Summer in the City - Finally!

I love working in a social company! My company, Synovate, organised a summer party for the whole company (in the UK) of 500 people! It was held at a bar in St. Katharines Docks and started with a 'clue walk' to the secret destination - which happened to be just across the river from our company's building near Tower Bridge. We had such a beautiful day for the event so everyone was in high spirits. Its so funny here in Britain, it tends to rain so much, that people are just over-the-top happy when the sun shines! But on another note, they 'winge' (complain) if its too hot/sticky (if temp goes over 25C!). It's humorous.

When we arrived at the bar and there were some pre-mixed Pimms cocktails ready on hand for everyone. Nothing beats a glass of Pimms on a summer’s day. This British beverage is almost as much a tradition as the cup of tea, and the British down the gin-based drink by the gallon during the summer months. Pimms is a gin-based fruit/herb liquer that is mixed with sprite, citrus fruits, cucumbers (yes, cucumbers), fresh mint and strawberries to make a tasty (and if you drink too many, deadly) concoction.
Once the Pimms hour was done the wait staff passed around beer, wine and spirits as well as some bits of appetisers. Many people just hovered by the kitchen like vultures so those that were out on the patio didn't see much food at all! I felt bad for the wait staff because they kept trying to dodge the vultures for the 2 hours that food was being passed around.

The highlight of the evening was Synovate's in-house band - led by none other than Andrew Wood, who is a member of the HR team!
They played Sweet Home Alabama, Sweet Child of Mine, Seven Nation Army, and even good ole' Canadian Bryan Adams' Summer of 69! About a 1/3 of us danced along with the band, with the HR team right in the front leading the way. Later, we heard musings that HR were the groupies, but I figure, hey, if you're having fun, who cares what you look like?After the band ended we had in-house djs mixing tunes all night. I left at 11:30 to catch the last tube home. I didn't drink too much that night so I felt fine the next day, but gauging from the look of others in the office, they weren't quite so fortunate. Gotta love British social values - they really know how to party any day of the week!