In the morning I pack my stuff in the hotel, check out, and reserve a taxi through the hotel. I should have enough time to arrive at the review location for the half hour pre-meeting. But the taxi does not come. I wait, ask again at the desk; they assure me that they have reserved it, and I just should wait. But it seems as if someone else has taken my taxi ... and ordering another one would take 1/2 till one hour, so I have to walk and take the Metro. Time is tight, I will be late for the appointment. Since I also have to take my full luggage with me, I would have preferred the taxi. Now I have to run to the metro station, squeeze myself and my suitcase into the morning rush hour Metro, and run further down the street to the meeting building. Exhausted I arrive 15 minutes late. But I am ok for the meeting itself which begins at 9 am. Turns out that the people from the project whom I am going to review, have stayed in the same hotel and have seen my struggle with the taxi reservation - they had the same problem.
Reviewing ongoing projects for the EU is quite a tedious task. I have been sent project reports, deliverables, many 100 pages which I had to read before coming to this meeting, and prepare a preliminary assessment, sent per email to the project officer. Now I have to judge the progress, together with a 2nd reviewer. 2 hours takes the meeting, where we ask the project participants in order to form an opinion on the project progress. Many of these reviews are going on at the same time - it has been quite difficult to get a hotel in Brussels! In the afternoon, a workshop is organsied where everbody - project managers and reviewers - is supposed to make a brief statement about the procedures of the projects, with a light of the upcoming Framework Programe FP-7. I ask to be placed in an early spot, because I have to leave this meeting a bit earlier - to catch my train.
This time the taxi reservation works out fine. I arrive well in time at Brussels Central Station. Crowded platform in the dark underground dungeon of Brussels Central, every few minutes a train arrives and leaves at each platform. When my train arrives, it is almost empty. I find a nice place and doze a little - am now quite tired. Then I complete some of the review formalities - both reviewers need to file one common joint review form, and we have to merge our reviews into one document. Over lunch (nice steak with pepper sauce!) we had already begun this, but I complete it now and will send the document later for final approval.
The weather during the day had been cloudy. As the train runs north towards Amsterdam, the sun comes out, and a nice blue evening sky accompanies me during the rest of the 2 1/2 hour train ride.
The train arrives exactly on time in the terminal under Schipol airport. Still, there is just one hour left before my flight departs. Here my Platinum card from Northwest Airlines helps - no line to wait at the check-in. Everything works just fine - I watch how they change a tire on the plane that I am supposed to fly.
And now the real adventure begins - travelling to Bucharest, Romania.
