Trip to Hunstanton Cliffs

An hour and a half from Cambridge, on the Norfolk coast. A clear, bracing day - perfect for a little walk along the cliffs.

Sun set

Driving home at dusk

Kerry auditioning for a Scottish Widows ad earlier in the day

Stockholm

I spent a day and a night in Stockholm. I was there with Caroline to do a consulting workshop on a project I'm working on. A really nice city built on lakes with a hip, happening vibe. We had a Swedish Xmas lunch at a traditional restaurant in the old city. Like a huge buffet with everything from raw pickled herring (delicious actually) to cold meets and salads and hot dishes. You typically go up 5 or more times and totally stuff yourself. My kind of meal! My plane back to the UK was supposed to leave at 9 pm but was close to 3 hours delayed and we spent most of that time in the stuffy plane. Only got to bed at 2:30 am. Whoever said business travel is glamorous! The second photo shows one of Stockholm's most distinctive landmarks. I got a nice walk through the old city on the way to lunch.

Trip to Munich

Scenes from my business trip to Munich. We had a few hours to kill, so went to the Imax to watch a 3D movie about coral reefs in German. So relaxing, I slept through most of it. The olives at the market were delicious.

First snow...

First snow fall this year in Cambridge - this photo is taken from our balcony.

Trip to Bains (France)

Ally and I have just returned from a lovely trip to Bains in France, nestled by a lake in the Alps. I went for business (to present at a used construction equipment conference) and Ally came for pleasure. It was lovely having her along. Here we are at Geneva Airport. We landed there and then got an hour long taxi to the venue.

The hotel was set on a huge lake. While I attended the presentation, Ally had a much needed break - and managed to fit in a massage, swims in the pool, walks along the lake and some great drawings, having just taken up still life drawing as a hobby. She's practicing with fruit and veg at the moment!

I recently read that one of the top three hates of London drivers is mums taking their kids to school in their big 4X4's through the narrow streets. I had a chuckle to myself at the thought of me driving one of these things (an Artic Hauler that was an exhibition piece at Graeme's conference) to drop off the kiddies. It can take 40 tonnes worth of weight - that's quite a few kids and their packed lunches!!

On Wednesday night, we had entertainment put on for us. We went on a boat trip on the lake, then onto a casino for dinner and a bit of a gamble. We were each given 10 Euros to play with. I made 40 Euros and then lost the lot. A colleague put his token on red 3 in roulette and won Euro 360 in one throw. And immediately cashed the lot. Wise fellow! I must say gambling is not my forte. The only way I'd leave from a casino with a small fortune is to take a large one.

Getting one with nature

Colleen came to stay this weekend which was wonderful. We had Martin and Sunjung around for dinner last night and then went to see a movie (Hero). Then today we went for a walk in the Cambridge Botanical gardens where we took these photos. It was a rainy day but we had lots of fun.

That's Colleen's shoe through the hole in the table. The marshmallows were delicious.

The flowers were beautiful

Autumn evening in Cambridge

A photo from our balcony of the sun setting on a beautiful autumn evening. Just had dinner and are settling down for the night. What bliss.

Sailing on the Solent with Gus

We had a great weekend sailing with Gus down on the south coast. It was raining on Saturday (check Gus and Ally in their gear)and we managed to bank ourselves on a sandbank that the tide saved us from, so not an auspicious start, but Sunday the sun emerged (check me in my gear) and it was gorgeous.

I'm starting to get the hang of sailing now and where the sails should be in relation to the wind. Saturday night, we all slept on the boat which was a snug fit. Amazing that Gus built this boat himself completely from hand with instructions written on a few pieces of paper. The name of the boat is "Just Right" - nice name in anyone's language...

Copenhagen

I went to visit Microsoft's European Headquarters in Copenhagan on a fact finding mission. The building is set in a beautiful forest setting on the outskirts of the city - not a bad place to work!

The Little Mermaid is the most stared at little statue in all of Denmark. Much smaller than I expected, but a tremendous attractor of the crowds. Someone should introduce her to the Manneken Pis - they'd make a cute couple...

The poor gaurd's at the Queen´s Palace have to be very patient - the tourists can go right up to them and take photos right under their noses. I think the Buckingham Palace gaurds get a better deal, protected behind the gates from the hordes.

Scenes from Copenhagen's most famous church. I liked the statues outside - lots of different characters in different poses, all looking very serene and saintly. There must have been twenty of them.