05.20-06.11, 3.5 weeks work only and some sleep. Here is the work-related blog post.
The planned one afternoon canoeing did not happen due to a cancelled flight by the failing airline wizzair. I only did some walks.
Hatfield, England
Egercsehi, Hungary
Serbia, Novi Sad
Novi Sad's version of Sydney's Kings Cross.
Elevator-virtuoso. 6th floor between the Ground and 1st floor.
Budapest flood
On the way back from London via Hong Kong
Ubuntu at HK airport.
There was no special activity planned for this day, except the traditional lunch, and the dinner, and the breakfast.
Yes, eating a lot. Therefore after lunch it felt natural to go for a walk, though it was freezing cold (-10 Celsius). Faces and ears frozen...
even the footprints of a fox...
When we climbed the smaller hill my little niece declared the situation to be a close-to-death experience.
Fortunately everyone survived.
The reward was great, seeing wind-blown snow sculptures and some blue sky as well.
After the first weekend I worked every day at uni while Ryoko went to London for the museums. Then on the 24th we flew to Hungary. We arrived at Eger around 9pm, we walked through the town centre, but there was no one else there. Ok, it is winter, and in the evening, but Eger looked like a ghost town.
Next day we did the sightseeing, mainly the castle and just walking around.
Then later in the afternoon we had dinner together with my family. In the Pancake Castle. A place that has not changed in the last 10 years. Quite an achievement.
and the aforementioned pancake...
The blog is really lagging behind. Ryoko is in Switzerland now and I still have problem finding time for blogging. This proves that she was not the cause of the acute lack of time.
But ok, I splash a few photos of the Cambridge visit almost two weeks ago. Back then it was real winter there, very strange experience. Professional punters tried to ignore it, but the passengers facial expressions were telltale. Punting is a summer thing.
Walking towards the centre and seeing the first old building (still surrounded by modern ones) Ryoko remarked that this is like Boston. Never been a Cambridge-sider myself I was still slightly affronted. However, few minutes later, arriving at the Market square another remark was made: No, it is not like Boston. :)
Though there were no cows on the field next to the colleges.
Following the now usual ritual we visited my physicist friend Gábor and his family and CUP bookshop (I bought 4 books on sale :] ).
On the way back here is a happy shot of us thinking that how nice this day was.
Wrong. The day was not finished. In England public (and private) transport cannot deal with proper winter. On the way back we were stuck at Royston, standing in a parking lot in the cold snowfall for more than two hours.
Thanks to this and the total incompetence of the so called 'Response Team' sent by the rail company we could witness how civilization breaks down quickly even in a country famous for the skills for polite queueing. The bloodshed for the remaining seats on the replacement buses did not happen since a train arrived magically a bit later.
Miraculously we arrived home exactly by the time the dinner started, so actually it was a nice day, hm, with a bit of dark shades...
For all fans of that movie here is a Kontroll inspired photo in Budapest Underground.
Ryoko suggested a photo with the kontroll people themselves. I said yes, why not. But when approaching them we reconsidered. They are indeed scary.
Apologies. Being divided between work from two continents, family activities and meeting friends I simply had no time to write blog posts. As a compensation, here is a photo showing how Australia Day is celebrated in countryside Hungary, namely in the little village called Egercsehi.
Since daytime is very limited and I have many things to do we decided to have just a walk from Hertford to Ware along the Lea river. Nice day for walk, we were not the only ones doing that. But surely the wind is rather refreshing. winter happiness.
I obviously got into canalboat nostalgy mode and even bought the corresponding magazine to catch up with what's happening on the cut.
It is interesting to compare winter photos with the summer photos with the summer photos here
Today's birthday party is cancelled, again due to the adverse weather conditions. Flights cancelled, driving is not fun. Just the usual dinner..
For the record. It is winter up here. Surprisingly proper winter even in England.
We both enjoy this after the Sydney heatwaves. It is so nice to have frozen fingers! :)
We arrived at Lis' place by 9am, we had breakfast, quick shower and after that I was heading to the University but then the plan changed as Chrystopher wanted to go closer to Welwyn Garden City before the snow piles up. So we all ended up in a cafe there including little Annika whose school kicked the pupils out referring to the adverse weather conditions.
I discussed the research plans. But then he took us back to Old Hatfield. After a walk in the churchyard
we went the outlet centre to do my shopping. I never liked shopping mall crowd, but it is indeed unnerving to be in one almost completely devoid of customers. Anyhow, I have no enough underwear and two new pants. And funky socks of course! :)
Going bed early.. none of us has jetlag.
No problem with the Singapore Airlines flights. Metal cutlery is a great plus, female crew members have uniform beauty but the entertainment system is a step back compared to Qantas'.
We both love Singapore Airport. I am a big fan of the carpet
and she likes the undisturbed continuity of the seats.
We managed to sneak into London Heathrow before the snowfall. After that many flights were cancelled. so we had a bit of luck.