. It was a long and exhausting weekend, but we learned a lot. It was incredibly hot the whole time. Being away for the weekend actually made me appreciate the ease of London much more. I think navigating through an unfamiliar region is an important experience to have. We were challenged a lot, we had some fun, and we got back safely. I'd say it was a success.

Kurt-Schumacher-Platz, our underground station

Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin