Europe
October 8-12, 2007

Moscow, Russia
October 9, 2007

Moscow in the fall…chilly and rainy. Nevertheless, we went to Red Square and took the pictures that you see below. SRC and I had an escort who also took some of these pictures. It was incredible to stand in Red Square and think of all that had taken place there.
















We flew into Moscow Monday afternoon which left time for a short tour to Red Square followed by a nice evening in the hotel. I did the healthy thing and went to the fitness center to run. I could have gone to sleep but then my night would have been even shorter than it was. I went to bed at 11:00 and woke up at about 3:00 and could not sleep any longer. With no English language channels on the TV except CNN and the BBC I was limited so, I did some work to get ready for the day.










The program was great! There were about 40 people at this program which meant a lot of interaction and questions. Three of the clients attending gave presentations in the afternoon which applied the principles that were being taught. It was very interesting to hear how the principles had been applied and success was and is the outcome.

The program ended and we were on our way to the airport. It may have been a nightmare but the afternoon quickly took a bad turn. SRC was being interviewed on our way to the airport when I received the call that the charter plane that had been scheduled could not get the permits to fly into Moscow. Let me re-phrase. The permits could be acquired but that would mean a 4 hour delay to our take-off and a 7 hour delay into Luxembourg. While I was on the phone the person interviewing SRC got out of the car to take the bus back to the hotel. She had been our translator…guiding the driver, etc. So, here I am on the phone driving to the airport and our driver does not speak English. Luckily, we had a solution in place before we even arrived at the airport but for a few minutes I thought I was going to have an out of body experience while tyring to remain calm, cool and collected. The plane was a good size and very nice inside. We also had our own flight attendant. What service! I had not eaten much all day so I was very excited when she asked if we wanted some food. As it was our arrival into Luxembourg was delayed by about 2 hours. At least we made it.

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
October 10, 2007

What an amazing city! Very European and a lot like Belgium in my opinion. We stayed in a hotel that was very interesting to say the least. A very European experience. It had, at one point, been a block of houses but building was renovated into a hotel a few years ago. The ceilings were very high, the floor wood, and the furnishings very contemporary.

The event was held at a large, round building that is part of a school campus. A large room in the center surrounded by two stories of classrooms and a cafeteria. The building is part of a large block of buildings for Primary and Secondary schools. The audience was made up of about 350 participants. While in Luxembourg I learned that the city nearly doubles in size Monday thru Friday. People travel in from France, Germany and Belgium for their jobs. So some of the participants were from those countries. I also learned that there are three main languages spoken in Luxembourg: Luxembourgish, French and German. English is, of course, also spoken.

The day went very well and SRC did a fantastic job. I was also able to see my friends from Belgium…those I worked with on the Belgium event last year. It was very fun to see them again. Overall it was a great day! At the airport in Luxembourg we were met by our pilots for the short flight to Amsterdam. These pilots were awesome...meeting our needs and making sure we got to where we needed to go. Plus they were funny! Our flight to Amsterdam was short and we arrived in good time.

Haarlem, Netherlands
October 11, 2007

We drove from the airport to Haarlem. I did not see much of the city (it was dark when we arrived) but I did take a picture of this church which was right by our hotel. Amazing! I wanted to walk around the city but it was dark, it was late, and I would have had to walk by myself. The hotel was very clean and comfortable. It is actually part of the Best Western family of hotels.

The event was held at the Philharmonie (I don’t know if I spelled that correctly). It is a Symphony Hall with two main stages. Our event was held in the smaller of the two and it was beautiful. I would say there were probably 400 people attending and it was a great crowd. I was impressed by the organization of the event and the hosts themselves. SRC enjoyed the day as well which is always good.

After the event we quickly drove to an open field. That’s right an open field to board the helicopter. To get to the next location and event we needed to get there as quickly as possible and helicopter was the solution. It was AWESOME! What a way to see the country. I was amazed! The pictures do not do a good job in showing the beauty. Each city/town had a church and the farm houses were outlined by tall trees. I could see the well manicured lawns and fields, cows and sheep which looked very funny and a lot like larvae from where I was. Halfway into the flight we approached open water and I thought this has to be the city below or we are going to fly over this body of water and I cannot see what is beyond the cloud cover. There was a road, like a bridge, that we followed and I could soon see land on the other side. The interesting thing about this road: on one side is salt water and the other side is fresh water. Within another 15 minutes we landed in another field, loaded into a waiting car and drove to the venue.

The helicopter landed in a field right by this farmhouse.

Leeurwarden, Friesland, The Netherlands
October 11-12, 2007

The next set of events were held at CHN University. The emphasis of this university is hospitality so they have restaurants and a hotel right on campus. Nice! We were taken to our rooms, I freshened up a bit and we headed out to the first event. SRC was taken to a dinner for some Q&A with the attendees and I went to the main session to set up the AV. I was very impressed with the AV set up for each event. All of my requirements had been met, thanks to the event host and JB who arrived the day before to make sure everything was set up as it should be. The equipment had been tested so all I needed to do was plug my laptop in, test a DVD, etc and I was good to go. Plus the AV techs were helpful, fun, and good looking. Not a bad combination.

The main session of the night was the Leadership Program. I would guess that the room held about 350 people…nice size group. SRC did a great job and I had fun with the AV techs. I was wiped out by the end of night and could not wait to sleep. It was the shortest night of the trip. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep but felt pretty good considering.

The first event of the next day was a VIP breakfast. We first listened to three presentation on programs and efforts taking place to build a stronger community. SRC took about 30 minutes to share his thoughts and insights on what was shared. It was a good session. From there we rushed over to the main auditorium for the next event, also a community event but with a larger group and SRC teaching. He was on fire with this group talking about communities and family, mission statements, etc. It was great! At the conclusion I grabbed all of my gear and with the help of my personal AV assistant, Henk, nearly ran over to the last event with the staff and students of CHN. We got set up in record time and the session went well. It was in a more open area of the school so we drew a crowd.

Another helicopter ride, this time to the Amsterdam airport, proved to be equally as exciting as the day before. I was so tired and with the hum of the helicopter I found myself falling asleep but not deep enough that I missed any of the beautiful sites. After a quick change of clothes at the airport we boarded the plane and started our long journey home.

It was a great week! The events were tremendous and I met some amazing people but I am glad to be home!