Wanting to get a feel for what it's like to actually live in London, I
decided to work while I was there. In fact, I decided to go directly
to the VMware office in central London upon landing at Heathrow.
Unfortunately, although I had looked at the location of the office on
Google Maps before, I failed to bring a hardcopy of the map or even
the street address with me. I realized the consequences of this when I
walked out of London Bridge station and had no idea where to go.
Recalling from memory the general direction in which the office lay
and the name of the building that housed it, I wandered off in search
of it. Incredibly, I eventually found myself in the right
neighbourhood after a while and even recognized the name of the
street, at which point a couple of random people were able to direct
me to the building.
Once I arrived at the office, things improved considerably. I was
quickly given a building pass and a desk so I could get to work. The
London office has an absolutely breathtaking view, although the loo is
designed so badly that you can't walk into it without potentially
hitting somebody standing at the sink with the door. They also sem to
have retained the free lunch that the rest of us once used to get on
\Wednesdays. For the other meals there is a nice little cafe in the
building, where I had an encounter with blood pudding that did not end
favourably for either party.
Based on my experiences taking the tube and walking around London, it
feels very much like the model on which NYC was based, although in
London I didn't get the impression of a citywide need to tell
everybody how great their city is. Perhaps that is because London has
been around so long that they've gotten past such self-esteem issues.
I mean, while trying to find my office, I suddenly discovered I was
standing in front of none other than Shakespeare's Globe theatre! At
the same time, London remains a work in progress, as evidenced by the
chronic interruptions to traffic from their long-running effort to
upgrade the Victorian-era water mains.
On my 2nd day I popped by the British museum for a couple of hours
before heading to work. Amongst other things, I went through the
entire exhibit on ancient Egypt and, because of my propensity for
reading through the description beside every single item on display, I
am now an expert on the history and science of mummification.
With my head about to explode from all this new knowledge, I needed to
compensate by filling my belly so I met up for lunch with my friend
Chris, who happens to be doing an internship in London this summer. On
a recommendation from my flatmate Tina, we ate at a local vegetarian
restaurant called Food for Thought, which made up for in deliciousness
what they may have lacked in punctuality. For dinner Chris and I met
up with my hosts, Eliza and Morgan, at a Turkish restaurant called
Tas, which had been recommended to me by a former prof and did not
fail to delight.
My 3rd day was spent mostly at work but during the afternoon I
realized I needed to hit up a bank so I looked up the nearest Citibank
on Google Maps and discovered it was a reasonable walk away. When I
got to the address listed, however, I learned that the branch there
had closed down and was redirected to another branch that required me
to take the tube. Despite having only vague directions and no map, I
did manage to find it. Unfortunately, they were able to provide me
only with Sterling and Euros but had no Hungarian Florents.
Comments [0]