Travel Month(s), Part 3

From a big East Coast city and all its bustle and business, to a little hamlet in the Heartland at a backroads hermitage.  This was a week of contrasts and transitions.

Can you guess the city by these photos?  They were taken facing north from the 35th floor of a prominent hotel.  The broker who hosted nearly 20 meetings in 2 days had a suite high up, and the view was stunning.  A very nice break in between meetings...

Then, after only one day back in the office, it was off to a spiritual retreat center for another 3 1/2 days. And, boy, I needed it.  Definitely felt like a challenge to slow down from recent weeks, and to do more listening than talking.  :)

But the setting was conducive to silence.  Not only did they have "rules" around that, but the place was surrounded by farm fields, and almost "off the grid" entirely.

 The chapel was beautiful, in a forbidding kind of way.  As a guest, you only had limited access to the facility and the monks - and that only at a respectful distance.

Accommodations were sparse.

 So were the meals.  And definitely no football on TV; no TV at all.  Something needed to be done about that, and so a little exploring was in order to find some signs of civilization!

But, I came back a wiser man from the whole experience.  Well, maybe.  I certainly cultivated a grateful heart, and thankfulness for simple pleasures.

Next up:  Bermuda in November.

Travel Month(s), Part 2

This was the big one, I guess.  Hannover, Germany and London, England over the course of about 9 days.  Pictures galore attached as documentation.  First of Hannover:

Man, I could get used to "trinken an dem platz".  Gemutlicheit fur alles!  Sitting in the open air and having a (good) beer amongst the jovial masses sure helped with the jet lag (which was significant, by the way - slept for 13 hours the 2nd day there).  Oh, and, in addition to beer, the Germans are big on sausage.  See what they have in the subway?  Fast food meat.

Business meetings were punctuated by wine at lunch and a castle tour in the afternoon.  Very congenial.

Then, off to London, where more castles awaited.  Well, more like a fortress, not so much a castle.  The Tower of London was pretty cool to see, as was Tower Bridge.  Crazy to think, though, that the Tower of London was built in 1066 by William the Conqueror, who was... a Viking!   British history is so convoluted.  I never knew, for instance, that King George III who was King of England during the American Revolution ... was German!  From Hannover, where I was at the very beginning of the week.  I'm not really sure who English people are, exactly, ethnically speaking.  Seems like a melting pot, way before America became one.

More history:  The Globe Theatre and The George Inn, both frequented by Wm. Shakespeare, are still in operation.  The fish & chips at the George were especially good.

A cruise on the Thames produced some great views of Parliament and Whitehall.

All of this London sightseeing occurred after 4 days of business meetings, and was a well-deserved reward for hard work, I must say.  And it was nice of the Royal Guards to bid me farewell in Heathrow as I was boarding.

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn't include my contact with a long-lost relative in Germany, standing outside an ancient church.  Can you see the family resemblance?  There's a lot to be said for genetics.  :)

Next up, Boston in 2 weeks.  Stay tuned.