from Pall Mall to Park Lane

I am writing this from my new offices - the firm moved to new diggs on Park Lane, right next to the Dorchester Hotel, one of the most expensive in London. If I went and looked out the window, I'd see some Bentleys, Lambourghinis's... you know, that sort of thing. We are right across from Hyde Park, so I've gone to each my packed lunch there already. The new offices are really nice and fancy - all white and glass and modern, very posh.

Hrm, what have I been up to the past week or so? Well last week at work had some very late nights (post midnight) due to a brief submission. I got pretty run down with it all, and by Thursday knew I wasn't well. Fortunately due to the office move we Interns were given Friday off, so when I woke up feeling ill I didn't have to phone in sick!

But being the consumate tourist I am, I didn't let a little thing like a cold get in the way of seeing the countryside! On Friday I took a trip out to an old manor named Knole, which is in the heart of an ancient deer park, where the Kings used to go hunting. It was soooo lovely!! I really enjoyed it. The weather in London has also been fantastic recently - every day has been between 27 and 30, so there was some good 'bone warming' time in teh sunshine.

Saturday I joined up with other members of the Katherine Swynford Society for a walk around London looking at what remains of the 14th century. Not many (but some) of the buildings exist anymore, but we were still able to use our imagination, and I got to learn a few new areas of the city which, remarkably, I hadn't discovered yet. If you are interested, check out my Flickr site for photos, and if you are interested, look up Katherine and become as obsessed as me!

On Sunday my new friend Kathryn and I went on a journey up to Hatfield, where Elizabeth I was raised and later imprisioned. It is also where she found out she had become Queen, and she later gave the property to her Prime Minister - Lord Burley (Cecil), and it has remained in his direct line ever since. It has always been a dream of mine to see Hatfield and it really lived up to my expectations - it was fantastic! After our visit we stopped off at a local pub to watch the tragedy which was the England/Germany football match. I have a feeling the curse I have with hockey has transposed onto football, as I had a England jersey on me for the first time and they got thumped... so who should I go for and who should I officially support, as we move forward?!

No big plans for this coming week, other than to go to Trafalgar Square on Canada Day... I'd really like to get over the cold I've got - I lost my voice completely on Saturday and have sounded terrible ever since. I'm not sick enough to hit up a doctor, but am still sick enough to not feel great! Stupid foreign colds!!

hugs to all back home. hope you are well.

The Past Week

I've been trying to come up with some sort of exciting blog update for the past week, but I don't have much to say about it.

Work kept me late every day of the week, average again being 8pm, sometimes later. The work itself isn't too strenuous and it's not 'full on', because the work we do has to be reviewed before they send us more work, so there is down time as well. Still, working so much puts a real downer on the extra curricular activites (like running....) because it takes an hour to get home.  Ah well.

Interesting things:

On June 18 it was the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's French resistence speach, and because he'd set up his french resistance at my work offices, we had a visit from the President of France - Mr. Sarkozy and his supermodel wife Carla Bruni, and Prince Charles. The security for it was interesting - we weren't allowed out on our balcony but were able to open windows... After all the important people left us Interns were allowed downstairs and I took some photos of the boardrooms etc - I've had meetings in them already, but it felt cooler now that the people had been in them LOL!



On Saturday I went out to Newbury, in zone 4, to have a BBQ with the interns at one intern's home. It was pretty fun, all things considered... our grill was pretty epic:



My half-aunt Terri was back in town this weekend after a 2 week whirlwind tour of Europe, so I saw her both on Friday night out in Richmond, and then on Sunday.  That day we took a Thames River Cruise up to Greenwich and spent some fun hours in the market and sitting on the grass outside the Observatory, as well as getting the standard 'feet on each side of the meridian' photos.

This week my Firm is moving from Carlton Gardens to Park Lane, across from Hyde Park. I'm not sure how the week is going to be, work wise, as most of the office is getting packed up for the move. Next Monday I'll start a new commute!

Hopefully this weekend I can do some real tourist stuff! :) Hope all is well with everyone back home.

photos online

I've managed to post my photos (to date) up on Flickr, so enjoy if you've got some time.

I have a generic 'London' set, which will have every photo taken in it. It's manageable right now, but may get big as the summer goes.

To manage that, I'm going to set up 'special' sets for things I do to make it easier for the casual observer...  They will also be in 'better' order, as if I take any video, they don't mesh nicely with the 'sort by date taken' requests.

anyway, that's that. back to work.

A Royal Day Out and then a Royal Home

So this past Sunday was the Trooping of the Colours, part of the events recognizing the Queens birthday. I went down to the Mall to watch it all - wow was it super cool! I saw gazillions of marching bands, red-coats, all sorts of pagentry and 'britishness'.  Also got to see quite a few of the Royals!!! I saw the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenies, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne, and then probably some others that I don't know their name. It was AWESOME!!!  I also got to participate in that epic sceen from TV - the crowd spilling into the Mall, going down to the plaza infront of Buckingham Palace, and cheer when the Royal Family comes out on the balconey to wave and watch a royal fly over by the military.  Oh WOW was it cool!!!!

I also watched the USA v England football game at a pub near Kings Cross.... with a bunch of Americans... man was I playing with fire!!! But it was all good-hearted fun (probably because of how the game ended up...)

On Sunday I went out to Hever, the birthplace and home of Anne Boleyn and divorce settlement home of Anne of Cleaves, as well as the later home of the famous Astor Family.  The park land and house were just lovely!!! I definitely reccomend it, even though it took me 4 trains to get to it (not a regular tourist attraction from London, but lots of coach tours go there).

Otherwise London is treating me well. I'm starting to upload on to Flickr, so check there for photos if you wish.  I'm working most nights until 8pm, sometimes later. This week we've been told to clear both work and personal schedules as there is a major brief which needs filing. I think that means I'll be at work until midnight most nights, but nothing is confirmed yet. 

I hope everyone at home is well. Feel free to send me an email or whatever.. I also accept care packages!! heheheeheh!!!!

ok - some photos...

Princess Anne

Dutchess Camilla and Prince William

Princesses Eugiene and Beatrice and Prince Andrew

14.5 years later...

I haven't seen my half-aunt Terri since she was 13 and I was 14, when I went to South Africa (only time I've been back since coming to Canada)...

So here we are, in London, each having flown half way around the world, to meet up in a pub called the Bountiful Cow..... I'd come straight from work (left work at 8pm... the new London life).. and she'd just landed 3 hours earlier!

some pics

A few pic's from today - we had sunshine so I whipped out my 'purse' camera...

my desk at work:

me just outside my desk area

and a better view of what I look at while eating lunch...

first few days

Figured I should try be more on top of my blog this year, so here's my first go at it!

First few days have been pretty low key. Weather has been typical London stuff - grim, grey and wet. I look forward to some sunny days in the future, but right now it feels like the damp has just set in!

I did manage to stay awake upon arrival until 9:30pm, and followed that with a 12 hour sleep, which is crazy impressive for me! Yesterday I was a bit of a tourist, in a 'local' kind of way. First I went shopping on Oxford Street (hehehe) and bought a new mobile, some suit pants, and a few other household items only found on that street. I then went to the Tate Britain - I hadn't been in years and I must say I was very impressed. I'd recommend it for sure, if you get a few tube stops out of the 'main' tourist circle.

Today was my first day of work. Now, here's some googling for you - I'm at 4 Carlton Gardens. Look it up. You'll notice that I'm a stones throw from Buckingham Palace... on the Mall, across from St. James Park. It's CRAZY!!! From my office window I can see the Palace to my right, and straight ahead I can see Parliament (Big Ben) and Westminster Abbey, along with all sorts of other London sites... the only downer of it all is that I have to share my office with 8 other interns LOL!!!!!!  And, oh shucks, I have to walk through Trafalgar Square to get to my tube station (Charring Cross), or alternatively go up to Piccadilly Circus....

jealous yet? heheheheheh Don't worry, I'm totally appreciating every second of this!

Work itself hasn't been to strenuous so far. Not sure what's ahead, but right now I'm checking and finding citations for a text book one of the lawyers is writing. Kind of amusing seeing how often he is quoting himself from his other text books.... HA!

Anyway, that's all for now. Time for some microwave dinner and a look at the Tele... =P