Tulip Extravagansa

This past weekend has been the best since I've been here and this is why!

Friday night I took an overnight bus into Netherlands.  It was quite the experience I thought as the bus journey went rather quickly, there were some times to take a rest.  Upon reaching the city of Dover, we were about in line for the cue to enter the cruise ship.  Then police came over and directed our bus to go to customs to be SEARCHED!  Fun stuff.  So the bus turns around (we miss our ferry) but we all go through custom (french customs) and there are dogs sniffing peoples bags etc.  No questions for me really, they let me straight on it with limited questions.  Alot of people had gotten asked a lot.  Finally we all made it through and the bus entered the ferry and we crossed the English Channel in 1.5 hours.  Ended up still getting into Amsterdam a little bit earlier then expected which was very nice.

I got to Amstel station - which is a smaller train/bus station not really centrally located.  I needed to catch a train from Amstel Station to Centraal Station and then a train from Centraal to the Schiphol Airport.  From the airport I then needed to catch a bus to Lisse to go to the flower gardens!  WHEW.  Luckily I can say that since I'm such an awesome traveler and had been to Amsterdam before, I did this with no problems.  Only issue was my card(s) didn't work in the Train ticket machines, nothing was open for me to break a euro bill and there was the nicest train conductor dude that broke my 5 euro bill.  Thankfully for him!

Here are some pics!

Milano - Business Trip

On Wednesday and Thursday I got to adventure to Milan to do some training for our Italian team!  I was first of all super excited to get back to Italy and secondly excited to go on my first Euro business trip.  I left on Wednesday around noon.  I flew with Luftansa, nice(r) airline then what I'm used too.  Upon getting settled in the air, they come around with drinks and LUNCH!  I was so impressed first of all because you don't get this in the states unless you're flying business or you're going a long distance.  Then I notice wine on the cart and I ask how much a glass of wine is and the gay stewardess said to me ''We aren't in America'' and he frowns with a shitty smirk on his face!  HOW RUDE.  But it was kind of funny.  So I splurged for the wine with my lunch and got a coca cola light!  It's still called Diet Coke in UK, however I think everywhere else in EU it's called Coke Light.

I finally got to the airport and after a 1 hour taxi cab (90 Euros) to my hotel, I was already tired!  Not tired enough to figure out where the city was and get to the city centre to see the duomo!  My hotel was situated pretty far outside of the city, but luckily there was this major fair that was going on and they had directions in the hotel for how to get there.  I grabbed one of these sheets for directions and I was on my way!  The city took about an hour to get too, had to take the bus and then about 20 metro stops away!  I did make it though and decided to get off the metro at the stop called ''Duomo''.  Figured this would be a good area to stop.  Once going up the stairs outside the Metro I see the famous cathedral!  It was really pretty and also very nice to see against the clear blue skies.  I was a little annoyed as I am with a lot of nice buildings in Europe as it was under construction -- OF COURSE.  I settled for a nice dinner in the city center and decided to head back before dark.

I took the metro all the way to the last stop and then got out and ready for the bus.  I noted on the bus stop sign that the last bus left around 8:20!  WHAT.  So early.  So here I am stranded and not sure where to go.  I knew that I wasn't too far away from my hotel as riding the metro was my biggest part of the journey.  I notice that others are also realizing that the bus has stopped running and they don't know what to do.  I stumbed across this nice couple from Columbia and discovered they were in the same hotel as me.  Luckily I had my cell phone handy because after waiting for 15-20 minutes no taxis even drove by!  Quite a bummer really.  I found a number to call and they didn't speak English, however my Columbian friend could speak a little Italian because he was fluent in Spanish.  He spoke to the taxi company and one arrived about 30 minutes later.  What an adventure.  I never get stranded like that when I travel.  At least I did it while I was on business!

The next day in the office was quite nice.  Somone from the office picked me up and it was nice to finally meet someone that you work with quite frequently.  Always nice to associate a name with a face.  The team was very excited to meet me and hear about my story with the company.  It was quite a good experience for me to teach a team that didn't speak English very well and a lot of what I said had to be translated to others on the team.  I really enjoyed this and the cultural experience!  This is why I'm over here!  Then I said goodbye with a kiss on each cheek.  I love Italy!  Taxi cab back to airport and back to Heathrow!  Successful Italian Trip

Sunny Sunday in London

Sunday I walked and walked around London.  I enjoyed some new sights and just being out in the sunshine!  It was gorgeous outside!

I had major plans to see the national gallery but when I realized how nice it was I just wanted to stay outside.  I drank about 3 coffees and took 400 pictures.

Here are my favorites

And more Shopping!

Round 2 --

I FOUND THE MARKETS!

Fresh fruit -- 1 Quid the people shout.  I got 2 little baskets of cherry tomatos for 1 quid - about 9 bananas for 1 quid and a box of mangos - (2 LARGE) for 1 quid.  Then a set of four peppers (red, orange, green, yellow) 1 quid!  I was in LOVE.  I'm going every Friday when I work from home.

I went to H&M and got some cute stuff for my upcoming holiday!  WOOT!.  Today is such a beautiful day

Shopping!

Today was my first real shopping experience shall I say.  I went to the mall here in Guildford which is super close to where I live.  I went to this store call Primark as recommendation from friend!  It was really cheap there -- but quality was so so .  I tried on some clothes but nothing seemed to really work.  Then -- I came across some much needed necessities.  Bought another pillow, sheets, bed mattress cover and pillow cases for 17 GBP.  Didn't think that was a bad price at all!  They are dark pink color and are washing right now!  YES!

So this is bad of me but I was hungry and went to mcdonalds in the small for a small ice cream.  I unfortunately or fortunately discovered the BEST dessert ever.  1.19 GBP Cadbury Creme Egg McFlurry.  WOW!

I dropped off my bags - got some lunch and I'm going back out again!  More to come.....

Updates on Life in the UK!

It's been a while since I've written a plain good old update about life here:

I have been here for exactly 6 weeks as of today!  Almost to the hour as of right now as a matter of fact.  So far I have been enjoying every little bit!  The life, the culture, and the learning (oh so much learning).  The people here so far have been overly friendly and I have also met some very nice people in my travels who are so interested in me (American girl who is traveling to these one off weird places by myself).   I have said it once and will say it again, Americans do not travel like Europeans or for that matter any other culture.  I think that it's primarily due to that fact that we hardly get any vacation time and they get so much over here.  So they are all very surprised when they meet an American girl who is going to these random places by myself and how well traveled I am at the ''young'' age of 25 they say!  People will always ask how old I am and they think that I'm well over 30 because of all of the places that I have been too and the fact that my company is sending me over to a foreign country for 2 years!  Love it -- but I still wish that I was younger as being 25 comes with so many benefits over here.

Today I'm sitting in Starbucks for the third Friday in a row.  I still do not have internet at my place in Guildford.  Apparently they are coming today to install it and I'm going to make sure that they are by calling them soon.  I've realized that not having internet and all of the bars and shops that would HAVE Wi-Fi close by the time that I get home from work is SO hard.  Around noon today, I'm going to take a break and do some shopping around this great town for shopping.  There is a lot to explore here in Guildford that I haven't even set my eyes on yet.  The high street is filled with shops amongst shops!  Then hopefully make it to the bank and do some other essentials,

As for this weekend - I don't have ANY plans!  How about that for a change?  I am planning on going to London and doing one of these -- www.walks.com  It looks really interesting and a good way to see the city. Not sure - though I may go into the city with one of my colleagues from work as well.  It would be good to go with her since she would know exactly where to go.  I should really start exploring some of the museums and stuff that I haven't been too yet.  The weather is supposed to be amazing this weekend so I'm really excited for that.  Yesterday and today have been brilliant.  About 70 degrees and SUNNY!  This is very rare as most of my colleagues tell me.  They said don't get used to this weather.  They said there are about 10 days a year in which the tempeartures will reach 30 C and about 2 weeks worth where it will be 25C.  YIKES!  But the good thing they mentioned is there isn't any humidity which makes me excited!

As for this past week - it was SO busy with work.  I'm hoping that I can get a car while I'm here - but keeping my fingers crossed!  It's really hard to get around.  The day that I can go bulk grocery shopping with a 'boot' and a big fridge will be the DAY!  HAHAHAHA

Next week is going to be crazy for me.  Monday I  have to go down to our other office in the south which is an hour train ride.  I was there this past week M-W.  Tuesday I have an all day training for new employees.  I will go to it at first and if it seems repeative, then I won't go.  Wednesday and Thursday I'm going to Milan for some training that Im going to conduct and Friday I will work from home and head to Amsterdam that night on a bus!  Saturday I will spend my time looking at the beautiful tulips of Holland and Sunday I will see the Heinken factory and head back to London that night overnight.  Monday, I have multiple meetings at work and Tuesday is ''normal'' and Wednesday I LEAVE for aussie!  I will be gone for about 12 days and then the day I return it's month end.  Brilliant!  SO BUSY!  No time to breathe.

I'm going to get back to what I do best though - work and drink Coffee!  CHEERS ALL

Palma de Mallorca!

Last weekend I had the pleasure to spend my time in Espana -- this time in Palma de Mallorca.  Not a lot of people know where this is -- so it's off the eastern coast of mainland Spain due east of Barcelona.

I had a spendid time here and really would of liked to stay here longer!  I got in early on Saturday morning and left late Sunday night.  When I got there the first thing I needed was money for the bus.  I got to the ATM and naturally it gives me 2 50 Euro bills.  Of course I was forced to buy a coffee since the bus wouldn't take this large of bills.  When I broke one of the bills, I went out to the bus stop and hopped on.  This bus was really easy to navigate and got on and took it to the end where I was forced to get off.  The bus drove all the way through the historic part of Palma where I originally should of gotten off but didn't since I was looking for the best spot.  When we got to the last stop on the bus - I noticed it was me and this other guy.  He looked to speak english and traveling alone so I started talking to him.  He did speak english and was from south africa.  We walked around for a little bit and talked about taking pictures for travel fun, but his hotel was in a different part of Palma and he was on his way there.  While on this walk I discovered the most beautiful point of crystal clear water!  I climbed the stairs down to the water and took a lot of beautiful pictures.  There were some nude men down there sun bathing -- only in ESPANA!  HAHA.

After this - I walked back to the bus stop which I had ventured about 20 minutes or so.  By this time I was getting really hot it was about 80 by now. Just BEAUTIFUL weather, honestly couldn't of been any better.  Got back on the bus and took it into the city centre and stopped when I saw the cathedral!

The cathedral was beautiful.  I went inside and just stared and stared at the beautiful glass windows and it's 'spanish' feel about it.  I then went into another museum that was next to it and it was a Palace of one of the Spanish King's.  Very interesting!

It was then about 1pm.  I was interested in trying to find where the bus stop would be so that I could go back to the airport and then catch a different bus that would take me to my hotel.  Got on the other bus and told the driver in Spanish where my hotel was and he would drop me off there or at the nearest spot.  Got off the bus and when I saw what looked to be my hotel - I was confused to say the least.  I don't usually stay in hotels and this was really nice!  I was a bit surprised that I had only paid 60 USD for this!  Checked in and got into my room and it even had a balcony!!!

Immediately I got my ''swimming costume'' on and ventured outside for the pool and beach!  I laid outside for bit by the pool and then got bored very easily and went back inside to fetch my camera and took a long walk along the beach!  There weren't too many tourists at this time - only a few.  Therefore it was quite peaceful, but very very nice!

As I started to walk back into the direction of my hotel, I started to walk along the side with the restaurants vs the sand.  I was trying to scope out a place for dinner as this vacation or holiday was going to be about actualkly trying the local cuisine and more less relaxing and taking a break.  As I walked by, these older men who were actually tourists from Germany called out to me as they saw my professional looking camera around my neck.  They asked me to take a picture of them with my camera.  I was a bit confused at the moment because I was thinking ''Why would I want a picture of these dudes on my camera?''  Then they ask if I could email them the photo later.  Sure!  No problem.  As I take their photo - I realized then that they were from Germany.  They were super friendly and interested about my travels here so they invited me for a drink so I enjoyed some Sangria!  I love Sangria by the way.

After the drink a round of shots came around for me and these other 2 people who now joined our group.  They were also from Germany.  After these drinks they invited me for dinner.  They said it was already paid for and in their hotel.  Sure everyone loves a free ''good dinner''.  There was endless amounts of food so I ate really well and of course drank some really good white wine from Spain.

Dinner was a hilarious time -- they were talking hilarious things in German which I could understand bits here and there.  It was great.  Then they told me they were going ''out''.  Really -- these 4 old guys were going to go out?  HAHA.  So they took me to this place where the one purchased a 98 euro bottle of champagne!  WOW.  Then we went to this German nightclub which was really close to my hotel.  Needless to say they took very good care of me and it was nice of them.  I think they felt bad that I was traveling alone!!

Sunday was a less exciting day -- however I got up early to enjoy my free breakfast that was included with my hotel stay.  I then went for a walk along the beach for an hour and got ready and checked out.  I laid out by the pool for about 2 hours and then ventured around the beach and the little restaurants around.  I wwent for coffee and cake twice and dinner and then a glass of wine all from different places.  SO GOOD!

Now it's diet time starting Tuesday!  Too much eating this weekend.