London #6...With a Little bit of NYC

Hey guys and gals---I am currently sitting in NYC with a little bit of free time before a meeting, and I thought to myself, what better to do than write everyone...so here goes, in no particular order..:-)

2 Weekends ago I went on my first "Thames River Boat Cruise"...the weather was amazing...the sights were tremendous and overall I had a wonderful time. This leads me to write about two very interesting myths about London that I want to dispel while I have a moment...

MYTH #1

WEATHER---So the conventional belief is that London weather sucks. This could not be further from the truth...So i have been in London for two months and have enjoyed some tremendous weather. In fact, as I talked to my mother mother today who mentioned that Chicago experienced its first snow fall the other day....while I was playing golf in lovely sunny weather and a short sleeve polo shirt...I have had to use the umbrella a few times...but now that I think about it, no more so than in NYC...

So here is the basic London weather primer---About 5% warmer on average than NYC with less wind, but slightly more rain..I would rather be warmer...I don't know about you...It's still no LA...but then again, what is...

MYTH #2

FOOD---Lots of people complain about the food in London...I think they are delusional....In general I eat out about 5 times a week, so i sample a wide variety of food..and here is the big update that everyone is waiting for..the food is AWESOME....in terms of cuisines, you can eat anything that you can dream of, and if you dream of Indian, then you are truly in heaven...I have eaten every type of cuisine imaginable and have enjoyed every meal i have had...I have also been lucky enough to hit some really nice spots (Thank you Adam, Matt, Bruce, Jordan) and the food is on par with NYC...

This leads me nicely to NYC---I am in town for a few days on a big NYC Investment Banking LBS trek...we are visiting 6 banks in 3 days...so far the trip has been amazing, as had been Max's couch---but the more time I spend in London and NYC, the more different the cities seem to me. At the end of the day, London is just more livable---it does not have those SKY scrapes looming over every block...no jack hammers, no sirens---just more of a n easier way to go about things and enjoy..almost like Chicago in a sort of way with nicer weather, and more multi-cultural. But---I do have to hand it to NYC in terms of SUSHI...It destroys LA, Chicago, and London--I truly feel the no city has better sushi than NYC, and my incredible meal at YAMA last night (Thanks Heidi..-:) was the final nail in the coffin to that fact...

Last but not least...Last weekend I was lucky enough to head off to Dublin for a weekend of fun (probably my last fun weekend until semester ends in December)--Going to Dublin solidified why I went to LBS...I was able to stay with a friend of mine from Dublin in her amazing house, 10 minutes from the city center---she invited 8 people along, and we just had the times of our lives---
Shockingly, it did not rain at all..I drank enough Guinness to satisfy even my deepest desires (by the way, the Guinness brewery tour is incredible and has to be seen to be believed). We went up to the coast, walked on the seaside, saw BONO's house (i took a picture in front of his gate..:-)

It just felt great to be really enjoying Europe with close friends, etc. I truly feel that when I am done with LBS, I will have a couch to crash on in every country that I could possibly want to ever visit..

School is moving along at a frenetic pace--Mid-Terms are coming up!!! I feel my daily limits in terms of time/sleep have been stretched to the absolute limits..but somehow I am still going...The good news is my team and I completed the AT KEARNEY Case competition..hopefully we will be one of the top 3 at LBS and we will move on the European Semi-Finals---Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Ok...I have to run to another meeting..but I will try to write again soon--highlights everyone can look forward to are: Jordan's big Halloween party, my first PREMIERSHIP GAME!!! I am going to see Arsenal play on Saturday...and my first mid-term.

One last thing...the blog is ALMOST ALMOST ALMOST done...so that will be up soon--then I promise everyone PICTURES of EVERYTHING will be up...i know you guys want to see them...so just be a little bit more patient and they will be there soon...