i love the fact that i have the opportunity to travel for work. sometimes it’s US travel, other times i get to visit Europe and on the very rare occasion, Asia.

this time was Europe, a quick trip that included Edinburgh, London and Paris. i had been to all three locations before but Edinburgh was in 1985 and Paris was last in 2005……it had been a long time. a very long time.

sadly, Edinburgh was only 24 hours, in and out. but i still had the chance to walk around a little bit, to/from our event and then the morning before i flew to London. i didn’t have time to go into Edinburgh Castle, but i did walk by, and around it, that counts for something doesn’t it?

the London trip was a little bit longer, but not by much, somewhere between 48 and 64 hours. far too fast for my liking, but enough time to get a dinner in at a ramen favorite, Bone Daddy’s. the majority of my time was spent on trains getting from point a to point b and at meetings. meals were with colleagues at local pubs, sadly none of which i can remember the names of, no disrespect to the pubs, i just didn’t make notes. a good time was had, but sadly no sightseeing……the London Film Museum is still on the list of future activities, as it has the largest collection of James Bond vehicles, oh yeah.

onto Paris, where i spent the most time, four full days! i love Paris. or to be accurate, i love Paris as i remembered it from my trips back in 2001 and 2005. things have changed a lot since then, and although still magical and exciting, to me, not quite as charming as it once was. maybe it’s true what “they” say, you can’t go back again.

when i visited last there wasn’t the big wall around the Eiffel Tower. i understand why it’s there, but it’s not the same. i was able to get a picture without the wall, but it was a challenge.

i was also able to get to Montmarte to see the Sacré-Cœur once again, which was nice, although it was really crowded. also, sadly in February the carousel is closed, so i couldn’t have my Amélie moment. sigh.

the meetings we had while there took us to different areas of the city, where i hadn’t been before, which was fun. meals were at small neighborhood restaurants, good food, but nothing truly noteworthy.

since i was walking down memory lane, i wanted to go to the Notre Dame District and see if i could find a bar that my friends and i went to back in 2001. we had such a fun time there (more than once) and i have nothing but fond memories (J&S i know you do as well). sadly, i couldn’t find the place i was looking for, not a surprise, it was 19 years ago, and i couldn’t remember the exact name or street, but i thought it was on a corner and had a striped awning. right……i did manage to locate the breakfast spot that refused to make me an omelet with potato and cheese. it was one or the other, i couldn’t pay for an extra item, even though i had been able to the morning before. i was hungover, and was not pleased. of course, it’s that place i found with no trouble.

all in all it was a short, but good trip, with the exception of the sinus infection i had for the majority of the time. foreign tinctures, tea and massive amounts of decongestants got me through, but it wasn’t the ideal way to travel by any means. one thing to note, EarPlanes saved my head from exploding on the flight home. they really did the trick to help with pressure. they’re not expensive and you can get them at a drug store or online.

next up on the travel list, Croatia in April. can’t wait for that, i plan to spend an extra week after the event we’re attending to do some sightseeing. whohoo.