Work, Work, Work... in Copenhagen

If I'm going to have a crazy week of work, at least it's in a cool International destination like Copenhagen : )

Last week, my big conference kicked off. You may remember I went to Budapest last year for it. Well, this year it was in Copenhagen. It was two days of set up, three days of the actual conference, and 2,000 delegates.

Being onsite is one of the most difficult but rewarding experiences of my work. There are long days with lots of running around and problem solving, but the people I work with- my colleagues and vendors- make it all worth it.

By the end of the week, my feet were sore and I was exhausted... but there's no time to rest for the avid traveller since that Friday night, Aaron and Yacine flew to Copenhagen to meet me! More to come about the touristy part of the trip...

A Day of Exploring at Open House London

This weekend was Open House London. For two days, over 700 buildings in London are on show to the public for free, most of which the public does not normally have access to. Some of the buildings have guided tours, while others you can just wander freely through. But they all have some sort of compelling reason to visit: whether the building is historical; designed with a greener city in mind; showcases how the city or transportation works; or displays shared community spaces or better work and home design.

Last Wednesday after dodgeball, I was talking to Aaron's coworker who is really into architecture and building design. He brought up that he was going to the Open House this weekend, and then suggested some buildings to check out.

Aaron, Yacine and I made it to a few places on Saturday. We tried to go to the Bank of London, but unfortunately there are only 500 people that get in, and when we arrived at 10:30am (it opens at 9:30am) all the slots were filled! Popular visiting spot : )

Here are the ones that we did get to see:

• Guildhall - Built between 1411 and 1440, the building consists of a Great Hall, an old library and a crypt (in the basement below). The hall housed some famous trials including Lady Jane Grey and Guy Fawkes' accomplice in the gunpowder plot that almost blew up Parliament.
  
• Lloyd's Registry Group - a building designed to make the best use of the space available with minimum impact on the 1901 Colcutt building it's built around and the surrounding streets. The new part of the building is entirely glass. But the 1901 part which is what we walked through has an old reception hall and general committee room.
  
• HM Treasury - Her Majesty's Treasury is the department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy. The building was constructed in the early 1900s.
  
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office - this is the department responsible for protecting and promoting British interests worldwide. The building was built in the 1860s. The coolest part about this is that we were walking through the courtyard and a woman approached asking if we'd like a brochure. Then she asked if we wanted to see something really neat so she told us to look closer through a gate, and we saw the door of 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister (David Cameron) works and lives. Unfortunately, there were no pictures allowed, but this was by far the coolest part of the day!

Perogies, Vodka and the Salt Mines in Kraków

On our first trip while living abroad, Aaron and I flew out of an airport called Stansted. It took forever to get to and wasn't the best experience, so we vowed never to fly out of that airport again. Then after our trip to New York last year when we had to go straight from the airport to work, we were exhausted and said we would never do that again.

Never say never because last weekend, we did both of those - fly out of Stansted on early Saturday morning, and then back to London early Monday morning only to go straight to work that day. But there are some things that make a trip like that worth it. And seeing the Bednarczyk's in Poland is one of them!

We had such a fun time in Kraków, and it was a really cool city. Marcin is Polish so it was refreshing having someone who spoke the language like a local. The trip also had a perfect start when we were greeted at the airport by our driver holding a "WHAM!" sign : ) I just had to document it, so there is a picture on the right.

We arrived mid-day and headed off to find perogies for lunch. They are delicious Polish dumplings stuffed with meat or cheese and potato - yum! Then we walked around the city - through the square, by the castle and in a park where we saw two hilarious things: the first was a cat on a leash (really?!) and the next was two Polish children who were terrorizing pigeons by literally picking them up and holding onto them by their tails while they tried to fly away. We could not stop laughing because we just kept thinking, is this really happening?! After we regained our composure, we headed to the Jewish quarter where we went to an outdoor beer garden. It helped that the beers were £2... everything in Poland is so cheap compared to London, which is another reason why we loved it!

Afterwards, we headed to a vodka tasting where we tried the following vodkas: 140 proof (aka rubbing alcohol), cherry-infused (tasted like cough syrup), Krupnik or honey vodka (delicious!), and lemon vodka (I could drink it all day... no chaser needed)!

We had dinner at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was a recommendation from Aaron's Polish coworker and was really hard to find: you walked through a museum and then went down a staircase that opened into a room with lots of long, wooden tables. The restaurant name is U Babci Maliny which translates to Grandma's Raspberries or something like that, but it felt like there was a little Polish grandma in the back cooking the food. We tapped off the night with a Tap house and some handstands (or attempts) before calling it a night.

The next morning, we headed out to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, about 30 minutes outside of the city. Discovered in the 13th century, the salt mines were one of the very first Unesco World Heritage Sites. It's referred to as "the underground salt cathedral" because the miners built statues, chapels, and chandelier's whose crystals are rock salt. You first go down 378 steps (210 feet) and then walk through different chambers with a guide. There's incredible artwork like a replica of Leonardo Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' that was carved in salt stone.

On our way back to the city, we got off a stop early and went to the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków which is housed in Oskar Schindler's enamel factory (made famous through Schindler's List). The museum was very informative, but we were a little disappointed by the lack of focus on the Schindler story itself. It was briefly mentioned, but the main focus of the museum was the city during and after the war. Still, it was well set-up and powerful.

We headed back to our flat, stopping to get some delicious street-food for dinner on the way: zapiekanka which is an open-faced baguette with grilled mushrooms, melted cheese, other toppings and ketchup. The Seahawks season opener was on, so we watched the unfortunate outcome, and then went to bed. After all, we had to get up at 5:00am the next day, but the trip was very much worth it! : )

Exploring and Drinking Pints Along the Thames River

I'm always impressed when our visitors land at 3pm and can stay awake until a decent bedtime hour. But our recent visitor, put everyone to shame: My Uncle Bob visited us this past weekend and landed at 7am. He stayed up until 11pm... and we were drinking! Now that's impressive.

He arrived early Saturday morning, so we headed to Borough Market, one of our favorite weekend spots. We didn't stay there for very long, as we ended up stopping to eat at one of our favorite Greek restaurants.

Once we finished with lunch, we decided to walk along the Thames River. It wasn't that nice out, but we got beers along the way to keep us warm and passed by all the usual London sights: Shakespeare's Globe, Southwark, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. We even stopped into the Tate Modern museum (much to Aaron's dismay). We were only there for 10 minutes but we saw a Picasso! That is one of the things I love about London - you can stumble into a random place and see something amazing and historical.

Afterwards, we pub hopped until dinner at our favorite restaurant. It's an Italian place near our house that we found on TripAdvisor. Last time we were there was with Aaron's family. Aaron's dad asked for a flaming shot of Sambuca, which he tried to drink, but then the glass was too hot. So this time with my Uncle after the meal, came flaming shots of Sambuca. But don't worry, we waited until the fire went out.

This is what Aaron and I do on a lot of our weekends here; explore the city, go to our favorite spots and drink some pints : ) so it was fun to show my Uncle a little part of our life.

The next morning, we ended up walking back along the Thames from Fulham towards the city. There aren't as many sights but it was a beautiful day! And we stumbled upon a really cool pub, the Ship, where we stopped for a pint. Unfortunately, my Uncle couldn't stay for that long since he had to continue onto Paris for work. But it was so good to see him and catch up.

Cermony of the Keys at the Tower of London

For the past 700 years, a tradition has taken place that not many people who live in London know about. The Ceremony of the Keys is the oldest, longest running military ceremony in the world.

Each night at exactly 9:53pm, the Chief Yeoman Warder locks up the Tower of London, where the English monarchy once lived and the crown jewels still reside. From inside the tower, he holds and lantern in one hand and the keys in the other as he is escorted by guards in red uniforms with tall bearskin black hats. He locks the gate and then walks back down the cobblestone path inside the tower with his escorts. Once they get a few steps in, a guard meets the group to question his motives. The following exchange then takes place:

"Halt! Who comes there?"
"The keys."
"Whose keys?"
"Queen Elizabeth's keys."
"Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys. All is well."
"God preserve Queen Elizabeth."
"Amen!"

Once the Chief Yeoman Warder is allowed to pass, the guards march with him towards the center of the tower. They stop and one of them plays a short "Last Post" trumpet call that signals the end of the day.

Aaron and I got to experience the full ceremony (which only lasts for about 20 minutes) and hear some interesting facts about it last Thursday. There are no pictures allowed, so unfortunately I don't have any to share. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but you must book in advance and only a small number of tickets are available each evening. We booked ours this past spring; they are now sold out until January 2016!

Some interesting facts that we also learned:

• The ceremony has only been late once: during WWII, a bomb fell and literally knocked the Chief Yeoman Warder and guards off their feet. They stood up though and carried on. Afterwards, they wrote a letter apologizing to King George VI for being 3 minutes late. Soon they received a reply saying that because it was due to enemy action, they would be pardoned.
• During WWII, Hitler told his men to avoid bombing the tower because he wanted to live there once they had conquered Great Britain.
• 136 people reside in the Tower of London. The people that live there are employees (such as the guards) and their families. Currently, the oldest resident is 66 and the youngest is a 9 month old baby girl. If you are a resident and go out for a night on the town, you need to plan to stay somewhere for the night because you won't be able to get back in.
• There is a little market, a hairdresser, a pub and other little shops in the Tower for the people who live there. It's like a little village!
• At one time there were 27 pubs in the Tower of London... Talk about stumbling home!

The 2nd Largest Carnival in the World and Europe's Biggest: Notting Hill Carnival

You may have heard of a little neighborhood in London called Notting Hill. It was made famous by the Julia Roberts / Hugh Grant movie, but the real spotlight on the neighborhood happens once a year at the Notting Hill Carnival.

During the last weekend in August (which also has a bank holiday on Monday), the streets shut down to cars and the neighborhood lights up with music, drinks, floats in a parade, costumes and lots and lots of people.

We had heard this was something we had to experience while living in London. Last year, we were out of town, so this year we knew we had to go. I would describe it as a giant Caribbean block party. We had delicious jerk chicken, grilled corn and Red Stripe. There's a parade with Brazilian-style outfits and floats. You wander through the streets and it seems at every turn is a new stage with Caribbean music playing and people dancing. The people watching and outfits are fantastic. Everyone is dancing, laughing, and having fun.

The carnival happens on Sunday and Monday, but we only went on Sunday which is considered family day. While the majority of the carnival is all about having fun, it does have a reputation for being a little sketchy. There have been five murders since the carnival opened in 1966 and a few years ago, there was a lot of gang violence. This year, a police officer was stabbed, and there were 407 arrests which is the highest number in a decade.

Precautions are taken: shops along the streets board up their windows (which then get decorated with graffiti) and there is a strong police presence on practically every corner. But the majority of the time the police are just there for safety and some even dance along with you. They are not there to cause trouble; only step in if it's getting out of hand. Still, it was weird to be drinking out in public right in front of them!

After about three hours, Aaron, Dan, Shelley and I decided to just find a pub. While the 188th carnival was fun, there are an absurd number of people (about one million people go each year) and the restroom situation isn't ideal. It makes me wonder what Anna Scott did during carnival time of year : )

Now for the important part... did my title intrigue you? What is the only other carnival that beats Notting Hill out for being the largest carnival in the world?

Answer: the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, of course!

Stonehenge: A Visit Back in Time

One of the main reasons we rented a car last weekend was to see the infamous Stonehenge. The site is just a short stop-over on the way back to London from Bath, but it really isn't nearby anything and it's not easily accessible using public transportation. We could've booked a tour bus but we wanted the flexibility to arrive and go as we pleased.

Luckily, the trip was worth it. Stonehenge is the oldest thing that both of us have ever seen. It was built in 3100 BC but there is also a burial site with remains from 3000 BC.

The history of Stonehenge still remains a mystery to this day- what was its purpose? Many ideas and myths have evolved throughout the years and there are many debates about why it was constructed and how it was used. The stones were brought from areas in England that are miles away and placed in a calculated manner, and we will likely never know why.

Today, the site welcomes over 1 million visitors a year. There is a visitor's center that you first walk through with an exhibition and artifacts found around the site. The exhibit also has information that explains some of the theories or possible explanations. Then you make the roughly half mile trek up to see the stones.

You used to be able to walk freely around the stones: up to them and even through them. In 1977, they were roped off to protect the monument from erosion. Even though you can't walk right up to the stones anymore, Stonehenge is still incredible to see in person. It looks as it does in the pictures, but the only way I can think to describe it is that you have to "see it to believe it." When you are standing there looking at something that people built in 3100 BC, you are awe-struck by the age, purpose, impact and permanence of the stones. They've stood the test of time this long, and hopefully, will still be there for many more years to come.