One of the best things about being in Europe is how easy it is to travel around. We can get on a train heading in almost every direction and eventually end up in another country. There are also cheap flights to basically everywhere in Europe.
I’m taking advantage of the geography and attending some developers summits for work. Last week, I flew to Mölndal Sweden.
I was only there for two nights (and my first night, I didn’t get in until after midnight), so I don’t have many photos or stories. It was pretty cool to meet developers from all over the Nordics, though! I got a chance to talk with fellow nerds from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.
Fun fact: all of the taxis at the airport were Volvos.
The summit was run out of our hotel, so here are some photos from my room. When I first walked into the bathroom, I was worried that my American-sized body wouldn’t fit in the shower. Then I got some actual sleep and realized that it folded out like a cardboard box. You pull on those little metal squares and it ends up rectangular shaped. Pretty clever!
The floor of the bathroom never totally dries out. But I’m a fan of bathrooms that are designed to drain water from the floor. They remind me a little of living in Nepal. Plus, no water damage if you just assume that water is going to get everywhere and plan accordingly.
No, I did not sleep in a Murphy bed. There was a regular bed. Well, there were two twin beds arranged next to each other like a double bed. As an avowed blanket hog, I love the Scandinavian style of bedding where you each have your own duvet. I’m not sure how I’d feel about sharing a bed with a giant fault line going down the middle. But, hey, it was just me, so it was fine.
I asked the attendees if they also had wall beds, but not everybody had them. The consensus was that the front desk gave me a family room. It would be pretty cool to just pull down an extra bed for your kid. Kids, actually, because there were two wall beds. I’m not sure if I’d want the bottom bunk of a Murphy bunk bed, but they did seem pretty sturdy.
Not pictured, all of the amazing food that the hotel served. There was an entire counter of local yogurts. An assortment of compotes and fruits to top it with. Fresh bread and rolls. An array of sliced meats and cheese. I mean, I guess they also had rubbery looking eggs, so culinary non-adventurous feel at home.
The digital signage in the elevators gave you time ranges for how social you want to be at breakfast. Opening hour? You can sit by yourself and not have to hear anybody else talking. Middle hour? It gets a little noisier, but you should still have a table to yourself. Last hour? Danger danger Will Robinson, you might have to talk to other humans. You might even be forced to… share a table.
The summit itself was lovely. I learned a few new tricks and had some great conversations about how people use our software. If you follow me on LinkedIn. You can see me tagged in a wrap-up video. I taught everybody “AV Yoga” aka some basic stretching with funny names.
We had an afternoon break and everyone made a beeline for the soft serve ice cream machines. Me: why are we eating ice cream right now? Them: oh we always have to have ice cream.
Friends, this was the best soft serve I’ve consumed in my entire life.
And we were staying in a Quality Inn.
I’m not sure why the Swedes have such good ice cream, but they’ve definitely been holding out on us.
After the summit, we all took taxis downtown for a group dinner. I was excited to try some Swedish cuisine. But our reservations were for a place called…. O’Learys. It’s not actually an Irish bar, oh no… it’s a BOSTON themed bar.
Reasons why O’Learys is not a real Boston bar:
- The food is too good
- The portion sizes are too reasonable
- No Bud Light
- Nobody tried to throw hands at the guy wearing a Yankees hat
Also, they were playing European football, not American hand-egg ball.
We had a great time swapping war stories and shooting the shit. I learned so many things about Nordic culture. Like the fact that Finns will hide in their houses if they hear the doorknob next door rattle. Apparently they don’t like talking to their neighbors.
(Between that, and how cold/dark their winters are, I’m not really regretting our decision to avoid moving to Kristian’s ancestral land).
We stayed until they turned the lights on and kicked everybody out. Which sounds impressive. Until I tell you that it was only 11pm.
My trip back home included a layover in Copenhagen. I guess technically I can add another country to my list, but it doesn’t feel like it should count. I didn’t even eat a Danish. (Don’t cry too hard for me, I had an amazing cardamom bun at the airport in Sweden).
I did, however, amuse myself about the stack of “sewing kits” they had in the Duty Free there.
This week, I’m going to Belgium for another summit. And another O’Learys!
