25 June 2006

Time travel

It looks like any other business park in North America, but the flags tell us we’re in Canada, and the building sign is for IBM.

IBM Canada has the longest corridors that we’ve ever seen in a building!

Life’s a blur these days.

In the past 4 weeks, J has travelled Dubai – Frankfurt – Berlin – New York – San Francisco – Boston – London – Berlin – Paris – Berlin – Stockholm – Utrecht – Berlin – London – Toronto.


M has travelled Dubai – Frankfurt – Berlin – New York – San Francisco – Auckland – Nelson (NZ) – Singapore – Dubai – Frankfurt – Berlin – London – Toronto.


We get tired just thinking about how much time we spend in planes – and also how much time we waste going through airport security and travelling to/from airports. It truly is a case of planes, trains and automobiles!

Being on the road may sound so glamorous, but it has its downsides. When we travel, we’re always attending shows, meetings and conferences. Our normal day-to-day work continues to pile up – mostly in the form of emails and tasks that we do, and which still have to be done. Usually it takes up our “free” time to do this – as it has this weekend in Toronto. Venturing out of the hotel twice in 2 days to breathe some fresh air, clear out the cobwebs and walk the city has been a luxury.

We went up here….
...to look down there.

One of the most pleasant moments was accidental. While walking, we came across some tents that have been set up for the Toronto Jazz Festival. Venturing closer to one of them, we heard the sounds of musicians setting up. We casually sauntered into the tent and sat down to observe.

2005 Canadian Vocalist of the Year, Molly Johnson was on stage with her ensemble to perform a sound check.

We were delighted to sit in on the couple of songs that they played, and to forget about our workloads for a while. M even managed to get a few reasonable shots on her little point and shoot Canon Ixus 400!

Tomorrow, we’re on the move again.

Boston – here we come.

13 comments:

Passionate Dilettante said...

Just dropping in to say 'Good morning!' or whatever it is where you are! TBTB - things to do, somewhere to go, not the practised traveller - but tracking your travels. Phew! Enjoy. xx

Jayne said...

Gawd, I don't know how you do it..........all the travelling that is! Flying wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for all the hanging around in airports hey? Glad you managed to take time out to smell the roses/chill to a few tunes :-)
When are you heading back to the Sandlands?

Lou said...

It has to be said, that without a doubt, you make the most of every minute of every day :)

nzm said...

mamaduck - know the TBTB feeling! I'm about to put a Boston pin on your BraveNet Guest Map! I thought that the Summer hols would quieten things down for you, but I guess that you'll be preparing for Espana.

jin - I don't know how we do it either! Thankfully, we don't suffer greatly from jetlag, so we cope better for it, I guess. Ithink that we'll be back in Dubai in mid-July. BTW - the Auckland Zoo is looking for you! lol.

desert_lady - we have to in order to get everything done! J is a driven Aries and I'm a perfectionist Virgo, so we hate to have anything outstanding or to waste time. Mind you, a week on a beach somewhere would feel like heaven right now, if we knew that no emails or tasks would be waiting for our return!

Parv said...

And again...any vacancies? :)

Great pictures - I do enjoy keeping up with your travels! Thanks for spotting that little blotch on my post. Enjoy Boston!

Mise said...

Just watched England and Ecuador ...a total bore ...and Portugal and Holland ...total farce ...4 red cards... You're lucky you left Germany! :-D ... What a fabulous adventure you're having....green with envy ;-D

Jayne said...

Can otters have dentures? If they can, I'll admit......I escaped......! (Licence to bite Hubs I wonder?) LOL
Nice one nzm!

Shazza said...

hey you two air-travellers, I've found the perfect luxury airline for you at http://www.eosairlines.com
... of course the prices are the downside... well I just wanted to give you a little something to dream about while you are trying to sleep upright in a narrow lufthansa seat! :-)

nzm said...

Wow - that airline would be a dream to fly!

But we also have our perks. We're now in NY, ensconced at the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel on the southern fringe of Central Park, and you should see our view and the goodies that we were just delivered - champagne, chocolates! We feel right at home and are currently giving thanks to Sheik Mohammed for his purchase of Essex House! I'll blog about it over the next couple of days - when I've recovered from the hangover!

Mise said...

Lovely :-D...sounds like the type of place I should stay before Christmas...

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

What is this I hear about travelling to Stockholm and not hollaring at Shaykhspeara?

Ok, I will let it go this time...

I can relate to the feeling of not exactly knowing where one is, although I don't travel as much as that...

Safe travels, and all the best to our favourite Travelettes!

Love,
SS

nzm said...

mise - I'm soooo jealous that you're going to be in NY at that time of year - I would love to do NY at Xmastime! We've been here so many times - in snow, sun, wind, rain - but pre-Xmas would be very special and a totally different atmoshere.

SS - well - it was only J, and then she had only one night there and a whole day event to attend for the Quark launch. If it had been both of us and with more (free) time, I would definitely hollared at you!

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

Well, what I'm trying to say is...you're both always welcome :)