Off to London
January 24, 2007
We’re going to SES London in a few weeks. I am very excited to get back to Europe. I don’t know why anyone would ever leave there if they didn’t have to. Of everywhere I’ve traveled, I have to say my picks are London and New York. Of course, I am a city girl at heart. Living in London would be an experience of a lifetime. I’d have to learn to say things like flat and vat. Whatever vat is, I just saw that on the website of the hotel we are staying at. It’s not included in the cost of the room, whatever it is.
We are flying out on Air New Zealand. I’ve never flown that airline before, but the price was right and their website sold me. It was $300 cheaper to buy from their website than it would’ve been through Expedia which is what I normally use.
At any rate, the weather in London in Feb will be cold. Not as cold as New York in February though, so that will be nice. I’m bringing my camera, so I will be able to update my blog with some fun pictures. Hopefully I’ll meet some new SEO’s that I can add to my favorite peeps section.
TaTa!
Posted in Search Engine Strategies
January 25th, 2007 at 12:51 am
I agree. I was in London this summer freelancing for a month, went back to Atlanta, then moved back permanently for a position in Leeds.
Feb will be around freezing. It just turned cold in Leeds a couple days ago. Been hovering around 50 for a long time.
No snow yet, but London is about 200 miles from here.
VAT is “Value Added Tax”. is tax on exchanges. It is levied on the value added that results from each exchange. Levied in !(%$ by the French.
This VAT (currently 17.5%) is added into retail sales so when you buy something for 4.99, you pay 4.99, vat incl.
You also pay Council Tax, £1100-£2000 per year in Leeds (abround $2000 – $4000)…but that’s just in Leeds. London is even higher.
Then about 40% comes out of your pay for NHS (National Health – which sucks) and other services.
So in the end your paying a lot of taxes. But yes, its worth it. I went to Paris for less than £450, and a 4-start hotel. Everything is accessible by train or bus.
Next week I’m going to Spain and Portugal, befor the SES where I’m speaking on the SEM Tools panel (come say hi!).
After that I’ll be speaking in Amsterdam in May at the GMC2007 and after that back to London to speak at Marketing 07.
Travel is cheap, and exciting for this Ohio born and bred kid (of 39)
So yes SEO Wife, its nice, but it has good and bad points.
“The grass is always greener”
Here’s some London pics to warm you up;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garyrbeal/
Plan to take the tube to Westminster to see Big Ben and the palace like you see in the pics. After Big Ben take a taxi to the Millenium wheel. Take a camera!. Its a huge ferris wheel. Each carriage holds 12-14 people. There are several pics of it at the above link.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Hey, I guess you’re right about the grass being greener. Thanks for explaining the VAT.
My SEO hubby took the kids and me to SES London 2 years ago. We saw Big Ben and rode the London Eye. It was fantastic. We also went to Bath and Stonehenge. This year, I think we’ll just be chillin in the hotel bar with everyone. Especially since it will be so cold outside.
BTW, love the pixs. LMAO at the photo of your ex. Too funny.