A very busy March & April

…a month later and a lot has happened. I have been traveling quite a bit so did not really have the chance to update my blog. Apologies.

Where to start? There haven’t been any world-changing events between Lucy’s Leaving Do and Easter, so I better start with that. Good Friday morning I left a very rainy, windy and cold London for a few days in Italy. The 4.30am wakeup was an absolute killer, but the sun that welcomed me in Linate was worth the effort. A brief stopover at home and after lunch we were on our way to Tuscany, Viareggio to specific. Too bad that the more south we got the less sun was to be seen in the sky and by the time we reached our destination there was a full on storm with horizontal rainfall and a seriously p… off sea. Nice….

From these pictures you can probably tell how f… freezing and windy it was Well, we certainly had to give it a try and see for ourselves how stormy it was. 15 minutes and an awful lot of water later we legged it back home to warm up. The next couple of days it got a lot nicer, with sunny spells and long walks along the “lungomare” ( = walk along the seafront with shops and little cafe’s), nice restaurants, a little bit of shopping and a few beach visits

This happens when you try to take a picture with the self-timer and realize at the last second that you are standing in the wrong spot It’s a miracle we didn’t fall over…

Bene and me at La Capannina – one of those Vodka Lemon and you are sorted for the evening, trust me!

Unfortunately this break lasted way to little and on Monday evening we were already on our way back to Milan. But, there was not time to relax. Once back in London it was time for my last week at work and the very anticipated B-day/ Leaving Party at Sway Bar. A big Thank you goes to all present that night, and those that unfortunately couldn’t make it. No forgiveness will be extended to those who promised to come and just didn’t show Just kidding!!! Here is a random selection of a few impressions of that night….

To my fellow ex-Stanhopians: Thank you SO much for the fantastic 3 years we had together. Keep in touch, ok? Once the new office is open we should arrange a good old piss-up like the old times. Missing you already!!!

And, quicker than I would have expected, my last day arrived and after 3 brilliant years in my building in Floral Street it was time to pack up and leave. There were a few tears, some flowers, champagne and an awful lot of bags ( the stuff one piles up underneath the desk in 3 years….incredible!!!) and the knowledge that I had a week holidays ahead of me to think it all over and relax. Yeah, right….relaxing? Not if one’s flight is scheduled to fly out from Heathrow T5 5 days after opening and they are in the middle of the crisis. In fact, it couldn’t have been any different, my flight was cancelled for the 6th day in a row and I luckily managed to get out of town with Easyjet from Gatwick instead.

Milan was lovely as always, even though I think I drunk and ate waaaaaaay too much Oh well, that’s what holidays are all about, right? I even managed to get to Bergamo, a little town abut half an hour from Milan, for a day and explore the old part of town located on a top hill. With my usual luck the little train that takes you up there was undergoing refurbishment, so we had to take the stairs instead. It really wasn’t that bad and the view was astonishing….

I have been back in London for about a week now, started the new job and slowly getting used to new and old things again. The new office is still a construction site, so there is very little that can be done until we get a bit further. I suddenly find myself with a lot of time on my hands and try to catch up on a lot of things I did not have the time or energy to do over the last 6 months. So far so good. Next weekend Lucy and I ( as part of the “Girls On Tour” Series) are flying to Stockholm for a short break. Looking forward exploring a city I have not seen yet!!

Tine x