London Visit

On the 26^th, I flew to London to visit Bloomberg’s London office. My goal there was to meet with several stakeholders, meet with my peer training team, and also guest teach a few intern courses. After arriving in Heathrow, I took the express train into Paddington, changed to another train and checked into my stay at the Native Bankside hotel.

Most English ‘Sorry for the inconvenience’ note ever

It was a nice efficiency, long-stay room. I had a washer/dryer, shower, comfortable bed, microwave, and oven. All that in a very small footprint. Since I was still recovering from my COVID omicron bout, I really didn’t have much energy or interest for going out in off hours, so having a viable apartment to myself was very welcome. Also, after a long day at the office, you do sometimes simply like to grab a pizza, go home, and sleep a deep slumber of jet-lag-aided oblivion.

The Bloomberg London office is a work of art that balances energy efficiency, respect for the neighborhood, and community.

The exquisite entry into Bloomberg London

Through the central stairway one can see between floors. Also engergy efficient lighting and reflection make the space very bright

Atop the spiral stair an oculus lets sunlight in

The main floor pantry has a lovely external view of St. Paul’s

When the building was being excavated, the effort uncovered a Temple to Mithras which the Bloomberg Philanthropies created a small museum around. In the collection is a record of a transaction between two freedmen and thus is the first deed of sale in the City of London! Here’s some of the tangible human element that’s on display in the museum:

In the off hours I amused myself by doing shopping at one of my favorite bookstores in the world, Foyle’s Charing Cross.

I wanted to get some English books for my future baby to be:

Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit
An Illustrated Collection of Nursery Rhymes
And, as a bonus, I Love You, Daddy, an extension of the Potter universe which might have just had me doing an ugly-cry in the middle of the kids section

For my flight back home, I bought two John Wyndham sci-fi books:

Chocky (Discussed previously)
The Chrysalids

Thanks to COVID, I hadn’t had a chance to get a haircut since the babymoon trip to the South of France. I was pretty shaggy so I got a cut and even (whoa!) fire treatment to the ears(!) at Ted Baker of London on the New Oxford Street:

You put your head forward in the basin. Maybe it’s one of those left-side-of-the-road things

Shout out to my barber Korel who gave me a gloriously even fade from top to nape.

I even attempted to go to an umbrella shop (in preparation for expected rain later in the week — I’d forgotten my brolly in New York):

All they do are umbrellas. That’s it…for nearly 200 years

But, alas, I was unable to make their opening hours.

One afternoon I did manage a good walk in through Westminster

London denizens are advised to hold the handrail, this pitty agrees

My hotel was next to Shakespeare’s Globe theatre

On my final night several of my colleagues and their better halves joined us for summer outdoor pub drinks. True to form a torrential downpour tore through the arcade and then disappeared

Everyone snuggled the buildings to stay dry, and then promptly resumed what they were doing (drinking pints)

Until next time, Londinium: