Traveling

(I'm in Brussels. Tired but not exhausted, thank goodness. Had a nice walk around town today, tried to spit out a little French, did some work in the afternoon before meeting work pals for a nice dinner--we eschewed the touristy place for lack of vegetarian options for me and ended up in a much better place. It's almost midnight, time for another go with Mr. Sandman. For those of you worried/wondering, Rex is apparently doing well and only a little lonely. I wrote this post yesterday. I'll try to post pix as soon as I get my camera battery situation figured out!)

I'm writing this in the Heathrow gate area. My first leg was uneventful. I didn't sleep as much as I wanted to on the plane, and not nearly as much as my neighbor, who seemed to snooze from take-off til just before landing. I was so jealous. No problems--or lines--at check-in or security in SF, except for the new security check right before boarding. But that actually made getting settled on the plane much easier, since people were getting onto the plane much more slowly. A much longer security line in Heathrow, and I got frisked. I wonder how she makes the decision whom to search? A British version of a burrito for lunch (folded into a square rather than a log, very attractive), window shopping at the duty-free stores, trying to stay awake and alert for my gate connection announcement…Anyway--I'm definitely fatigued, but better off than last year's trip to Amsterdam. And I'm rendezvousing with some coworkers in the Brussels airport and we'll all take a cab into town to our hotel together. That will be nice not to have to schlep alone.

Prepping for the trip went well. Mom came down Tuesday night, bringing veggies from her garden for dinner. We watched "Bread & Tulips," very enjoyable. One disturbing thing--when Mom and I took Rex for a walk Tuesday evening, as we were entering the field, we watched as a young man on a motorcycle missed the turn, slamming into the curb. His bike tumbled onto the lawn while he did a high, complete somersault, traveling about 15 feet and landing flat on his back. He rolled over, moaning. I was screaming at passing cars to call 911 while trying to keep Rex out of the street--Mom went over to see how he was doing. He eventually got up, other young men had stopped to see if they could help, and he waved us off. When we were finished walking Rex, he was still there, but up and seemingly unhurt. His bike was up on its kickstand, and other people were with him. I can't believe he came out of that unscathed, but I'm so glad. It was pretty scary to watch.