A Mini-Trip to Sweden

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.

A Field Day in the Woods

Roland: Once a year my company organizes an outing where people from three plants in two countries (Germany & France) meet for a 15km hike close to one of the plants. This year the task of organizing the field day was given to the colleagues in the Frankfurt area. At 5:45 AM we boarded a bus to the German state of Hesse, to the Taunus area to be exact, where the Feldberg hills were waiting for us.

Unfortunately the closer we got to our meeting point with the other colleagues the worse the weather conditions became. Anyway after a hearty breakfast we were off to conquer the 300 m difference in altitude to the top of the Greater Feldberg.

A pitstop between Roman ruins.

On top of the Greater Feldberg

No view!

It rained continuously, but the group of 160 did not let that fact affect the mood. We walked through puddles of mud, conquered steep climbs, beared phases of heavy rain, but we never gave up! So after net four hours of walking time, a couple of breaks to water our insides as well - one of them, of course, at an old Roman garrison at the old Limes wall -, a lunch break on top of the Feldberg, and a few material failures (e.g. soles that came off their shoes) we arrived at a well-deserved Hessian buffet that even had various choices for Sonja and the other vegetarians in the group!

At some point things became very interesting when the French colleagues from the area of Alsace (close to the German border) started singing songs in the Alsatian dialect which in fact is much closer to German than it is to French. We have to admit that we understood only every second word, but we pretty much have the same problem with the "badisch" dialect that is spoken in the town where we live now.

After a long bus ride back south, we arrived home Sunday morning at 0:30 AM where we were greeted by a long hot shower before our bed was calling us! Today we suffer a mild muscle soreness, but we enjoyed the rainy day in the woods very much!

The Die has been cast!

Roland recently accepted a job offer in the Black Forest, hence Saturday we packed in our stuff, and moved once again; this time from the sister in law's attic into a furnished holiday apartment, a temporary set up generously provided by his new employer.

The flat will be at our disposal for the next couple of months or so, and paid for until we found our own living space, which might be a bit of a challenge as our demands are quite specific and (modern) housing is limited in the area.

The current flat is not really catering to our way of life (except for the view) but the interior is pretty much everything we don't want...

Max. headroom 1,80m. Roland is going to hit his head many times, we already started a count list.

 

If you have a small room, dark wood on the ceiling certainly won't make it look bigger.

These are likely the most hideous tiles we've ever seen, well at least the plumbing works.

We should not look the gift horse in its mouth. After all, it is tidy, clean, functional and paid for, and it has a decent view, so we decided to enjoy our first breakfast in our new 'home'.

 View from the balcony

While traveling south this year's summer was at its worse. Torrential rains prevented us from bringing along Alonzo this time, the orange Vespa. Sonja was not amused, and will have to wait for another 'milk run' to pick up the scooter.

When we arrived in the area even the local art / statues were sporting umbrellas.

 

But finally the clouds had drained themselves and we were awarded with a beautiful sunset.

Sunday offered brilliant blue skies, and after a good nights sleep we set up the apartment (unpacked that is) and went out for a walk.

 Under the apple tree...

 We can't get lost!

 Angus beef cattle in the Black Forest?

 A view on our new hometown.

Not too bad after all.

Another Day, Another Interview

Saarschleife

Roland: The next day the alarm clock rang at a more reasonable time, and at 8 AM I was on the highway to Saarland, a small Bundesland (= state in US; province in Canada) at the French border.

The job interview was in a small town right at river Saar. I felt very welcome, and it was a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere as I already knew some of the people at the company from a previous life. This job opportunity certainly made it on my short list!

Saarburg in Rhineland-Pfalz(Palatinate)

A Day in Bavaria

Roland: I had a job interview in Salzburg, Austria, right at the Bavarian border. This meant setting the alarm clock too early for my taste (4:30 AM) to catch the first flight out of Dusseldorf. With arrival at 8:30 AM, but the interview arranged for 4 PM, there was more than enough time left in the day to explore.

I rented a car to check out the cities on the German side of the border, just in case that the interview went well, and we would have to look for a place to live. Unfortunately it was a very cold day, and with the jet lag taking its toll, I did not have the energy to leave the warmth of the car for too long.

I had breakfast in Bad Reichenhall, an old German spa town with various salines, and had a look around. It is a very beautiful city in the German Alps, surrounded by snow covered mountains. Spring was still a couple of weeks away, though. This picturesque area could definitely be a good place for us to live, although we would likely help reducing the average age significantly...

The picture above is showing Café Reber where the famous original Mozartkugeln are made. I resisted the temptation to buy some and had to take a beating later from the wife for not bringing any home....

Afterwards I drove up to Berchtesgaden and to Lake Königssee, but again it was too cold to spend more time outside than necessary. By that time I got really tired from the combination of jet lag, getting up early and fresh mountain air, so I went for the next picnic area to take a nap. Zzzzzz...

The interview went ok, but it will take a few weeks before I can expect any feedback. I flew back at night arriving home shortly before midnight and slept like a log after...

A Day Full of Goodbyes

Roland: Today was a tough day... Not only did I have my last day at Westech after seven and a half wonderful years, but I also had to say my Goodbyes to many colleagues and friends, and to my 'Landlord of two years' Bruce and his family.

More than once I had very unmanly tears in my eyes, and more than once I questioned myself if leaving is really the right thing to do. But life is full of changes, Goodbyes and Hellos, and I am sure that I will meet many of my friends at Westech again!

Last Dinner!

One last dinner with friends and (ex-)colleagues at Pulcinella in Kensington. This is a fantastic example why Canada is such a great country: Diversity! Each of us was born somewhere else, (from left to right) in Cambodia, Germany, Bangladesh, Belarus, Canada and the Philippines, and yet we are a group with much more commonalities than differences.

This was a great evening, and I am surely going to miss our regular get-togethers! Guys, please let me know whenever you are in Europe, and we will meet again!