Yesterday I flew to Greece. The flight was longer than I thought it would be, but pleasant as we've been booked on business class the whole way. I even get first class on the way home... Amazing.
This is the east coast of the UK we're starting to go into the channel. 
This is the west coast of France I believe where we crossed over into Europe out of the channel. Can't believe people actually swim that whole thing!
This is a view of my room. Nice. I like the king sized bed and the complimentary cashews, pringles and macadamia nuts. Mmmmmm
This is the view from the veranda. Was really cool to step out on the veranda and hear a hoot owl early in the morning.
After I arrived, Grant Dickinson (my speaking partner) and I went over our presentations a bit and agreed on parts since this was my first time. He had spoken earlier in Ireland. Then we crashed. The next morning we were met by a cab driver who took us to Microsoft's offices in Athens.
The cabbies in Athens are diametrically opposed to the ones in London. They're rude, honk their horn a lot, usually don't even attempt to understand us. I tried unsuccessfully to flag down 7 cabs on our way back to our hotel tonight. Our sub guide told us that if the destination is too close or if it's not in the way that they want to go, they'll just keep driving. That's what happened to us. Finally, one picked us up. He barely spoke to us in English or Greek. He took the long way home to make it worth his while. He drove like crazy and several times Grant and I saw our lives flash before us as he pushed through traffice narrowly missing cars by what seemed like a millimeter. My nerves are still a little shakey.
Anyhow, the presentations went quite well. We're presenting the Microsoft Business Intelligence suite of tools including the SQL Server BI stack, Performance Point Server, Excel and Sharepoint and the integration between them all. After our presentation we went to see the parthenon and had barely enough time to visit it before having to turn around.
Apparently, folks around here eat their dinners very late. Our reservations were for 9pm, and the place really didn't start rocking until around 10pm.
We had some great food that I'd never tasted or even seen before. There was one dish, can't remember what it's called, but was a chicken pieces marinated in a spicey, peanut colored sauce on a bed of strange noodle looking bread? Anyway, was very, very good. They also served, among other things, cooked cheese. I really liked that and some delicate pastry dishes with cheese and sauces in them. I very much enjoyed it all. There was a tiny cup in front of everyone with some sort of alcoholic drink in it. Wasn't ouzo, but similar. Anyway, I took a sniff and got a bit tipsy.
Just kidding kids! :) But, it was very strong.
The Parthenon was cool. Not the greatest camera have I and it was getting dark. But was cool nonetheless cuz they have all the lights pointing on it to light it up at night.
Don't know what this building was, but it was once quite impressive in sheer size. 
This is the obligatory picture of me. I did this just for you Christine. :)
Greece is cool. The people are very gracious and fun. The hotel we’re staying in is as lush as any I’ve ever been in. Think Hotel Utah with complimentary wine. The hotel crew are extremely helpful and friendly, seeing to our every need. Doing whatever it takes to make us happy. I've rarely experienced such service that I can remember since, perhaps, when in Japan.
It’s a beautiful place even though the city is a bit dirty, especially around the Parthenon where all the street vendors hang out. At times, there was a noticeable odor of mary jane and sewer in the air. The Parthenon dominates everything around it and there are many ruins down below around which the city is built. It’s very interesting. Old buildings built on older buildings built on very old buildings from the stones of the oldest buildings. Bizarre, cool and monumental all at once.
This morning I went to get into the shower and noticed that there was a large window. I opened it and the clouds were quickly moving over a close mountain, blanketing it in a soft white sheet of cotton candy clouds. The air was clear (we're in a suburb) and crisp. I couldn't help thinking that I was in the same place as all those philosophers and heros I'd read about in my college liberal arts classes. I was thinking what this placed looked like when they lived here and felt like I tasted a bit of history.
I love Europe, but miss the states. I’m heading back tomorrow for a few days for some business and then will be returning to Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday.
Get this, my flight lands on Tuesday at 11:50am in Warsaw and I’m supposed to speak at 2:30pm that same day.
That’ll be a trick. :)
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