Roland: My first international business trip had originally been scheduled to be held a few weeks ago, but due to the host having fallen sick the meeting in Sweden had to be postponed. This week a few colleagues and myself met at Frankfurt International Airport for a two hours flight to Stockholm, and another 80 minutes limo(!) drive to our destination in the Gävleborg area close to the Baltic Sea. The car turned out to be a two years old Audi A4 with 304,000 km down! According to the driver who drives an estimated daily distance of 700 to 1,000 km the car still feels like new, and it definitely looked new!
The scenery was typically Swedish, and the city looked like a typical Swedish town. After eight years in North America, where somehow one city looks like the other, it is still surprising how different landscapes and cities look in Europe within a flying distance of one or two hours...
The hotel (see above) was just fantastic, without a doubt the best I ever had in Scandinavia! Great rooms (albeit small), fantastic bathrooms, great dinner buffet and even better breakfast buffet. They even put my name at the door of my hotel room! Obviously the quality of the hotel is linked to the fact that the whole city has evolved within the last century around the plant that has been founded here some hundred odd years ago. There is more or less only one employer here, so you better make sure that you provide a great service!
The meeting was held in one of the classic Swedish buildings, and lunch was served in another one. We almost felt like in an Astrid Lindgren novel! The highlight was the tea room we visited after lunch: It catapulted us straight back into a time where the company's founders would settle with a cognac and a cigar to discuss business.
Unfortunately there was no opportunity to further explore the area, but next time I will make sure to get a closer look at the surrounding lakes and, of course, the ocean.
Hopefully, next time you'll get at least a little time to look around. Sometimes it doesn't seem worth the trouble to travel for business if you don't get some free time. But then maybe I've spent too much time in the public sector…
ReplyDeleteI always feel that I am not a big fan of business trips exactly for that reason. You go somewhere, get a little taste of the area, and then is is all over already and you have to leave again. Kind of licking an ice cream once and then having someone else eat it...
DeletePlus: traveling without Sonja is not the same!
Yes, I would have loved having the opportunity to look around. this is why I usually like having a rental car and making some detours on my way from or to the airport. But as we were actually visiting our parent company I have some hopes that I might be back there! And maybe then I can arrange for a long weekend with Sonja.
ReplyDeleteBetter Astrid Lindgren than Henning Mankell!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! But I have the feeling that the line between Lindgren and Mankell is a very thin one in Sweden! Maybe it's the first during summer and the latter in the rest of the year?!
DeleteGotta love it when you are paid to travel Roland.
ReplyDeleteReally like the colors in that first shot.