OT: Stockholm and Utrecht

 

I’ve just recently returned from a very hectic but enjoyable visit to Sweden and The Netherlands to do some training for Oracle University. I had two great classes and met a whole bunch of really nice people so a big thank you to all who attended and made me feel so welcome.

Stockholm is a really beautiful city that reminds me somewhat of Sydney with it’s magnificent harbour. However, as with most cities in Europe, it’s the history and amazing architecture of the place that made it a real joy to simply walk around and explore. The highlight for me though was visiting the Vasa Museum and seeing first hand the incredibly well preserved wreak of the massive but doomed Vasa, which sank in the harbour on it’s maiden voyage in 1628. Hidden for centuries, it was only rediscovered in the 1950’s and can now be seen in almost all her glory at the museum. Amazing. The highlight for the Swedes during my visit was no doubt beating Greece in Euro 2008 and it was fun being in the crowd and watching the match on a large outdoor screen.

 

 

Utrecht in the Netherlands was another lovely city to visit. You know the place has some history when the so-called “New” canal was built in the 1400s. Being Australian, anything older than a hundred years is deemed antique here so I soak up history whenever I’m lucky enough to get the opportunity. With it’s narrow cobbled streets and picturesque canals, it was another great place to simply walk around and enjoy. Being a keen cyclist, this was certainly my kind of town with people on bikes just everywhere and interestingly, I saw very few overweight locals. I must have that lucky touch as during my visit, the Dutch beat France 4-1 in Euro 2008. If any country is interested, there’s still time for my services if required, although perhaps not so for the host countries.

Will get back to writing about indexes and the such once my body stops wanting to sleep by midday …