Diminutive

Back to raining gray Munich now, (well Brussels was just as rainy and gray I suppose), and have been sent to the next client already...which is quite ok. Ramping up quickly. Switching from Pharma to Media - like switching to another part of my brain.

All in all, though the Brussels trip was a lot of work and not so much sleep for a night, had a lot of fun with the UK team (thank you Anand, Bradley, Robert, Richard, Andy, Anthony...) on Tuesday night and during the presentation on Wednesday.

I managed to try a few of the Belgium specialties: a plate of frog legs, plenty of fries, some very nice mashed potatoes, a couple glasses of Chimay ale, a bite of a crepe and a bite of a waffle, some chocolate (wasn't that impressed...), and the most expensive (22 Euros!) but very tasty hamburger I think I have ever eaten (which is admittedly not Belgian.)

Was overwhelmed by one ever-present feature in all the streets of Brussels. The famous Mannequin Pis - which they even sold for 8.50 euros in the minibar of my hotel room. You wander around the city and this guy is EVERYWHERE. An hour before I headed to the airport to head home I made Bradley take me over to see the statue, which was only a few streets away from the hotel we were in. As we approached, I was astounded by the size of the thing which has left its impression all over the city (even saw a painting of it on a coke machine at the airport). It can't be more than a foot and a half tall. I exclaimed "that's it?!" and Bradley said "yup." And the 20 tourists that were standing around looking at the thing cracked up laughing and started nodding at me.




Need to look up the story behind the statue I guess...

Brussels

Flew in to arrive mid-day for a pitch tomorrow afternoon. Ended up on the morning flight rather than evening in order to keep the costs down which has its plusses and minusses. Minus=get up early and deal with the rush hour commuters on the way to the airport. Plus=rest of team gets in around 6 pm, leaving me with a few hours to relax. Um, I mean, work really hard in my hotel room. ;-)

In all seriousness, I guess I get to do both. I took an hour out to go down and walk around and pick up a really nice bio sandwich and salad for lunch and pop my head into a few shops. I've never been to Belgium before, so this is finally a new country for me - first one in many years. (Yeah, i gotta get out and see more of Europe...). Not that I will be able to boast that I saw Belgium in the few hours I will have to explore.

I *knew* Belgium was famous for chocolate (among other food items...which are turning my head right and left as I walk down the street - waffles, fries, mussels, seafood everywhere), but I don't think I have ever seen so many chocolate shops in my life. Rather overwhelming. Of course I will take some chocolate home...but I wouldn't even know where to buy it - one chocolate from 20 different shops I guess....:-P

Meanwhile, the wall of beer/ale in another store had me pretty awed as well...

And the cathedral in the center - just had time for a snap and then I turned and headed back to the hotel. Time to work for a bit, but the team heads out for dinner together tonight, and that should be fun. The concierge recommended a French place and a Belgian place, but if I know the UK guys, we're gonna end up in a pub. ;-) Actually, everyone is recommending mussels and fries (very Belgian!), which sounds like a good plan to me.