My first stop is Stockholm, Sweden. This is one of my favorite cities in Europe. I truly appreciate the fact that I'm here in May - this tour is usually scheduled in February ; ) The city is magnificent. Like most of the great cities, it's located next to a body of water. In fact, Stockholm (the capitol of Sweden) is made up of 14 different islands on Lake Mälaren, which flows into the Baltic Sea. The view around some of the big harbors is amazing. The city has a large number of waterways, as expected, but also a lot of "green" space - parks and gardens, etc. It gives the city a "clean" feel. In addition, it seems that half the city is on bicycles. I love that. Lots and lots of bike paths everywhere, including some of the major highways. I only wish more major cities incorporated this into their public transportation.
My journey to Stockholm included three flights, with stops in Houston and Newark, New Jersey. I basically spent Mother's Day sitting on planes ; ) I arrived in Stockholm at 7:45am - and went straight to my first set of meetings. Needless to say, it's been a loooooong day. I'm sad to say that I've fallen off the Diet Coke wagon, as a result ; )
The first developer that we visited is DICE. They work on a game franchise called "BattleField." It's one of the big competitors to Call of Duty - making military-simulation games that allow players to jump into the middle of HUGE battles - either on foot, in tanks, on boats or in planes. This may not mean much to you...but if you know a young man from ages 14-28, they will tell you what a cool group this is ; ) DICE is, in my opinion, the most technically advanced videogame developers on the planet.
The offices for DICE are some of the best I've ever seen, in visiting developers. I know how much money the BattleField franchise has made...and it shows ; ) It has one of the most spectacular views in all of Stockholm. This is just the view from the lobby:
From the exterior patio on the top floor, you get to see an amazing view of the "Old Town":
Kornhamnstorg, a waterfront square in the Old Town
Here's a snapshot of the outside of just one of the conference rooms. They make games that simulate military combat - the tank and airplane images are etched onto the glass:
Their game room
My hotel in Stockholm was...how shall I put this...inexpensive. I pushed my team to try and save money on this trip, as there were 11 of us in total. This means that luxurious hotels were out of the question. I do try and act fiscally responsible, when I can ; ) To give you an idea of the hotel room, here's a picture of the whole thing...in its entirety:
Doesn't it remind you of a showroom in an IKEA warehouse? Most of Sweden feels like IKEA - which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
As with all the Scandinavian countries, I love to see what these countries have to offer in terms of...candy. Sweden doesn't disappoint. One of my favorites? Daim (pictured on the left):
Basically, Daim is a crunchy butter-almond bar covered in milk chocolate. Imagine, if you will, a Heath bar taken to a new level. It's making my mouth water, just writing about it....
I'm about ready to fall asleep at the keyboard, as I've been awake for almost two days. I will close for now, because I have to be up at 3:30a to catch a plane to Amsterdam. See you soon! ; )
No comments:
Post a Comment