I am off, right now at this early hour, on a long weekend to Zaragoza in Spain with some friends and ex-colleagues. I have no doubt that it will be a very friendly and social event indeed and I plan to enjoy the break (and hopefully the weather) as much as I can. I will be trying to post pictures from my travels to the mobile Flickr feed so look out for them. Hopefully I will remain sober enough to point the camera in the right direction while I am there. Now, I have to brush up on my Spanish while on the way to the airport.

On this day…

2004: We Wuz Robbed
2004: Come on Eng-er-land
2003: Turn Off That Alarm

Strangely I always seem to be travelling to similar places at the same time of year. This time two years ago I was sat in an airport heading to Oslo, tonight I am heading home from Helsinki. I never get fed up of airports.

On this day…

2005: Deception Point
2003: Airport Cafe
2003: Cough Cough

I’ve just come back from a couple of days in Oslo. The meeting was good and I spent the afternoon on the waterfront, drinking beer, and proofing some new documentation. Good way to spend a Friday!

On this day…

2004: I Had Visions Of A Robotic Dog
2004: Bloglines Top Links

I was a student in Stirling and regularly spent time in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. I find it hard to be one of those people who can firmly sit on one side of Central Region and declare undying loyalty to one city or the other. During the time I spent in Scotland, Glasgow was City of Culture and was a vibrant place to be. On the other hand, Edinburgh has always appeared to be the calmer brother, perhaps a little aloof until you go to know him. My own brother lives in Edinburgh which perhaps explains why, when I do head back to Scotland, I’ve only ever been back to Edinburgh (and one, short weekend in Stirling).

It’s been with much joy that I have spent most of yesterday and today in Edinburgh on business (actually, I was in Dundee this morning but it still counts). As soon as I stepped of the train I felt like I was home on familiar turf. A few moments and memories started flooding back. Edinburgh of my memory, however, doesn’t have any Starbucks and had a big branch of C&A right at the top of Princess Street by the station. Now it has Starbucks and no C&A but it still felt right (and slightly chilly). It continues to have sensible licensing laws that allow me to drink later without tempting me to stay up all night (although, frankly, I am not sure you can call licensing laws sensible when you get the hangover I had).

On this day…

2003: Bye Bye Brookside
2003: More PDA and Phone Nonsense

Traveling again. It’s not that much fun but at least today I am heading off to Oslo, Norway, at a reasonable hour. I decided to take the Heathrow Express for once – it’s more expensive but it is fast to the airport. The whole procedure today was quick and I have arrived at a hotel I have never been to before and, right now, it’s very noisy outside. I hope they shut up before the night is out.

UPDATE 24th August: No, they didn’t shut up all night and the noise outside the hotel went on until about 4 in the morning so I am not very happy today!

On this day…

2002: Blog Silence
2002: 3am Eternal

Flying into Milan yesterday I watched as the plane flew over the channel and across the French borders. I have never noticed how beautiful the French countryside is from above, a big patchwork of browns and greens stretching before you. It was a lovely clear sky and thus I could see for miles. It really was a beautiful site.

Arriving in Milan and a 40 minute train ride into the centre of town I made my way to the Windsor Hotel – which was very nice and, despite its name, not very British. I spent most of the evening in the bar with one of the sales guys from our Italian office. Usually, these trips are pretty lonely as I arrive late and am holed up in a hotel room until it’s time to get up and make a meeting, taxi or office. This was nice but I still managed to get to bed at a decent time last night to make this morning’s meeting.

On this day…

No other posts on this day.

Milan is home to our Italian office. I have been there several times and I am about to head off again. If I can think of something new to write while I am there I guess I will! In the meantime why not read about the last trip?

On this day…

No other posts on this day.

It’s worth pointing out that if you are travelling from London’s Heathrow airport to Spain using Iberia and travelling Economy that they are now charging for in-flight food and drink. I guess the range is better than you would have previously received but it comes as something of a shock when you are used to receiving an in-flight snack for free. Since I started traveling for business the quantity of food (and in some cases the quality) has decreased considerably. Nonetheless, paying for it on a national airline was something I had not expected. Remember to take enough cash.

On this day…

2004: Open Letter To The Woman in Massachusetts
2004: Been There?

The strangest thing about Madrid was my unwavering belief that I have never been there before. I arrived and spent a day with one of our customers. Apart from the rather long lunch break that was taken quite late in the day, the visit was like many visits to our customers: useful, interesting but I may as well have been in an office block in central London. The travelling just means I have less time to do what I needed. While I was waiting at the airport for my return flight I decided to go to the cafe bar and get myself a drink. As I walked took my tray from the pile of slightly damp cafeteria-style trays I had the strangest feeling of deja-vu. As I took my 330ml of French beer to the a table I began to realise that I had sat at this cafe before. Eventually, after searching my diary (thank goodness for the wonders of Palm) I discovered that I had travelled through Milan on my way back from Spain in Christmas 2002. Funny the tricks memory plays.

On this day…

2004: Open Letter To The Woman in Massachusetts
2004: Note to Self: Iberia