Here's a quick pictoral and high-level summary of my Euro work tour in the first two weeks of March. I actually started in Washington, DC, but no pics or noteworthy comments there other than it was work.
From DC, I flew with a few co-workers direct to Zurich, and then we took a nice little train ride to Basel.
BASEL (PART 1):
I was in Basel for four days (Wednesday - Saturday), mostly filled with work meetings. The nice part of this Basel trip was a stay in the famous Le Trois Rois (Three Kings) hotel. Turns out that Roche has a discounted rate at this schwank place, so it was nice to stay in some old school stylings along the Rhine river.
On the Wednesday night, there was a large team dinner at a cute wine bar and restaurant called Ono (sorry, no pics!).
On the Thursday night, we had a smaller team dinner at a place called Restaurant Hasenburg, where we enjoyed a Swiss culinary dish called Rosti. Rosti consist mostly of potatoes, and resembled breakfast hashbrowns to me, and yummy ones at that.
Fantastic starter salad:
Rosti with creamy mushroom sauce and pork (creamy sauces are a big theme in Switzerland):
Friday was work, squeezed in a little gym time, and then catch up on work/zzz's before heading to London early on Saturday morning...whee!!! So long, Three Kings!LONDON
SATURDAY
On early Saturday morning, my co-worker Jenny and I caught a flight to London Heathrow, and then took the very-easy-to-navigate Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station. The hotel where our meetings would be taking place, the Metropolitan, was well-situated in the Mayfair district of central London, right next to Hyde Park and walking distance to many great landmarks.
After checking in, we embarked on a foot tour of the sights.
Buckingham Palace:
Big Ben!:
Westminster Abbey:
The London Eye:
Parliament and Big Ben:
Trafalgar Square:
Jenny and I stopped for a quick curry lunch at Chowki:
The rest of the afternoon was spent perusing the shops of Oxford Circus and New Bond Street, followed by some catch-up e-mailing for work (boring!). The reward though, was a dinner at Nobu London, which was conveniently located in our hotel. Jenny and I shared a bunch of dishes at the bar...and all the food was amazing.
Lobster salad with spicy lemon dressing:
Sushi combo sampler:
Toro tartare with caviar:
Flourless chocolate cake with green tea ice cream:
It was a pretty awesome end to a great day in London. I think I've found another city to share my heart with...SUNDAY
On Sunday, I headed to try to catch some of the "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace.
I managed to catch only a small part of the ceremony before I had to catch the Underground to go meet some old college buddies for brunch...whee!
I managed to catch only a small part of the ceremony before I had to catch the Underground to go meet some old college buddies for brunch...whee!In the craziness of work, I forgot to plan for London and thankfully in this case to Facebook, my London buds reminded me that they live in this great city and we were able to quickly plan the brunch. I headed to Primrose Hill to meet up with Dee-Anna, Sarah, Greg, and Sophie (Sarah and Greg's little girl) at The Queens Pub & Dining Room.
I had lived with Dee-Anna and Sarah in "rez" at UofC oh-so-long-ago, so it was fantastic to catch up. I hadn't seen Dee in over 13 years!
After some touring and coffee catch-up, I said my goodbyes and hopped back on the tube to go meet Jenny at the famous Harrods. This place is highly entertaining, with it's cheesy Egyptian decor, mixed with luxury goods, an amazing food hall, and a soprano singing in the center of the store. Not to mention, the memorial to Dodi and Di...:
After Harrods, we had to head back to the Metropolitan Hotel for dinner with all the team members arriving for the meetings on Monday.
After some touring and coffee catch-up, I said my goodbyes and hopped back on the tube to go meet Jenny at the famous Harrods. This place is highly entertaining, with it's cheesy Egyptian decor, mixed with luxury goods, an amazing food hall, and a soprano singing in the center of the store. Not to mention, the memorial to Dodi and Di...:
After Harrods, we had to head back to the Metropolitan Hotel for dinner with all the team members arriving for the meetings on Monday. MONDAY
On Monday, we had all-day meetings at the hotel, and then the team went for dinner at The Devonshire, a Gordon Ramsay gastropub in Chiswick.
I didn't have a starter, and opted for a decadent entree instead...the Dedham ribeye steak with bone marrow, celery salt, and creamy garlic mash...oy, deliciously cholesterolific!
I left London on Tuesday mid-day and headed back to Basel for a few more days of meetings. I was sad to leave London and I promised that I'd come back. So many things to do and shops still to visit...BASEL (PART TWO)
There's not much to say about my second Basel trip, other than it was a whole lotta work and a lot less fun compared the the first part of the trip. Tuesday night, Wednesday, and Thursday were a blur.
On Thursday night, I had a chance to have a nice dinner with my co-worker Heidi at Eoipso.
A little amuse bouche of beet and leek mousse:
Starter of seared venison tartare:
Entree of seared ahi tuna and snow peas with polenta:
It was a nice meal to end a very productive yet taxing work trip. I had an early wake-up call to head home, and it was one early morning I was looking forward to. On a nice note, I ended up running into other Genentech-ers at the airport and had some company all the way home through Frankfurt and then to SFO. I also watched four movies and tried to stay up so I could adjust to the time quicker. 
Starter of seared venison tartare:
Entree of seared ahi tuna and snow peas with polenta:
I slept like a baby all weekend. Nice to be home.
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