Losing it[1]

While you’re waiting for me to get round to the full trip report, here’s a panorama of the view from my hotel room in Amsterdam. Le Meridien Apollo is in a lovely, quiet residential area, twenty minutes or so from the heart of Amsterdam by tram, and just a short walk from the RAI centre where TechEd Europe 2005 took place. It’s a very comfortable hotel, and I was lucky enough to get one of the relatively small number of rooms facing on to the canals.

If you’d like a larger version of the image, you can find it here. But if you’re on a slow connection, you might not want to click on that - it’s about 3MB.

And if you’d like a fancy Flash movie thingy version, you can find that here. But again, it’s another big file, so avoid it if you’re on a slow connection.

The hotel bar was just below my room, with tables out on the terrace. On my last morning, I sat out there in the sun, enjoying an espresso and watching the boats on the canals. It seems lots of people go rowing on Saturdays. Well, I think there was a rowing club just to the left…

Well, well, well. It seems I’m going to TechEd Europe in July. This is a pretty intense week of technical seminars, briefings, discussion sessions[1] run by Microsoft every year. I know people who’ve been to the US version in the past, and I’m assured it’s all very good stuff indeed. It’s a great opportunity to learn from experts, and meet lots of other odd techie people[2]. And with various social gatherings thrown in.

It’s a big event, and a whole new experience for me

Oh, and did I mention it’s in, err, Amsterdam?

Yes, I am going to Amsterdam.

You’ll be looking for the flying pigs now, won’t you?

[1] Etc, etc
[2] Hmmmm

Started Saturday with a slightly improved weight - 203.8 pounds (14 stone 7.8 pounds, 92.4kg).

Most of the day was spent on a rare work social outing. A five mile walk around the Corbridge area followed by a wee drinkie and a meal at the Valley restaurant.

It was a, err, lovely day for it. Well, the bits of the day when we[1] weren’t being battered by huge hailstones, anyway.

[1] There were about eighteen people on the walk

Yes, no change on the weight this morning - 206.0 pounds (14 stone 10 pounds, 93.4kg).

After a relaxed morning, I went out for the afternoon. A nice walk into Newcastle - sun shining, quite warm. As it was that rare occurrence, a Bank Holiday without rain, the shops were not all that busy, so I was able to get a couple of essential DVDs[1] without having to queue for ages. All very nice.

Wandered around town, strolled around some quiet areas I rarely visit including Blackfriars, which dates back to the 13th century. I decided to take a different route home, so I went down to the Quayside, crossed over the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, had a quick look in BALTIC, where once again the most interesting sight was the view from the observation gallery.

From there, I walked up the steps[4] to The Sage Gateshead. What with one thing and another[5], I hadn’t actually got round to going there before, so I took the opportunity to have a look inside. Ooooooh. It’s nice. It has to be said that the inside of that lovely roof[6] doesn’t look as nice as the outside, but it is still impressive. And the view is impressive too. Now all I’ve got to do is get round to seeing a performance there…

After that, I made my way home. I’m not sure how far I walked overall, but it felt like a long way!

[1] Reviews soon![2]
[2] Well, fairly soon![3]
[3] And I’m not telling you what they are yet!
[4] My left knee started to complain about this
[5] Inertia, mostly
[6] You can see some pictures in my Gateshead Quays Gallery

Two busy days in London, including a visit to the remote outpost known as Wembley[1]. Stayed in a different (but quite nice) hotel - I might try that one again. It was a longer walk from the office, but I like the exercise, so that’s not a bad thing.

Went to my usual branch of Pizza Express[2] and had an early night on Wednesday[3], then a good breakfast and a day of setting things up, moving things around and generally making things work. Not bad. Then headed off to Kings Cross in plenty of time to catch the 18:00 train home.

I think a lot of the usual business travellers must have been on holiday this week, as the restaurant car was only about half full. Quite different from a lot of journeys where it gets full and people are actually turned away. Had a typically good dinner and a wee drop of wine, and a comfortable journey home.

No weight report, cos I didn’t bother weighing myself while still full of dinner and wine

[1] Nice view of the building site of the new stadium
[2] For solo dining, familiar is good - at least some of the staff know me, they treat me well, the food is good and the wine is gluggable
[3] Head down, lights off by 9:30, but woke up and read for a while at about 2am[4]
[4] Worked for me…

I’m beginning to wonder how many more public artworks I’ve managed to avoid noticing. Today, I took a stroll down to the Haymarket and noticed this rather tall chap:

 

  

  

 

I took a couple of days off work[1] and decided to use one of them (Monday 14 March, if you really want to know… ) to take a longish walk around Newcastle. I had a good look around the always lovely Laing Art Gallery and the Discovery Museum, which I hadn’t been to for over a year. And while I was wandering around, I took a few pictures.

I walked across the High Level Bridge, which is currently closed to traffic while the wooden deck under the road surface is replaced. As the bridge is a Grade I listed building, it has to be restored with original materials. This is what lies under the tarmac road surface:

Looking across from the bridge, I got this picture of a former warehouse which now contains some of Newcastle’s most outrageously expensive apartments.

When I reached the Laing, I took a closer look at the Blue Carpet. This is one of Newcastle’s many public artworks - it’s a public square covered with this blue tiling. What I’d never noticed before (and I’ve seen it many times) was that a corner of the “carpet” is slightly folded:

On my way to Discovery, I passed this interesting sculpture thingy, which I’d somehow managed to not notice previously:

Finally, I remembered to take a look at the new Chinese Arch, which was completed for the Chinese New Year recently. It’s a lot bigger than I was expecting:

I couldn’t get a full shot from the front without playing with the traffic, so here’s a shot from behind:

There are some really nifty lions at the foot of the arch:

And finally, I had to include this, to maintain my geek credentials. The publicity for the new Doctor Who series is everywhere. TV teasers, magazine articles, even ads on 6 Music. And posters:

[1] Has to be done now and then to preserve what’s left of my sanity

What’s that? It’s the latest piece of public art to be unveiled in Newcastle upon Tyne. I’d heard that some kind of sculpture was going to be placed outside the Gate, but I didn’t know the details. After reading a BBC Report, complete with picture, I took a stroll along there yesterday. I didn’t have my proper camera with me, but I did take a few shots from my phone. And here they are

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Somewhat up today at 208.6 pounds (14 stone 12.6 pounds, 94.6kg).

Must have been all that nice cheese I was eating yesterday….

I decided it was time I went out of the house, having been in since coming back from Tesco’s on the morning of Christmas Eve. Walked down to Retail World, the retail park on the Team Valley Trading Estate here in Gateshead. It was a bit chilly, but a bright sunny day, so the walk was a good one. I went through Saltwell Park, which is always a nice route to take. It took about half an hour to get to the shops. Had a generaly wander around, had a laugh at PC World[1] and bought a new desk lamp in Homebase.
While I was in Homebase, it had rained a bit, but it stopped in time for me to walk home[2].

[1] Bravely resisting the temptation to shout “No!!! You fools!!!” to the people queueing for “help” with their computers
[2] Quicker than the bus!

I still haven’t sorted out all the pictures I took last week[1], but here’s one I like. I thought the sky looked quite interesting, so I pointed my camera in a generally upward direction. Here’s the result[3]

[1] I’ve been busy!! I’ve been going out!! I had my hair done!! I’ve got new photo software to play with!!![2]
[2] Is that enough excuses?
[3] After processing….