On our final full day together, we again started with a lovely breakfast before the skiers headed out. My dad and I relaxed for a little while, before heading into town to take a few pictures. I hate to use the word “cute” to describe the town, but it really is - there is much of the chalet type architecture you would expect (similar to some of those beautiful towns you see on travel programs in Switzerland and Austria). After getting the shots I wanted, we figured it was time to head up to our lunch destination for the afternoon, La [View Full Entry]

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Though it would have been nice to get a full night's sleep, instead, I slept for about two hours before I started waking up almost every half hour. I had to be up by 4:30 because of the early flight to Innsbruck, so I think I was subconsciously worried about sleeping too late. I finally got up about 3:30 and puttered around until I had to get ready. I STILL had the migraine, so I had a coke which I hoped would be just enough sugar and caffeine to drive it out (it wasn’t). We made it to Frankfurt airport in [View Full Entry]

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It’s funny, but after five years of traveling, I’ve gone from loving airplane journeys to despising them. It occurred to me the other day that perhaps I’ve never loved flying per se, but have instead been enamored with airports. Particularly when I’m flying to Europe and can sit in a terminal, listening to the cacophony of languages being spoken. It’s like background music that suddenly relaxes me and reminds me of being in Europe itself. That being said, I have decided that I hate the process of flying, and so I was dreading putting myself on a plane for seven hours [View Full Entry]

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Well, here I am, back in the windy city again...that's right, Chicago! Now I happen to really like Chicago, perhaps because I had such a great first visit here (though alas, I was not blogging then), and perhaps just because it's a city that sits well with me for unknown reasons. Because generally, when I'm here, I don't get to see much of it. Like the last time, when I came just for lunch. But anyway, I'm here for a recruitment meeting today and tomorrow, which has had a small social component thrown in that allows us to enjoy a little [View Full Entry]

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Even though only about 24 hours has passed since my last entry, it feels like we have packed an entire week's worth of activities into that time! Just before I left my room last night for the welcome reception, my dad texted me to say that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Darn. We could have had the dinner outside after all, but we agreed that we felt pressured by the hotel to avoid the slim possibility of bad weather by having it inside. We realized that although for most people a little chill in the air and some small [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday afternoon, we met with our Greek host, ostensibly for only a few minutes in the lobby, but it was a meeting that turned into lunch at a small cafe-type place just across from the hotel in Constitution Square. I hadn't brought my sunglasses with me and it was a very bright and sunny day, reflecting so brilliantly off of the marble steps that I almost couldn't keep my eyes open. We sat at a tiny table and decided to have a bite to eat at this Eonikon Cafe, packed with Greeks and tourists so tightly that you felt as though [View Full Entry]

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Jet lag does funny things to you. Wait, scratch that. Sleep deprivation does funny things to you. After a week where I only got one night of decent sleep, it was time to battle the dreaded jet lag. Actually, I shouldn't say dreaded. As long as I have the luxury of an extra day to sleep, I don't mind jet lag. It resets my sleep cycles, helps me to return to a normal sleeping schedule when I return home, and jerks me away from my night-owl habits because I'm too tired to keep awake. But it does funny things too. You'll [View Full Entry]

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Welcome race fans! What a gorgeous day here in Las Vegas, and finally we had the chance to go outside and enjoy it! After a very productive business session this morning, we headed out into the desert for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where we would be having lunch and taking on the Richard Petty driving experience. I finally got to see a little bit of the strip on the trip out (at least from the back!) and the mountains looked beautiful in the sunlight. The bus finally arrived at the speedway, and drove through a round corrugated metal tunnel to [View Full Entry]

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Over the past few days, I've been trying to figure out how I feel about Vegas. Mostly, I'm just curious, because it's a rather fascinating place. Everything here is so opulent, so over the top. My hotel suite has two big rooms and two bathrooms. Everywhere we eat, the portions are enormous. You can get anything you want, right here in the hotel, which even has a wedding chapel and a tattoo parlor! During the day, you almost never see the sunlight, and I breathed in fresh air today for the first time in two days! It's such a surreal place! [View Full Entry]

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I was hoping to find out that the rumors I'd heard about fine dining in Vegas were true, and so far, so good! Tonight, we had dinner at Michael Mina's Stripsteak, in Mandalay Bay. It was relatively quiet in there when we arrived, but got progressively more crowded as the evening wore on. We were seated at a small table, with very comfortable chairs, which told me that they hoped diners would linger and spend a lot of money. With their prices, that would be a fairly accurate prediction! I perused the menu, and not being overly hungry, selected a lettuce [View Full Entry]

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