Oh the Places You'll Go - Lauren Steele

Hello everyone! Right now it’s raining and everyone is napping so I decided to blog again. We’ve been so many places since I posted last that I hardly know what to tell you all about first. I guess I’ll start with our adventures this past Friday at the Tower of London. Built in 1078, the Tower was home to England’s royals for hundreds of years. Most of the key points in England’s history occurred in this castle. A tour guide walked us around for about two hours and gave us a brief overview of what went down. Confession time: I was overjoyed almost to the point of tears. I’m a complete history nerd, especially when it comes to medieval times. Knowing that I was walking on the same ground that Queen Elizabeth walked on hundreds of years ago blew my mind. We even got to see the exact spot where Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey were beheaded. Needless to say, visiting the Tower has been my favorite thing we’ve done so far.

After seeing the Tower, we decided to go to Borough market for lunch. I expected it to be similar to Camden, where we went last week, but it wasn’t. Most of the foods at Borough are organic. There were fruits and vegetables galore. I ate the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever had in my life, followed by the most delicious hazelnut carrot cake. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of markets. We’re going to try another one tomorrow and you can bet that I’ll report back on the food there too. It seems like all we do on the weekends is eat, but when in London, right?

Saturday we went to Oxford. Honestly, I think the two hour train ride was my favorite part of the trip. Once we were about thirty minutes outside of London we began to get a sense of what rural England is really like. For a while, all we could see were rolling hills covered in gorgeous green. It was breathtaking. I sat glued to the window for the rest of the train ride, afraid that if I blinked I’d miss something. Oxford in itself was amazing. The university is composed of several smaller colleges, each of which has its own building. Some of the buildings are hundreds of years old. We saw the most beautiful stained glass window depicting the apostles. Oxford is absolutely full of history; I wish we could’ve spent more time there. Honestly though, I’ll probably go back just for the train ride.

Today we went to visit Dunnhumby, a customer science company that assists businesses in building customer loyalty by analyzing data. Most companies try to increase their growth by attracting new customers. However, the analysts at Dunnhumby discovered that businesses can actually better increase their growth by further engaging loyal customers. Without a doubt, their strategy works. By examining data, they can tell where you shop, how often you shop, and what brands you buy. Then they use that data to enhance your shopping experience. For instance, let’s say it’s raining outside, which makes it a perfect day to eat soup. They can see from their data that you like to buy soup at your local grocery for lunch. They can also see that you stop in that grocery around noon. From this data, they can send you a coupon for soup at 11:30, precisely right before you leave for your lunch break. This is a whole new kind of personalization and it’s revolutionizing the way businesses target customers. Dunnhumby is a one-of-a-kind company and, I have to say, I wouldn’t mind working for them someday.

Well folks, that’s about all I have to say for now. I’ll post again later this week! Hugs and kisses to those at home!

CHEERS

Lauren

Outside view of the Tower of London

The best grilled cheese sandwich ever 

Beautiful stained glass window at Oxford

We love tea!