krug

I am not sure I ever said Michelin three starred restaurants have an exclusive on good food; it was merely an example given in response to others' rather ill-informed perception that London and England suffers a Soviet-style diet.

Well, this shouldn’t turn into a London vs. Milan antipathy thread; they are both great cities in their own way. And Italy did win the World Cup.

As has been said, Milan might be the place for you if you are linguistically able (though not a prerequisite) and like the idea of a challenge working abroad.

London if you prefer a more familiar (to a San Fransiscan, at least) way of life.

I think the specific question about actually working aboard is important to focus on. Living away from home can be tough at the best of times, add into the mix what will probably be a challenging assignment (work wouldn’t have sent you overseas if they didn’t really need you there), and quite a bit of adjustment.

Add to this the fact that London is one of the most expensive places in the world to live, and work is picking up the bill for this, I think you really should take advantage of this opportunity. You can still travel to Milan, no doubt on business, and as it has been noted it can be quite quiet at the weekends there. You can take a week's vacation near Lake garda and really relax and sample the food and wine properly.

My London weekend was pretty good; went out for a picnic after work to see Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutti on Friday at the outdoors www.hollandparkopera.com (just £36/ticket) under a perfect summers evening, walked home.

Saturday Sainsbury's elivered my shopping, plenty of Orgainic stuff from the SO range.

Jumped on bus from outside my house using an oyster card (cashless system, capped cost) and dropped outside Harrods and then onwards to Selfridges for the July Sales – got some great bargains, saving nearly 45%. Then to Soho and a bargain store where I picked up a steak knife set for a fiver, and bought some fresh fruit in a market stall.

Back via HMV Records (more bargains!), poped into the www.royalacademy.org.uk for the Modigliani exhibition and a bus ride past the Ritz, Green Park and Hyde Park Corner. Champagne Afternoon Tea at Carlton Tower with friends and then to a movie in Leicester Square and a late trip to Chinatown and Wong Kei’s for cheap eats - £12 each.

Sunday saw a trip to Brighton on the south coast, just an hour by train from London and fish and chips on the beach, surprisingly sunny and warm, read the paper on a deck chair, walked up the pier and played on the amusements, great restaurant called Havana for supper and back home in time for sundown.

NNH

So, have you chosen yet?

rfrost

I have spent a fair amount of time in Milan on business and I am not much of a fan. I don't think the weather there is particularly good (and beware of fog delays at Linate!!!) The city itself is not beautiful and it does not look well taken care of. The museums in Milan do not hold a candle to the ones in London. With lots of exceptions, people tend to work hard and for relatively long hours, and there's not a lot of dolce vita. While I've had some good meals there, I don't think it's a great dining city. Traffic is horrible, particularly in the center city; there's always some construction and closed roads. There are a ton of holidays, however. And there's much better (in the sense of cheaper, not necessarily for variety) shopping for clothes and home furnishings. As has been pointed out above, you will be not far from some incredible areas of natural beauty, and some of the greatest art in the world.
London is of course a much bigger and more cosmopolitan city--lots more good choices to dine, great theatre, art, ballet. I think life there is harder (the underground's always having work done or some problem, natives and tourists crowding all areas of the center, and it's VERY expensive). But while Florence may not be a train ride away, it IS a cheap flight away, and since London is one of the centers of LCC's, you could spend every weekend for a year seeing much of Europe. You CAN get great fresh produce there (Borough Market or one of the smaller farmers markets), but you will pay for it.
For me it's no contest, but YMMV.

i2fantsiz4

Thanks for everyone's input!
I chose......

LONDON!!!!

I can't wait to enjoy everything that it has to offer. I made the decision to go to London because:
1) They speak English, and I don't speak any Italian
2) Work is paying for all my living expenses and the UK is ridiculously expensive
3) The UK has a ton of discount airlines that I can use for weekend excursions off the 'island'
4) It's my first time working abroad long-term, so I want to make the experience as comfortable as possible.
5) Krug's weekend endeavors make me want to get out there ASAP!

I'll be heading out in mid-August and won't be back until Spring 2007.
Thanks again!

NNH

Congrats! Say hello to my old town for me...
You'd better go and introduce yourself to the BA forum, who can always be persuaded to talk about almost anything except BA!

krug

Yay!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ferrerid=24296

Aerotec

Woo hoo! Welcome to the UK! Make sure you take some of those weekend trips to venture North of the Border. We're a friendly bunch too!

And make sure you get the BA I-Class fares sussed out for your weekend jaunts!

Rich

hobarthoney

Good choice. London is a great city but make sure you can handle your alcohol! Londoners love a drink and for the sake of office talk get yourself a Premier League team to follow. Oh and I recommend a weekend in Dublin, great fun!