London day 5: nothing too exciting!

Today - I worked.  And I'm tired.  This London gig is sure wearing me out!!

Don't worry though - I have one meeting from 8-9AM tomorrow and then a car is picking me up and taking me to the Heathrow Express and then begins my journey back to Kansas City.  I am supposed to arrive after a stop in Chicago at 7:20PM.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm hoping it's on time!

And I'm SO excited.  Seriously, the thought of kissing my sweet boy (and man's) face just makes me so so happy.  My whole family was together last night face timing me (Jimmy, Charlie, my mom, dad and sister) and it was good to see everyone's face, but it made me want to be there SO bad.  And then my mom told me she was making fried cauliflower and that made me even more sad (have you ever had fried cauliflower?  Well - it's amazing).

My plans were to attempt to take the train to Notting Hill after work and explore around there.  Unlucky for me, something at work had me stumped and I'm one of those people that cannot leave without figuring it out.  Especially when it's the topic of the 8AM meeting the next morning.  So I worked "late" until about 6:45 and then FINALLY got my sushi.  Luckily when everyone was walking out, they were talking to me and I got a great recommendation of a lovely sushi place just right by the office.  Wahoo!  No getting lost tonight chasing after Yo Sushi!

When I left the office, it was sprinkling and rather cold.  So all worked out in the world of traveling and I was so happy I didn't have big plans to explore tonight because I don't think I would have made it very far, given that my umbrella (or brolly as they say here sometimes) was back at my room.  When I found the sushi place and went in to ask to order take out (which apparently they call take away) and make sure they take American Express - they were just so nice.  They had me sit down, gave me the menu and let me order - then brought me a free cup of green tea because I was pregnant. The cute little waitress told me I looked very "happy" - which was very sweet of her because I wasn't feeling too happy + I was feeling large and in charge.  Just not happy because I wanted to eat so many yummy sushi rolls they had there, but in my duty as a mum to be, I stuck with cooked stuff. 

However, the green tea did warm me up and make her kick around a little!

They do have a sushi train!  But wasn't happening tonight!

I had to take a picture of the name so I would remember it for next time (when I'm not pregnant!)

And just for the heck of it, I shot a few photos on the walk home.

This one was in the middle of the roads waiting to cross the street - that is traffic going over the London bridge.  You seriously could not pay me to drive in this town.  It's nuts! 

I happened to pass by the Monument to the Great Fire of London on my walk back.  Hmm - interesting.  See, that's just not the type of history or items you are going to cross by in KC!

One thing that is weird yet fascinating to me about this city is that there are toilets out on the streets that you have to pay to use.  It's so strange.  I feel like they are everywhere - but I finally grabbed a shot of one of them!  Just insert your 50 pence and pee away!

While I'm on the subject of bathrooms, I didn't get a shot the other night of the bathroom in flat that I really really like.  Mainly because the shower head is hanging from the ceiling and it's like rain.  And it's amazing.  And this place is just so clean and white and Ikea-ish.  So here are some pictures.

One other very different thing here is the amount of water in all the toilets here.  And the aggression of a flush.  (I'm not sure if that is the correct term, but please tell me you know what I'm referring to?).  So the water level is VERY low in all the toilets - which I'm sure is much more efficient than us wasteful Americans are, but it's just weird and you can never hear yourself pee.  not that I want to - but that's just normal in the US because your pee hits the water, right?  

And flush aggression.  It's very minimal.  And I'm not a fan.  While the aggressive flusher toilet can sometime be scary in the US and I HATE when it squirts up water on you - I'm not a fan of the flushing here.

Ok - off my toilet soap box.

But when I got back, I was so excited to kick off my shoes, get my pajamas on, eat THIS sushi and start getting ready for an early night AND packing up my stuff!!  

Apparently it's odd that I only brought a carry on for LOTS of people.  The guy that I work with that we'll be traveling on the same flight back was in shock!  I think this all stems from my Deloitte days when I traveled every week and just had to be efficient with my stuff.  But really - I only wear one outfit a day, just brought one shirt and pants for PJs, my bathroom stuff (which the liquids had to be smaller, which was fine) and that's really it.  I mean what else do you need?  I still did bring 4 pairs of shoes too.  It's just nice to actually wear everything you bring!!!!  And then tomorrow I can get straight in the car after hugging my men and go HOME!

Happy Thursday to all!