Whirlwind day through three countries.. Day began at 7AM in Austria.. my freind Andrej from Slovenia picked me up at Osman and Katerine’s place on the west side of Wien.. but 8:00 we were crossing the boarder to Slovakia through fields of wind turbines.. they were everywhere !

Brataslava was a nice town.. definitely on the rise.. beautiful architecture and really nice folks

Here’s our little IBM mobile for the week

I put a samstone in a small park before we began our day in slovakia

One great stop was with te great people of Fun Radio.. a really cool and intelligent talk show on the radio.. I looked them up. they have some amazing guests.. (and a really cute dog under the desk). I really enjoyed speaking with them !

ten lunch (here’s my octopus soup.. RELEASE THE KRACKEN.. or the crackers at least !)

And another cool /smart journalist there to talk to !

Then to the technical university for my talk..

talk went well. I really enjoyed speaking with the students and faculty.. I felt very, very welcome !

Here’s Andrej wit our comms handlers.. (Hi comms handlers.. thanks for your help today !)

then a quick tour of the IBM site and some meetings with the folks there..

me and my boy TJ Jr.

then back in the car.. and a 2 hour drive to Budapest.. trough even more windmills.. a beutiful spring drive.. everything here is green

 

Checked in to the hotel in Budapest only o find the last 4 digits of the internet passcode wiere the last 4 digits of my drivers license… (queue the spooky music !!!)

Budapest is gorgeous.. I emailed my old buddy Zoltan and he met us for a late tour and dinner..

Here’s the state house.. right next store is the presidents palace.. he resigned (!!!) tonight due to a scandal about his PhD thesis 20 years ago !

At my request, Zoltan drove us up to the citadela monument.. About 30 years ago I got chased out of there at 3AM by a soldier with a gun.. (long story) .. but it looked different now. .The soviet era statues had been moved away leaving the lone statue of a woman looking to the north.. It’s actually a memorial to the preWWII leaders son who was shot down over the soviet union. It’s been restored since the fall of the eastern block .   No guns up there tonight.. just a beautiful view of the city !

Zoltan and Andrej by citadela light

I put a samstone here too

then down to Litz square for a nice meal…

and now bed.. more tomorrow

nite all, nite sam

-me