Rosetta Stone, Daffodils and a Little Sunshine

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This morning, we visited a cafe in Soho (Valerie’s Patisserie). We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone, relics from the Parthenon, King Ramesses’ head (quite sad that its headless body still stands in Egypt alone…) AND Cleopatra’s mummy (not to mention inspiration for Halloween 2007). That’s right, Cleopatra’s mummy is safely housed in London (of all places). A&V, you’ll be happy to know we saw most of the Greek relics you missed in Greece! Quite sad that they’re in the UK, actually.

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After having lunch overlooking Leicester Square, we were off to St. James Park to see Daffodils in bloom. And we ended our day with a little Japanese Food and Sunshine…Little Miss Sunshine, that is. If anyone hasn’t seen it, we’d definetly recommend it.

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Watford vs. Wigan

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G and I ventured to our very first European Football game (ie professional soccer) last night with a few mates from his office. G’s firm sponsored the game as the attendees are a good fit with their business model…long story.

We had fun, smiled hesitantly at others’ antics, and tried a typical English warm drink–kind-of like Marmite cocoa…definitely an acquired taste. As it was quite cold out, it was nice that the game was so short…1.5 hours of play time which works out to about 2 hours total from start to finish including half time. The game started at 7:45 and is located a 35 min. walk/train ride from home and we still made it home and into bed by midnight.

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House in London, Anyone?

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For any who have supposed that we may choose to stay in London forevermore, here’s a harsh strike back to reality :)Walking into our building today, I noted a “SOLD” notice on a house that was just recently put on the market (see right). One floor of one half of the house you see on the photo to the right sold for £750,000 (roughly equivalent to $1.5m). To clarify, the photo that you see represents 8 flats + a “garage house”. That means that the duplex house is worth ~£6m+ in total ($12m+).

Hmmm…financial independence forevermore or a 650 sq. ft. flat in London…decisions, decisions. Which would you choose?

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Champagne at the Royal Exchange

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A few of my classmates hope to be investment bankers and take every opportunity to visit notable Financial districts in the city. Last night was one such occasion. We visited a champagne bar in the old Royal Exchange (in the City). It’s a beautiful old structure…much classier than our more “student-budget haunts” in and around campus.It’s funny because you’d think we’d be sick of one another after a full week of non-stop “togetherness” last week…but, contrary to common belief, most of us get along really well and we’ve become a very tight-knit group.

Thursday, we’re having an Indian inspired “Tea and Samosa Break” and next week we’re off to a market district downtown…

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Happy Chinese New Year!

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Today, we went downtown for the Parade to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year! Dragons and (more) pigs…oh, my! It was a great time…we then went for lunch in Camden Town (Thai food, yum!) and then to the market for a bit of shopping. G found a pair of nice kicks and I found super cheap earrings (they even jingle!) and a few other stylish but fashionable treats. Fingers crossed the earrings won’t make my ears fall off…

See additional photos… 

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G’s 30th Birthday Recap

Thank you to everyone who sent G birthday well wishes! We had a wonderful day in London…I flew in from Poland and we had the afternoon to enjoy. We rode the double-decker bus downtown (our first time aboard), made a nice dinner at home, and went out to see Porgy and Bess.

A great day…and thank goodness G wasn’t too traumatized by the occasion 🙂

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Swans and Pierogies in Sopot

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We presented to our client on Friday morning and then ventured to nearby Sopot for a client/team lunch. Beautiful Sopot is the entertainment center of the greater Polish Tri-city area (with G’dansk being the center of tourism and Gydnia being the business center). Sopot sits along the beautiful Baltic coast where swans (of all things) swim on the salty shore (is that normal?).A few pierogies for lunch and Vodka? Apparently the Polish make it through the cold winter weather by beginning and ending every meal with a shot of Vodka. They’re quite the connosieurs and it’s rude to refuse…thank goodness we had a chauffer.

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Of course, the highlight for me was the “crooked” or “skewed” house in downtown Sopot. I saw it online during the week and obsessed about seeing it before we left town (as you do)…so my group members and kind client obliged (after days of coaxing :). It was all that I dreamed it would be, and more…

See additional photos from Sopot…

For any interested, I’ve also posted photos of my classmates from the week…

Posted in Adventure Travel, Europe, MBA in London, Poland | 2 Comments