Bars of Ice, Palaces of Dragons, and a Trip to the Beach! (Days 23-24)

Day 23: Thursday, April 5

Thursday started our first of many meetings with various people in different areas of the pharmacy department.  Carmen and I met Lynn at 9 am to get ready for a morning full of learning about aseptics and the differences between how the US and UK prepare aseptics preparations.  The boys did not have a meeting set up, so they decided to join in on ours :)  Of course, we didn’t mind, but there was only room for 2 people at a time, so we went in groups.  After Lynn gets us to gown up in proper attire (booties, hair net, gown, gloves, mask, etc), we head into the clean rooms.  We learned that at least at this hospital, all IV bags are bought pre-made, so the only aseptics they work on are chemotherapy and TPN (total parenteral nutrition) for patients who are unable to eat adequately (seen often in premature babies, as well as very ill adults).  In the States, almost every sterile IV bag is made on-site at the hospital (and most hospitals go through hundreds daily, so you can imagine how busy the techs stay), so Carmen and I were both surprised at the amount of space given to the aseptics room for what we considered to be a very small work load.  Also very interesting was that it was about halfway through our discussion with Lynn before I realized that she was not a pharmacist, but a technician.  She seemed more educated and knowledgeable about aseptics and preparation and procedures that most people I have met, both pharmacists and technicians.  It was then that we learned that technicians are required to do a lot more training in the UK than they are in the States (considering there is really no required training other than hands-on in the US).  At least two years of school plus more if the technician is interested in specializing or receiving the certification to do the final check on a prescription.  This would never be allowed in the States!  But Lynn was extremely knowledgeable and was able to help us out a lot in learning about aseptics.  An interesting story while we were in the clean room: apparently today was a big delivery day in that the clean rooms were receiving new refrigerators.  The delivery men proceeded to just march on in until Lynn stopped them immediately, as they were about to contaminate the whole space!  The men laughed at first, then realized they were actually going to have to dress up in the gowns to come in the room to install the refrigerator.  Said frig also wouldn’t fit through the door due a shelving unit in the way, so the delivery men just tried to push the shelving unit from the outside into the clean room, causing even more chastising by Lynn for trying to destroy her clean space! Ha ha.  Carmen and I got a big kick out of it, and may have laughed a bit as we handed over our clean room gowns to the delivery men.

After spending the day learning about aseptics, we were excited because it meant the start of our 4 day weekend!  Woo-hoo!  The boys had plans to go to Paris for the weekend, so we decided to all go out on Thursday night to celebrate another week being over!  Another side note, this one kind of sad:  Carmen and I originally had plans to go to Paris as well and even had our hotel booked with the 2 Mercer pharmacy students in Manchester, England (Aimee and Jill), but had not yet made either plane or Eurostar reservations.  We started looking about 1.5-2 weeks ahead of time, and the prices were through the roof since it was Easter weekend!  Major sadness, but it was not worth £600 just to get there and back not even counting room and food.  But no worries, Carmen and I have big plans in London and the surrounding area for the weekend!

Yes, that is all made of ICE!  At least 3 layers thick, from what we gathered, as it is all completely smooth to the touch!

With my ice glass, at the ice counter, by the ice walls!

 Anyway, back to the original story of our big night out!  Per the recommendation of Dr. Klein, we found out about a really neat bar in London….made completely of ICE!  After further research, we all decided we must check this place out!  We booked an early time slot to avoid more expensive admission and headed into central London around 4:00.  The price was only £12, which included admission into the ICEBAR as well as a drink…in an ice glass!  We were way too excited about it (or at least, Carmen and I were.  The boys hid their excitement a little bit better, but we know they were looking forward to it as well! Ha ha).  The time slots were for 45 minute increments because they keep the temperature at -5°C.  Brr!  Before you go in, they tell you to put on any extra warm weather gear you have (and lucky me, I was already wearing the usual tights under my pants and 2 coats over my shirt plus scarf and gloves!) and then they give you these giant wool/fur-lined capes (supposedly one-size fits all, might I add, though I believe looking at Carmen and Michael, who are 5’2” and 6’5”, respectively, I would have to say that all agreed this was not true!!  Poor Michael was only covered to the tops of his knees, and Carmen’s cape almost touched the ground! :)   

There's clearly a height difference going on here :)

There are hardly words to describe how cool the ICEBAR is!  Once a year, they melt down the entire place and completely redesign the sculptures and signs in between the ice.  The walls, glasses, tables, counter, chairs, everything, was made of ice! 

Ice walls with face holes to take pictures in!

Ice glasses on the ice counters (but you have to be careful setting them down, or they will go sliding!!)

Just chilling on our ice seats at our ice table!!

So amazing!  But after 45 minutes, I do believe we were all ready for a little bit of heat.  My poor Raynaud’s (see here) had set in about 25 minutes earlier, so it took me a good 20 minutes to thaw, even with all my extra layers!

Oh, and did I mention the walls changed colors? 

Yes, color changing walls.  Even more amazing.

I loved this quote, and it was all embedded and chiseled into the ice, as it was totally smooth to the touch.

Yup, changed colors again!

After the ICEBAR, we headed to our trusty restaurant, The Slug and Lettuce, where we enjoyed a nice, warm dinner with lots of cider and fun times were had by all!  It was a really fantastic night and a truly magical (in an icy, sparkly sort of way) experience!  

Day 24: Friday, April 6

Friday was the real start to a busy, busy couple of days!  On the schedule for today was a day trip to Brighton on the coast of England.  We purchased train tickets and set out decently early (by our standards!) for the ride to the coast!  Like seemingly all of train trips, it lasted about an hour, during which we got in a brief nap.  On the list of places to tour in Brighton were the famous Brighton Pier, as well as another palace (surprise, surprise!), the Royal Pavilion.  We arrived at the Brighton stop and after a quick look at the map, we headed through town towards the Royal Pavilion and Guest Info Center.  On our way, we ran into streets and streets of people and tents full of delicious-smelling food.  It appears we arrived in Brighton on their bi-annual local food festival!  Woo-hoo!  There were goodies and cupcakes and all sorts of meals being cooked and sold everywhere we turned!  Deciding we would definitely be returning to the streets for lunch, we made our way to the Guest Info Center to make sure we weren’t missing out on any other big attractions for the day.  After planning out our afternoon, we headed back to the food festival, where Carmen got some yummy-smelling paella, and I bought a hamburger.  Not any ordinary hamburger, though.  In the UK in general, they do not add spices or anything to their beef, so I’ve been avoiding red meat completely.  Well, this beef was from cows raised all sorts of healthy types of food and was being cooked in some of the most delicious-smelling spices.  I couldn’t resist, especially since red meat is normally incorporated into my meals at least 2-3 times per week.  Even Carmen, who doesn’t particularly care for red meat, said it smelled amazing.  And I do have to say that it rivaled any burger my dad (the steakhouse owner for 30 years) has ever cooked.  Sorry, dad, it was that good!  We ate in the park outside of the palace, and then headed inside.

The Royal Pavilion was the pride and joy of King George IV in the early 1800’s.  From the outside, it is a most peculiar, yet beautiful building.  It almost looks like a mini Taj Mahal plopped right down on the British coast!  The design is extraordinary, and even more so when you enter the palace.  Ever excited about getting a student discount (which Carmen and I realized we can only really do for about another month and a half!) and free audio guide, we made our way through the Pavilion.   

The Royal Pavilion.  Not what you were imagining as the home of a British monarch, I bet!

The interior of the Pavilion is completely in Chinese and some Indian design, which looks so bizarre for a British monarch!  There were dragons and lotus flowers and bamboo everywhere!  And every bit of it was beautiful!  Unfortunately, per usual, no pictures were allowed, but I’m sure you can (and certainly should!) find some online.  After Queen Victoria took the throne, she did not care much for the Royal Pavilion, as it was much too small for her family, so it fell out of use as a royal residence.  Interestingly though, during the First World War, the Pavilion was used as a hospital for Indian soldiers fighting for the British, and there is even a museum inside dedicated to preserving the history of the Pavilion as a hospital.  Also, a new exhibit about Princess Charlotte recently opened.  She was the only child of King George IV, but unfortunately died at age 21 during childbirth, leaving him no heir to the throne.  Princess Charlotte’s uncle’s daughter, Victoria, would eventually take the throne.  It was also quite a neat exhibit.

So bizarre looking, especially on the coast, but so beautiful as well!

After touring the Royal Pavilion, Carmen and I headed down The Lanes (some of the oldest streets in Brighton and home to shop after shop of wonderfully sparkly jewelry!) towards the coast.  We were interested to see the UK’s version of a beach, as it was quite a chilly and windy day.  Upon arrival at the coast, the first thing we noticed was that the “sand” was actually very large pebbles (which would prevent the ever present problem of sand being absolutely everywhere on beach trips!).  Though chilly, we headed down to the water and enjoyed sitting on the pebbled beach and getting in some good people-watching!

In front of the Atlantic Ocean...brrr!!

White sand beach...oh wait...dirty colored pebble beach.  Still pretty comfy to sit on, though!

As close as I was willing to get by the water (notice all my layers!)

Then we headed to the Brighton Pier, completed in its final stage in 1897, with only minor repair work since.  It was every neat, though slightly reminiscent of a county fair…just over the water!  Still, very fun to see, since it is a very famous pier!  

Welcome to the Brighton Pier!!

View of the shore from the Pier!

View of the Pier from the shore :)

The famous West Pier at Brighton, which has burned down, but as a historical class 1 graded pier, it cannot be torn down and is left in its current state with plans to build a large viewing tower around it in the years to come.

We headed back to London after staying in Brighton for about 7 hours or so.  Jill and Aimee had come to London for the long weekend, so we met up with them at All Bar One and had a fun time catching up and comparing stories of London versus Manchester…and the UK versus the States!  We then made plans to eat dinner with them the following night after another fun day trip!