Souvent pour s'amuser

Back to blogging / Flickr pictures / Recent trips / New job

2008-10-11T22:14:00.001+02:00

Back to blogging

Once again there was quite a lapse in my personal blog, and here I am again listing what I did over the last year or so. This time I have a really good reason: I wrote a book! It was such a great and intense experience, and it didn't leave me much time for anything else. I managed to keep my technical blog more or less "fed" with entries, but needless to say I had to cut some corners, and the private blog had to wait... The book is out now (or almost) however, it's called Silverlight 2 Unleashed and offers a solid introduction to the Silverlight technology developed by Microsoft. Without going too deep in details, Silverlight is a technology that can be compared to Flash, though it is more agreeable for developers and especially those already comfortable with other Microsoft technologies such as .NET and Windows Presentation Foundation. More details about the book can be found on my technical blog.

Flickr

Because of the book writing, I also had to reduce drastically my activities in the PhotoAlbum containing our family pictures. In order to continue publishing pictures for our family and friends, I opened an account at Flickr. This is a great service and I love many of its features, It also gave me a lot of ideas for the next version of PhotoAlbum... Yes I want to work on it again, as this has always been my pet project to try all kind of new technologies. I already have tons of ideas for the next version, more about this later. One important new feature is going to be Flickr integration for sure, and I am really looking forward to offer interaction with this great service.

While you wait for the new PhotoAlbum to be up and running, take a look at my Flickr account, where you will find all the new pictures, and where I gradually post older pictures too.

Recent trips and conferences

Since I posted my last blog here, I've been travelling, both alone for business and also with the family for leisure. All trips went great, though I obviously preferred the ones with Chi Meei and the girls :) But I can't complain, and it's also great to be able to go to various places in Europe and in the US for business.

Milano (September 2007)

Just a workshop in Milano with my Italian colleagues. They's a great bunch, and we've worked together quite a lot in the past. I went to Milano quite a few times since I started working on this project, and it almost feels like next door. Nice place though!!

Seattle / Redmond (October 2007)

Since 2006, I have been part of a small "insiders" group within Siemens, named "Microsoft Strategists". This group composed of people from each of the 5 main divisions at Siemens gathers developers having a long experience with Microsoft (often much longer than my own experience). Over the years, we managed to build great relationships with Microsoft, and the collaboration works really well. On some occasions, we meet either at Microsoft of at Siemens, and we talk about projects and collaboration. This time it was in Redmond, and it was really thrilling to be where so many cool things happen, Microsoft developer division headquarters.

Chicago (October 2007)

One more in the long list of workshops in the USA. I always appreciate going to the US somehow, the life style there is really different from what I am used to in Switzerland. While I really wouldn't like to live in the US, going there from time to time is a pretty cool change from life in Europe.

During this week, I also spent quite some time on my book, and wrote a couple of the early chapters there. Nowadays when I read these, I can totally picture myself in the hotel room or on a Starbucks terrace and typing typing typing. What a long way since then (the book is going to be published in a couple of weeks).

Chicago

Princeton (December 2007)

This trip was really nice because Chi Meei and Alise also came. Laeticia was still a bit small for New York so she got to spend a week holidays at her grandparents. Now she is still a bitter that she didn't get to go to New York, but her time will come!

In fact Alise and Chi Meei arrived in New York before me, because before I left, I attended a workshop at Microsoft and took a later flight. I joined them later the same evening in Princeton where we stayed a couple of nights. From there, I went working at Siemens while they took the train to NYC. In the weekend, we all moved to a hotel downtown and enjoyed Manhattan the week before Christmas. A great time to be in New York (except for the half melted snow on the floor, because apparently they don't know how to handle snow in NYC :) We visited a lot (including the statue of Liberty), went to FAO Schwartz (yes we're that courageous) and the 2 women even made it to Toys are Us in Times Square (I gave up on that one and went to Starbucks instead).

Because all good things come to an end some day, Chi Meei and Alise had to go back while I worked a few days more in Princeton.

New York

Nürnberg (January 2008)

We started the new year with a Microsoft@Siemens workshop. During this event, I was honored to present a session about WPF and then a 4 hours long workshop about WPF and Silverlight. The audience was really nice and reacted well to the talk. It was also a great occasion to meet with people from Microsoft Germany and with the responsible for Global ISVs in the USA, Eddie Amos.

Serfaus (February 2008)

Holiday time!! This year again, we went to Serfaus in the South Tirol (Austrian Alps) to ski one week long in a fantastic lanscape and on great tracks. The snow was good, and I had never before seen such an amazing weather for the whole week! It was truly fantastic. Our both girls went to the ski school and made big progresses. For Alise it was just the continuation of past courses, and she is like a veteran already. She is now able to ski on her own on really tough tracks and I must always ask her to go slower. She doesn't know fear. As for Laeticia, it was her first course so it was really just a start but it's a good preparation for further years. It was really a terrific week.

Serfaus

Princeton (February 2008)

One more UI workshop in Princeton... Nothing much to add :)

Las Vegas (March 2008)

The MIX conference is my favorite Microsoft conference. I attended the very first one in 2006 and I can say that it changed my life. It was after this conference that I started blogging, that I started digging into WPF, that I heard for the first time about what would eventually become Silverlight. In addition, the conference is held in Las Vegas, in the Venetian hotel (one of the most amazing hotels in the world and the biggest). This year was even more special because it gave me the occasion to meet a lot of people I previously knew only from their blogs and Twitter feed, and to meet again previous friends. The conference itself brought tons of great content, and proved again how important the new client technologies are becoming for Microsoft and the industry in general.

TechDays Basel (March 2008)

I was invited by Microsoft to give a talk at the Swiss TechDays in Basel, and chose to talk about our experience with WPF in the big project i am working on currently. In this project, we have been studying the best ways to enable the designer-developer workflow. It's not easy because it is a collision of two very different worlds, art vs technology, and it is often necessary to smooth things up. This is where my role comes up, as "WPF Integrator" or "Interactive Developer" or anything you want to name it. The talk went great, about 250 people showed up and I got a lot of positive feedback.

Seattle (April 2008)

A memorable experience, my first participation to the Global MVP summit. Though I have been a Microsoft MVP since 2007, I couldn't go to Seattle in April 2007. I was extremely thrilled to be able to take part in 2008. It was a fantastic occasion to hear insider information about new technologies that Microsoft works on, to deliver feedback directly to the product teams, and to meet old friends... Some of all I had been following and corresponding with for quite a few years already, and many of them that I met for the very first time. It was a fantastic time indeed.

Presentation with Microsoft in Zurich (May 2008)

I was invited by the Developer Evangelists at Microsoft Switzerland to assist them at a presentation in Zurich. They gave 2 sessions about Silverlight and I gave a 3rd one, this time focussin on Windows Presentation Foundation and the differences between this technology and Silverlight. You can find slides and more info here.

Munich (June 2008)

I went to Munich a couple of times to meet some fellows developers using (or intending to use) Windows Presentation Foundation within Siemens. A great way to share our experiences... But a really long day because I didn't want to sleep in Munich, so I went there in the morning and came back at night.

Princeton (June 2008)

Another user interface design workshop. In addition, I was invited to speak at an internal conference about user experience. I took the occasion to talk about our experience with Windows Presentation Foundation again, this time putting more emphasis on internal details since the whole audience was Siemens.

Malaysia - Hong Kong (July 2008)

Holidays with the family, in Malaysia and in Hong Kong, and it was great. For the first time we were able to leave for 5 whole weeks, and this really made us feel at home there. After a week in Penang to visit Chi Meei's mom and older sister (with her husband and 2 kids), we flew down to Kuala Lumpur (KL). There we stayed at Chi Meei's other sister, who (and her husband and 4 kids!) were so nice to make us feel welcomed for the rest of the stay. We rented a car, which made us feel even more like home (well, with a GPS though...). It was just great.

I also spent some time on a small island named Perhentian (not very far from Kota Bharu on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, in the South China Sea). I went diving and had an amazing time there.

Finally, we finished our stay by one week in Hong Kong. It was my first time there and it was wonderful to discover this city. The kids and Chi Meei also had fun, we visited many great places and had amazing food... It was quite hard to come back to reality :) but we did eventually.

Chicago (September 2008)

This trip to Chicago was a bit special because I didn't travel there alone as usual, but a lot of my Swiss, Italian, Indian and US colleagues joined together for a 2 weeks long workshop. Also, the weekend was rainy... And not just a bit: The Saturday was actually the rainiest day EVER in Chicago (well, since they started measuring anyway, which was way back in the 1800). But nevermind, we had a good time anyway: Shopping for computer parts and other electronic equipment is always great for geeks like us, we had great food (Korean BBQ for lunch, Chinese Dim Sun in Chinatown for breakfast on Sunday, Steak dinner...). On Sunday, after Chinatown, we went to the Field Museum of National History and spent about 4 hours there. Great exhibit, we really had lots of fun. Since the rain had stopped, we took a long walk in Chicago down town before driving back. During this trip, I also spent quite some time finishing reviewing the book, for the last time...

Chicago

Bormio (October 2008)

We discovered the hotel Bagni Nuovi in Bormio (Italy) a couple of years ago, and I really fell in love with this place. This is a 5 stars hotel, and a spa. The service is amazing, the spa is innovative and makes you feel like a king. Additionally, the village of Bormio is charming, and the drive from our place to there takes us through the [LINK]Swiss national park, and through a very small pass located at 2500 meters AMSL. This is really scenic! We went there again to relax (the kids were at my parents for holidays) and it really was wonderful. Apart from bathing and soaking, we also took the occasion to visit a few small mountain villages and to appreciate italian food, yum!!

New job

Yes, after more than 12 years at Siemens, I decided to take a new challenge and it's a really exciting one. From the 1st of December, I will be a Senior Interactive Developer for IdentityMine. This company is amazing. I've known them since the beginning of 2007, when they gave us a course about the new technology that we had decided to use in the project I am still working on. Before that I had been following the blogs of some of them and it was a great experience to meet them face to face and to discuss some issues. It was even more amazing when they told me that they had been following my blog. Since then I have been really impressed by their professionalism and their skills. We had a few occasions to work really closely together, and I have been dreaming of working with them for some time already... But moving to Seattle was not really an option, even though I love this city. When you have kids, and when you have the qualilty of life that we are blessed with in Switzerland, you don't move very easily... Thankfully, IdentityMine started to be more active in Europe and decided to open a european headquarter... Now we were talking working with them witout having to move, definitely a win-win situation. I will write more about our plans in Europe after it starts (time seems so slow now...) :)

Long absence / Foo Fighters / Back from Seattle (again)

2007-11-01T17:04:00.001+01:00

Long absence...

I haven't been posting new pictures or blog entries for quite some time, sorry about that. I am very busy privately with a new project I started a few weeks ago. I cannot talk about it yet, but it's very exciting, and takes all of my free time (the time that's not occupied by my family anyway :-)

I will try to post more pictures from the Sicily trip in the next few days, really would like to finish this serie before the Christmas holidays :-)

Foo Fighters

As I was listening to my station on Launch, the Foo Fighters started to play, and it struck me once again how much I like what they do. They're really an amazing band, and Dave Grohl is a wonder. Additionally to his great playing, he is also ready to support other bands like Queens of Stone Age, putting his own band on hold while they went touring (OK, that's some time ago, but still).

So I decided to do something I should have done a long time ago: I just downloaded (legally) their 2 latest CDs, in order to complete my collection! Can't wait to take some quiet time and listen to the songs.

Back from Seattle (again)

I was in Seattle again 2 weeks ago. Actually, I was in Redmond, and took part to a one-week workshop at Microsoft with other Siemens people. It was really great, we met tons of interesting people and discussed the future of many technologies, including my own personal preferate, WPF and Silverlight.

After Redmond, I went to spend the weekend in Chicago. I had to stay over because I had a training to give the following week to some colleagues. The weekend went actually pretty well, even though I'd have preferred to be there with Chi Meei and the girls. But I made the bext out of it, rented a car and visited quite a lot, including Fry's and the Shedd aquarium. The museum area at the lake is really nice, the weather was amazing (25°, I stayed in T-shirt the whole weekend).

I flew back to Switzerland the next Tuesday night, and I guess it was the last trip of the year. We'll see :-)

Back from Seattle

2007-08-27T00:02:00.000+02:00

I interrupt posting the pictures of our tour in Sicily for a short moment, while I publish the pictures of my recent trip to Seattle.

I was in Seattle (actually in Tacoma) for one week workshop with a firm specialized in WPF, IdentityMine. I spent three days with Jonathan Russ, who is without any doubt one of the most talented developer I ever met, and at the same time a very good man, always ready to take time to discuss ideas or to explain concepts. It was a great week, and my only regret was I couldn't meet Nathan Dunlap and Robby Ingebretsen because they were both out of house. That said, I met other members of the team.

After 3 days of intensive work, I took one day on my own to go and visit the city of Seattle. It was a wonderful day, very sunny (against Seattle's reputation) and the people were really nice. I first took the bus in the morning from Tacoma, in front of the hotel (I was staying in the Marriott Courtyard Downtown, excellent hotel!) The bus trip is 3 U$ only, and the bus is very comfortable. Arrived in Seattle, there are many stops, and I decided to go down quite near from Chinatown. I then walked down to the seashore, and visited the piers, in particular "Ye olde curiosity shop", a very interesting shop full of souvenirs and tourists, but also a few interesting things to see like 2 (supposedly real) mummies, shrunken Jivaro heads, etc...

After that, I walked to the pioneer quartier, the original settlement of Seattle's founders back in 1851. The most interesting thing to visit in this area is the Underground Tour. It's a very funny and interesting experience, under Seattle's sidewalks. In fact, these are the original sidewalks, before the city authorities decided to raise all the streets by 3 meters, after the great fire of 1869, and in order to solve sewer and mud problems. Since the works to raise the streets were going to take a very long time, and the shop owners couldn't wait that long, the people rebuilt their house on the ground next to the elevated streets. The result was very impractical of course, so eventually the shop owners had to build sidewalks at the street level. The shops' first floor became the ground floor, and the original ground floor was now the cellar. The tour is about an hour and a half long, it's very funny because all the tour guides have a great sense of humor, really to recommend!

After the tour, I walked to Chinatown for lunch, which I took in a Vietnamese restaurant. I had Pho Bo, which reminded me of the time spent in Hanoi many years ago... Later, I walked through the city's main streets to Pike Place Market, in which I spent quite some time visiting and exploring.

After that, I walked all the way to the Space Needle, stopping only for a cold drink in a small café on the road side and using the free wireless to check my emails (by the way, I never saw so many wireless networks in one place :-) At the Space Needle, I hesitated to take the "Ride the Duck" tour, but it was late already and I rather felt like relaxing a little. Instead, I strolled in the attraction park at the foot of the tower, before taking the monorail back to the city center. There, I enjoyed a cold drink while sitting on the roadside and watching people walk... This is also where I took the ride back to Tacoma, where I was quite happy to have a good dinner at the Pacific Grill (excellent food and great service) and a good night's sleep!

Road trip in Sicily, part seven: Siracusa

2007-08-24T07:54:00.001+02:00

(Date: 19-21.07.2007)
(Written: 21.07.2007)

After a great breakfast with the best possible view on old Caltagirone, we walked back to the car through the maze-like streets, and then drove to Siracusa (Syracuse). It was wonderful to discover this island so full of houses that you feel they're going to overflow and fall in the sea... We drove to the hotel, named 'Palazzo del Sale' or palace of the salt. It's a historic house, a palace converted to bed and breakfast. The room was just great, two floors with two beds on the top floor (the kids were delighted to have their own room), and the bottom floor for Chi Meei and I, and also a very stylish bathroom. In the bathroom, some parts of the floor was tiled, while some other parts and the walls were a little like lava stone, very beautiful. Also the accessories, the sink, the shower, all were very stylish and the whole set looked really nice.

Since we were staying two nights in Siracusa, we took it easy and also spent some time resting and reading. The heat is pretty terrible these days in Sicily! But still, we also spent a lot of time outside, walking the small lanes and discovering the hidden places of the island. As the evening came, we walked to the Piazza Duomo for dinner. It was not exceptional, certainly not comparable to the previous day's in Caltagirone, because the place is just too touristy. We'll d better the next day :)

After a good night's sleep, we took the car to drive out of the old town and went to visit the archeological park. One impressive feature is the Greek theater carved out of a hill, and of course the 'Ear of Dyonisius'. He was a tyrant (ruler) of Siracusa (as well as other parts of Sicily) who used this ear-shaped cave to keep prisoners of war. The interesting fact is that the acoustic of the cave is supposedly so good that everything said inside of the cave can be heard from the outside, so that secrets exchanged by the prisoners could be overheard. What part is legend and what part is reality is unknown, but the cave itself is really worth a visit. Even more when you know that 7000 men are supposed to have died here after a war with Athens, which gives a tragic feel to the place.

Other features of the park are a roman theater and other antique monuments. We also walked to the nearby necropolis, in which the supposed location of Archimedes' tomb can be seen. Again, we're not sure he is really resting there, but this is a good place to pay respect to the man who was probably the greatest mind of his time. After reading so many histories about him and his inventions in school, it was a strange and good feeling to spend some time in thoughts in this place.

After this visit, we drove back to the island and went to see the Castle Maniace, which occupies the whole tip of the island. The visit was a little disappointing; there is nothing much left to explore and the heat was just too much to bear, so we decided to go back to the hotel. There, Alise and I changed to swim suits and walked to a nearby tiny sandy beach, and we had a good swim in the cool sea water, and then spent time looking for shells and nice looking stones. Finally, a good shower and an afternoon nap.

Not wanting to make the same mistake as the previous day, we asked the hotel's owner for dinner advice, and he recommended us a small typical Sicilian trattoria just 200 meters from there. The food was excellent (I had a carpaccio and the swordfish, local specialty), and while we ate we enjoyed some Sicilian music, and then some jazz. A good glass of Moscato wine (for me) and some house made tiramisu (for Chi Meei and the girls) ended a great day in Siracusa!

Road trip in Sicily, part six: Caltagirone

2007-08-21T07:45:00.001+02:00

(Date: 18-19.07.2007)
(Written: 20.07.2007)

After the visit of Piazza Armerina, and under a suffocating heat, we drove further to Caltagirone, a very scenic small town not far from there. Driving to the center was an adventure, because of the very narrow labyrinthine lanes, so after a while we just dropped the car in the center and walked to the bed and breakfast 'Tre metri sopra i cielo' (poetic name...). To reach the house, you must climb a HUGE staircase, which is used in spring to display thousands of flowers, or later in July to display some illuminated scenes with hundreds of lanterns. During our visit, however, the staircase was just for people, and we climbed up and down a few times during our stay.

The B&B itself was great. Very small (2 rooms and a common room and balcony), with an amazing view on the city, and a very friendly host, Gaetano Pace. He explained the whole city to me in Italian, and thus armed we could take a walk to the public garden, where we had a nice granite.

In the evening, after buying a few typical Sicilian products, and after a shower in the hotel, we followed Gaetano's advice and went to a restaurant nearby, Il Locandiere. There we had a great meal: first a lobster cooked with spaghettis (we chose the lobster ourselves from the display), and then a fish cooked in a salt crust and served with a sauce of herbs and melted butter. This was really a kingly meal. Walking up the stairs again that night was a real challenge, but we succeeded and enjoyed a peaceful night 3 meters under the sky.

Road trip in Sicily, part five: Piazza Armerina

2007-08-21T07:41:00.001+02:00

(Date: 18.07.2007)
(Written: 20.07.2007)

Leaving Agrigento, we drove towards the center of the island, direction Piazza Armerina, a small town hosting an amazing roman villa, the "Villa Romana del Casale" (UNESCO world heritage) discovered only during the 20th century. What makes it really impressive is the collection of mosaic floors: every piece of floor is covered by more or less (but rather more) well preserved mosaics representing all kind of scenes, for example hunting, fishing, family portraits, etc... It's also interesting to see the archeologists at work, since not everything in the villa is uncovered yet, and also for restoration work.

WPF: Workshop in Tacoma, WA, with IdentityMine

2007-08-20T12:24:00.001+02:00

I am thrilled to be here in Tacoma again, second time this year (and overall) after we were given a WPF training by IdentityMine very innovative and specialized firm. These few days with them are going to be devoted to reviewing some of our design choices, discussing ways to make our designers' work easier (making the application "blendable"), etc...

So, now it's 3AM and though I went to bed at 9PM last night (flying in from Zurich through London), I can't sleep, so I am taking a short break from bed :-)

Side note: This is the first time I enter USA in Seattle (last time I flew in through Chicago and did immigration there). No offense to the Chicago people, but yesterday's experience was better by far. Much less waiting, and more smiling. The officer actually took time to chit chat (for, like, 10 seconds :-) I guess people around here are just more relaxed. I ike this place (and not just because of the immigration officers :-)

Road trip in Sicily, part four: Agrigento

2007-08-14T14:04:00.001+02:00

(Date: 16-18.07.2007)
(Written: 19.07.2007)

After our unplanned day trip to Palermo, we drove south to Agrigento, a small city especially famous for its Valle dei Templi (valley of the Temples). In fact, it's not really a valley, rather a succession of hills with beautifully preserved temples and other interesting monuments. When you arrive in Agrigento, the first thing you cannot miss is the huge but partially destroyed Temple of Juno (or Temple of Hera; Juno is the roman name of the Greek goddess Hera, wife of Jupiter/Zeus).

Since it was rather late already when we arrived, we just spent a moment in the hotel's swimming pool before going for dinner. We chose a small restaurant named Kalo in the old Agrigento (the city has two very distinct parts; our hotel was in between). The restaurant was great, the food wonderful. Our girls enjoyed a risotto with seafood (tutto mare). Me I had 3 different marinated fishes as appetizer (almost raw fish and shrimps marinated in various sauces, delicious) before enjoying some veal cooked with Marsala wine. The setting was very nice too, we had small balcony to ourselves, facing the Piazza Aldo Moro and enjoying the scenic evening life.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to visit the valley of the Temples. It was hot already, so visiting in the morning is definitely the best choice. The walk is very nice, with many monuments to be seen (the best preserved is the Temple of the Concord, which was saved from the Christians' destructive rage because it was turned into a church). Also many trees, especially almond trees (a specialty of Sicily), but also figs, etc.

On the other side of the hill, we took a short walk amongst the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, a HUGE but unfortunately destroyed temple. The fact that it has been destroyed in one of the Punic wars gives an additional charm to the ruins. It was like walking in one of the history books we read during our Latin classes back in pre-university.

For lunch, we went back to old Agrigento and walked the small lanes for a while, until everything was closed. We then followed the 'guide du routard' signs to a small but excellent restaurant where we had meals and drinks for 4, all for 15 Euros.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to visit the archeology museum, with a very nice collections of vases and statues, and an especially impressive piece: A partially destroyed statue previously adorning the temple of Jupiter gave a better feel as to how huge that temple must have been. Really quite a sight.

After going back to the hotel and a swim in the hotel's pool, we went out for dinner again, this time in another restaurant named Kokalo. The food was OK, but not as nice as the previous day's. A good night's sleep concluded that day, before we drove further direction Piazza Armerina and Caltagirone.

Road trip in Sicily, part three: From Marsala to Agrigento via Palermo

2007-08-05T23:02:00.000+02:00

(Date: 16.07.2007)
(Written: 19.07.2007)

This trip to Palermo was not really planned, but since our bag was finally found, and broken (thanks Air One), we decided to repair it the same day (we had only seven days to get it repaired for free, which is really a shameful service). Anyway... On Mondays, all shops are closed in the morning including the siesta, which lasts until 4PM. So we had a full day to kill, which we did in Palermo, strolling the small lanes.

We found the luggage shop quite fast and parked nearby (near the Teatro Massimo) and then found the archeology museum, which we visited (we wanted to go there anyway). The museum is nice, there are a few impressive pieces, even if all in all it's rather small. But the small yards are so peaceful and cool that it was nice to lazy there for a while.

After the museum, we found a small lane with a market, and possibility to buy amazing fruits and vegetables, spices, and pretty much everything including underwear... We walked until the harbor, and then came back (the small lanes were cooler) and found a great little restaurant, where we had pasta and where Laeticia spent time running after many baby cats. Eventually, we went back to the luggage shop and waited in front of the Teatro Massimo until the opening time. That gave us the occasion to enjoy a glass of hand made lemonade served on crushed ice, a delight in the hot temperatures.

Once the shop opened, all went very fast and our bag was fixed in 5 minutes. So it's with a happy heart and a full trunk that we took the road to Agrigento, which we reached 2 hours later.

Road trip in Sicily, part two: Marsala, Isola di Mothia, Segesta

2007-08-02T23:04:00.000+02:00

Marsala

(Date: 14-16.07.2007)
(Written: 18.07.2007)

After leaving the Palermo airport (without a bag, see previous post...), we drove south to a small hotel not far from the city of Marsala. In fact, this hotel called Isola di Mozia (island of Mozia) is facing the island itself, and offers a magnificent view on the salines and the bay. We had a very nice dinner (antipasti and spaghetti vongole) in the nearby restaurant... Mothia (not very original name, but very good food). I finished the day with a delicious glass of Marsala wine, which tasted very much like Port wine (Marsala wine was made by people from England who wanted to have something similar to Port wine on their ships, but couldn't ask the Portuguese because of never ending fights). Finally, getting back to the hotel, we enjoyed the amazing sunset on the bay.

The next day, wearing the previous day's clothes (yuk, but what can you do without a bag...), we went out early and went to the nearby saline, to take a boat. The bay is half closed by a very long island, and in the center of the 'lagoon' is the small island of Mozia (or Mothia). The trip starts in a small channel, passing by huge mountains of salt, covered by tiles to protect the salt from the weather. The salt itself is made by evaporating sea water in big square ponds. It's quite an impressive view.

Then, crossing the shallow lagoon, we reached the island itself and took a stroll under the pine trees. The island was a very early phenician settlement, and many traces from this civilization can be found. The most impressive piece found on the island is a statue of a Greek youth, very big and well preserved.

Statue of a Greek youth

Segesta

Back on the mainland, we drove to Marsala, but on a Sunday pretty much everything was closed. So instead we decided to drive to Segesta and visit the very impressive unfinished temple there. According to the legend, Segesta was founded by followers of Aenea after the war of Troy. The temple is very well preserved, partly because of the legendary common origin of Segestans and Romans (the Romans gave protection and privileges to the city) and partly because it was never completed (so the Christians, well known destroyers of non-christian religious buildings, left it in peace). Also, it's quite outside of everything, so probably it was one more factor protecting it. The building itself is very impressive, even more so because it's in the middle of nowhere.

Being very courageous, we decided to walk up to the Greek theater on top of the hills. Very hot and quite long walk, but the view from up there was really rewarding, The theater faces the valley, and one can see all the way down to the sea. Beautiful place, and almost no one around!

We ended this day by an unnecessary drive to Palermo, unfortunately (see previous post), but eventually we had a very nice dinner again in the restaurant Mozia, and then a very peaceful night in that wonderful hotel.

Road trip in Sicily, part one: A difficult start

2007-07-30T21:56:00.001+02:00

(Date: 14.07.2007)
(Written: 17.07.2007)

Our trip to Sicily started under a bad omen, but thankfully all was solved after a few days. First we went to Zurich airport quite early, to avoid stress (it was going to be a very busy day in the airport, with most of Switzerland starting the summer holidays that day). We didn't have any worries though, and had time to check-in quietly, have something to eat and then join the boarding room with no rush.

Rush we did, however, in Napoli, our first stop. The airline (Air One) had planned only 40 minutes to change plane, and we trusted them. Unfortunately, we left Zurich 15 minutes late (not too bad), and we had to go through immigration in Napoli. After that, we had quite a rush to join the boarding gate for Palermo, and even then the plane had to wait on us and our fellows passengers. Bad planning Air One, but the worst was to come! They lost our bag! Apparently, the reason for the loss was not even the rush in Napoli, but the bag never left Zurich at all.

After waiting for quite some time in Palermo, it was quite clear our bag would not arrive. We were not alone in that situation, apparently all the bags from Zurich were lost (I am still wondering what the heck our plane carried in its belly, since our luggage was definitely not there!) So after a while, we lodged a 'lost bag' report and went to get our rental car. That went well, and a moment later we were on the road for the one hour drive from Palermo to Marsala, in a very nice Fiat Punto.

The bag story went further. After calling the call center a few times, and not getting any information about the location of our bag, one idiot at Air One's call center found very clever to tell us that the bag was in Palermo! Very happy about it, we drove the Marsala-Palermo highway again, only to find out that the idiot didn't even know how to read the system, and in fact the bag was still missing in action. Not only that, but no one was able to tell me (24 hours after our arrival) where the bag was exactly (probably Rome), and to tell me on which plane it would be loaded. Hard to believe, in those days of terrorism where you'd expect that every luggage is carefully registered and tracked, but apparently Air One loads luggage in their planes without telling anything to anybody, and without any trace of this in the system. Anyway... since no one was able to tell us when the bag would arrive, and not wanting to wait any longer in Palermo airport (not the nicest place in Sicily), we drove back to Marsala. These were really wasted hours.

The next morning, a bit worried because we were leaving Marsala that day, and not wanting to have Air One send the bag to our hotel in Agrigento (we were thinking that if they are unable to load a bag on a plane, these idiots would probably be unable to load it on a truck too...), we finally got the expected phone call, this time not from the dumbasses at the call center, but from the nice guy at the lost and found office. Even nicer since he was still shaking from my scolding him the previous day (I know, it was not really his fault, it was in fact Air One's fault, but sometimes you just have to unload... retrospectively I am not really sorry).

But wait, the story is not finished! When I finally got my bag back, I immediately noticed that it was damaged: the telescopic handle you use to roll the bag was missing entirely. So more paperwork to get a damage report, and the promise that our bag would be repaired or exchanged for free, but only if we would report within 7 days in a prescribed luggage shop in Palermo, Trapani or Catania. Talk about bad service! So after going out of the airport, we decided to solve the matter immediately, and instead of driving to Agrigento at once, we drove to Palermo. And since this is Sicily, the land where time stops between noon and 4PM, and since it was a Monday (shops are closed on Monday mornings), we had to patiently kill time until 4, visiting a museum, strolling the small market streets, drinking lemonade (yummy), etc... until finally the shop opened.

OK, it's not a bad way to spend the day, and eventually the very nice people at the 'Quattrocchi' luggage shop were able to repair our bag in 5 minutes (thanks Samsonite for making such good bags), so all in all, this bad start ended well, and we were able to finally take the road to Agrigento.

So, the rant is out now, and I can go back to normal programming, i.e. telling you about our 2 wonderful days in Marsala. Stay tuned!!

Back home after two weeks in Sicily

2007-07-29T18:37:00.001+02:00

I am back home after 2 weeks spent in a road trip around Sicily, Italy. We had a great time, and I will document the trip gradually in the next few days on my PhotoAlbum. It was really nice to let go for a moment, and I barely did anything work related (except reading 4 chapters of Adam Nathan's WPF book and catching up with blogs during the last hotel stay of the trip). I found no wireless connection during the trip (except once in Taormina and then in Palermo) but I didn't look for them either. I really needed a break and it was good to think of nothing but the sun, the sea, the antique monuments, the excellent food, and having no harder decision to make than choosing if I wanted red or white wine with my dinner (my wife doesn't drink so I enjoyed the 'vino della casa' alone).

In two weeks, we drove from Palermo to Marsala, Agrigento (after an unwanted stop in Palermo again), Caltagirone, Siracusa, Catania, the Etna region, Taormina, Cefalu, Bagheria, Monreale and then Palermo again. More details soon!

All the pictures from Calcutta Rescue are online (and a movie too)

2007-07-14T00:05:00.001+02:00

I finished posting all the pictures from Kolkata. Many many pictures taken in the humanitarian projects of the association Calcutta Rescue. Through my volunteer work in the Swiss foundation Calcutta Espoir, together with the other members of the board, we support Dr Jack Preger's work in India.

The projects displayed here are just a part of the activities. I visited clinics (Chitpur (lepra), Tala Park and Sealdah (general medicine) as well as schools (Tala Park, Number 10). Other projects include tuberculosis patients, HIV patients, an outreach program bringing health education and health care to isolated villages outside of Kolkata, filters against poisoned water, workshops to give work to ex-patients and to produce handicrafts sold in Europe, etc...

It was simply wonderful to visit all these projects, and it gave me a lot of new ideas to help the poorest in Kolkata. The difficult conditions due to the monsoon only made the visits more vibrant. Getting back to life in Europe was not easy, even after such a short stay...

More pictures from Kolkata online

2007-07-09T22:12:00.000+02:00

I just posted additional pictures from Kolkata on my PhotoAlbum. I still have quite a few to sort and catalog, and I will go through them in the next few days. Very tired, not quite fully recovered from the jet lag, so pardon me if I don't write more :-)

End of WPF training in Pune / Visit to Kolkata, India

2007-07-08T16:05:00.000+02:00

Ending the WPF training in Pune

The WPF training in Pune, India went great. We finished on time, I spent the last afternoon showing various resources and demonstrating how to create a basic Silverlight application, as well as make Silverlight videos. This is not strictly speaking in the scope of the training, but with the WPF background acquired during these 3 days, moving on to Silverlight is really easy, and really motivating too.

After Pune, and after a very nice dinner with Nikhil, the indian team's manager, I went back to the hotel and packed, for I was to wake up at 5:15 the next morning, and fly to Kolkata!

Visit to Kolkata (part 1)

I have been a member of a small swiss NGO named Calcutta-Espoir for quite some time now. The projects we support are mainly those of Calcutta Rescue, an association by Indian right founded by Dr Jack Preger more than 25 years ago. Today, with clinics and schools and an row of additional projects, Calcutta Rescue offers its services to homeless patients and children.

After a very early wake-up call and the 6 o'clock shuttle to Pune airport, I took a Kingfisher flight to Kolkata through Ahmedabad. The flight was very good and we didn't experience any problems, in spite of the rain. In fact, I reached Kolkata 30 minutes before the planned landing time!! At the airport, I was picked up by Frédérique, a swiss volunteer pharmacist spending 9 months in the projects. We took the Calcutta Rescue jeep back to the guest house where most of our volunteers are staying, where I rented a room for the night (350 rupees for one night, not bad :-).

Once settled in, we walked to a nearby restaurant for a quick lunch, and then to Calcutta Rescue's offices. Reaching the doorstep was the occasion to give me a "monsoon baptism", walking in dirty water up to my knees :-) In the office, I met the personal as well as Dr Bobby, the administrator. We had a great chat, discussing various points and making sure once again that we are on the same wavelength. It was really nice to have a face-to-face chat instead of the usual emails.

After that, we went back to the guest house, where I got a quick shower, before spending some time with the volunteers waiting for an hypothetic cyclone announced by word on the street. In fact, it was not a cyclone, just heavy rains, so we eventually walked to a restaurant not far, where we all had a very nice dinner and great talks. A few hours later, we all went back and I got a good night's sleep.

More and More

WPF training (Indian edition) underway

2007-07-04T05:00:00.000+02:00

Today is the 3rd day of the WPF training I am giving to my indian colleagues in Pune, India. This is the 3rd edition of the training, after Milano and Zug.

The training is going well, even if I had a few more "demo effects" than usual, maybe due to a general tiredness (I need holidays, and thankfully they're coming soon, yay). But my trainees were kind enough to give me a little time to correct the code, and all goes well in the end. If the monsoon allows, I will fly tomorrow to Kolkata, where I will go and meet the people who run the humanitarian projects that I help supporting (www.calcuttarescue.org). I am still not sure if that will be possible though, and I cross my fingers!

On the road from Mumbai to Pune (India)

2007-07-02T04:08:00.001+02:00

Things I want to remember

The wall of human faces waiting outside of the Mumbai airport, most with names on signs; endless faces waiting patiently.
The black taxis simply everywhere in the city, with the meter outside of the car; the small 3-wheelers, painted in the same way as the cars, roaming and honking in the traffic.
The drive out of the airport's parking, our car led with a millimetric precision between the other cars parked in the middle of the road.
The constant honking, not aggressive like in Europe, but rather to say "I am here".
The nice ladies at the hotel desk in Mumbai who, after finding that my driver dropped me at the wrong ITC hotel, called the other one and changed the booking so that I didn't need to drive further in the night and the rain.
A traditionally clad man, all in white, with a turban, a beard and a dagger at his belt, walking between the cars jammed in Mumbai.
The women in sari sitting "amazon-like" on the backseat of scooters.
The people I photograph and who wave at me and smile.
A farmer plowing his field under the rain, guiding his 2 cows pulling the plow.
Monkeys on the highway, watching the cars.
Donkeys and cows on the road, the many dogs roaming and playing together on the highway. The occasional dead dog on the road.
The trucks, old, rusty, but decorated and painted with bright colors. The "please horn OK" hand painted in bright colours at the back.
Dinner on the roof of the hotel in Pune, wind and rain, indian music playing, sound of the trains' horns in the background, sometimes so loud that all the chatter stops.
Betelnut after the meal to freshen the mouth.
Men in european costumes and women in saris going to attend a banquet. To write that they are beautiful is such a ridiculous understatement that I prefer not to try and describe them.
The monsoon rain pouring.

More and More

Crazy work weeks

2007-06-22T23:07:00.001+02:00

The first of the craziest work weeks I ever lived is over... I don't necessarily mean crazy as in stressful, just, you know... crazy.

Last Monday, I attended Remix07 in Zurich, and spent quite some time with Scott Guthrie. It was just great to talk about WPF, Silverlight and the future. He is without any doubts one of the brightest minds I ever met (the second one who comes to my mind is Dr Jack Preger, whom I will meet again in 2 weeks time (see below)). Scott is also a very nice person, who gives a lot of care to the people he talks to, and in his presence you feel listened to, and (what's rare) understood :-)

Then on Tuesday I had a workshop at work, and on Wednesday I took the plane to Munich, to meet other people working with WPF at Siemens. I can't say too much about that meeting, but let's just say it's probably the start of a collaboration. The day was quite packed, flying out of Zurich at 7AM (which means I woke up at 5) and leaving Munich at 3PM. Won't do that every day, hell of a commute.

Thursday I worked from home, it was a little more relaxed. Finally today was my free day (I have been working 80% for 5 years, and I will resume my 100% activity beginning of July, which will be a big change for me and my family, more about this maybe in a future post).

Next week, I will be giving a WPF training to fellows developers from Switzerland and from the US. The training will take place in Zug, where I have my office, so I can sleep home. The training is the one I gave in Milano last month, and strongly inspired by the one I received in Tacoma few months ago. The training runs 3 days.

And after that, India here I come. I'll fly to Mumbai first and from there get a car to Pune, where I'll train more developers for WPF. Again, 3 days. It'll be my first time in India, and I am delightfully excited about it. What makes the stay even more special to me is that after these 3 days, I will fly to Kolkata, and visit Calcutta Rescue's projects there and meet Dr Jack again. I've been supporting these projects for (oh my god) almost 10 years now, and became president of the Swiss Foundation in charge of gathering money in Switzerland for these projects. So it is really special to my heart to be able to go there and see all with my own eyes. Expect pictures after I come back! I know that 2 days in Calcutta is really too small an amount of time, but.... I don't know when I'll go back to India, and I really don't want to miss that opportunity.

After that I'll have some holidays, I think it's going to be well needed ;-)

WPF: Training other developers (Italy)

2007-05-25T15:15:00.001+02:00

I am back from Milano, Italy, where I spent the last 3 days teaching WPF to some of our developers. It was a very new experience for me. In the past, I have organized and held demos and presentations already, but it's the first time that I am training other people for more than just one or 2 hours. I was quite nervous before starting the training, my main concern being to be able to say everything I wanted to say about the technology in the imparted time.

The original material for the training was the one we received from IdentityMine in March in Tacoma, WA, USA. While it's great material, I also decided to talk about Expression Blend, and I showed quite a few examples in Visual Studio and in Blend. I really believe that every WPF developer should use Blend and take advantage of its features. The developers' reactions to Blend were actually great, and I am sure that they will definitely use it in the future (I made my demos using Blend 2 May CTP).

I'll be teaching the same training twice more in the coming weeks, once in Zug, Switzerland (which is also where I normally work) (when I am not somewhere else, that is) and once in Pune, India in July. Exciting times :)

Cleaning the backlog: Our February ski holidays pictures finally online

2007-05-23T07:15:00.000+02:00

I've been very busy lately. This is why I have a backlog of unpublished pictures. Here's the first batch of unpublished pictures, relating our ski holidays in Serfaus.

Serfaus, Austria

The ski holidays in Serfaus were just great. We had a great time there. Alise went to ski school every day, and took part to the ski race on the last day. She made a lot of progress!! We had very little snow in the beginning, but then the snow came, and while it made skiing a little more "extreme", it also provided us with excellent ski conditions. Finally, to end a great week, the sun came again, and the last two days were simply perfect.

Souvent pour s'amuser

Back to blogging / Flickr pictures / Recent trips / New job

Long absence / Foo Fighters / Back from Seattle (again)

Back from Seattle

Road trip in Sicily, part seven: Siracusa

Road trip in Sicily, part six: Caltagirone

Road trip in Sicily, part five: Piazza Armerina

WPF: Workshop in Tacoma, WA, with IdentityMine

Road trip in Sicily, part four: Agrigento

Road trip in Sicily, part three: From Marsala to Agrigento via Palermo

Road trip in Sicily, part two: Marsala, Isola di Mothia, Segesta

Road trip in Sicily, part one: A difficult start

Back home after two weeks in Sicily

All the pictures from Calcutta Rescue are online (and a movie too)

More pictures from Kolkata online

End of WPF training in Pune / Visit to Kolkata, India

WPF training (Indian edition) underway

On the road from Mumbai to Pune (India)

Crazy work weeks

WPF: Training other developers (Italy)

Cleaning the backlog: Our February ski holidays pictures finally online

Microsoft MIX07 in Las Vegas, and Chicago

Flying to Vegas

Seattle, Tacoma, Redmond, WPF training and meeting with Microsoft

Barcelona

Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái!!

Ski holidays!

Books: Images of Asia

L'Abbé Pierre is dead...

Christmas in the family / German road trip

The last autumn pictures

End of Summer, Beginning of Autumn

Laeticia's slang

Malaysia and Singapore pictures clean-up

Books: La nuit nous a surpris (The Unwanted)

Sunny walk from Stäfa to Pfannenstiel

Trekking in Hohenkasten (Appenzell)

PhotoAlbum: Cleaning up, posting older pictures

Alise's first week of school

Mom's birthday

Maria Himmelfahrt

Book: Pai Naa, the story of Nona Baker

Books...

The beginning