Madrid - conference
2. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Attended and presented at a conference on AI applications. Appropriately held at this building dedicated to Alan Turing at the Escuela Politécnica Superior. Felt very empty, but semester might notLes mer
Madrid - last bit
5. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
After the conference I went to the Prado museum, during the free two hours before it closes. There was a bit of a line...
Luckily they let us in quickly, as fast as they could x-ray our bags andLes mer
Barcelona - arrival
5. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Arrived in Barcelona, and it already seems nice. Little fountains/parks are on many streets and there was a small pond right by the train station (#1). I particularly like that instead of just streetsLes mer
Barcelona - beach
5. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
Made it to the beach by around 8 pm on my first day here. It wasn't too busy - felt like most people had left for the day (although it was still light and the water was warm).
The beach felt sortaLes mer
Barcelona - history & food
6. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Did the usual history walking tour, this time featuring the Barcelona cathedral (#1, note the little angels above the door, each is unique), a quiet square with a chapel damaged by bombing in theLes mer
Barcelona - Sagrada Familia
7. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
Wow. I've been to a few cathedrals already but this one was spectacular. Definitely the highlight of Barcelona for me. It is what happens when you let a slightly crazy genius modern artist (Gaudi)Les mer
Barcelona - bye!
8. september 2015, Spania ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Heading to Oslo!
Just a last look at those nice big subway cars with AC and working mobile network, and wide avenues with separated lanes - London, get on Spain's level!
Oslo - city wandering
9. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Oslo (and surrounding country) is beautiful!
Stefan is very kindly letting me stay at his apartment, and spending time to show me around parts of the city. Thanks so much!
Today I walked around theLes mer
Oslo - waterfront wandering
9. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Oslo has a waterfront pier area called Aker Brygge (#1,2) that's very similar to Auckland's viaduct, except fancier! There are even little water features creating streams that run down into theLes mer
Oslo - misc
10. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
Stefan's apartment is near the intersection of Tors gate (Thor's street) and Odins gate - pretty awesome street names here!
It's also clearly pretty affluent - saw my first Tesla Model S cars (atLes mer
Oslo - Frognerparken
10. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
In line with my appreciation of statues elsewhere, the Vigeland statue installation (actually part of Frognerparken) was a highlight of Oslo for me. It's a park with a lot of (mostly human - naked,Les mer
Oslo - Holmenkollen
10. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Quite visible on Oslo's skyline is a huge metal structure on the hill - the ski jump column at Holmenkollen, apparently well known in ski-jumping circles worldwide (I am not in such circles).
Still,Les mer
Oslo - Ekebergparken
11. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
On the opposite side of Oslo from Holmenkollen and Frognerparken, there's another statue park, nice!
This one a collection of art from various artists (some famous, some current), set around a hillyLes mer
Oslo - "Cruise"
11. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Need a cheapo mode harbour cruise? Take the ferry to nowhere!
Seeing as I had already bought a week-long public transit ticket, I met up with Stefan (who took part of Friday off work, apparently thisLes mer
Oslo - (no) northern lights
11. september 2015, Norge ⋅ 🌙 11 °C
No pics, as this was a (maybe) failed attempt to see the northern lights in Oslo.
The Aurora was very strong and had been visible from Oslo in the past few days, but we didn't know where to go to getLes mer
Oslo/Bergen - Train
12. september 2015, Norge ⋅ 🌬 6 °C
There's a 7 hour train ride between Oslo and Bergen, and I heard it was one of the most beautiful train trips in the world (thanks, Adrian!). Wow, they weren't exaggerating!
Farms, then forested hillsLes mer
Bergen - Night Lights
12. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
After our failed attempt to see the Northern Lights in Oslo, I made another attempt in Bergen. Still knowing nothing about Aurora-seeing techniques, but seeing the forecast was for strong activity andLes mer
Bergen - city exploring
13. september 2015, Norge ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
Bergen is apparently not important enough for a free walking tour, so I just wandered around town. Lots of small cobbled streets, a few parks, and glimpses between buildings of the small mountainsLes mer
Bergen - Stoltzekleiven
14. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Having only half a day to spare, and wanting to at least visit the top of a hill in Bergen in daytime, I decided to head up Stoltzekleiven (wearing chinos, oops). It's a steep track mostly made ofLes mer
Bergen - Fjords!
14. september 2015, Norge ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
My one extra expense in Bergen was to go on a Fjord cruise. I found one that was relatively cheap (100 NZD) and only took a few hours (some of them are multi-day hike/train/boat endeavours) calledLes mer
Bergen/Oslo - Night train & stopover
15. september 2015, Norge ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Making the most of my 7 hour train ride back the way I had come (and because I had never done it before), I decided to take a sleeper car in a night train.
It was very nice and cosy, with a 2-bunkLes mer
Stockholm - arrival
15. september 2015, Sverige ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
[I'm not dead! Long delay due to no internet in Berlin, plus laziness]
After a rather long night/day of about 11 hours train rides, I arrived in Stockholm!
First impression is a standard modern cityLes mer
Stockholm - exploring
16. september 2015, Sverige ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Did a walking tour in the morning, including downtown areas, some nice gardens, and the rather underwhelming Stockholms Konserthaus, where they give out the Nobel Prizes (statue out front was moreLes mer
Stockholm - Royal Palace
16. september 2015, Sverige ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Happened to arrive at the royal palace just as the changing of the guard was happening. I'd missed (err, not bothered) seeing this in London so I got the Swedish version instead! The palace itself wasLes mer
Stockholm - food
16. september 2015, Sverige ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
The Swedes make some delicious sweet food. They also invented cinnamon buns (kanelbulle), though they mar them with cardamon, and they're everywhere, even mini-packs from the supermarket :D
I think ILes mer









































































































































Ham and ham - what can go wrong lol :) - Michelle
ReisendeHaha, it was actually kinda weird. Needed something non-pig based