Rainy bike ride

Saturday morning we had a proper downpour here in Stockholm. Heavy rain, thunder, lightning — you name it. It reminded me of the storms we have in Texas. We needed this rain; it has been a dry summer here.

In the afternoon though, the rain cleared off and I went for a long bike ride with Lotta & Elina. About two-thirds of the way through our ride, we stopped at a cafe for coffee and sandwiches.

Lotta was explaning to Elina what it's like for a Swede to be a part of one of my family's large gatherings in the U.S. — a bit of culture shock, but fun too.

I sprinted ahead at one point so that I could snap this photo of the girls.

They also posed in front of an old runestone we passed along the way.

I took this photo while biking. It was one of many that I took, and the only one that looks good. :)

After our ride, Lotta and I said goodbye to Elina and we went over to Rudan, where the 24-hour bike race Sömnlös i Rudan had just gotten under way. Most of the competitors worked as teams, taking shifts in the day-long race. But some were actually doing the whole twenty-four hours individually. Crazy!

Anne and Lotta standing by the race track.

Mattias, who helped me with my bike last summer. :)

Anne's husband, “Robban”.

Someone I don't know who has a bike very similar to mine — a Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo.

“Skogstokig”

There is a big uphill stretch just near the lap start line, so Lotta and I walked up the hill and cheered on the bikers making the tough ascent.

It is harder than it looks!

Even so, this chap was making conversation with us the whole way up the hill! Way to go, dude!

Here's the guy on the Gary Fisher bike again.

If you don't bike all the way, at least run uphill. That's the spirit!

Lotta has now biked a couple of MTB races, so she was cheering the bikers on enthusiastically.

Some folks just seemed to have energy to spare, and stormed up the hillside like it was nothing.

Maybe I should seel these photos to the manufacturers of the bicycles! Not bad, eh?

Back at base camp, Lotta made a new friend.

Two friends, in fact. One of the folks there had two adorable and affectionate border collies.


That's all, folks!

Recent updates from Stockholm

A new friend named Spencer stayed with me for a few days last week while he did some sightseeing in Stockholm. He is the son of some of my parents friends, and he's a physics grad student in Boston. Spencer is on a tour of Skandinavia. The week before last, he backpacked over a mountain pass in Iceland; and this week he's seeing Finland and the three new EU Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Friday evening I went for a little swim in Brunnsviken with my friend Eva. She shot this photo of me. The water was quite warm but there was a cool breeze blowing, so it wasn't really the best weather for sunbathing.

Last weekend I went on a date downtown. We had coffees and ice creams at a cafe on the water and then walked along the shore toward the city hall.

Here is Stockholm's most famous landmark, the city hall or Stadshuset.

We went in the tower; this was my first time to walk up to the top. Inside near the top of the tower is a miniature museum that includes this plaster statue of Saint Erik.

Lovely Kungsholmen. Unfortunately, the clouds moved in just as we reached the top of the tower, so the light was not ideal.

Here I am at the top of the tower, with Lake Mälaren and Västerbron in the background.



And here's Gamla Stan, with the towers of Storkyrkan and Tyska Kyrkan sticking up above the rest of the buildings.

Rådhuset.

A few days ago I saw a woman surfing behind a boat on Brunnsviken. Yes, that's right... she was riding a surfboard towed behind the boat. I had never seen someone try this before, but it looked like fun!

The folks on the motorboad also had a normal wakeboard and one of them was pretty good at jumping the wake. If only they knew I had these photos; I bet they'd like them!

Last night I went climbing at Klättercenter in Solna. I biked there just as a storm was moving in. When I got safely inside, the rain really began to pour, so it was fortunate timing.

On the upstairs bouldering wall, I did this tricky route involving just four grips. It's necessary to put one's right foot on the same grip as the right hand, and then slowly move up with the right hand. I did it once a few weeks ago when a couple of cute girls were looking on. Last night I wanted to see if that had been merely a fluke caused by the presence of an audience, or if I could actually do it again

I was pleased to find that I could actually do it again. In fact, I did it twice. Yay!

This route is not as technically challening, but it does involve a nice overhang.

It was a fun an exhausting evening, and I got some experience using the interval shooting function on my camera too! :)

Today I'll go biking with Lotta & Elina. It has been raining all morning, but now it looks like the sky might clear off a bit. We'll probably stick to roads because the trails will be so muddy after all the rain.

Hello from the IBM IT Delivery Center. It's a sunny day and the temperature is expected to reach nearly forty degrees today. When today's classes are done I'll drive back to Budapest and catch the flight home. I might have a few minutes to stop and take some photos in the capital but it all depends on how long things take here. The past two nights, I have eaten dinner with colleagues from Germany. Last night we ate at a place called The Flying Cat. The food was good and filling. That seems to describe most of the food here. This week has been fun and challenging and I think I'd like to return here some day. Next time, it would be nice to stay through the weekend so that I can have time to visit some of the surrounding countryside. There's a thermal batch a few kilometers to the East that I would like to visit, and some Roman ruins too.

Lunch today

Today I had lunch with some of my IBM colleagues who are students in the class I'm teaching. We ate at a big cafeteria five minutes' walk from the office. It had the feeling of a canteen for factory workers, from some bygone era of one-size-fits-all socialism. The food was simple, but tasty and filling. I had the set menu of musroom soup and pasta with turkey & vegetable stew. The place reminded me of a similar canteen that I visited in Budapest fourteen years ago. At the time, I ordered something at random from the menu, and ended up with something unidentifiable on my plate. At least this time I had help from colleagues to tell me what I was ordering! Another plus is that lunch today cost less than 2 €.

After lunch we walked back to the IBM office. Here's the main entrance to the Videoton area in the Northwest part of the city. If you lived in Hungary more than 20 years ago, your radio and television were manufacturered here. One size fits all.
Speaking of that, I've seen lots of Trabants on the street, and mostly, parked — perhaps because they're no longer running. The Trabant was a car of East-German manufacture; it was small and underpowered, but it can still be seen in many of the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe.

Inside the Videoton area ther are some nice tree-lined streets. I'll probably appreciate the shade tomorrow and especially on Thursday, when the temperature is expected to climb to 38 °C.

Dinner last night in Székesfehérvár

Last night I took a walk around the city center here, and had a delightful meal at a restaurant near some of the most famous sights. I won't try getting the name of the restuarant correct; it includes several accented characters I don't know how to type. For less than 20 €, I had a beer, beef tenderloin in green pepper sauce, and a delicious desert of rum-drenched cake in chocolate sauce and whipped cream. I read a bit of this city's history on Wikipedia. Among the tidbits of information there was the fact that a well-know Texan settler was born here. It's a small world indeed.

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.