Phil Witcomb's Blog

Emma luuuuuuurves her milk. Content after a good feed! 15 July 2010.

2010-07-15T16:18:00.000+02:00

Great photo of Emma after her feed today. In her milk-drunk state.
She looooves her milk ;oD

Some Rome photos

2010-03-28T21:13:00.004+02:00

We've just come back from a few days in Rome, where we stayed within about 200m of St Peters square and the Vatican. Amazing location, and can heartily recommend the B&B that we stayed in. Think its website is www.bedandbreakfastdiroma.com

Here are some photos... including some decent one of the inside of the Sistine Chapel, I got about 10 decent shots before the guard told me that it wasnt allowed. Who knew?!

The last few weeks

2008-10-16T12:38:00.009+02:00

Just a quick update with some photos from the last couple of months, including our trip to the Denmark v Malta World Cup Qualifier match (won 3-0 by Denmark), and at the startline of the Skanderborg ½ Marathon.... we both came home in just about one piece. Although Christina managed by "blow pieces" just after the finish line - after I pretty much force-fed her bananas and raisins (to replace carbs.....). Didn't really go as planned :oD

Getting married!

2008-09-30T09:30:00.005+02:00

Just thought I'd update on the past couple of months, just for the sake of good order.

A pretty dismal showing for summer in Denmark was somewhat placated by a week in the northern part of Tuscany in Italy. Way out in the wilds. I'd love to insert some of the great photos I took, but I managed to lose our camera a couple of weeks ago... together with about 3 months of photos. Christina spent a week in Brazil soon after arriving back from Italy, and was flown around in helicopters, private jets and wined and dined. Unfortunately the photos from that trip went the same way! Really must make a mental note that placing a camera on the roof of the car when loading the boot isn't the best place for it. Ah well.

Oh, and we're getting married! I proposed back in June at midsummers, and we've finally found a place for the reception, so have been able to set a date : September 12th 2009!
Still a while off, but we need that mental room to get everything together.

Apart from that, we've been doing a couple of half marathon runs - which have been fun if a little painful. But thats probably down to insufficient training, and old running shoes. Need to address both these issues, but will probably only get around to doing something about the latter.

Been a while...

2008-04-07T11:29:00.002+02:00

So it's been quite a while since the last update.. so let's just make a really quick resume of what's been happening...

January
Started out as the last year finished... on a plane! This time I spent a week in Romania, in Bucharest. Although i didn't see much of the town to be honest, as the hotel was a few miles outside and trips to it's heart were limited to a few meals and one evening watching the football in an Irish pub. A very nice one as it happens, with proper home cut chips!

February
A week in a very cold Moscow, a tie-in with a big food exhibition. Far too long to be in Moscow, with not enough to do, mainly due to my travelling companions contacts not showing up. Very frustrating, and it was so cold that jaunts out to the local tourist attractions was pretty limited. I did find a great Sports bar though to watch the Liverpool v Chelsea match. Sportsland... although it's probably spelt differently in Russian!

Got back from Moscow, and found myself looking for a new job! My boss handed over a P45 on my first day back, without much of an explanation... and certainly no warning whatsoever. But of a shock, but more funny than worrying. We'd been having departmental problems for about six months, and I'd been openly questioning some of the wilder decisions which were being taken. And also pointing out the severe lack of strategy. I knew that putting my head above the parapit would cause a reaction... and was prepared for this one. Although after a good meeting with the company CEO a week before Moscow, where we'd offered our solutions to the problem, I'd rather hoped that it would be changes at management level - and not at my level - which would suffice. No real worries though. I have 5 months contract to be paid out - plus a compensation claim for unreasonable dismissal.

After only a couple of weeks of looking, I've signed a contract to be a Business Manager with Arla Foods. A great job - better than the last one (on paper anyway) and something I was looking at before the walls crumbled at Tulip. Am REALLY looking forward to starting in mid April.

Istanbul and staying away from airports!

2007-11-02T18:55:00.000+01:00

Been a while since the last post. The family congregated in Istanbul for Mums birthday in September, which was a fantastic weekend. Istanbul is a fascinating city, with so much going on, and beautiful scenery around every corner. The only time I'd been there before was for the Champions League Final in 2005.... and that was more about the football than the culture. But this time there was plenty of time to play tourists.

It was also the start of Ramadan, and although the locals generally follow the fast during the day, they certainly know how to party as soon as the sun goes down!

Here are some photos.

Since the trip to Turkey, its been a quiet (and welcome) time without airports and travel for me. I haven't really missed the travelling.... it can get quite boring and tiring, and being away from home so much can get frustrating.

However Christina has been travelling all over the USA! - she spent a week working near Boston, and a couple of days in Dallas. Lego have an "education centre" over in Texas, and theres a good possibility in the future that Christina could take a stint over there... something we'd definately like to do!

On the homefront, we've done some basic home improvements and sorted out the basement. Plus we've been pretty active with the local running club which we joined to get a little bit more motivation to our running regime. It seems to have paid dividends - we ran a 10km race last weekend in one of our fastest times yet.

London again......

2007-09-12T08:28:00.001+02:00

London twice in two weeks.... this time I was on a marketing course which was based around what I do as a job - Product Management. I'd expected to come away full of new ideas, new theories and processes to help me re-invent the way I do things. Unfortunately it seems that the way I do things is pretty much the way they need to be done. In the context of theory anyway. So, rather uninspiring really. Not a complete waste of time though. They did great panini sandwiches in the canteen. Hmm.

I was lucky enough to time the trip with Tina Dickow giving a really small, intimate showcase concert at a pub basement venue in Farringdon. Tina's doing really well in Denmark with the release of her new cd, and the media here have been all over her. Its great to see. I've known of her for the best part of 4 years now, and its been fantastic to see the recognition grow.

Trip to London

2007-09-07T15:26:00.000+02:00

Christina and I took a 4 day trip to London last week, together with her brother Jesper and his girlfriend Trine. A couple of days playing tourist, half a day shopping (which was enough, thanks) culminating seeing Prince in concert at the incredible new O2 arena.

We managed to take in quite a lot of the best of London - a curry in Brick Lane; a pie and chips with a pint in St Martins Lane (tip... The Shakespeare is the only decent pub around Leicester Sq!) and even some Fish n Chips in Carnaby Street. Add on top of that Changing of the Guard, a "flight" on the London Eye, and a riverboat trip back from the O2, and we pretty much wasted out London.

Its rare that I get to London and allow myself to be a tourist... and it really is an awesome place to play that role. We had a brilliant time - and Prince - who is the best performer in the world! - was just icing on the cake.

Here are a few images.

Corfu

2007-08-23T13:46:00.000+02:00

By the way.... Christina and I also spent a wonderful week in the Greek island of Corfu... just chilling out and enjoying good food, great beaches and some dodgy local wine. And a mouse in our apartment.

Some photos:

$15 dollars for a bottle of water? I'll take two thanks!

2007-08-23T13:21:00.000+02:00

I've spent the earlier three days of this week in Moscow with our office out there, spending almost 2 days travelling, to have one main meeting (successful though!) and swealtering in the Moscow late summer heat which reached 35C on Tuesday.

Prices in hotels and restaurants in Moscow are a joke. They completely rip you off. And I should really have reminded myself of the exchange rate before I travelled out there, cos it got me into trouble. One evening, unable to access the room minibar, and not wanting to sink a litre of tap water for the fear of cholora, I went to the hotel bar and asked for a large bottle of normal mineral water. I was presented with two 500ml bottles of local brand water, and a bill for 720 roubles. Fair enough I thought - overpriced - about 5 quid, but I was parched. That was with an exchange rate of 150r per £1.
Next day I realised.... its actually 50r per £1..... and I'd been done. To the tune of £8 per bottle.

Anyways. Moscow was so smoggy it burnt the throat, and I was totally overdressed for 34C weather. So I was pretty glad to get home last night. And even happier for the €5 bottle of honey and chilli vodka that I got at Duty Free!

Food poisoning and deportation. In one week.

2007-07-17T15:47:00.000+02:00

Last week was spent travelling between Sarajevo (Bosnia), Belgrade (Serbia) and Skopje (Macedonia).... and back again. Every day another flight, or more than one on some days.

Belgrade was a regular european big city, nothing to really write home about by other standards.

I didn't really see much of Skopje - as on arrival at 10pm, we spent the next 5 hours in the airport Immigration area, trying to get an emergency entry visa for Jane - the girl from our Ad agency who travels on a Canadian passport. Who knew she'd need one?! Maybe she should have checked. Anyway, she didn't get it and they deported her back to Serbia on the first flight out the next morning.
So most of Macedonia I saw out of a car travelling 180km/hr down the highway. Looked beautiful though and reminded me of Scotland.

My final night (Thursday) in Sarajevo was spent without sleep, and rolling round in agony on my bed - interspersed with runs to the bathroom. I'd decided to have a nightcap from the minibar - a bottle of orange juice (!) - which did taste a little thick to be honest. Twenty minutes later my stomach reacted in offence and I spent the entire night being violently ill. Needless to say the 8 hour journey home was loooong.

Next time I'll have the bottle of Stella from the minibar instead.

Scorching in Sarajevo

2007-07-09T15:34:00.000+02:00

I flew into Sarajevo last night - and after what seems like 2 months of constant rain in Denmark, I greeted this mornings clear skies and warm morning sun with a huge smile.
Its now just before 4pm in the afternoon, and its 35C outside... which is just getting a bit silly.
Tomorrow I'm off to Belgrade in Serbia for a couple of days, where they are forecasting 45C.
From the frying pan.......

I'm here for work, and staying in a hotel on the outskirts of the city, which is a bit of a waste really as its a lovely little place - scarred by the worst of the war a decade ago, but still a beautiful city situated in a stunning location, surrounded by low mountains. (much to its detriment when the serbs decided to camp out up there for 5 years and bombard them on a daily basis!).

One of the interesting things round here are the graveyards. Most of the headstones have carvings of the person who died on them. They're really intricate and beautiful. And one some of the graves, they're engraved the still living wife/husband onto the headstone alongside their dead spouse - with an open date to be filled in later! Very spooky, but very cool.

Our car's gone bung

2007-06-28T10:53:00.000+02:00

The last month has been rather a saga in the life of our faithful Punto car. We've been talking about shipping it out for a new one for a while - it has a piddly 1.2 engine, and struggles to overtake itself sometimes, and we have a need for speed on occaisions.
However our hesitance has been our downfall.

3 weeks ago we met one of our new neighbours, as she crashed into our parked car and managed to wedge hers under the front right wheel arch. So the car, which otherwise hadn't given us a squeek or a cough in more than a year, was checked into rehab for a new wing and paintjob. We got a 140.000k service done just for the convenience.

We got the car back last Friday. Saturday we had a blowout of our rear tire. Cue much confusion as the wrench supplied with the spare tire doesn't fit the wheel nuts. Who knew that was something to check? So we've been driving on a temp wheel, as every tire shop seems to close at 5 and doesn't open weekends. Convenient.

Then on Tuesday Christina noticed the temparature guage was rushing into the red. So we checked the car back into the clinic again.

Turns out its blown the Head Gaskett.

Normally I wouldn't have a clue what that is, however I'm still feeling the pain of my last car having the same ailment, and the after effects of the £1000 bill that comes with it.
Its gutting. The cars only worth about 5 grand, and I'm not sure a head gaskett is like a conservatory which only adds value.

So. Note to self. Act when you think. Don't put off buying a new car, cos your current one will get grumpy on you.

Room with a View

2007-06-19T22:39:00.000+02:00

Forgot to mention. Always ask at Check In for a room with a great view. Sometimes it pays off!

My colleague got an airconditioning unit for his viewing pleasure. But he's a ****, and deserves it.

Red Square Moscow

2007-06-19T22:35:00.000+02:00

So, here I am in Moscow. A place which doesn't really make sense. Theres no real centre to speak of.... apart from Red Square which is closed most of the time. And a pedestrian street round the corner which is just full of crap stores. Picture Oxford Street (in Skegness).

Ah well. The park at the back of the Kremlin is quite cool though. Its a mad city, but I'd yet to really find its heart. Lord knows I walked long enough tonight in the vain attempt to find it.

Moscow Times

2007-06-19T07:42:00.000+02:00

I'm in Moscow for a few days with work. Its the second time I've been here, the last being during a freezing March 2006 - ok, not freezing by Moscow standards, but pretty damn cold by my standards at about -15C. Photo-opportunities were taken within split seconds - jump out the car, smile, click, back in the car.

This time round its 22C and sunny... and Moscow seems like a different world. Same old traffic jams though. You've never seen anything like it. Wall to wall beemers, mercs, bentleys and ladas all vying for a 3 inch gap in the traffic which is moving at -3mph. Sometimes you literally do move backwards. It should be quicker to walk, but they kind of forgot to put pavements and pedestrain crossings into the infrastructure.

Football Tour

2007-06-17T22:34:00.000+02:00

In whats becoming rather a habit, the boys from my old club at AFC Norton (near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, UK) came over to DK for a 5 day, 4 match end of season "tour" (pissup) last week.

We stayed at the new Danhostel (Youth Hostel) in the centre of Copenhagen. More 3 star hotel than hostel... and played 3 full matches and a 7 a side (amongst ourselves!) match over 5 days.

Lucky with the weather (at least 27C on 4 days!) and sometimes unlucky with the teams we played (DASAC - a Danish African team, passed and moved like nothing you've ever experienced..... and whipped our white asses).

Our none-footballing activities included some great GoKarting, siteseeing, and blisterpopping.

Here are some photos. You can open them larger by double clicking.

Our house

2007-06-17T22:23:00.000+02:00

Since moving into our beautiful abode in February, Christina and I are always asked what its like. So here it is. And yes, its pink. Like all the best things in life.

She's from 1891...... and its a place we're just guardians of. There have been families before, and there will be families after us. We'll just take care of the old lady as much as we can.