Székesfehérvár

This morning I flew down to Budapest. I'll be in Hungary for a week of consulting work. The flight was smooth and quick. I had a nice chat with a girl on the plane named Annika. She was on her way to Split, where she'll begin a ten-day Croatian vacation with six of her girlfriends.

I picked up a rental car at the airport and headed straight for my destination. I won't have time to see the capital on this trip, aside from what I saw of it on my drive through to reach the M7 highway toward Lake Balaton.

I was last in Hungary almost exactly 14 years ago, when I backpacked around Eastern Europe with my good friend Agnes. I had forgotten how picturesque Budapest is. I'll definitely have to return when I have more time to do some sight-seeing. I snapped this shot out the car window while driving West over the Petröfi bridge.

Budapest seems more modern and clean than when I saw it last; one thing is for certain; there are many more new cars, shops, restaurants, and advertisements than there were 14 years ago.
On an unrelated note: Can anyone tell me what possessed me to shoot dozens of photos at ISO 1000 in the middle of the day?

IKEA is everywhere, including on the M7 just Southwest of Budapest.

Hitting the open road. Destination: Székesfehérvár.

It took me a while to find the place, but it's actually hard to miss. IBM's service delivery center in the city is located in the Videoton area, a decaying industrial park on the grounds of what was once a sprawling radio and television factory during the days of socialism. IBM must have chosen this place for the price. Pretty it ain't. IBM's building is quite new though and is very well furnished inside, with good network connections and the latest IP telephones. Neat!

This is my room in the newly renovated and well appointed Novotel Székesfehérvár.

The view outside my window isn't grand, but I've had worse. I spent the afternoon (on a Sunday!) setting up the computers in the classroom at the office, so with that and travelling I was a bit too tired to go out tonight. Tonight, I just sat in the sauna for a while to relax. I hope to see more of the city and sample some authentic Hungarian cuisine later in the week.

More from Sundsvall

This was the view out my hotel room window when I awoke at 7 o'clock this morning. You can see the church and the observation tower atop the “North Mountain,” Norra Berget.

Here is one of the main streets in Sundsvall, Esplanaden.

I took this photo of the church last night, using my big lens. Not bad for working without a tripod! I rested the camera on the windowsill and took the photo at f/2.8 and ISO 800, with a shutter speed of 1/40 s.

To capture the observation tower, I used similar settings. The tower is very simple: just two concrete walls with a stairway in between.

Biking in Hellas on Sunday

On Sunday I went for a nice ride with Lisa & Lotta, and new friends Rodrigo (pictured here) and Aki. We biked in Hellas, a big park South of Stockholm.

I took a few photos while riding, and amazingly one or two of them turned out ok. Here are Aki and Lisa.

We stopped at the spring there to fill up our water bottles. The water is clean and tastes great.

There was one stretch of trail that was just too steep and rocky, so we carried our bikes up.

After a few hours of biking, we went to Hellasgården for a couple of ice creams. Then we biked around the lake and found a nice spot to sit by the water. I swam out to the little rock island but was forced back into the water by an angry bird, presumably defending her nest.

We swam and sunbathed there on the granite shore. It was an idyllic day. We have been very lucky with the weather this summer here in Sweden. I hope the rest of the season is as beautiful as this past week has been!

Hi from Sundsvall

Greetings from Sundsvall!

I got a nice little Volvo V50 rental, and I'm staying in the Scandic hotel just a few hundred meters from the city center. Sundsvall is a small town.

Tonight I went to Bite Line for some “American deep dish pizza.” To be honest, it didn't taste like anything I've had in the U.S. The dough wasn't quite right, and the pepperoni was quite different. Even though it was different, it was quite tasty.

After dinner, I took a walk.

I walked up the hill North of the city and took some pictures looking back toward the city. The sun was just setting.



There's my hotel, a kilometer or so distant. My room is the fifth window from the left on the second-to-top floor. :)

And here's a view of the harbor. The dark gray building slightly to the bottom-left of center is the SCA/SDC building where I'll be working this week.

I took most of these photos from the the 22-m observation tower atop the hill to the North of the city. There, I met a couple of other folks, and one of them kindly took this photo of me. The wind was blowing strongly up there, so it's a good thing my hat has a strap!

We love bottoms, but not pretty ones.

So let's say you've got an ugly butt. What do you do about it? Go to the gym more often? Eat less? Concentrate on a part of your life not related to how you posterior looks? Of course not!

What you do is complain about all the pretty bottoms in underwear ads.

On Saturday I went biking with Lisa. I have been a bit under the weather for the past few days, and I wasn't sure I'd be up to the ride. But once I got started, I began to feel much better. Sometimes just getting out and getting some exercise can make a big difference.

Lisa was in top form.

I wasn't firing on all cylinders, but I still managed a good ride. There are a few tough & long climbs on this trail, and I made it through them without stopping.

Lisa has been moutain biking for only a few months, and she's already braver than I am on some terrain — for example, steep downhill secections.

Wish you were here! :-)

The other day, I let the cats out and took a few photos of them. Sasha seems to be getting more at ease with being outside (initially, she was quite timid).

Alex has never been timid, and he is enjoying reclaiming his territory in Bergshamra after a few months with "mom" (Lotta) in Hammarby.

Alex on the prowl.

I left the cats alone and took a walk down to Brunnsviken. There I sat on the granite rocks by the shore and soaked up some of the sun's warmth. Here's a shot of the Natural History Museum on the East side of the lake.

I met some students down at the water's edge. They were sunbathing and swimming. One of them, Fanny, is studying photography. I lent her my camera and asked her to take a few photos. Here's a nice shot she took of me.

Fanny also captured this action shot of a waterskiier on the lake.

The past few days have been just idyllic here. The sun has been shining all day and the temperature has been warm, but not hot. I hope the good weather lasts a bit longer.

Lastly, here's a photo I took of a seagull that was flying back and forth along the shore.

I recently took a swim at Centralbadet in downtown Stockholm. I first visited Centralbadet in December of 1999, when I was in Sweden for job interviews.

This is the swimming pool. Behind the doors in the background are hot tubs, saunas, showers, and a steam bath.

The Southern wall has high windows to let in sunlight. It's a very relaxing environment.

Stockholm web album

I took many photos of the city during Sunday's walk. I have posted some of them to the new Stockholm web album.

Fika at Sundbergs with Zita

Today I met my friend Zita in Gamla Stan. We sat at a table outside Sundbergs Konditori on Järntornget. I had a cappuccino and a few bites of Zita's lemon pie.

Here's a nice photo Zita took of me.

Afterward we took a walk on the Northern cliffs of Södermalm.

Here is an excellent photo she took of me with Riddarholmskyrkan in the bakground.

Happy midsummer!

This evening I met a new friend and took a walk down to Ulriksdal's palace. It had been rainy and cloudy earlier in the day, but the sun came out in the early evening.

Here is the palace, called Ulriksdals slott in Swedish.

Two swans and four cygnets were in at the shore. The swan is the mascot of my weblog devoted to nature photography, Cygnus.

Edsviken was lovely in the evening light.

The sunset was positively glorious.

Sunset behind Kaninholmen (on Edsviken).

A motor boat passed. In its wake, gentle waves lapped at the shore. Waves on the water lend a different texture to the light of dusk.