I had already mentioned I was in Glastonbury (panoramas) and then stayed in the UK for few days for work-related meetings (e.g. Nature visit). After the UK I went to Greece for few days of holidays. I saw my family and relaxed a lot; truly felt that my batteries were fully recharged. Here are a couple of panoramas of the place where I spent the last 3 days in Greece before coming back.

I flew straight to Illinois (via London and Chicago) to visit UIUC. Then to Boston (again via Chicago) to visit MIT. These visits where part of an Microsoft–Intel joint program I am managing on behalf of Microsoft around the Manycore space. I can’t provide more details at this stage but will be able to do so soon, after the university visits are over (last day of July).

What I didn’t know about flying via Chicago in July was that there are frequent storms and, as a result, huge delays. The flights were a loooooong adventure. Since I was the one who suggested the itinerary, I felt really bad for the entire group. I was very lucky, however, to be with 12 good-humored and very relaxed people. We had a good time, albeit very little sleep over those days because we were waiting at airports. And to give you an idea of the people who were in the group… Tony Hey (MS Corporate Vice President), Andrew Chien (Intel Vice President), Burton Smith (MS Technical Fellow), Mike Fortin (MS Distinguished Engineer), Jim Larus, Jim Held, Jesse Fang, Wei Li, etc. etc. All top executive and technical folks. Then we had the legal and management teams, including my friend Mohamed Arafa from Intel with whom I’ve had an excellent collaboration so far.

Anyway… the visits went well and I was back in time for Tony and I to go straight for a two-day team offsite (more meetings). Today (Saturday) is my first day in Seattle after more than 3 weeks. I enjoyed the sun and the festival at the International District and I am on my way to the Mariners vs Detroit game (another team event), which I am going to watch from Microsoft‘s suite at the Safeco field 🙂