2008: Week 48

We ended our time in Paris with another meal at our local fave Le Volcan, then flew to Luton and caught a bus to Oxford where we spent a few days with Kerry and Anna. Since we've visited before we skipped the main attractions in town and ventured a little further afield to Blenhein Palace, a stately home belonging to the Dukes of Marlborough. It was mind-blowingly massive, with huge gardens and a lake - very interesting, although possibly not worth the massive entrance fee. Highlights were the gardens and family artworks; not so exciting was the modern-but-cheesy exhibition on the history of the house, complete with animated ghosts.

Our timing meant we missed a chance to participate in high table, but we did catch a Scotch tasting and visit several excellent restaurants. We also managed something of a cider tour of the local pubs - it turns out that there are a lot of good ones on offer along with the ubiquitous (and less tasty) Strongbow and Magners.

Best of the week

- A walk along the muddy banks of the Thames, then lunch at The Trout.
- A visit to Blenheim Palace, grand home and birthplace of Winston Churchill.
- A Scotch Whisky tasting at Nuffield College - very refined! And if you ever see a bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail, I'd recommend you ignore the price and buy it.
- Spending time with friends, old and new.

Worst of the week
- The VERY long walk back from lunch at The Trout (although the problem had less to do with the distance than with the interval between bathrooms...).

2008: Week 47

This was a week filled with museum visits - we bought a 6 day Paris Museum Pass and then tried to fit in as many places as possible. Highlights included the Musée de Moyen Age located in Roman baths just down the street from where we were staying, seeing Monet's massive waterlily rooms at l'Orangerie, and Musée de Arts et Metiers with its eclectic collection of scientific and industrial history. We also saw some small museums including the rather odd sewer museum and some excavations under the forecourt of Notre Dame.

We also ate and drank well. On Thursday we visited a local restaurant that was serving mussels (beautifully cooked in a slightly creamy sauce), and were treated to a free glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is new season wine, released on the 3rd Thursday of November each year, and an occasion (excuse?) for lots of merriment. We arrived at the restaurant quite late, and discovered that the staff had already joined the celebrations!

Best of the week
- Musée d'Orsay, Musée des Plans-reliefs, Musée de Louvre, Sainte Chapelle.
- Good food and wine.
- Lots of walking through interesting neighbourhoods.

Worst of the week
- Visiting the Louvre twice, and still seeing only a tiny fraction of the exhibits.
- French supermarkets and their weird opening hours - doors locked at least 15 min before closing time, and random closures (in this case for a protest march passing by).

2008: Week 46

After just a week in Zurich we packed our bags again, and caught the TGV train to Paris. A quick ride on the metro, up a LOT of stairs, and we were home for the next 2 1/2 weeks.

The next day we wandered our neighbourhood (close to the Luxembourg Garden) and picked up a few food supplies. I was very excited to find passionfruit flavoured Pim's - chocolate and passionfruit, does it get any better? We also visited our local boulangerie to buy pain (lit. bread, a slightly larger version of a baguette) and croissants.

We also managed to fit in a little sight-seeing. On Thursday we went for a very long walk across town, finally ending up in Montmartre to enjoy the view across town from Sacre Coeur. Then on Friday we had a very different view of Paris with a visit to the Catacombes, a series of underground tunnels which house the bones of thousands of Parisians - the bones were moved from cemeteries that had become over-crowded. The tunnels were also used by the Frecnh resistance during WW2. We finished the week with a visit to the flea market at Porte de Vanves, an evening walk along the Seine, and a pleasant afternoon with a good friend who was in town for the day.

Best of the week

- Finally being in a country where I don't have to ask everyone if they speak English.

- Catching up with Laurent.

- Baguettes, pain, croissants, patisseries, good cheap wine ... you get the idea.

Worst of the week

- Needing to exercise self control with all the good food.

- Wishing my French was better. There has been a lot of improvement in the last year, but there is a long way still to go.

2008: Week 45

Sunday was spent cleaning our apartment and taking care of last minute details (like booking train tickets from Zurich to Paris) before leaving our home for the last month and heading to the bus station. A bus from Amsterdam to Zurich is cheap, but fairly inconvenient. The trip ended up taking 15 hours with multiple stops in 4 different countries and a long stop at the Swiss border. But we made it at last and finally made it to my grandmother's apartment. It was weird to be there without her - oddly quiet. Last time I was in Zurich both my grandparents were there along with a few other relatives!

Our week was spent sightseeing, not the frantic kind where you rush from place to place, but more relaxed. We discovered that a number of attractions were closed for the seaon, and some of the smaller museums are no longer free, and didn't seem worth paying for. Actually, pay is exactly what you do in Zurich. Restaurant food is quite expensive, and a coffee and cake at one of the lovely cafés doesn't seem so tempting when you see the price. But not everything is over-priced. We enjoyed warm chestnuts from street vendors and plenty of chocolate!

We climbed the tower of Grossmünster Cathedral for a great view of the city, and visited the Landesmuseum to learn about Swiss history. We also visited the nearby towns of Zug and Schwytz (less than an hour by train, but very different). In Zug we tried their famous Zuger Kirschtorte (lots of cream, nuts, and cherry brandy), while in Schwytz we gazed at the Alps and saw the first contracts of mutual assistance between the states which eventually became Switzerland. The earliest is from 1291!

Best of the week

- the view from Grossmünster Cathedral

- hot chestnuts

- Schwytz, and the view of the mountains

Worst of the week

- language - Dutch has many words in common with English, but it was much harder to work out what's going on in German. At least the food is labelled in French, so we knew what we were buying .

- difficulty feeling like a local. It's a little hard to explain, but with the language and high prices I felt I was observing, rather than experiencing, life in Zurich.

2008: Week 44

I don't have much time to write this week, but I did manage to post some photographs from the three major excursions of the week, a bike ride to Haarlem, and train journeys to Utrecht and Antwerp. Hope you enjoy them!

Tonight we're off to Zurich - internet access is likely to be rather sporadic for the next few weeks, but my Canadian phone is still working if you need to get in touch.

Bridge in Haarlem

Canal in Utrecht

Antwerp Station

Best of the week
- A bike ride to Haarlem, a beautiful town just 20km from Amsterdam.
- Catching up with Kerry for the first time in a year.
- Canals below street level, and the view from the Domtoren (112m above the street) in Utrecht.
- Drinking multiple flavours of lambic in some great beer cafes.
- Sint-Pauluskerk in Antwerp, a magnificent church which still houses artworks made for it by van Dyck and Rubens.

Worst of the week
- A late train from Belgium, missing the last tram, and the 40 minute walk home on a rather chilly night.
- Getting ready to leave Amsterdam; selling my bike, posting things home, trying to use up all the food we bought.

2008: Week 37

The last week before we head to Europe, and where did we go? Quebec City, the most European city in all of north america! And what a city - such a contrast to Calgary! We camped on the outskirts of town, just a 10 minute drive to the old city where we spent a day exploring the streets and walking on the city walls. That's right, Quebec is a walled city! You can see one of the gates in the photo above.

Highlights included amazing house-made croissants in the cafe where we ate lunch, two shops devoted to selling medieval costumes and accessories, and seeing a woman walking her dog in a pram. I highly recommend a visit if you're in eastern Canada.

The other highlight of the week came on Sunday morning when Lynda called to say she was in Ottawa for a few hours. We were able to change our plans for the day and rescued her from a few hours of boredom at the airport. The time was mostly spent in the car (Matt's parents live about an hour from the airport), but it was still good to spend time together and catch up on the last few months.

Best of the week
- A completely unplanned afternoon with Lynda after her travel was re-routed through Ottawa.
- Quebec City. Gorgeous architecture, great food, and ils parlent français.
- Catching up with friends in downtown Ottawa on Saturday night.

Worst of the week
- The traffic as we tried to drive through Montreal. Unbelievable!
- The last minute rush to get ready for our trip.

2008: Week 36

Most of this week has been devoted to travel as we drove the 3600km from Calgary back to Ottawa. Monday we headed out and made it as far as Moosomin in eastern Saskatchawan. There's not much to see on the way, just mile after mile of flat prairies. Tuesday we drove right through Manitoba (more prairies) and ended up in Thunder Bay, a fairly large town on the western end of Lake Superior. Flat fields gave way to forests and lakes - a nice change, but those winding roads really slow you down! Wednesday was basically spent driving along the shore of Lake Superior. It's a rather spectacular drive, the lake is the largest of the great lakes and has waves that wouldn't be out of place on the ocean. We stopped at a particularly wild beach where the waves were crashing onto piles of logs washed on to the shore, and the sand was replaced by round stones larger than my hand.

Wednesday night we stayed at possibly the cheapest motel on the planet in Sudbury. It was clean though, and a welcome relief after we tried to stop an hour or so earlier and found every motel in town full (it was a paper mill town, and the motels were full of people doing maintenance). Thusday dawned with just 600km left, and we made it to Matt's parent's place in time for dinner. I cannot exaggerate the relief I felt on Friday morning when we didn't get up and drive again.

The last few days have been fairly relaxed, swimming (the first time I've used my bathing suit in Canada) and sorting through boxes to go into storage for a while. This coming week we're planning a short trip to Quebec City, and then the next week we're off to Europe!

Best of the week
- Arriving at Matt's parent's place and getting out of the car.
- Discovering that it's still summer in Ottawa. Real summer, not the sad Calgary excuse for a summer where 30C is an unusually sweltering day.
- Submitting corrections to a long drawn out paper that has been accepted subject to revisions.
- Realising that I can't think of more than one worst for the week, and adding an extra best instead.

Worst of the week
- Four straight days in the car. Canada is a BIG country, and there's not that much to see between Calgary and Ottawa.

2008: Week 35

It's been a while since the last post! With a lack of internet access (I was forced to pay for an hour in Starbucks - but I didn't drink their coffee), and Blogger not talking to my hosting service for a while, suddenly 3 weeks have passed!

After finishing work on August 15th, Matt and I headed to Vancouver to visit his sister, see Radiohead, and then go camping with friends at Tofino, a beach town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Then it was back to Calgary to pack up our stuff, because tomorrow we head off to Ottawa for the next step of our adventure.

Best of the (last 3) weeks
- The end of work for a while.
- Radiohead (despite the rain at an outdoor concert).
- Finally driving from Calgary to Vancouver and seeing the much-talked-about BC interior.
- The sunset seen from the ferry between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
- Beer on a sunny patio in White Rock.
- The long-awaited arrival of Ethan - congratulations!

Worst of the (last 3) weeks
- Camping in the rain.
- Packing up a wet tent.
- Packing up a tent in the rain when it's 6C! What happened to summer?
- Leaving friends in Calgary.

2008: Week 32

Another week, another box. Well, that's how life feels right now. We have just one week left at work, then another two weeks before we leave Calgary for good. Work is the final rush of getting as much done as possible, and making sure someone else can finish off what I can't. Home is all about posting furniture on Craigslist and Freecycle, emptying out cupboards, and trying to work out how to fit in all those Calgary things I kept putting off (zoo, art gallery, science centre, various restaurants).

I'm also spending quite some time thinking about how to maintain my online life while we are in Europe. Dragging the computer around is a real pain, although I have to confess that the prospect of several months without my baby causes me quite some angst. Internet cafes are fine, but require a chunk of time to be worthwhile. I'm considering an iPod touch as a compromise - they have wifi capability, and enough applications for most of what I need. Any opinions out there? Of course I may just be looking for an excuse to buy a new toy....

Best of the week
- A warm clear evening on Friday for our farewell to Calgary party.
- Matt's birthday.
- Lots of cooking to clear out the pantry.
Worst of the week
- Our drawn out packing - the price of organisation is weeks of empty shelves and boxes.
- Being ruthless with my kitchen gear. I'd love to keep it all, but it's just not practical :(

Summer Coralroot

IMG_3067, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Seen in Waterton Lakes National Park, July 2008

Pointedtip Mariposa Lily

IMG_3022, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Seen at Waterton Lakes National Park, July 2008.

2008: Week 27

The first few days back in Canada were a calm change from my visit home. Tuesday was Canada Day, but I was tired, and Matt needed to work, so the only festivities for us were watching the fireworks from our balcony. On Wednesday I finally returned to work, and of course nothing had changed. Summer at the University is very quiet - I think about half my colleagues are on vacation. Even my boss has disappeared for a month!

On Thursday afternoon I left early, and we headed out of Calgary to Waterton Lakes National Park for the weekend. Waterton is at the very southern corner of Alberta, and the park is continuous with Glacier National Park in Montana and Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park in British Columbia. The weather was a little odd - mostly sunny, but we did experience a brief (and intense) storm which knocked the tent around quite a lot!

Other highlights of the weekend were spotting a grizzly bear, a moose, and plenty of squirrels, chipmunks and deer. The wildflowers were at their peak, so I took lots of pictures, and managed to spot several species I'd never seen before. And finally, on our way home we visited the buffalo paddock, a rather bizarre part of the park where a herd of "wild" bison live in a large fenced-off area. We were able to get up quite close (staying in the car of course!).

Best of the week
- Camping and exploring Waterton Lakes National Park
- Discovering that the tent is much more weather-proof than I thought!
- Coming home to Matt.

Worst of the week
- Back to reality at work.
- Discovering the dog got into my room (and in the garbage) while we were camping.

2008: Weeks 25 & 26

Did I mention that June was going to be busy? After my French exam on the 16th it was time to start preparing for the next adventure, a very brief trip home to Sydney. It was my first visit in 18 months, so I was very excited, but also trying to keep things low key and avoid over-scheduling.

I flew a different route to usual. Air Canada have recently started flying direct from Vancouver to Sydney, so I decided to try them out, and I'm pleased I did. The 777s flying the route are brand new, and the personal TV screens certainly made the trip less boring. Avoiding US customs was great, but Vancouver airport is in rather a mess as they expand for the Olympics.

The time at home flew by as always. I opted to spend a lot of time with my parents and grandparents, and I had a number of bits and pieces to take care of, so there wasn't as much time to catch up with friends as on other visits. I'm planning a longer visit soon, so hopefully I can catch up with more friends then.

This morning I arrived back in Calgary to a heat wave - it was 28C in the house, and about the same outside. Fortunately an afternoon thunderstorm cooled things down a little. Now I just have to finish unpacking, recover from jetlag, and steel myself to go back to work on Wednesday.

Best of the week(s)
- The first glimpse of land out the plane window, then flying over Sydney Harbour.
- Spending (way too little) time with friends and family.
- Passionfruit, haloumi cheese, lamb cutlets, and the red wine I've been storing for years.
- Good coffee. Everywhere!
- Feeling confident after my french exam!

Worst of the week(s)
- Sydney airport and the last glimpse of land out the plane window.
- Too many friends, not enough time.
- Leaving Matt behind in Calgary.

Photos from last week

Moose

The lake by our cabin at dusk

Racoon

Weekend pictures ... finallly!

Waiting for a campsite

Mt Rundle by full moon

Cascade Mountain

2008: Week 16

OK, so we were a little premature putting the patio furniture outside last weekend :) There were a few calls to try bocce in the snow, but no one was really that keen. Matt and I did brave the cold and wind today and went for a short walk. The wind had made some really interesting patterns and textures in the snow, very similar to patterns I've seen in sand at the beach. Most surprising was a patch of very smooth, flat snow which proved to have a hard outer surface over soft snow. Something I've often seen on the beach, but never before in the snow.

Best of the week
- John Butler Trio on Tuesday night.
- An email from a former adviser saying "no more changes, submit the paper"!
- A new session at French, already improved from last time.

Worst of the week
- Feeling tired and unwell.
- Finding the last few details so I can submit that paper.

Spring, come quickly

Another foot or so of snow on the ground this morning, and more to come. Those poor plants who thought is was Spring, they must be cold today!

Winter vs/ Spring

The first photo was taken April 10th, the second taken April 17th. Sadly we're back to the snow this weekend...

April showers?

This is what I woke up to today!

2008: Week 14

This week seemed long. The weather has turned a little colder again, and despite the appearance of tulip shoots in many of the gardens I pass each day, it feels that spring will never arrive. Don't be fooled by the photos though, they were taken at the Sunshine ski resort, high in the Rockies. The ski season will continue until the end of May - hopefully Calgary will be green again by then!

I have been enjoying two books this week - A Lineage of Grace and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. The first was a Birthday gift from a very dear friend - well chosen and well timed once again - and I'm enjoying it very much. The second is Anne Rice's follow up to a novel she wrote after her returning to the Christian faith of her youth. I admire her integrity in writing about what is significant to her, even though it is a quite a change from her earlier work! She spends some time exploring what it meant in a practical sense for Jesus to find places of solitude - very relevant given my never-quiet household.

Best of the week
- A new recipe for Cranberry and Zucchini muffins - I'll take a picture next time and post the recipe on eatdrinkcook.
- A lovely day skiing at Sunshine.
- Ottawa [just] scraped in to the NHL playoffs.

Worst of the week
- Lab work on Saturday and Sunday because my cells decided that Friday was the perfect day to be ready for an experiment.
- More strange interactions at work - do I somehow attract weird behaviour?

Me, skiing at Sunshine

Chocolate Brioche

These took so long they deserve more than just a mention in the weekly best of...

2008: Week 8

Last Tuesday I flew to NYC to meet Lynda. We had a great time - dinner at L'Ecole, a visit to the Met, coffee at Gimme! (the new Manhattan branch is just 2 weeks old!), and front row seats at Rent. On Thursday we met Elysa for lunch and tea before rushing to get our plane to Wilmington, NC. Finding a cab to take us to LaGuardia at 4pm turned out to be quite a challenge, but eventually a cab driver took pity on us and agreed to take 2 girls, 3 bags and a snowboard to the airport.

Andrew met us in Wilmington, where we stayed with him, Fiona and Lucy in their new house. The warm weather was a nice change, although the torrential rain on Friday was almost as bad as driving in snow. We spent the day touring Dawson's Creek locations, then enjoyed a home cooked meal and a game of monopoly. Saturday we had breakfast then headed to Wrightsville beach for a birthday paddle. The water was freezing, but I still had to dip my toes. Then on to a tour of the movies studios, some shopping, and birthday dinner for Fiona and I. On Sunday we went to church, then had roast lamb for lunch before heading to the airport for a rather adventurous trip back to Calgary. It was a good trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with Andrew, Fiona, and Lucy, but it is nice to be home.

Best of the week
- NYC, a visit to Gimme! Manhattan, and lunch with Elysa.
- The beach on my birthday, followed by an awesome dinner with Andrew, Fiona, Lucy, and Lynda
- Waking up in my own bed

Worst of the week
- Insufficient time to sneak in a visit to Ithaca
- 3 flights, 3 times through security, lost luggage, jetlag

2008: Week 7

Sorry for the late post - it's a long weekend here and my days are a little messed up. We had a good weekend - we spent 2 days doing chores and relaxing, and today we skied at Sunshine. It was the perfect day; warm, calm, and sunny. I'm aching now, and rushing to get ready for tomorrow, but it was worth it.

And what's happening tomorrow you ask? I'm off to New York and North Carolina to hang out with family for the rest of the week. So there won't be (m)any posts this week, but I'll be back next week with all the stories.

Best of the week
- Perfect skiing weather
- Unexpected chocolates :)
- Finishing the French session with good results in written comprehension and writing (my listening skills still need lots of improvement)

Worst of the week
- Work dramas ... again
- Forgetting the camera on a perfect ski day and having to use my camera phone

Evening

Morning

2008: Week 6

Matt was given some tickets to see a few Davis Cup matches this weekend, so on Friday afternoon we met at his office and made the chilly 10 minute walk to the venue. We watched 2 singles matches in the Canada vs/ Mexico men's series - both won by Canada in straight sets. The result is a little misleading, as both matches were pretty close. The whole experience was rather odd - I tend to associate tennis with warm weather, so it was strange to be watching in the middle of winter.

Saturday was "Hockey Day in Canada". Last year our household spent the day watching hockey on TV and playing hockey on the rink across the street. It was much colder this year, so there was less playing, and perhaps less watching too. I did watch the Ottawa game - after a few recent losses they gave Montreal a 6-1 pounding. Just as it should be :)

Best of the week
- Going out for dinner after French - it's lovely not having to run home and cook.
- Locally made lavender and mint bath soak - heavenly!
- A new tradition at work - afternoon tea, every day at 4pm, with biscuits!

Worst of the week
- Exhaustion, knowing it probably means I'm getting sick, wondering when the cold symptoms will start.
- Discovering that you shouldn't buy flowers when you have to walk 20min in the cold - the cut ends were almost solid when I arrived home!

Mountains

I managed to capture a photographic glimpse of the mountain view I enjoy on the way to work most days (click on the picture for a bigger version). Calgary is around 100km from the base of the Rockies, which should give you some perspective on how large they actually are.

Sun in Winter

The Rideau Canal in Merrickville, ON on a winter afternoon (no, I'm not in Ontario, this photo was taken during the Christmas break).

Happy Australia Day!

A care package from home, roast lamb, and lamingtons - what more could you want? Actually, I'd like lamingtons made with a different recipe. I usually make them with a packet buttercake, but this time I tried out an "official" recipe from a Women's Weekly cookbook. It's a strange cake, with 6 eggs and no butter - the result was dry and tasted a little strange. Next time it's back to the packet mix...

Winter Mornings

In response to a request for some snow pictures, here are a few shots taken this morning on my way to the train station. A light dusting of snow overnight, a cold morning (-14C at 8.30am), and the rising sun combined to make the trees across the street particularly pretty.

As I turned the corner to walk down the hill the trees were white, the moon was setting, and the mountains were clear in the distance. I still haven't worked out how to take good shots of the mountains - they are clearly visible by eye, but in the photo you can barely make them out in the haze on the middle-left side.

J'aime Ladurée, j'aime mes amis

La semaine dernière mes amis sont allés à Paris. Aujourd'hui ils m'ont donné un petit cadeau de Ladurée. Les macarons de Ladurée est très délicieux. Merci!

Last week my friends went to Paris. Today they gave me a small gift from Ladurée. The macarons are delicious. Thank you!

A pox on sensible shoes

There are many reasons to wear sensible (read boring and ugly) shoes during a Calgary winter. Snow, mud, freezing cold - none of these are really compatible with cute shoes. But some days, you just have to ditch the sensible shoes and wear the silly ones anyway - today I put on my Fluevogs and tried them out in an inch of fresh powder.

It was a surprisingly successful experiment! The shoes have excellent soles, and the only time I was in any danger of slipping was walking down a steep path with a layer of ice under the snow. In fact it was no worse than sneakers over the same area. A little more snow and I'd have wet feet, but overall these shoes are surprisingly functional, even in winter. Oh happy day!

2008: Week 1

Happy New Year everyone! In an effort to post more regularly in 2008, I'm aiming to write at least every Sunday with the best and worst of the week. Anyone want to put money on how long I'll keep it up?

We spent the Christmas break with Matt's family, just outside Ottawa. It was a really relaxing break - lots of sleep, a few movies, a hockey game, and food, food, food. We also managed to take a few walks in the snow, where I discovered one more reason to brush the snow off your car EVERY time it snows...

Work responsibilities brought us back to Calgary on the 30th, so New Years was a quiet affair at home with some friends. The fireworks were rather pathetic, but the company was good, and we had a lot of fun jamming in the basement and critiquing Bono's air guitar skills (check out Rattle and Hum).

Best of the week
- aMSN, a Messenger clone which provides webcam compatibility for Macs. Anyone want to video chat?
- the first ski day of the year. It was windy, and it snowed all day, but we had fun anyway.
- working from home for 2 days. SO productive. Unfortunately not practical for actual experiments :(

Worst of the week
-knowing I have to go back to normal work tomorrow.

Christmas Preparation

Even though we will be away from home for Christmas, I decided to do some decorating around the house. Partly to capture the anticipation of Christmas and partly as a way to establish some Christmas traditions of our own.

The wreath for the front door was inspired by my visit to Lynda, who had already made one. My frame is freshly tied birch branches from the farmers market decorated with branches from the three different evergreens in our garden. One of the nice things about cold weather at Christmas is being able to have a fresh wreath, knowing it won't dry out in a day or two.

The Christmas tree is real too, and far cheaper than a live tree in Sydney. The trees available are quite different to the trees from home. Here, there are several species available in many sizes. There is also a lot of choice on where to buy your tree - there are several large roadside stands with trees on sale, as well as the hardware store, and the farmers market.

Our tree came with some unusual care instructions - the stump is freshly cut at purchase, so hurry home, you only have six hours to get it in water before it dries out. When you do add water, it should be hot tap water - this helps the sap flow easily as the tree thaws. And make sure you place the tree away from a heating vent, or it will dry out. Finally, water the tree often - a well cared for tree might even break bud. It's my fifth snowy winter, but apparently there is still more to learn.

Sisters in the Snow

One of the highlights of the last few weeks was a visit to Lynda, who is working at Teen Ranch in Ontario.

The swimming hole in winter.

The weather was good when I arrived, but a late night snow storm followed by rain and and a cold snap left us with plenty of snow to play in. Oh, and roads like a sheet of glass, and tree branches coated in ice. Very pretty!

Ice covered branches.

Manchester

The last stop on our trip was the northern city of Manchester. Why Manchester? Flying back from Manchester instead of London gave us an extra 2 days away – the official excuse, anyway. The fact that Matt is a Man City fan, and we’ve been watching Coronation Street couldn’t have had anything to do with the decision ☺

I really liked Manchester. It’s big enough that there is a lot going on, but not so big to be completely crazy. We stayed right in the entertainment district, so the street outside was busy quite late at night, but it felt really friendly. There was an excellent selection of restaurants, and plenty of nice looking pubs and bars. We spent most of our time walking around, firstly in search of a Man City jersey, and then around the downtown area and Salford Quays, an upscale area built around a series of canals. Pretty, but I prefer the older, less planned neighbourhoods.

On Sunday morning we dragged ourselves, and our slightly heavier bags, to the station to catch the train to Manchester airport. A short 8 hour flight and we were back in Calgary, and back to regular life.

Highlights
• Spotting the Coronation Street set from the windows of the Science Museum.
• Reaching a geographical high – the most northern place I’ve been.
• Awesome Indian food on our last night in Europe.

Lowlights
• The most crowded shopping street ever!
• Watching the Wallabies lose to Jonny Wilkinson’s boot – again!

Europe photos are up on Flickr!

Here.

Liverpool

Our French speaking adventures ended in Paris, and we flew back to the English speaking world, landing in Liverpool. A short bus ride, and we were in town, and checking into our hotel. We knew it was a budget hotel, but the emphasis really was on budget. The staff were friendly (although it did feel a little like a scene from Fawlty Towers) and the room was clean, but I wouldn’t go back.

Liverpool has a long history as a port town. During the days of slavery it was a major stopover between Africa and the Americas. Now there is a huge display in the shipping museum honouring the thousands of people affected by that dark period. Liverpool’s more recent claim to fame is The Beatles. We spent several hours at The Beatles Story, an excellent museum following the rise and fall of the fab four, and then visited Mathew St, home of the Cavern and a LOT of cheesy memorabilia/tourist stores.

Highlights

• Watching a Beatles cover band perform at the Cavern, the club where the Beatles regularly played before the mania started.
• Eating an authentic greasy diner breakfast, complete with beans and black pudding.

Lowlights

• Eating an authentic greasy diner breakfast, complete with beans and black pudding.
• The hotel where we stayed – minimal room, next door to a night club. On the bright side, they had a power outlet where I could charge my phone.

Paris

J’adore Paris! The busy streets, the interesting shops, and the architecture. The gardens, the museums, the food. The beautifully dressed people, the metro, the list goes on. Paris feels so alive – everywhere you go there are homes, shops, and businesses mixed together, and people on the street just going about their lives. A far cry from the strip malls and suburbia at home!

We had three nights in Paris, the longest stay of our trip, and it was wonderful to spend them in a friend’s apartment rather than in a hotel or B&B. I could really get used to croissants and coffee for breakfast! And a choice of perhaps 20 restaurants within 5 minutes walk. What else to say? J’adore Paris!

Highlights

• Sainte-Chappelle, the gothic cathedral in the heart of Paris. Possibly the most beautiful of the many churches we visited.

• Macarons from La Duree.
• Speaking French and being understood.
• The city of love with someone I love.

Lowlights
• 7 euro pints of beer! Rather a shock after Brussels.
• Hearing French being spoken, having no idea what was said, and realizing there’s still a long way to go.

Luxembourg City

From Brussels we caught the train to Luxembourg City, capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It was a beautiful journey, with many interesting towns I’d love to go back and explore, including one with the ruins of an ancient fortress high on the hill.

Luxembourg City sits between two wide gorges with sheer walls. The city was established in 963 with the building of a fort, and by the 1800s was a strong fortress in a strategic location. And not surprisingly, a bloody history. The Grand Duchy was declared neutral in 1867 and most of the fortifications were dismantled. Neutrality didn't last long - Luxembourg was occupied during both world wars, after which it joined NATO and the EU. Today the city is a financial hub in one of the richest countries in Europe.

Highlights
• Pétrusse, the gorgeous park at the bottom of the gorge.
• Walking around the remains of the city fortifications.
• Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art.
• Views from the old town into the gorge bellow.

Lowlights
• Bock casemates being closed (a network of underground passages which form part of the old fortifications).
• Ugly new EU highrises on the horizon.

Brussels

In Brussels we stayed at a very different style of Bed and Breakfast - a room in a modern apartment building! The room itself was great, with a large window and a tiny ledge, so we could look outside across the roof tops. It was pretty weird staying in someone's house though.

Brussels is an interesting city, a real mix of old and new. The city centre is sunken compared to the newer parts of town, and we mostly explored the old town. We avoided museums, and just wandered, taking in the impressive architecture. Dinner was mussels and fries, the classic Belgian dish. The mussel season had just started, so there were many signs proclaiming "Les moules sont arrivées!"

Highlights
• Grand Place – absolutely stunning architecture.
• The Cathedral of Saint Gudula and Saint Michael.
• Chocolate everywhere.

Lowlights
• Buying transit tickets, then realising we could walk everywhere.

• Negotiating the rail system - Brussels has three main train stations, and finding the ticket office was somewhat challenging. Matt did an excellent job buying tickets in French!

Amsterdam

We spent a week in Amsterdam last year, so this time it was a flying visit, just long enough to catch The Tragically Hip play (twice) at Paradiso. It’s a fantastic venue, although strangely we had to buy memberships at the club as well as our show tickets. Afterwards we stopped by Bojo, a late opening Indonesian place with great cheap food, then walked along the canals. Of course we also managed to find time for a few Heineken, stroopwafels, and pannenkoeken.

Highlights
• Exploring neighbourhoods we missed on the last visit, and watching bikes being scooped out of the canals.
• Walking through the Vondelpark, by night and day.
• Chatting with our waiter Alex at Bojo, the late night Indonesian café.

Lowlights
• A delayed flight from London, giving us 3 less hours in Amsterdam.
• Getting cold and wet after rushing to a concert without my jacket.

London again

We caught the bus back to London (a much longer trip in the early afternoon) and had just enough time before dinner to do part 1 of our Beatles tour - a visit to Abbey Rd. Stay tuned for part 2.

Dinner was with the lovely Katrina, and we decided to go to the Walkabout, one of a chain of Aussie pubs in London. Not too bad really - I had the kangaroo burger and a Crown Lager! And it was great to catch up. Even though Kat and I both make it home fairly regularly, the last time we'd actually seen each other was Christmas 2003 when she visited Ithaca!

Oxford

Our friend Kerry has just moved to Oxford, so we jumped on a late night bus from London to pay him a visit and explore his new home. Oxford is a wonderful town, with beautiful architecture, and an atmosphere that reminds me of the many English books I devoured as a teen. Not surprising, since several of my favourite authors wrote while living here.

Highlights
• Lunch (and dinner) at The Eagle and Child – regular meeting place of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and their friends, the Inklings. Classic pub food in the place where Narnia and Middle Earth were born.
• Walking around Christ Church college, feeling as if I were at Hogwarts.

Lowlights
• Still being jetlagged, sleeping late, and not exploring as much as I would have liked.

London

We landed at Gatwick airport VERY early, and decided to spend the day sightseeing in an effort to overcome the time difference. It worked pretty well, although I’m not sure I really took in much at the British Museum which we visited the first afternoon.

We also spent an afternoon wandering around Westminster and Buckingham Palace. I was a bit sad that they weren’t changing the guard, and couldn’t get a certain A.A. Milne poem out of my head.

London is a big city, and we really only touched the surface, missing a range of sights such as London Bridge and the Tower of London. Next time ….

Highlights
• Walking around the Monopoly board (an amusement lost on Matt, since the N. American version has different street names).
• The British Museum and the National Gallery – free!
• Finally seeing those famous buildings.
• Watching Man City play Fulham.

Lowlights
• Being shut out of the tube with alarms sounding. It turns out this is the normal method to ease congestion during rush hour.
• Jetlag – it’s never good when you fall asleep walking around a museum. And I mean literally falling asleep on my feet!

Due Diligence

Inspired by the good Dr over at ...marvel a day I'm feeling inspired to be rather more diligent about posting. It's not that I have nothing to write about - the opposite actually - but finding time to focus and write down the ideas I have (hopefully articulately) takes time. As I write this, I'm feeling a bit pathetic really. I mean, it's not as if I have kids, or a degree in progress , or something to keep me really busy.

So now, an update. Summer in Calgary has been filled with camping and hiking adventures in the mountains (see Flickr for LOTS of photos). I also had a weekend in Vancouver with my parents before they came and visited Calgary. We had an excellent time - the highlight was probably taking them for a trip to Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper, and hearing comments like "I've seen pictures of those lakes, but I never believed they were really that blue". They are THAT blue. For a contrast, we also visited Drumheller, about 2 hours east of Calgary. It's a region where numerous dinosaur remains have been found, and the stark badlands of the area were quite a contrast to the alpine landscapes of the mountains.

The next adventure is a trip to Europe. Matt and I are flying to London this week, then to Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Paris, Liverpool, and Manchester. Quite a whirlwind in 2 1/2 weeks, but it should be lots of fun, and give me plenty of chances to practice my French. I managed to get by in Paris 5 years ago with very basic travelers French, but I'm hoping that 9 months at the Alliance Francaise has left me prepared for actual conversations. Who knows, I may even start blogging in French!

Dragonfly

Dragonfly, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Butterfly

Butterfly, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Sunny summer days

Flowers150707, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

For a while I thought there wouldn't be any Calgary summer posts, but at last we are getting a few days of real summer. It's been in the high 20s to low 30s since Friday, and while the Canadians are fearful of melting, I'm happy as the proverbial pig in mud. As are the flowers on our balcony! They have a new friend today - I found a small pot of gardenias in the supermarket, and couldn't resist the reminder of Christmas in Australia. Any of you who have been at my family home at that time of year should understand why.

New photos

Lake Minnewanka, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

I've posted some new photos from 2 recent trips to Flickr. Firstly our short visit to Ottawa and Ithaca at the end of May, and a camping trip last weekend to Tunnel Mountain.

Summer Camping

Our campsite, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Last weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada, which is the "official" start of summer. It's also the weekend where most of the campgrounds in Banff National Park open for the season. We found out on Friday morning that our Saturday French class was canceled for the long weekend, so we both left work early, ran around like crazy people for a few hours, and then headed up to the mountains to camp.

We had a wonderful weekend at the Two Jack campground just outside Banff, even though it was cold and wet most of the weekend. Having somehow gained a reputation for being a princess when it comes to camping, I managed to prove myself after surviving freezing temperatures (it actually snowed the last night), intermittant rain, and plenty of mud.

Highlights of the weekend included watching a huge bird scoop a trout out of a lake and eat it, climbing the base of Cascade Mountain to get a view of Lake Minnewanka, lots of wildlife, and the Ottawa Senators beating Buffalo on Saturday to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pictures are posted on Flickr.

Prairie and mountain

Horse and baby, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Escape the city

Southern Alberta has finally defrosted enough to contemplate leaving the city limits and exploring the surrounding areas. On Sunday we drove roughly 200km SW through Okotoks and the Turner valley, down the Cowboy Trail, and through Crowsnest Pass into the neighbouring province British Columbia (photos are here). A beautiful area - the contrast between the prairie landscape and the Rocky Mountains is amazing! And being Spring, there were lots of baby animals around - horses, cows, and deer. Crowsnest Pass has many relics of unsuccessful coal mining operations in the area, including the Frank Slide, a disturbing mass of boulders that slid off the face of Turtle Mountain in 1903. The "rock avalanche" extends at least a mile from the base of the mountain . It wiped out part of the town of Frank and a large stretch of railway in its 100 second journey.

Heading back into Calgary we decided to drive along Macleod Trail instead of taking the highway. Close to 100 blocks of strip malls, an unpleasant contrast to the prairie wilderness just a few kilometres away.

Spring at Last!

Happy first day of Spring! Even though I did wake up to several inches of fresh snow. I suppose that's what you get for living so close to the Arctic. Most of it melted during the day.

In other news, welcome Netta, born to some beloved Ithacan friends on March 13th. Can't wait to meet you in person!

This picture is from my first flowering bulbs in Calgary - grown inside of course.

Snow pictures

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day everyone! And how better to celebrate than by watching the Australian Open while drinking Aussie beer and eating home made lamingtons?

Cupcakes!

It seems that the cupcake craze is everywhere, including Calgary. I walked to nearby Kensington on the weekend to try out Crave Cookies and Cupcakes. Not bad, although still prefer Magnolia. I tried 3 flavours of cupcake - The Princess (vanilla cake with strawberry icing), Crave-O-Licious (chocolate cake with blue butter cream icing), and Lemon-Lime Twist (lemon cake with lime icing).
The Lemon-Lime Twist is my pick of the three, the lemon cake keeps the icing from being overpowering. The cake texture is a little odd though, somewhat like angel food cake. The Princess was pretty good too, although I think I might prefer the version with chocolate cake. Crave-O-Licious was a disappointment, the chocolate cake really didn't compare to the Magnolia version.

Crave wins on the packaging front - you can see from the picture how well the cupcakes survived the 20min walk home, compared to cupcakes from Magnolia carried uptown on the subway.

Cupcakes from Crave:

Cupcakes from Magnolia:

Road trip photos

I've posted some pictures from the big road trip here.

New photos ...

... of a week with Matt in Amsterdam are up on the photo page.

Shoes

Some things are so fabulous they have to be shared. These arrived just in time to wear them on the warmest day in Ithaca for months.

Milestones

Yesterday my car reached one of those big milestones. She's a little rusty, but still going strong. Note that it's miles, not km (the conversion is 321, 868.8km). Not bad for a 1990 Corolla.

Rooting for the Big Red?

The International Students and Scholars office here at Cornell make a big effort to help us foreigners adjust to american life. Last night the effort centred around college basketball, with a free pizza party followed by the Cornell vs U Penn game (we lost). Fun for all, until we were encouraged to root for the Big Red. Even after all this time, it still makes me giggle.

Odds and ends

Some observations from the last month to bring you up to date (in no particular order);

• Tonight we had to evacuate our apartment building because someone left food on the stove and went out. Fortunately the fire alarms work, and the only lasting effect is being cold from having the windows open to let out the smoke.
  
• Thanksgiving is a great holiday that Australia should adopt right away. I had 4 days off, ate loads of turkey, had lamb for 2 meals, and watched enough football to last a lifetime. Of course there has to be balance in the universe - one of the incubators at work died, and I spent quite some time getting fresh stocks of cells growing.
• New York is quite unpleasant when it's raining. Eating at the risotteria in West Village is very pleasant, rain or not.
  
• Scraping 10cm of snow off the car on Thanksgiving morning is a pain. Driving in snow without snow tyres sucks. Slipping over on ice in the carpark the first day it really snows hurts!
• If you book your car in to have the snow tyres fitted you can be sure it will be above 10C for the next few days.
• If you really want to see snow when you visit Ithaca, you probably won't. It will snow the day after you leave though.

• Adam could spend the rest of his life sitting in a cafe writing and be happy as a pig in mud. Oh, we already knew that :)
  

Crazy road trip

After all the rude comments Lyn has been making it seems only fair that I should post about something that will make her jealous. Last Wednesday Matt and I went on a road trip to Buffalo, NY (about 3 hours drive) to watch the Ottawa Senators dominate the Buffalo Sabres on the hockey rink. Definitely worth the drive - I think hockey may be the new rugby, at least for now (and maybe as long as the Wallabies are playing so badly). Highlights of the evening? Being booed by the Sabres mascot for wearing a Senators jersey, and a little fight on the rink which you can see in the picture. The final score? 10-4 - go Sens!

How many apples in a peck?

Have you ever wondered how many apples there are in a peck? Probably not unless you have somewhere local to buy produce in units other than kilograms or pounds. It turns out there are rather a lot - 8.8L, and 10lb according to my bathroom scale. Anyone want to guess how long it will take me to get through them?

The variety is called Liberty; they're small, crisp, and quite tart. Not unlike a Granny Smith. They taste great drizzled with a little honey and olive oil then baked.

Small things

I've been living in my tiny apartment almost 4 months now, and I still love it. The trucks thundering by at 6am barely disturb me, I can sleep even when the guy across the road sits on his front verandah and plays the guitar at 2am, and the pedestrian traffic on weekend nights doesn't register (OK, maybe I'm out and part of the pedestrian traffic myself). However, there has been one small thing missing - a dining table which is small enough to fit in the space, but big enough to actually sit down and eat. And I've finally found one - a small success, but I can't tell you how lovely it is to eat at a table instead of sitting on the couch.

Food wars

Erika posted today about the gourmet meal she cooked on Sunday, and Barb has been making me jealous with her stories of life and food in Byron Bay. It's just not fair, especially when I'm usually reading their blogs while I eat breakfast (muesli with 1/2 a pear, pretty much every day). Well, there's good food to be eaten, even in the culinary wasteland of the US. For lunch today I tried a new sandwich - roast beef, swiss cheese, and rocket on wholegrain bread spread with black truffle butter. Not bad for a Monday!

Having bragged about my lunch, I do need to confess my new favourite fast food. A&W, the home of "All American Food". Burgers with bacon (but they're fresh and have vegetables), fries (of course), and fresh root beer made in house every day. Just the thing on a road trip. The best part is that you have a choice of eating inside or outside. If you go inside, the menu is on the table. Choose what you want, call in your order on the phone (there's one on every table), and very soon a waitress in a short skirt brings your food. If you're feeling a bit too tired to walk inside, just drive your car up to one of the many ordering stations (it looks like a petrol station from the road). Call in your order and it will be brought right out. Maximum calorie intake for minimal energy loss. Perfect!

Where in the world?

It's been so long since I've written anything that I was struggling to remember my passwords. Life has been very busy over the last few weeks, mostly because my friend Peta has been visiting. We had a great time together - a weekend in New York City, the best of Ithacan food (lots of Thai), and a trip to Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls trip was a particular highlight because last time Peta was here in March 2004 we tried to go to the falls, but were stopped by a massive snow storm on the way. The trip this time was much easier.

And just in case I hadn't put enough miles on my car in the last two weeks, my friend Matt and I drove north on the weekend to hand deliver some Rolling Stones tickets. Can anyone guess where from the photo (extra points for anyone who gets the city as well as the country)?

Adirondack dreaming

Part of our lab lore involves a series of almost legendary trips to my advisor's cabin in the Adirondacks, a region about 4 hours north of Ithaca. Sadly, these adventures were confined to the history books until last weekend when we were finally invited to spend a weekend at Raquette Lake. And what a weekend it was. Good food, good company, and the perfect setting, right on the lake. Here you can see me kayaking at twilight on Friday night (thanks to Matt for the photo);

What you can't see is all the insects - they are everywhere after the sun goes down. I was lucky enough to get to sleep on the screened-in porch, with all the pleasures of sleeping outside in the summer minus being eaten alive.

Local wildlife

Today I saw my first ever hummingbird, and wonder of wonders, had my camera with me.

House pictures

As promised, here are a few pictures of my new place. The top photos are my lounge room and bedroom, underneath is the view out the front window and the outside of the house (my windows are the row across the middle floor).

Summer weekends

One of the perks of living in a rural area is the local produce, and in summer it is abundant. On Saturday I had the pleasure of picking strawberries with friends - this whole bucket (piled even higher) cost just $8, and I have enough strawberries in the freezer for a summer worth of daiquiris. Yum!

Aspen conference

Thought I'd post a picture I took last week when I was in Aspen. This year I went for a "hike" along one of the trails near the hotel, it was really pretty.

Pago Pago?

I realise that my blogging has been so pathetic of late that you've probably all stopped checking, but just in case, I thought it was about time I filled in the details of my adventures on the way back to Ithaca.

The plane was a little late leaving Sydney, and with a short connection time in LA I was a bit worried that I'd miss my flight to Philadelphia. I shouldn't have bothered. About 4 hours in to the flight some poor guy suffered a heart attack, and an announcement was made that we would be dumping fuel and then landing in American Samoa so he could be treated properly. 90 minutes later we landed at Pago Pago International Airport, where we were to stay in our seats so that the emergency crew could go about their work. However we were then told that local regulations prohibited refueling of the plane with passengers on board, so we all made our way to the front of the plane, down the stairs and on to the tarmac. Police who looked more like rugby players directed us to a small waiting area with indoor seating and a grassed area. At 27C I decided to sit on the grass and chat to Frida, my new friend. Here's a picture she took of me.

Finally the plane was ready and we reboarded, off to LA. We were 5 1/2 hours late, which meant that the customs staff in the United terminal had left, so we were bussed to a different terminal to clear customs. No bag dramas, and I finally made it down the length of the airport and back to the United terminal to find out how I was getting home. The line was about an hour long with plenty of familiar faces from the plane. I ended up flying to SF in a really good seat, then taking a red eye flight to Philadelphia where I spent a fabulous 6 hours in the airport before taking my originally scheduled flight to Ithaca (I was supposed to be staying overnight in Philadelphia). I've never been so happy to walk into the terminal at Ithaca airport.

The last 3 weeks have been filled with moving house and a conference in Aspen. More on the new house to come (I promise).

Spring spring spring

It's finally here!

Sunshine :D

For live views of the cornell campus click here.

An unexpected weekend....

I made a somewhat last minute decision to visit my friend Meinolf this weekend. He used to live next door, but has now moved to Providence (about 6 hours drive away in Rhode Island - no don't look on the map for an island, it's a state, right between CT and MA). On Sunday we took a little trip to Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of MA. And what a lovely day - a ferry ride, bicycling round the island, sitting on the beach, paddling in the water, getting sunburnt. Here's a little piccie to make you all jealous.

New house!!!!

I have some exciting news this week - I'm moving house on June 1st. More details later, but thought I'd post a picture so everyone can share the excitement. The four windows across the 1st floor are mine.

Birthday (part 3)

I had a great day in NYC on Thursday. Getting up for the 4.15am bus was pretty awful, but I managed to sleep all the way to the city.

First stop in Manhattan was Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich Village to buy cupcakes. These are the stuff of legend - Tal and I both came close to going into a sugar induced coma after eating one of these the next day. The frosting is amazing!

Next stop was breakfast at Cafe Angelique. The french toast was to die for, and the latte was pretty good too!

I then headed uptown to Central Park to see the Gates. Absolutely fantastic, and well worth the long bus trip.

While I was walking around Central Park it started snowing, so I decided to head home a little earlier than planned to avoid road delays. So it was a few quick shopping stops, dinner at Cara Mia, and then on to the bus. And eventually (only 1 hour late) home and blissfully into bed.

Information overload

Well, I'm back from my trip to Washington DC (and so is my suitcase, even though it turns out we didn't travel together). Information overload is the best summary of the trip.

The conference I attended was the annual ASCB meeting, and is always exhausting. Talks begin at 8am, and there are generally sessions until 8pm. Everyday around 500 posters are presented, which means sifting through that many titles and abstracts each day, and then trying to catch the author of the interesting ones in the 90 minutes allotted to them. And then you have to fit in lunch, dinner, brain recovery time, and of course coffee breaks. I mention coffee in particular because it turns out that Washington is not the kind of city where people live, so even the ubiquitous Starbucks on every corner closes around 7pm. Not good for a late night drink :(

It's not all science though. One of the highlights was dinner with a bunch of people from the Children's Hospital plus a few collaborators and my current boss. Lots of sightseeing - Arlington National Cemetery, monuments to Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, the FBI building, the White House, WWII memorial. And then there were the museums. Natural History (excellent - saw dinosaurs, diamonds, and moon rock), American History (OK - interesting explanations of why America turned out to be so supportive of new discoveries), International Spy Museum (really fun), National Archives (saw the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Documents from the Louisiana Purchase when Napoleon sold land to the US). Missed out on Air and Space and a bunch of art museums - hopefully I'll have a chance to go back and see the rest.

You know you're crazy when...

It's 12.30am on Monday night and you look out the window to see if it's still snowing. To your surprise it's snowed enough that the grass is white, and the car has a thin blanket of fluff. So you grab the camera and venture outside wearing jeans, a singlet and polar fleece, and your blundstones. It's only -1C and even Sydney girls acclimatise eventually. You take what was once half a roll of film, then head inside to post the best pictures on your blog, ignoring that your glasses fogged up as soon as you entered the apartment.

Snow covered trees - pretty huh?

Snow covered car - it better have melted by next time I need to drive (which is to have my snow tyres fitted on Wednesday, ironically enough).

Elusive moments

I was getting ready to go out on Saturday night (more about that later) when I glanced out the window and saw the most amazing sunset. Being at home, it was one of those rare moments when a camera was actually on hand.

Celebrating Independence Day

In typical Ithacan strangeness, the Independence Day fireworks were on July 1st. I watched them from Cornell, eating cheese and bread and drinking red wine with friends. Very civilised!

Cornell is also a geat place to watch the sun setting, and the display that evening was spectacular.



Afterwards we were treated to the opposite - a beautiful moonrise (it was the night before full moon).

What on earth is a woodchuck?

Went out with a friend for a celebratory coffee on Thursday afternoon (gotta get excited about successes in the lab!). On our way back to work, we spotted a family of small animals grazing on some lush grass. After some consulation with a long time Ithacan, they were identified as woodchucks.

Thought I'd bring my camera in today to try and get a snap - success! Here, for your viewing pleasure, my friends the woodchucks.

A trip to Aspen

Earlier this week I travelled to Aspen in Colorado to attend a conference. It turned out to be quite a good one - my first experience of a very small focussed meeting (150 people talking about Neurofibromatosis, compared to 10,000 people at the Cell Biology Meeting I usually attend).



Aspen is a beautiful place, high in the rocky mountains (almost 8000 feet above sea level). But it turns out that the end of May is not the time to go. Skiing is long over, many shops were closed, and the gondola up the mountain opens next weekend. That said, the hotel was so swanky, there was really no need to go anywhere else.

Decorating for spring

I'm trying to make my apartment reflect the beauty of spring outside, so I bought a new plant. I've never seen one like this in Australia - I think it must be a variety of Calla lily.

Tulips

Thought I'd put up a picture of the first tulips I saw this spring.