“Oh, American.  How exotic!”     ..ya, I’ll get back to that in a bit.

Woo that was a busy week!  Sorry I haven’t been able to entertain you kids with a post for a few days.  Works been bananas but no worries, I’m still enjoying the stress.  So let’s see, where should I start?  Ok – here’s an update on my English-to-English dictionary:

1.  “Are you pissin on me? = are you joking  (yes, I agree, it’s preposterous)

2. Quid = bucks (i.e. that jacket only costs 5 quid!)

3. Tk Maxx = TJ Maxx (literally the same logo, same idea, London name brands.  I need one of those emojis of the illuminati hands with the heavenly glow above them to put here)

So, if you’re wondering, I’ve kept to my rule of trying, doing, seeing, finding at least 1 new thing every day.  Tuesday after work I decided to take myself on another “little” journey.  From Buckingham, which is less than a mile away, you can see the London Eye.  I figured it was pretty much right around the corner…. WRONG.  I walked all the way down the Mall, through the palace gates, up to Trafalga Square, and down a side street that lead me to the Thames.  Boy o boy, that was not around the corner.  After a casual 2.5-3 mi walk, I saw it, and I saw it at night.  Let me tell you, this was worth the not-so-casual stroll.  I walked up onto the Hungerford walking bridge, which was also all lit up, and slowly meandered across while listening to all the bridge performers and watching love birds take selfies with that picture-perfect backdrop.  Yes, I was jelly.  Spence – you better believe I’m taking you here.  On one side you see all of the different architecture from across the mall and on the other side of the Thames sits the iconic Eye and a treasure-island-like theme park.  You know my level of curiosity at this point so of course I walked through the park, took pictures, and then quickly skipped over to the giant blue-lit ferris wheel like a kid in Disney World.  That thing is ginormous.. I can’t wait to go on.  But I refuse to go solo so that’s gonna have to wait.

Wednesday was another late working night so I didn’t adventure out anywhere new however, I did try some delicious new food.  For lunch, my coworker brought me to this quaint family operated café just a short walk from our temp office.  It was no bigger than a corner coffee shop but had just enough tables for the locals to enjoy their meal.  Their specialty was quish and salad for just 4 quid.  This wasn’t just any quiche and salad though, it was a heaping plate of spinach roasted tomato and feta quiche sided with roasted veggies, lettuce and beet mash, and quinoa with mushrooms.  I definitely didn’t need to eat for the rest of the day.  (but obvs I did).  Oh wait, just kidding – I went for my first run through St. James Park that evening, which is now my favorite running route.  I guess I did go on an adventure that day.

Thursday’s lunch break was even better.  We. Went. Shopping.  The same coworker that brought me to the little quiche café decided it was super important to show me PRIMARK on Oxford Street.  Holy cow that place is amazeballs.  I guess it may be our equivalent to Forever 21 or maybe even Wet Seal – not the nicest quality stuff – but the fashion is truly London style and the prices are lower than low.  I was baffled seeing a winter coat at 20 pounds and an entire floor dedicated to shoes.  My coworker lost me on that floor.  But good news,  I know my UK shoe size now: 3.5.  Actually, that’s bad news.  See ya later bank account.  After shopping we got some lunch and headed back to work.  Later that night I decided enough was enough and I needed to change my Oyster card (Train pass).  In just over a week I had used an equivalent of $250 on my Oyster.  Not okay.  I figured out that instead of the top as you go plan, I could get a monthly unlimited card which is about $200/month.  I feel like I threw away $250 in that first week but you gotta learn somehow.  Problem solved – I have a monthly pass now and using the tube/bus as much as I possibly can.

Guess what happened Friday… I showed a coworker where to get lunch!  He’s from the UK but just moved to London so he didn’t know where to go.  Am I a local already???!!!  Nahhhh.  Later that afternoon though, I met one of the other London office employees for the first time.  He reached his hand out to introduce himself and with a smile I said, “Hi, I’m Holly – So nice to meet you!”.  To which he stopped, raised his eyebrows, smiled and said “Oh, American.  How exotic!”.  I died.  Exotic? American?  Never heard those two paired together.  But hey, call me Mila Kunis.

Friday night I went out for dinner and drinks at Polpo in Covent Gardens with Courtney, a former Bentley classmate.  It was so nice to catch up with her – just makes a big difference to have someone from home with you, you know?  After splitting a bottle of wine over meatballs – ya, I thought the meatballs came with pasta but it was just 3 meatballs, whatever – we went to a nearby bar called “Dirty Martini”.  I don’t really like martinis but this place looked pretty shwanky and a lady earlier on that night gave me a flyer so I said ‘what the hell, let’s try it’.  We each got a different fancy, fruity drink which were both bomb, and continued the chatter until we were just sucking up ice.  Then, we met up with Courtney’s boyfriend and all his “football” friends at Haagen-Dazs RESTAURANT.  Do we have these at home?  If so, I’ve been living under a rock but holy moley this was awesome.  It is literally a restaurant just for dessert and coffees.  The menu has a mélange of crepes, brownie sundaes, scoops of all flavors, toppings, you name it.  I think my sugar levels rose just by turning the pages.  I went with the banana butterscotch crepe topped with 1 strawberry scoop and 1 chocolate praline scoop.  I can’t even describe to you how good it was.  Just image the best food you’ve ever had in your life and multiply it by chocolate.

After that gluttonous escapade I got up this morning, did a bodyrock tv workout, went for a run, and got in a couple hours of work.  It was another really nice day so I got  my act together and made way over to the Portobello Road Market.  It’s a mix between little Italy and a whole lot of other Mediterranean flavors.  This market is open every day of the week but on Saturdays they have a special antique section so I wanted to make sure I checked that out.  What I thought was going to be about an hour of perusing turned into over 3 hours.  They had antiques of all kinds – jewelry, cutlery, tea cups, rugby balls, boxing gloves, purses, scarves, dresses, tools, wood work, furniture, cameras, CDs, everything.  I didn’t feel the immediate need for a 400-year old coin bowl so I bought fresh fruit and veggies instead.  Before I left I definitely wanted to taste something local so I passed by the paella, crepes, quiches, and curry, and got a vegetable & falafel wrap.  Excellent choice.

Another Saturday night out tonight – meeting up with some people at a pub with live music.  Hopefully I’ll get another post in to wrap up the weekend but until then, I leave you with this: 

Cadbury flakes……. OMG.