A pop over the pond...

I recently had the chance to visit my dear friend Kristy, who I have known since we played tournament volleyball together in high school (nearly 20 years of friendship!), in her new home in London. She married a lovely British gent a couple years back and due to the complicated and lengthy spousal visa process they spent the beginnings of their married life living in NYC and England respectively. So it was something to celebrate when she finally got the visa approved, got herself a job and moved over into their UK home. I had met Brian (her husband) at the wedding and a couple other times, but I was looking forward to getting to know him a bit better as well. The trip happened in February but it has taken me awhile to get around to adding here as life has been a bit crazy! 

Kristy and Brian live in an area called Islington, which can be reached by taking the "tube" and getting off at the Angel stop, which I thought was charming. They have a sweet home in a quaint neighborhood that allows for easy commutes for both of them via the underground subway system. While I only got to spend a total of 3 nights with them we had a great time and managed to fit in a good solid visit and I know I will be back soon!

The first night Kristy took me to a place called Sky Garden for sunset where we enjoyed a beverage with an incredible view of London. The bar is on the top floor of Brian's work building so we got a VIP perk of cutting the line and going right up to this hot spot. The view was pretty incredible and highly recommended. Next the three of us went to an outdoor food court of sorts called Dinerama which was super fun and had a collection of bars and food stalls so we could all go and grab what we fancied and meet back up to enjoy a meal together.

The next day Kristy and I took advantage of the rental bikes all over the city and rode through a local park. London was having a heat wave so the beautiful sunny weather was a great bonus! We stopped at the pond to check out the swans, then headed to a popular area nearby for some lunch followed by gelato and a stroll. We made our way to a nearby pub to meet Brian for some rugby, which Kristy and I didn't care too much about but the ambiance and energy from the fans was fun despite our lack of interest in the sport haha.

 

Another highlight of the trip was I was able to fit in a reunion with my old boss from Thailand, Joanne, who I hadn't seen in 5 years. When I was living in Phuket I was eager to find a job and worked at it tirelessly the first 6 months of being there. I happened to apply to an ad in the Phuket Gazette for a personal assistant job and Joanne responded. It ended up being a PA job but also mainly a job with her company called Awesome Villas, representing some of the top luxury villas on the island. I worked with Joanne for a year and learned a lot, plus got the chance to stay in some INSANE villas. We became friends and I knew she had returned to the UK so I reached out to her and we set up a time to meet up. We had a lovely lunch and caught up and it was fun to reconnect! Some photos below of the past and present...

All in all it was a quick but fun visit and just a little teaser for when I go back. I got a beautiful view from the plane as I headed home, and look forward to visiting again soon!