Amsterdam/Noordjwick

This is an update about a trip to Amsterdam and its outskirts for work which was extended into a fun long weekend! I didn’t feel much like a tourist and hence didn’t take many pictures of my trip, but it was good times in the Netherlands. Except for the part about getting up at 4 am to fly there and be ready at 9 am for the meeting. I got to go in the first place to deliver a final presentation on a contract we had with ESA (European Space Agency), located, as are many of institutes I’ve worked at, out in the sticks, this time in a place called Noordjwick (pronounced Noord-veik). ESA is really cool with huge flags of the member countries (including honorary partial-member Canada, it’s a little crazy how enthused I am to see Canadian flags in foreign countries) as well as models of all the satellites they ever launched into space. They also have the BEST cafeteria I’ve ever seen with a huge number of choices at EU-subsidised rates. And since this is Europe, wine with lunch is perfectly OK!

But reining myself in here the meeting went pretty well. The reward for weeks of report-writing and preparation was taking the next day (Friday) off and making use of the paid flight to stay in Amsterdam for the weekend. I was fortunate enough to have a friend to stay with (thank you Fred!) and had a great time despite some so-so weather.

The highlight of my visit was definitely an evening boat ride on the canals of Amsterdam. It was kind of impromptu and at night, and so unfortunately I don’t have any photos. I wouldn’t have had a free hand anyway, since the main purpose was to tow another boat to a marina. I had a beer in one hand and at least part of the time the end of buoy in the other to make sure that the two boats didn’t bang together. We cruised past the “skinny bridge” (known as the Eiffel tower of Amsterdam and beautifully lit-up, see a picture I found similar to what I saw below), houseboats lining the canals, fancy hotels and even a tall ship docked at the Mövenpick hotel.


Other interesting/fun stuff from my trip:

• The Dutch curtainless irregularly-shaped and often floor-to-ceiling windows. For exhibitionists? To maximize light? Who knows.

• View from the (Amsterdam) World Trade Centre. I would have been able to see to the harbour if it had been a sunny day, but the fog and cool architecture of the surrounding buildings were also neat. Here is a picture I lifted off of Wikipedia:


• The markets! Filled with fresh Stroopwaffels (kind of like two thin waffles with warm honey between them, very delicious), flowers, English second-hand books (these are much harder to find in Germany), massive cheese rounds, piles of dried fruit, and fresh fish



• The ubiquity of bikes. And the extreme respect pedestrians give to the bicycle-bell. This is the main “parking area” at Central Station

• Went with friends Marjolein and Mark to a neat beer bar with hundreds of beers on the menu. I tried an interesting Belgian honey-beer (not too sweet) and a lemony-Dutch one. Yum. There need to be more bars like this one.

• On my last day, I checked out the Rijks (pronounced Reikes) museum, where you can discover how Rembrandt actually made portraits of old men look interesting and see exquisitely-realistic paintings by Vermeer. The museum building is beautiful in itself.

Dublin, Ireland

... or should I say Publin as Bridget and Toby fondly liked to call it. I found a cheap flight to Dublin with Aer Lingus for a quick weekend away. I stayed in the hopping night-life area of Tempel bar at a clean hostel, but one with a huge line in the morning for a single toaster. That's what happens when you are too cheap to buy your own breakfast. My other lasting memories of Dublin are of extremely talented buskers, cold wind and relief upon entering cozy pubs, lilting accents, and delicious ales and ciders. One other neat thing: everything is bilingual in English and Gaelic.

My trip to the Guinness factory was a lot of fun. I saw the 9000 year lease of only 45 pounds a year Alex Guinness signed to rent the property (pretty good deal in today's terms!) and tasted the roasted barley that gives Guinness its full flavour. They also had a fun section looking at Guinness ad campaigns throughout the ages. I'm not sure if you can read the fine print, but to go along with the motto "Guinness is good for you" they claim that "Guinness is one of the most nourishing beverages, richer in carbohydrates than a glass of milk. That is one reason why it is so good when people are tired or exhausted" . What a riot! I don't think the calorie content is the only thing that makes it good...



The reward at the end of the tour is a pint up in the " Gravity Bar" with a view of the whole of Dublin and the surrounding hills. About as good weather as one can hope for in Ireland in the fall:


My perfect pint:


On a bus tour stuck in traffic next to the river Liffey (doesn't that just sound Irish?)


Cozy pub filled with knick-knacks where I had lunch.



Dublin Castle


Frieze on the original building of the Lever company (as in Lever 2000 soap). The top panels (see blurry example) show men working hard and getting their shirts all sweaty. The lower panels show women working even harder to get the shirts clean again.



The original Molly Malone (now also a great pub in Kensington in Calgary). She was apparently a very good-looking street merchant selling mussels. Today people have come up with various nicknames for her including "the dish with the fish", "the tart with the cart" and the "trollop with the scallops".


Trinity College

Lone rugby player practicing with his coach at Trinity College. Every good field kick landed with a thud against the chain-linked protected windows of the dormitories in the background. Would I ever hate to have the dorm room looking out onto the rugby pitch.



I went on a literary pub crawl which was a lot of fun. We hopped from bar to bar with a pair of actors who recounted some of the interesting bits of history which had occurred on there, one pub being the setting of a book by James Joyce, another being frequented by Oscar Wilde, and yet another where rebels hatched plots against the English. I think O'Neills is the rebel-plotting one.


I'm very happy with my ale and some new friends who also joined me for the Guinness tour.

Golden October

After a chilly September, we had a wonderfully warm couple of weeks in October offering a last chance to do some hiking in the lower mountains. I went with some friends to Lengries, lying at the foot of the Alps, known for its beautiful autumn colours.

A wrong turn actually led us to this picturesque footbridge and lake.



Fall colours and cows


Friends Hugo and Valentina relax and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, this rest break was because someone's camera tumbled down the cliffs below. Almost needless to say, the search for the camera was in vain.


Summit



Coming back down. In the second shot Valentina and Hugo can be spotted in the distance.

Summer re-cap

I can't believe it's already late September! The summer passed so quickly, and now it's officially fall; this week we had highs of 12 degs and I had to pull-out my winter coat. But here is a little bit of summer nostalgia to re-cap the great times:

Sarnen hat tournament: this is a wonderful small little tournament in Switzerland with the perfect location. It's set in the mountains next to a crystal clear lake and we were blessed by at least one day of gorgeous summer weather, so you could go jump into the lake after every game. It was also the most well-organised tournament I've ever been to (I always received a text message saying which field I was playing at and when, which was especially useful on Saturday night for figuring out how late to party and still get 5 hours of sleep). And somehow the Swiss seem to be super organised and still so laid back!


Hangin' out with friends in the sun after games on Saturday.
I also participated in my institute's mini-triathlon (250 m swim, 16 km bike, 3 km run). It was fun although my cycling skills aren't the best and I also had a super-heavy women's city-bike with a basket next to everyone else's road-racing-bikes. No matter, I didn't finish last, and was the first woman to cross the finish line (...out of 2).

Mass swim start. I think the brownish arm third from the left belongs to me.

It was also possible to do the race in teams. This is my co-worker Rafael cheering on his swimming partner and itching to get biking:

Finishing certificate at the BBQ afterwards:

The Europeans Championships for soccer also figured prominently in Germany this summer. Germany made it to the finals after narrowly winning an exciting quarter-final against Portugal and semi-final against Turkey, and lost to a very strong Spanish team in the final. Here I am geared up with my team Deustschland shirt and face paint before a big game.


I also managed to get out and do some hiking this summer with Valentina, a funky Italian girl I met in German class a few years ago. One particular hike took us through a steep mountain meadow with free-ranging cows and horses who were super friendly.

In Germany there is always a cross to mark the summit, and only after eating lunch and signing the book have can you claim to have made it to the top.



At the top we were rewarded with gorgeous views.


And at bottom after a steep descent, an idyllic village:

To end the summer ultimate friends of mine organised a BBQ on the Isar, the main river flowing through Munich. It's a little different than traditional North-American BBQs. For one thing this stretch of the river is FFK (Frei-Körper-Kultur or Free Body Culture, i.e. clothing optional), so there were lots of random naked people wandering by the entire time. Secondly people don't have fancy propane BBQs. We do it the old fashioned way with coal and a tiny little grill to feed a few dozen people.

Our spot:

Our humble grill:
No fridge; but the river keeps the beer cool



My captain Sara and her cool rock-star sunglasses. Plus some shots of other friends.