The last two days were incredibly hectic. I'll try and summarize them quickly.
Day 5 - Amsterdam
A full day of meetings in Amsterdam. Luckily, the city is pretty easy to get around.
I started out the day by going down to the breakfast buffet. In my mind, it was overpriced at 20 Euros for a basic buffet of cold cuts and croissants. I learned my lesson it wasn't worth it. Usually I try to only do the breakfast buffet if it's included in the price of the hotel room, like in Iceland.
I took the tram up to meet with SBS. It was a very nice meeting then I took a taxi over to the train station in preparation for my trip out to Hilversum. The irony is that the taxi to the train station cost more than the round trip ticket to Hilversum.
I was originally going to meet with the buyer from RTL at a restaurant for lunch. But as I was walking, I passed their offices and it was starting to rain. So I figured I would stop in at their offices and see if he wanted to walk over to the restaurant together. I was a little early, but it was fine. I got to sit in the lobby with a cup of coffee and watch RTL while I waited for him.
We borrowed a couple of umbrellas from reception and left to walk to the restaurant. The walk to the restaurant was a lot longer than I expected. But it was nice because the path went through the woods behind their office. It reminded me of growing up in the Santa Cruz mountains.
We got to the restaurant, which was a lovely Indonesian place. I'd never had Indonesian food so I had no idea what to expect. It was verry good and had elements of Thai and Chinese cuisine, but was it's own unique cuisine. They had a set menu for lunch, which involved several smaller dishes that we could share. The name of the restaurant is Spandershoeve.
After that, I took a taxi on to meet with Disney Channel. They are in a small media complex there along with companies like EOne and Endemol. I would have met with EOne while I was there, but the buyers were both in London this week. They have a lot of big movies such as Red, Machete, and Fair Game, and they have bought a couple of ours. There were standess from some of their movies in the lobby.
Coming into the lobby, the stairs leading up to Disney channel, had a huge standee for Toy Story 3 that arched over the stairway. Upstairs, there were a ton of toys and the place had an open layout, similar to the MTV building in North Amsterdam. Had a nice meeting with the buyer, then took a taxi back to the train station.
Unfortunately, the driver took me to the Hilversum train station instead of the Hilversum North train station, which my ticket was for. I got on the train and hoped that I didn't get caught or kicked off the train. Luckily, I made it back to Amsterdam in one piece. However, by the time I got there it was pouring rain. I tried to buy an umbrella from one of the shops there, but they wouldn't take credit cards, only cash. And I was out of cash. Instead I figured I would just take a taxi instead. This was a big mistake. I got in the taxi line and waited for a taxi. I was wary of the taxi from the beginning. It was a plain white van with only a small taxi sign atop.
So we get back to the hotel, and instead of the usual 10 Euro fare, he charges me 20 Euro. And on top of that he wouldn't take a credit card. So we had to drive to a nearby ATM, which wasn't working. We went back to the hotel to see if I could get cash from them. But of course they couldn't help me. But they pointed me to a different ATM. I ran over to that ATM and got cash and paid the guy. I've learned to always ask before stepping into a cab. I don't like carrying a ton of cash around on me and prefer to charge things when I can. It helps me to track my expenses easier.
So I got back to the hotel, showered and changed. I called a friend of mine who lives in Amsterdam to come over and meet me. We'd arranged to meet for beers that evening. I met him through the UCLA screenwriting program, it's just by coincidence that he happens to be Dutch. So we had 3 or 4 beers each and chatted about screenwriting and his post UCLA life. He's living here with his fiance, looking for a job. It was nice to catch up with him. Then I headed back to the room and fell asleep.
Day 6 - Amsterdam to Brussels
I woke up early as always, packed up my things and got ready to head out. I headed out in search of breakfast, since I didn't want to pay 20 Euros for the breakfast buffet. I walked around the city at 7 AM in search of anything that was open. But all of the shops were closed. But it was an interesting experience to see the empty streets of Amsterdam. The streets were littered with garbage bags, waiting to be picked up. It was like seeing the aftermath of a party before it was cleaned up. Finally, I found a Starbucks and grabbed a muffin and coffee.
I checked out and grabbed a taxi to the train station. I got there 45 minutes early because I didn't want to miss my train. I grabbed a sandwich and soda for the trip because they don't feed you in coach class and I would need something for the 2 hour train ride. The only issue is that they don't announce which platform ahead of time so you have to wait until 15 minutes beforehand and rush over to the platform. So I stood in front of the monitors with all the other tourists, waiting for the platform to be announced. Finally, we got our announcement and headed over.
Got settled into the train and enjoyed the Dutch countryside. It was still a bit cold and drizzly so the sky was a muted gray color. It was not exactly postcard picture weather. About an hour into the trip, the train stops for no reason. An announcement came on telling us that there was a problem with the signal and they would be about 20 minutes late.
Eventually, they got the train started again and we made our way into Brussels. Got out of the train station and hopped into a cab. Luckily, I had cash just in case. The traffic in Brussels is crazy! At one point we were going down a one way street and several cars were coming at us from the wrong direction. The driver had to swerve to avoid getting hit and scraped the front of the car against the curb. He had to stop and check the damage to make sure it wasn't too bad. But eventually I made it to my hotel.
Got to the hotel and of course, they have the wrong dates for me. They had me arriving on Saturday instead of Thursday. The woman at the reception sorted it all out, but she didn't have a room that was ready for check in. So she said to come back in a couple of hours. I checked my bags at reception and rushed off to my next meeting.
Hopped the tram off to my meeting with VRT. For some reason Google maps had me getting off at the next stop over and then walking all the way back. So I was about 10 minutes late. I walked all the way back to their address. VRT has a huge, industrial campus. The building is secure so I had to check in with a receptionist that didn't speak English. Finally, I got my little sticker pass and headed into the campus.
Walked over to the main building and headed up to the seventh floor. Luckily, I had his office number so I walked over to him. He was surprised to see me because the receptionist never called him to let him know I was there.
We went to one of the conference rooms and started talking. About halfway through, another group came and had to use the conference room. So we had to move to a different one. We finished up my meeting and I headed off to Central Station for my meeting in Mechelen.
So I get my ticket and the man at the ticket counter tells me to take the train on platform 3. So I head down there and get on the train. It's a lovely train with old 50's style train compartments. I felt like I was in some sort of spy movie.
Now the train keeps going and there's no sign of Mechelen. So I start to get worried. So I ask the ticket taker and he says I am on the wrong train. So I get off at the next stop. By now, I am 20 minutes outside of Brussels in the middle of nowhere. It's cold and rainy and I have no idea where I am.
One of the station attendents tells me which train to take back to Brussels. I barely miss the train and have to wait for the next one. Then the sign changes to indicate that it is running 15 minutes late. I emailed my meeting to tell him I was going to be late. Unfortunately, he is only going to be there for another hour. If the return train had been on time, I could have made it. But it was not to be. So I had to reschedule for tomorrow.
So I had to email another of my meetings to reschedule to a breakfast meeting. I took the train back to Brussels Central station, bought an umbrella and walked back to my hotel. Got into my room, took a shower and headed off in search of a bite for dinner. While I was coming back, I stopped at a corner store and got some water and some chocolate for the room. While I was waiting to check out, I spied their beers. They were selling Belgian beer for about a Euro per beer. And we're talking quality stuff like Chimay which is ridiculously expensive in the US. So I grabbed a beer as well. I went back to the room, enjoyed my beer and my chocolates and tried to forget the troubles of the day.
My last day is Friday and it's a full day of meetings. Let's see if I can pull off 5 meetings in one day in a city like Brussels with the horrible traffic.
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