Europe for Work

I got a unique opportunity for work to travel to Europe to present a case I had worked on. I went with several colleagues and a guy from HQ. Our first stop was London, then to Paris, then Brussels. We flew into London on a Sunday morning and had the day to sightsee. We stayed right by Buckingham Palace. I went to Mass at Westminster Cathedral. We toured the Tower of London but skipped the Crown Jewels because of the Line. Powerful for me to see the spots where many of the English martyrs suffered torture and imprisonment.

Since it was for work, we took black cabs everywhere, which was quite an experience. I was used to the Underground from my previous trips, so it was kind of cool to be driven around upground. Sunday night we had a nice traditional dinner in a pub. Monday was our presentation at the Embassy.

Pic for my dad. This was near my Marriott Hotel near Marble Arch. I walked past it several times since the rest of the group stayed in a Hilton a mile away.

Monday afternoon we took the Eurostar train to Paris. That city isn't what it used to be. It's being transformed by immigrants, which in and of itself isn't bad, it's just not the Paris of old. I immediately felt unsafe when we walked out of the train station. We did have a phenomenal meal at a restaurant off the Champs Elysees, where we stayed.

There was a train strike in France, so we got the last few tickets on the train to Brussels, which just happened to be first class, happily approved by our HQ supervisor. The ticket included a nice little dinner with wine. For train food it was quite delicious.

I had breakfast in Brussels at this restaurant, which is a chain. This location is quite significant -- ask me about it in person sometime. The food is delicious.








We did our briefing in Brussels. We did a group dinner at a restaurant on Gran Place. The beer I'm drinking in this photo was glorious, mostly because we were done for the week as far as work. The other photo is my boss getting down & dirty to take a photo of the City Hall in Gran Place.

I also enjoyed a plate of frites and of course we walked over to see Mannekin Pis. The flight home the next day was long. I had one night to pack before we set off on our next adventure....