Back in London

We made it back to London after our awesome spring break trips, and Jordan started his 3-week internship the very next morning! The firm he was placed at is called SJ Berwin, and is in downtown London right on the Thames River. He ended up liking the internship for the most part, although at the end of each day I mostly got to hear about the little perks involved, such as free lunches, a rooftop garden overlooking the city, an on-site masseuse... you know, the really important things. :) 

The sector he was working in dealt mostly with environmental issues. Quite honestly, I don't know a ton about it (I wish he was posting this instead of me!) So if you're interested, click here to go to SJ Berwin's main website.

Lindsay and I met Jordan down by his office for lunch one day, so I was able to snap a picture of him in his fancy work clothes. Doesn't he look HOT?! :) The building directly to his right across the river with all the windows is SJ Berwin's office building, where he worked.

Lindsay had a whole week left in London once we got back from Italy and Greece! Since she'd already been to London -- she visited me for a few days when I was here in college -- we didn't have to squeeze in many tourist sights, which left a lot of time for our main priority: SHOPPING. :) For those of you who know my sister, you know she can shop with the best of 'em, and she has an amazing wardrobe to prove it! And quite honestly, I had been limiting myself on the shopping end of things throughout my time in London, saving up for when she got here. As you may know, London is ranked with Paris and New York in the top three places to shop in the world, so we went ahead and took full advantage. :) I am not exaggerating when I say we hit every major shopping area (some of them twice or three times), which filled up most of our days.

Don't worry, we did manage to squeeze in a few other activities while Linds was here! We took her to all our favorite restaurants, watched THE MOST exciting soccer game amidst crazy British fans at our favorite pub, went to the theater twice to see two musicals -- Chicago and a new play called Spring Awakening -- both of which were fabulous, went downtown with millions of other people to watch the London Marathon, she treated me to a pedicure for my birthday present, and we did a TON of walking around the city to revisit some of the main sights... 

I know I've already posted a picture of this building, London's City Hall Building, but I liked this one better. Is this not the funkiest, most random building you've ever seen?! I love it.

One of the coolest things we got to do while Lindsay was here was go eat at a place called Dans Le Noir. You may have heard of it before; basically, it is where you eat in complete and total darkness. A dark dinner, for lack of better words. :) The first Dans Le Noir restaurant started in Paris, and they just recently opened one in London. We had a recommendation to do this from some friends back home, and we have been wanting to do it ever since we got here! 

Basically, what happens is they have you choose from a general menu before you go inside the dark room -- you get to choose from 1) meat, 2) seafood, 3) vegetarian, or 4) surprise! Jordan chose meat, I chose seafood, and Lindsay chose surprise. So other than knowing your general category, you have absolutely NO IDEA what your food is going to be! All the servers are blind, and they lead you back into the dark room to your table and get you seated. To be honest, I pictured it being dark but thought you'd still be able to see a little bit. I WAS WRONG. I am not exaggerating the least bit when I say I've never been in a room so completely dark in my entire life!!! I kept waving my hand an inch from my face, and I could not see it! It was absolutely CRAZY!

The whole point of the dining experience is to let your other senses take over. I will admit, it was a little scary for me to have no idea what I was eating! You honestly get the full experience of what it's like to be blind, and all along your waiter gives you tips on how to pour your wine, how to feel if there's any food left on your plate, etc. Needless to say, we had some absolute hysterical moments, and by the end of it our hands were covered in food. :) When you're finished with your three courses, they lead you back out into the lobby, which is lit, and you get to try and guess what your food was! They have a detailed picture and description they show you once you've guessed, so you end up getting to find out exactly what it was. 

We all ended up loving it and having so much fun, and concluded that it was BY FAR one of the most unique and interesting experiences we've ever had! To read more about it, click here to visit the Dans Le Noir website.

It was such a blast to have Lindsay come visit us! Although our tiny flat just kept getting fuller and fuller with all the shopping going on. :) Here's a glimpse into our living situation for the week...

Two hundred square feet, countless shopping bags, all of Lindsay's luggage, a blown-up air mattress... one big happy family! :)

I took Linds to the airport when it came time for her to leave, which was a complete circus... she was nice enough to take a huge bag home for us along with her luggage, and you can only imagine the two of us dragging two humungous, exploding-full, heavy bags down the streets of London to the tube. Oh, did I mention it was raining? And did I mention that I'm not strong? We only had one minor catastrophe where the bags toppled over on the wet sidewalk and I almost wet my pants because we were laughing so hard, but other than that, we made it safe and sound. :) I love my sis, and miss her already!

P.S. I am ALMOST caught up with the blog! Hurray!! One more post, and I'll be there. :)