Vienna

I went to Vienna for the European Geosciences Union meeting.  I got there a couple of days early to do some sightseeing.  Unfortunately, it was cool and overcast for the first few days.  The first thing I took a picture of after getting of the train was the hotel I stayed in the last time I was in Vienna!

For the first two nights, I stayed at a hotel situated in an alley, which had a nice European feel.

As nice as the cobblestones look, they are kind of a pain to walk on.

I went to the Albertina museum, which had some drawings by Rubens and Rembrandt.  They also had Albrecht Duerer's Young Hare, as well as some paintings by Picasso.  Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures.

I went for a nice long walk on Saturday, much of it along the Donaukanal (the canal that connects old town Vienna to the Danube).

Many of the trees along the canal, like the one on the right bank, had ball-shaped plants living in them.  I'm not sure what they are.

On Sunday, I walked around Prater park, a huge park across the canal from my hotel.

The park is home to the Riesenrad, or giant wheel, a Ferris wheel built in the late 1800s.

According to Wikipedia, it appeared in such movies as The Third Man and The Living Daylights, which I guess is the large Ferris wheel in this movie poster.

At this pond, there was a strong smell of ozone, so I took this picture then promptly left the area.

Note more of those plants in the trees.

Also on Sunday, I moved to a hotel near to the conference site.  I had a nice view of the Kaiserwasser out my window.

Of the nine days I was there, only three or four were sunny. 

At the end of the week, thanks to a birthday present from Sara, I went to the Volksoper to take in the opera, Die Fledermaus.

 

It was the first opera I've seen.  There were subtitles on the screen at the top of the curtain (supratitles?), but they were more of a general paraphrasing of the action, so I missed most of the jokes and subtleties of the dialogue.  

Overall, it was a fun trip.  I never quite got over my jet lag, so hopefully I won't have to readjust too much now that I'm home!

Zurich

I was watching the beginning of The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood, which came out in 1975.  The opening scene took place in Zurich.  I thought the scene looked familiar (and not because I'd seen the movie before).

Here's the scene from the movie:

and here's a picture I took two years ago:

The Swiss flag looks like it's still in the same place, and that weird tree that looks like it's missing its top-left portion looks exactly the same -- 35 years later!


In other news, I thought this Big K soda was expensive!

More Stuff

This past Tuesday, we came in second place in trivia. Not bad for being shorthanded again!


Watching this video brought back some memories (like awe and disbelief) of the hail storm at New Mexico Tech.

Speaking of videos, here is one from Schilthorn:

Highlights from Julie's Camera

Here are some of the highlights from the pictures Julie took.

Me in Zurich:


Me in front of the sign at Jungfraujoch:


Me at Schilthorn:


Moench and Jungfrau (with Jungfraujoch in between):


Same vantage point but zoomed in on Jungfraujoch:


Julie and me at Schilthorn:


Hiking down from Schilthorn, with Moench and Jungfrau in the background (that's me down below):


Before we hiked down from Schwarzsee, we goofed around with some pictures of the Matterhorn:



Julie's family and me having a drink in Chamonix before dinner.


Also in Chamonix, a toast before Raclette:


Another picture of the rainbow in the waterfall at Sixt Fer a Cheval:


Another rainbow, this time zoomed in a little:


And finally, me in Annecy:

Coming Home

After taking off from Geneva, I took one last picture of Mont Blanc:


Then I went to sleep. I woke up somewhere over the North Atlantic near Canada, where I took this picture of waves.


The tip of Cape Cod:


I sometimes like to take pictures of towns, then figure out what they are later. For instance, Peekskill, NY (looking from the north)!


Downtown Cleveland:


And finally, some rain clouds in front of the sunset:


All in all, it was a very good trip!

Grenoble

On Wednesday, I toured around Grenoble with Julie and her Mom. Here is the Olympic torch from when Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympics, known by most Americans (or at least me) as the Olympics with Peggy Fleming.


While we were strolling around old town, we saw some children riding in these tricycles, which I thought were funny:


Grenoble is also known for its cable cars, which take you to La Bastille.


From there, we had a great view of the city.


There was also information on the history of the city, the Bastille, the surrounding mountains, and the Olympics. Here's Schuss, the first Olympic mascot:


For dinner, I tried another French specialty, ravioles. For dessert ...


chocolate mousse! Yum!

Annecy

On the way from Samoens to Julie's hometown of Grenoble, we stopped in Annecy and walked around the old town.



For lunch, we had crepes. Mine had andouille sausage, which tasted nothing like it does in the U.S.! Julie tried to warn me when I ordered it, but I thought I knew what it was. It tasted like a cow smells.


I finished it, but I don't plan on ordering the authentic French version again!

After lunch, we walked around a little more, and the sun even came out for a little while. I liked this building/island, the Palais de I'lle. The first picture was taken from the other side of it.

Samoens, Day 2

The next morning, we shopped at this French bakery


for breakfast:


Then, because it was cloudy and rainy, we stayed indoors most of the rest of the day. Dinner started with a round of saucisson


and finished with fondue!


Once again, everything was delicious.

Samoens

We spent the night at Julie's family's house in Samoens.


The next day was a busy one! We all walked into town, where they were celebrating the anniversary of the region of Savoie voting to annex themselves with the country of France.


Here I am with (L to R) Julie's uncle, aunt, and mother.


We also strolled around downtown Samoens. This was one of my favorite streets, with the mountain Criou in the background.


Later in the day, Julie and I drove up to the Col de Joux Place, known as a famous leg of the Tour de France.


From there, we had a nice view of Mont Blanc (now obviously the tallest peak) and Le Buet (the brown, angular peak in front).


We spent an hour or so picking blueberries!


Once we thought we had enough, we did some more exploring of the Samoens region. Here I am at the Cascade du Rouget:


We then went to the Sixt Fer a Cheval (the Sixt Horse Shoe), named because mountains and cliffs surround you on three sides.


We caught the late afternoon sun making rainbows in some of the waterfalls:


Then it was back to the house to prepare dessert. We picked 813 grams of blueberries (of which I probably contributed 200 grams!):


After dinner, I had my picture taken with all the French delicacies: wine, champagne, cheese, bread, and fresh blueberry pie: