Back home late from the office

Stockholm Pride - the spectators, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Back home late from the office. I had just told my visiting colleague from Atlanta how stress free it was to travel to and from work by train last night, when they cancelled our train this evening. Great timing as I was escorting him and my boss to Schiphol. We ended up catching a train going the other way, where another train had been cancelled, this time without any announcement. So we ended up in Rotterdam Centraal where we caught the international train from Brussels and had to stand on the way to Schiphol, where they got off. Now in Amsterdam Centraal, I had the joy of seeing my train to Amstel close its doors and move away from the station just as I was charging up the steps to catch it. Only a 15 minute wait and soon I should be home enjoying a nice dinner cooked by Fred with Fred and Eric.

Last night, I stayed at a hotel in Rotterdam, after a lovely evening with my colleagues. My Dutch finance colleague and our visitor from Atlanta left the office at about 5 and drove out to the Kaag, where the Dutch country manager has a delightful holiday house. After a couple of drinks in the garden, he took us in his boat onto the Kaag, an old lake just north of Leiden, near where Fred works. Here he took us to the other side to a very posh restaurant, where we first caught the last rays of the evening sun, before moving indoors. All haute cuisine and fancy dishes, but like at Jamie’s restaurant, only very small portions. The bread was useful, but we ended up also ordering a plate of chips with mayonnaise!

The boat ride back at about 11 pm, under a dark clear sky reminded me a bit of our last evening’s journey on the River Omo, two years ago and was made more memorable by seeing two shooting stars!

The train is now leaving on its way to Amstel and it seems like the rain has stopped so I might be lucky to avoid a soaking, yet again. Despite having Eric around, I think I will have an early-ish night. Been a tough couple of days at work, but I seem to be doing the right things and my efforts are being appreciated, so I have a good feeling about it. At least I am not missing any decent summer weather this year!