Here is the video from my recent business trip.
Showing posts with label amsterdam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amsterdam. Show all posts
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Netherlands
I wasn't exactly in Amsterdam today, but the area I am in is unrecognizable to most people (assuming you don't know where Badhoevedorp is) so I had to change the title of today's blog.
My plan today was to see the windmills that are so famous in this region. Fortunately I told my lovely wife of my idea yesterday because I was going to go into downtown Amsterdam and then pay 34 euros for a tour. However, Bridget sent me a map of where I am staying and where I was planning on going and I saw that the hotel I'm at is only about 1.5 miles away from the windmill. So after getting up and ready I took a walk. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to walk to where I wanted to go because it looked like I would have to cross a freeway and I was warned by Google that the route might "be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths".
It turned out to be extremely easy. I was so busy looking at the neighborhood, that I had to walk through to get to where I was going, that I was at the windmill before I knew it. I was there a bit early actually, so I took a walk around the town of Sloten where the windmill is. It was a very nice town...somewhere I could retire actually...if they spoke English. Here is a church in the town:
After walking through the town I went back to the windmill. There were four Romanians about to take the tour in English so I joined them. The ticket was 6 euros, cheaper than the train ride to Amsterdam. Here is a picture of the windmill I got from online...I don't think my pic e-mailed from my blackberry to my gmail account for some reason:
The tour was pretty interesting. Windmills are used here to pump water out of the cities and surrounding areas as they sit up to six meters below sea level. Here our guide shows where the current water level is and where sea level is at the top of this pole. We had to walk down some steps to get to where we are standing.
The tour included a video diorama of the life of Rembrandt who lived in this area for awhile and learned a lot of his art techniques here.
After the tour I went back to the hotel, but not before stopping by an Italian restaurant for some lunch.
When I got back to the hotel I napped, read, watched T.V., listened to conference, and packed for tomorrow's journey to Bahrain. All in all, a pretty good day.
My plan today was to see the windmills that are so famous in this region. Fortunately I told my lovely wife of my idea yesterday because I was going to go into downtown Amsterdam and then pay 34 euros for a tour. However, Bridget sent me a map of where I am staying and where I was planning on going and I saw that the hotel I'm at is only about 1.5 miles away from the windmill. So after getting up and ready I took a walk. I wasn't sure how easy it would be to walk to where I wanted to go because it looked like I would have to cross a freeway and I was warned by Google that the route might "be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths".
It turned out to be extremely easy. I was so busy looking at the neighborhood, that I had to walk through to get to where I was going, that I was at the windmill before I knew it. I was there a bit early actually, so I took a walk around the town of Sloten where the windmill is. It was a very nice town...somewhere I could retire actually...if they spoke English. Here is a church in the town:
After walking through the town I went back to the windmill. There were four Romanians about to take the tour in English so I joined them. The ticket was 6 euros, cheaper than the train ride to Amsterdam. Here is a picture of the windmill I got from online...I don't think my pic e-mailed from my blackberry to my gmail account for some reason:
The tour was pretty interesting. Windmills are used here to pump water out of the cities and surrounding areas as they sit up to six meters below sea level. Here our guide shows where the current water level is and where sea level is at the top of this pole. We had to walk down some steps to get to where we are standing.
The tour included a video diorama of the life of Rembrandt who lived in this area for awhile and learned a lot of his art techniques here.
After the tour I went back to the hotel, but not before stopping by an Italian restaurant for some lunch.
When I got back to the hotel I napped, read, watched T.V., listened to conference, and packed for tomorrow's journey to Bahrain. All in all, a pretty good day.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Amsterdam
Finally done with my European meetings I had a full day today to explore Amsterdam. I started the morning off with a shuttle to the airport and a train from there to the Central Station in downtown Amsterdam. I didn't really have a plan for when I got there, but across the street from the train station was a place advertising 1 hour canal cruises, so I took one. Amsterdam has a lot of canals so we were able to crisscross through the whole city by boat. It was a good introduction to the city.
When I got off the boat I went to a big map outside the train station to figure out what I wanted to do next. As I was looking a guy came up and asked where I was going. Since I didn't know I hesitated to respond.
"The Red Light District eh?" he assumed.
"No, probably the Rembrandt museum." I replied.
"OK great, follow me."
I followed him, though after a couple blocks when we were still walking I knew what was coming. I've had similar experiences where people become your guide involuntarily and then ask for money at the end. I looked for a place to ditch him, but couldn't find anything that wasn't too obvious. Oh well...he did get me to where I wanted to be pretty quickly (which happened to include a walk through the red light district, lol) so I gave him 1.50 euros. He asked for more. I told him no. He left angry. I should have just told him when I figured out what was going on that I wasn't going to give him anything. Oh well.
The museum was pretty cool. It was where Rembrandt used to live so it was not only a gallery with his work, it was a museum of his life. After I finished with the museum I was pretty hungry so I walked down a street that was packed with people and full of different restaurants. I looked hard for a place that offered dutch food but couldn't find anything so I settled with a place selling Argentine food. Surprisingly there were probably more Argentine restaurants than any other kind. This was my lunch:
After walking around for awhile I went to the other side of the city to visit the Anne Frank house. Today happens to be Yom Kippur, and the museum happens to be closed on Yom Kippur so I wasn't able to go inside but the walk across the city was interesting enough that I didn't feel I had wasted time.
Amsterdam is a pretty neat city. The architecture is incredible. I'm glad I spent the day getting to see it, but I don't feel like I ever need to come back. I was satisfied with walking around it all day and seeing what I did. I will put together the video I took when I get home from the trip.
When I got off the boat I went to a big map outside the train station to figure out what I wanted to do next. As I was looking a guy came up and asked where I was going. Since I didn't know I hesitated to respond.
"The Red Light District eh?" he assumed.
"No, probably the Rembrandt museum." I replied.
"OK great, follow me."
I followed him, though after a couple blocks when we were still walking I knew what was coming. I've had similar experiences where people become your guide involuntarily and then ask for money at the end. I looked for a place to ditch him, but couldn't find anything that wasn't too obvious. Oh well...he did get me to where I wanted to be pretty quickly (which happened to include a walk through the red light district, lol) so I gave him 1.50 euros. He asked for more. I told him no. He left angry. I should have just told him when I figured out what was going on that I wasn't going to give him anything. Oh well.
The museum was pretty cool. It was where Rembrandt used to live so it was not only a gallery with his work, it was a museum of his life. After I finished with the museum I was pretty hungry so I walked down a street that was packed with people and full of different restaurants. I looked hard for a place that offered dutch food but couldn't find anything so I settled with a place selling Argentine food. Surprisingly there were probably more Argentine restaurants than any other kind. This was my lunch:
This is a place that resembled a typical city center...though I'm not sure it was. There were a lot of people.
After walking around for awhile I went to the other side of the city to visit the Anne Frank house. Today happens to be Yom Kippur, and the museum happens to be closed on Yom Kippur so I wasn't able to go inside but the walk across the city was interesting enough that I didn't feel I had wasted time.
Amsterdam is a pretty neat city. The architecture is incredible. I'm glad I spent the day getting to see it, but I don't feel like I ever need to come back. I was satisfied with walking around it all day and seeing what I did. I will put together the video I took when I get home from the trip.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Trip to Bahrain
Last week I was given the opportunity to go to Bahrain for a business trip. I got up at 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday June 17th and went to the SEA airport. I started off flying to Orange County, California to meet up with a colleague from our offices in Lake Forest.
I thought it was funny they had security driving around on Segways. It would be hilarious watching a cop chase somebody on one of those.
I was picked up from the airport and the two of us went to the CA offices where I was able to meet several people that I have talked to a lot but have never met. After about an hour there, we took a shuttle bus to LAX.
Our only layover was at the AMS airport in Amsterdam.
The urinals were funny.
That's not a fly in the toilet...it's a picture. I guess it helps guys to aim better. Wonder if it works.
We got into Bahrain at around 9 p.m. on Friday evening. It was 100 degrees outside. Going through customs there was a guy from Spain that didn't speak English in front of me, so I ended up translating for him. It's always nice to use my Spanish in situations like that.
The airport.
My hotel room...
Gotta love the bidet.
The view from my room.
On Saturday afternoon a couple guys and I walked around a bit, but we couldn't go too far because of the heat.
World Trade Centers
Moda Mall.
About 4 p.m. we met up with the managers and supervisors from around the region for some team building exercises at Al Jazair beach.
It was nice finally getting to meet many of the people I have worked with over the last couple of years in person. And despite it being 100+ degrees it didn't feel that ridiculously hot like I would have expected. When I finally got back to my hotel room I began working on my presentation for the next day. Because my laptop only had a 10 minute battery life and the hotel didn't have an adapter for their 230 volt outlets I wasn't able to get any work done before hand.
I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 a.m. but I was able to give my presentation the next day and it seemed to go over pretty well.
That evening, for dinner, we went to the Regional Director's house. It was a beautiful house and the food was delightful...though I don't know what most of it was.
Some drink with Saffron in it.
The next day was meetings until about 5 or 6 p.m. and then we went to a Lebanese restaurant with the group. Again, excellent food.
And it came with a belly dancer.
She made the Americans and a Brit dance with her.
The next day was meetings again. Afterwards the American I came over with and I went to the biggest mall in Bahrain.
The final day I was there I was able to see the Panasonic office located at the airport.
This is a video taken from the office back to the hotel.
In the evening a couple of the guys and I went to the tallest building in Bahrain where we were invited to watch the English play Slovenia in a private room on the 52nd floor of the building.
The view from the urinal.
I left for home that night at 1 a.m.
After a layover in Paris at the CDG airport I was off for home.
It was a good trip. Hopefully they let me go again next year.
I thought it was funny they had security driving around on Segways. It would be hilarious watching a cop chase somebody on one of those.
I was picked up from the airport and the two of us went to the CA offices where I was able to meet several people that I have talked to a lot but have never met. After about an hour there, we took a shuttle bus to LAX.
Our only layover was at the AMS airport in Amsterdam.
The urinals were funny.
That's not a fly in the toilet...it's a picture. I guess it helps guys to aim better. Wonder if it works.
We got into Bahrain at around 9 p.m. on Friday evening. It was 100 degrees outside. Going through customs there was a guy from Spain that didn't speak English in front of me, so I ended up translating for him. It's always nice to use my Spanish in situations like that.
The airport.
My hotel room...
Gotta love the bidet.
The view from my room.
On Saturday afternoon a couple guys and I walked around a bit, but we couldn't go too far because of the heat.
World Trade Centers
Moda Mall.
About 4 p.m. we met up with the managers and supervisors from around the region for some team building exercises at Al Jazair beach.
It was nice finally getting to meet many of the people I have worked with over the last couple of years in person. And despite it being 100+ degrees it didn't feel that ridiculously hot like I would have expected. When I finally got back to my hotel room I began working on my presentation for the next day. Because my laptop only had a 10 minute battery life and the hotel didn't have an adapter for their 230 volt outlets I wasn't able to get any work done before hand.
I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30 a.m. but I was able to give my presentation the next day and it seemed to go over pretty well.
That evening, for dinner, we went to the Regional Director's house. It was a beautiful house and the food was delightful...though I don't know what most of it was.
Some drink with Saffron in it.
The next day was meetings until about 5 or 6 p.m. and then we went to a Lebanese restaurant with the group. Again, excellent food.
And it came with a belly dancer.
She made the Americans and a Brit dance with her.
The next day was meetings again. Afterwards the American I came over with and I went to the biggest mall in Bahrain.
The final day I was there I was able to see the Panasonic office located at the airport.
This is a video taken from the office back to the hotel.
In the evening a couple of the guys and I went to the tallest building in Bahrain where we were invited to watch the English play Slovenia in a private room on the 52nd floor of the building.
The view from the urinal.
I left for home that night at 1 a.m.
After a layover in Paris at the CDG airport I was off for home.
It was a good trip. Hopefully they let me go again next year.
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