The Lyorn's Den

After the WorldCon ended, and a lazy Sunday evening, I had three more days to spend in Helsinki, go sightseeing and eat cake.

( Monday: Suomenlinna )

( Tuesday: Seurasaari Open Air Museum )

( Wednesday: This and that )

( Travel and food )

( Thursday: Homeward bound )

( All in all )

I'm now planning the next vacation, probably going hiking in October. Something simple.
And in December, the new train route to Berlin will be ready (one very much hopes!) and delays and weirdness will be a thing of the past. (And everyone will get a pony!)

Last time I was on a business trip in Kosice, I wished that I could go there some time when it was warm. ( I got my wish. )

(Posted Aug 30th, backdated.)

I didn't pick up the co-worker from the airport, because he had ordered a taxi, and I wasn't too unhappy about it, because it was cold outside and I was in my hotel room, eating pastries and writing.

The following week, the weather became very nice. Work slogged along OK. Wednesday evening we went into town, into a pub with a basement that turned into a disco at 10 pm. Before it had been quite comfy and I had just stopped it with the beer and started with the whisky when the noise began and put an end to all talk, because it is hard enough to carry on a conversation when you do not really know each other and have to talk in English (which half of the party is not very fluent in), even without having to lip-read.

I left around half past eleven and walked home because it seemed completely silly to take a taxi, and it was mild and windy outside. I like windy. I hadn't felt completely safe inside that place, not being able to understand the language always makes me feel very insecure, and it spreads to my whole mood. Outside I felt fine.

The story is now missing only its final chapter, which will tie up the lose ends and set up everyone for the next instalment. I also started picking up some stories from another cycle and tried to decide how finished they were and what else they needed.

I read "Through the Language Glass" by Guy Deutscher, which R___ had given me for my birthday, and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", which I liked, and started on "For the Win" by Cory Doctorow, ate pastries with plum jam, and was, all in all, extremely happy with the week.

Friday afternoon, the co-worker had to go catch his plane again, while my train would not leave until 10 in the evening. We went for dinner in a kind of posh place, where I had duck breast (very good) and potato-chestnut-puree (heavenly), and some Czech beer, and then we went to the train station. My bag weighed a ton and I was quite content to let the men carry it.

I got a sleeper compartment to myself again, wasn't tired yet, and spent two hours listening to music and looking out of the window. The sky was full of stars, and close to midnight we were driving through snow-covered mountains. Finally I nodded off. This time, I had switches off my cell phones, and the only thing that disturbed me sleep was that it was a little too well-heated in the compartment, and I could not turn it off.

In the morning, the conductor brought coffee and then we were in Prague.

Prague is so close. One forgets, or one has never learned. In my mind, there is still the shadow of the Iron Curtain, blocking the way. But we passed the old border checkpoints without even slowing down, and at half past 12 I was home.

I am very glad I had that weekend. It would have been very unsatisfactory being abroad and not seeing anything but the hotel, work, and the bus to take me there. My boss said that I had been very frugal, and next time we should see if I couldn't travel first class. I don't mind being frugal, but I don't mind first class, either. And I wouldn't mind at all to go to Kosice again, but if I don't have to go there for business it's maybe a little far. Though R___ might be interested. Prague, Bratislava, some hiking in the mountains, Kosice, and the night train back? Sounds like a plan.

At home, everything was fine. There was a heap of junk mail but no bills. I did a lot of laundry, overslept on Sunday and so spend the day at home instead of hiking in the hills -- fooled by the weather forecast, the rain didn't start until late afternoon.

And now I have a lot of reports to write, not least of them my expense report. Oh, joy. :-S

Now that I am home again, I am going to un-lock the previous posts, here and here.

I've been in Kosice (in Slovakia) for a few days now on a business trip, goal is to create a twin of the system we are running in the office at home, and get it running. Which is a slogging, two-steps-forward-one-step-back task, not like that "being thrown in headfirst trying to make sense of stuff" that I had in the US. This time, it's the local team who are thrown headfirst into the deep end, after running only a quiet outpost in the shallows for some years.

The work is OK, though I wish the sun wouldn't set so soon (not even Spring equinox yet, plus, being about 10 degrees to the east, sunrise and sunset come about 40 minutes earlier than at home), or I could manage to leave work before 6 p.m. some day. Maybe tomorrow. And even if not, the weekend is upcoming, and I fervently hope that the local guys are less enthusiastic about working on the weekends than my co-workers in California were.

The guys are a little over-protective, which, together with the work, and not knowing the language, is very exhausting. A bus ride and a walk do wonders to clear my brain, being given a ride in a car, not so much. Also it means that I have very little opportunity to use even the half-dozen words of Slovak that I try to memorise.

The weather is cold but sunny. Even the day I woke up to find new snow had fallen was sunny. I'm glad I checked the weather forecast and brought my winter clothes, though! The city is a little broken down around the edges, with big holes in the street and some large modern ruins standing around, there is some shabbiness and broken backyards, but the streets are clean enough for Switzerland, and the old city centre is quite shiny (as far as it can be determined in the dark). There are a lot of German chain stores in the shopping malls, which feels very strange.

My hotel is about 3 km from my place of work, which makes for an 11-minute-bus ride. I leave the hotel at 8 and sit at my desk at twenty past.

But I am tired. I have slept four nights here, and two of them I was in bed around eight and slept straight for 11 hours. The only night I didn't was when the co-workers took me to a pub, and, well this night, so far. I feel that language takes a big part in this. It exhausts my brain, and makes going into the city after work a task, so I don't and let after-work-exhaustion crash me instead of overcoming it with a walk and a cup of tea or some hanging out in bookstores.

Getting here was quite a journey. We were joking at work that it would be faster to travel to India. There is no direct train, no direct flight. If you do not want to fly, you take the fast bus to Prague (a little under four hours), and then a night train, which leaves in Prague shortly before 10 p.m. and arrives in Kosice at half past seven in the morning. A place in a sleeper car is affordable and quite comfortable, and I would have slept well if my damned cell phones hadn't rung every two hours to inform me that I was now entering a different network. Czech, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, and Slovak again, wtf? Next time I'll switch them off.

I was picked up at the station by a co-worker and driven to the hotel. It's a nice hotel. I have one of the three-star "economy" rooms, which is large by a little sparsely furnished, and as it is on the upper floor, the windows go to the sky. Also, no comfy chair. But it is clean and non-smelly, the staff are very friendly, the heating is efficient, and there is sufficient hot water in the shower. The one thing I sorely miss is an electric kettle.

For Saturday, I plan sightseeing and some shopping, and eat some cake. Sunday, I'll really need to stretch my legs and rest my brain. Current plan is to go to the zoo. After that, have dinner in my hotel's posh restaurant, and at 11 p.m., maybe take a taxi to the airport to pick up a co-worker from home who has to set up another part of the system. Or maybe the guy can manage on his own. But picking him up would give me another excuse to be out on my own and make me feel competent. We'll see.

Meanwhile, Snow is looking after the cats, and she tells me that they are very concerned about the state of things, and very cute while they are at it.

I've had two weeks something of vacation, and went to the sea with flederkatz. Came back last Thursday.

( The long version )

( Interlude: Movie review -- Ridley Scott's Robin Hood )

The rest of my vacation I spent doing the washing and, surprise, surprise, wasting too much time on the internet. But at least I wrote a story, which is with the betas at the moment. It's based on a true occurrence.... kind of.

ETA: Story is done.

This is about four times as long as I feel it should be.

Part 1

( Second week: Porthleven to St Ives )

( Third Week I: St Ives )

( Third Week II: Cardiff )

( Going home )

Part 3

Arrived home at 1 pm this night. I'm now moving a couple of holiday posts from "friends" to "public", and start writing a more detailed entry or ten.

Sitting in the same internet cafe in Penzance, but this time I came here by bus over from Pendeen. I guess I'm done with walking for now, especially as it started to drizzle. But I had a few more fun days and one brilliant one since the last posting (and one moment of far too much adrenaline, climbing some rocks and then, like a cat on a tree, having a very hard time of getting down again).

7 kilograms for the rucksack, two for the handbag (which has the books). I rule!

...of course, as long as I have my tickets, my wallet and my contact lenses, everything else can be bought, improvised or done without. But I expect I won't have to.

Booked my flight! Looked up a train connection! Now all that's missing is the train ticket and an mp3 player and I'm all ready to go.

Has anyone on my tiny friends list tips, hints, warnings or helpful advice for going hiking in Cornwall? Should I take the (heavy, non-digital, but quite good) camera?