BalekFekete
Shared on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 11:03Nothing beats travelling...except getting home from travelling. I'm fortunate that, as part of my job, I get to go to some pretty sweet locations from time to time. Nothing extreme, a trip or two a year. Past destinations include the typical Denmark (where the company is HQd), Amsterdam (I didn't inhale...much), and Madrid. However, this past week's annual international meeting took us to the Sun Coast of Portugal. After all is said and done, it was one of the better trips to date and a location I look forward to re-visiting at some point on my own leisure.
The meeting was held in Estoril, about 20km outside of Lisbon. The flight in wasn't a problem; a quick 6 hour direct from Newark International into Lisbon. I was even fortunate enough not to have a next door neighbor on the flight, so was able to spread out a little more than normal. Getting through customs was a bit of a bear, however, as the airport wasn't staffed sufficiently to get that many international travelers through. But after an hour or so, I was on my way to the hotel via taxi.
Upon arriving at the hotel, I was stunned. The place was GORGEOUS. As it turns out, the Hotel Palacio was the hotel of choice during WWII for all the besieged royalty of Europe. Kings, queens, princes and princesses resided in the hotel while waiting for the fireworks to die down in their own countries. Marble everywhere, tapestries hanging from the walls, their own fine china to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on using nothing but sterling silver....I really mean it when I say gorgeous. And then when you look out your room window to see this...
...well, it's enough to take your breath away. I spent the first day trying to stay awake and accommodate myself to the time change. That effort failed miserably with two naps to be had through the day. I did however take time to walk the shoreline, dotted with small public beaches and restaurants serving fresh cuisine from the area and the Atlantic. Weather was perfect, with temperatures in the low 70s and a constant sea breeze throughout the area.
Meetings were just that, pretty standard fare meetings. When the trip became worth it were the nights. I've been with the company now for 5 years, and going on these jaunts each year. As such, I've got a core group of colleagues whom I get along with well, and we can have a pretty good time when we put our minds to it. One night we found a nice seafood restaurant and had local wine and rock lobsters caught that day. Another night was a trip to the International Port Institute for a wine tasting - I found out I'm not fond of port wine, too sweet - and then dinner with a small strings trio playing in the background. The last night was the full group 'gala', which consisted of a 5 course dinner and then jazz/Latin music and dancing into the night. I still need to reach out to my Canadian colleague and get the pictures she took...*cringes*.
Anyhoo, now back in the states, and trying to dig out of a pile of emails that came in while I was gone. Next year's location? Don't know yet - survey will come out with choices to vote on this week - but I've heard rumors that Beijing, Dubai, and Athens will be among the contenders. Count me in for 2010!
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Comments
Submitted by ekattan on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 11:19
Submitted by Nomad18 on Mon, 05/18/2009 - 14:06