Auf Wiedersehen! And Welcome Home!

I'm back [waving to all]. We spent 3 days in Copenhagen, 1 day in Brussels and 2 days in Frankfurt before returning home last night. Although I was utterly exhausted by the time I returned (I don't think we had more than 5 hours sleep any night), what an fun and exciting week it was! The purpose of the trip was to tour some facilities in Europe who already engage in some of the initiatives my client is considering undertaking. As a consultant, I am usually on the "selling" side so it was great fun to be on the receiving end and have people take such good care of us. We were definitely wined and dined and got to see some very fun things. We stayed in three different luxurious hotels.

We started off with a canal cruise in Copenhagen - beautiful city!! - and spent an hour or two walking around the lovely downtown area.

Then took the train over to Malmo, Sweden for dinner. The restaurant was in a beautiful old building in the cellar.

Next, we flew to Brussels. We only had one day there (bad planning!) but we made the most of it. After a full day of meetings and tours, we spent a lovely evening in the downtown area. We started off with drinks at one of the little touristy cafes right on Grand Place and then headed to dinner at a fabulous French restaurant. As we walked to the restaurant, we passed by many other restaurants where the employees stood outside attempting to entice customers to dine at their establishments. It was quite amusing and one of the waiters stopped me and asked if he might "please have a hug from the beautiful American woman." LOL. My fellow travelers thought this was quite amusing. [note: I declined his request.]

My favorite was the three-hour boat cruise on the Rhine River followed by dinner at Johannisburg Castle. Gorgeous is all I can say!! Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after arriving in Frankfurt so I have no photos of the spectacular countryside. Dinner at the castle was very fun - typical German food and we spent a wonderful few hours laughing with each other. I felt like I was leaving friends when we departed.

Although this one was taken at an elegant lunch in Frankfurt, it represents how I felt when I walked in my door last night.