Ah Bruxelles! I finally broke out the bravery (and even a little Francais!) and did some sightseeing this afternoon. After a successful meeting this morning (and a delicious brie sandwich), I took a cab back to the hotel and talked with the family. Ever try a three way video chat when you don't have a video camera or voice capabilities? Hilarious. After talking with my family, it seemed ridiculous that I could see the Grand Place (pronounce it with a French accent and it sounds much fancier) but I was worried I'd get lost between there and the hotel. So I scrounged up a map and headed over there - really around one corner. It was a little bit of a let down, because my parents had spoken of it so highly, but the architecture was ... read more

Today's location is Lisbon, and driving in from the airport only renewed my determination to stay holed up in my hotel room! Am staying at the Tivoli Lisboa (apparently, there are two Hotel Tivoli's here, so the distinction is important). The hotel is good, reminds me of Germany but with scarier elevators and no assistance with the bags. I decided I love the mirrored closest and that the tub is great because it's long enough to accommodate my legs. And the Molton Brown bath gel is unbelievably relaxing - although I'm not in too much need of relaxing since I had a whole row to myself on the flight over. Turned out I was having dinner with one of our lawyers. We drove into the Old Town, with steep narrow roads and too many parked cars. ... read more