Eastbound & Up

So as I have alluded to previously, dearest Bucket has acquired a mini passport for herself this summer- 2 of the 3 stamps courtesy of Mama's job.  The first was in early June with a week long jaunt to Finland and the second was in late July with a week long trip to London.  I neglected to post about either of these trips for a multi-part reason: 1) well, you see how grossly behind this blog has been and 2) I generally don't post about work.  However, because my job isn't one that historically has required a lot of travel and now that Ryan and I have started this little zoo family, I foresee my travel plummeting for the near future.  I decided that it was okay to post some pictures of some of the extracurricular, non-worky things we did on each trip.  I'll save you the snoozefest that was the purpose of our trips as I assume most of you aren't accountants and thus don't get amped up about things like "spreadsheets," "rates," and "site visits."  I personally was very excited and felt fortunate to be able to go on each trip- I really have some amazing co-workers/bosses.

First up, Finland.  This was my second time to travel to this charming little nordic land.  It was mainly as I remembered it- chalk full of light headed people with a strong affinity for fish and potatoes.  The difference was that this time we went in the summer rather than in the winter.  This meant that the daylight lasted like... all day.  Seriously.  I kept waking up and seeing the sun coming through the curtains of my hotel room and having a mini-panic attack that I'd overslept only to look at the clock and see 4:00 am.  It was weird.  Fate did not mean for me to be Finnish and I'm comfortable with that.  I'll perform narration of our trip through photographic commentary.  Isn't that everyone's favorite anyway?

Because seeing people in PPE never gets old.  The men are definitely rocking it better than yours truly.

 The yard HSE coordinator was a Houston expat and he took us to dinner on this little boat.

I'm looking very travel-worn but this serves as photographic evidence that we indeed ate on a boat.  I had... wait for it... fish.

On another day the same week our awesome expat tour guide took us to lunch at this little place on the water.  The fare?  You guessed it- fish.

Preeeeeeetty jazzed about our fish.  Actually, one night this week the guys took me to Chef Jani's restaurant, Bucco, and it. was. amazing.  I did not eat fish... I ate scallops.  It's too bad I was busy stuffing my face and didn't take any pics.  If you ever find yourself in Pori you should definitely go visit him.

Did you know that Angry Birds was created in Finland?  No?  Then you clearly haven't visited Finland.

The last day of work my boss made us be rebels by stopping off at the Yyteri beach on the way to work.  It took us about 20 mins to find the beach down this rickety walkway clearly not made for a pregnant woman in wedges, but it was well worth it.

On a totally unrelated note, it's hard to get sand out of wedges.

Because Pori is so small, we had to fly to Helsinki, stay the night and then fly out to the states the following morning.  While in Helsinki our last evening, Chef Jani recommended a restaurant for us to go to called Bronda.  It was heavenly.  Like seriously maybe the best meal of my life but certainly top 5.  I'm not a photographer of food, but I'm going to subject you all to these so I never forget it.  I don't remember what much of this was other than delicious though.

Scallops.

Osso bucco and something else that was also amazing.

Dessert.  Equally as out of this world.

While wandering around the city trying to walk off some of our fantastic dinner we happened upon a car show in the middle of the city which apparently takes place the first Friday of each month.  It was funny to me to see so many American cars.  There were lots of 1997ish mustangs like Jen had.  Oddly none of them were headed to Sonic like we usually were though.

Good to know that some of America's obnoxious bumper stickers have made it across the pond.

Old Ford.  That's about as technically savvy as I get when it comes to cars.

Uspenski Cathedral.  We walked by it, I took this picture and had no idea what it was until I just googled it.  #besttouristever

Really awesome old ship.

Everyone else had a beer and pretzel in the United Lounge pre-flight out.  This was my pregnant lady substitute.

Next up- London!  I have also traveled to London a time or two for both work and for fun.  It was just as I remembered it- chalk full of people with intelligent sounding accents, snappy dress socks and a strong affinity for beer.  The difference in this trip was that the office that we were going to visit had changed locations to right by St. Paul's.  So we got to know a new 'hood, which was fun.  Unfortunately the self-proclaimed photographer of our previous trip did not make this one, so I fear that I have less visual proof that this trip took place.  I'll see what I can find in my photostream for you though.

We ate dinner over at the Cinnamon Club one evening and got to walk by Westminster Abbey.  Delish food- highly recommend.

We also went to see Jersey Boys and I took zero pics (who's shocked?)  So I hijacked this one from the interwebs.  It's hard to say whether I enjoyed the performance by the actors or the performance by the several older women in the audience who were singing and dancing in the aisles.  Either way- it was definitely a win in my book.

Here's a view of St. Paul's after walking out the doors of the office we were working from.  Did you know this is where Diana and Charles tied the knot?  My boss' wife did.

My boss and I snuck over here during work hours for the quickest tour ever on the last day we were in town.  Shot of the ceiling.  I wasn't supposed to take this picture.  Please don't report me!

The building in the forefront between the two towers is where we were working.

We climbed all the way to the top.  They put this little hole in the floor at one point just so you can see how quickly your blood pressure can rise.  This is a view of the very bottom floor.

London Eye, the Thames, etc.

View of the office we were working out of from the highest observation deck.

Ta-da!  The front.  We were so lucky to have such gorgeous weather while we were there.

And that, my friends, about sums up the fun touristy parts of my two work trips this summer.  I hope you have enjoyed this short break from my pregnancy catch up tour as much as I enjoyed these jaunts across the pond.  Oh, and OF COURSE, a huge shout out to my Baby Daddy (plus Nonnie & Pawpaw for their assistance) who took such incredible care of our princess for two whole weeks so Mama could play career woman.  Sure I picked her up from school in pajamas one Friday upon my return but overall, he could not have been more successful.  I don't know what I did to get so lucky, but I sure am glad I did it.  Thank you, love!

Pretty amped up about her impromptu jammie day at school.