A few months ago, I found out I would be going to London in October for our Oracle summit. I suggested to Bill that he should come with me. Although I have been to London several times, I had never really spent time touring the city. He had not been to London since the mid 80s. As he recalls, the new bond movie featured on Piccadilly was Otcopussy.
We made plans and booked tickets a couple of months ago. Made arrangements for my parents to watch the kids for the week, and take them to activities in the weekends. We didn't realize back then our trip would fall right on Mason's hockey try outs, which meant several trips to the hockey rink for my dad. At the end, it all worked out with the help our hockey parent friends.
Coincidentally, Bill's company got acquired by a London based company after we made trip arrangements. He was able to go into the Informa offices a short walk from our hotel, meet and work with new coworkers.
We maximized the weekends by leaving on Friday afternoon and coming back on Sunday. We went to the London Eye, saw the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckigham palace, Big Ben, Piccadilly Circus, ran at Hyde park and walked around a lot. The weather was gorgeous and we stayed at King's Cross at the same hotel I had stayed at in February, very central location. We worked all week and met up for dinner with friends and coworkers. I had many coworkers from the US in London for the same summit.
It was a fantastic week, and one we would love to repeat yearly if possible. Work is likely to take me to London 2-3 times a year and same for Bill, although going together may require more planning.
