Vienna

From Prague we caught a train to Vienna, where we would spend 4 days, including New Years Eve.

We arrived in Vienna and stayed near Westbahnhof - about 2.5 km from the centre of the old town (St Stephens, above, is pretty much the centre.) It was a city that we loved visiting!

Here we are outside St Stephen's after visiting the Catacombs beneath the Church (and the square). Lots of bones and tombs for the boys to look at, they were fascinated.
Here are the boys on the famous 'giant wheel' of Vienna. Look closely at Cameron's hands, it's Dad's camera again! The Giant wheel was destroyed in the war and rebuilt, and is one of the iconic 'things to do' in Vienna. Working on the age-old formula of buy-a-photo and exit-through-the-gift-shop, it seems quite successful! We had a great ride, looking all around, and the boys were a bit sad that the neighboring fun-park in the Volkspraeter was closed for the Winter. The weather was reasonably clear, and we could see from the mountains to the new centre and the old town. Here was a spinning globe outside the planetarium. To see Europe, head up on the platform behind. To see down under, you had to head, well, down under! One of our many tours by foot took us to this park - lots of fun dashing about in the snow, chasing the poor ducks and pigeons, running on the iced over lake (only after we saw lots of others doing it)Johann Strauss monument.  From the Volkspraeter Wheel, we wandered through the Volkspark and crossed the canal heading back into town. A couple of happy boys after dashing around the park, jumping on the big chunks of snow left on the sides of the paths from the snow-sweeping trucks. This is the 'HundertwasserWein' - a building designed by the famous artist/architect Hundertwasser. The boys thought it was fabulous and wanted to go and see the Hundertwasser museum nearby. Here they are below on the stairs in the courtyard of the museum, with a few typical Hundertwasser features. The boys loved the exhibition, and think they can draw some pictures in 'Hundertwasser style'! Here are the boys at the Shoenbrunn Schloss. They were amazed at the size of the gardens, and were really interested little tourists inside. They asked lots of 'interesting' questions and discovered some interesting facts. For example "If there were 15 children, why are there only 11 in that picture?" and "Why do they all have the same face?", and by the end, the whole tour group had adopted them, and asked them lots of question about where they lived and other things. We set ourselves the task of using public transport to get to an attraction in the Vienna woods that we thought the boys would love, The SeeGrotte, the biggest underground lake in Europe. It was a gypsum mine until 20 million litres of water flooded it, and it is now a lake! In WWII, the fusilage of the Hienkel 162 (one of the first jet planes) was assembled in here. It was deep underground and the Allies couldn't bomb that deep. The fuselages were shipped to Wien airport and put together there. Below is a sign showing the dimensions of the Seegrotte.

One of the many dark caves on the huge underground lake. We walked into the mine, and had a boat tour. Really interesting stuff! It was only us, and a young Italian couple on the tour. It was warmer underground (constant 9 degrees) than the -5 above ground! Here are the boys in the entrance tunnel - everything went in and out through here - the mine trucks and also the plane fuselages! The kids were about the right height to work in here. We also visited the Butterfly House at the Hofburg Schloss - the kids loved it! It was a great place to remove hats gloves jackets and scarves and get warm after walking in the snow! Once again, I had no control over the camera, with both boys having a turn to tour the Butterfly house and capture things from their point of view. Overall Vienna was great. We were there for New Years Eve, but the boys were so tired from all the walking and touring that they 'crashed' by 9pm. At midnight, all of the fireworks sounded like a mixture of small arms fire and larger mortars and rockets.  Some colourful fireworks in the sky, but the Viennese seemed to favour throwing crackers at each other, similar to last years experience with the Germans at the Ostsee.  We caught the plane back from Vienna and are now planning our next trips. Happy New Year.

Prague

Prague - a beautiful and expensive city. 

Just after Christmas we caught the train from Berlin to Prague for 3 days.

The weather was cold - but without snow or rain. The Old town is not very big, but there are lots of interesting and beautiful things to see!

St Vitus' cathedral.
Cameron really showed a flair for digital photography - he would only hand the camera back when his hands got so cold that he would have to put gloves on! He certainly has an eye for it,some very interesting shots. The good thing with digital cameras is he can take as many photos as he likes, they can be quietly edited/deleted later. The stained glass inside the St Vitus' cathedral - inside the castle. Spectacular! We saw this both on a bus tour, and also when we covered the city by foot. We guess that we walked 12-15km, each day. A lot more if you count all the side tours into souvenir shops. As Cameron asked "Why is baby Jesus wearing a propeller hat???" - anyone have an answer? This is one of the statues on the Charles Bridge. A view to the castle, with the Charles bridge in the foreground. Enjoying a sausage in bread for lunch in one of the town squares. There was still a bit of a Christmas market going and the sausages smelt and tasted delicious! Here is a tip for Theo and any other builders. If you stuff it up, get a good painter! Note that 4 of the windows are painted on (not real) to achieve symmetry. This was up near the palace -really interesting relief in the stone-work created by etching. Did I say cold? The water wheel was having a little trouble because it was iced over. This is one of Alexander's photos. In a groovy cafe that we stopped for morning tea (and to slightly defrost!) Alexander found this 'Rudolph' on the back wall. Great coffee, and nice to feel my fingers and nose again...(wish we could say the same thing for Rudolph) Not quite Buckingham Palace.. At the palace, the ceremonial guards were on duty, and Alexander and Cameron thought this would be a great photo - standing at attention with him! We met some fellow travellers (with 2 girls) who told us about the Barbie exhibition. Cameron and Alexander's response was "no way - you won't get us in there!" We happened to find the exhibition, and we offered the boys all sorts of bribery to go in, but there having none of it. From the castle looking back towards the old town. Here is an example of Cameron's photography from within the castle. It is the St George's basilica with Christmas tree in the foreground. Alexander and Cameron in St Wenceslas Square, on the horse statue. We did a 3 hour bus tour of Prague the first day we arrived. We were amazed to find out that all the statues around Prague (and there are many), are all replicas. The originals are in the museum for preservation purposes from the acid rain from Communism times. The 'famous' Astronomical clock on the front of the town hall (Alexander's photo, I think!). Notice the two small doors on the front? We were told that there was a display on the hour - so we duly got a table in the coffee shop opposite, got the boys hot chocolates and waited 5-10 minutes for the top of the hour. Tip to future Prague visitors - don't blink or you will miss it! Some 'Saints' whiz by behind the doors for a few seconds, the show ends, and the bill comes for the most expensive coffees in Prague! Ever wanted time to run backward? Here is a synagogue (Prague has a very interesting Jewish history) with two clocks - the top clock runs clockwise. The lower clock has Jewish numerals and runs anti clockwise. Prague has the oldest Synagogue in Europe. It has the largest collection of Jewish archive material in all of Europe. During WW2, many Jewish items were brought here for the purpose of turning the Synagogue into the "Museum of an Extinct Race" once the war was over. Scary stuff! Here are two excellent tourists on Charles Bridge with the castle on the hill in the background. We had a wonderful time in Prague, and it is well worth a visit.

Phil - Chicago via Finland

Christmas is fast approaching, and so is the end of my travel schedule for this year. 

This second last trip for the year (I have to go to Cologne for a few days next week) was really interesting 

First stop was Helsinki, where I'm sure I never saw daylight. I arrived late at night, was up early to take a 2 hour train ride to Turku (where our company has a factory) to have a some meetings and a site tour and watch the robots dance! The technology that goes into production lines is quite amazing!.

I transferred back to Helsinki by train, and even though we were rolling through the Finnish countryside, it was all dark.

After some further meetings in Helsinki, I flew to Chicago - my first visit to the home of the Blues Brothers.  Nicole, however, sees Chicago as the home of 'ER' and asked if I saw George Clooney anywhere. 

Chicago is a great city, I was really impressed. The Euro is killing the dollar, and I was able to get in an hour's shopping (ended up with new ice skates for the boys!). 

 

The meetings were really interesting (do I sound surprised?), but I was really sad to be away for the Christmas concerts and other events at home.  For some reason I missed putting them in my diary. Usually the personal events get put in the calendar first, and I work trips around them. I have some video footage to enjoy (but it is not the same, is it?). At least I convinced Nicole not to decorate the tree without me!

 

Huge snowstorms shut in the Eastern Seaboard, but luckily, Chicago missed it all and I got out in time - and glad to be home.

 

I am so looking forward to the Christmas break!

Phil in Shanghai

I had a business trip to Shanghai and London. There was an option for us to move to Shanghai at one stage before we took this posting to Berlin, so I was keen to finally visit! 

The city really took me by surprise - it was a really interesting place, very modern (in the parts where we stayed), dynamic and full of life. The Bund had great restaurants, bars and nightclubs (very western!). I think I have eaten the best meal of my life there - at a place called Jade on Jade, on the 36th floor of the Shangrila Hotel - French/Chinese fusion -  fantastic! Although the traffic in peak hour would drive me nuts!

Lots of business meetings, but I was able to squeeze in a bit of bargain shopping and had a quick look around, including the French quarter and the Jade Buddha temple, and a great Ancient Chinese Museum.

Finished off the trip by flying to London for a 3 day course, and finally back home.

Phil - a few quick trips

It has been a busy time for work related travels. 

Last week I was off to Tehran for 3 days. I had some serious doubts about going whilst the UK marines were held hostage (I didn't want to be in Tehran if Tony Blair decided to send a couple of out of date tridents over the horizon), but with this settled, I had no problems about going. 

Don't believe everything you read in the press. I felt safer in Tehran that I do in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and parts of London. The traffic is more dangerous than anything. The book of road rules is obviously a 'how NOT to' guide! 

It is a city that sits at between 1400 and 1800 meters, on the side of a mountain. There was snow on the mountain and it was 27 degrees in town! They even have ski resorts, but I would not personally recommend them based upon the quality of the other amenities! The people were great, and there is massive opportunity for business if you can work with the interesting dynamics of the regime. It was a hectic trip but really worthwhile. 

This week I had a flying visit to Moscow. Two days and it snowed on Monday and was about 11 degrees on Tuesday. Business in Russia is again interesting and challenging, and it fun working with the local people to get their businesses to work better. Whilst I was in Moscow, Boris Yeltsin died. There is a very wide opinion amongst the Russians about whether he was a hero or a villain, and the reporting was very interesting. 

I can imagine the the Vodka industry is now forecasting a sharp downturn in sales.... I am now back in Berlin until Sunday, when I am off again.

Phil and business travel

I am often asked "With all your international travel, it must be great - seeing interesting places, meeting interesting people, enjoying the leisure of air travel"

 Unfortunately, this is nothing like reality! 

Take my last trip, to Kuala Lumpur:

I had to leave on Saturday morning, which meant I had no weekend time with Nicole and the boys. 

My plane out of Frankfurt was delayed. We eventually took off, and somewhere over Eastern Europe we turned back to Frankfurt for repairs. 

We waited, and took off just after midnight. 

Connection change in Bangkok and finally arrived in KL early in the morning. 

Waiting at the baggage claim, no bags arrive. 

Off to the office to make a claim. 

Finally reach the hotel at 2 am local time. 

I had been travelling for 32 hours and been in the same clothes for 36 hours. No bags = no change of clothes.

At 2 am in the morning, I am washing my jocks and socks in the basin in the bathroom. I couldn't stand the thought of wearing them again unwashed the next morning! 

The doorbell rings, the hotel offers me a present.  A new clean polo shirt to get me through the next day (fabulous service!) 

Up at 7:00am for work. 

Still no sight of bags, I have a dinner appointment and I must buy new clothes. no shoes to fit (obviously Malaysian men have small feet and small...)but buy jocks, socks, shirt, slacks and a belt.

After dinner my bags finally arrived. It is amazing at how excited you can be over seeing you own toothbrush and undies again!

I speak to the airline, who are not too willing to refund the price of the clothes I had to purchase, or offer decent compensation. 

I make an appointment and go downtown to visit the manager. Finally resolve to pay exactly what I spent on the clothes and not a Ringgit more! 

Meetings all week. Finally I get home and realise that I left my MP3 player and headphones on the plane on the way in (I was so damned tired, it was not surprising!). 

Emailed them from Bangkok to see if there was any hope of getting them back. 

I worked and slept on the plane - only to find that when I got home, I had no feeling in my left hand and massive pains in my right arm. 2 days later I had the pinched nerve in my neck released, the arm / hand is coming back to normal. 

Back in Berlin, and try to get my body in sync with a different timezone. Sleeping in my bed. Home with my family. Who wouldn't want to travel for business?

 Afternote 1: Some colleagues also attending the meetings in KL had to fly back to their starting point in Sweden after an engine dropped off (no joke!) their plane. Turning back is not so bad.

 

Afternote 2: With some incredible luck, the MP3 and the headphones have been located and are on route to Frankfurt as we speak. I had given them up as lost so this is a wonderful surprise! 

Afternote 3: Time to pack the bags for the next trip!

Phil -in South Africa

Unfortunately I had to leave Nicole and the boys in Australia, and head off to Singapore and South Africa for work. Both were great trips (business-wise) and also enjoyable from a personal perspective! 

In particular, I was fortunate that a colleague took me camping to the Vaal River, which is about 1.5 hours drive out of Jo'burg. It was the middle of winter, nights were freezing. I had bought some woolen longjohns in Australia and some suitable jackets, thankfully these kept me warm.  

It was really relaxing, the company was great and we had a Braai (BBQ in South African parlance!). It felt like camping back in Australia. We cruised on the river, had a few drinks, and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Then it was back to Midrand for 5 very long, but worthwhile days of business, then back to Berlin to see the family again!

Phil in Sofia.

We had a series of meetings scheduled in Sofia with our local Bulgarian team. The meetings went very well, but the things that happened on this trip certainly made it one to remember! 

Firstly, the plane from Tegel was delayed, so I was re-routed through Munich. I thought this was a good idea, until we were held at our parking spot for 40 minutes due to a massive thunderstorm closing the airport. We finally taxied out to the runway, only for another front to sweep in and close the airport for another half an hour. The planes in front of us had to return to their stations to refuel, so we were the first plane out when the storm passed. It was a very rough flight out. 

We were picked up from the hotel for our meeting the next morning, and we had a really productive morning. For lunch, we were taken to a local cafe. The staff took forever, and when they were asked to hurry up, the meals arrived pretty much straight away. I had ordered a chicken dish with a spicy sauce. When I fished into the sauce, the first piece of chicken that I pulled out was completely raw... and the second and the third! To speed up, all they had done was put raw chicken onto the plate, then cover it in the sauce I was going to have! I was pleased I hadn't eaten any of it! We refused to pay for anything and the locals ordered me a sandwich from a little deli to eat during the afternoon meeting. 

That evening we went to a local restaurant, wonderful Bulgarian food. It was interesting that there were many large guys with ear-pieces in, wandering around whilst we were eating. When we asked, we were told that this was the restaurant was owned by one of the biggest mafia guys in Bulgaria! Not sure if I felt too safe if he needed such protection.

We were dropped back at the hotel where we got changed, and then headed to Flannigan's to watch the football. Following the match, we went to the casino where we were served free drinks and played blackjack until about 3:45 am, then headed back to the hotel! 

Due to the success of the 1st day, we were finished by lunchtime on the 2nd day. As the local manager knew my colleague like to play golf, we were given her car and sent to a new golf course just out of town. I get so few opportunities on these business trips for recreational activities, this was a great chance. I had not played golf on a course for about 9 years, so I didn't expect too much! We had a great time - as we teed off, some big thunder clouds rushed over the mountains. Lots of lightning and thunder all around, but the sky stayed clear above us, until we reached the 8th. After teeing off the lightning was getting closer and closer, we decided to collect our golf balls and head for the clubhouse. 

Our timing was nearly perfect! As we approached the clubhouse the skies opened. With less than 20m to go, running flat out, it was as if someone poured buckets of water over us and we were absolutely drenched! We were also trapped in the clubhouse as the massive storm rolled through - so a few beers and a sandwich helped us pass the time. The storm eventually cleared and we headed back to the office, to get changed into some dry clothes and head home!

A farewell party for 'Schering'

After a massive week of World Cup, Friday night was the annual Schering summer party. I had thought that I might skip it, and let my voice (and perhaps my liver) recover ready for Sunday. I had to keep in mind that I was to lecture to an MBA course on Monday, and with no voice on Thursday, resting it on Friday might get me over the line (depending, of course, on Sunday's match!). 

However, a few trusted colleagues said not to miss this party,  and it was well worth the effort. On arrival, I was handed a drink card - 8 free beers or 4 free spirits drinks! The place was enormous, but by 10:00 it was packed with THOUSANDS of people. Early on there were massive buffets of food, and the Schering employees descended. I had eaten at home with the family before I came out, so I just got to work on the drink card. 

Inside it was hot, humid, smokey and loud - but a great time. In the end the drink cards didn't matter, as I can up with some 'novel' methods of securing free drinks and at one point was topping up our group's drinks with a bottles of Rum and Vodka that I had 'procured'. Lots of dancing, chatting and having a good time. Interestingly, this will be the last such party we will have under the Schering name - it appears that the company has now been successfully acquired by Bayer, and next year I hope there will be a Bayer-Schering-Pharma event to rival this one! 

I snuck away a bit early and was home in bed by 3:00am. I think Saturday will be a rest day!

Phil in Turkey

After a full week back in Berlin, it was time to hit the skies again. Friday afternoon I flew to Turkey. There was an important congress on and I was specifically invited by my Turkish colleagues, so how could I refuse?

It was in Antalya, which is the 'Turkish Riviera', sitting at the bottom of Turkey on the Mediterranean. Nice and warm, very much like Sicily. I arrived after midnight, only to find that the planned pick-up service had already gone (plane was 10 minutes late, isn't that enough of an excuse?) 

After wandering around trying to find them for 20 minutes (no, they really were not there!), I tried to get back into the terminal to use the cash machine. No go. The security guards wouldn't let me. After a bit of discussion and arm waving, I finally got in - only to find that the cash machine didn't work! So, outside, find a taxi, and told it is a flat fare of 50 Euros. However, it was a long way and 50 Euros was probably justified. 

I finally got to the hotel after 1am. Next morning was a sleep in morning, then off for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea. 

 

Following this, I met my colleagues for lunch, then 'baby-sat' the important speaker for the afternoon before the big congress in the evening. It all went well, and I don't think I fell asleep more than twice.

Sunday was up early, quick breakfast and off the the airport. For a tourist resort, it was huge. and pumped the people though. Glad to be home in the afternoon, and went straight to our Sonia and Alan's apartment, where Nicole and the boys were, to settle in and have a few beers.

Phil in Palermo

As part of a European Business group, we have representatives from the major EU countries (France, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany) some smaller ones too (Portugal, Hungary and Turkey) as well as those of us from the regional office. 

Every second meeting we 'escape' from Berlin and one of the countries host the meeting. This time, it was Italy's turn - so we went to Sicily! Palermo is the capital of Sicily, and a reasonable place for flight connections for all (via Milan airport). We arrived at the hotel at various stages on Monday - I arrived after midnight. I think the hotel must have been an old palace - the place was really impressive and was very much a hang out for the 'Gucci' set. No wonder they would not extend my stay when I asked if they had any family rooms. I think it is basically a no kids type of resort

Meeting was very lively (as always) and the group are great company, so we have very entertaining nights out. Being in Sicily, we went to a couple of superb little restaurants - a local trattoria, and a seafood restaurant on the seaside. Bonissimo! 

 

When the meeting was over, I transferred to the resort where Nicole and the kids would join me for a long weekend. I have been travelling so much that this really would be a great chance to relax and spend some time together!

Phil in Cairo

I flew out on Sunday to Cairo. It was my third visit, and each time I find the city fascinating, really vibrant and I always enjoy outstanding hospitality from my hosts. 

 

Third visit and third time to the Pyramids! 

The first time was a visit with a tour guide (a professor of Egyptology), the second was dinner in the desert, and this time I went to the 'sound and light' show. Using lighting and lasers, they tell the history of the pyramids and the Sphinx. The lighting makes the Sphinx appear to be narrating. Very loud commentary, and very '60's.

We then had a seafood dinner in a restaurant nearby. When the lights were on, the pyramids looked so close you could touch them. 

Work went well, but at some point I let my guard down and ate something I shouldn't have. I came home with a dose of 'spruhwurst' [ a German slang term for 'spraying sausage' - that is diarrhoea]. It first hit me in a shop. I asked for their toilet and raced against the clock up the stairs, through the back of the store and found the toilet.  Ahh relief. Only then did I notice NO DUNNY PAPER! After that explosion, it was really needed. Big problem! This is why I don't travel anywhere without a pack of 'babywipes' in my bag. I can't think what I would have done without them (maybe bought a few ties I would never wear...??)

 

Tough weekend to follow, but lesson learned. DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN with the food.

After 18 months of travelling to the most exotic (and dirty) places, I have never had a dose.. until now. . I have one week in Berlin before I head off again. Hopefully my innards will be back to normal!

Phil having Fun? in Istanbul

Who said international business travel was glamorous, or fun?? 

I spent three days in Istanbul, and it went something like this: 

Flight delayed because of security. 

Arrived in Istanbul and was run into by a taxi (good thing I bounce!) 

Took a one hour taxi ride to the hotel. 

The taxi driver would fail his licence in Tehran or Cairo, he was that bad. He was very caring and offered us all a cigarette before he lit up himself! 

Got to the hotel and felt nauseous for the next two hours. 

Dinner was fine. I found a great restaurant and enjoyed really good local cuisine. We were told to go by taxi, which took 20 minutes and cost 7 Euros. We later found out it should have cost about 3, and we walked back to the hotel in less than half the time. 

Then, in a 'taste of home', I discovered a Gloria Jeans Coffee shop. I ordered a large caramel latte, to remind me of Sydney. I emailed Nicole about GJ's, and I think she was green with envy as this was where she 'hung out' with her girlfriends in Sydney. 

The second day, I lost a button off my shirt about 5 minutes before an appointment (found a sewing kit for running repairs), then I lost one off my trousers (not through putting on too much weight, mind you!), then my belt buckle broke. I managed running repairs as required. 

That evening we caught a bus from the hotel to dinner. It took the bus 40 minutes to go the same distance I had walked that morning in 15 minutes! The bus took us to the Bosporous, where we had a boat cruise to the dinner venue. 

At dinner I had red wine spilt over me by a colleague.  This was just before I found out that the two most important guests didn't arrive because the organisers had not sent a car for them! Big apologies were now called for (I had walked to their hotel earlier and personally delivered invitations) 

The flight home was packed. The people directly behind me on the first leg spent most of the flight complaining about the bad service (poor air hosties were going flat out!).

There was a screaming infant on the second flight. If the child had a cold or something, it would have been no fun at all with blocked ears. As it was, it was little fun for the rest of us. 

Arrived home at 11.00pm. 

One day with the family then off to Cairo on Sunday. Hopefully I have a somewhat 'luckier' experience there.

Phil, 4 airports, 4 countries, 3 airlines and a full days work

For a work project, I had to visit Sofia in Bulgaria and Bucharest in Romania. 

My first day consisted of 4 airports, 4 countries and 3 airlines (Tegel, Germany to Sofia, Bulgaria with Bulgarian Air; Sofia to Vienna with Austrian and Vienna to Bucharest with Tarom), as well as a full day's work in Sofia.  It was incredibly hectic, especially when we had to pass through security twice in Vienna!. 

 This was my third trip to Sofia, but my first trip to Bucharest. Although I had no time to look around (except out of car windows on the way to and from the office), Bucharest looks like an interesting and fast growing city. The roads are awful, though! Whilst I was in Sofia/Bucharest, there was a great deal of spring flooding of the Danube, with vast amounts of farmland and countryside affected. The Danube runs between Bulgaria and Romania, and I didn't see any direct impact of the flooding in either of the capitals. 

I stayed overnight in Bucharest and in the evening went out to dinner and to watch the UEFA cup (soccer) semi-final between Bucharesti Steiua and Middlesborough on a big screen. It was a massive event in Bucharest to have a local team get so far in this competition. There was great excitement, they won 1:0. 

It goes to show that no matter what the code, there is a passion for football all over the planet. One of the things that is really different to Australia in Central Europe is the smoking policy. At our table, we had at least 60% smokers (and this is Pharmaceutical industry, with lots of qualified doctors on the staff!). Smoking is allowed everywhere, and there little chance for a non-smoker to avoid it. The thing is the volume of smoking - it is not just one or two cigarettes per person, but I think most on the table had between 5 and 10 cigarettes whilst we were in the restaurant. Left me smelling like an ash-tray.

Phil in Sofia

I flew straight from Barcelona to Sofia (via Milan). and the contrast was clear. 

From Gaudi to beaten-up soviet style apartment blocks, and roads with enormous pot holes after the harsh winter. In fact, one of my colleagues had to rush away from a dinner because his mother-in-law had flipped his wife's car (with his baby daughter luckily in a proper restraint in the back seat) after clipping a huge pot-hole. When I asked him afterwards he said "My daughter is fine, the car needs work, and I don't give a F&&% about the mother in law!" 

 Had a great trip, and finished up all the work in time to fly home and see the boys in the school production of Hansel and Gretel.

Phil in Barcelona

We ran a scientific symposium in Barcelona over the weekend. It was really hard work, but the results were fantastic. Luckily, at the end of the program we had a city tour for the speakers. The Schering team and 5 of the top specialists went on a minibus for a tour of the city.  All of the speakers were really great, and the local professor acted as our tour guide - and it was fantastic. 

One of the advantages was that we had a tour of the historic "Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau" hospital, the second oldest working hospital in the world and a World Heritage location, which is normally closed to 'tourists'. The buildings are spectacular (a series of pavilions) and it is interesting to see how you can put a modern hospital into such a setting, that dates back to 1401. 

Barcelona was really interesting, and the Gaudi work really impressed me. Before I went to Barcelona, I thought Gaudi was some guy who had lost his ruler. After seeing his work, I am now really impressed by what he achieved. The apartment building he created, the 'La Pedrera', has a small museum to his work and when I walked through the apartments and visited the museum, my opinion and understanding of his work improved dramatically. 

 After a long (very long) winter in Berlin, the weather was great. I had a wonderful visit and would love to return to really discover the place.

Phil in Bollywood!

Phil here. This week I went to India to discuss the business with our agent there. 

The economy is growing fast, there are 1.2 billion people, and many social, cultural and economic challenges to marketing products there! 

 Do you know what a Lakh is? It is hard discussing business when they use different terms for amounts than I was used to (although by the end of day one, I was using Lakhs like a local!) 

We arrived in Mumbai and it was HOT. . We made our way to the hotel. Mumbai looks very interesting at night. The traffic is chaos, Tuk-tuks  are everywhere. Car horns bleeping all the time. I'm sure that you need to be able to press your horn 100 times in a minute to get your license here - there certainly seems to be no emphasis on following the road rules! Each day it was one hour in traffic to and from the office.

Excellent hospitality from our hosts - lots of fantastic Indian food, and one night we went to a Bollywood movie! 'Rand a Basanti' - very interesting, but about as subtle as Les Patterson (typical of Bollywood movies!). I even had a chat with a Bollywood actor who was in the hotel gym at the same time as me - it seems like the hotel we stayed in was the place to be seen in Mumbai. I think he was a bit surprised when I asked him 'so what do you do?' - maybe I was supposed to recognise him! Nice bloke, though. 

I didn't take any photos (we didn't see any of the major sites, and I saw nothing I thought was worth photographing on our long car trips out of a car window!).  I flew out at 1.40 am after 3 full days of meetings, and was glad to get back home (to snowstorms!) 

India is a remarkable place, full of amazing contrasts. I would love to get out of the big cities and really see the place - maybe next time! In case you are wondering, a Lakh is 100,000. a Krohn (no idea of the spelling of this one!) is 10 million. Go figure!

Phil in Budapest

Phil had a meeting in Budapest: 

 It was my second visit to Budapest, although this time there was no chance to look around. I flew in with a colleague in the evening and we went straight to the hotel. 

On the way we drove along the Danube, past the famous chain bridge and the sites of central Budapest - very beautifully lit in the winter's night. Looking out the window of the taxi was the extent of our sight-seeing! We had a good meeting, then raced to the airport. 

 Time for one can of Beer with my colleague at the airport then onto the plane home. Next time I might get time to take some photos to stick in the blog.

Phil in St Petersburg

We had a regional meeting in St Petersburg which was supposed to be -30 Celsius. It never got that low (only -5 to -10). I packed extra warm clothes that I didn't wear, as my winter clothes for Berlin were fine - in fact it was much colder in Berlin (about -15 to -20 Celsius all week). We had a really good meeting, which kept me busy all through the week. 

We had some social activities and a little free time, so I took the opportunity to have a look around - it is an amazing and incredibly beautiful city. So much colour, history and architectural beauty.

 I think a visit in June would be even better! I expected a city more like Moscow, but the strong European influence (Italian, French, German) really came through. The city has so much history to see, from Peter and Catherine the great, Rasputin, the siege of Leningrad and the cruise ship Aurora, which fired the signal shot to start the 1917 revolution which led to the 'Soviet Era' of Russia. 

We went to the ballet and saw Swan Lake. I was expecting it to be good, but it was nothing short of magnificent. Both the show itself, and the athleticism of the dancers was really amazing. We also visited Catherine Palace and saw the amber room, and then for 'team building', had an afternoon of outdoor activities (drinking vodka and playing team games in the snow). Quite a bit of fun! In the end it was a long and busy week, but I would recommend a visit to anyone.

Phil was given a fuzzy hat, the thickest coat we have ever seen, and a pair of enormous felt boots. The boys think these boots will be great for next St Nicklaus Day (December 6th). 

On December 6th you leave your clean boots on your doorstep , and St Nicklaus puts lollies and chocolates in your boots if you have been good. If you have been bad, he will put a stick in your boots instead. So the boys have claimed one boot each for St Nicklaus Day this year, in the hope it will be full to the top with chocolate!