Getting to know Denver

This Saturday we took a trip riding bikes downtown, Troy and Andrew have two but they needed to be fixed so we went by a bike shop first. Riding a bike around made it feel strangely similar to riding around Linkoping, only the streets are more grid-like and the cars are larger. Speaking about cars, about 50% of the cars here in central Denver are either trucks or jeeps... if anyone can explain the need for these vehicles in the city I will be keen to know. I will try to interrogate this further, going deep into the American soul. :)

Since my luggage still hasn't arrived, we went clothes shopping at a few different storse including GAP where Troys friend had a discount. After that we had a cup of coffee at Starbucks, which is located at each and every street corner as well as inside our local Safeway store so you can get a latte or espresso while shopping - pretty smart idea actually.

One very nice thing I have discovered here is that there are actually a lot of organic products available, both in the local Safeway store and especially in the huge Whole Foods supermarket at Cherry Creek, about a 20 minutes walk from where we live.

Yesterday we went to the museum to see a planetarium show and meet Ka Chun (my main contact at the museum). The museum is larger than I thought and seems to have a lot of interactive elements that suits both adult and kids.

Today I am going to meet Ka Chun again and get my ID/keycard for the museum. I have a designated office space (in the "space odyssey briefing room", hehe) and I will get a workstation as well for more intense graphics work.

So I'm now finally in Denver

I got to the airport in Norrköping last morning and was informed that we were gonna be late because Kastrup was using only one runway because of ice and wind. After getting to Copenhagen, I had to stand in a transfer hall for 2 hours (during which my flight for Frankfurt went) so I got a new ticket to Seattle about six hours later.

Had a nice lunch with a British guy and then took the 10 hour flight to Seattle with SAS, managed to sleep some on the train and also watched The Rock and Truman Show. 10 hours is a long time, but it was ok, the planes are nice and I got a dual seat section for myself.

Anyway, then I got to Seattle and managed to get through customs (not so hard really, just fill out the 100 forms and give them your ID, fingerprints and digital face photo - only retina scan and blood sample left now, I reckon...). My final flight for Denver left pretty much directly after that and I got there nice and cool with Alaska Airlines. I spoke to a guy from Microsoft on the plane who worked with hardware development - I bet you didn't know they use Linux for their CAD systems. ;)

Finally I arrived in Denver and met up with my hosts Troy and Andrew who are apparently really nice people. Now I've slept for maybe six hours, woke up two time during the night, first time I thought it was 5 PM but it was only 5 AM. Just had some breakfast now and I am going to the local Safeway to get some food and other supplies. As far as I understand, you are already enjoying Friday evening in Europe now - have a good one.

Last day in Stockholm

This is the last day at the office in Stockholm before I go home to pack for the 3 month trip to Denver I am about to embark on. The plane leaves on Thursday morning, and even though it's an early flight and the trip will take about 17 hours I really can't wait to get going!

I am starting this blog now so I can keep you all updated on what will happen as I start my exploration of Denver and the surrounding Colorado. I will try to both write and take photos to share as much of the experiences as possible.

Maybe you'll see the Denver Broncos! Maybe you'll see me ski for the second time in my life! Maybe you'll see progress of my master thesis! Keep coming back and you'll see how things evolve. :)