Back From Reality

Time files.
 
Cliché?  Yes.

But how true it is.

After an event-filled ten days back in the States and the Brewery, I find myself being Mr. World traveler again. 

Backing up, I flew back to America on a Wednesday.  After getting back to Greenfield at about 3:30 pm and mowing the 18” tall grass in my back yard, there was no time to relax.  My boss sent me an email saying that he’d be at my doorstep at 5:00 am on Thursday for a business trip to Minnesota.  I tried to assure him that my presence was not necessary, and he assured me that it was.

He won.  (He signs the checks!)

So, our quick seven-hour drive Northward,  three hour meeting, and seven hour drive back yielded some very encouraging results, which I’ll write about at some future time.  Among the positives was the opportunity to chat with my boss on less of a business level and more as peers.  I am lucky in that we’re all striving for the same goals.  Too many people tolerate an adversarial relationship with their employers, and that’s unfortunate.  We’ve found a nice balance of mutual respect and everything seems to move smoothly as a result.

Finally, it was time to get back into the brewhouse and start brewing up some ales.  Not only did I get the fermenters all full, but we also pulled off a very successful Brewmaster’s Reserve “Tour of Europe” Dinner.  Chef Ron never fails to amaze me when he’s allowed to play fast and loose with a menu.  When I’m at a point where I can connect to the Internet for a good length of time, I’ll post some photos and descriptions of the event.

I flew back to Frankfurt last Friday, arrived at 8:30 Saturday morning and stayed at the airport.  I then flew back out at about 2:30 pm to Rome with a layover in Amsterdam.  My wife and son took a different flight to Rome and our flights landed within 30 minutes of each other.  We took a shuttle to a bed and breakfast and spent an “interesting” evening on the Italian hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  An early morning taxi ride took us to the Port of Civitivecchia, just outside of Rome.  From there we boarded the RCL ship, “Navigator of the Seas” for a seven-day Mediterranean cruise.

Our first port of call on Monday was Messina, Sicily, where we booked a shore excursion to the active volcano, Mt. Etna and the ancient city of Taormina.  Sicily has an interesting history which dates back to the pre-Roman times.  Throughout its history, the island has been occupied by the Romans, Byzantines, African Muslims, Normans, and Germans until its final liberation by the Americans.  You can see many influences of these occupations in the architecture.
As I write this on Tuesday, we are spending a day at sea before reaching Athens, Greece.   While I strive to make this a beer-centric blog, it would seem that more than half of my time in Europe is spent in wine country.  I will report, however, that there is Stella Artois on draft on the ship which is tasty.  I will also sheepishly note that I’ve had a couple of “oilcans” of Foster’s Lager from Australia.  An Aussie once said to me, “You know that Foster’s is Australia’s biggest export beer. 

There’s a reason for that…”

More to come.