Having just finished week three of my new job in London, I still find myself in awe of this amazing city. Every lunch hour, I walk across London Bridge and make my way through the busy streets exploring and scouting out new places to shop. It seems that there is no shortage of tourists, too, despite the fact that the weather is cool and blustery. So often I see them stopping to take photos on the bridge which looks onto the Thames, of course, and not far off to Tower Bridge. People often confuse these bridges. I think it is because the Tower Bridge is so much more majestic and ornate with golden tipped peaks. The London Bridge is, well, a bridge over the Thames and if you didn't read the signs you could easily pass over it without knowing it's importance. The lunch hour is a blur of businessmen in suits talking on mobile phones, people jogging, women in sky rocket heels and teeny skirts (don't they ever get cold?) and so many different languages being spoken as people pass by that my brain is whirring from trying to take it all in. I can't help but feel excited to be amongst this hive of activity.
The offices of Ernst and Young are situated next to City Hall and when I pass through the revolving doors into the reception area, I feel like Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Just the other day, when the weather was particularly wet and nasty, and I was entering the building with my umbrella dripping, the reception personnel/greeter dudes were at the doors with a machine that I have never seen before. When I asked what it was, my favourite greeter guy said that he invented it just for me. He took my drenched umbrella and stuck it in the machine and it came out dry with a long plastic sleeve over it. I must have looked like a complete dork standing there gawking at my umbrella then the machine then my umbrella and then as I walked towards my department, again at my umbrella.
So the umbrella service was pretty awesome and the fact that I had inspired an invention was even more uplifting, but get this, each floor of the building is colour coordinated – so red for floor #4 and orange for level 5 and yellow for 6. But to top it off each floor has it's own latte/coffee/tea/hot chocolate/mocha machine and we can have whatever we want for free. There is also an in-house catering service that looks after all of the meeting rooms. They have staff, dressed in black suits, hired exclusively to look after the catering and push trolley's around to replenish each meeting room with herbal teas, sparkling water, and coffee served in china cups and saucers with pictures of the Tower Bridge on them.
There is also a coffee bar on site which serves speciality coffees and breakfast foods and, in addition, a main cafeteria with a buffet bursting with homemade soups, salad bar, fresh pies, desserts, deli sandwiches and hot pasta dishes, roast beef meals and curries. And I am sure I have missed mentioning other things that are offered there too.
Now that Christmas isn't far away, the most magnificent decorations with a theme of white and silver are tastefully appointed throughout the building. My favourite are the two enormous urns that are filled with white branches and clustered with a wonderful array of interesting floral pieces and Christmas bobbles. I really wanted to take a photo but another greeter dude said I had to get permission. My favourite one wasn't there the day I brought my camera to work. Apparently, I am not supposed to take photos outside of the offices either. So when you see my photos which I have attached I have taken them from a distance. I was afraid they would cart me off, if I got too close. Not sure of the reasoning for this but when I get the chance I am going to ask the inventor of the umbrella machine. He might even pose in a shot with me. So stay tuned for that.
