I finally got back to Edmonton last night around 1 AM. We were supposed to return just before 11 PM, but our flight leaving London was severely delayed after four passengers didn’t show up. Somehow their bags were onboard the plane however, so they had to find them and take them off (and they apparently removed the wrong ones the first time). As a result, we missed our connection in Toronto and had to take the later flight.

I walked out of the airport and just about died…I forgot it was minus 22 degrees here! Edmonton is pretty dry, so waking up in London with a bit of humidity (or a lot when raining) was a nice change.

The rest of the week in London was more of the same – work followed by drinking. I made the trip sound kind of boring in my last post, but it wasn’t that bad. I saw a side of London that you wouldn’t normally see as a visitor. The small pubs that the locals go to, for instance. They are all unique and unlike anything we have here in Edmonton. I was quite glad to find all of them served cold beer!

On Thursday we went to the, um, "sports bar". Essentially they put a TV in the place that no one watches and they can call it a sports bar! The guy who took us called it "cultural exchange" heh. He always makes fun of the few similar places we have here, and now I know why. Friday morning sure was rough though!

Friday night we went to another pub, then to a "kebab place" for a quick dinner. Seems they are quite popular with the night crowd, and I was quite impressed with how much food we got for so little. It was quite tasty too! After that we went to another venue that had a live band. It was interesting as the crowd seemed very young compared to everywhere else I had been.

Saturday was mostly traveling, but I managed to stop in at a souvenir shop on the way to the airport. It was raining when we left, just like it was when we arrived.

Some observations:

• I think the tube kicks ass, but the locals think it sucks. Perspective I guess 🙂
• The power outlets are massive in the UK. They take up so much more space than ours do here, and I think ours are pretty big as it is.
• The area we were in, Camden, was pretty much empty during the week, but so busy on weekends that it was hard to walk! And the tube station became mostly exit-only, with only one way in.
• Also in Camden, you can’t walk for more than a minute in the evenings without being asked if you want to buy weed. I wonder if they are selling Canadian stuff?
• Wireless Internet access is hard to find and expensive, at least in my experience.

I’d love to go back and explore more of London. Hopefully I’ll be traveling there again for work, and I’ll be sure to take some extra time to do so. For now though, on to New York!

I’m really surprised at how exhausted I am already. Essentially we’ve been in the conference room here at Questionmark for the last three days. All day, every day, from 8:45 AM to around 7 PM. And there’s still two days to go!

Tuesday evening was fairly uneventful…just went to the pub for beer and pizza! Last night was the company Christmas party, and that was…interesting. We went to this medieval-themed place with entertainment like fake sword fighting. The food was really good though!

Also last night, the Chairman/Founder of the company was nice enough to drive me around a bit, to see things like the Tower of London. That’s about the only touristy type thing I’ve done, and am likely to do, on this trip. Definitely going to have to come back sometime. I’m not even sure when I will have a chance to go buy souvenirs and stuff!

So that kinda sucks. On the other hand, this is a business trip, and from that perspective it has been incredibly productive.

Today was the first day to meet everyone in the UK office and actually get started on some of the things we hope to achieve for the week, and for the most part I’d say it went quite well. I met a few people I had previously only spoken to via email or phone, so that was good. There’s still a lot more people to meet however, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that this week.

In terms of London itself, we didn’t see much today. Another stop on the tube and a few pubs, but not much else. We went to a Japanese place for dinner which was pretty good. I’m definitely going to have to come back someday, because I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to explore on this trip.

I discovered a Starbucks on the way back to hotel tonight, so I’ll have to check that out this week. A little bit of home 🙂

After a very, very long trip my coworkers and I finally arrived in London today around 1 PM local time (so 6 AM back in Edmonton). It was an uneventful trip, which is good, but there was a lot of time wasting going on. It would have been so much better to have been on the direct flight!

It was my first time flying British Airways, and my first time in a Boeing 777. We got bumped up to the middle class section of the plane, so that was good. The flight attendants were really efficient and friendly. And the movie selection rocked! There was Harry Potter (not sure which one, didn’t watch it), Ratatouille, and Transformers. I thought the food packaging was much more intelligent than other flights I’ve been on too, but I could have just been tired/hungry.

We landed about 45 minutes later than planned, after some circling due to the weather conditions and air traffic. Customs was a breeze, and once through we took the tube to the hotel. It was easy enough, but it took quite a long time. We’re in an area of London known as Camden Town. It’s kind of like Whyte Ave on steroids! There are so many people milling about. The first thing I noticed once we got outside was the smell of the air – it reminds me vaguely of Seattle. Our hotel (Holiday Inn) is really nice, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

It was above zero here today, but it was actually quite chilly with the wind (and it rained earlier). We wandered around the markets and stuff for a bit, and went to a little restaurant called Solo for dinner. And then followed that up with a coffee at Caffe Nero. Now I’m back at the hotel, obviously, and feeling very sleepy. It’s amazing how draining a flight can be.

I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting in the evening, as Internet access is actually quite pricey! I’m too cheap to pay $8 CDN for an hour every night, so I’ll probably write offline and post at work 🙂

I’m looking forward to getting to work tomorrow…after I get some sleep tonight, that is.

Photos are here, and I’ll add all new ones to that set too.

I’m leaving here in a few minutes for London. Well, eventually. I go to Calgary first, where I have a huge seven hour layover, then it’s on to London! Clearly I will be booking my own flight next time!

I’ll update again when I have arrived, if not sooner.