I have not-so-recently returned from two enjoyable weeks on holiday. This continues a series of trips this year in which location is far less important that the people involved.
T., A. and I flew off to a destination whose location is unimportant, to enjoy some late summer time together, and we did. There was a lot of driving and plenty of beach ( Read more... )

This weekend we all zipped off to Schleswig-Holstein for the Lauf zwischen den Meeren, a hundred-km relay for teams of ten, running from the North Sea to the Baltic. Apart from some organisational weaknesses, which led to a lot of time sitting on buses or waiting around, this was a fun weekend. Somehow I ended up assigned to the shortest leg, at 8. ( Read more... )

Following hnpcc reminded me that I didn't say anything much about my Minnesota trip last year. If you visit the Mall of America, leave your guns at home, please.

I am off on a rushed conference trip to Minnesota. Philistine that I am, my few tourist hours are likely to be spent at the Mall of America at the expense of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

How quiet the park seemed this afternoon with no aircraft overhead.

I've just finished a packet of Highland Croft "scottish handmade luxury fudge" that I picked up at the airport in Edinburgh last year. It was pretty good[*], though perhaps not my thing in the way that a block of Cadbury Top Deck, or even a Mars Bar might be. But I canna, fer the life 'a me, figure out how to pronounce their slogan "Jist like ( Read more... )

Preparing to go away to Denmark for two weeks with A. and all his stuff in our little car, and a few things for ourselves snuck into little corners feels a bit like preparing for the invasion of, say, Poland, but on a much smaller scale.

Edinburgh has a rather stony appearance, but is fortunate that its geography works with this to make it grand rather than oppressive: the Old and New Towns are built on ridgelines more or less, so that the sloping ground shows off the building facades to maximum effect. (The flatter parts out of the historical areas are more reminiscent of ( Read more... )

On Sunday I'll have a few hours to look around in Edinburgh. Wikitravel makes me think I should just wander aimlessly around. Is there anything I Must Not Miss?

The flights back to Germany are long and uneventful ( Read more... )