Heading back from the land of beef

After nearly two weeks of blizz in the American South I'm in Frankfurt overnighting before my flight back to to Jeddah. Had a great time in Argentina and managed to do quite a bit. More on that later but for now I'll have to hit the gym like never before and drink water and eat cucumber only to get rid of all this beef that is hiding my immensely muscular structure. I won't be posting a picture of the belly. Just imagine a blimp. I'm the globe below it.

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 9:09 PM GMT

Blues
They call it winter blues, or winter depression. A mood disorder otherwise known as seasonal affective disorder - or, more brilliantly, SAD. I'll leave it up to you, beloved reader, to read more about it on various websites but if anyone is looking for a cure, there are special light therapy lamps that help battle the accompanying mood troubles.
...
And so it was, a couple of weeks ago, I went on vacation to Iceland. Yup, first time I ever went to Iceland for a vacation. And how great it was. I met up with a ton of family and friends, ate a shameful amount of food and cursed the crisis. A normal day in the life of an Icelandic person. I find it hard to describe the visit to my country as it blends together a bit. We did try to do some shopping but unfortunately the prices in that bloody country have just risen too high. Even with American dollars under the belt.
Flor had left Jeddah a week before me as she was doing the bi-weekly rosters for the cabin crew and chose to use the chance to do them in Brussels where we have a small outstation. A friend of hers is working over there, one who we met in Brussels back in November, and Flor could stay with her there. This also allowed her to jump over to Paris for a weekend to meet another Argentinean friend who is working there. I traveled up to Iceland alone but as luck would have it, my flight from Brussels to London was delayed so I missed the Icelandair flight home. I therefore had to spend one night a the Renaissance close by Heathrow which, incidentally, was smack full that night due to three weddings. Not a quiet night. As I had worked quite a bit in the week leading up to it I was absolutely dead which could mean only one thing. Oversleeping. Add to that some confusion in my head about the time difference so when I finally woke up I was certain I had missed the flight. I rushed to the airport and found out that check in had closed. I pleaded with the lady to let me check in who reluctantly agreed after the sobbing story of mine that I had been away from my beloved country this long. As the economy seats had filled up during check in she was forced to put me in business class. I didn't complain but she felt compelled to let me know I didn't really deserve it since I was this late.
As mentioned before, the trip was made up of events of eating. I can't even imagine how much I ate, all I know is that I added some kilos to my belly. I did also manage to hit the gym a couple of times and go for two runs or so - more to enjoy that part of my old life there than to actually exercise. I spent a couple of days in the studio, updating the computers there and catching up with the arty people. Met up with most of my friends and the major part of the immediate family. Took a quick trip to the movies, to see Inglorious Basterds - a movie my father, my brother and me enjoyed quite a lot while Flor was hindered to enjoy it as much due to Icelandic subtitles and foreign spoken languages. She did get a nice nap out of it though! The one thing I couldn't do was take a quick drive in my old car, a dearly missed friend.
Towards the end of the trip I was lucky enough to get a couple of shifts covered so I could add two days to the trip. Much needed although it meant I had to travel again through Heathrow (horrible airport now a days), wait there some 8 hours and finally travel on Saudi Airlines in monkey class for the nearly 7 hour flight down to Jeddah. Added to that I was homesick as soon as the aircraft took off from Iceland. Can't wait to go again, whenever that may be.
...
As for SAD, I wish there were lamps that brought on a little bit of SAD when desired. Call it a mix of being homesick and a masochist.

Labels: day2day, english, Jeddah, Saudi-Arabia, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 12:19 AM GMT

Prague

Long overdue, I know, but finally I uploaded an album from our trip to Prague. Click here to see. I had written some stuff on the trip somewhere but can't find it now. I'll have to write it up again and post it. Until then, the pictures will have to tell the story.

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 2:54 AM GMT

Madrid and Prague

Ahh, back to sweet old Jeddah. The sandbox that everyone loves to hate it seems. I don't mind it that much, but admittedly, coming from the vacation that I just came from - I'd rather have stayed on vacation.
Our travel to Madrid went along nicely although it was a very long day. As usual, we were carrying a normal amount of luggage but additionally we were carrying two HUGE water guns that were meant for Flor's nephews. Although it came as no surprise, the security officers in Brussels were not too keen to let us through. Neon yellow guns with a water reserve tank/backpack seem to pose a huge risk. Oh, and being carried around in Toys'R'Us bags. Scary stuff huh? Admittedly, the bags had Arabic writing on the sides. The trouble was well worth it though once we saw the faces of the kids when opening up the boxes. Only trouble was, the gun was bigger than the younger one!
We enjoyed great hospitality, sun and a very cooling pool for those too few days in Madrid.
Prague was absolutely positively the best vacation I think either one of use had ever gone on. The city is incredibly beautiful - tourist scenes and others alike. We rented a great apartment with Holečkova Apartments Praha (yes, relating to the photos on the site, what you see is what you get). The location was good even though it is not in the city center. The tram system is excellent enough so that we were able to be in Praha 1 (the city center district) within 10 minutes on the tram.
We used our time there to relax a bit, look at the most popular sites (that big tower on top of the hill, that big castle on top of the hill and that old bridge over the river... to name a few). We ate excellent food (albeit, not enough of local cuisine), took a bike ride to Stromovka park (and I managed to get hit by a car... but I think the car was more damaged) and looked at funny versions of ourselves in some mirror labyrinth. Got a quick lesson on what makes Absinth real or fake (tourist version he called it). Saw some incredible examples of how not to dress.
Prague is definitely a city to visit again. There is lots to do and an endless amount of variety in surroundings. A very green city which still holds on to the history that built it. The only unfortunate thing is that Europeanization is starting to shine through - mostly in price. I don't know what it is, but going to a foreign country I'd rather be presented with some foreign currency that I have to adapt to instead of using the good 'ol Euro. Ironic considering my homecountry's status. But going to Prague, I did business with korunas for the first time since I left Iceland. A warm and fuzzy feeling.
Well, back to real life here in Jeddah. Shifts coming up and an eight week outing. Next up, Iceland in September. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, click here for some photos from Prague. I apologize for the ego photos...

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 10:50 AM GMT

First vacation
We are heading off to our first vacation from Jeddah. Although our outing this time was a little shorter than standard it is good to get out. The last few weeks have been a bit crazy with all the packing up, moving, learning the job again, getting settled in here and last but not least adjusting to the heat and the Saudi ways. So we are very much ready for this vacation. We leave Jeddah in the morning on one of our aircrafts which is headed to Brussels. From there we will fly to Amsterdam to connect with a flight to Madrid. We plan to stay in Madrid for 4-5 days (plans aren't quite finalized yet) at with Flor's sister and her family. They have just moved into a new apartment where there is a swimming pool in the garden. Much needed in the summer heat in Madrid.
After the stay in Madrid we will then fly back to Brussels and onwards to Prague, Czech Republic. We will stay there for a week exploring the city and relaxing. I've wanted to go there for years now and couldn't be more psyched. So, don't expect me on MSN, mobile or be at all in contact. Time to take it easy and get lost a little bit. See you in two weeks.

Labels: english, Spain, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 10:07 PM GMT

Finally here
Well, we have finally arrived to Jeddah after a hectic few days. Last wednesday, on 27th of May, I worked my last day at Tango. Hopefully not the last day forever, but for now it was. I was rather sad to leave as I made some great connections and felt very comfortable there even after only a short few months. It was a great experience to work there and I learnt a lot. Both in terms of the subject at hand and about myself.
After leaving Tango I met Flor on the train so we could both go all the way to the airport to pick up a rental car. We needed a car to finish up a lot of stuff, both in Barcelona and to drop off some stuff in storage in Madrid. We had booked the car the day prior at some low budget rental. They weren't at the airport itself but in a rather run down neighbourhood close by. Once at the rental we handed over the credit card. That is where our problems began. Turns out they didn't accept American Express. Urgghhh. After arguing with them for nearly an hour, with no success, we headed back out to the airport and started going between rentals there to find the best price. At the same time we were going crazy as we were missing an important Barcelona game. Once we had all the quotes in hand we headed to the airport bar and watched the second half of the game. Not quite what we had planned but the best we could do. After the game we headed to Avis and reluctantly paid almost double the price we had originally planned to pay the low budget rental. In the end, I wasn't too miffed though as we were forced to take a bigger car (the only one available) which was a huge advantage once we had packed all our stuff together.
We drove back to the apartment and starting packing like crazy people (well, Flor did, as usual I was my lazy self). Our plan was to drive off to Madrid in the afternoon of Thursday, 28th of May, just after picking up some jeans of mine from the tailer (yes, I have abnormally short feet for a man of my size). Unfortunately we did not make it to the tailor before closing, we were only about four minutes late! We had also planned for some people to come over on Saturday evening to pick up stuff we were trying to sell but since we were delayed into Madrid we had to call everyone up and ask them to come Friday morning before we'd go to Madrid.
Finally on Friday morning, after waking up way too early we sold off almost everything except our beloved sofa and semi-functional TV, picked up the jeans and drove off to Madrid. A six hour drive ahead with a car literally stuffed full of stuff (it is amazing how much one can accumulate in a very short time). We stayed with Flor's sister once there, saw her nephew play some football and had great food. On Saturday afternoon we then drove off back to Barcelona. 12 hours in the car in less than 48 hours. The drive back went well and amazingly, we managed it all without the use of a GPS.
Once back in the apartment we finished packing up our suitcases, had some dinner and crashed for the long day ahead of us.
On Sunday morning we woke up on time, carried our suitcases to our car and with tears in our eyes said goodbye to our home in Sabadell. I have to admit, it was hard to leave. We were carrying a lot of luggage so the worry was that we'd be charged quite a lot for overweight. Once we dropped off the rental car, we put on our sad and poor faces and proceeded to beg and plead at the check in desk to avoid the excess baggage charge. Sure enough, after some of the troubles in the days prior, we struck luck. One of the girls at the check in desk had once worked as a cabin attendant in Saudi Arabia and fully understood the need to carry all that stuff. So, nice as they were, they let us through with all the stuff. We were leaving Barcelona.
We landed in Brussels a few hours later and got ourselves to the Hilton hotel where the crews normally stay. We had about 8 hours to go until the transport to the Cargo area at the Ostend airport (quite far from Brussels) so we stored our luggage and enjoyed a nice meal at the Hilton restaurant. The hours couldn't pass quickly enough however. Hanging out in a hotel lobby for that amount of time simply ain't nice.
After the long drive to Ostend we got onto the biiiiig 747-400 freighter in the most comfortable seats I've ever used on a flight. We had about 10 hours ahead of us in that aircraft so it was very welcome to be dead tired after the hassles and rush in the past days.
Early morning on Monday we finally arrived here in Jeddah, "ready" to start the next chapter.

Labels: day2day, Saudi-Arabia, travel, work

as written by Tobbi G. at 3:05 PM GMT

A Tobbi without a home
So, I'm on the road now. I do have a destination, I just don't have an estimated arrival date. I left Iceland last Saturday, 8th of November to go to Copenhagen. I met up with my friend Óli (since college and university) who has been living in Denmark for way too long. He was kind enough to let me stay there for one night before I continued to Brussels.
We managed to have some fun over there, although it involved mostly talking. We are just getting too old for partying. Him and Guðrún have a really nice apartment which is now covered with toys, owned by there almost 1 year old son.
On Sunday I headed out for the airport to catch my mid-day flight to Brussels. The bloody fascists at the airport charged me for every gram of overweight they could find, even after I removed a few items of clothes out of the bag and put them in the trash. Lots of Euros down the drain there. I then met up with Flor on Sunday evening after waiting in the hotel for a few hours, studying some Spanish and listening to music.
I haven't had much of a chance to see Brussels since I've been trying to study as much as possible. I have taken a couple of walks around the center though and taken a quick run, but aside from that not seen much. What I have seen though is nice. The autumn has definitely arrived here so scarfs are needed. But the buildings are beautiful at this time of year. Perfect for this style.
Anyway, off to more studying. I'll try to post updates when I know what will be happening, where I will be going and when... well, I know anything!

Labels: day2day, english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 8:46 PM GMT

Laugavegurinn

Me and Heiðar, my sister's boyfriend decided some time ago to bike Laugavegurinn - the most popular hiking route in Iceland. 54 kilometers total, rising from a starting altitude of about 500 meters, up to 1,000 meters and then down to roughly 30 meters. With an amazingly varied landscape the route is incredibly beautiful and lots to see.
Normally the route is taken in four legs (one each day) while hiking. Some do it in two days and then there is a group of crazy people that do the ultramarathons there - in 5 hours or something like that. Me and Heiðar decided to bike it in one go. There are three cabins on the way and we planned
We drove on Friday the 5th of September (if I remember correctly) up to Landmannalaugar where we stopped for the night. Luckily my sister was willing to drive the car over to Þórsmörk on Saturday so we wouldn't have to worry about anything else than the pedals. As we expected this to take most of the day we were up bright and early to eat and get going. The trail starts going uphill from almost the very beginning. As expected, I felt dead one meter after the almost very beginning.
The total route took us about thirteen and a half hours if I remember correctly. We managed to get over to Þórsmörk just as it got dark - a good thing as any biking would have been impossible in the dark. This trip had been a goal of mine for a long time, pretty much since I started working out and biking. So I'm pretty ecstatic about finishing it. It wasn't easy and there were times where my head just wanted the body to stop. Fortunately Heiðar is the opposite, with endless drive. And my pride didn't allow me to stop. Now I wonder what is next?
For entertainment, a few photos can be seen here on Flickr. For obvious reasons I cut all those that showed how bad I was feeling at any given time.

Labels: english, exercise, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 9:05 PM GMT

Barcelona - the 2nd coming

I'm sitting in a half empty airplane returning to Iceland after a 10 day trip to Barcelona. About a month ago Flor went to Spain to sort a few things out and to take a little time off. Although I have not been working for this time I didn't have the chance to join her until the second half of August.
We didn't really have any plans for these days except for a couple of days in Calella with her sister's family. We pretty much decided to take each day as it came. After a couple of days in Sabadell, the town where Flor has been for the most part during the last month, we rented a car to drive along the northern coast of Catalonia in search for some good beaches.
We struck gold twice. Once at Sant Pol De Mar, a small and quiet town about an hour out of Barcelona. The beach there was very nice, with deep waters and few people. Very free as European beaches tend to be, if you know what I mean. There were quite a few rocks in the water - something that turned out to be a devil in disguise when we both managed to hurt ourselves on Sea Urchins. I got quite a few visible prongs into my left foot and several more appeared in the days that followed. Word of warning: avoid those urchins. Contact with them will result in pain!
On my last Friday in Barcelona we decided to head further north in search of more private beaches. We drove another half hour further than Sant Pol, about half way to France, to a place called Lloret De Mar. We knew to expect quite a bit of people as the big town of Lloret is a very popular tourist resort. Arriving into the town we were greeted with hundreds, if not thousands, of sunburnt Germans, French and Brits. I have rarely seen so much pink and red in my life. As we were not really up for a massively populated beach where you count other people's hair we got onto the twisty beach roads for another 20 kilometers north. At some point we took a chance and entered a very small town where the narrow and steep road lead us to a beautiful creek with a secluded beach and very few people. We both agreed it was one of the best beaches we have been to. The water was so clear, and no matter how far out you would swim, you would still see the bottom. It was that clean. Rare to see on the Mediterranean coast. We'd highly recommend it if you are in the area. We spent the whole day resulting in me joining the pink and red crowd I mentioned earlier. Maybe they'll let me join the club.
As the flight today left late evening we spent the afternoon in the center of Barcelona, browsing the shops, eating and drinking and enjoying the thousands of people walking around the Rambla.
Regardless of what others say, that part of Spain is simply amazing. I could so see myself moving there... one day. :)

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 7:13 AM GMT

Þórsmörk and Fimmvörðuháls

Me and Flor went with my family to Þórsmörk sometime late in June - one of my favorite places I've in Iceland.
As I am generally considered what came before He-Man I decided it was a good idea to bike from route 1 in to the camping area. Roughly 25 kilometers on rough roads, crossing a few streams and rivers and carrying the bike over a hiking bridge were the major things offered. As Iceland sometimes feels the challenge isn't enough my beloved country decided to throw in a combination of wind and rain. Just to please me a bit more. For a trip I expected to take about an hour and a half I was more than 2 hours on the way. Harder than I expected but probably twice the fun.
There were really no plans for the weekend aside from eating, drinking and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. However, my sister and her boyfriend had the idea of biking Fimmvörðuháls, a very popular hiking route from Skógar to Þórsmörk, on the Saturday. A route that offers 1000 meters of elevation and just under 25 kilometers of distance. It goes between two glaciers crossing very bland landscape but spectacular landscape. Renowned for quick changing weather condition and fairly strong winds at the top one can expect anything.
We took off from Skógar at about 11 in the morning after driving from Þórsmörk. The first half of the trip is just uphill like you wouldn't believe. Much time was spent off the bike - hike a bike if you will. But, amazingly, our spirits were still high. More than 2/3rds of the way up are on the road, after which you are on a hiking trail. The going got a lot tougher after the road finished and endless snow fields made it a lot harder. We finally got to the highest point, much to our muscles' delight.
We had expected the way down to be much fun and easy but oh boy were we surprised. We had to carry the bikes quite a bit since the hills were very steep. There were times though where we could let gravity do its work and give those brakes some work to do.
After about 7 hours of pure exercise we finally reached Þórsmörk with absolutely no energy left in reserve. Although the trip turned out to be much harder than expected we all agreed - a few days later, when the pain wore off - that it was a great experience. :)
After Saturday's night festivities a good (and long) sleep followed. It was an amazing weekend although I could've been a lot nicer and spent more time walking around with Flor.

Labels: day2day, english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 8:15 PM GMT

Barcelona

I finally sit down to write something. And this something will be a straight continuation from the last post. Mine and Flor's trip to Barcelona.
It goes without saying that the trip was absolutely brilliant. We left early on Thursday morning after very little sleep. Gave us a chance to sleep the whole flight through, feeling pretty good when landing in the heat in Catalonia. We had a rental car waiting for us to use for the whole trip so we started by picking up the keys, buying some cold drinks and hunting down the right car in the huge parking lot. As Flor misses Starbucks more than anything here in Iceland we decided to hunt one down before heading for the hotel. We didn't have a map to go by (apart from some printouts I made before going) and no GPS in the car. The short trip to Starbucks wound up being a good exercise in driving in Barcelona and searching for a parking space. :D
Our hotel was situated about 30 kilometers from the airport - in a small town called Sitges. Sitges is known for being attractive to the gay community - especially the males - something we could see very shortly after arriving there. I drove Flor crazy by wondering if every other person on the street swung the bat "the other way" - not entertaining in the long run.
Much of the planning went around the Formula 1 race we were going to attend on the Sunday. The circuit is about 100 kilometers from Sitges and as we expected hectic traffic congestion we decided to go on Saturday to see the route and familiarize with the circuit area. We found the way fairly easily but unfortunately missed the first part of the qualifying. No matter really as we managed to decide a good spot to sit at during the race.
On the Sunday we managed to wake up early and head out for the race. Regardless of starting the drive at 9 in the morning (the race was at 2) we spent about 2 hours in traffic moving slower than a walking grandma. The weather was brilliant though and I managed to get some tan on my taxi arm (left one hanging out the window). We finally arrived at our spot at noon after some adventure finding a place to sit. As the area was fully crowded by then, we became probably the most hated people there. Almost as hated as the country's favorite, Fernando Alonso, is in my head! After licking the sun for two hours - enjoying some pre racing by smaller cars the race was on. My team was already in good position after the qualifying so I was optimistic.
Sitting and watching a race like that - in place - is just simply amazing. Easily up there with the best hours of my life. Ferrari honored my visit with a 1-2 finish and Alonso made my day by not finishing the race. I can't say the same about the Spaniards in the audience. :D We left the circuit in a good mood, red skin and convinced to go again.
Aside from the race we managed to do quite a bit. On the way from the circuit one time we went a longer route, driving through the hills inland from Sitges. We stopped at some old Roman castle (if I remember correctly) high up on a hill for a few photos. We walked through La Rambla one afternoon after an interesting drive through West of Barcelona city trying to find some girl's place. We went to a great Tapas bar on La Rambla which I would highly recommend. A short visit one evening to the floating mall. Amazing place. All in all we had a great time, the weather was simply incredible. Definitely a place to visit many more times.

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 3:04 AM GMT

Time to strike off the list...

You know that list I have about things to do, places to visit and things to buy? Yeah, well, I've been able to strike off a few lately but will now be striking an additional two off in about a week or so. Today was my birthday and Flor gave me the greatest gift ever. A trip to Barcelona for the two of us! And as an added bonus, the Barcelona Formula 1 race is happening the same weekend. So she got tickets for that as well!!! Two things to strike off the list :) So, I'll be going to see my first F1 race a week after turning 29. I'm sure Ferrari will give their best performance - just for me... :)
I took the day off from work today - just to relax. It was very nice and very needed. Not much to say really as a I just stayed in the sofa and watched some TV. All I really wanted.

Labels: day2day, english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 1:34 AM GMT

Life is wide
Yup, life is all about widescreen now it seems. And to celebrate that I made three panoramas from Argentina. These are HUGE photos stitched from 4-7 big ones. You can click each one below to open up larger ones. The larger ones are still only about 25% of the original size. Anyone want to print these on their wall?

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 2:33 AM GMT

What a photographer
Finally, finally, finally ... some photos from our trip to Argentina. Amazing how quick I did this. It has only been, what, 2 months since we got back??? And to top it off I only have 4 of 5 parts done. Well, that will have to do. Enjoy:
1. Mar Del Plata: a week in Argentina's favorite beach town.
2. Fangio museum: a half-day trip to a motor-sports museum.
3. El Calafate: 3 days surrounded by glaciers.
4. Usuaiah: 3 days in the polar opposite of Akureyri.
5. Buenos Aires: a week in possibly the best city I've ever been to.

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 3:02 AM GMT

Hola
So, life is beautiful. Tons of snow is drowning out every car here in the city now. They say this is the most we've seen since 2000 here in the Reykjavik area. I'm not so sure about that. I do however recall all the winters when I was younger being much much whiter than in recent years. My memory has pictures of high mountains of snow, just in the backyard. Maybe it was all just relative to my own size at the time?
I've been quite busy since I came back to Iceland. The trip to Argentina was great. Absolutely great. I ate like an animal, saw too much sun, went almost as far south as Iceland is north, met some great people, showed Argentineans how NOT to speak Spanish (by opening my mouth) and got some interesting driving experiences. I have yet to sit down and write an account of the trip for myself as I've been working quite a bit. Flor had to move apartments so I was helping with moving the stuff from one place to another and then another. Finally things are settling down a bit and life is taking on a normal face. Now some processing of about 1300 photos from Argentina is to follow :S
Anyway, just wanted to put a few notes down... for now.

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 5:53 PM GMT

New York baby
Yup, yours truly just returned from the beautiful city of New York. Had a great time with the people from the studio. Will write up a recap of the trip in the next few days. Have to work a bit now. Oh, and in 5 weeks or so, I'll be going to Argentina with Flor!

Labels: english, travel

as written by Tobbi G. at 9:58 AM GMT