Invading Germany
As a bit of a change to the majority of the year so far, I'd decided to try and slow things down a little while working and actually take at least every second 'weekend' (Tuesday/Wednesday) off i.e. not work straight through. Things have been pretty good lately with us having free time in the foreign cities, but also me getting time back in Paris. Just one day after getting back from Gothenburg however, things went a little awry.
One of the last major areas of Europe that our project was scheduled to do is Germany. There are quite a few big offices there but unfortunately there were many issues getting upgraded internet connections to the sites, and so there were many delays. In a way it probably helped us because it's meant that the project has been extended to the end of the year to allow us time to migrate all of these sites. The bad side of it is that some of the sites are really big, and our team is now about half the size it previously was.
Things got bad for me because in one short email on Monday and then a teleconference on Tueday I found out that 'if possible' work would like me to go to Germany on Thursday to start visiting sites and preparing them for migration. 2 days isn't a lot of notice. The site visit schedule is pretty aggressive and had me working every day and moving every two or three, but for a few weeks it didn't seem like too much trouble (so much for my weekends though). My big problem came from the fact that I was planning to head back to London the following week to organise my company stuff, and now I had to suddenly shift everything a week forward and get myself to London.
So early Thursday morning I was booked on a Eurostar and had roughly 6 hours in London to sort as much as I could. Fortunately I scheduled and appointment with the bank etc and everything went smoothly on that end, but between the bank, working a little, meeting friends from dinner, Friday breakfast with Kath, and then getting a plane to Dusseldorf on Friday afternoon... I was pretty dead!
First stop: Dusseldorf. I'm currently writing this blog entry on a very sunny and warm day, sitting in an amphitheatre style area overlooking the harbour and the river Rhine (not bad eh), and we've just finished the first of the migrations - it went very well. But two weeks ago, I landed on a Friday to grey skies and cold weather and didn't think much of my first day back in Germany since the World Cup last year.
Luckily the weather cleared out and after I spent Friday and Saturday checking over the site, by Sunday things were all nice. Saturday night after a quick drink in a bar near work (just to unwind and hang with the local IT guys) the Germany guy I'm travelling with (Markus) took me out to the old town part of the city where a lot of clubs and pubs are. We started in one bar, but then moved on to another after a few hours. At the second bar we were sitting, having a nice chat etc when one of the bar staff walked past carrying a plank! (what the?!)
While the plank was weird enough to catch your eye, the fact that ten beer glasses were balanced along the length of it really makes you look. It's called a 'Meter of Beer' and of course, I had to get me one of those!!! Markus and I then proceeded to demolish the ten beers (it's only about 3 litres in total or something) while talking to some locals. Unfortunately we'd committed the cardinal sin of drinking and not had anything to eat before heading out, so those beers pretty much killed me. Markus is a real metal head (check the pics out, he looks the type) so we headed to a heavy metal bar later on in the everning. By this stage I was really drunk though and only stayed there a short time before my survival instincts kicked in and made me head back for the hotel. I think got in around 4am. Saw this cool statue and door-knocker the next day....
Feeling a little fragile on Sunday, I decided to go for a big walk just to make the most of the day before getting a train to Frankfurt in the evening, also I wanted to see some of Dusseldorf. The office is in the northern part of the city near a massive park which you walk through to get to the old town/waterfront areas (where everyone goes). The park is really beautiful but one amazing thing are the seats. Instead of being made of wood, the seat and back of the seat are made of fluorescent tubes inside clear PVC pipes. At night these super bright 'seats' are turned on and they light the whole place up. We'd seen them the previous night on the walk to old town and it's totally crazy, like a spaceship is landing or something. Unfortunately I didn't take a camera to get a photo (and still haven't this time) - bummer!
After wandering the park for about an hour I was feeling fine again, and I walked through the old town. It's got really beautiful old buildings and little places to eat/drink everywhere, but the nicest bit (I think) is the walk along the river. Most of the oldest parts are on the river and the walk has been nicely landscaped into a walkway with two lines of big maple trees down the whole length. The leaves are just changing colour at the moment so it's beautiful to walk down the walkway with the old buildings on one side, the water on the other and trees overhead.
One thing dominating the skyline of Dussledorf is a massive viewing tower. I forgot that I hadn't got money out in a while and had a total of 3.60 (euro) on me when I came to the base of the tower - but entry was only 3.20 (euro) - suhweet! The tower is something like 180m up and as you can see, the viewing level glass windows lean 'outwards' so when you're up there, you can look straight down! (it's pretty freaky) The old town is nice to look at, but the really big thing to see is the river - truely a massive river and you can follow it for ages as it disappears into the distance.
On the walk I had checked out a church or two and a few buildings, but I got quite a big surprise when towards the end (the southern part of the city) I got to an area known as the Media Harbour. This section of town has become the 'trendy' commercial district with lots of companies clamouring to move there because it's home to some of the most crazy architecture I've ever seen. While there are a lot of buildings that look 'cool', I can't help but love the one with the men climbing up it :)
While on the return journey back through the park to the office, a kind of funny thing thing happened. I was walking around, enjoying the park etc when I came across some big trees and stuff which just looked awesome. Anyway, I looked at the trees, took a photo etc then walked on, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone watching me. I walked around a corner in the path and stopped to look at other stuff, when around the corner comes a guy in a big black overcoat. Figuring I'd be safe and just go back to the main path, I walked straight towards and past him, and kept going. Over the next 15 minutes I saw the guy a number of times walking on paths near mine, or that crossed mine etc. He never got far ahead, or behind me... so I'm wondering if he wants to mug me, or he's crazy, or what.... Eventually I made it to the edge of the park and left, he didn't follow me out. When I told Markus about it a little later he started laughing and he said 'he probably likes you'. It seems that in Germany gay people often hand around parks to 'meet' etc as (according to Markus) there aren't many clubs/pubs etc where people go to be openly gay. So yes, I got stalked by a gay dude!
With only a few hours to look around before the train, I really didn't get much of a chance to look around Dusseldorf 'properly', but from what I've checked online/in tourist books etc it seems to be quite a small city and you could probably see most things in 2-3 days. It is really nice and with the river walk bit, the brilliant park and crazy buildings etc, it's well worth coming to see.
True to recent (poor) form, last night after finishing our migration we went out and got pretty drunk. We started the evening in an Irish bar watching the French lose the rugby to the English (damn those English!) but then headed to a lounge bar called 'Marrakech' for super-sized cocktails, before heading back to the heavy metal bar (Haff and Lany hadn't been there, so we went for a laugh) and getting a 'meter of beer' there. So again today I didn't really get up and look around town until quite late, but oh well, I'll be back someday... Oh, as I've been working every day for the last 3 weeks and just can't get days off to go back to Paris, my company paid for Lany to fly out and come and see me, which was really great.
Working with the Germans over the last two weeks has been pretty stressful (they can be very regimented and stubborn), but now that we've got a very successful migration done, they are much more relaxed and cool with everything, so hopefully from here on in it will be all good. Overall, it's been a really good weekend, and for the first time in a LONG time, I'm watching the sun go down over water..... I really miss those Aussie sunsets :)
Speaking of beach/sunsets over water etc, the Trigg South Flag belongs to the Hawke's!!!!!!!!
Anka
One of the last major areas of Europe that our project was scheduled to do is Germany. There are quite a few big offices there but unfortunately there were many issues getting upgraded internet connections to the sites, and so there were many delays. In a way it probably helped us because it's meant that the project has been extended to the end of the year to allow us time to migrate all of these sites. The bad side of it is that some of the sites are really big, and our team is now about half the size it previously was.
Things got bad for me because in one short email on Monday and then a teleconference on Tueday I found out that 'if possible' work would like me to go to Germany on Thursday to start visiting sites and preparing them for migration. 2 days isn't a lot of notice. The site visit schedule is pretty aggressive and had me working every day and moving every two or three, but for a few weeks it didn't seem like too much trouble (so much for my weekends though). My big problem came from the fact that I was planning to head back to London the following week to organise my company stuff, and now I had to suddenly shift everything a week forward and get myself to London.
So early Thursday morning I was booked on a Eurostar and had roughly 6 hours in London to sort as much as I could. Fortunately I scheduled and appointment with the bank etc and everything went smoothly on that end, but between the bank, working a little, meeting friends from dinner, Friday breakfast with Kath, and then getting a plane to Dusseldorf on Friday afternoon... I was pretty dead!
First stop: Dusseldorf. I'm currently writing this blog entry on a very sunny and warm day, sitting in an amphitheatre style area overlooking the harbour and the river Rhine (not bad eh), and we've just finished the first of the migrations - it went very well. But two weeks ago, I landed on a Friday to grey skies and cold weather and didn't think much of my first day back in Germany since the World Cup last year.
Luckily the weather cleared out and after I spent Friday and Saturday checking over the site, by Sunday things were all nice. Saturday night after a quick drink in a bar near work (just to unwind and hang with the local IT guys) the Germany guy I'm travelling with (Markus) took me out to the old town part of the city where a lot of clubs and pubs are. We started in one bar, but then moved on to another after a few hours. At the second bar we were sitting, having a nice chat etc when one of the bar staff walked past carrying a plank! (what the?!)
While the plank was weird enough to catch your eye, the fact that ten beer glasses were balanced along the length of it really makes you look. It's called a 'Meter of Beer' and of course, I had to get me one of those!!! Markus and I then proceeded to demolish the ten beers (it's only about 3 litres in total or something) while talking to some locals. Unfortunately we'd committed the cardinal sin of drinking and not had anything to eat before heading out, so those beers pretty much killed me. Markus is a real metal head (check the pics out, he looks the type) so we headed to a heavy metal bar later on in the everning. By this stage I was really drunk though and only stayed there a short time before my survival instincts kicked in and made me head back for the hotel. I think got in around 4am. Saw this cool statue and door-knocker the next day....
Feeling a little fragile on Sunday, I decided to go for a big walk just to make the most of the day before getting a train to Frankfurt in the evening, also I wanted to see some of Dusseldorf. The office is in the northern part of the city near a massive park which you walk through to get to the old town/waterfront areas (where everyone goes). The park is really beautiful but one amazing thing are the seats. Instead of being made of wood, the seat and back of the seat are made of fluorescent tubes inside clear PVC pipes. At night these super bright 'seats' are turned on and they light the whole place up. We'd seen them the previous night on the walk to old town and it's totally crazy, like a spaceship is landing or something. Unfortunately I didn't take a camera to get a photo (and still haven't this time) - bummer!
After wandering the park for about an hour I was feeling fine again, and I walked through the old town. It's got really beautiful old buildings and little places to eat/drink everywhere, but the nicest bit (I think) is the walk along the river. Most of the oldest parts are on the river and the walk has been nicely landscaped into a walkway with two lines of big maple trees down the whole length. The leaves are just changing colour at the moment so it's beautiful to walk down the walkway with the old buildings on one side, the water on the other and trees overhead.
One thing dominating the skyline of Dussledorf is a massive viewing tower. I forgot that I hadn't got money out in a while and had a total of 3.60 (euro) on me when I came to the base of the tower - but entry was only 3.20 (euro) - suhweet! The tower is something like 180m up and as you can see, the viewing level glass windows lean 'outwards' so when you're up there, you can look straight down! (it's pretty freaky) The old town is nice to look at, but the really big thing to see is the river - truely a massive river and you can follow it for ages as it disappears into the distance.
On the walk I had checked out a church or two and a few buildings, but I got quite a big surprise when towards the end (the southern part of the city) I got to an area known as the Media Harbour. This section of town has become the 'trendy' commercial district with lots of companies clamouring to move there because it's home to some of the most crazy architecture I've ever seen. While there are a lot of buildings that look 'cool', I can't help but love the one with the men climbing up it :)
While on the return journey back through the park to the office, a kind of funny thing thing happened. I was walking around, enjoying the park etc when I came across some big trees and stuff which just looked awesome. Anyway, I looked at the trees, took a photo etc then walked on, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed someone watching me. I walked around a corner in the path and stopped to look at other stuff, when around the corner comes a guy in a big black overcoat. Figuring I'd be safe and just go back to the main path, I walked straight towards and past him, and kept going. Over the next 15 minutes I saw the guy a number of times walking on paths near mine, or that crossed mine etc. He never got far ahead, or behind me... so I'm wondering if he wants to mug me, or he's crazy, or what.... Eventually I made it to the edge of the park and left, he didn't follow me out. When I told Markus about it a little later he started laughing and he said 'he probably likes you'. It seems that in Germany gay people often hand around parks to 'meet' etc as (according to Markus) there aren't many clubs/pubs etc where people go to be openly gay. So yes, I got stalked by a gay dude!
With only a few hours to look around before the train, I really didn't get much of a chance to look around Dusseldorf 'properly', but from what I've checked online/in tourist books etc it seems to be quite a small city and you could probably see most things in 2-3 days. It is really nice and with the river walk bit, the brilliant park and crazy buildings etc, it's well worth coming to see.
True to recent (poor) form, last night after finishing our migration we went out and got pretty drunk. We started the evening in an Irish bar watching the French lose the rugby to the English (damn those English!) but then headed to a lounge bar called 'Marrakech' for super-sized cocktails, before heading back to the heavy metal bar (Haff and Lany hadn't been there, so we went for a laugh) and getting a 'meter of beer' there. So again today I didn't really get up and look around town until quite late, but oh well, I'll be back someday... Oh, as I've been working every day for the last 3 weeks and just can't get days off to go back to Paris, my company paid for Lany to fly out and come and see me, which was really great.
Working with the Germans over the last two weeks has been pretty stressful (they can be very regimented and stubborn), but now that we've got a very successful migration done, they are much more relaxed and cool with everything, so hopefully from here on in it will be all good. Overall, it's been a really good weekend, and for the first time in a LONG time, I'm watching the sun go down over water..... I really miss those Aussie sunsets :)
Speaking of beach/sunsets over water etc, the Trigg South Flag belongs to the Hawke's!!!!!!!!
Anka
posted by Anthony Hawke at 2:34 pm
3 Comments:
"Speaking of beach/sunsets over water etc, the Trigg South Flag belongs to the Hawke's!!!!!!!!"
You wish jelly fish.
First to the flag wins Anka!
Nice try - Your sentence doesn't make sense though. Here, let me finish it properly...
"Speaking of beach/sunsets over water etc, the Trigg South Flag belongs to the Hawke's super mega ultra awesome mate brettski!!!!!!!!"
LOL I would have laughed to see you at a heavy metal concert.
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