The only plan we had today was to see the game between Sweden and England. We looked up a bar called The Place and took the subway there. Just our luck; the damn thing that said it showed world cup matches didn't open until an hour after the game had started!
We strolled up the street and found ourselves an irish pub instead.
The game was exciting, the pub had alot of english supporters in it and they exploded when Joe Cole scored the first goal for England.
We got equally happy when Swede equalized :)
All in all 2-2 was a great result. They still haven't beaten us for the last 38 years. However; we will meet Germany in the next round and we haven't beaten them in 48 years! :)
We had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. We got humongous portions of food and yummy yummy cheesecakes for dessert. I wish Anna would've been here, she would've loved it :)
Tomorrow we are going home. The plane leaves at 7pm and we will arrive on thursday at 1155am in Sweden. It's going to be a looooooong day.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
TechEd in Boston 2006 - Day 11
It was very warm today again. 34 degrees celsius in the shade.
A great day for shopping.
At 9.15am we were picked up at the Hilton by ... a limousine :D
We went to Wrentham Premium Outlet in style - it took about 45 minutes and cost us $50 each. This mean we could leave whenever we wanted. Had we taken the bus ($36) we would've had 5 hours to do all our shopping.
We got there at 10am and left at .... 6pm. I've never shopped for so long in my entire life.
I got lots of cool clothes and I filled my spare suit case!
We were pretty beat when we got home and dined at the Wendy's around the corner.
A great day for shopping.
At 9.15am we were picked up at the Hilton by ... a limousine :D
We went to Wrentham Premium Outlet in style - it took about 45 minutes and cost us $50 each. This mean we could leave whenever we wanted. Had we taken the bus ($36) we would've had 5 hours to do all our shopping.
We got there at 10am and left at .... 6pm. I've never shopped for so long in my entire life.
I got lots of cool clothes and I filled my spare suit case!
We were pretty beat when we got home and dined at the Wendy's around the corner.
TechEd in Boston 2006 - Day 10
It was brutally warm today, somewhere around 32 degrees celsius in the shade.
We checked out from Hilton and checked in at Oasis Guest House. We got a small room with a double and a single bed.
Turns out the double bed isn't really big enough for two of us to sleep in comfortably; so we went hunting for an air bed. We went up and down Mass Ave looking for various shops that might have it. None did. The only ones we found were automatic ones with their own motor in it - costing somewhere from $100 to $200. Not what we were looking for :)
Finally we got a tip to try Bed, Bath and Beyond at Fenway. Strengthened by our previous tours we went there by subway. Alas they only had the same air beds we had already found.
We were about to give up when we turned a corner, literally, and found an outdoor shop with an actual MANUAL air bed for $25 :D
While we were out there we took the time to catch a movie, Nacho Libre at AMC fenway 13.
This time we got the huge theatre :)
The movie was alot of fun. Jack Black was great as Nacho, very toned down and almost subtle.
We laughed the whole way through.
After we got back to our room we went out to get the best margaritas in boston!
I got some a BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich with rum beans. Very yummy!
The margaritas were very good. The dessert was excellent:
A layer of chocolate ganache, a layer of vanilla cheesecake and finished with a layer of homemade toffee.
I finished about half of it as it was VERY rich and VERY tasty :)
We checked out from Hilton and checked in at Oasis Guest House. We got a small room with a double and a single bed.
Turns out the double bed isn't really big enough for two of us to sleep in comfortably; so we went hunting for an air bed. We went up and down Mass Ave looking for various shops that might have it. None did. The only ones we found were automatic ones with their own motor in it - costing somewhere from $100 to $200. Not what we were looking for :)
Finally we got a tip to try Bed, Bath and Beyond at Fenway. Strengthened by our previous tours we went there by subway. Alas they only had the same air beds we had already found.
We were about to give up when we turned a corner, literally, and found an outdoor shop with an actual MANUAL air bed for $25 :D
While we were out there we took the time to catch a movie, Nacho Libre at AMC fenway 13.
This time we got the huge theatre :)
The movie was alot of fun. Jack Black was great as Nacho, very toned down and almost subtle.
We laughed the whole way through.
After we got back to our room we went out to get the best margaritas in boston!
I got some a BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich with rum beans. Very yummy!
The margaritas were very good. The dessert was excellent:
A layer of chocolate ganache, a layer of vanilla cheesecake and finished with a layer of homemade toffee.
I finished about half of it as it was VERY rich and VERY tasty :)
Sunday, June 18, 2006
TechEd in Boston 2006 - Day 9
We started off the day with some breakfast and some Ben & Jerries ice cream. The only thing we had planned for today was the Duck Tour. It was a really good tour; I highly recommend it. We got to see alot of Boston and we got alot of cool information about the city and its history.
Captain Covert was very entertaining and we tipped handsomely.
When we got back to the hotel we relaxed on the sundeck; playing some cards and munching donuts.
We really didn't have any plans so before we left the hotel for the evening meal we decided to ask the concierge, Mirko Bisetta, about any good italian restaurants in the vicinity.
He told us that while there were alot of italian restaurants around the hotel he couldn't recommend them. If we wanted to get real italian food we should go to the north end.
We took the subway there and after walking around a bit we finally found the place. Limoncello.
Three words.
Oh
my
god
We started off with some olives; the best olives I've ever had. For the main course I had fusili with a lamb and veal ragu. Possible the best pasta I've ever had.
The setting was great and we were so happy that we took the time to go out there.
It wasn't exactly cheap and we tipped quite handsomely; but well worth it.
Captain Covert was very entertaining and we tipped handsomely.
When we got back to the hotel we relaxed on the sundeck; playing some cards and munching donuts.
We really didn't have any plans so before we left the hotel for the evening meal we decided to ask the concierge, Mirko Bisetta, about any good italian restaurants in the vicinity.
He told us that while there were alot of italian restaurants around the hotel he couldn't recommend them. If we wanted to get real italian food we should go to the north end.
We took the subway there and after walking around a bit we finally found the place. Limoncello.
Three words.
Oh
my
god
We started off with some olives; the best olives I've ever had. For the main course I had fusili with a lamb and veal ragu. Possible the best pasta I've ever had.
The setting was great and we were so happy that we took the time to go out there.
It wasn't exactly cheap and we tipped quite handsomely; but well worth it.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 8
The last day of TechEd was a day of catching up on sessions that i couldn't attend earlier in the week.
Some more sessions on WCF and one about involving security in the development lifecycle.
The funny thing about TechEd on the last day is that when the last session is over, the whole place has been cleaned out and the buses leave for the hotel. That's it. It's all very final :)
To sum up this week I feel like I learned more this year than last. I will really benefit from the things I learned about .net 3.0 this week.
After coming back to the hotel we were going to purchase bus tickets to the outlet we're going to on monday. It turns out it was $13 more expensive for us (per person) to hire a personal driver to drive us there and home again; giving us full flexibility on when we want to leave and go back.
Only in America :)
We went out to go bowling but were disappointed with the bad lanes and light pins. Dinner was better. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen and I had a Thai Pizza with pieces of chicken breast marinated in a spicy peanut-ginger and sesame sauce, Mozzarella cheese, green onions, bean sprouts, julienne carrots, cilantro and roasted peanuts.
It was really really good!
Tomorrow we'll finally get to sleep in.
Some more sessions on WCF and one about involving security in the development lifecycle.
The funny thing about TechEd on the last day is that when the last session is over, the whole place has been cleaned out and the buses leave for the hotel. That's it. It's all very final :)
To sum up this week I feel like I learned more this year than last. I will really benefit from the things I learned about .net 3.0 this week.
After coming back to the hotel we were going to purchase bus tickets to the outlet we're going to on monday. It turns out it was $13 more expensive for us (per person) to hire a personal driver to drive us there and home again; giving us full flexibility on when we want to leave and go back.
Only in America :)
We went out to go bowling but were disappointed with the bad lanes and light pins. Dinner was better. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen and I had a Thai Pizza with pieces of chicken breast marinated in a spicy peanut-ginger and sesame sauce, Mozzarella cheese, green onions, bean sprouts, julienne carrots, cilantro and roasted peanuts.
It was really really good!
Tomorrow we'll finally get to sleep in.
Friday, June 16, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 7
Today started off with a session about creating your own enterprise framework with Scott Hanselman and Keith Pleas. It was a good session and I got to ask scott some questions that I had been thinking about.
It was good to know that I was on the right track and had come to the right conclusion. Never hurts to have it confirmed though :)
I did a lot of labs for the rest of the day. One lab was a bit different from what I normally sdo. It
was about coding for Microsoft Compute Cluster and thus coding for parallell processes. Thing is the lab was in C++ :)
It was cool to do it but very hard.
In the evening we went to the big party event at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
It was cool to have been there but I think the americans appreciated it more.
Tomorrow is the last day of TechEd for the sessions.
It was good to know that I was on the right track and had come to the right conclusion. Never hurts to have it confirmed though :)
I did a lot of labs for the rest of the day. One lab was a bit different from what I normally sdo. It
was about coding for Microsoft Compute Cluster and thus coding for parallell processes. Thing is the lab was in C++ :)
It was cool to do it but very hard.
In the evening we went to the big party event at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.
It was cool to have been there but I think the americans appreciated it more.
Tomorrow is the last day of TechEd for the sessions.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 6
Most of the morning was spent doing various labs; trying to get some hands on experience with the things we've seen at the different sessions.
We then saw some cool new things you can do with Windows Presentation Foundation. The day ended with a session about Windows Communication Foundation and ASP.Net.
After we got home to the hotel we got a tip about a bed and breakfast very close to our hotel. We went over there to check it out and decided to book it from sunday to wednesday. From what we gathered it's small but cheap and good.
We'll be staying three people in the same room. It's going to be an adventure :)
We then saw some cool new things you can do with Windows Presentation Foundation. The day ended with a session about Windows Communication Foundation and ASP.Net.
After we got home to the hotel we got a tip about a bed and breakfast very close to our hotel. We went over there to check it out and decided to book it from sunday to wednesday. From what we gathered it's small but cheap and good.
We'll be staying three people in the same room. It's going to be an adventure :)
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 5 supplemental
We went out with a client this evening and decided to go to the restaurant at the top of the Prudential Center. The food was good and the view was even better.
After dinner we lounged in the bar where three guys were playing jazz. Me and N ordered frozen margheritas - the best I've ever gotten. All in all a great evening!
After dinner we lounged in the bar where three guys were playing jazz. Me and N ordered frozen margheritas - the best I've ever gotten. All in all a great evening!
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 5
We started off with a session about building secure services in Windows Communication Foundation; part of WinFx (now known as .Net Framework 3.0). They've really done a kick ass job with all of it. It's gonna be so much fun using it once it's released.
I continued with another WCF session and then followed that one up with a session about SQL Query Governors. That session was held by Richard Campbell and was very interesting.
They showed a cool way of solving the problem of running queries that are costly when the server is already under heavy load.
Then, the piece de resistance. "Dirty SOAP without ASMX" with Scott Hanselgod, sorry, Scott Hanselman.
Just like last year both the sessions content and the presentation was stellar.
I continued with another WCF session and then followed that one up with a session about SQL Query Governors. That session was held by Richard Campbell and was very interesting.
They showed a cool way of solving the problem of running queries that are costly when the server is already under heavy load.
Then, the piece de resistance. "Dirty SOAP without ASMX" with Scott Hanselgod, sorry, Scott Hanselman.
Just like last year both the sessions content and the presentation was stellar.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 4
Today we started off with breakfast. T overslept and had to stress his way to the first session.
An overview of entlib for .net 2
I knew most of it already but there were some new points that were good to know.
The second session was alot better. SQL Querying Tips and Techniques with Richard Campbell. A real pro. He was funny and we got some great SQL Query tips. Especially good was the crosstab tips.
After lunch we attended some sessions about Windows Workflow Foundation. It seems to be really cool but it's not going to be launched until Vista is - so we're in for a long wait.
At about 6pm the expo hall reception started. It was swag time!
I filled my TechEd bag with stuff - all in all a good evening :)
This year I am so much more relaxed. Everything isn't new to me so I don't have to process the experience of being here which can be very tiresome.
An overview of entlib for .net 2
I knew most of it already but there were some new points that were good to know.
The second session was alot better. SQL Querying Tips and Techniques with Richard Campbell. A real pro. He was funny and we got some great SQL Query tips. Especially good was the crosstab tips.
After lunch we attended some sessions about Windows Workflow Foundation. It seems to be really cool but it's not going to be launched until Vista is - so we're in for a long wait.
At about 6pm the expo hall reception started. It was swag time!
I filled my TechEd bag with stuff - all in all a good evening :)
This year I am so much more relaxed. Everything isn't new to me so I don't have to process the experience of being here which can be very tiresome.
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 3
Today we decided to skip the hotel breakfast and went to McDonalds instead.
Turns out they don't exactly have the same kind we have in sweden where at least there are *some* healthy alternatives and whole grain bread.
I ended up getting a bagel but T and N went for the McGriddle. We all agreed I probably made the best choice :)
After the breakfast we went to the convention center to register for TechEd.
Then we walked around the place; checking out the CommNet. We planned the sessions for Monday and Tuesday.
We went home again after that and got something to eat before returning to see the keynote.
The only good thing about the keynote was the appearance of Mary Lynn Rajskub (better known as Chloe from 24). She was professional and fun.
Turns out they don't exactly have the same kind we have in sweden where at least there are *some* healthy alternatives and whole grain bread.
I ended up getting a bagel but T and N went for the McGriddle. We all agreed I probably made the best choice :)
After the breakfast we went to the convention center to register for TechEd.
Then we walked around the place; checking out the CommNet. We planned the sessions for Monday and Tuesday.
We went home again after that and got something to eat before returning to see the keynote.
The only good thing about the keynote was the appearance of Mary Lynn Rajskub (better known as Chloe from 24). She was professional and fun.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 2
Today we started off by eating breakfast at the hotel. We really filled up before heading out to find some kind of sports bar where we could watch the Sweden - Trinidad Tobago game.
It was raining; like it's been doing for quite a while now in Boston (from what we've been told) but we managed to find an irish Pub close to the hotel.
The game was a disappointment. Sweden couldn't capitalize even when Trinidad got a man sent off.
After the game we decided to walk around some just to see what the city is like.
It was still raining but it didn't bother us that much. We strolled our way down town; eventually heading to Filene's Basement that a friend of Anna's had recommended as a place to go for some shopping.
On our way there we suddenly noticed people standing in door openings. It was like a scene from The Wire. I'm about 95% sure they were dealing. It was strange seeing something like that; not exactly something we're used to in Sweden.
It was such a mess :) Clearly not intended for the average male as all three of us got stressed out just by looking at the place.
Just as we were about to leave; coincidence strikes. Turns out the friend that recommended the place just happened to be there just when we were!
What are the odds? :D
After strolling some more we went back to the hotel. We decided to go see Mission Impossible 3.
The movie was good; but the 2L coke started to bother me about half way in :)
When the movie was over I was ready to burst. I headed for the first restroom I could see and went for sweet sweet relief.
It wasn't until I exited the place that I noticed ... it was the women's restroom :D
All in all, a full day.
It was raining; like it's been doing for quite a while now in Boston (from what we've been told) but we managed to find an irish Pub close to the hotel.
The game was a disappointment. Sweden couldn't capitalize even when Trinidad got a man sent off.
After the game we decided to walk around some just to see what the city is like.
It was still raining but it didn't bother us that much. We strolled our way down town; eventually heading to Filene's Basement that a friend of Anna's had recommended as a place to go for some shopping.
On our way there we suddenly noticed people standing in door openings. It was like a scene from The Wire. I'm about 95% sure they were dealing. It was strange seeing something like that; not exactly something we're used to in Sweden.
It was such a mess :) Clearly not intended for the average male as all three of us got stressed out just by looking at the place.
Just as we were about to leave; coincidence strikes. Turns out the friend that recommended the place just happened to be there just when we were!
What are the odds? :D
After strolling some more we went back to the hotel. We decided to go see Mission Impossible 3.
The movie was good; but the 2L coke started to bother me about half way in :)
When the movie was over I was ready to burst. I headed for the first restroom I could see and went for sweet sweet relief.
It wasn't until I exited the place that I noticed ... it was the women's restroom :D
All in all, a full day.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
TechEd 2006 in Boston - Day 1
The day started out at home. Me and N met up with T at the train station from where we were going to take a taxi to the airport.
First snag of the trip: N had managed to bring his girlfriend's passport instead of his own.
Thankfully we had alot of time so she could bring him the right one.
The flight to Amsterdam with KLM was short and uneventful. We then transferred to an NWA flight (or was it nwa?). The plane was an Airbus A330-200 and it was awesome.
Great legroom and a great entertainment system with on demand movies, music and games.
The hours went by real fast and before we knew it we had arrived in boston.
Once settled at the hotel we decided to go out for a walk and get something to eat.
We found a small place called Stevie's Greek & American Cuisine. I had a gyros wrap that was good.
As I blog this I've been up for 19 hours so I'm a bit tired. It's only 9.30pm local but for my body it's 3.30am
:)
First snag of the trip: N had managed to bring his girlfriend's passport instead of his own.
Thankfully we had alot of time so she could bring him the right one.
The flight to Amsterdam with KLM was short and uneventful. We then transferred to an NWA flight (or was it nwa?). The plane was an Airbus A330-200 and it was awesome.
Great legroom and a great entertainment system with on demand movies, music and games.
The hours went by real fast and before we knew it we had arrived in boston.
Once settled at the hotel we decided to go out for a walk and get something to eat.
We found a small place called Stevie's Greek & American Cuisine. I had a gyros wrap that was good.
As I blog this I've been up for 19 hours so I'm a bit tired. It's only 9.30pm local but for my body it's 3.30am
:)
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