Oh, let the courting never end!

I'm in London for some dealings for work. It's been a great few days but now it's time to pack up and return to Prague. I love London, and while I haven't had time to do any sightseeing I have had a lovely time here... my days have been full of work and wooing.

The meetings were scheduled for 30 minutes each - they last all day but never last too long. Each meeting is a different speaker. We're given ample time to ask questions, to return to previous speakers and to eat. Oh the eating. The food has been glorious. Yesterday's lunch was at a very popular Italian restaurant - wild boar wrapped in fresh handmade pasta - followed by a truly extravagant meal at the Montague - I've got the menu somewhere and will fill in my meal later. It started with goat cheese wrapped in a delicate pastry and ended with creme brule - my absolute favorite dessert. Yesterday's lunch included all of the delegates and a number of the speakers plus a few others, my dinner was much more intimate with only three attendees, myself included, but was also quite warm, very friendly, and had an overall lovely work-free feel. Today was a more focused business luncheon and I loved it - it was a one on one preparing me for a much larger and more important meeting later in the day. My companion was Chinese and she explained to me that she prefers to do business over a meal, to work out the details then and really go head-on in to potential issues and the like while eating, as people are more relaxed... that you can be effective and efficient in your job when you're not in a "work-mode" and also able to enjoy yourself. She was definitely right today.

I had an incredible meal at the British Museum. It was my third venture in to that building during this trip, and while I didn't see anything other than the stairwells I got a lot out of it.

The care and concern and the courting I've experienced while here are amazing - (outside of my family) I've never been treated so royally before and I have to admit, I love it! I've been in what can only be described as quite posh places and been treated to some elegant experiences and it's been lovely. It's also a once in a lifetime sort of thing as they're all beyond my means... and for that I'm grateful. I've been able to come over, be effective, be efficient and be courted all at the same time. I just wish it didn't have to end so soon. (Maybe, if this all translates in to numbers for us, I'll be able to come back fairly soon - I've already been invited to return in May for very practical purposes) :)