New Years Eve in Mont Tremblant, Canada

We had a nice last day in Mont Tremblant and this day ended in New Years celebration. The mountain was crowded, restaurants were crowded so we decided to spend a pieceful evening and night in our condominium and watch TV to see how New York Time Square let the big celebration ball to come down 100th time in its history. Today, on Tuesday, we are on our way back to Montreal. It is going to be intereting to see if the snowstorm that is expected to hit Montreal with 15 centimeters is going to get in our way.

Mont Tremblant in a sunny Sunday

Today, the weather was exceptionally beautiful and a perfect weather for skiing. One of the things that is very noticable is the friendliness of service that one gets here in Mont Tremblant. People smile even if every place is overly crowded. Today, I had to fight to get my parking spot.... That has to be fixed here in Mont Tremblant.

Our hotel Wyndham Cap Tremblant - very nice choice

We reserved our hotel cia an agent without really knowing where we were going to end with. The whole hill is operated with huge Wyndham condominiums (http://www.wyndhamcaptremblant.com) and our one room with a large livingroom and kitchen was a very pleasant surprise.

I do have to admit that I have made a decision to not use Wyndham anymore as I was very badly treated in Wyndham downtown Chicago during December 2007. Not only did they let me know that I should not have made my reservation through Expedia.com, but they also caused me headache in multiple different ways. I decided that they do not need my business. Hilton, Marriott or Holiday Inn brands are my choices during 2008. I do not have to take any crap from my hotel specifically as I spend half of my life on the road.

Mont Tremblant, Quebec

We spent the first evening visiting the skiing center Mont Tremblant, which is architecturally very nice with lots of shops and restaurants. All of the hotels are by the lifts and I highly recommend the use of these hotels as the parking of your own car is horrifying, if not catastropic. If you get too late to the slopes, you are not going to have a parking space..... I can not understand why they have not figured out a better way.

Our car trip to Tremblant mountain

We rented a car for a few days so we could get to Tremblant for some skiing. This mountain is around 2 hours from Montreal (direction northwest). We took highway 15 and after 45 minutes a pretty scenic road 117 that eventually came back to highway 15 and then we were almost at Tremblant. The weather has been around 0 Centigrades almost every day with some snow and rain as well.

Chinatown in Montreal: you have to explore it

we wanted to chech out an authentic Chinese restaurant in Montreal and the hotel suggested to eat at La Maison Kam Fung (http://www.laimaisonkamfung.com). The cab drive from the hotel to Montreal Chinatown took only a few minutes and we stepped into the restaurant. The sight was good.... Mostly Chinese people which is typically a good sign. We ate, we ate lots and it was one of the best dinners ever in a Chinese restaurant (not counting our Finnish best ever Nanking outside Kalevankatu 27 in Helsinki Finland)

After the dinner, we decided to explore the Chinatown itself and it is very intresting and authentic! The weather was intresting as well as it started snowing pretty heavily.

Shopping at St Catherine during Boxing day

Only 5 minutes from our hotel is St Catherines street that is the main shopping street in Montreal. I found what I needed, which is a local bookstore.and this one even had Starbucks inside.

Montreal is very intresting as a city as it has 36 kilometers of shopping area under the ground and it is almost another city under the real city that you can see.....I am very impressed how they have done it. Also, you can shop until you drop even in bad weather.

Montreal: initial feel for the town

We arrived to Montreal in the late evening, took a cab from the airport to our hotel (45 Canadian dollars) Marriott Chateau. The hotel is located very close to the main shopping street St Catherine so I very much recommend this hotel. Also, very important to me is the gym facilities that a hotel provides and this one has a very good one with lots of different equipment.

Our first aim in the morning was to explore the old town in Montreal. It was easy to find it, but the size of the old town kind of dissapointed us.... We expected it to be larger, but I am sure it is very lively during the summer months.

Morning in Montreal

The city was very quiet in the evening of 25th of December. The American Airlines flight left Dallas around 01.00 PM and with the almost 4 hours flight time and change in time zone made us to land in the dark Montreal. The lights of Montreal was very nice. We are staying in the Marriot Montreal Chateau Champlain. A nice hotel with good service.

Montreal, Canada here we come

This is the first time I get to visit Montreal and Quebec City. My travel this year has been extensive, but this time I am going to enjoy the trip to full extent!

Finally back to Dallas for Christmas

Two very productive weeks behind me, but I am ready for some Christmas time with family. The Chicago O'Hare airport is packed with people getting ready for their holiday.

Back to Chicago icestorm

It was not a long stay in Dallas... I am on my way to Chicago again. Based on the weather news, Chicago has had considerable delays because of icestorms that have been hitting Illinois and other surrounding states.

Chicago was hit with a snowstorm

I am on my way to Dallas again. Chicago was hit with a hard snowstorm last night. This automatically turned into a mess.... Massive delays on the airport, and other related stuff. But, I am on my way tob Dallas now

Winter in Chicago

I am again on the airport. This time I am flying to Chicago for two days (one night). The temperature in Chicago is 23 Farhrenheit (-5 Centigrades).

Helsinki, Finland is very dark this time of the year

I have to say that the weather in Finland at this point in time is very harsh for people that need light and sun. I spent one week in Helsinki and it was raining most of the time besides yesterday on Saturday. I am supposed to be used to this, but I am not. Regarless, I am now on my way to Dallas, Texas via Paris, France.

From Atlanta to Chicago

The morning in Chicago was cold but beautiful. Fall in Atlanta is more obvious than in Dallas, Texas.... I guess the airstreams are different even if there is only 800 miles distance from the two places. I am jumping to my Paris, France plane from Chicago and then further to Dallas.

Atlanta, here I come

I am sitting in a plane again, now on my way to Atlanta, Georgia until Friday and then via Chicago, and Paris to Helsinki, Finland. Lot's of miles again....

Chicago for a couple of days

I am on my way to Chicago again. This time it is going to be only one night, but a very exciting one as a new project is starting for me. It is a good day overall as I heard this morning from Finland that my boolk manuscript is good to go and should be coming out before Chrismas.... finally.... I am staying in Crown Plaza Metro in downtown Chicago.

Two plane changes too much

Finally in Chicago, after having changed plane in London (not my favorite I am afraid). If one has the change, the best thing is to land in the final destination....

Time to get back to Dallas, Texas

I am on my way to Dallas Texas from Prague, Czech Republic. It has been a very nice trip with lots of new contacts and new understanding of the Czech Republic marketplace as well as the surrounding countries. I am impressed with the city and will definetely visit again. My flight back to Dallas is via Heathrow, London and Chicago, Illinois.

To get to know Prague, take a grand tour.

I had a chance to take a 3 hour grand tour while in Prague. This tour is a combination of bus tour as well as walking in the largest working castle in the world. The weather was beautiful and this gave me the opportunity to get to know the geography in the downtown area so next time when I visit the place, I know how to get around.

Hotel Ibis Mala Strana, I can recommend it

I stayed in the pretty nicely located hotel Ibis Praha Mala Strana that is 2 metro stops from old town and even in a walkable distance (20 minutes) from the major places in Prague. What impressed me in the hotel was not so much the rooms (they are very nice but nothing special), but the nice service that you get in the nice restaurant and lobby bar. They really make you feel that you are welcome. There is also a large mall just beside the hotel, so if you are in a shopping spree, no need to travel anywhere. I will definetely use this hotel in the future as well.

Trip via Chicago, Bryssels to Prague went well

The service was good and Bryssels, Belgium airport worked very well and they have a nice lounge for travelers that either fly business or have a launch card of some sort. This was my secomnd time in the Prague airport in less than 2 months so I was able to get around easily. Nice experience overall.

Czech Republic in my mind

I am sitting on the plane again, this time headed to Prague, Czech Republic to do a speech. I am flying via Chicago and Brussels, Belgium. I am very excited to see Prague as I have not been there before (other than the airport).

Final day - from Marathon, Texas to Dallas, Texas

Our finaly day was awesome. We got up early in the morning (5.15 AM) while it was still dark and drove along highway 67 (more to follow later). I was home around 3.00 PM and more than 500 miles behind. Overall we drove more than 1600 miles.

Third night in Terlingua Ranch

We drove around 200 miles during our second day, from Ft Davies down 67 to Marfa, then to Presidio that is by the Mexican border. From Presidio we drove along the beautiful Rio Grande along highway 170 to Lajitas, Terlingua and then finally to our overnight place Terlingua Ranch....

Second day with lunch in Pecos, Texas

We drove from Abilene to Pecos and had lunch in Pecos in a traditional Mexican take-away place and it was very authentic indeed. From Pecos our journey continued on highway 17 to Fort Wayne where we had reserved rooms in the beautiful hotel....(Will descibe later). We drove also an additional loop of 70 miles to see the observatories of McDonalds that is managed by the University of Texas at Austin. Today's trip was around 450 miles.

Big Bend motorcycle trip finally here

Five good friends and 1600 miles ahead of us. We left Dallas around 06.00 PM and the first leg took us to Abilene, Texas. We drove mostly in the dark, but the weather was good and our ride was smooth. We are staying by interstate 20 by Abilene in a local Best Western Inn and Suites. Tomorrow we will drive to Fort Davies, Texas. The drive today was around 200 miles.

Mexico City International airport works well

I have to say that the airporrt works well and they have a nice American Admirals Club that frequent travelers like myself enjoy. The trip from the downtown area was not bad 04.30 AM but I would reserve lots of time during regular hours. The traffic in Mexico City is horrifying.

Mexico City is very interesting

I have to say that I very much enjoyed to see and feel the life of Mexico City. Very vibrant and lots of building and development going on which means that the local economy is growing. I also had the chance to sit in a car multiple times and saw tens of different neighbourhoods and many of them were very nice indeed. I am sure this place is going to be a place for me to visit lots of times

Mexico City - new destination to explore

I am very excited to fly to Mexico City today.... A direct American Airlines flight from DFW International airport to Mexico City International airport where I will have transportation waiting on me...

Beautiful Helsinki early morning - Texas here I come

It is time to go home again. My flight takes me today from Helsinki to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Dallas. Very nice to get home..... 2 weeks of travel has been productive but home is home, no matter what.

Prague -International airport - not bad experience

This is my first time on this airport. Pretty nice and large. It seems to be a major hub to other European and US destinations.

Little did I know about airport location

I had no idea that Slovakians use Vienna international airport as one of their exits to differnent parts of the world. It is only 45 kilometers from Bratislava. You live and learn....

Two days of rain in Slovakia

The fall is definetely here in Slovakia. It has now rained for straight two days and I am on my way back to Helsinki via Prague. Tomorrow I will be flying back to Dallas via Germany.

Bratislava old downtown is full of history

I had a chance to walk around the beautiful old downtown Bratislava during my arrival afternoon and it really is full of history and old buildings. I stayed in the Danube hotel which is very central to downtown area.... walking distance to everything.

Bratislava, Slovakia here I come

I am on my way to Slovakia from Helsinki to Prague with a change of plane that takes me to Bratislava. I am very excited to see the country specifically as I have never seen it before.

Back from Kotka via Porvoo

I used the bus to get back to Helsinki. However, this time I stayed in Porvoo for a day. Porvoo is a beautiful city 50 kilometers east of Helsinki. I warmly recommend if you have time to visit Porvoo. It is worth it.

Kotka Kuutsalo in my mind

I had a chance to visit a beautiful island outside Kotka on Saturday. I was interested in a very old cottage that has been built in 1918. The nature was very nice but the cottage was run down. I have to say that the Finnish nature is something that it is very hard to find anywhere else.

Bus from Helsinki to Kotka, Finland-when did I miss the price increase

The best way to move around in Finland is with public transportation. However, since when did it cost 240 old Finnish markka to take a bus to kotka and back. This is more than 40 Euros. The bus trip is convenient but I do not want to pay for the bus itself and its investments.

Helsinki last week of August - last week of summer

I was lucky. The last week here in Helsinki was very nice but 31st og August the typical Finnish fall weather was here again.

Back to Europe - via Paris

It is still hot in Dallas, but according to Helsinki weather... I do not need to worry... It is raining.... This trip is 2 weeks with a little swing via Slovakia... Very exciting. My seat is in business Boeing 767.... Sweet

American Airlines did it again

I am a happy camper. My flight to Dallas was delayed and they booked me into an earlier flight.... To first class. These guys really know how to treat their clients.

On my way to hot Chicago

Beautiful morning in Dallas Texas this morning and I am on my way to Chicago for one night. First class again, thank you American Airlines! What makes this trip even more enjoyable is the fact that the first initial book manuscript is ready and I sent it for a review to the book publisher yesterday.

Pleasent surprise from American Airlines again - return to Dallas

I have to say that I really enjoy American Airlines, my whole family got upgraded to business class on Boeing 777 and now the kids get to see how I spend most of my travel... Working on my 3 million miles on American Airlines..... Our vacation is over now, final leg from Miami, Florida to Dallas, Texas. Our vacation was beautiful, refreshing and we met people from differnet cultures around the world.

Miami city and boat tour aound the Miami neighbourhood

We spent our day today on a nice short bus tour in downtown Miami and then finished our trip by having a 90 minute boat tour that let us see the rich and famous Star Island and Fisher Island house owners (many of them). The weather was beautiful, the boat was not packed as it could have been and the pictures I was able to take with my Nikon D80 were perfect!

Tomorrow, we will fly back to our Dallas, Texas home! I really miss our three Lowchen dogs! I am sure they will be happy to see us. My next longer trip will be in the end of August and will take me to Helsinki, Finland and Bratislava, Slovakia.

Miami South Beach hotel and neighbourhood

We stayed in the famous South Beach area in a hotel that is built in art deco style. This hotel South Sea is OK and we had a view to the sea and beaches from our corner room. However, as in lots of Florida hotels, do not expect much of them being new..... they are not.

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Miami Florida flight on Boeing 300

The flight to Miami was smooth, but we were hit by a thunderstorm immediately after landing. This resulted in a boring 1 hour "sitting in the plane without drinks or anything" and kids started to become impatient and screamy.... Oh well... Now we have been waiting for our bags to arrived for more than an hour....

How did Royal Caribbean International do - final ranking

The cruise is over and my somewhat lame feedback on the service levels of Royal Caribbean International during the first two days were balanced with very good service during the rest of the cruise.

The ship "Adventures of the Seas" is much nice one than the "Carnival Destiny" we used last year and the state rooms and overall service stations with bars, food etc works better on RCI. If you visit this ship, make sure you test the Portofino restaurant that is top-of-breed food with very good service.

Back to San Juan, Puerto Rico

We are on our way back to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Seven days is over and we have seen unbelievable places and islands. The Royal Caribbean Cruiselines has changed the immigration to be more smooth... It is done already on St Thomas, which is US soil so there is not as much hassle in San Juan in the morning. We also have to catch our flight to Miami, where we will spend a couple of nights in the beautiful Southbeach area......

St John's and St Thomas are pearls of the Caribbean

This morning we arrived to the US Virgin Islands, St. Thomas. Having now seen 11 Caribbean islands, St. Thomas and the neighbouring St John are our favorites.... no question about that.

We participated in an arranged excursion that included a 45 minute ferry ride to St Johns and then a 2 hour bus drive around the island. Beautiful scenery, and two of the 10 most beautiful beaches reside on these two islands: Megans Bay on St. Thomas and Trunk Beach on St. Johns.

I am sure we will visit these islands again, maybe purely coming to St Thomas and staying on both islands for a week or so.

Early arrival to St Martin

The morning was beautiful and we had decided to take a combined island sightseeing and catamaran trip. The only way to see the true nature of these islands is to take the tours as you have typically less than 8 hours time to explore and 2 hours of this goes to eating and security controls.

This island was pretty nice, but not like St Thomas.... I am amazed of the amount of trash that one gets to see on these islands when driving around. The other noticable thing is the uneven quality of buildings..... You can have a nice house and a dumpdter beside it.

During our catamaran cruise we got to see Microsoft Bill Gates two mansions that he ownes on these islands. One was a huge thing overseeing the bay and the other one was also very impressive.

Fun at the Caribbean sea - from Curacao to St. Martin

It took a full day and night to sail from Curacao to St. Martin, which is an island divided between two countries: France and Holland. During the day of sailing I decided to take it easy and read and sleep. In the evening it was time for Mohito and dacing with 80s music.

Full day on the sea, next destination is St Maarten

We are on our way to St Maarten and as we are very south as of now, it will take a while to get to our next destination. After this trip, I have seen 10 Caribbean islands, from south, east to north. Each of these island have their own flavor so do not assume you have seen them all when having seen one.

Are we destroying our nature - our jeep trip opened my eyes

The former head of Nokia, Jorma Ollilla is the chairman of the board for Royal Dutch Shell and one of the refineries is located on the island of Curacao. According to our guide, the plant is among the third largest in the world. We drove for three hours on the jeep and the island is very dry and not much green can be seen anywhere. At some point in time my nose picked up a familiar smell that I got used to when passing Porvoo Finland oil refineries. The sky of Curacao was full of dirty smog and the smell of oil was very noticable. What was even more interesting that Europeans buy luxury time shares from a luxury resort which is directly under the smog that tens of different pipes spit out.

I do understand that it is about money, but what is sad is to see the pollution taking foothold in these beautiful Caribbean islands.

Early arrival to Curacao this morning

One more island to visit. This time we arrived to Curacao that is 42 miles east of Aruba and 35 miles north of Venezuela. The capital of Curacao, Willemstad, is also called little Amsterdam and I do not wonder why... It is a beautiful little city with Amsterdam-like houses with hundreds of shops. The cruise ship was able to dock very close to the downtown area and there is a bridge between the downtown and the cruise ship. There are approximately 170.000 inhabitants in the island of Curacao.

We really liked the downtown area and had a nice cup of coffee by the water. Three hours of walking was enough to explore the style and pricing of the island.

Aruba as a shopping paradise?

I spent 3 hours today shopping in Aruba main streets... Based on our "collected intelligence", Aruba and Curacao are more expensive than St Thomas, St Maarten or even San Juan, Puerto Rico.

My wife compared the pricing of some merchanise in the Tommy Hilfinger and some of the stuff was 4 times more expensive when compared to the factory outlet in Dallas, Texas.

The Aruba center is made for tourists, so the feel you get is to spend money on stuff which is ok as the whole islands lives on tourism nowadays.

Scuba diving and sailing

We went today immediately to scuba dive with a sailboat. I just had just read about the presence of the largest oil refinery in the world on these islands and I could not be without thinking what that does for the environment.

The second stop on our scuba trip was a location with a shipwreck.... And some of the parts of the wreck were only 2 feet deep. I was able to see lots of fish and some very large fish when scuba diving.

Aruba by early morning

We arrived to Aruba in the Caribbean islands early this morning. The view was beautiful, as it was raining in one part of the island and sun shining in the other. The ship is docked very close to the downtown area, she guests can pretty much walk down to the shops.

Aruba has around 100.000 inhabitants, mostly with Dutch heritage and the island became independent in the seventies but is part of the Dutch kingdom.

Carnival Cruise vs. Royal Caribbean

I have to say that I am amazed of the lack of urgency to serve on the "top of the line cruise ship". Last year we spent our vacation on Carnival Destiny where the crew really wanted us to enjoy... Here on Royal Caribbean it is like the clients are an annoyance if you ask anything. And by the way, I am paying twice as much on this cruise.... So.... Can I have this ship with the crew from Carnival please.

Our Caribbean route this summer

We are on the ship, so our two nights in San Juan old town Sheraton is over. The ship Royal Caribbean "Adventures of the Seas" is headed first to Aruba and we will be there on
Tuesday which means that we are going to have one night cruising and Wednesday our trip takes us to Curacao (tropical mini Amsterdam) for a day.

Thursday we will spend one day at the sea and Friday we will arrive to St Maarten, Saturday is St Thomas.

Sunday we will arrive back to San Juan, Puerto Rico and we will fly to Miami where we will spend a night in South Beach Miami.

Tuesday we will return back to Dallas. Texas.

Mobility is everywhere

I wrote in my previous blogs that it is time for independent software vendors to start innovating around mobility. It is obvious to me that people around the world are just waiting for more applications they can use to drive business. I was amazed last year how widespread the cell use and GRPS was on the Carribean islands.... This year it is even more obvious with lots of new handheld devices.

Borders Bookstore want to go out of business?

I am amazed how badly Borders bookstore keeps it premises. I thought it was just one place in Dallas, but the one here in San Juan, Puerto Rico is worse and to the point that I do not want to visit the place anymore. Borders will lose its clients at least that I represent.

Prisoners of our own habits

This is the second time in San Juan and yesterday when we arrived, we visited three places that I hate to admit we did. First of all, we decided to have Starbucks coffee.... secondly my kids wanted to visit Hardrock Cafe San Juan.... These are not even close to be Puerto Rican, so why are we humans so used to our own habits.... Of fear? Of convinience or what... The third place was something we from the past... A local bar with the very good Medalla beer that was refreshing.

The thing we all have to learn from Puerto Ricans... They are very polite, nice to talk to and I would be very happy to spend longer times here in Puerto Rico.

First night over in San Juan, Puerto Rico

This is a wonderful city, we spent last night in downtown San Juan and our hotel (Sheraton) is very exclusive with good service. Today we are headed towards Plaza de la Americas where we expect to do some shopping. The weather yesterday was humid with a couple sprinkles of water but today the sun is shining. Our luxury cruise is departing tomorrow evening and the first stop is going to be Aruba (close to Venezuelan coast).

San Juan, Puert Rico here we come

It is the time of the year where we are headed again to the Carribean. Our flight from Dallas Fort Worth to San Juan which is the beauitiful island of Puerto Rico. We are sitting in the beautiful D terminal in the brand new Admirals Club that is worth every penny!

Week in Denver, Colorado is over

This was probably one of my most busy week ever. The Microsoft Worldwide Conference 2007 is over and I had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and nothing beats that! Last night we had a nice end of conference party at the large Coors baseball field. I am now sitting in the American Airlines Admirals Club with a beautiful outlook over the airfield. Also, the architecture of the main terminal is very interesting and reminds me of northern part of Finland. The flight to Dallas is less than 2 hours so I have a change to get home in time.

Microsoft WPC 2007 is here again

The Microsoft worldwide partner conference started today and this is my third conference. The first one was in Minneapolis, then in Boston and now in the beautiful Denver Colorado. This is the first day an I am sitting here in the huge convention center listening at the first keynote.

Denver here I come

I am on my way to Denver, Colorado for a conference with a golf tournament tomorrow Sunday. We have made history here in Dallas when it comes to rain... It has been pouring water for a month now and whole mobile home parks have been swept away. This morning at 06.00 AM the sun was getting up and now we have one of the most beautiful mornings one can have. The flight from Dallas to Denver is less than 2 hours, so this time I do not have to sit here for long.

Beautiful night in Chicago

Chicago nighjt is beautiful with its lights and around 27 centigrades. Sometimes travel is fun, even on business as one gets to see many interesting places around the world.

The rain keeps pouring - to Chicago again

I am on my way to Chicago and I was lucky. It has been raining again heavily today and the executive platinum desk called me and told that they can acommodate me on anm earlier flight so I would be in Chicago around 11.00 PM, not 2.30 AM as my original flight would be due to delays in weather an other crap. Thank you American, you showed again why I fly with you guys when I can.

Life of a traveler

The life of countinous travel can be tiring and the race for standby lists is harsh. I seem to shoot straight to the top each time I try to get to Dallas. Today my trip takes me from Chicago to Dallas and thank god it is Friday.

Chicago again

I am back from Europe and on my way to Chicago for just one night. The weather in Dallas has been very rainy with lots of water all over the map. This has also hurt construction work in the area as everything is just extremely wet.

Finnair uses same terminal as American Airlines

Very convenient to transfer to the American Airlines gate.... Just the security controls are between.... This 767 has the new full bed seats... sweet...

Return to Dallas via Zurich

It is early Sunday and I am on my way back to Dallas via Zurich. The good news is that I have been upgraded to business so the flight will be more pleasant than in the coach class.

Summer is in Helsinki

I love Helsinki by summer and the fact that it is light late in the evening already now and the lighter it will become until it starts to go the other way in mid June. Last night, a thick fog hit the downtown Helsinki which was very spooky....

On my way to Finland through Zurich

I am on the plane again, this time to Finland. They have upgraded the seats in business class, which is perfect! This plane has been outdated for a while so this type of upgrade is mostly welcome.

Dallas in the spring... It has been odd weather

I was lucky of taking the earlier flight as we have again huge thunderstorm and rain in Dallas... Hail, wind and lightening...

Chicago is hot

It is very interesting to note that Chicago, Illinois is as hot as Dallas this time of the year.... I am returning from Chicago and sitting on a MD-80 sweating like a pig.... O'Hare is a good place to return from as it is a major hub for American, and I was able to get an earlier flight.... Very cool... Getting home earlier than what I would have otherwise.

Chicago on my mind - May 2007

The spring in Dallas in in full swing. We had a Finnish golf tournament in Dallas on Saturday, with a beautiful green nature.

This morning, I am on my way to Chicago for a couple of days. I hope I will have a better luck this time than the previous when I had to stay for one additional night due to the weather.

What is going on - weather is strange in tornado alley

Getting stuck in Chicago is not fun especially if one has to get back home to Dallas. I had to stay for another night in Chicago and as the planes were stranded in Dallas due to tornado warnings and heavy rain, I could not get a direct flight to Dallas... I had to fly via Des Moines, Iowa (with 2 hour layover).

We have had lots of bad weather in Dallas the last month or so and this is expected to continue to June or so. This is the penalty of living in the Tornado Alley.

Wake-up in Kerrville - it is raining!

Same thing as last year happened today! It was raining the whole morning (like last year when we stayed over night in Kerrville) and we drove towards west in the rain. Our first stop was to visit the famous motorcycle musem with a nice cup of coffee and a chat with the owners. After this, we headed towards the intersection where we have been each year (will have to get later with the names when I remember them). We also visited Garven store like last year and some of us got some beef jerky.

Our trip continued through Fredricksburg, the traditional Willow loop and then north towards Dallas on highway 16. The trip was 907.5 miles this time, so the last day was very long but rewarding. Fortunately the sun was shining from noon until late evening. We arrived around 08.00 PM to Trophy Club.

Kerrville, Comfort Inn -second night

We decided to stauy our second night in a pretty nice Comfort Inn in Kerrville. We got the last three rooms and the receptionist told us that there are 300 bikers in the nearby hotel. We run into them and they were the Honda Riders Association.

We had our dinner at Branding Iron Hotel in Kerrville and the service was sloooooooowwwww.... but the food was good. We had dinner in the same restaurant, same table 2 years ago, so I guess we did not initially remember the slow service.

We drove around 250 miles today.

Next stops Kerrville, Medina and Bandera

We had a beautiful drive in the afternoon.... We did not find a hotel in Bandera, so we had to return back to Kerrville. A word of advice... Make your hotel reservation in time... Everything is fully booked!

Lunch in Fredricksburg, Texas

We had our traditional lunch in a German restaurant..... I had my sausage plate which was unreal.... An beer of course..

Luckenback Hill Country - everybody is somebody in Luckenback

We visited the famous Luckenback that has only 3 people living there around the year.... According to the street signs.

First stop Becker Vinery in Hill Country

We did a tour at two vine yards in the beautiful Hill Country. We also visited Canyon Creek vine yard. First time that I have seen a vine yard in Texas.

First day - 200 miles

First day was 200 miles, the weather in Marble Falls in the morning is beautiful.... Some clouds but that is going to burn away. We stayed at the local Best Western hotel. There are 8 of us on this trip.

Hill Country trip - first night in Marble Falls

Beautiful weather, and our first night is in Marble Falls, Texas. This is a good landing to Hill Country.

I can not believe it - it is snowing in Chicago

I am on my way to Chicago and just heard that it is snowing there. Dallas will have 80 Fahrenheit today, so talking about a difference in weather! This time of the year can be very different from rest of the country, and I did not even pack my coat with me...

Heavy rain in New York is bad news

Here we go again.... It has rained thew whole day.... Very heavy and this is always bad news for business travelers. Multiple delayed flights, many cancelled ones and I am getting home to Dallas much later than expected. Well, better to get home than having to sleep in a hotel.

New York close to Eastern time

If you plan to be in New York close to Eastern vacation, expect to pay big bucks for everything.... My trip from Newark airport to Manhattan was around 65 bucks, my hotel room cost me 350 US and the room was like a small closet.... Cosy but small... If you want to visit a restaurant, make sure to leave plenty of time for your meal as everything was packed.

New York on my mind - Meeting in Manhattan

This morning I am on my way to New York Manhattan for a meeting. One night in my own bed was sweat and now my hotel life continues, fortunately only for one night.

The mold levels in Dallas are very high this time of the year and this causes lots of allergic reactions to people. However, with 80 Fahrenheit each day and green grass.... Nobody can beat that.

Flight from Zurich to Dallas was eventless

The flight back to Dallas, Texas went smooth and I have to say that flying in business makes a big difference. The flight was almost 11 hours and one thing is for sure... If I do not get upgraded on transatlantic when flying Boeing 767, I will fly something else... The coach seates in American Airlines 767 flights are unhuman.

Charles de Gaulle - I can not get used to it

We were in time on the airport, but the confusing terminal 2 caused us grief.... The 200 meter line in the Swiss counter was horrifying and the same thing in the security lines. I am not sure how people that travel frequently can take the hassle. Let's see if our bags will arrivve to Dallas the same time.

Sunday in the beautiful Paris

We walked propably 20 miles in the beautiful Paris and the city was full of people trying to enjoy the sun that finally came after a couple of rainy days. The city architecture is amazing even if I have seen it multiple times and the Latin Quarter with Sorbonne is my favorite place of all. The day went by very quickly and we decided to spend the final night in Holiday Inn at the Charles de Gaulle airport. Clean and nice hotel but nothing around the hotel such as shops etc.... Purely for business travel.

Buddha Bar Paris - some feedback

The very famous Buddha Bar in Paris is a very interesting place and is very close to the Concord Place and hotel Crillon that Lance Armstrong used when he got his 7th consecutive win in Tour de France. The Buddha Bar has a Finnish founder (former model) and I have to congratulate her on the accomplishment!

However, I was not happy with a few things... I spent around 250 US in our dinner and the appetizer and my main meal did not taste anything and it was in fact very bad. I am by no means a culiranist, but they should do better with the money I spent. Also, the place is so dark that you can not read the menu and some people used thei cell phones to get some more light. And finally, they have a restaurant in New York which I have to test out to see how that is. I am not giving up on them yet.

Market Restaurant with a famous chef

We had a chance to visit the famous restaurant Market with a famous New York chef with the known "Black Plate" appetizer. Overall, very nice restaurant and we even had a chance to sit our dessert in the chefs table, which is very rare opportunity. Make sure you are prepared to spend serious cash when visiting this restaurant.

Hilton by Eiffel Tower, Paris - feedback

The hotel is built propably in the 70s, but has been renovated and is very nice internally. I had a corner room with a view of the Eiffel tower, so what can be nicer than that? The only "bad thing" is that it is pretty far from my favorite place which is the Latin Quarters close to Sorbonne. Other than that, very nice hotel and they also had very good service, polite and correct.

Paris, France - how to get to town with 20 Euros

I have never used a Yellow Airport cab when traveling from Charles de Gaulle to downtown Paris. I stayed in Hilton by the Eiffel Tower.