London!

Whew. I have NOT flown internationally for a loooong time.  Last week I left Atlanta for London, departing on Sunday and returning on Friday afternoon.

Ok.  Let's be clear.  Travel "sounds" glamorous.  And it is fun to see new things.  But here is what I saw for the MAJORITY of the time while I was there:

1. the airport
2. the hotel lobby
3. my hotel room
4. the conference room we met in
5. the airport kitchen
6. the airport

And of course...HELLO JET LAG!

We have some great enhancements on board coming up VERY SOON but were severely behind in making some key decisions so we were super busy working every day.

There were 2 fun things I did make some time for -

Maze by Gordon Ramsay

Our working group was taken out to dinner by a supplier to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, and sat in the private dining room.  It was one of the most special food experiences I've had.  Here was the "Chef's menu" (you don't choose anything, they have paired all the courses for you):

Chef’s menu

Chilled watercress soup, lemon yoghurt

~

Marinated yellow fin tuna, compressed apple,

coriander, horseradish, ponzu

~

Foie gras and smoked duck, 

cherries, wet almonds, Sauternes gel

~

Dumpling of lobster, tiger prawn and salmon,

aromatic lemongrass broth

~

Lamb cannon, Jersey royal potato, broad beans, mint sauce

~

Murcia al Vino, quince jelly, crystalised walnuts

or

Peach Melba

~

Cold bitter chocolate fondant, mango and lime jam,

lemon grass ice cream

Right?  I know.  This part was very lucky for me.  And special.

The other fun thing was my colleague and friend Joanne took me on the Tube from the airport to downtown after work one day, and we spent 2 hours at Harrods, lunching and browsing and people watching.  It was super fun, and the weather was FABULOUS!  Like low 70's, sunny, no humidity.

I was so ready to come home on Friday though - I missed my bed, my time zone, and most of all my honey bear.  Home sweet home!