Elliot gets one more tagged mention in our blog. Congrats to Elliot and Colin whose civil partnership ceremony Charles and I attended in England this past weekend. We were too jet lagged to take pictures, but there are some here.
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Congrats to Elliot and Colin!
Elliot gets one more tagged mention in our blog. Congrats to Elliot and Colin whose civil partnership ceremony Charles and I attended in England this past weekend. We were too jet lagged to take pictures, but there are some here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Weekend Trip to Ghent
For Valentine's Day weekend Charles and I took a trip to Ghent which is supposed to be just slightly more hip than Brugge. It was really an awesome way to spend a day or two. First off, there is a castle in the middle of the city...
A ticket lets you explore the inside which includes a mini museum featuring weapons and various torture devices....
From the top you can see the whole city...
We also took a boat tour through the canals...
The streets were interesting and it was quite entertaining to just stroll around. Here is a shot of a genuine Belgian waffle place...
The food was incredible. We had some delicious French food at this place and tasted the Delirium beer whose logo is a pink elephant. Supposedly if you have too many this is what you see.
The poodles came along and enjoyed the hotel room while we explored the city. They did get the occasional walk, hence the doggie coats...
And I think the cutest picture of Remus and Charles is a good way to close out this post...
If you would like to see the rest of the pics they are up at our Flickr gallery.
A ticket lets you explore the inside which includes a mini museum featuring weapons and various torture devices....
From the top you can see the whole city...
We also took a boat tour through the canals...
The streets were interesting and it was quite entertaining to just stroll around. Here is a shot of a genuine Belgian waffle place...
The food was incredible. We had some delicious French food at this place and tasted the Delirium beer whose logo is a pink elephant. Supposedly if you have too many this is what you see.
The poodles came along and enjoyed the hotel room while we explored the city. They did get the occasional walk, hence the doggie coats...
And I think the cutest picture of Remus and Charles is a good way to close out this post...
If you would like to see the rest of the pics they are up at our Flickr gallery.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Manager Tools Effective Manager Conference Amsterdam
I just returned from the Manager Tools Effective Manager Conference in Amsterdam. I chose to attend this conference because I regularly listen to the podcast and thought it would be a good opportunity to (1) learn leadership skills and (2) develop a network of inspiring people in Europe.
The conference delivered in both respects. I learned a lot about the basics of management and leadership in a high energy format which really got me inspired. I learned and practiced a number of tools which I hope to use at work and in life.
I also had the opportunity to meet the other 60 conference attendees. These included IT managers, small business owners, consultants, academics, and even aid workers. Because many of us listened to the podcasts we had common ground which enabled a number of fruitful discussions and hopefully ongoing relationships. Three cheers for the podcast medium and its unique ability to create this kind of environment!
The conference delivered in both respects. I learned a lot about the basics of management and leadership in a high energy format which really got me inspired. I learned and practiced a number of tools which I hope to use at work and in life.
I also had the opportunity to meet the other 60 conference attendees. These included IT managers, small business owners, consultants, academics, and even aid workers. Because many of us listened to the podcasts we had common ground which enabled a number of fruitful discussions and hopefully ongoing relationships. Three cheers for the podcast medium and its unique ability to create this kind of environment!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Massive Holiday Picture Post
We're back from the holidays and we have a whole lot of photos to prove it. Here's the story in picture form...
Despite crazy fog in London, on the 23rd we finally made it to visit Charles' Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Mark. Ben (Charles' Dad), Anna (Charles' sister), and Micah (Anna's boyfriend) all flew in from the US and met up with us in Blewbury (a village outside Oxford)...
We spent a good part of the 24th in Oxford which was pretty cool for me because I got to see the location where the Great Hall scenes for the Harry Potter movies are films.
Elliot was an awesome tour guide and we promised him we would make an "Elliot" tag in our blog. We kept our word...although I am not sure how many other posts will get the tag. ;)
You can see all our Oxford pictures here.
The next day was Christmas which started out with tearing into our stockings. The goods included lots of chocolate, liquor-flavored coffee, and rubber ducks.
We had a proper Christmas lunch, exchanged gifts, and did lots of lounging. You can see all the pictures here.
The 26th = Boxing Day and Blewbury had a very interesting Boxing Day Parade. You can check out detailed views of a selection of costumes here.
After Blewbury, Charles and I made it to London for one night before heading back to Rotterdam with Anna, Ben, and Micah to celebrate the New Year. We enjoyed the complete Dutch experience watching the fireworks from our terrace with champagne, cigars, and oliebollen. You won't believe how long we had to wait in line to get these fried pieces of dough. The photo set including Ben cowering from the fireworks and Anna puffing on a cigar is here.
The fireworks were insane but we all had a great time...
Despite crazy fog in London, on the 23rd we finally made it to visit Charles' Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Mark. Ben (Charles' Dad), Anna (Charles' sister), and Micah (Anna's boyfriend) all flew in from the US and met up with us in Blewbury (a village outside Oxford)...
We spent a good part of the 24th in Oxford which was pretty cool for me because I got to see the location where the Great Hall scenes for the Harry Potter movies are films.
Elliot was an awesome tour guide and we promised him we would make an "Elliot" tag in our blog. We kept our word...although I am not sure how many other posts will get the tag. ;)
You can see all our Oxford pictures here.
The next day was Christmas which started out with tearing into our stockings. The goods included lots of chocolate, liquor-flavored coffee, and rubber ducks.
We had a proper Christmas lunch, exchanged gifts, and did lots of lounging. You can see all the pictures here.
The 26th = Boxing Day and Blewbury had a very interesting Boxing Day Parade. You can check out detailed views of a selection of costumes here.
After Blewbury, Charles and I made it to London for one night before heading back to Rotterdam with Anna, Ben, and Micah to celebrate the New Year. We enjoyed the complete Dutch experience watching the fireworks from our terrace with champagne, cigars, and oliebollen. You won't believe how long we had to wait in line to get these fried pieces of dough. The photo set including Ben cowering from the fireworks and Anna puffing on a cigar is here.
The fireworks were insane but we all had a great time...
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Broken Elbow
I am typing this one-handed because Charles and I decided to take a weekend trip to go to the Christmas market in Antwerp and I decided I could ice skate after a glass of champagne and a gluhwein. Charles (who had to wear size 46 skates on his size 49 feet) even managed a lap, but I fell hard after about 3/4 of the way. Truly i am so bad at ice skating I probably would have managed to injure myself without the influence of holiday spirits. I got up and didn't think I was that badly injured. My hand was numb, but I ignored it, took some Advil, took the poodles (who made the trip with us) for a walk and had a fabulous dinner at Rooden Hoed. I thought it was just a sprain and it would feel better in the morning.
We stayed at the Hilton on Groenplaats last night and I slept OK, but when I woke up I could not bend my arm at all. We called the doctor in Rotterdam, but had to take the train all the way back home to see someone. So we took the hour long ride home with the whiny poodles and a really sore arm and made it to the MCRZ in Rotterdam around 14:30. After 2 hours of poking, prodding, and xrays, we were told that the bone in my left elbow which allows my arm to twist is broken. All in all the experience was very much like how it would go in the US...just more people involved who are specialized in certain areas.
So now I have this huge pink cast that almost reaches my shoulder and a sling. I have to go back to the hospitaltomorrow morning to get my circulation checked. In a week or so I go back to get a new cast but the whole thing will probably take a few weeks to heal. Charles is being a good husband and babying me.
I would stay home from work for a while, but the end of the year is busy. The main problem with working is that none of my clothes fit over this huge cast. I will have to post a picture soon along with others from our fun time in Belgium because we did have a great weekend despite this minor mishap. Last day of work before my holiday break is 20 December so there should be time.
We stayed at the Hilton on Groenplaats last night and I slept OK, but when I woke up I could not bend my arm at all. We called the doctor in Rotterdam, but had to take the train all the way back home to see someone. So we took the hour long ride home with the whiny poodles and a really sore arm and made it to the MCRZ in Rotterdam around 14:30. After 2 hours of poking, prodding, and xrays, we were told that the bone in my left elbow which allows my arm to twist is broken. All in all the experience was very much like how it would go in the US...just more people involved who are specialized in certain areas.
So now I have this huge pink cast that almost reaches my shoulder and a sling. I have to go back to the hospitaltomorrow morning to get my circulation checked. In a week or so I go back to get a new cast but the whole thing will probably take a few weeks to heal. Charles is being a good husband and babying me.
I would stay home from work for a while, but the end of the year is busy. The main problem with working is that none of my clothes fit over this huge cast. I will have to post a picture soon along with others from our fun time in Belgium because we did have a great weekend despite this minor mishap. Last day of work before my holiday break is 20 December so there should be time.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
First trip to Copenhagen
More travel pictures! My friend Shannon was in Sweden for a conference this weekend so we decided to meet up in Copenhagen and have a fun little weekend. We stayed at this funky place called The Hotel Fox, made a chilly trip to The Ice Bar, had lunch at this tasty restaurant, and met up with some online friends to celebrate the Danish release of the Harry Potter books. Yes, we know we're geeks. Here's us at the ice bar...
And you can see here for some more.
And you can see here for some more.
Friday, November 9, 2007
Poodles and Paris
Last weekend we went to Paris with our friends Nathan and Liz from the States. The poodles also tagged along and enjoyed a visit to their home country.
Nathan and Liz did the whirlwind Paris in 2 days things, but Charles and I took it a bit easy since we have both been there before. We walked around the city adn went to some local art exhibits, did a dinner cruise, and visited The Catacombs which were pretty cool.
For some more pictures see here.
Nathan and Liz did the whirlwind Paris in 2 days things, but Charles and I took it a bit easy since we have both been there before. We walked around the city adn went to some local art exhibits, did a dinner cruise, and visited The Catacombs which were pretty cool.
For some more pictures see here.
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