I've recently been placed on a project at work that afforded me the opportunity to travel to Germany for a week earlier this month. We have an office there and I had meetings scheduled to meet my German counterparts. When the trip was first discussed, I was excited but also nervous about being so far from home away from my kiddos. I had never been to Europe and wasn't quite sure what to expect. Fortunately, my boss (who has traveled to Europe more than 80 times) would be accompanying me on the trip. This made me feel much better, as I originally had no idea how I would navigate around, communicate or just figure things out (luckily it was a bit easier than I expected).
Our flight out was on Sunday evening at 5:30 pm. It was really tough leaving the house. Leah was SO upset that I was leaving and it was breaking my heart. She sobbed and sobbed and I knew this would be a rough time for her (and me). I picked my boss up and we headed to the airport. He travels all of the time so he had access to the "Club Lounge." It is so much nicer to wait in there with a drink instead of hanging out in the grungy terminal. We were flying business class (I've never sat business class in my life). Wow - it like a whole other world up there and they treat you so good! You are greeted with a glass of wine and you have SO much room, with your own personal tv/monitor loaded with hundreds of movies. Our seats reclined into full beds and we even received a three course meal, along with breakfast. I could get used to flying like this!
It was an 8 hour flight and there is a 7 hour time difference. We were due to land at 8:30 am on Monday morning and we would be heading right into the office. Wowzer - this was new to me. Just before take-off I took a few sleeping pills in the hopes that I could get some sleep in. No such luck! I could not fall asleep for the life of me! I tried so hard and was tossing and turning. I knew I was going to pay for it later. When we landed in the morning, it was 1:30 am back home....and then we had to go work a full 9 hour day! Luckily, we went to the hotel first and I was able to take a shower and freshen up - but after that we went to the office. The hotel was nothing fancy and was pretty close to the office (a 15 minute walk). They don't really do air conditioning there, so the room was a little muggy. After I got out of the shower, I was disappointed to find this wrinky-dink little blow dryer that barely blew out any air. Ugh! Luckily I brought my blow dryer (and a converter). Only problem - there were no other outlets in the bathroom. I had to compromise and dry my hair at the desk!
Found this little note from Leah in my luggage!
Our office was different than what I had expected. It was in a great area, just on the riverfront. When we arrived, I met many of our employees and got a tour of the office. They haven't quite got the memo there, as we even had a 'smoking' lounge within our space. I noticed that tons of people smoke! When we went to lunch, everyone on the walk way was smoking away. By the end of the day - I was completely dragging! I hadn't slept and had been awake for well over 24 hours. It was a very productive day in the office. My HR counterpart from our UK office had also traveled to the Germany office too. After our long day, we went out for dinner - traditional German food! We went to this little German restaurant where I had schnitzel! It was pretty good, but definitely not something I could eat all of the time. We had a few German beers and then went back to the hotel. I crashed hard and got a great night sleep.
The riverfront near our office
Our office
It's Coke Light there - not Diet Coke
A statue near our office just out in the open!
The next day was more of the same - another long day in the office followed by dinner at an Italian restaurant. I noticed almost everywhere we went was very accommodating to Americans. Everyone spoke English and you could request an English menu at all of the restaurants. There was a cute little shopping district right near our hotel. I stopped and picked my family up a few goodies to bring home. This next night, I think my time schedule was all screwed up (with the time change), as I had a really hard time sleeping.
The next morning, we were actually going to our sister company's office at a different location. Again, it was a great opportunity to meet more colleagues and see the office. We had another full day.
This was going to be our last day 'working' as the next day was a German holiday and the offices were closed. Our flight home was the next day (Thursday) at noon. We had all of Wednesday night free, so we decided to switch hotels and move closer to the airport to a city called Dusseldorf. (We had been in Duisburg). This time we were staying at a Hilton which was a bit more modern and nicer. Dusseldorf is a pretty 'hip' area with TONS of restaurants and bars. There is a whole riverfront with restaurants just lined up. We walked around for a bit and stopped off for a few beers. It was so different there and such a great experience. The weather was decent with temperatures in the 60's. We stopped and had dinner and then continued to walk around. We stayed in the downtown area until 10:00ish before calling it a night and taking a cab back to the hotel.
Cocktails to Go!
A strip of bars along the water
Restaurants and bars
I didn't sleep great the last night, but was looking forward to be heading home to see my babies.
On the way home, I didn't want to fall asleep because we would be arriving back in Chicago around 3:00 pm. If I slept, I knew I would have a really hard time going to bed later that night. To keep myself entertained, I watched movies! 3 movies to be exact! That is more than I think I've watched all year! Lol. I watched Silver Lining Playbook, Wolf on Wall Street (wow) and also the Wedding Ringer. The flight was pretty uneventful and actually went by pretty fast. I was really excited to be home! When I arrived home, Leah and Mason were SO happy to see me. I missed them so much and I know they were glad to have me back!
I think now that I have one trip under my belt, it will be easier the next time I need to travel...as there is a possibility I'll be making additional trips to Europe. For now, it was a good work trip and I am glad I was able to take in a little bit of Germany!
