I Love Free Drinks

Thursday night the Brussels analysts group for work, called the "Rookies" had an event in Gent about 200 m from my apartment and I went with a colleague.  They had one event from 8-10 at the first bar, then an event from 10-?? at the second bar and it was nice to meet a couple people and I actually new one of the people in their start group, but he wasn't able to join.  But that easily broke the ice for the others, if the free booze wasn't enough.  As you can see, I have not been training for my race this weekend at all... looks like I am racing to train, instead of training to race :-).

Birthday in Belgium

Thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday either via email / message / or even real mail!  I didn't really tell anyone at work because I didn't want to make a big deal of it and over here if it is your birthday it your is responsibility to bring in food / candy / etc. for everyone and I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere over the weekend to get anything.  We were supposed to have a work team event that night but we canceled it because we had colleagues stranded in Chicago because of the ash cloud so I ended up going out to dinner / drinks with a colleague in Gent and we went to a great restaurant called the Fondue Loft. Hot date I know! 

I have never been to the Melting Pot or any other fondue restaurants in the states but this was different than I expected.  I assumed we would be dipping different foods into cheeses / sauces / etc.  But instead there was a stove top in the middle of the table and a pot of oil and we ordered the 'Royal Fondue' - a plate full of raw meat (beef, chicken, duck, lamb, meatballs) that we cooked ourselves and had unlimited fries and salad and it was delicious - and of course had a couple Duvels. I think the meatballs were the best because they had a million different spices on them. 

After dinner we went to the translated as 'Troll Basement' pub next to my apartment then called it a night.

Stupid Ash Cloud

Sunday was another gorgeous day and I wanted to do something adventurous, something that the Ash cloud couldn't cancel for me - so thought it would be a good idea to book my second attempt to do the "Balloon over Bruges" hot air balloon ride as there were no clouds in the sky and I thought it would be beautiful to watch the sunset over the Sea right on top of Bruges.  On their website it even said - "the ash cloud won't ground our flights!" I went for a quick run and did a couple errands before calling them to confirm if the flight was going to go out that night.  Guess what - they said I was the only person booked on the evening flight because a group of Italians that were booked had to cancel because they could not make it to Bruges due to the ash cloud.  At this point I was so annoyed with the ash cloud I went out and hung around Gent and found a delicious Thai restaurant not too far from my place.  So many amazing things planned this weekend completely shot down because of the volcano.

I also had to move apartments for the week because they are re-doing the roof on my building, and I am on the top floor so they needed me to move down a floor into the empty unit for a week.  I completely procrastinated on this and ended up finishing Monday morning before I left to work and I only brought down the essentials, assuming I could get anything else I needed in to evenings.  The workers start pounding on the building by 7 AM every morning and they all smoke so walking down the stairs to leave everyday was very unpleasant - especially when it is raining the side of my building outside of my front door because they were sanding / refinishing the front of the building.  But, luckily it was only a week and was only a minor inconvenience. 

Caption: Picture of my building during the works

Back in Belgium

I was determined to still do something fun since I was unable to go to Scotland and with the weather being beautiful all weekend it made it easier.  Since I slept the last few hours of the trip I wasn't that tired yet and I knew as soon as I got back to my apartment I would sit down and pass out.  I decided to go to the Atomium as I still was unable to go inside of it as I was waiting for a nice clear day because they say you can see the ports in Antwerp some days and it would also give a much better view of Brussels.  It was pretty interesting - this was built in the 1950s for the World Fair and they had a lot of information on the preparation of the Fair and all of the newest technologies in the late 50s.  Hard to believe this was only 50 years ago and it was a very interesting perspective on different technologies being developed recently after the war.  Was a bit disappointing because you could only go into 4 of the spheres and had to wait 30 minutes to take the elevator to the panoramic view up top - but the top was worth it.  When I was up there I noticed a bunch of small European buildings, which I then remembered I could have bought a combination ticket of admission to the Atomium and Mini-Europe and I regretted not doing it.

Captions: Top - Atomium

Middle - Cool escalator shoot from sphere to sphere

Bottom: Pic of the view of part of Brussels

After the Atomium I decided to go see the Mini-Europe exhibit and it was quite interesting.  They had at least one, sometimes 7-8, buildings from all of the countries in the European Union.  Also received a booklet with information on when all of the countries joined the Union and the goals of the Union etc.  I didn't realize the European Union was founded in the 1950s, I thought it was formed years before the Euro currency started to be used.  Interesting also to know what countries joined and when, Belgium was one of the first that joined in its inauguration.  Check out some pics!

Captions: Top - Belfort in Bruges with Atomium in background
Middle - Budapest - adding this to my list of city trips!
Bottom - View of Mini-Europe from top of Atomium

Friday in Spain

We arrive at work (wearing the same clothes as the day before because I only packed clothes for 1 night) and I was so amazed at the fact that my colleagues were SHOCKED that the one Ryanair flight from Girona to Brussels on Friday was completely booked, including the Saturday and Sunday flights.  There is one flight out a day and when you take 12 hours to try to figure out if you can get 4 people on the next flight, what can you expect!?  (Note: Since I am writing this after the fact, I need to try and show my complete frustration I had during the actual event - and it's not difficult I am still fired up - supposed to be playing Turnberry!!!!!) We all spend the first 1.5 hours of the morning trying to figure out how to get home - again my feeling is to fly to Paris then drive from there because the cloud was moving East so France would be the first country to not be impacted. But, then the other 3 people that were with us that were supposed to fly back on Friday started to realize that there flight was going to be canceled so we had the person that usually books flights / hotels / travel look into finding us a solution to get 7 of us home.  The following options were either booked or discussed:
- Fly to Paris, rent a car or take a train from Paris - Brussels, then rent a car from Brussels to Charleroi - the Ryanair airport 40 minutes outside of Brussels...
- Take a train from Barcelona to Paris, then Paris to Brussels, then rent a car to Charleroi
- Rent a car from Barcelona to Brussels (but some colleagues say you can't rent a car from one country and drop it off in another - but some colleagues say "I have done it before", so this option was quickly forgotten)
- Fly from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, then rent a car to Charleroi
By the way - the train options were quickly ruled out.  Why?!  You guessed it, the stupid French train workers went on strike.
We finally agreed to go with the fly to Paris and rent a car option.  By the time the decision was taken, all flights to Paris were booked until Saturday - surprise surprise.  In the afternoon I started to realize that my flight to Glasgow was going to be canceled so that was a big relief because I knew that I could get refunded for that and it was the first time I realized that I was not going to be able to get to Scotland no matter what we did.  About that same time, I was informed all 7 of us were booked on a flight on Saturday from Barcelona to Munich, then Munich to Cologne because we could pick up a company car from our site in Cologne.  This lasted 1.5 hours until our flight was canceled for Saturday.  We then ended up renting a car for 4 of us and drove from Barcelona to Brussels through the night on Friday which took about 13 hours.  Two of us wanted to stay in Barcelona for the night, me being one of them, but the other two had to get back so we lost that one.  I took the late night shift and it was quite fun because there was some great radio stations in France with live DJs so we had no issue staying awake until 5:30 when our shift was over.  Good thing I had my GPS with me otherwise it would have been way more of an adventure because you are not able to rent a GPS from one country and return it in another.  Ended up being a good decision to drive back because the cloud kept Europe shut down for 4 more days.

Caption: Just happened to randomly switch drivers at the border, so I thought perfect time to take a picture of me next to the Belgium sign!  Belgique is the French pronunciation because we arrived in the southern/French half of Belgium.

Last Day in Spain (Supposed to be)

It was the afternoon on Thursday and I was looking forward to finishing work for the day so we could fly back to Belgium and I could begin packing for my trip to Scotland. A colleague then mentioned that some of Northern Europe's airspace was being closed due to a volcano eruption in Iceland.  For once, we experienced travel delays that were not because of the French!  At that time, it was reported that Belgium would be closing their airspace as of afternoon on Friday so we thought we would still be able to fly home.  As the day progressed the situation kept getting worse and worse - Belgium decided to close their airspace as of 7 PM and that meant no more flight for us!  I really wanted to get back because I had a flight booked Friday night from Amsterdam to Glasgow that I 'needed' to get on and at that point all of the airports were saying the situation would be resolved Friday afternoon / evening - so it looked like my flight was still going to happen.  I could only think about not being able to get to Scotland so I was quite disappointed and the only thing about the volcano that made me smile all day was an email from my Grandma:
Subject: Eruption
"That cloud is sure making an ash of itself. Hope your flights are on time."

So I researched and found flights from Barcelona to Paris Thursday evening, then thought we could rent a car and drive the 2-2.5 hours from Paris to Brussels.  But, there were four of us in the same situation and we didn't all agree on how to proceed so we ended up reserving hotel rooms for another night - with one catch.  We had 5 people that needed rooms and only 4 were available, one was a woman so by default she got her own room, so two people had to share a room.  Even though there was one person staying at another hotel that had open rooms, someone made the decision that sharing a room wasn't a big deal - mainly because they knew they wouldn't be sharing the room!  So around 9:30 PM we leave work and end up flipping coins to figure out who needs to share the room and surprisingly I didn't have to!  However, when we arrived to the hotel, one of the people that were supposed to share the room checked in first and since I didn't force the issue I of course end up sharing a room.  But to me wasn't that big of deal just annoying that the situation could have been avoided if one of else went to the other hotel! 

Then, we head out to dinner and I was starving and in need of some wine.  We went to this amazing authentic Italian restaurant that supposedly has HUGE portions of pasta and you need to share one order for two people, or order a pizza for yourself.  I did not want pizza so I was going to order my own pasta because I was starving, I knew I wasn't paying, and I was not yet convinced of the HUGE portions - it is Spain, not America!  There were two of us that ordered our own pasta and they kept saying no, no - you can't do that, you will need to share, then I said fine - please cancel my order I will share, because I just wanted to eat.  They bring out the food and I laugh in the face of this "HUGE" order of pasta.  The other guy and I who were sharing both said immediately - this isn't enough.  After we killed the pasta we ordered another serving and ate about all of that too and it was delicious.  Tagliatelle with seafood sauce, so amazing. 

After dinner the same three of us went back to 'El Billars' for some drinks and to play some pool.  Unfortunately, all of the pool tables were taken because they had some tournament going on and we found the next bar game that was open - electronic darts.  I ended up dominating the two games we played until a pool table opened up - but in the meantime there are a couple Spanish slot machines that we started throwing money into and were having no luck, mostly due to the fact we had no clue how to play them.  Sounds dumb I know, because how hard can a slot machine be?  Evidently very difficult - all of the buttons are in Spanish and the machine is having all of the random lights flashing and sounds being made because at certain times you can change one of the reels up or down by one position and we had no luck understanding when / how to do that.  So we ended up just pressing buttons and random and not surprisingly we lost all of the change in our pockets.  Then a pool table finally opened up and I again won two games - going undefeated in all games in 'El Billars' that week except for the slot machines...  oh and yes, I had to be quiet when going to bed not to wake up my roommate. For the record - there were separate beds, no snuggling with the married colleague.

Back to Spain

My responsibilities are picking up on the project in Spain as the majority of my first project is behind me.  So, a few of us traveled to Spain Wednesday - Thursday which means I needed to wake up at 4 AM to make it to the airport in time for the first flight out and would be taking the last flight back on Thursday.  We arrived in the office around ten AM worked till 9PM then left for my favorite part of the Spain trips.  Dinner and drinks with people from the team.  There is this billiards bar right across the street from the hotel we stay at called "El Billars" (no joke!) and a few of us headed over there for a Budweiser after dinner.  Barcelona's soccer team was playing El Deportivo and there were about 15 people in the bar and every single one of them was staring at the TV.  We walked in and went to the bar to grab a drink and we were given the stare of death for blocking the TV for 30 seconds so I grabbed my beer and went straight to the pool tables out of everyone's view.  Barcelona scored early and we did what we could to look like we were also rooting for Barcelona mainly so no one would try to fight us and they ended up winning 3-0.  Somehow, I went 3-0 in playing pool even though one of the guy's is a hustler - he plays this stupid rule (which I didn't even know about until it was time for me to hit the 8 ball in) that you have to make the 8 ball in the opposite pocket, of the pocket you make your last ball in.  Of course, I made my last ball in the side pocket, meaning I had to make the 8 ball in the opposite side pocket - impossible.  But, I got lucky and hit the 8 ball right on the edge of a corner pocket and he had no play except to hit it in the wrong pocket so I won, and won the next two games too.

Searching for Adventure

Since I have been unable to travel anywhere or do anything really exciting this trip, I thought it was time to do something adventurous and travel to a place I have not yet been.  After hours and hours of searching for the perfect weekend itinerary last weekend, I finally found what to do late Monday night and Tuesday: travel to Scotland to play golf!  But, not only play golf - but play golf at Turnberry Ailsa course - the site of the 2009 British Open.  So difficult to plan golfing weekend trips (especially to Championship courses) because there are so many elements to take into account - first even being able to book a tee time on a weekend, flight times, rental car etc - to allow for at least 36 holes of golf in the weekend.  I found a flight to Glasgow from Amsterdam late Friday night which I thought would be easier to drive in Glasgow to a hotel around Turnberry later at night hoping there would not be as much traffic - since I would have to drive on the other side of the road.  I was able to join a group at 12:30 on Saturday and since I could not get on Royal Troon (can only play Monday - Tuesdays as a visitor), I figured I would play the Ailsa course again - or the other course at Turnberry on Sunday.
Tuesday night I left work at a decent hour and went to the Gent Golf School to use their driving range to practice a bit for the weekend trip.  Driving range was OK - it was pretty short so you were not supposed to hit driver and they were still using mats instead of hitting off of grass which sucked.  But they had a decent putting / chipping green and unlimited golf balls for 10 euros.  I practiced until the sun went down and then headed home.  Couldn't wait until the weekend!

10K of Oostende

Today was the big day of the race and it ended up being a beautiful day which only meant more traffic.  I think the entire country of Belgium drives to the Sea on the weekends if the sun in shining and the fact that there's construction on the highway doesn't help!  The race started at 3 PM so I left my apartment around noon to ensure I was checked in and ready to go in plenty of time.  Due to my lack of training, my goal was to break 60 minutes, which is just under a 10 minute mile pace.  I knew the wind was going to be the issue, but I thought the last 2.5 KM would be down wind so I figured I could make up some time then.  WRONG!  I think there were only a few small stretches that were down wind.  We were either running through streets that were completely out of the wind, or right into the wind.  I felt really good until around the 7th KM, that's when my legs started to get a bit tired and by that point I knew the last 2.5 KM were along on the boardwalk and would be right into the wind.  But, I knew the people and the waves crashing would give me more than enough motivation to finish strong, however the 20-30 mph gusts of wind were not helping!  There was a lady that was running with me right at the finish and although I was talking in English she kept talking in Dutch, I do not know what she was saying but somehow I found it very motivating, maybe it was just the pure awkwardness but regardless I flew by her and a couple others in the last 100 meters!  Even after the race, I saw her and just said thanks for the help at the end and she replied again in Dutch! Overall, it was a great course and I felt good through the whole thing except for the wind at the end, and you get a medal for finishing so I will have something to remember it since I couldn't take any pics!  I have 2 weeks to get stronger until my next 10K, which is going to be way more difficult because its the morning after my Boss' wedding.... :-).

My official time was 1:03:12, so a bit slower than I hoped but I blame it entirely on the wind!

Golfing in Belgium

After the long week of work, I was determined to get on a golf course this weekend as I brought my clubs this trip.  Unfortunately, I do not know anyone at work that golfs, and every time I bring it up, I get the exact same response:  "Everyone golfs in America don't they?  Here in Belgium its seen as an elitist sport, only people with money play golf."  Therefore, I had to figure out which clubs were public / private on my own and since most of the websites are all in dutch I just started calling them until I found one that accepted my tee time request without any questions.  I found a course about 35 minutes outside of Gent that had a 10 AM tee time available and I was counting down the days until Saturday.  I wanted to allow extra time to find the course, etc so I wanted to leave at 9 AM.  However, I was up late watching the Masters on BBC (who only ever talk about Lee Westwood and his fellow Brits) and accidentally turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze in the morning, and woke up at 9:04.  Luckily, I was able to hurry and get out of town before the traffic picked up and made it there just in time.  When I arrived, I noticed they wrote my name on the tee sheet as "Mad Preis" which made me chuckle.  The guy asked me which course I was a member at and I said no where - and he told me that I had to be a member at a golf club in Belgium, to golf at all course in Belgium.  Luckily, I explained my situation and he said no issue this time but in the future I will need to buy a season membership some place because insurance is part of the membership fee which relieves the courses from liability.  So I made sure not to hit into the group in front of me too many times :-). 

The weather was perfect, no wind, sunny, dew still on the ground - just like the good ole days!  It was the first round of golf I have walked in (sadly) 3-4 years and it was so enjoyable to hear the birds chirping and relax for the first time on this trip.  The course was in pretty good shape except they just plugged, seed / sanded the greens but hard to find a course in the first week of April without that. 

The main difference is that the course is measured in meters!  Generally not that big of difference, but I had to use the converter on my phone for the first couple holes to figure out how far I really was in normal golf dimensions - yards!  Also the tees are a bit backwards, the white tees are the longest and the blues are one of the shortest.  So that was a bit confusing at times.  

I played pretty well!  Had a legitimate par on the first hole and made two birdies on the back nine - overall I probably shot around a 77 which I was pretty pleased with for the first outing of the year.  The tee for number 10 is right next to the clubhouse and there was a couple sitting there having a couple drinks.  I hit a pretty solid tee shot up the left side and two seconds after I teed off I heard clapping and cheering and it was the couple on the patio!  So I waved and thanked them, and evidently impressed them!  I am hoping I can use my 'one free amnesty pass' at the other clubs!

Training, or Lack of Training

Many weeks ago it seemed like an amazing idea to sign up for the 10K race up in Oostende - but 5 days before the race I started to realize I still had to train, and was wishing I signed up for the 5K!  I made sure to run in the evenings which only added to my overall exhaustion but I knew I had to or I would regret it on Sunday.  The weather is starting to get nice and with the time change the sun is out until almost 9 PM which is great.  I played the time changes perfectly - the US changes 2 weeks before Europe and I was back for the US change and also made it back just after the Europe change.  Although spring ahead means I lose an hour, but in terms of daylight its a huge difference so it feels much more like spring!  I also found a couple great trails along the river so I no longer have to run on the uneven brick sidewalks!

Trip 6

This trip I knew was going to start off with a lot of work, as we were working for our April 5th Go-Live date, but it was a bit more than originally expected!  I landed in Brussels on Tuesday, March 30th around 10:30 AM after a 2.5 hour delay in Chicago because we had to switch planes as our original plane was leaking fuel.  I then went straight to work and worked until 11:30 at night and by the time I got to my apartment and unpacked it was 1 AM before going to bed.  And the trend continued the rest of the week... worked till 1 AM on Wednesday, 10 PM on Thursday, 1 AM on Friday, 3:30 AM on Saturday, midnight on Sunday and 11 PM on Monday (which is a holiday here for Easter Monday).  But, we beat our deadline.

I apologize for the lack of blog posts but there was literally nothing interesting to post!!

2 Weeks Back in the States

This time I was able to stay two weeks in the states, and it was a fun, but crazy 2 weeks!

Friday, March 12th -- Flew from Brussels to Chicago
Saturday, March 13th -- Flew from Chicago to New York City to apply for Belgian Visa
Monday, March 15th -- Flew from New York City to Chicago
Saturday, March 20th -- Flew from Chicago to Denver for a week of snowboarding in Breckenridge
Saturday, March 27th -- Flew from Denver to Chicago
Monday, March 29th -- Flew from Chicago to Brussels