I arrived in Edinburgh yesterday, Wednesday, March 2 after 20 hours of traveling with little sleep. I love it! The people are so friendly and helpful and the city is beautiful and quaint. My cab driver into the city was great....telling me tidbits here and there.
We are visiting the UK for a Health Care Study mission....so I'm here for work. We have 18 delegates for this trip - health care executives interested in the UK. This is very similar to our other Health Care Trade Missions, just a little smaller. Below is our marketing for the trip, so that should help with why I'm here. We will be in London then Edinburgh next week - I can to Edinburgh early to meet with folks and make sure everything is set for next week.
The Nashville Health Care Council and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce are organizing a Health Care Study Mission to the United Kingdom from March 7 - 12 in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, the British governments economic development agency. HCA Chairman Emeritus Jack O. Bovender, Jr., who has led numerous Council-Chamber trade missions, will serve as mission leader and bring his deep health care and international experience to the trip. Mission stops include London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. This executive-level mission is an intensive study trip for a limited number of delegates to learn about the British health care system and develop partnerships with high-level business and government contacts in the UK and the U.S. for future business collaborations. This trip follows seven high-successful Council-Chamber trade missions which have generated two-way business opportunities and valuable contacts for the participants on both sides of the Atlantic.
I arrived with little time to spare. I had several meetings Wednesday afternoon - One with the Prestonfield House where our final dinner next Friday will be held and the other with the US Consul General Dana linnet who has been wonderful and so very helpful! They will be hosting a reception for our delegation and Edinburgh guests at the Consulate next Thursday night.
Prestonfield House was built in the late 1600's and still has a lot of the original furnishings and tapestries. It was a residence for years, but now is used as a hotel. Apparently there are a lot of receptions there when the weather is nice.
Speaking of weather - I can't complain. I have had 2 beautiful sunny days here. It is a bit cold, but not too bad with coat and scarf. Tomorrow they say it will likely snow - glad I'll be heading to London!
Last night I just had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and crashed. Today started with a meeting with my Balmoral Hotel contact - that is the hotel we are staying in and the hotel I'm in now. It is a beautiful old hotel and again, everyone has been so great to work with! They had bagpipes playing greeting people outside last night - Love it! Today I could hear bagpipes again from my room. Apparently people here play bagpipes for tips on the streets...like people in Nashville play guitars.
I took the recommended bus tour this afternoon to learn more about the city. There really is a lot to see and do here. I ended up being the only person on the bus at one point so the guide was filling me in on whatever I asked and recommending places, etc. It was great! I walked around the Castle as well - it was too late at that point to do a tour, but maybe next week I'll have time. The city is very pedestrian friendly and seems safe...at least in the day. It was so pretty out that I just walked around for a while. BTW - for you Harry Potter fans (I'm not, but I know some of you are) - Harry Potter was written in the Coffee Shop Nicholson's here in Edinburgh. Apparently her brother-in-law worked there and gave her all of the free coffee she wanted while she wrote. It is across from the college she was attending...The guide told me all about it!
Tonight I had dinner at Dome. Really good and beautiful bar/restaurant in the center of the dome of this old building.
I've posted some pictures as well that I took today. Hopefully more to come this week.
Tomorrow I leave by train for London. Our delegates begin arriving tomorrow as well and the official kick off is Sunday.
One more thing I have to mention - As I was flying over the Atlantic on Tuesday, my dear friend Halina had her sweet baby girl - Henley Kate. I was so dissappointed that I couldn't be there...but I am definitely looking forward to meeting her when I get back to Nashville! If she had only arrived 7 hours sooner! She is beautiful in the pictures they sent and Halina sounded fabulous when I spoke with her Wednesday.
Cheers!
We are visiting the UK for a Health Care Study mission....so I'm here for work. We have 18 delegates for this trip - health care executives interested in the UK. This is very similar to our other Health Care Trade Missions, just a little smaller. Below is our marketing for the trip, so that should help with why I'm here. We will be in London then Edinburgh next week - I can to Edinburgh early to meet with folks and make sure everything is set for next week.
The Nashville Health Care Council and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce are organizing a Health Care Study Mission to the United Kingdom from March 7 - 12 in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, the British governments economic development agency. HCA Chairman Emeritus Jack O. Bovender, Jr., who has led numerous Council-Chamber trade missions, will serve as mission leader and bring his deep health care and international experience to the trip. Mission stops include London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. This executive-level mission is an intensive study trip for a limited number of delegates to learn about the British health care system and develop partnerships with high-level business and government contacts in the UK and the U.S. for future business collaborations. This trip follows seven high-successful Council-Chamber trade missions which have generated two-way business opportunities and valuable contacts for the participants on both sides of the Atlantic.
I arrived with little time to spare. I had several meetings Wednesday afternoon - One with the Prestonfield House where our final dinner next Friday will be held and the other with the US Consul General Dana linnet who has been wonderful and so very helpful! They will be hosting a reception for our delegation and Edinburgh guests at the Consulate next Thursday night.
Prestonfield House was built in the late 1600's and still has a lot of the original furnishings and tapestries. It was a residence for years, but now is used as a hotel. Apparently there are a lot of receptions there when the weather is nice.
Speaking of weather - I can't complain. I have had 2 beautiful sunny days here. It is a bit cold, but not too bad with coat and scarf. Tomorrow they say it will likely snow - glad I'll be heading to London!
Last night I just had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and crashed. Today started with a meeting with my Balmoral Hotel contact - that is the hotel we are staying in and the hotel I'm in now. It is a beautiful old hotel and again, everyone has been so great to work with! They had bagpipes playing greeting people outside last night - Love it! Today I could hear bagpipes again from my room. Apparently people here play bagpipes for tips on the streets...like people in Nashville play guitars.
I took the recommended bus tour this afternoon to learn more about the city. There really is a lot to see and do here. I ended up being the only person on the bus at one point so the guide was filling me in on whatever I asked and recommending places, etc. It was great! I walked around the Castle as well - it was too late at that point to do a tour, but maybe next week I'll have time. The city is very pedestrian friendly and seems safe...at least in the day. It was so pretty out that I just walked around for a while. BTW - for you Harry Potter fans (I'm not, but I know some of you are) - Harry Potter was written in the Coffee Shop Nicholson's here in Edinburgh. Apparently her brother-in-law worked there and gave her all of the free coffee she wanted while she wrote. It is across from the college she was attending...The guide told me all about it!
Tonight I had dinner at Dome. Really good and beautiful bar/restaurant in the center of the dome of this old building.
I've posted some pictures as well that I took today. Hopefully more to come this week.
Tomorrow I leave by train for London. Our delegates begin arriving tomorrow as well and the official kick off is Sunday.
One more thing I have to mention - As I was flying over the Atlantic on Tuesday, my dear friend Halina had her sweet baby girl - Henley Kate. I was so dissappointed that I couldn't be there...but I am definitely looking forward to meeting her when I get back to Nashville! If she had only arrived 7 hours sooner! She is beautiful in the pictures they sent and Halina sounded fabulous when I spoke with her Wednesday.
Cheers!
1 comment:
Looks very nice there. Good Luck with the trade mission. Be safe.
Floyd
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