Thursday - end of conference and back to Stockholm...
Had a couple of admin things to do first up, ring the boys, check with Ash and book some accommodation in the UK for tomorrow night. We’ve booked a car and will pick that up from Heathrow, then go pick Ash up from Stansted and then find the Days Inn Hotel in Oxford (all on a Friday afternoon/evening). Have been enjoying the breakfasts, lots of coffee and orange juice, cereal, scrambled eggs, meatballs and sausage and a range of bread and toppings.
Edward De Bono was unable to attend the conference for the final plenary (he’s had heart surgery and was advised to stay home) so they patched him in by phone. After morning tea Hans Rosling, in his talk, Is the World a Better Place, gave a great overview of what has changed with regard to global economy and health (using statistics that he animated to show change over time). The software he uses is available from http://www.gapminder.org.
If you’re interested you can see a similar presentation that he gave at a recent TED conference. The closing/final activity was a couple of sisters (from Sweden - and yes, with the obligatory blonde hair) who were musicians (one on the piano and the other on violin and signing) and they performed some folk/jazz music. Very nice.
Then picked up some freebie conference paraphernalia (they were giving it away - postcards, badges, bags etc.) on the way out. Phew, I feel tired but now we have to find some lunch and then catch the train back to Stockholm.
Caught the same train as Heather, Philip and Deb and enjoyed a smooth, fast ride back to the capital. Found our youth hostel after a long trip down (to the underground track) and back up again. We didn’t get good advice from the ticket seller and ended up with an 8 trip ticket for 160SEK and could have got a day ticket each for 180SEK. Anyway hostel was close to the station, dropped out gear and headed back into the city to visit the south island and then walk back into the city.
Found the Sofia Church on a hill and then wandered back along the water front and across the bridge into the old town. Had a nice beef curry for dinner which was the first asian food for a while. The narrow streets are amazing and the old town is sort of on a hill so the street often meander up/down. The buildings do start to get a bit boring after a while, all of similar design and painted in a range of ochre colours (red, yellow) and pastels (green, blue, pink). Started to run out of energy so decided to head back early around 9, found the underground and had an entertaining ride back listening to a couple of happy (young) drunks trying to negotiate wether they were going to go out again after a short rest. It’s midsummer here so the days are long, it’s holiday time and there are things to celebrate. Tomorrow back to the UK and seeing the boys again.
Had a couple of admin things to do first up, ring the boys, check with Ash and book some accommodation in the UK for tomorrow night. We’ve booked a car and will pick that up from Heathrow, then go pick Ash up from Stansted and then find the Days Inn Hotel in Oxford (all on a Friday afternoon/evening). Have been enjoying the breakfasts, lots of coffee and orange juice, cereal, scrambled eggs, meatballs and sausage and a range of bread and toppings.
Edward De Bono was unable to attend the conference for the final plenary (he’s had heart surgery and was advised to stay home) so they patched him in by phone. After morning tea Hans Rosling, in his talk, Is the World a Better Place, gave a great overview of what has changed with regard to global economy and health (using statistics that he animated to show change over time). The software he uses is available from http://www.gapminder.org.
If you’re interested you can see a similar presentation that he gave at a recent TED conference. The closing/final activity was a couple of sisters (from Sweden - and yes, with the obligatory blonde hair) who were musicians (one on the piano and the other on violin and signing) and they performed some folk/jazz music. Very nice.
Then picked up some freebie conference paraphernalia (they were giving it away - postcards, badges, bags etc.) on the way out. Phew, I feel tired but now we have to find some lunch and then catch the train back to Stockholm.
Caught the same train as Heather, Philip and Deb and enjoyed a smooth, fast ride back to the capital. Found our youth hostel after a long trip down (to the underground track) and back up again. We didn’t get good advice from the ticket seller and ended up with an 8 trip ticket for 160SEK and could have got a day ticket each for 180SEK. Anyway hostel was close to the station, dropped out gear and headed back into the city to visit the south island and then walk back into the city.
Found the Sofia Church on a hill and then wandered back along the water front and across the bridge into the old town. Had a nice beef curry for dinner which was the first asian food for a while. The narrow streets are amazing and the old town is sort of on a hill so the street often meander up/down. The buildings do start to get a bit boring after a while, all of similar design and painted in a range of ochre colours (red, yellow) and pastels (green, blue, pink). Started to run out of energy so decided to head back early around 9, found the underground and had an entertaining ride back listening to a couple of happy (young) drunks trying to negotiate wether they were going to go out again after a short rest. It’s midsummer here so the days are long, it’s holiday time and there are things to celebrate. Tomorrow back to the UK and seeing the boys again.
1 comment:
Hej! It is hard to keep up with you, cuz. Tried to enjoy the trip as well by reading your stories. You will have enough stuff to publish a book by the time you get back home:). Great!
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