Aarhus... again

I'm in Aarhus, this time opting to fly in a day early so I wouldn't get off the plane and go into work as I have the last 7 or so trips - it's simply too exhausting. It was a good move, too, as I only got about 2 hours of sleep on the plane from ATL to Amsterdam.

I'm at the hotel, unpacked, waiting on an iron and board.

About to nap before heading out for dinner with the ladies - a true delight to have all my fave female colleagues in one place.

Land of the Gretzky

Toronto is aces. It just is. I think about half a dozen people have told me over the years that it's a great city - they were and are all correct.

First impression: Driving from the airport into downtown and nothing but hockey-related billboards as far as the eye can see. That is heaven. I'm so used to being a weird, red-headed step-child in the states. Hockey fans - particularly in the South - get no love. And we cling to each other. But here? Why there is no mention of football or basketball, golf or baseball. It's just hockey, hockey and more hockey, please.

In fact, my hotel is right around the corner from the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is aptly situated in what looks like a beautiful old church. In reality, it's a beautiful old bank. Go ahead and file that under whatever you like.

I flew up early yesterday so I would get some time to actually see Toronto. My business trips rarely allow me any time to look around and I was determined to get a taste of this non-Quebecois Canada. On the advice of our Toronto-based sales guy, I took advantage of the beautiful 70-degree, sunny weather and walked down to Queen Street West and Kensington Market. I also wound up in Chinatown and Little Vietnam. Delicious slices of city-city life, not that faux city existence in Atlanta. The smells, the signs, the people - wonderful and strange and pungent and a true reminder of Manhattan to me.

Today was a long day of work followed by a hockey dream: dinner at Wayne Gretzky's at 99 Bluejay Way. Sigh. The highlight: They pipe old recorded commentary from The Great One into the bathrooms... I tinkled while Wayne recalled his gold medal win for Canada. Surreal, ridiculous and fabulous. And I sampled the Famous Gretzky Meatloaf based on his mom's recipe - pretty good loaf, man, though the mashed potatoes were a bit dry.

Tomorrow will be another long day of work and then the flight home, which gets me in around 10:30 p.m. Friday at home and Saturday I'm off to Denmark again.

I haven't been posting much - partly because I'm tired, partly because my digital camera is busted. That takes all the fun out of it.