Copenhagen, Denmark

11:08 PM davewylde
Howdy

This weekend I headed for Copenhagen, Denmark with one of my colleagues, Mark from the US Boston office. We flew out Friday night via Amsterdam on KLM and arrived around 11pm. We found the hotel then headed out to have a bit of look around and try and grab and bite to eat. We initially headed towards the main pedestrian mall and were stunned at the number of people out so late at night (around midnight at this point). We grabbed a quick bite then decided to check out a local pub just by the hotel for a quick quiety to start our weekend. Not much to take away from the bar experience except that people don't seem to mind about barging right through crowds and bumping into people without a word. Really quite rude.

Saturday we got up and headed back towards Stroget, the pedestrian mall, for more of a look around Copenhagen. We detoured via Amaleinborg Palace, town hall, as well as several other buildings before walking out to find the little mermaid, which is one of the most photographed things in the country apparently. We didn't actually find her I later realised as we found another pretty impressive fountain and decided that must be her. It wasn't. We then continued to walk around, passing through a church called the Marble Church which, funnily enough, is made of marble and quite impressive.

Saturday afternoon, we grabbed a late lunch at a corner cafe which was far nicer than i expected before heading to the Carlsberg brewery for a brewery tour. This ended with a sampling of some product which we a great way to finish a day of looking around. We headed out for dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel called Peder Oxe which was very nice. I must stop here and say that I hate the Krone currency used. Getting a dinner bill for 900 odd is a little scary. Works out to be like 120 euro so not too bad I guess. We then headed downstairs at the restaurant where they had a wine bar and then onto K-Bar, which apparently has won awards for best cocktails 5 years running.

Sunday we again headed out to the little mermaid, realising our mistake from saturday. On the way this time we went via the Round Tower which is another sight in Copenhagen. We eventually found the little mermaid, took the obligatory photos then continued. We walked miles and eventually ended up at a graveyard where we visited the burial site of Hans Christian Anderson. Sunday afternoon we headed for Tivoli gardens, which i guess is like a small Disneyland with beautiful gardens mixed in with rollercoasters and other rides. We didn't have a lot of time as we needed to get back in time for our flights but we managed to get a ride on "Demon", a rollercoaster and "Star Flyer" which is the talled carousel in the world, opened this year and stands at a height of 80m. It's basically a chair swing that rotates up 80m while swinging you around. Gives you a great view of Copenhagen.

Flights back to Stuttgart via Amsterdam were uneventful. Bonus is that Amsterdam has a DinersClub lounge so we could go in there to kill time during transfers. Nice. Well, it's Perth for the next couple of weekends so probably the last update I'll do here for a couple of weeks.

Cya soon!
Dave
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Majorca

10:22 PM davewylde
Howdy

As you can tell from the subject line, this weekend I went to Majorca, or Mallorca, or however else you wish to spell it. This was a purely a weekend for me. No hard-core travelling, simple beach, sun and relaxation. I headed to Majorca with a bit of crowd, myself, Liz, Mark and Guy from Boston, USA and Kamal and Emir from the UK. We took an HLX flight direct to Palma de Mallorca where we hired cars (Golf's) and checked into our hotel, Melia del Mar. This was after we got ourselves comprehensively lost but nevermind.

Firstly, the hotel is beautiful, right on the water and I started saturday morning out on my balcony overlooking the harbour on my sun lounge. I then met up with Liz, Mark and Emir and we headed out to a beach about 20mins outside of Palma. We then proceeded to spend the rest of the day soaking up the perfect high 20's day we had. The boys swam a bit while the girls just fried up. The water was beautiful. At this point, I must also mention that I found at least 6 different potential wives on this beach. The women are gorgeous and don't mind a bit of nudity. God bless them.

Saturday night, we headed out for a nice dinner at a place one of our colleages recommended and followed that up with a drink or two at a really funky blues bar called Bluesville. Oh, before dinner we started with a bottle of Moet and Chandon. It really is tough.

Sunday was pretty much a mirror of saturday. Perfect day, another drive to a beach away from Palma, this time it was smaller and nestled between some higher ground. It really was a beautiful place to waste the afternoon away. More swimming, more gorgeous women. For those reading this feeling sick with jealousy, let me also say that there was some bad with the good. Board shorts aren't exactly the dress of choice here and there were blokes on both beaches that should have been arrested for their speedos they were wearing. That being said, there were also some chicks that shouldn't have beeen in bikini's either. Or out of them for that matter. *shudder*

We grabbed a quick bite after the beach at a Tapas bar before heading to the airport to fly back to stuttgart. All of us with a fairly healthy pink glow. As at Monday night, i can report that I am browning up nicely.

Hope all is well and I will see you soon.
Cheerio!
Dave
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German Resident!

10:40 PM davewylde
Usually I don't update my journal whilst in Stuttgart cause it's just boring work day in and out but today was different. Last Wednesday, I officially overstayed my "free" welcome of 90 days without visa which meant if I went anywhere near customs, I would have been deported. Today however, I officially became a temporary resident of Germany! This means I hvae a rather large visa in my passport and i'm free to live and work here until it expires (End of September). Crazy stuff.
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Venice, Italty

8:40 PM davewylde
Buon Giourno

Last weekend I headed to Venice, Italy with three of my colleagues, Kian, Lisa and Raja from Singapore, Singapore and UK respectively. Flights via Frankfurt meant we got in quite late and the lack of street signs from Pizzale Roma meant we wandered around for a little while before actually heading in the right direction of the hotel. Eventually we hit the right street (if you can call it that) and found the hotel. First shock. The hotel had no signage barring a placque on the door. Then when you walk inside, it's the really old 15th century palace or half a palace or something that looks run down. Once you've gone up the millions stairs though, it was very nice inside and we settled in. We had a quick walk around to get first impressions but retired early to rise Saturday at a respectable time.

Saturday we ventured out through the maze of streets in the general direction of the Rialto Bridge. Whilst getting there, we crossed numerous canals, saw lots of old churches and market squares, and generally felt lost for quite some time. There are heaps of little stores selling all sorts of trinkets as well as outlets selling some very nice, brand name clothing. Lisa was having a great time window shopping. Finally found Rialto bridge which crosses the Canal Grande. We then continued to head in the general direction of Piazza San Marco where we visited the Basilica of San Marco and had lunch on the waterfront overlooking Bacino Di San Marco.

After lunch we headed off towards one of the only other bridges crossing the Grand Canal, Ponte Accademia and then proceeded towards the Church of Santa Maria della Salute. More shopping/browsing on the way back and we headed for the hotel for a bit of rest and freshen up for dinner. That night we headed to Margherita Square we we took in a nice meal and enjoyed some of the outdoor pubs/crowds.

Sunday we checked out and headed for the nearby island of Lido to go to the beach and look around. We went via boat "bus" i guess as it's a large shuttle ferry that goes between Venezia and Lido. We kicked back on the beach and soaked up the warm 21 degree day (trust me, that's hot compared to what I've seen). We bought a crap frisbee and tried to play a bit on the beach but wind was too strong. Raja and I gave in and headed for the water which was a little chilly but nice once you were in (typical beach). After we were sufficiently burnt, we headed back to Venezia and took in the back roads and shops one more time before heading to the hotel to return to Stuttgart.

Hope all is well and thank you to all those still reading these things.
Cheers!
Dave
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Stockholm, Sweden

11:37 AM davewylde
Guten Tag
This weekend we had a long weekend due to a German public holiday so I decided to try and get a bit further away from Germany. Currently, VISA issues do no permit me to leave countries deemed to be Schengen states, ie, those with no border patrol, so I couldn't get over to see Hayley in Edinburgh as I had previously planned for this weekend. Instead, I decided to go to Stockholm in Sweden. Amazing that I can go to Sweden with no issues but can't go to the UK, Scotland or Ireland.

I flew out saturday morning again at a shockingly early 6:30am and fly KLM via Amsterdam. I arrived just before lunch where I took the train into the city and checked in. I then went about walking around, camera in hand but without a map, and tried to orientate myself to the city. I inadvertently found city hall, which is apparently one of the main tourist stops in Stockholm. Unfortunately the tower was closed but I figured I had enough time to come back later.

Unbeknown to me, a whole bunch of Skadden guys (lawyers) had also booked Stockholm for this weekend so we ended up meeting up for dinner on Saturday night before hitting a few clubs. A couple of Vodka's were had (as you do) and a few beers. Fun was had by all.

Sunday I got up and headed to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is an old ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in stockholm harbour and there she lay until 333 years or something like that later when they raised her and put her in a museum. The water is apparently that good in Sweden that it didn't degregate the ship like it usually would and the ship itself remains in amazing condition. Truely a site to behold. After the Vasa, I headed to Skansen, which is a very famous, open air museum in Stockholm. I spent a few hours looking around there before heading back to the hotel.

Sunday night I joined in the celebrations of the Kings birthday which saw lots of bonfires lit around the city and general partying. I just floated around through some of the celebrations and soaked it all up but didn't really get into it and retired to bed after a couple of hours looking around and taking a few night photos. Monday I got up and chilled out in my room for a while before I had to check out. I then headed for the harbour to take a replica shot of one my parents had taken whilst in Sweden just for a laugh before heading to the "old city" on Gamla Stan island and wandering around through there. I then made tracks for City hall again for a climb to the top of the tower. 256 steps later, I was at the top and freezing as it was blowing a gale but the view of Stockholm was very rewarding.

I then returned to the hotel, took a train back to the airport and flew via Amsterdam again, back to Stuttgart. I've been put back in the same room that I have been in for over a month now and i'm convinced it's the David Wylde room as far as the hotel is concerned.

That's all for now!
Ciao
Dave
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