City & Meeting #2 - Brussels

Ah Bruxelles! I finally broke out the bravery (and even a little Francais!) and did some sightseeing this afternoon. After a successful meeting this morning (and a delicious brie sandwich), I took a cab back to the hotel and talked with the family. Ever try a three way video chat when you don't have a video camera or voice capabilities? Hilarious. After talking with my family, it seemed ridiculous that I could see the Grand Place (pronounce it with a French accent and it sounds much fancier) but I was worried I'd get lost between there and the hotel. So I scrounged up a map and headed over there - really around one corner. It was a little bit of a let down, because my parents had spoken of it so highly, but the architecture was indeed beautiful. Still no peeing boy statues though, which supposedly are everywhere here. Since I don't know what they're actually called, I don't want to ask a native and look totally ridiculous. So I'll keep looking. And hopefully find a souvenir one at the airport to take home for Jess and Dana. What a special gift. But I digress...The Grand Place is cobbled and blocked from vehicles, so it was mostly tourists walking around. All of the Japanese people with cameras quickly unmasked it to be a tourist destination, although Johan assures me that Brussels is not a tourist town - "too small" he says. I was brave enough to venture into a little chocolate shop that looked promising - Neuhaus. I mean, could I really hold my head up if I didn't try to find some Belgian chocolate? And it was worth it, on two fronts. I bought some chocolate, including some presents for my family and some for myself and let me say, YUMMY! It was worth it. And I also found a coffee mug in there - it has a picture of a yellow lab, like my Sherlock, on it and he's wearing a bow tie and a lovely bowler hat. It says "Am I handsome?" I had to buy it! This tickled another Belgian customer, and when I told him that it looked like my dog, he said he hoped not with the hat! I even tested a bit of my French on the shopkeeper - only to say "Est-ce que vous parlez Anglais?" But I survived and now I am packing and getting ready to take a bath before my dinner with Johan!

From Lisbon to Belgium

I am in Belgium, tired and very cranky. The meeting in Lisbon this morning went well though. I never screwed up the courage to walk around alone, but I was able to see more of Lisbon when I went to lunch with Antonio along the Tagus River, at a modern, upscale restaurant called Belem Bar Cafe or "BBC." Aside from the tents that they were erecting right outside the windows for the restaurant's fifth anniversary party, the view was fabulous. The April 25th Bridge was in the background - apparently it's the pre-cursor to our Golden Gate Bridge. Antonio said it was the test bridge. The sun glittered off the water while we ate, which sounds and was beautiful, but did make me yearn to put my sunglasses on. I thought it wouldn't be very professional though, so I abstained. I had pasta, and yes, Antonio had the octopus. Blech. One long tentacle draped ceremoniously on his plate. M. Now I am in Brussels, at the Rocco Forte Hotel Amigo. I learned several things about Virgin Express today - it's extremely crowded, and not with business travelers, there is literally no leg room, if you want food, you must pay for it, and it's totally not advisable to fly this airline when you are jet lagged and cranky. Also, I think they went cheaper on their pilots too, because I wasn't so sure that ours wasn't going to smack the right wing right onto the runway as we were landing. But I survived the flight and from what I saw of Brussels driving in, it reminded me of Vienna. So I heaved a giant sigh of relief and said "Ah, a true European city." It's just how I like them. So we'll see what tomorrow brings! But no morning sightseeing - I am too darn tired!!