A Lady in London

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love getting together with fellow Americans to be thankful and eat heaping portions of autumn food. It’s pretty simple, and it’s always good. So good, in fact, that this year instead of going to just one Thanksgiving dinner, I went to four.

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Being an American expat in London, I’m always interested in stories about my fellow Americans abroad. I enjoy meeting new acquaintances and hearing the story of how they made their way to their new country. I also love expat stories in all forms of media, from Hemingway novels to contemporary films. So when I was invited to a screening of The American, a new film about an American expat in Italy, I was happy to attend. The film doesn’t come out in theaters until Friday, so it was nice to get a sneak preview ahead of time.

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In all of my exploring London, there are a few neighborhoods I haven’t spent much time in. One of those is Battersea. The neighborhood sits right on the south bank of the Thames across the river from Parsons Green. It is close, but due to sparse tube transport links, it feels strangely far away. Thankfully a new restaurant, The Fish Place, gave me an invitation to sample its fresh seafood selection and an excuse to visit the area.

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It’s that time of year. The weather is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and my appetite for comfort food is getting bigger. It’s Christmastime in London, and there are celebrations to welcome the annual Christmas lights on high streets throughout the city.

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When Bar Boulud made its debut on the London restaurant scene in May, some friends invited me to lunch there. The excitement in the restaurant—Daniel Boulud’s first in UK—was visible not least because the chef himself was making the rounds to say hello to guests and make sure everything was running smoothly.

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When I attended the Day of the Dead Afternoon Tea at the Met Bar a few weeks ago I learned that the bar had recently revamped its cocktail menu. After my fellow bloggers and I had finished the cakes and tea, it was decided that we would all return in a few weeks’ time to sample the new drinks list.

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One of my favorite expat expressions goes something like this: “the English think 100 miles is a long way, and the Americans think 100 years is a long time.” Given that I come from a state that is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year, living in London has me in perpetual wonder—and near constant confusion—over the city’s long history and traditions.

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In anticipation of all of my globetrotting at the World Travel Market this week, I worked up an appetite for cuisine from around the world. Conveniently, I received an invitation to have dinner with a group of London bloggers at El Cantara, a new Spanish-Moroccan restaurant in Soho.

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Whenever I get off a long-haul flight I always wish there was some way to make my favorite destinations closer. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could walk from London to Bali, or from San Francisco to New Zealand? Thankfully, some clever people figured out a rather creative way to make this happen. No, it wasn’t the Shanghai Expo. It was the World Travel Market, the premier global event for the travel industry. And it was conveniently located right in London.

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I don’t miss much about working in finance. I don’t miss the long hours, I don’t miss the stress, and I certainly don’t miss being at my desk at 5:30 every morning. But of the few things I miss about the finance world, corporate tickets are one of them. From Coldplay concerts to Giants games, my fellow analysts and I snagged ourselves tickets to anything and everything our firm offered us. Unfortunately corporate tickets weren’t quite enough to convince me that I liked my job, and with my departure went my opportunities for 49ers tickets and Warriors games.

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Whisky is making a comeback. Or so I’m told. I’ve never been much of a whisky drinker, but for some reason it keeps coming up in conversation as the new “it” spirit. At the Met Bar last Monday I was told that the field of mixology has witnessed a return to classic cocktails like the Old Fashioned. At Hawksmoor last Thursday the drinks menu was full of Manhattans and Mint Juleps. Indeed, it seems that whisky is on the rise.

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