Jenny's done a great job of posting the key updates from our lives abroad, but I suppose I should chime in every now and again too. As she's metioned, I've had quite a bit of travel for work lately - three of the past four weeks actually. Our travel team is mostly people from the client including some very senior VPs, but we've bonded well as a team.
J was able to join at the tail end of my Athens trip for a very refreshing weekend after a very long week of late nights for work. Sadly, my 29th birthday was the least exciting that I can remember. Our work team left for the client site at 7:30am, returned around 8pm, worked over dinner in the hotel lobby and continued onto about 11:30pm. The only saving grace was a nice 18-year old scotch before midnight.
That weekend we also saw the ancient agora and some of the other ruins at the top of the acropolis. We explored the Plaka neighborhood among others. And we really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to relax, talk, and people watch in outdoor cafes each day.
Last week I was in Paris for work and we stayed out in La Defense. We had great views of the Grande Arche and distant views of the Arc de Triomphe. It was another busy work week with some late evenings, but we were also able to get out for a few great dinners. The two most notable were at a restaurant off the Champs Elysees at L'Appart, which had standard French dishes in a restaurant that was set up like an apartment - the dining areas included a living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, apparently. We sat in the living room. Neat concept, but I didn't get a good look at all of the other rooms. The other notable one was a fondue restaurant. I wouldn't usually subsist on a meal of bread dipped in cheese, but it was quite tasty. And we drank great French wine everywhere we went. We were also out for a few lunches, and I could get used to eating a lamb shank dish or a roast half duck each workday rather than a pre-made sandwich and a bag of crisps that I usually get in London.
After a great short weekend with J, I was back on the road last Sunday for a trip to Warsaw. Perhaps it was my Polish surname, but for some reason immigration at Chopin airport didn't want to let me into the country. While others had their passport scanned and were waived through in a few seconds, I stood for 5+ minutes and answered questions about my middle name, parents' names, parents' nationality, and whether it was my first trip to Poland (at least 3 times). Who knows what was shown on the agent's computer, but he finally let me through. This was the least stressful and busy of the travel weeks thus far and we were able to leave the office around 5pm on Wednesday and Thursdsay. This still didn't allow for any touristy exploration of the city, but at least it was a more relaxed atmosphere and allowed us to eat a bit earlier. The weather was cold with temps around feezing and often colder with the wind chill, but I certainly could not complain given the fact that a few weeks before the temps were down to -15C.
Ah, the Polish food, what a treat! We ate two non-Polish meals that were quite good - an asian restaurant in the hotel and at "the best" Indian restaurant in Warsaw. We also drank quite a few Zywiec - local Polish lager. But the remarkable meals were the two Polish dinners. Both were in the old town in Warsaw, which was almost completely destroyed in WWII bombings, but has been carefully recreated since, including the old city wall and the palace. We only saw the area in the dark and I will certainly look forward to a chance to explore and take pictures in the light if/when we get back there.
The first Polish dinner was at U Fukier, which is one of the fanciest restaurants in Warsaw. We started with a traditional apple vodka drink and a Lebanese lamb gnocchi, which was rich and garlicky. For the main course I ordered the traditional Polish duck - a half duck roasted with Polish apples that was perfectly sweet and moist and we enjoyed a few bottles of good French wine. After some shared desserts, the most senior VP decided it was time for a round of vodka shots, which was followed by three more shots of Chopin. After another round of drinks at the hotel bar, I called it a night at 12:30 but a few of the team stayed up drinking past 3am. Needless to say, I was in much better shape the next workday than some of my teammates.
The second Polish dinner was at Pierrogeria in the old town. We started with soups (every one of our catered lunches in the office was based around soup and they were all fantastic). The menu was kind enough to provide English translations for the dishes, save one. The soup I ordered - zurek z jajkiem, boczkiem i biala kielbasa - had the explanation that an English translation didn't exist, but trust us, it's good. It had a strong kielbasa flavor with chunks of kielbasa and a quartered hard boiled egg...absolutely incredible. For mains, everyone ordered their own pierogi and they were all very, very tasty, including: broccoli and cheddar; saurkraut and mushroom; hunter sausage and cheese; salami, mozzarella and cheddar; and ham and cheese. I don't know why I haven't fully enjoyed the family pierogi in the past, but I will certainly do so from now on. I had two local Polish beers as well - a wheat beer and a dark beer, but I have no clue on the names. We continued with drinks back at one of hotel bars where they had a live band playing covers of American and British music. I enjoyed some good Polish vodka, my favorite was Zbrowka, which is made from bison grass. I picked up a bottle at duty free so I will be enjoying it for awhile at home.
Overall, the trips have been a lot of fun and have given me the chance to explore Europe (and European foods) further. The rest of the team is in Rome this week while I'm enjoying the break in London. I'll be in Madrid next week. Unfortunately I'll miss out on the trip to Bratislava in March when we're on holiday, but the other likely trips include Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland and Cyprus. For now, we're off to dinner with the London crew to a Moroccan restaurant in Soho.
Cheers!
J was able to join at the tail end of my Athens trip for a very refreshing weekend after a very long week of late nights for work. Sadly, my 29th birthday was the least exciting that I can remember. Our work team left for the client site at 7:30am, returned around 8pm, worked over dinner in the hotel lobby and continued onto about 11:30pm. The only saving grace was a nice 18-year old scotch before midnight.
That weekend we also saw the ancient agora and some of the other ruins at the top of the acropolis. We explored the Plaka neighborhood among others. And we really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to relax, talk, and people watch in outdoor cafes each day.
Last week I was in Paris for work and we stayed out in La Defense. We had great views of the Grande Arche and distant views of the Arc de Triomphe. It was another busy work week with some late evenings, but we were also able to get out for a few great dinners. The two most notable were at a restaurant off the Champs Elysees at L'Appart, which had standard French dishes in a restaurant that was set up like an apartment - the dining areas included a living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom, apparently. We sat in the living room. Neat concept, but I didn't get a good look at all of the other rooms. The other notable one was a fondue restaurant. I wouldn't usually subsist on a meal of bread dipped in cheese, but it was quite tasty. And we drank great French wine everywhere we went. We were also out for a few lunches, and I could get used to eating a lamb shank dish or a roast half duck each workday rather than a pre-made sandwich and a bag of crisps that I usually get in London.
After a great short weekend with J, I was back on the road last Sunday for a trip to Warsaw. Perhaps it was my Polish surname, but for some reason immigration at Chopin airport didn't want to let me into the country. While others had their passport scanned and were waived through in a few seconds, I stood for 5+ minutes and answered questions about my middle name, parents' names, parents' nationality, and whether it was my first trip to Poland (at least 3 times). Who knows what was shown on the agent's computer, but he finally let me through. This was the least stressful and busy of the travel weeks thus far and we were able to leave the office around 5pm on Wednesday and Thursdsay. This still didn't allow for any touristy exploration of the city, but at least it was a more relaxed atmosphere and allowed us to eat a bit earlier. The weather was cold with temps around feezing and often colder with the wind chill, but I certainly could not complain given the fact that a few weeks before the temps were down to -15C.
Ah, the Polish food, what a treat! We ate two non-Polish meals that were quite good - an asian restaurant in the hotel and at "the best" Indian restaurant in Warsaw. We also drank quite a few Zywiec - local Polish lager. But the remarkable meals were the two Polish dinners. Both were in the old town in Warsaw, which was almost completely destroyed in WWII bombings, but has been carefully recreated since, including the old city wall and the palace. We only saw the area in the dark and I will certainly look forward to a chance to explore and take pictures in the light if/when we get back there.
The first Polish dinner was at U Fukier, which is one of the fanciest restaurants in Warsaw. We started with a traditional apple vodka drink and a Lebanese lamb gnocchi, which was rich and garlicky. For the main course I ordered the traditional Polish duck - a half duck roasted with Polish apples that was perfectly sweet and moist and we enjoyed a few bottles of good French wine. After some shared desserts, the most senior VP decided it was time for a round of vodka shots, which was followed by three more shots of Chopin. After another round of drinks at the hotel bar, I called it a night at 12:30 but a few of the team stayed up drinking past 3am. Needless to say, I was in much better shape the next workday than some of my teammates.
The second Polish dinner was at Pierrogeria in the old town. We started with soups (every one of our catered lunches in the office was based around soup and they were all fantastic). The menu was kind enough to provide English translations for the dishes, save one. The soup I ordered - zurek z jajkiem, boczkiem i biala kielbasa - had the explanation that an English translation didn't exist, but trust us, it's good. It had a strong kielbasa flavor with chunks of kielbasa and a quartered hard boiled egg...absolutely incredible. For mains, everyone ordered their own pierogi and they were all very, very tasty, including: broccoli and cheddar; saurkraut and mushroom; hunter sausage and cheese; salami, mozzarella and cheddar; and ham and cheese. I don't know why I haven't fully enjoyed the family pierogi in the past, but I will certainly do so from now on. I had two local Polish beers as well - a wheat beer and a dark beer, but I have no clue on the names. We continued with drinks back at one of hotel bars where they had a live band playing covers of American and British music. I enjoyed some good Polish vodka, my favorite was Zbrowka, which is made from bison grass. I picked up a bottle at duty free so I will be enjoying it for awhile at home.
Overall, the trips have been a lot of fun and have given me the chance to explore Europe (and European foods) further. The rest of the team is in Rome this week while I'm enjoying the break in London. I'll be in Madrid next week. Unfortunately I'll miss out on the trip to Bratislava in March when we're on holiday, but the other likely trips include Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland and Cyprus. For now, we're off to dinner with the London crew to a Moroccan restaurant in Soho.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment