In June 2000, I presented a paper at the MADE2000 conference on scalable public key distribution. On the way back, I visited Amsterdam (where Russell Coker lives), and then London (where relatives of mine live). I spent about one week in each place.

I have a number of photos taken on this trip.

Sweden (Göteburg)

In Sweden, I was shown around the place by one of the organisers of the conference, Johan. I stayed at Hotel Ljungbacken. The conference was held at Arken.

Göteburg is an interesting place, as most people prefer walking, bike riding, or public transport instead of driving. While a lot of people have cars, these are only used for long distance trips.

Holland (Amsterdam)

Holland is well known for its prostitution and drug industries. However, this isn’t what attracted me to the area. Instead, my friend Russell showed me around the city centre, Maduradam miniture city, and Maastrict. I also visited went on a bus tour and visited the city zoo.

Holland has excellent public transport. Each city has an extensive bus, tram and train network, and services (especially the trains) always run exactly to the scheduled time.

England

For my last stop, I visited England. England is a considerable contrast to Sweden and Amsterdam, as the roads are much busier. While London has a excellent underground train system, during peak hour the trains become jammed packed full of people, and you have to watch the the doors to close while your head is still sticking out (the trains have low roofs).

London has a confusing system of different tickets for peak and non-peak travel. Some tickets work for buses, others work for underground train, and some work for both. Both underground train and busses use a different map to indicate different zones, which are incompatable with each other.

The underground system is very efficient, but not very cheap either. The bus system is cheaper, but very slow, as there are a lots of bus stops.

The British rail system (above ground) is another system altogether, and sometimes (so I hear) is fast and reliable. However, on my trip to Brighton, the train was delayed for at least half an our (to an hour) before arriving at Gatwick airport.