My Life in Words

Hello friends  Thought I would write a short blog post since I'm a) overseas and b) sitting alone at a restaurant with nothing better to do. I'm in the south/central US for work on a client here. I spent the weekend in Houston with some colleagues, who are there for work for a different client, before flying up to Kansas City (Missouri.....not Kansas) for the week. Unfortunately I'm here in KC alone - I have a team working for me here, but they live in KC. So in the evenings they go home, and it's dinner for 1.  It's been over 4 years since I was last in the US (unless you count a half day jaunt to the outlet mall near Bellingham two years ago-which I don't) and even then, that trip 4 years ago was Vegas (which also sort of doesn't count). The only time I've been down south before was in 2010 when I visited friends in Arkansas and Texas (Austin). So I thought I'd share some observations about the south/central US, because, well, it really is a differ

Bonjour Je suis à Paris, et il est très bon. Firstly, the weather has been a HUGE improvement from Amsterdam.  In fact, its been too hot – Monday was 28 degrees.  Finally the jeans and t-shirt weather that I was looking for.  We arrived on Sunday and are staying at the Marriott on the Champs-Elysées.  My aunt has “elite status” at the Marriott, so we are staying here for practically nothing.  It’s a pretty incredible deal for Paris really, as the room is large (by European standards) and is very very well located.   Had we not been getting it for free, it would have been something stupid like €1,000 a night.  With that said, its nowhere near the nicest hotel I’ve stayed at and I’d expect a lot more if I was actually paying €1,000.  Its good, but its still a Marriott (American) and its still Paris (therefore complete with the Parisian attitude).  I’m not complaining though – it’s a great deal we are getting. Paris is still Paris, nothing comes easy.  Compared to Amsterdam-

Hello again.  You made it back.  Thank you. Part two of this thrilling installment takes place in windy Amsterdam.  I flew out from London on Tuesday afternoon.  I am here with my mom and aunt- we met up there and were all on the same flight from Heathrow.  There was a moment of stress as they nearly missed the flight due to delays coming from Vancouver, but we all made it! Amsterdam has been very windy and cold.  It started 5,000ft in the air as we were descending into the city, getting tossed around everywhere.  Apparently there was a bloody tornado in Germany on Tuesday (!!), so I guess we are feeling the effects of that.  Tuesday was a bit of a waste of a day – by the time we arrived and got to the apartment we are staying at, it was 5:30. We have rented an Air BnB in the Jordaan district of the city.  We really struggled finding a hotel with 3 beds, so this ended up being the better option.  Although still expensive, it was cheaper than the hotels we were looking at,

Ok. I suppose since I'm in Europe for a few weeks, I'll write a few blog posts. Although... I'll be with my mom and aunt for most the trip, so that will cut my readership in half. Unfortunately, I only have 2 and a half weeks over here. Would have liked to be here much longer, but work calls. Clearly, everything would just fall apart if I was gone for any longer. I was in Europe for a month last year, and normally I like to mix up where I go each year. But am back again for two reasons; to attend my very good friend (Emma's) wedding and to travel a bit with my mom and aunt, who were planning a trip this way at a similar time. I've got 4 days in the UK, followed by 5 in Amsterdam and a week in Paris. First up was the wedding. It took place in a castle outside of Bristol in a town called Berkeley. I flew right into Bristol (via Singapore and Amsterdam) which was an incredibly long and tiring trip. 26 hours to be exact. Flying into Bristol saved me a massive has