London Baby (3rd time this year is the charm)

 This was such a good week here in the UK. Sunday was a fun day besides the good byes. I walked the kids to school/gan, went for Pizza Prego with Shifra and Rinat, and headed to the airport with Dov. We checked in (pre check in is faster than status check in), and met to go into the lounge (once I heard that he said section D not B. It was my last flight without gold status to go in myself. I way overate in there, the pizza, couscous/soup, and incredible blondie cookies were so good but I had already had the pizza – felt like I ate way too much. Then it was time to board -  I got to go on the flight with Dov, which was a pleasure – everyone knows him. When we landed, 4 rows ahead of me was Ronen, one of my best friends at Just. Flight was pretty uneventful BH and then Spencer picked us up to bring us back. Waiting for me was one million amazon packages that Shiff ordered.

The next morning I woke up, had Curiously Cinnamon with Shoshana, and headed over to Camden. I got off at Golders Green to get a carmellis bagel for brunch. It was great to see everyone, some for the first time.

At the end of the work day, we headed to a pub in Camden for a happy hour. I drank half a cup of beer, hung out, and then headed back for a delicious dinner Raachel made. It was really fun to hang out with them. After dinner, we watched a very cool show called the 1% club, where I got almost all of it right.

I woke up the next morning at 6 with no alarm, davened, and headed to Camden, without stopping for a bagel this time (still too full after overeating).

For lunch I brought Scott to Mazal, and we had a great chat, personal and professional.

After work, Reagan, Jon (who literally signed on to just after his flight was in the air here), Scott and I left our laptops in the office, and headed to the Tottenham game. We navigated the Underground system, walked, and made it to the stadium, where I met Dov. I had bought us the tickets but told him that we got it from Just (who does have season tickets but they were taken by Or and Mickey). We had some beer, watched the light show, the ceremony for someone named Sonny who came to say good bye properly, and got to watch a 3-0 win for the Spurs (an own goal and 2 penalty kicks). The Praha fans were insane, it added to the atmosphere (spurs fans were pretty quiet). Our seats were incredible too, 15 rows up. Then we walked back, Dov drove us back, I told him I bought the tickets, he was very appreciative, and he dropped me off. I was starving because no kosher food at the stadium, so I had a DELICIOUS sandwich with cream cheese and olives when I got back in.

The next morning, the alarm was the one to wake me up. I decided to try Hendon Bagel Bakery (better than Carmelli), and then took the tube in.

Lunch at Mazal of course (pita schnitzel so good and packed) with JC and Scott who independently made his way over. At the end of the work day, there was a Christmas/Chanukah toast and celebration of the team’s success in 2025. From there, good byes to everyone, and then headed back to Hendon. Raachel picked me up while I started walking and we got to Bagel Bar Grill House – incredible food. The Burger I had was so heavenly (friend onions, onion rings, brisket, pickles) and the onion rings and fried brisket balls were too. We didn’t have cash for a tip, and I said I had cash so I wen tto get it. Turned out it was Canadian money lol. So we got cash and ran it back in. Then went back and I had to finish some work.

Thursday morning I woke up without a plan, just that I wanted to do something interesting/fun and get gifts for Meital and Shiff (already had for the others). So I said good bye to Raachel and Shosh, and headed to Hendon Bagel Bakery. I then walked to the underground, and found myself at Primark on Tottenham Court road (used the bathroom desperately and then bought a couple shirts). Then I walked down to Covent Gardens, which was very beautifully Christmasy. I had my bagel and enjoyed just breathing for a little bit in Covent. I got the gifts, and then saw the museum of transport. I found free tickets online, and headed in. It was very interesting and cool! Super happy I did – was very interesting to learn how the amazing London transport system came about.

From there, Shifra asked me to go to Primark to get her boots which I did after the store. I got her wellies. From there, I took the underground to the London Eye/Big Ben etc, drank my cherry coke next to the river, and got on the train to head to Heathrow.

Heathrow was awesome because after the first flight of this trip I got moved to Gold Status. This meant I checked in at business and got to go fast track through security. Then I got to go sit in the lounge for two hours, work, chill, eat kosher food and drink wine. What a way to fly!

Then I boarded, and now on flight heading home. So many action items its crazy.

 

Here was my LI Post:
Hard to summarize such a great and productive week here in London, together with the EMEA team, and leaders of CS, Sales, and Marketing. We covered an insane amount over these few days, and I can't wait to work on the laundry list of action items starting on Sunday.

Some highlights from this week:
-Giving a 2 hour tool workshop and building cadences with the team
-ICP + Persona collaboration and decisions
-CS/AE open discussions and alignment
-Event Planning for 2026
-Finalizing dashboards to build and use
-Onboarding for our newest AEs
-Great 1 on 1s with the team here to understand what we can be doing differently and better
-A Champions League game in the beautiful Tottenham Stadium
-Some fun hangouts with the team
-Christmas/Chanukah Toast celebrating the EMEA team's amazing 2025.
-Family time!
-So much more

Thank you to Mick and the EMEA team for hosting.

Even more excited for our CKO next month in NY!