Day 12 - Landing in Budapest

We all wresled wake early this morning (except for Sam, maybe) to the muted clicking of the train traveling over the Hungarian country side.  We had survided the overnight train without any issues and even managed to catch some sleep.  Noah would tell you that sleeper cars are total awesome and he wishes we could sleep there every night.  I'm wondering if that might be a good theme for a room remodel :).

Of course, since things were going so well with our first train experience, something challenging just had to happen.  The ticket taker came around and brought us our tickets back (they were take the night before).  She didn't speak English very well, but communicated that our tickets were not valid because we hadn't got them stamped before we go on the train.  PANIC.  ANGER.  We thought this might be the case, and we checked with the Deutsche Bahn desk at the train station and they TOLD US to take care of it once we were on the train.  We explained this, with the woman repeating the statement about the tickets not being valid.  PANIC. TENSION.  After a few minutes of both sides repeating themselves, the woman then stated (or maybe we finally understood) that we should go and validated them in Budapest immediately after we leave the train.  We heartly agreed to this and she bid us fairwell.  WHEW.  At that point, however, I wanted to strangle the guys at the DB desk.

Now off the train and at the Budapest Keleti train station, we made our way to the international travel office to get our Eurorail passed validated.  It was a fair quick affair and soon we were trying to figure out how to get from the train station to the apartment.  One thing we all notices having just come from Munich's train station: Keleti station was a good bit dirtier and scarier.  Plenty of people kinda hanging around, soliciting, begging, etc.  Didn't have any issues with the people around, but certainly put us on edge some.

After a visit to the tourist information booth we had our bearing and mechanism to get the apartment.  Time to try out the Budapest subway.  It was a little more confusing and dirtier than some of the others I have been in.  Also, we were all struggling a little with the number of bags we were carrying, especially Noah and Katy who were carrying backpacks and wheeling luggage which seems to tip over very easily.  We figured out how to purchase single use tickets for everyone.  The security seems to be very focused on people not paying for the ride, as they checked out tickets both going in and going out of the subway.  A few stops, and subway line change, and we were at our stop.  Kudos to the MetrO app, which makes navigating the mass transit a breeze in any city.  

From the metro stop, we had about a quarter mile walk down a main street.  This was a struggle for Noah, as he was tired, hot, and having real difficulties with his bag that kept flipping over.  He also refused to carry his backpack.  After reallocating the kids stuff to other people, we made our way to the apartment and figured how to get in the main gate.

At the gate we met Greg from Green Dream Apartments, the nice guy who is renting the apartment to us.  He was more than helpful, taking the time to show us around the apartment, telling us how to use all the facilities (another entertaining washing machine setup), and gave us some insider information on places to eat, grocery store locations, and the typical list of tourist questions.  Thanks Greg!

The apartment is awesome!  Modern clean look with plenty of space for everyone.  Sleeping upstairs and kitchen and living area downstairs.  And high-speed internet, which the kids and teens were very happy to see. There is a cute little courtyard outside, which is gated, which makes the place feel quite spacious and safe. Sara scores again with another great apartment find.

Our first outing into Budapest was a quick walk around our area for a few blocks to get our bearings and find something to eat.  We settled on a gyro place (I didn't get the name) with Egyptian decor on Pozsonyi street.  The food was awesome.  We all had a gyro platter with rice or potatoes, gyro and veggies.  Well, except for the kids.  Noah wasn't having any of it, and Katy tried a little and thought it was ok.  After refueling, we were off again, and walked around the block to McDonalds, which is also convienently near our apartment.  Two happy meals to-go and we made our way back to our apartment for some downtime and to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Down time is a wonderful thing. Everyone was kinda still tired from the overnight train effects and the heat.  This time is usally filled with Noah and Katy watching or playing on a device, the teens journalling or talking, and Sara and I figuring out what to do next, dealing with what ever issues have arisen, entertaining kids, and maybe playing a little ourselves.  Several of us have been enjoying playing Bonanza, or affectionately known as the "bean farmer" game.  Lots of fun and worth the weight to carry it with us.

After things cooled down a bit, we headed out to Margaret Island, this 1.6 mile long city park on an island in the middle of the Danube river in Budapest.  It is a short walk from our apartment.  The park is pretty amazing, with lots of green space, play areas, soccer arena, Olympic-style swimming facilities, amphitheaters, and a huge water park.  Since it was after 7pm, most of the facilities were winding down, which was someone of a disappointment for the kids where were salivating over the water park.  We did take some time to play on the play grounds, relax, and enjoy the scenes and people watch.

After returning home, the teens volunteered to put the kids down for us (and finish off the left overs from lunch) so Sara and I could go out on a date.  Woohoo, of course we took them up on that offer.  We ventured down to a little side walk Cuban restaurant, called La Bogata, where the owner greeted us as we walked by and set us up a sidewalk table.  The food was fabulous and we enjoyed some Hungarian red wine which was pretty tasty and very cheap :).  It was a great experience sitting on the sidewalk, having a nice meal and taking in the surrounding on a warm summer evening.  We had to keep reminding ourselves that we  are half way around the world on a dream vacation, and that this was all real.

And to finish off, everyone was tucked in once we returned.

Europe Day 5 - Travel day Rothenberg to Munchen

So today was mostly a travel day and down time for the crew.  This post will probably not be up to our normal level of excitement :).

We started the day with another German Fruhstuck (breakfast).  The kids seem to do better today and knew more what they wanted.  I believe they also cleared out more of their meats and cheese plate :).

We dove into Rothenberg after breakfast for a quick souvenir shopping trip and to grab some last minute pictures.  Of course, there is always time for a little silliness. I'm sure we were entertaining the locals.

And onto the autobahn we go.  Not more than 10 minutes into our trip, the navigation device in the car rerouted us from A7/Ulm to A6/Nurmberg due to an accident somewhere along the route.  The trip when pretty smoothly overall with more people on the road than the trip down from Frankfurt.  We did see several accidents, most in the other direction, most of which has 5+ miles of backup.  We did hit one backup about 25 miles outside of Munich which was a multi-car accident in a construction area, including 1 car that was facing the wrong way.  Not sure if it got spun around or if it jumped the rail from the opposite direction.

For lunch we stopped in Greding at a road side McDonalds.  Yes yes, it is a good thing to eat at a familiar place every once-in-a-while.  Especially for the Noah and Katy, who were very happy to see a menu that made sense to them.  I'm actually pretty proud that we are almost a week into the trip before eating at an "american" establishment.

After arriving in Munich, we found a parking spot and wheeled all of our luggage a few block so the apartment.  The apartment is awesome, complete with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a living area.  It is going to make a nice home for the next week.  It doesn't hurt that it is about 100 yards from the Löwenbräukeller :-).

The ladies braved a trip to the local supermarket to get food for the next few days.  I hear it was quite the adventure as they figured out what everything was giving the German names for everything.  Looks like they came back with mostly the right stuff, so I'll mark it a success.

Sara made a great meal for all of us, a great way to break in our apartment.  Thanks to the teens for doing the clean-up.

As we were finishing up our dinner, we couldn't help but notice the loud cheering in the streets as the Germany vs Greece Eurocup game was going on.  The whole country seemed to be alive with the game.  Not to miss an opportunity to experience a real European football game in a real European beer hall, Sara and I made our way down to the Löwenbräukeller to join the celebration.  Oh, and what a celebration it was.  The place was packed and the crowd was energized.  Both the festivity hall and the beer garden were full of people watching the game on 2 big screens that had been put up.  A quick flag down of a waitress yielded us 2 half-liters of beer :).  And if you watched the game, you know that the second half was quite exciting with 3 Germany goals in a short time.  The place was going crazy.  It was one of those "wow.. can you believe we are hear doing this at this very moment" kind times.

After the game we made our way back to the apartment to find the teens did a great job getting Noah and Katy to bed.

Tomorrow we will meet up with Uwe and do some touring around Munchen.

-- CsB

Europe Day 4 - Rothenberg in force

Today is all about Rothenberg.  The plan was to spend the day seeing the things that we wanted to see at a nice leisurely pace.  I think we succeeded.

The day started off with breakfast at our hotel (Hotel Hornburg).  This was encounter with German breakfast for all the kids, which seemed to be hit or miss, but everyone got enough to eat in some way.  Judging from the amount of meat and cheeses left at the kids end of the table, I would say that was a miss.  However, the delicious rolls, cream cheeses of all kinds, the little waffle squares and coffee cake bits seem fill them up.  The yogurt and hard-boiled eggs were only enjoyed by a few of them.

After fueling up, it was off to the Rotherberg wall.  We ascended to the wall at the tower nearest our hotel, and walk all the way around the city (1.5 miles), even though some sections we had to come down because the wall was closed.  It was a great way to see the city and take in the beauty of both the city and the surrounding countryside.

Of course, we took several stops along the way to break up the walking and work in some fun activities.  First was a great playground on the west side of the city, right below the wall.  There were a lot of cool play equipment and all of us had a blast burning off some energy.

Next stop was the Reichsstadtmuseum, which is the museum of the city's history.  We found some interested things inside, including a open kitchen from the 1300's monestary, weapons and tools from various ages, some impressionist art from a local artist and an apothicary from the 1700's.  Some good education nuggets without tipping the "boring meter" too high.

A quick jaunt into the city brought us to St. James Church, the largest church in the city.  The kids were in awe of this place, being the biggest and oldest church they have ever been in.  I couldn't help but chuckle a little, as they probably have no idea what lies ahead of us when we see Domo, the Vatican and Notre Dome :).  None-the-less, St. James was a pretty neat church.  One of the alters has a particularly cool sculpted artwork holding a crystal cross from 1200's.   The stained glass was also very beautiful, even though there was some restoration work that was detracting from the experience.

On the way to get back on the wall, we stopped outside the criminal museum (torture museum) for some quick fun :).  We decided not to go in as Noah and Katy didn't seem up for it.

Further down the wall we ran across a small amphitheater... and what is one to do when crossing such but take a few minutes to ham it up :).

Finally, we finished up the wall march...err.. tour and took a break from some Italian food.  Pretty good food and everyone found something they like.

After lunch we stopped in the 2 Christmas stores off the main square.  Well, the girls did.  Noah and I hung out in the street and people watched.  Well, I people watched and Noah played on his iPod.  Fortunately this phase of the trip didn't last too long.

As if walking the entire wall length wasn't enough, we decided to climb to the top of the Rathaus (town hall). The top of the town did offer a great view of the city, but we all grumbled a little at the 235 stairs (the kids counted) to get there.

After that bit of exercise, it was time for some Noah and Katy down time, so the Brownings headed back to the hotel, and let the teens have some freedom to explore the city some more.  From what I was told, they wandered around some other stores, including an armor shop, and found a power converter that would work with Becca's camera (one of the technical problems we encountered on the trip thus far).

We all regrouped at the hotel, relaxed some, and then headed to a nearby playground for some MORE play time.  After about 30 minutes of yelling, cheering and running around like fools, we noticed the sign that said the playground was for kids under 12 :).

The day ended with another leisurely stroll through the city looking for a dinner spot.  We settled on some more German food at Zum Swann.  Most everyone got some form of schnitzel and all turned out to be pretty good.  Noah got paid a visit by a local cat, which decided to circle the area after Sara and he gave it some food.

We lumbered back with full bellies and settled in for the night.  For a little fare well excitement, a thunderstorm blew in and offered a little lighting and heavy rain.  Fortunately most were asleep by that time.

-- CsB

Europe Day 3 - Travel to the Mainland - Rotenburg

Bright and early the crew got up today.  Alarms set for 4am GMT to get to our plane to Frankfurt leaving at 7:30.  Bright be a perfect description being in the arctic circle close to the summer solstace.  We are getting only about an hour of night time.  Grogy eyes were aplenty as the second day effects of jet lag mix  with the never-setting sun.

We stumbled our way through getting everything in the car.  It was a quick and uneventful drive down to the airport at Keflavik, once I won my fight with the navigation software and found a way to load in something close to the airport for it to navigate to.

Check-in took some time as poor Sara had to fight with the incredible slow and temperamental check-in kiosk.  I guess having a bunch of flights leave at the same time creates a stress on the system.  After beating the system and going back to check in Sam (oops), we got to our flight area with plenty of time and grabbed a quick breakfast bite from a coffee shop.

Good bye Iceland.  I really enjoyed the visit, and I would come back, as I feel there are adventures to still be had.  Maybe visit the glacier areas crashing into the sea?  If you are looking for a interesting place to travel, I would definitely recommend a trip to Iceland. 

On to Germany!

The flight to Frankfurt from Iceland was pretty uneventful.  The teens and Katy caught some shut-eye part of the way.  Getting through Frankfurt airport was quick, no passport check and walk through customs.  Picking up the rental car at Budget was equally easy and after packing everyone in, we were on our way in the Ford Galaxy.

A quick aside about the Ford Galaxy.  I'm reasonably impressed with it.  Mini-van sized, probably not unlike   the mini vans that many of us own.  It has the equivalent of Ford Sync in it, which is pretty sweet.  Sara braved the German manuals and the Sync in german to find the "english" setting, paired her phone, and we were jammin' down the autobahn with full navigation.  The van also has 2 sunroof areas cut out along the left and right sides all the way down the car, giving it more light and a roomier feel.

So, back to the drive from Frankfurt to Rothenberg.   An nothing beats driving fun like an open stretch of autobahn.  Well... there weren't THAT many open stretches... and I was in a mini-van.  Well.. fun, none the less.  The Ford Galaxy held its own on the road, good ride at around 85 mph.  I kicked it up to 100 for fun, but that seems a little much for this sized vehicle.  After Sara got her iPhone paired, we were crusin' down the autobahn singing along (well, Sara and I were) to some Depeche Mode.  The teens and Katy decided to take another nap.  As we got closer to Rothenberg,  the shear beauty of the rolling green hills with the little German villages soon had everyone at the window with cameras in hand.  The crew also marveled at the huge wind turbines scattered throughout the region.

We soon arrived at Rothenberg and something pretty amazing happened. I believe I heard all of the kids jaws dropped as the saw their first middle ages like town.  We pulled into our parking lot and took in the city wall as we gathered our things.

A quick walk and we were greated with another visual treat, this quant old hotel, the Hotel Hornburg, which is our home of for the next few days.  The hotel is very cool, with a historical feel but roomy and with the modern amenities.  Definitely going to enjoy staying here.

A brief 15 minutes of distraut ensued as we were getting settled, created by none other than me.  Apparently, the room safe can be locked BEFORE you have set your code.... but after you have put lots of important stuff in it.  Hmm.. seems like a bad design :).  Panic time, but fortunately the staff was still around and a quick call to the owner produced the master key and was able to open the device.  Whew.... that could have been bad.

Some quick cleanup and it was off to dinner.  We decided we needed to start the German leg of our trip off with some traditional German food.  The Landsknechtstub served up the right food and a great atmosphere.  Super friendly waitstaff, who was very patient as we ask a thousand questions about the menu.  What better way to celebrate Sara's birthday than with Schnitzel, Spatezel, and beer.    Good food.. recommended.

After filling out bellies, it was off to the Nightwatchman tour.  Everyone was very into hearing the entertaining and informative tour. It was especially nice because the sun was setting over Rotherberg during the time, making some spectacular lighting on the city.  Another event highly recommended.  I believe I even heard Sam saying she might do an in-depth essay about Rothenberg for school next year.

And to finish the day, a stop at one of the local eis shops (ice cream).  That was a hit with everyone.

And the day is done... tomorrow will be more Rothenberg..

CsB

Europe Day2 - Iceland touring adventure

The crew slept in a little as we recovered some from our jet lag.  A quick trip to the corner bakery, the oldest in Reykjavik, yield a yummy breakfast and got everyone moving.  A few warm showers helped also :).
We all piled into the car and headed out to the Iceland high country towards the center of the island.  I was much more confident driving today, as I had the nav program mostly working (Skobbler) and had worked out my manual transmission timing again.

After about an hour drive, we arrive at a our first stop, Þingvellir.  This is a very special place for Icelanders, as it served as the center gathering spot for national assemblies, laws, and policy making.  Many historic events happened in the beautiful valley, like the decision to convert the entire country to Christianity around 1000AD.  I was an awe-inspiring feeling to be standing in the midst of such a historical place.

This area is also notable for its geological significance.  Iceland sits on the intersection of the Europe and North America tectonic plates.  Specifically, they meet in the valley at Þingvellir.  There are several large chasms emerging in the landscape as the two plate separate from each other at about 1 inch a year.
Speaking of geography, this part of Iceland is such an amazingly beautiful place.  High mountains with snow capped peaks and glaciers cut sharply into the green valleys splashed with crystal blue rivers.  And all of it feels so.... alive.  Between the numerous active volcanos, plates shifting, wind and glaciers, it feels like Iceland could change at any point. Something I don't think I have felt anywhere else I have been.

Oh, I came up with an analogy for Iceland.  I think Iceland is what you would get if you crossed Hawaii with Oregon.  Take Hawaii's volcanic island base, and rough rocky base, and put Oregon's (western) climate on it.  Mild summers, mild winters, with a good amount of cloud days and light rain.  Outdoor activities aplenty, many are some form of adventure to test your personal constitution.  Oregonians will probably feel right at home in Iceland, and enjoy all that it has to offer.

Back to the day...  The next stop was Geysir, a very active area of numerous Geysers.   We parked and walked up a short trail where we were instantly rewarded with a 100ft high eruption of  boiling water from Stokker.  We spent 15 or so minutes marveling at the geyser, as it put on a great show by erupting 4 times during that time.  Noah and Katy though that was super cool.  We then walked around looking at the other geysers, Belsi and Geysir (from which geysers got their name).  Fortunately, no one go too close or scalded by the hot water.

After that, we took some down time for lunch in the cafe at the Geysir tourist area.  Quite American fair of hamburgers, chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches.  All quite expensive and mediocre at best.  Feel free to look for some more interesting road-side cafe if ya are in the area.

The final stop of the tour was Gullfoss, the largest and most powerful waterfall in Europe.  A harsh cut in the high-plains formed this double waterfall to carry the glacier melt from the nearby volcano.  While smaller than Niagara, it is similar in beauty and the feeling of the pure power of nature.  It is an impressive sight. I captured a few video clips, but I do not think there is any way to capture the real experience.  Definitely worth the trip up to see it.  Noah would have me point out that there were too many bugs (gnats) to fully enjoy it.

The trip back was uneventful. The tired crew sharing some musical discoveries amongst their iPods and taking in the passing scenery.  We drove back on an southern loop, heading through Selfoss which is the gateway to Iceland's main agricultural area.

Back in Reykjavik, we got some down time back in the apartment.  Time to watch a little TV (Mr. Popper's Penguins seemed to be the movie de jour).  We ended the day with dinner at a small cafe in the old downtown part of Reykjavik, having pizzas and burgers.  I had some tasty fish and chips.  We finished off the day with baths for everyone and packed up to leave very early the next morning.

So, all in all, I think the "golden circle" tour we took gets top marks and I would highly recommend it.   It may be best to think of it this way: in half a day, we were able to see things comparable to Gettysburg, Yellowstone, and Niagara falls.  You can't get much more adventure for you time than that.

--- CsB

Gave at the office.... now for some restorative "me" time

It has been 10 long years since my last sabattical from Intel and I need a break.  10 years is a long time in an Intel life, given all the stress, long hours, tense situations, and high-pressure decisions.  The cost is not only physical, but it weights on your soul. Yes,it is time for a break and rejuvenate by body, mind, and spirit.

Of course, the last 10 years has also had some exciting times for me and Intel for the area I work in, server systems.     It has been a fun and exciting ride as the standard high volume server ecosystem grew from its fledgling state to the current position as the back-end of the computing world and a significant contributor to Intel's revenue stream.

A few high lights...

• Supporting the development and launch of 3 generations of server products (Pentium 4 architecture, Core (Merom) architecture, and Nehalem architecture)
• Being on the core team responsible for developing n readying 64-bit extensions for IA and Intel Virtualization technology
• Working closely with IBM to support the development of 2 generations of the X-series chipset.
• Being on the bring up support team for significant, notable design wins for Intel: Sun (now Oracle), Cisco, and Cray.
• Personally working with many senior technical people (PEs, Fellows) at Intel, some of the brightest in the industry.
• Helping plan the next generations of Intel server products...  to be seen in the years to come.

So, it is time for a break, spend some time rejuvenating, enjoying some bonding time with the family, and let the stress drain from me.  Thanks to Intel for providing me this benefit.

And when I return to work, pick up on one of the greats challenges.... plot Intel's course to create the world fastest computers.

---  CsB