I haven’t checked in to my blog in a while…I just realized I never posted my trip to London notes. Here’s the scoop:

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After my close call running through the airport at Rome, I poured myself into my business class seat and was off to jolly ole’ England. It was a strange feeling touching down in the UK. I felt surprisingly at home despite this being my first trip to Great Brittan. Perhaps this had to do with the similar cultures between the UK & US. Maybe it was because I knew people (Andrea, Jeff and the eBay/Skype UK teams). It could have been that the fact that, while it was a distant memory, England is the birth place of America. Oh maybe it was that everyone spoke English and I was staying in a hotel not a hostel with 12 random high school’ers. Either way, after traveling around for the previous week, the feeling of constant disconnection and awkwardness wasn’t as heavy in the Queen’s kingdom. In a way, it felt good to be home.

Day 1:

Promptly after my arrival I checked into my hotel headed straight to bed. After 3 hours of much needed shut eye I woke up, took a shower and got ready to meet one of my favorite people and someone I have been calling “my hottest friend” for years, Andrea Kowalski (A.K.A. Dummie). Now appearance aside, Andrea is a marathon running, student of Engineering/Computer Science who happens to have an affinity for late nights and cheap beer…she’s pretty close to perfect as far as I’m concerned. On top of all of this, Andrea is one of those people who, even if we don’t stay in contact, when we do get together, it’s like we haven’t missed a day…again, she’s pretty fricking great.

Other than for the sake of public flattery, the reason I bring this up is, while brushing my teeth, I caught a glimpse of myself and realized my facial hair was creeping into Terrorist trainee territory. I actually waited for Dummie to come over before shaving so someone could see how truly ridiculous I look with any groomed facial hair… I am thinking about posting a blog that shows the pictures I took of me with different phases of facial hair: a pic for day 1-8, goatee, handlebars, 70’s porn stache…it could be hysterical. My only concern is that I looked so bad in most of these pics that they could end both my political career chances of dating anyone who searches Google.

Post shaving for the first time in more than a week, Andrea and I headed to dinner in the local district of SoHo. While the place we went was a decent meal, I could tell by the price that everything negative people had said about English cuisine was going to be true. BUMMER! Dummie and I finished dinner, walked to a local pub, had a beer (Kronenberg SP?) and decided we would meet later in the weekend to shop and/or sightsee.

Day 2:

OK…London, England…whatcha got? Andrea told me the biggest tourist attraction was the London Eye. Other than being totally unwilling to come with me because she had already been 3 times recently, Dummie said this giant Ferris wheel would give me a good feel for what the big monuments were and where I could find them. While it was quite a tourist trap, the millennium wheel gave me the opportunity to see a few monuments I’d wanted to view in person my entire life, especially Big Ben. I was also able to see Parliament, Westminster Abby and the statue of Abe Lincoln…wait a second…Abe what the fuck are you doing here?

After sight seeing, I met up with Andrea, so she could buy a birthday gift for her boyfriend. This is about where I realized it would be quite difficult for a man of my stature (err…size) to find suitable attire in Europe. Post making a few pairs of jeans look like spandex, Andrea and I were off to dinner in Convent Garden. After narrowly avoiding getting drenched and then to meet up with her two friends which were conveniently named Jen and Jen.

The pub scene in the UK is quite different than in the US. According to the girls, English chaps usually get completely obliterated before approaching any member of the opposite sex. Apparently the harassment is much more persistent back in the states. This explains why people were seemed so shocked when I talked to them with out slurring my words. After a few pints our little group had befriended a few different people in the bars. Since I was traveling with a pack of pretty girls, everyone single person we met was a dude. While most of these guys were harmless, some of them were quite persistent in hunting down the girls I was with. Needless to say, the Brazilian friends were the most aggressive. They were so forward that I told them Andrea was my girlfriend (I WISH!?!) to protect her. It was just like the good ole’ days back at BU and one of the highlights of my week.

Day 3-5:

The next few days spent touring around to the various eBay/Skype offices. Skype’s office was a few blocks away from my hotel, which was great because it gave me a chance to catch up on sleep and still get a normal days work in. eBay UK was a little bit of a trek, but the office was worth the trip and I love the team out there. Since my hotel was in the middle of the theater district, I was able to catch the show “We Will Rock You”. This is a futuristic rock-musical based on the music of the band Queen. While the plot was slow, the music was good and everything resolved into a rock show at the end. With the exception of the show, I spent most of my free time walking around the city, most notable Lester Square which was the site of an attempted terrorist attack the night I left the country. Yep, I was in London during a series of attempted terrorism. Yeah, HOLY SHIT!

Day 6: Since I had gone traveling before working the week in London, I decided it would be best to ship my computer out to the UK so I wouldn’t have to lug it everywhere. Since this was my last day in the city, I had to ship my equiptment back to the states because I already had two carry-ons. This means, other than checking my email in the morning, I wouldn’t be able to work…gee…darn! With a little more free time to meet London, I headed out to the London Castle which houses the crown jewels. The most interesting part of this site was watching the changing of the armed guard. If anyone can explain why they have to wear those ridiculous hats, I’m all ears.

After touring around a little more, I headed out to do some over priced shopping. Apparently, I booked my trip long enough to completely forget the values of the US dollar (1.99/1 exchange rate during my trip). London’s most famous department store, Harrods, is normally expensive. I managed to spend a stupid amount of money note even considering the exchange rate. Mom, send money! No, really, I bought a pair of shoes that cost what most people spend on a car payment.

Eventually, I went home, changed into my new threads and headed out to meet Andrea and Jen(X2). We met in Canary Warf, where Dummie works. Since this was a Thursday, we spent some time mingling in with the banking/happy hour crowd. This was one of the various times on my trip where I realized what I was missing with my huge commute and long hours. It was nice to spend some time out when it wasn’t late at night. Eventually we headed out of the happy hour to a Champaign bar. Inspired by the announcement of the Spice Girls reunion, Andrea and Jen (x2) decided to have a 30 minute karaoke marathon…only problem. There was no music or tv screens…just them singing. I think I actually hid under the table at one point. Once the singing had dies down, it was time to say our goodbyes and go pack. I loved spending time with all Andrea and the two Jen’s and only hope I can see them again soon. Thanks for a great time girls!

My trip to London was fantastic and eye opening. While I was there was a change at the top of the Government (PM Gordon Brown took over for Tony Blair), Wimbledon was being played, the Spice Girls got back together and there was a series of attempted terrorist attacks. Despite all of this, it was nice to spend the time seeing things I’d always wanted to and hanging out with a bunch of smart/hot girls.

Stop number 3…Rome. In every city we’ve visited, someone has asked us what the most comparable US city is to our location. Barcelona was comparable to Miami because of the beach and late night party scene. I thought Florence was a little like Austin because of its size/small town feel and relaxed atmosphere. While Austin was not the home of a cultural revolution like Florence it is where Bob Schneider got his start, so for me there is a common theme. To me, Rome was comparable to Chicago. The pace of the city was much faster than any where else we visited. It was hot and humid as hell. This night life was good but not the main focus of the city.

I forgot where or when it came up but someone told Adam that a

trip to Rome in the summer could be described in a few steps.

1. Get in line.
2. Sweat you ass off.
3. See old stuff.

Maybe that’s not exactly how the quote went, but that was basically the summary of our trip. While I’m pretty sure we were all exhausted, sore, hungover and tired, we did what we could to make the best out of Rome.

We arrived from Florence on a bullet train around 10:30. After dropping our bags at Alessardria Downtown Hostel, we headed out to Vatican city. Unfortunately for me, I was quite stiff in the back and the tourist spots were absolutely packed. After waiting in line outside the Vatican (which is technically its own country), we headed into the aptly named Vatican Museum. The museum was quite an impressive collection of religious based art which spanned through most of modern culture. I thought some of the art was interesting, but I thought the lavish architecture was more impressive.

Eventually we worked our way to the Sistine Chapel. I never realized The Birth of Man was one of many scenes Michaelangelo painted on his back. The celling was amazing but it must have been a huge pain in the ass to create. Apparently, it took 20 years which is 1/2 of Mikey’s working life. That makes my stint at eBay look like going to first period grade school Social Science class. I would have enjoyed the museum more if we hadn’t seen a grouping of similar work by the same artists at the Ufitzi the day before. Either way, as I usually do, I did exactly what you aren’t supposed to do in the Sistine…

After the museum we headed across the Vatican City to St Peter. The building was spectacular. While I don’t know that much about any religion, specifically Catholicism, I did learn that JC anointed St Peter as the apostle to go and spread the word of whatever had gone down in the 33 years before. Apparently St. Pete is buried in the building we were observing. While I questioned if Pete ever made it from the middle east to Rome, it was interesting to be present to some sort of link from 00 AD/BC to today. By the time we got to this Cathedral I was totally spent, I sat where everyone was praying and pretended to be Catholic. I pretty much felt like the chick from the Scarlet letter. After Adam had traversed most of the audio guide, we headed out to our next stop.

The Colosseum was amazing. I think this was my favorite sightseeing of the whole trip. As to be expected the seating in the stadium was decided by what class you were in. All of the senators sat in a specific section on marble. When they became a senator, each man would engrave his name onto his seat. The seats are still engraved with the names of the last senators around while the stadium was being inhabited.

At some point in time the best rocks and other materials were taken out of the Colosseum and used to make other monuments in Rome (IE: Vatican). The actual floor was a set of traps and rooms where animals and other gladiators were held before being released (al a Gladiator).

After the Colosseum, I was totally spent! I mean really, done and done. All I know, three hours after I got back to our room, Adam and Mike came back from whatever else they saw in Rome and I was absolutly passed out. Apparently I was wrapped in a pair of boxers and a bed sheet a la toga party. Seriously, it was 1,000 degrees out and I don’t even remember getting home. I did manage to find a bar of soap somewhere for the first time on the trip and took the most relieving shower I’ve ever had.

As our European adventure would have it, we headed out for dinner and to make some trouble. Our dinner was sub-par but as luck would have it just so happened to be Adam’s birthday. THIS MEANS TROUBLE!!! A 1/2 mile walk, a 20 min bus, 3 bars, a couple beers and a shot later and we were on our way. Somehow we ended up at another restaurant…another bottle of wine…x3. As usual Adam asking the cute Italian wait-staff to come and drink wine with us. Let’s dwell on this for a second, if you have the chance, I highly recommend going to Europe with Adam and/or Mike. Adam specifically has a amusing habbit of leaning back in his chair and saying things like “yes, yes, yes come, come and drink with us” as he sits back a la Santa Claus in the north pole.

Somehow, we ended up staying out until 4 am, again, with a handful random Romans. Maybe the highlight of my trip was one of the locals saying “are you American…come sit with us…I love Americans”. Really, maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t exactly feel loved in Europe. Maybe the “I’m American sign on my back was too much. Anyway, we sat and hung out shooting the shit with the Romans…it was great.

HOLY SHIT! What time is it? Fuck! Where is my watch? 11:30…crap…if I pack in 10 minutes, shower for 10 and check out I can be out by 12. That gives me an hour and a half until boarding…

As luck would have it, my flight was delayed and I was the last person on the flight…Off to Jolly ole’ England…

Shall we shag now or shag later baby…Yay!

-b

P.S. At this point I am really dirty looking.