Wow, Big Bang

Going into the cavern at CERN has to be one of the most incredible sights I will ever see. I really never realized how enormous the actual structure is. To enter the chamber you first put on a hard hat, get a radiation key. Then enter a screening chamber and stand very still. Then to the elevator and go down 100 meters into the cavern.  Traverse a tunnel, up and down stairs and then enter the cavern. CMS has 5 rings of gianormous  size. All the wiring is color coded and makes it very beautiful. It dwarfs you to stand beside it. To think we helped build it is amazing.  This has to be the highlight of the trip, I am awed, so incredible.

The Blue Dot, never knew it could cost soooo much make me feel so not lost.

Few more days of exploring and then we head west. Kirk headed out to CERN and I caught the tram to Geneve in the pouring rain. The nice thing about the tram is that it goes only two directions, to downtown Geneve and to CERN. So real hard to loose track which way to head, in our continued marital disputes I have been ending up in the wrong more than not. So I figure now that I am without Kirk I will just go the opposite way I think and it should be right. love the man!  So hopefully I will be able to find my way back to Myrein, would be helpful if I could spell it. 

Caught the tram and my plan was to go to Starbucks and wait out the rain. So I am pretty sure I got on the right tram, Kirk put me on it, and wa la I got off at Countance and across the road was Starbucks! What luck, soy, wifi, bathroom and comfy chairs perfect.  So I can plan my way to the next stop, I think is Rousseau Island and the Smurf House. 

Here I go, walk in the rain and see if I find anything. Talk about getting lost. Well I decided to turn on roaming, probably a bad idea but I do love blue dots. Wow, boy do I love blue dots. Wow should of thought of this before. Almost broke my ankle on a step while looking at the blue dot. But I found everything from notre Dame, Smurf Village to rRouseaux .... I will never be lost again.

Sun came out and turned out to be a beautiful day. Saw lots of Geneve. And never was lost. But then it happened. AT&T called, over usage of data. Oh no am I in big trouble. Called them up and had over $100 usage in data, said they could change my plan and sell me 110 data plan for the month and be only $30. Since I had only used ten I have a lot of data to use now. Had to take it.  I have so much data, least until the 19th that I will beable to watch blue dots the rest of the way home. Now if you do not know what the blue dot is go to your iPhone map app and walk around and follow your self, boy I love it. 

Got back to the B&B without any trouble and headed out to Gino's for dinner. I have heard he has the fastest Internet on the planet. 

Best and Worst

Home safe and sound. 

Cleanest - PSI, in Zurich, but in Paris we saw vaccum cleaners in the streets 

Trashy - Catania, Sicily, reminds me of Mexico

Easiest to cross street with out being killed - Brugg, they all stop at cross walks, amazing, no green and red men to tell, you just walk and they stop

Easiest to be killed when crossing street - Oxford , I always look the wrong way

Beggars, lots in Catania, need more jobs there, but we saw panhandlers everywhere, big city thing

English friendly - Paris, Sicily, England does not count,

English not so friendly - Zurich, they do not speak it, and no signs in English

Most naked men- Liverpool

Most naked women - The Louve

Best Transportation - Paris - I love the Metro, Hamburg rates up there too.

Unreliable transportation or canceled - Sicily

Worst Airports - worst hands down Heathrow, there are no signs, DC is a close second

Easiest Airport-  not including small ones, Hamburg

Cafes- Jericho Cafe in Oxford

Best Crescent- L' Authre Bistro, in Paris by our hotel, warm, fresh and delightful.

Best dinner-Puschka, was in Liverpool, amazing

Funkiest Hotel - Liverpool, Aldelphi

Favorite Hotel - Hilton in Naxos

Favorite attraction-CMS, then  Syracusa - harder then hell to get there, but very amazing, Taromina close third

Best wifi- Gino's house

Worst wifi- Hilton- cost in the room, free in Lobby but real slow

Pub- anyone that has beer, 

Favorite Beer -can't remember, ok  Uk

Worst Beer- Paris but was not that bad, 

Best price for dinner- Liverpool at Ceasars

Best waterfront- Liverpool and Hamburg

best bed- Hilton Naxos

Shortest line at Starbucks - Paris

Longest line at Star Buck - US

Bathrooms- watch out in Switzerland, boys and girls go together, that is a shocker.

Menu and ordering- can not seem to order what I want, but food is good, last night we ordered fondue, thinking it was cheese $49 euros , nope, it was steak and $49 each, oops.

Still searching for the beer and soy latte in one place, came pretty close this time.

Keep It Inline

Had a fabulous time at the Louve, stayed most of the day. The good news was all the signs were in French so we could get through it in a day. Our favorite part was the impressionist, Claude Monet and Renoir's, The Lecture. Also loved Michael Angelo's statues. Winged Victory was being republished, Mona was there in all her smallness.

Did a night on the town and had the Narcoise for dinner at a cafe near Eiffel Tower. A bunch of Taiwanese women had dinner with us, we asked them why Asian people took so many pictures, they just laughed. Was fun talking with them.  Walked over to the Eiffel Tower and sat on the lawn and waited for the twinkle. Caught the metro back to the Latin Quarter. 

Went to a micro technical company Monday that was really cool, lots of neat machines, we stayed all day. Had lunch at Marcoosius at a Creperia, delicious, Kirk had a flaming crepe for desert, and we had cider to drink. Very cute country village, beautiful flowers along the roadside. The village was so old, and all roads cobbled. 

Met up with Chris for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  Talked all night and got caught up on all the family news. There was  three birthdays there that night. We sang for all of them.

Went to university and saw a lab for the LSST, telescope. Will take pictures of the whole night sky in three days and do it again and again and again. It will be an amazing data set , available for all people to access. 

Off to Orly on the RER to catch the Not So Easy Jet. We got to the right terminal and then spent the rest of the time checking in luggage downstairs, then back upstairs to security, coffee, and boarding. Quick flight to Geneve. Rented a car and found the B&B. Overcast and grey, can not see Mt. Blanc, but we were to tired. 

Crescent and oj for breakfast and off to Zurich. The car we got was carzy, every time we stopped it would turn off, and this was not an electric car, it reminded us of the PT Cruisers problems, but this was how it worked, quite a surprise.  Beautiful drive to Zurich , castles and fortresses on the top of hills, old castle like buildings rising up from the river and quaint villages. Switzerland is really clean, we are moving back to the land manicured. If you look at the map attached you will see we have traveled in a straight line. As you move up the line you go from south to north you go from crazy messy and unkept to super manicured and clean. 

Longest line of my life

Decided to go to the Louvre since the easy train to Versailles was not running and the Louvre was free on the first Sunday of the month. ie the name of this posting, the line reached our hotel entrance without taking the metro.  The never ending line, I could not believe the length, but it was free to get in and the day was looking a bit over cast so wait we did.

And then a miracle walked by.

Eureka! I feel like running through the streets naked just like Archimedies !  We were standing in line for ever, just entered the street entrance of the Louve and a local walked by saying please use other entrance this is ridiculous , go to the carousel past the little arch de triumph and no line! Ok Kirk sent me out on re con to see if it was true I felt like Dan Brown. He stayed in line just incase.

I retraced the line and circled the perimeter looking for the carousel, but no carousel. Then I found the mini arch de tribumph and looked carefully for a carsoel then it came to me, line up the church spires and stairwells and there it was, a stairway down to the Louve that said Carosel on it, no line this can not be right.  Miracle, entered and what did we find , Starbucks with soy and wifi, I am in heaven. Wow what a find! No line at all, miracle of miracles.

First day in Paris

Metro is your friend, really easy to get around Paris. Just have to remember to take it. Walking is so picturesque that you hate togounder ground. 

First museum is the Marmottan.  They first put you thought the torture of Nepolean and his family, two floors of braroque paintings, before you find Monet downstairs, well worth the suffering through the Little Big Man. Book called Beyond the Grave, about the family might be interesting to read.

My favorite Monet is Sunrise, bet you can not guess why, yep water and boats. It was the painting that named Impressionism period.  Done as a joke from one of the still life  picture like painters and it stuck, kinda of like Big Bang.

Just lovey Lilly pads everywhere, beautiful work of water gardens at Giverny.

Walked to the piazza before Eiffel tower and had lunch, the French lunch with an fried egg on top. 

Ran the gauntlet of hawkers to get a good view, they were selling the treasured eiffel tower trinket. 

Got on the river cruise at the base of the tower and cruised the Seine. 

Walk along the Seine to Norte Dame, then off to bed, long day.

Hotel du Commerce

Now I really appreciate the Hilton at Sicily. The walls are so thin you feel like you have a large family that never goes to sleep. The first time the toilet flushed from upstairs I thought there was a major  problem. It sounded like some one was taking a shower in our bathroom. Some one upstairs had a weak bladder.  The room itself was 1/3 the size of our Hilton, and only one small bed, without the comfy pillows, and thread count I need. The room is orange and over looks a roof 2 feet away. Hallways are purple, ceiling is neon green and stairs are crazy red. The amazing thing is the bathroom is big for European standards. But it is only blocks from everything, and it is cheap and clean. Wifi works Kirk is happy.

Found a great cafe right around the corner for breakfast, my first french crescent, I am in heaven. 

Last words on Sicily

Sicily is very similar to Mexico but with ancient ruins everywhere you look. The island is very crowded and needs a garage collector and more jobs. 

Staying at the Hilton was really comfortable, I loved the bed!  Walking around the sights and city you would be asked to buy many various items from hawkers such as umbrellas, messages, scarfs, jewelry, anything they could carry. This just means there is not enough jobs for everyone. I was on the beach all day and had many people want to sell me something. 

Swimming in the Med was wonderful, floating and soft skin. The temperature was perfect you could stay in all day.  Could not get enough of it.

I did not see one house  that looked finished. I know my house needs work but these really need help. There are flowers every where , impatients that grow taller than trees, hibiscus, orlianders, flowers everywhere. The medians of all the highways and the sides of the highways were grown over with flowers. 

The people were very nice considering this is a big tourist area. Always helpful in getting around. Now the bus drivers have there own communication, Just because they say everyone speaks English does not mean bus drivers do. A little trouble figuring out where to go and when, when your buses were canceled or left early. All of a sudden the bus drivers knows nothing of English.  But the guy who sold me tickets for a bus that left early knew exactly what I was talking about when I asked for my money back, I got refund for all six of us. Debated on wether I should tell the others but I did. So they understand at times. 

The history that surrounds the area is incredible to see. The ampitheater at Teramino was stunning, the Greeks built it and the Romans refurbished it. The locals still use it. To think how long it has been around is hard to fathom.  The ancient city of Syracusa is amazing to walk around and think of how many others came before all the back to Alexander and before. 

Scariest part was crossing streets, I thought England was scarey, that is nothing compared to Sicily, there are no green men, red men, or white men telling you it is safe to cross just white lines painted on the asphalt, and cars do not think they need to stop, but at some point you need to cross. The craziest one was in Catania at the train bus station, the train is one one side and the bus in the middle of e round about and cars are whizzing by with no end in sight.  So I just stuck my pink umbrella out there and waved it a bit and started walking and believe it or not I got across, but did let the yellow bus go by. It really is crazy to try and cross streets in Sicily. 

Great time in Sicily now on to Paris. 

Death March Re Defined

The day at the beach was great, in retrospect it was needed to prepare oneself for the adventure to come.  We decided to go to Sryacusa to check out Archemedies .  Sounded like a splendid idea at the time, and it did turn our interesting.

So death march in our family has been described as follows. When the kids were young we would go cruising and Dad would say it is time to go on a hike, so we would sun screen up and put on our shoes and head for the hills.. He would always pick the highest mountain around and try to get to the top. Well after a while we caught on and Haley , Gus and I would decide to stay at the beach and watch him hike to the top, while we swam in the closest lagoon. My idea of a day on land. this is how it became to be known a death march. Dads thinking of a death march and we all would think of numerous things that needed to be done. 

Well this adventure redefined death march. We started out at 8:00 in the morning. There were 6 of us. We got to the bus on time and found out that it was canceled due to traffic accident. So we quickly changed gears and decided tonhead for the train, which was not as convenient but now the only choice. The problem with the train was it was a 45 minute hike or $20 euro taxi to get to the station. So it was early in the adventure so we hiked. Now the roads some times had side walks, most of the time had narrow paths along side road with huge buses whizzing  by constantly. We made it In time for the train and avoided any collision with Italian traffic. So we made the bus to Catania. Arrival at Catania and got a bus ticket to Syarcusa. Had a hour or so, and we walked, hiked to the Doma and had a bite to eat. Got back to the bus station and found out bus left 15 minutes early. Ok, quick trip to train station and yes, there was a train in an hour.  

So we finally got to Syarcusa and hiked from train station to ancient city. Saw apollo  temple, and Archimedes square. Relaxed and had a bite and a beer. Interesting food, called a orangena,, maybe, it was a take off from the Indiana state fair, deep fried rice ball filled with many different vegetables, delicious. Went to Archimedies museum and saw a lot of his inventions and geometry equations he discovered.   He is the father of mechanical engineers. Great fun in the museum. 

Saw another dome, on a beautiful square, the piazza was covered with marble and buildings were very clean. We hiked to the port and up to the fortress. The fortress was from the 1200's and has a light house at the entrance. There are many turetts for some sort of war machine. It was attached by pirates many times. Has many levels, and rooms, with high domed ceilings and ancient columns, still standing. It went through an earthquake but was rebuilt. You can tell why Syracusa was important in that there is a large bay enclosed by a narrow entrance that could protect many boats in the bay and the entrance could be well defended. Would be beautiful to cruise. 

We got a Italian pizza on the boardwalk. Yes we ate it with knives and forks, amazing and delicious, wi a beautiful view of the bay. Then we hiked back to the train station to find out our train went from Syracusa directly to Rome, no stop at Taromina. To bad we did not have our luggage, our flight tomorrow stops in Rome!  Yea, the train takes a ferry at Messina. So, quick find a bus. Running from train station to bus station, some luck was on our side and a bus was just leaving for Catania, that would be 1/2 way home. 

Got to Catania ran to the train station, no more buses, and yes lady luck was with us, got a train to Taormina, arrived there and had a 45 minute walk back to hotel. Arrived at hotel at 10:15. Talk about barking dogs, I soaked my feet for an hour. Have another big day tomorrow. Just hope the buses are running. This was the ultimate death march! 

Syracusa ancient city is beautiful well worth the Death march. 

Gala Dinner

Dinner was delicious , more fresh fish than you can imagine. Many courses with many fish and don't forget the pasta. The interesting thing about the dinner is the seating. I did not appreciate this at first but figured it out before the night was done.

 You sat according to the language you wanted to speak. Kirk and I sat at a table not really understanding this. So a few people sat down and then moved, a few more sat down and stayed. There were 8 at a table, and another couple came over and sat down and left immediately, yep they spoke Italian. It was not that they did not want to sit with you , they just wanted to sit at a table they could talk. So with 75 people at the dinner, you had mostly German and Italian speaking tables and I think only 1 or 2 English speaking tables.  

Had very interesting people at the table, and I think Kirk and I were they only ones that spoke one language, yes, English was language of choice. Probably should learn another language if we are moving east. 

The other thing that established the dinner as a Gala Dinner was the desert. It was an ice cream cake with mint ice cream topped with shaved chocolate and large letters CMS on top with the CERN logo with exploding fire on top, sort of like Mtn. Etna, with clear curve iceilies that remind of the cooling tubes on the detector. Pretty exciting and delicious. 

Took a stroll on the patio after dinner, the beach is rather rocky and hard on the feet, especially in the dark. Will walk the beach tomorrow. 

Lay Day

Even the most seasoned travelers need to take a lay day. Little did I know how much a lay day it was going to be.  Had an early breakfast on the terrace, then a stroll down the boardwalk before Kirk took off for the seminar.  Came back to the lobby to catch up on some email and blogging. Went back to the room to watercolor and grab a bite to eat before heading to the beach. Went out on the patio with lunch and watercolors, beautiful day. Had a snack and was headed into room to go swim and guess what, yep, doors locked and I am on the patio til further notice!  Dumb Alice,I got a lot more painting done then I planned.  Luckily Kirk came back to the room before lunch and let me out. The view was really nice.

When the talks were over Kirk and I went swimming and the water was wonderful.  Warm and soft, really did not want to get out once you were in. The sand was more like small pebbles, very hard to walk in. And a good drop off only a few feet into the surf, not an AYC beach. Saw some windsurfers and kayakers, maybe we will try and do some sailing Thursday. 

This is the first place that there is a bar where you can get a latte and a beer, we found it! Only one problem, no soy. Almost the perfect bar, Kirk got a beer and I a canoli,  that is better I think than a Latte. 

Off to the gala dinner, will report later.