I just came back from 3 weeks on the road. I have 2 new hires, in 2 different countries, and starting at different times. Let me tell you about the “joy” of coordinating a trip for all 3 of us to Partner Training, and then some On Boarding back at HQ. Ok, there was very little joy involved… just a lot of:

“Oh shiatsu, did I forget to book the hotel?”
“Oh, did I put their names on reservations?”
“Oh, did I calculate the right timezone?”

And then of course the usual last minute packing for myself, and knowing I’d forget SOMETHING again this time. But a couple positive things came out of this trip:

[notification type=”alert-info” close=”false” ][TL:DR] Missed Flights, Amsterdam has a lot of smoking and Pot, San Diego is beautiful as always… and I should be sane soon, because I hired 2 people.
Good Things[/notification]

#1 – I have 2 new hires

Anyone who knows me, know’s I’ve been essentially a mad man running around trying to cover 5-6 Sales Reps (Channel Managers to be correctly titled), all in different countries. It has been absolutely hellish with waking up early, and then staying up late to catch up on what I’m backlogged on. With 2 new guys covering 4 of these, in the right timezone, this will be a HUUUUUGE positive in my life. Now of course I just need to make sure they are trained and ready to go… which will take some time, and more crazy hours and flights, but at least with light at the end of the tunnel.

#2 – I got to see a new city: Amsterdam

Even though getting there was a nightmare because I missed luggage cut-off by 10 minutes and had to pay extra (the corporate booking system didn’t call out it was a “handbag only” fare… I didn’t even know that existed), and had to stay at the airport hotel… I did get upgraded to a super sweet room, and free drinks 🙂

#3 – Of course I took a TON of pictures… and FOOD, and well Pictures OF Food

Which now surfaces the need to invest some time in a new process for backup, editing, and sharing.

City #1 – Madrid

A quick in-and-out day. Literally landed, cleared customs, and went straight to Partner office. I don’t think I took a single picture… not even Food; and that makes me sad. I had a pretty yummy lunch, which I’m sure will get flagged in expense approval… apparently “moderately priced” means something else in Spain. The only photo I could find related to Madrid was the Admirals Club in Charlotte on my way there, and the plane:

City #2 – London

Another quick stop. A 5 person presentation turned into about 30 or so. A pleasant surprise, and certainly makes the trip all that much more worthwhile. Then some yummy ramen, coffee, and a dash to the airport only to miss cut-off time. Pretty upset, because I looked up the cut off time on British Airways site and it said 60 minutes, but apparently it recently changed at Gatwick to 45 minutes. Had there not been a long line – made terrible because a family walked up and wanted to change their vacation plans last minute – I would have been JUST on time for the 45 minute window. GRR. To add to my pain, I didn’t know a “hand bag only” fare existed, and even with Emerald status, British Airways still made me pay $80 plus $120 change fee… for a $140 ticket… DOUBLE GRRR.



Crussh Restaurant







Local chain specializing in made-to-order fresh juices, smoothies, salads and super-foods.



Address: R5, 14 Sumner St, London SE1 9JZ, UK

Hours: Open today · 7:30AM–6:30PM

Phone: +44 20 7928 3007s		






I was originally planning to meet at the Starbucks 2 doors down, but it was loud and crowded, and this place smelled good. I decided to try and “eat healthy”. Get a smoothy and one of their “Health Pots”. The Shakshuka Egg Protein Pot that I added avocado to, was GREAT. The problem is I was HUNGRY. I think I could have eaten 4 of them. The positive side is I think it was under 3 GBP. The negative side is I didn’t, and ended up eating again at the place next door where I did my conference call from.






Tonkotsu Bankside Restaurant







Modern, hip canteen serving Japanese ramen with homemade noodles in a variety of broths.



Address: 4 Canvey St, London SE1 9AN, UK

Hours: 12:00PM – 10:30PM

Phone: +44 20 7928 2228		






Only a block away we were going to walk into Wagamama, since we knew it was “safe”, having eaten there before in Reading, UK. But across from it was Tonkotsu, which looked more “authentic”… and the menu outside confirmed as much. It was a short wait of about 5 minutes, and I’d say the only negative is there is no space to wait other than hovering over the nearest tables to the door. Outside would generally be an option I guess, but it was raining and there were smokers hanging around… double wammy in my book. The Seafood Miso Ramen caught my eye, its not often I have options besides Pork or just Vegetarian for ramen. They even let me add the mushrooms to mine, which was a GREAT call as they were delicious. I also discovered that Yuzu Lemonade is soooo good. Sadly I didn’t remember to note which brand it was, as it was in a bottle… though it did look like this one: https://liquidjuicecompany.com/products/yuzu-lemonade/








City #3 – Amsterdam


This is my very first time in Amsterdam, and there were quite a few new things to learn. Of utmost importance:


When you’ve been wandering for hours in Amsterdam taking photos, and the lack of caffeine is starting to hit you… a “COFFEE SHOP” is NOT where you go for coffee!


This is a lesson that took me 3 times to learn. Now some DID have a tiny coffee pot in the corner, but I’m just of the belief that sitting in a room full of pot smoke is going to have a negative affect on the desired outcome of drinking caffeine. It took me another 3 blocks to find a “CAFE”, where I could get proper coffee, and not have a crazy compulsion to eat all the treats they have on display… though this DID happen.




Customs and Centraal Station






Customs was surprisingly quick. After having gone through Madrid and London, and feeling absolutely drained, it was a relief to see an efficient process. Schiphol airport actually looked nice too. Kids play areas, clean, food options… too bad I was making a b-line for the train, to get to a shower ASAP. The train was nice, but a tip to save yourself 4 Euro… don’t bother booking “First Class”. It is nothing more than some seats sectioned off by glass. It was a cramped area, and to be honest the “2nd Class” seats actually looked nicer. It’s a quick 15-20 minute ride in, so a great option in a time crunch. The train station is pretty big, and being a main entry point for the city, is quite crowded. For us non-smokers, this is also a rough start… tons of people outside the door. There are also tram tracks all around; which they come surprisingly fast in on.
  








The DoubleTree Centraal Station






A nice short walk across the canal, and I’m at my DoubleTree for the week. Great location for easy transport and decent-ish food options. Personally having walked there from center of the city, some of the area right before the train station is a bit too rowdy for me, as it looks to be a lot of cheap hotels and hostels, so lots of drunk/high college kids. There is a Starbucks on the building, 2 restaurants, and kick ass rooftop restaurant/bar, and a small-but-nice Executive Lounge. But the icing was getting upgraded to a executive suite, with a corner view out. The room was nice and big, and would have been great to have some friends over… well, had I any friends in Amsterdam, and I think its a bit creepy to have invite your new hires to your room, no matter how big. The only negative would be that the room got pretty hot with sunset as the sun was right into the windows, and it was slow going down… but sun down was 9-10pm, so really long days.
  








Day 1 – Walk around the canals, and Street Food


After getting a Frappuccino and lightening my camera pack, I head out for some wandering and food. Before this trip we saw Street Around The World, the Amsterdam episode. So of course I need to try the places I saw on the show.


First stop is Henks Haring shop. In hind sight… not the best starting point for the first thing in my stomach that day; but maybe I’m just needing to add another layer of steel lining my stomach. I’m sure it COULD be good, and the photos on Foursquare look better than mine was… oh well. Two bites and I had to move on. Thankfully I had a Fanta to kill the taste.


Eager to get something else that I can actually finish, I passed by a Fry shop, and even though the thought of a mound of mayo on top made it questionable, I did it anyways. I have to admit that it took some act of willpower to take the first bite… and an act of great hunger to almost finish them. But the mayo isn’t quite like the kind we have here, and so it was bearable. I still don’t think I could completely get over the psychological hurdle of all that mayo, and so ended up with at least half of it left with just 3 fries at the bottom. I basically pulled a fry out and rubbed off the glob of mayo. Next time I try the curry sauce.


Then it was time for about 3 hours of wandering. Most of the photos were with my main camera, so I’ll have to upload those larger files after some post processing, and make a separate gallery. The train station had a MASSIVE bike parking lot. It’s no joke when they say Amsterdam is the city of bikes. Curiously, most of the bikes are some pretty hefty framed beasts. I can’t imagine wanting to carry that up a flight of stairs, but I suppose most people leave them on street level, since they are parked everywhere. I would also think there’d be quite a bit of bike thievery, but I saw a bunch of bikes without locks… though the great majority did. The house boats were pretty cool. I could so see myself living in one of those. I was tempted to rent one for the week from AirBnB or HomeAway… but again applied the “maybe its a bit creepy to share an apartment with new hires”, and they might also feel uncomfortable saying No Thanks. Another cool thing is that there are lots of stairways that have a bike rail that you can [hopefully] walk your bike down instead of porting it or messing up rims. I cut back to the hotel to catch a great sunset by 9pm.






Day 2 – Tons more Walking, Photos, and Sunburn




Starting the day off relatively early I went to get a hair cut, since I was looking like a mountain man after not remembering to pack my shaver. Being Sunday, there weren’t many options showing, so I wandered into Amsterdamsche Barbier. I had seen it the first day as it is on the road directly leading into the central area, from the DoubleTree. Great Service, Great Price, and Great Conversation. With my fresh new “Do”, and trimmed beard, I was ready to be seen in public. But I also needed to find Sunblock… I learned my lesson from the week prior when I got sunburned, and that was the main reason I had to wait so long to shave head again.


Not too many Apothecaries were open that early, so I set the GPS to the nearest and started walking. I never did find the Apothecary, but I did find a grocery store and grab some drinks and snacks, and hit up the craft market that was setup in the square. Lots of Antiques, a dude that was selling a bunch of WW1/WW2 Russian military stuff, and a couple artists. I really should have bought some of the wooden stamps as souvenirs that the girls could then make more art out of. But there was 2 trailers spray painted over, with bonus points for Spy vs Spy.




 




Day #3 – Work, Dinner at The Harmsen


Day 1 of Partner Training. Half the day spent fighting a terrible wifi network, and only marginally helpful front desk. By mid-day I got them to move us to a new conference room, which was much better, though sadly it wouldn’t be available for Day 3 which is my session.


I grabbed my team from their hotel: Hotel NH Amsterdam Schiller… which I learned is a pretty crappy hotel, much like the NH Hotel we are holding the event in (now we know better). The positive about it is it has a nice bar/restaurant downstairs with pretty stained glass and wood. They even do a local tv production from inside, so I got to see them setting up the set.


We went to dinner at The Harmsen (below), and on the walk back to my hotel I walked through the obviously cheap touristy, raunchy, area. But saw The Tara, and had to take a picture to send back home.


 


 




The Harmsen






 
Address: Utrechtsestraat 51, 1017 VJ Amsterdam, Netherlands

Phone: +31 20 330 5670		






Quaint little storefront loft restaurant. My photos do it an injustice, because the food here is REALLY good, and really pretty too. About 30 Euro per person for their set dinner, plus another 3-9 euro for drinks, makes it pretty affordable too. The service was great, atmosphere was intimate, and did I mention the food is REALLY great? I’m definitely hoping to get back here again.




 




Day #4 – Work, Dinner at La Estancia







Address: Reguliersdwarsstraat 86, 1017 BN Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hours: Open today · 1–11PM

Phone: +31 20 622 0347		






More good training, with fewer location issues. Afterwards we ventured out for some Argentinian since there are SO many around the touristy area (we are in Rembrandt square). It took a while to decide on one, since we didn’t want to ultra-touristy ones that we know are likely to be a ripoff and have no personality. We finally settled on La Estancia, as it was similar in hominess to The Harmsen. Location was good, interior wasn’t bad, and we were the only patrons for a bit, so the service was good… and they make a custom drink called the La Estancia, which was adequately fruity and sparkly/decorated for me. Sadly, thats where the positive review ends. The majority (well, really all but 1) were pretty terribly cooked, and not seasoned all that well. So our one ‘splurge’ night on steak ended not being so great. I ordered the trio of sauces, and settled for the lesser-of-evils in the pepper sauce (basically the British version of A1); the Chimichurri and Garlic sauces weren’t worth a second attempt.


We made up for the medicore food with great conversation, so the night wasn’t ruined.




 




Day #5 – Work, Dinner at Sky Lounge (DoubleTree)


Today was my session to run, so after a long day of talking, I wanted DRINKS!!! Somehow I convinced the group to go with my hotel… which is the furthest away from everyone else, though still an easy walk/trolly.


The great thing about the Sky Lounge is the view (their image not mine):


The Sky Lounge view


The food is ok… nothing to write home about, but not Bad. I might recommend avoiding the duck breast though, as it’s over cooked, and thats just blasphemy… and disappointing. Even for being so big, and it was pretty busy, the service was still good. The Bar is the second highlight after the View. They have fruity, and decorated, cocktails, which made my night. Since I was staying a few levels below, I decided I’d try ordering ALL of them 🙂 I tapped out at 3 or 4 of them though. I’d definitely recommend the lounge for drinks and appetizers, but not for a great meal. Go to a great restaurant and then come here for the sunset (which is LATE this time of year).




 




Day #6 – Work, Dinner at Tropico







Address: Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 171 BEL, 1012 RK Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hours: 2–9PM

Phone: +31 20 337 8498

Website: http://tropicobar-restaurant.nl/		






It took us a lot of wandering and Yelp hunting to find dinner this night. We started with wanting something new, then after passing some more Argentinian places and a search for Colombian/Brazilian instead, we came across Tropico. Good reviews and pictures on Yelp, but when we got there and saw it was a garden apartment and had a “tourist menu” we were going to walk away, but having already wandered for nearly an hour to find something, and being lured in by the Cat… we decided to give it a try. The hostess was great… at first. I felt like later some locals/family came in, and it was hard to get their attention again… but at least we had our food at that point. One other thing that was a negative is they had no cocktails; even after sitting down, I almost decided to try somewhere else, but everyone else was happy with the beer selection. The other alternative was fresh juice – of which they had an entire menu for, however they were “out” of just about all but I think 3. Seeing Plantains on the menu was enough to win me over, and after getting the Mango juice I ordered, I saw Rum behind the counter and asked if I could get that to mix in. Then came the Steak. I was worried it would be like the Argentinian place and be terrible, but it was DELICIOUS. I ended up going to the extent of food-hurt, unable to stop eating. Totally worth going back, especially if they have more fruits available.




Some quick snapshots from wandering:




 




Day #7 – Work, Airport


“Work work work, business business business”… then an Uber ride to the airport. The train is WAY cheaper, but with all the suitcases we had, and timing for flights, it was just way more convenient, and there were 5 of us, so it nets out to not much more cost when divided.


A the airport this have this really cool display of a clock and man inside who paints the hour and minute hands according to the time. Quite smart, as we spent at least 3-4 minutes staring in awe.


Click to watch video:




Then I flew back to London, to stay the night, and fly out to Chicago for a layover, lunch with my girls, then out to San Diego for a week of training.


 




City #4 – San Diego


A weekend in San Diego before a cramming multiple weeks of knowledge into a week long on-boarding session, is just what is needed after all that work travel. Even I got some site seeing in, and revisited La Jolla Cove area. The little beach there has this rock formation that you can climb in and get this great window out to the ocean. Makes for some great photos (which I took on my REAL camera, and haven’t figured out a good workflow to get those to here yet). The Sea Lion area is popular, and you should see it once, but personally I avoid it for the smells. You can hike along the coast for a bit and it has some pretty great views. There is also The Cave Store (yeah, literally) that has some steps down below to a cave with a great view out. Be VERY careful going down though… it’s pretty narrow and always wet, and is also a 2-way path.




 




Sea Salt






 
Address: 2282 Carmel Valley Rd, Del Mar, CA 92014

Hours: 10AM–9PM

Phone: (858) 755-7100

Website: seasaltdelmar.com		






Ok, I’ve posted a bunch about this one on Facebook. This is definitely my favorite restaurant in San Diego. No visit is complete without a stop at Sea Salt. I’ve ordered just about every dish at least once, and still haven’t grown tired of it, which is a great sign as I generally tend to like places that have rotational menus more. If I have to pick one item that I like the most, its for sure the Chipotle Saffron… but the Calamari are right behind it.


Sadly I didn’t take any photos… and oddly enough now I can’t find old ones… iPhoto has failed me. Just trust me, its AMAZING!!!




Water Grill







Nautical decor & leather banquettes set a hip tone at this LA-originated seafood eatery.



Address: 615 J St, San Diego, CA 92101

Hours: 11:30AM–11PM

Phone: (619) 717-6992

Website: http://www.watergrill.com/		






So people say this is one of the best seafood places… I will disagree. However, what they ARE the best at is Bread Pudding. This bread pudding is buttery, and crispy on the outside, and a super delicious salted caramel sauce. No joke, I’ve had this taste in my head for months, but it took me a while to figure out where I had had it. Definitely check out the area upstairs, which totally has the feeling of a place to sit around drinking bourbon… if that is your sort of thing. Usually it isn’t opened except for private parties, but you pass through to the bathrooms, so make a visit to the loo.






Bistro 39







Polished eatery inside the Hilton Garden Inn for upscale Californian dishes plus bar bites.



Address: 3939 Ocean Bluff Ave, San Diego, CA 92130

Hours: 7–10:30AM, 3–10PM

Phone: (858) 720-9500

Website: http://www.bistro39sandiego.com/		






Ok, this is in a Hilton Garden Inn, which while not low scale, doesn’t usually get associated with GREAT food. It had great reviews on Yelp, and it was literally across the parking lot from the Homewood Suites we were staying at, plus was on Open Table… so I figured I’d give it a shot. First, the “restaurant” is tables to the side of the bar, which is the side of the lobby, they have fancy table settings, and the bartender is the waiter. A bit comical, but the food MORE than makes up for it… and the waiter was actually great.


These lamb chops are SOOO worth another trip back. My coworker claims the veggie stack was amazing too, but I prefer my food eat that 😉 That purple stuff on the plate… cauliflower puree… and I could eat a BUCKET of it!!! The churro’s weren’t bad, but I can get better on the street in Chicago.




 




Back Home, American Airlines


One advantage of flying so much is getting upgraded. Most people attribute airline food with stomach pain, but at least in First Class, American Airlines has really up’d its game. I think the best of the current menu is the cheese lasagna.