Our Europe trip
Last summer I attended the Sigmod 19 conference to present our work on Dissecting performance bottlenecks of strongly-consistent replication protocols. We used the conference as an opportunity to have a short family trip in Europe. Now, it is nice to reminisce about the times when we could roam free without worries about a pandemic.
Our trip had three legs. Here is how the trip went.
We flew to Paris, and from the airport, we headed to take the metro to Paris city center. It wasn't hard to figure out which train to take after we purchased the tickets. When the train arrived my wife and the two kids get on it with the luggage, and I was trying to board my little daughter with the stroller on the train. The entrance to the train was crowded with several people trying to enter. And I felt someone reaching to my wallet in my cargo pocket. I lost it, I got really angry. There I had all my credit cards, ids, and money ($700 of emergency cash if in case we run into a problem with the credit cards). I turned around and saw two women. I think one of them was covering while the other was pickpocketing me. I lost it and started shouting. What are you doing? How dare you try to steal my wallet? The women said "no, no". But then they turned away and ran. One of the American tourists on the train said, "Yes I saw them, they were following you and trying to steal your wallet". I thought, "Thanks buddy, why didn't you say anything?"
Well, that is how our Paris trip started. Our AirBnB was at a good location, close to Paris center. Unfortunately it did not have any AC, so it was hot and humid. This was during a record hot wave for Paris. Anyways, we were determined to do a lot of sightseeing, and we did OK.
First day, we went to Trocadero to get a view of Eiffel tower from across. It was very good. Our kids liked it a lot. We had a stroll along the river bank, and later in the evening, we visited Champs-Elysees.
We spared Tuesday for the museums. Who knew that the Louvre Museum is closed on Tuesdays? Why would you close a popular museum one day a week? What happened to high-availability? Well, the French don't care much about high availability. The two times before I had been to France, there were strikes, and I had to find alternative ways to get to the airport.
Anyways, we skipped the Louvre, braved the burning sun, and waited in queue for the Orsay museum. It was worth it. There were many impressionist paintings. Including Van Gogh and Gaugin. This was nice because, later in Netherlands, I would go to the Van Gogh museum to see more paintings from Van Gogh. The kids were not as enthusiastic about the museum as us. Toward the end, I had to carry my sleeping 4 year old daughter through the museum halls.
Our last day in France we went to the Versailles Palace. It was magnificent. It is hard to believe the quality and richness of the construction in 16th century. This must have been a huge show of luxury and probably sped the demise of the royalty. Even centuries later, it is still magnificent. The scale of the garden and the lake is simply unbelievable.
In Paris, there was a bakery almost every corner. We enjoyed great bakery and cheese for every breakfast. It was also nice being able to buy fruits from the neighborhood stop, instead of a supermarket. Food options were very good. One evening, we found a Turkish doner shop, and ate there.
The night before the train, I checked the Gar De Est website to see if the trains have any delays. I was anxious because our train trip had two connections. To my surprise many trains were canceled, and the remaining trains had 2 hour delays. After playing some web detective with Google Translate, I learned that there was a fire, and it caused the disruption. When we arrived the train station the next morning, we found that the train before our train got delayed by 2 hours, but our train still appeared on time. Our train indeed departed on time, but it was crowded because many passengers from the previous train hopped on our train. We made our first connection on time, but for some reason the second train started to fall behind its schedule, eventually by upto 20 minutes, and caused us to miss our connection to the third train. These were German Bahn trains. I thought Germans were punctual! But it seems like things have been degrading in Germany. A lot of Germans feel very resentful about the unreliability of their trains. We waited for another hour for the next train. We were surprised to see it very full. We hardly could get on that train, but after a couple stops, the situation improved and we were able to sit.
In Germany, the kids had a blast. They were tired of all the sightseeing we did in France, and they loved staying home and going out for ice-cream with their grandparent four times a day.
To get to Amsterdam, we used trains again. The first leg of the train got canceled due to technical problem. German trains, right? A friend drove us to Dortmund, and we were able to catch our connection there. The ICE train to Netherlands was pretty nice and comfortable.
Our hotel in Amsterdam was very nice and comfortable. It was on the south side of the city, in Amstelveen, but the tram system was very nice and punctual and it was very convenient to get to the Amsterdam central.
Sigmod 2019 was held at Beurs van Berlage. This was truly one of the most authentic conference venues I have ever been. It was for sure the most historic one. The building has its own wikipedia page. It is the first stock exchange in the world. This is natural because the stock based funding model originated in Amsterdam as part of building/establishing the city. You see, Amsterdam is built over the sea. Each block of the city was funded by selling stocks for the block. This funding model is credited for the rise of Scientific Revolution in the West.
The Sigmod reception was held at the Van Gogh museum. It was a blast to visit this museum. Van Gogh started painting after 30, after failing to stick with many other professions. The book "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" had this to say about Van Gogh:
Sigmod also had a canal cruise. The conference banquet was held at Noorderlicht Café accessible via boat. It was a great time.
The food is so much better in Europe, it is beyond comparison.
People are more laid back in Europe. Compared to Europe, we are all workholics in US. I guess in US we put it on a positive spin and claim we are more passionate and competitive here?
Out of France, Germany, and Netherlands, it was Netherlands that seemed most modern and prosperous. Initially Amsterdam seemed a bit chaotic to us, but the end of the fourth day, we were in love with the place.
Our trip had three legs. Here is how the trip went.
Paris, France
My wife and I had been to Paris in 2006, and loved it. We wanted to revisit the place. We also thought it would be good for our three kids (11, 7, and 4) to see Paris.We flew to Paris, and from the airport, we headed to take the metro to Paris city center. It wasn't hard to figure out which train to take after we purchased the tickets. When the train arrived my wife and the two kids get on it with the luggage, and I was trying to board my little daughter with the stroller on the train. The entrance to the train was crowded with several people trying to enter. And I felt someone reaching to my wallet in my cargo pocket. I lost it, I got really angry. There I had all my credit cards, ids, and money ($700 of emergency cash if in case we run into a problem with the credit cards). I turned around and saw two women. I think one of them was covering while the other was pickpocketing me. I lost it and started shouting. What are you doing? How dare you try to steal my wallet? The women said "no, no". But then they turned away and ran. One of the American tourists on the train said, "Yes I saw them, they were following you and trying to steal your wallet". I thought, "Thanks buddy, why didn't you say anything?"
Well, that is how our Paris trip started. Our AirBnB was at a good location, close to Paris center. Unfortunately it did not have any AC, so it was hot and humid. This was during a record hot wave for Paris. Anyways, we were determined to do a lot of sightseeing, and we did OK.
First day, we went to Trocadero to get a view of Eiffel tower from across. It was very good. Our kids liked it a lot. We had a stroll along the river bank, and later in the evening, we visited Champs-Elysees.
We spared Tuesday for the museums. Who knew that the Louvre Museum is closed on Tuesdays? Why would you close a popular museum one day a week? What happened to high-availability? Well, the French don't care much about high availability. The two times before I had been to France, there were strikes, and I had to find alternative ways to get to the airport.
Anyways, we skipped the Louvre, braved the burning sun, and waited in queue for the Orsay museum. It was worth it. There were many impressionist paintings. Including Van Gogh and Gaugin. This was nice because, later in Netherlands, I would go to the Van Gogh museum to see more paintings from Van Gogh. The kids were not as enthusiastic about the museum as us. Toward the end, I had to carry my sleeping 4 year old daughter through the museum halls.
Our last day in France we went to the Versailles Palace. It was magnificent. It is hard to believe the quality and richness of the construction in 16th century. This must have been a huge show of luxury and probably sped the demise of the royalty. Even centuries later, it is still magnificent. The scale of the garden and the lake is simply unbelievable.
In Paris, there was a bakery almost every corner. We enjoyed great bakery and cheese for every breakfast. It was also nice being able to buy fruits from the neighborhood stop, instead of a supermarket. Food options were very good. One evening, we found a Turkish doner shop, and ate there.
Germany
My father in-law lives in greater Dortmund area, which is near the France and Netherlands borders. We bought train tickets to Germany to visit him for three days.The night before the train, I checked the Gar De Est website to see if the trains have any delays. I was anxious because our train trip had two connections. To my surprise many trains were canceled, and the remaining trains had 2 hour delays. After playing some web detective with Google Translate, I learned that there was a fire, and it caused the disruption. When we arrived the train station the next morning, we found that the train before our train got delayed by 2 hours, but our train still appeared on time. Our train indeed departed on time, but it was crowded because many passengers from the previous train hopped on our train. We made our first connection on time, but for some reason the second train started to fall behind its schedule, eventually by upto 20 minutes, and caused us to miss our connection to the third train. These were German Bahn trains. I thought Germans were punctual! But it seems like things have been degrading in Germany. A lot of Germans feel very resentful about the unreliability of their trains. We waited for another hour for the next train. We were surprised to see it very full. We hardly could get on that train, but after a couple stops, the situation improved and we were able to sit.
In Germany, the kids had a blast. They were tired of all the sightseeing we did in France, and they loved staying home and going out for ice-cream with their grandparent four times a day.
To get to Amsterdam, we used trains again. The first leg of the train got canceled due to technical problem. German trains, right? A friend drove us to Dortmund, and we were able to catch our connection there. The ICE train to Netherlands was pretty nice and comfortable.
Amsterdam
I didn't think there would be a city that reeks weed worse than Seattle. But there we were. Exiting the Amsterdam Centraal station, the marijuana smell was so stiff for many meters (see I switched to metric system), we were scared the entire city smelled that way. It wasn't so bad, after that first encounter, but yes Amsterdam outcompetes Seattle on the weed smell.Our hotel in Amsterdam was very nice and comfortable. It was on the south side of the city, in Amstelveen, but the tram system was very nice and punctual and it was very convenient to get to the Amsterdam central.
Sigmod 2019 was held at Beurs van Berlage. This was truly one of the most authentic conference venues I have ever been. It was for sure the most historic one. The building has its own wikipedia page. It is the first stock exchange in the world. This is natural because the stock based funding model originated in Amsterdam as part of building/establishing the city. You see, Amsterdam is built over the sea. Each block of the city was funded by selling stocks for the block. This funding model is credited for the rise of Scientific Revolution in the West.
The Sigmod reception was held at the Van Gogh museum. It was a blast to visit this museum. Van Gogh started painting after 30, after failing to stick with many other professions. The book "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" had this to say about Van Gogh:
Van Gogh was an example of match quality optimization, Robert Miller’s multi-armed bandit process come to life. He tested options with maniacal intensity and got the maximum information signal about his fit as quickly as possible, and then moved to something else and repeated, until he had zigzagged his way to a place no one else had ever been, and where he alone excelled. Van Gogh’s Grit Scale score, according to Naifeh’s assessment, was flush with hard work but low on sticking with every goal or project. He landed in the 40th percentile.He was told he sucked at painting, but he was undeterred. He kept on painting. He painted a picture every day, and didn't care what people thought of his paintings. That is very brave and very inspirational. But of course there is more to the story. He was part of a scene. He was part of a community of famous painters in Montmarte, Paris. But again, he loved painting, and he persisted in it without much validation. He only started to get recognized in the last two years of his life.
Sigmod also had a canal cruise. The conference banquet was held at Noorderlicht Café accessible via boat. It was a great time.
Overall impressions from the trip
The public transportation is so good in Europe that I am ashamed of the US system. With our limited transportation options, we deny many citizens the freedom to roam around.The food is so much better in Europe, it is beyond comparison.
People are more laid back in Europe. Compared to Europe, we are all workholics in US. I guess in US we put it on a positive spin and claim we are more passionate and competitive here?
Out of France, Germany, and Netherlands, it was Netherlands that seemed most modern and prosperous. Initially Amsterdam seemed a bit chaotic to us, but the end of the fourth day, we were in love with the place.
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