Strange Spot in the Sky

Internet time became sparse in Salzburg, mostly due to the fact that I was too busy to bother. But now I am home, and have a little time to post on the last of my trip. The day after I visited Bratislava, I headed out of Vienna and over to Salzburg. I'd already been before (see October 2007), but it was one of my favourite spots on the previous trip and the two days we spent there did not do it justice. I wondered as I rolled into town whether I had built Salzburg up in my mind over time; would it live up to my memories?

It did. It is such a beautiful place, and there is so much to see and do. I managed to be on top of a different mountain each day I was there! The first of these was more like a big hill than a true mountain. It is in the middle of town, but surrounded by buildings, and the only way to access it is by noticing a small alleyway leading to a long set of stairs. I walked past a half dozen times before I realized that was how to get up. This is advantageous, because it means there was next to no one on the hiking trails with me. For a good hour I climbed up in the forest, past the ruins of the old city walls. At the top I arrived at an old small fortress, but there was no one around and no way to get in. I have to admit, it was a little creepy at times!



My second day I took the cable car up the iconic Untersberg (thats the one in the background above). Unfortunately I forgot my jacket, and who knew that it would be just above freezing with gusting winds in the heights of the alps? Cold aside, it was a nice clear day to be on top of the world.



Later that afternoon I found myself in Innsbruck, filling in another hole from Eurotrip '07. We had a train transfer here last time which afforded us 30 minutes to walk around town, and I always wanted to come back and enjoy it a little longer. The entire city is surrounded by mountains. The only time you cant see a peak is when you are deep in the old city and the skinny streets. I wandered up and down the river, and ducked in and out of the pedestrian streets. Innsbruck airport is very close to the city center, and so for dinnner I got to watch the planes come flying in real low.





My last full day in Salzburg was spent on the ice caves tour. This was something we barely decided not to do last time on account of the steep price. It was one of my few big regrets of that trip, but no longer; this was definitely the highlight of my week. A tour bus drove us south into the alps and into the small town of werfen. The town is in a small valley which was valuable as a strategic location, and so there is a giant castle protecting the sleepy town.



Once at the base of the mountain, we drove up a 21% incline. Then we walked uphill for 20 minutes. Then we took a cable car 500 meters up. Then we walked up another 30 minutes. Once we got in the caves, we walked up another 740 steps. Needless to say, we were WAY up there! It was a little strange walking through snow the day before June.



In the caves pictures were "verboten" for almost the entire time. They dont really come across anyways. There is no lighting in the caves at all. The people that run it wanted to keep it as natural as possible, so every third person in our group carried a small lantern, and our tour guide had a bright magnesium lantern. The light bounced off giant ice columns, as we walked nearly straight up a field of sheer ice. The original discoverer of the cave left a small black cross at one location which is still there today; this was the point where he had to turn back because it was too difficult to continue. We went a full kilometer deep into the caves. The ice stops there, although the cave continues for another 41km apparently.



I spent one final day in Munich relaxing after a busy and tiring trip. Now I am back home, preparing for my next trip to Moncton for the CAP conference. This one isn't quite as sexy as Germany or New York city, but I hear the seafood is pretty good!

Travelling by yourself has its pros and cons. The best part about it is the absolute freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want, and I exercised that freedom today. The original plan was to rent a bike and try to ride outside the city. Mother nature wasn't complying though, as I was greeted this morning by gusting winds and intermittant rain storms. Faced with another day roaming Vienna....well, I wasn't really thrilled about it. I'd seen everything I wanted to the day before, and it hadn't left that much of an impresson on me. I was still booked into another night at my hostel, so I grabbed my guide book, hit the train station, and a few hours later I was in Slovakia roaming Bratislava.

Bratislava is a neat city, but a little schizo. Arriving at the train station, I first had to walk through a maze of communist concrete housing. Except it also looked like a box of crayolas threw up on the buildings; bright yellows and reds and oranges. All this was watched over by a bridge tower that looked right out of the War of the Worlds. Weird.



Once into town it is more typical European. Except unlike most Euro cities this one isnt high up on everyone's must see list, and so it was pleasantly devoid of tourists. Many a time I would turn onto a pedestrian street and be the only soul around. It was really cool!



I trekked up to the castle, which icidentally is where they have the Slovakian Hockey Hall of Fame. Didn't go in as they were undergoing renovations. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the old city, stopping when I felt like it for beer or coffee (the beer I had in the town square surely ranks among the best of my life; the atmosphere, the freshness, and being hot and tired conspired to produce beer nirvana). The old city is beautiful, and I enjoyed just getting lost in its many nooks and crannies.



Now I am back in the hostel. I doubt that my daily blog updates will continue, as I may or may not be blessed with wireless at my next hostel in Salzburg.

To update those who did not know; I'm in the middle of (another) two weeks in Europe. This time I came for an experiment in Munich, and decided to take advantage of the free flight to travel around for a week after. The experiment was, as usual, a lot of work and not much time off. This is my fourth or fifth experiment with my research group, and I'm starting to realize the rule of experimental physics; if you accomplish half of what you set out to, then its a success. That was certainly true this time, as numerous mechanical setbacks cost us a lot of data.

We stayed in a town called Garching, which is just a few minutes north of Munich. It was nice, because it was not a tourist spot at all. People didnt automatically switch to English when we ordered our food. It seemed like a reasonably authentic place. I also managed to get downtown Munich one afternoon to check out some beer gardens. It was a picture perfect day, and life seems mighty good when sipping a beer in those circumstances.

Now the experiment is done, and I have caught a train to Osterreich to visit Vienna. Arrived late last night, and struggled a bit to find my hostel. Its a little more difficult without having Andrew "maps" Ross around. The hostel is one of the better ones I've stayed. As I write this I'm sitting in the midde of a guitar and bongo jam session in the lounge (and I literally mean in the middle; guitars on my left, bongos on my right). Its a perfect hostel for travelling by myself, which is something I've never done; nice and social without being a frat house. Last night I drifted down to the lounge and decided that I needed to be assertive and strike up a conversationg with someone. Within five minutes I'd met a group of travellers, and we were discussing (no joke) Wronskians and group theory. I must attract a certain type of person....

I spent the entire day today wandering Vienna. I started off at Schonbrunn palace. I didnt actually pay to go in, but I spent a good two hours wandering around outside in the massive gardens surrounding the property. Interestingly, the were quite a few locals around, most of them jogging or walking dogs. It seems to be the Austrian version of Central Park in that respect.

After the palace I went into the inner city. When I picture Europe in the 1700s in my head, the picture that forms is exaclty what Vienna looks like. It is very similar to Prague in that respect, although more ornate (and less touristy surprisingly). Vienna doesn't have one landmark that stands out, like Florence or Paris or many of the other Europeans cities I've visited. Rather its got a few dozen smaller landmarks. Just like art galleries, I found myself getting a little overloaded. Didn't help that it was 30 degrees and sunny all day long. Luckily Vienna also has a ton of green space; I mostly wandered from church to park to parliament building to park etc. I also stopped at a kaffeehaus, since this is intimately tied to Viennese culture. I was sweaty, unshaven, and looking every bit the grungy backpacker; but sipping that cappachino on the sidewalk cafe, I felt like Viennese high society. In the end though, I would only rank Vienna in the middle of the pack when it comes to cities I've experienced. I'm enjoying it, but it isn't grabbing a hold of me like Floence or Amsterdam did.



Tomorrow my plan is to rent a bike and try to get out of the city a bit. After that I head back to Salzburg. I've already been (as astute readers will know), but it serves as a good central base to check out some other Austrian sites.

 

I am working the night shift at a lab in Munich while we do another experiment. While I love Canada, they certainly do things the right way here in Germany:

1. There is a vending machine in the nuclear accelerator lab that serves world class weisbeir for 1 Euro. Yes, that means that I am operating millions of dollars worth of dangerous equipment while at the same time enjoying a brew.

2. The cleaning staff enters the lab at 7am and washes the previous day's coffee mugs and puts on two fresh pots, so that when the scientists arrive in the morning they have coffee awaiting them.

sigh....Europe is so much more civilized than back home.

It was on somewhat of a whim that my sister and I decided to do a weekend in New York this spring. For me it was another chance to scratch the travel itch, while for Katie it was her first travel experience this side of Disney World. So last weekend we took a bus down to the Big Apple and crammed as much as possible into two days.

We departed Toronto on our ill-fated Greyhound bus at 8:30am. Before we had even made it past Milton, the bus lost a fan belt and began overheating. Despite our driver's valiant efforts, we had to stop at the side of the road every 20 minutes or so to let 'er cool off. Once across the border in Buffalo we got a new set of wheels, and it was smooth sailing through upstate New York. Cant say the cities of Buffalo or Rochester seemed like prime destinations, however Syracuse and the rolling foothills afterwards were quite pleasant. Finally, after a loooooong day of driving, we came to the top of a hill and saw the faint outline of skyscrapers far off on the horizon. Even from 30km away, New York City was unmistakable.

Our bus dropped us off in the shadow of the Empire State Building right beside Madison Square Gardens. After 12 hours of quiet bus ride, the noise and energy was like a blast from a furnace. We began walking down Broadway towards Times Square. The sun was long below the horizon by the time we got there, but you could have fooled me; with all the lights and jumbotrons it was as bright as day. Kinda puts Yonge and Dundas to shame.



Saturday will go down in the annals of history as an epic day of travel. We woke up on the wrong side of 7am and didnt return to our hostel until past midnight. We visited the American Natural History museum and planetarium, the Frick art museum, and Central Park. The park is very odd; it was so humid it felt like a rainforest, and when in the midst of it we couldn't hear anything or see a single building. The placement of this beautiful green space in the middle of a dense city was a stroke of genius.



The two highlights of saturdday came at night. First we saw Guys and Dolls on Broadway, and from the 8th row no less. Oliver Platt and Lauren Graham were the headliners, and each of them had "poisonality" to spare. Afterwards, we visited the Empire State Building and viewed the city lights below us. Even from 86 stories up in the middle of night the city's energy could be felt. It was like being on top of the world.



By Sunday we were burned out from all the walking and visiting. We still managed to see the Museum of Modern Art and cross the river to eat delicious pizza in the shade of the Brooklyn bridge. We wandered back to lower Manhattan, although it was Sunday and thus a little calmer than most days. We didn't feel the need to travel out to the statue of liberty, although we did see it from the shore.



A sombre moment came when we walked around Ground Zero. The city of New York is incredible dense, and not a square inch is wasted. And yet here was a gaping hole many football fields wide in the middle of the financial district. Up until this weekend, the words "September 11" make me think in disgust of Bush and all that went wrong for America under his watch. Whether thats fair or not I dont know; but its how I felt. However seeing the missing towers...well, it made me remember how much of a human tragedy that day was for individuals, the city and the country. It was good to get perspective back.

We ended our day and our trip with a delicious Italian dinner in the hip SoHo district, capped off with a slice of (what else) New York cheesecake at a local bakery. Unfortunately both Katie and I were fighting colds (though most people surely thought we had swine flu), so we dragged ourselves back to our hostel and crashed. Monday was another long travel day back home. Two days can hardly do a city like New York justice, but we tried our hardest regardless. It certainly begs for another visit; life's a bitch!

Looking ahead, I fly to Munich thios Sunday. I'll be in Munich for about a week working at the University on a few experiments, and after that I'm heading to Austria for a week. Photos and stories from Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck to follow!

Five months since my last post, which is as much a function of my own laziness as my life's lack of blog-worthy events. But now I'm back, and I can be quite confident that I've pared my readership down to the bare minimum. The bonus of waiting five months between posts is that when you condense it all down, its actually kind of interesting!

First major event of the last five months was my knee injury. I wish I could say it was a "cool" injury, but unfortunately it was a rather clumsy occurance. I was playing in my weekly pickup basketball game, and after hitting a layup I ran into the corner of one of those pull-out wooden bleachers. It impacted right above my knee, causing a chipped bone and requiring 3 stitches to repair. Luckily I escaped any serious knee problems. My physiotherapist said if it was an inch to the left or right I would have been under the knife and in some serious rehab. As it stands, it is three months later and it is almost back to new. All I'm left with is a sweet scar, an annoying clicking in my knee, and a large physio bill. Not to mention a readymade excuse for my failure to make the varsity basketball team.

About two weeks after my run in with the bleacher, my research group sent me off to Banff to participate in my first scientific conference. The Winter Nuclear and Partical Physics conference is designed as a relaxed forum in which graduate students can give their first research talk. My talk was entitled "Study of 110 Cadmium through Beta-decay and inelastic neutron scattering", and it was successful despite my nerves. I must say, there is little more frightening on this earth than standing in a room of phd's and being forced to answer questions and prove your intellectual street cred. Most definitely a trial by fire. But it was fun and a good experience, and as a bonus I had a free afternoon to check out Banff. I'm woefully under-travelled in my own country, and this was the first time I'd seen the Rockies.





The most exciting development of the winter (by my own estimation, anyways) was the purchase of my first road bicycle. Ever since riding that beautiful Bianchi through the hills of Tuscany, I've been in love (or rather, lust). So at this year's Toronto bike show, I went armed with a tax refund and a credit card, and returned home with this:




Yes, the bike is named after chemical elements, and no, thats not why I bought it. Argon 18 is an up and coming Canadian bike maker, and they had some big bang for the buck. I've only been out twice so far (whats with the April blizzards???), but she rides like a dream. Me and Andrew are hoping to do some long distance touring this summer, and possibly bike to Ottawa for Canada Day.

My next post will be much sooner than 5 months from now, as there are a number of interesting things on the horizon. In early May Katie and I head to New York for a weekend in the city. A week after that I am back in Europe, this time for an experiment at the University of Munich. I hope to also do some additional travel afterwards, though my destination is still up in the air. So check back!

This is the 8-pi spectrometer, which is the detector system that our group uses at TRIUMF




And this is one of the 3 experimental halls at TRIUMF.The 8-pi spectrometer is on the left hand side somewhere in that mess of equipment!

I have just returned from my first trip out west, to the city of Vancouver. I'm getting pretty good at travelling East, but this is this is by far the furthest West I've been, my previous record being Lexington Ky (lame!). Most of the experiments done in our group happen at TRIUMF, Canada's largest nuclear physics labratory on the campus of UBC. We generally go out 4 or 5 times a year, and this was my first trip. Not only that, but the experiment we performed was "my" experiment; its up to me to analyse all the data we took and publish it in both a scientific paper and my own Master's thesis. As such I didn't have much time to see Vancouver at all. It was rainy and cloudy the whole time, and my whole 6 days there I didn't see the ocean or any mountains. Sightseeing will have to wait for another day.

The experiment itself was a success. We were studying the beta-decay of 110-Indium into 110-Cadmium. After the decay, the Cadmium is in an excited state, and our purpose was to measure the decays of this excited state in order to learn more about 110-Cadmium. This experiment is part of a larger program led by my supervisor to study  the various Cadmium isotopes. His ultimate hope is to break down a theory of vibrational motion that he believes to be incorrect. My research and thesis project will attempt to do that. We only ran into a few small problems on this experiment, all of which were manageable. The facility itself is very impressive. There are three large experimental halls packed with detectors and beam lines. I got the insider's tour on the third day I was there, but unfortunately I forgot my camera that day. I did manage some shots of the 8pi detector (the one we used) and ISAC hall (where we did all our work). I'll post them soon.

We arrived in Vancouver on Tuesday the 4th of November, and paused our physics to witness some history. I am a bit of a politics nerd, so I just have to throw in my two cents. I got caught up in the excitement of Obama's big win on Tuesday night, and I got goosebumps watching him speak to the crowds in Chicago. Now that I've had a week to reflect, I am still thankful that Obama was elected. Not because he is black, or because he is a Democrat, or because he promises hope. I dont even care that he beat John McCain, who I dont consider all that bad. What really matters is that he beat Sarah Palin. Sure, she's become a bit a a cartoon character what with the Tina Fey bits and the "you betchas". But there are few politicians who I have opposed more than her. The media largely danced around the issue, calling her "an ordinary American" or a "Washington Outsider" to explain away her horrific interviews and lack of knowledge. But lets call a spade a spade; Palin was stupid. Just plain unintelligent. She is a woman who didn't own a passport until 2007, believes Dinosaurs roamed the earth 4000 years ago, couldn't name the countries in NAFTA, thinks that oil pipelines are "God's Plan", and....ugh, nevermind I'll get carpal tunnel if I list it all. Say what you want about Obama; his message of hope and change may yet turn out to be empty rhetoric. But America has a leader who is smart, calm and capable. Perhaps its sad that I get excited about that, but any time intelligence beats ignorance there's a reason to feel hopeful.

I've been playing the "one year ago today" game with myself for the past month or so, as I relive our Europe trip and pine for the next one. One year ago today I was writing about Florence. And just over one year ago today I was drinking litre beers in Munchen. While it may not be Bavaria, I did manage somewhat of a recreation last weekend in Berli...um, Kitchener. We got tickets on Friday to the Schwaben Club, one the more authentic German-Canadian clubs in KW. While the beers came in small plastic cups rather than massive steins, and there were "only" a few hundred people in the hall, the club did import some dance troupes from Germany to provide entertainment through the night. Throw in a couple of "Ein Prosits" and a few pints and I could barely tell the difference!

KW Oktoberfest came a few weeks after visiting Queens University to see Jess (she's doing teacher's college there). I went during their homecoming weekend, which has become legendary. I was not disappointed. I spent most of the weekend as an impartial observer (read: sober), and it was quite the sight. The football game was wild; Queens played Western, and so they were handing out t-shirts that said "muck the fustangs". I won't go into the chants that we heard in the crowd, lest this blog lose its PG-13 rating. On Saturday night we hit up Aberdeen Street, which is blocked off from traffic to become one giant booze soaked party. While most people were reasonably well behaved (no overturned cop cars this year), it was still wild to see that many people our partying in a residential street. Sure puts ol' Cole Road in Guelph to shame.

Its been quite a while since my last post, and I apologize if I give the impression that the only things in my life worth writing about are drinkfests! However, I've been extremely busy with school. That isn't a bad thing at all; I feel much more engaged than I ever was at Waterloo. But I figured a blog about my day to day life wouldn't be such an exciting read. My days are filled to the brim with classes, research and TAing. Being a teaching assistant is my favourite part. I get to corrupt young minds and make 17 year old girls break down in tears because they lost a half mark on their quizzes for significant figures. The power is intoxicating! In all seriousness though, its pretty fun teaching the kids in the lab; for most of them its the first time in their life they've had any physics, and its rewarding to be able to take the "fear of physics" our of them.

My next travel entry (my favourite ones to write, and I'm sure many of your favourite ones to read) will be coming soon. I leave for a week in Vancouver soon, to take part in another experiment. This one is at a bigger lab than in Kentucky, so expect "cooler" physics pictures!

Last weekend was the sixth reincarnation of our annual Rockwood camping trip. Every year since the last summer of high school, a bunch of us Milton folk have gathered for one weekend of beer, campfires, hot dogs, frisbee, beaches and general fun at Rockwood campground just outside of Guelph. This weekend was especially fun for me because I combined camping with a Sunday trip to Toronto for Beerfest (although its debatable whether the Toronto festival has more of a right to the name "Beerfest" than our camping trip). Each year it becomes more and more difficult to gather all of us together as we scatter farther and farther away in pursiuit of our various paths. And the further we move apart, the more important it seems to get together for our traditional weekend together.

Unfortunately we had some of our worst weather this year. Saturday was a constant downpour, but that didn't stop us from having our "tips" tournament. Sadly my name will not grace the trophy this year, as the winning team completed the four game sweep in a best of seven.



The convincing win allowed the team members the pleasure (obligation?) of drinking from the glorious tips trophy. 



When the rain became biblical in strength we set up tarps over our campsite and campfire, and played games of beerpong. Ryan's form is immpecable; must be the Doc Halliday shirt...



When it was all said and done, we'd created quite the mess. Andrew looks unsure of where to start, but we managed to clean it up in due time.



I left camping early Sunday morning to grab a bus to Toronto with Jess to visit Beerfest at Fort York in Toronto. I'd been meaning to visit for years, and this year we finally got around to buying tickets. With all the rain on Saturday, a more apt name would have been Mudfest, but it was fun inspite of the mess. We tried a number of different beers from Ontario all the way to Belgium (though not the famous Holy Grail!). Jess was adventurous and sampled a blueberry flavoured mead, although from the expression on her face she didn't seem all that impressed.



Of course the festival was filled with entertaining drunk people. One of the funnier running gags of the day came courtesy of the Steamwhistle tent. They had someone creating hats out of steamwhistle boxes, and we spent the day laughing at the creative designs. Something tells me the Spartans didn't get drunk on beer before Thermopylae...

It took us two extra days, but we finally did complete our experiment in Kentucky. So far it looks like a success; it is now a matter a analyzing the data we took to ultimately decide which detector will win the contract. Here is a picture of the particle accelerator itself. This is what kept messing up, and we had to lift the giant blue lid off with a crane, replace parts, and then pump it back down to vacuum. The first time this happened it was really cool to watch the local technician explain how the massive apparatus worked. But by the third time we were just anxious to get our work done and get home. 



The particle accelerator shoots protons into a beam line, which is the long metal tube in this picture. At the very end of the tube is a tiny gas cell, and a reaction in that cell produces the neutrons that we need for our experiment. On the table in the distance are the neutron detectors we were testing.



And on a completely unrelated note, Katie wanted to know what my new apartment looked like, so here it is. A humble abode for a not-so-humble guy.

Today I write from a basement nuclear physics lab in Lexington Kentucky. I've been here at the University of Kentucky since last Wednesday working with my research group on an experiment. Unfortunately we've run into many problems, and we still have not collected any "good" data despite being here for 6 days. Such is the nature of science.

In the meantime I've gotten to see a little taste of Lexington, since I'd never been to the central US before this trip. I suppose there isn't that much that is noteworthy; there isn't all that much to do in Lexington other than shop. It is however a nice city, and the campus itself is very appealing. Everyone has been very nice and accomadating, and the food hasn't been as greasy as I expected. The people move a little slower and talk with funny accents. And I've had to censor myself lest I take the Good Lord's name in vane down here in the bible belt. We passed quite a few MASSIVE Jesus statues on the interstate; this in the country that calls Iran a theocracy...

Most of my time has been spent in the lab. We've been arriving before 9 and on occasion leaving past midnight. Fueled by both coffee, beer and fast food, we've been working hard to fix all these damn problems. As it stands this morning, it looks like we will have to stay an extra day or two in order to finish the experiment

*Disclaimer* If you find physics boring, stop reading now!

The experiment we are doing is basically a test of two different neutron detectors. Whichever one performs best will be awarded a contract to install 70 detectors at the TRIUMF facility in Vancouver. The contract is worth around 1.8 million dollars, so its a pretty big deal to see which one is better. The lab here consists of a large particle accelerator that produces a source of monoenergetic neutrons which can be finely tuned to any energy desired within a range of about 20MeV. Our job is basically to collect a bunch of spectra from each of the detectors, and then analyse them to determine thresholds, efficiencies etc etc. While in principle this is simple, the details of the experiment and the technical challenges have been enourmous. One of our largest problems has been that we've had a number of things go wrong with our accelerator. And each time something goes wrong, we've had to break vacuum, fix the problem, and then pump back down, a process that takes about a day. So its been a lot of waiting and a lot of frustration. On the plus side, we did get to observe a number of pretty cool procedures that dont usually take place. I brought my camera in today, and I'll post some pictures of the apparatus when I get home. Even if you find physics boring, the experimental set-up is pretty cool.

I've been to a few weddings in my day, but my Uncle Walter's wedding last weekend was a bit of a different experience. Not only was it a traditional Scottish wedding, complete with Gaelic prayers, kilts and bagpipes, but Uncle Walter also happens to be a senior citizen who was marrying an old high school sweetheart.

Here is the happy couple, Nancy and Walter, in the ancient tartan of the Murray Clan:



The reception was a "country feast" held in a barn behind the church. 



Here's my mommy being a mommy to the newest member of our family:



Not everyone was focussed on the ceremony; etch-a-sketch was Emma's priority!


 

I am installing linux on my old crappy computer, and I found myself staring at the screen while I wait for it to install. So I figure a good way to use my time is to post a small update. When I said I was going to continue posting after Greece, apparently that was a lie. I suppose the biggest reason is because life at home is just a lot more boring than life on the road. There hasn't been all that much to talk about! But I've had requests from a bored student to post something for procrastination purposes, so here goes.

I finally came to something resembling a decision regarding my future soon after returning from Greece. The new situation is this: as of July 1st, I will be living and working in Guelph, as I return to the UoG to finish a MSc. Since Waterloo and Guelph have a joint program, its almost like I didn't miss a beat. I'll be starting work in a new group which works on sub-atomic physics (which, as all physics geeks know, is FAR diffefent than the ordinary atomic physics I was previously studying). I've got myself a new basement apartment, this time closer to downtown Guelph (there's more action down there!). I'm moving out of Waterloo within the next week. 

So that's the new situation for anyone that cares. Does anyone care? I know if I was reading this I'd care a lot more about the travel stories. I know Mike wanted information about the cereals I eat (golden shreddies, the retro-square kind) and Toronto sports teams. But the only team worth the time these days is the TFC, and I dont know jack (pun intended) about footy. For now though, my linux installation is complete (and undoubtedly I've f**ked my computer beyond repair), so I'll have to wait for another day to write about something interesting.

Sadly, we are back home in boring old Milton/Cambridge, and the blue skies of Greece are only memories. We had a fantastic trip, and I can highly recommend the Greek Islands to anyone who enjoys history, beaches, scenery and most of all food! Here are some pictures from the last two days of our trip. 

A well earned day at the beach in Hania after our the Samaria Gorge:



The Mask of Agemmemon in the Athens museum



Back in Athens, we checked out the Temple of Zeus:




I hope everyone enjoyed reading about our travels. For anyone interested, I'll continue posting on my blog, although unfortunately only about the more mundane matters of home.  At least until I start planning for the next trip...

Poor Jess didn't know what she was getting into when she agreed to travel with me. The Greek islands  conjure images of beaches and relaxing, and while there has been plenty of that, much more of our time has been spent on the go, treking and hiking. In case climbing up the cliffs of Santorini didn't kill her, yesterday we did the mother of all treks, Samaria Gorge. The gorge is located south of Hania in Western Crete, and at 18km is the longest in Europe. 

To get there we took a bus from Hania that spent most of its ride going straight up a mountain. The views were great, although the sheep and goats tended to get in the way:



When we arrived at the top of the gorge, we were treated to this. The first hour saw us descend over 1000m down into the gorge.



In the cool mountain air, fueled by a hearty breakfast, we were fresh and full of enthusiasm. This is Jess' first step. See below for an entirely different facial expression at the bottom...



All along the way we were treated to mountains rising thousands of meters on either side of us. At its most narrow point, the gorge is only 3 meters wide. As we moved from the high mountains down into the valley, the terrain became almost like Africa. Apparently we are in the middle of a heat wave lately, as the Sahara winds blasting from the south. Here are some of the best views of the day:









When we finally reached the bottom, 6 hours of walking later, we were beat. We dipped our feet in the Libyan Sea; I'd never been closer to Africa. Against my better judgement I also drank a large pint of beer, which promptly put me to sleep. Jess wasn't in much better shape:



Today our calves feel like blocks of cement, so we are going to take advantage of the nearby beach for some chill out time. We have an overnight ferry back to Athens tonight as our trip begins to sadly wind down. I should be able to get in one more post from Athens, but no gaurantees.

Having travelled to many different countries over my previous trip, I encountered a number of stereotypes of different cultures. The Germans are strict, the French are rude, the Irish pour Guinness over their cornflakes. In mearly all cases these preconceived notions turn out to be false. Before arriving in Greece, the steretype I encountered was the "Taverna Greek"; that is, the Greek who spends 95% of his time sitting on a sidewalk tavern drinking, eating and shooting the shit. For once, the stereotype is correct.

Jes is constantly amazed at the fact that Greece functions as a nation. How can a country survive if everyone just sits around chatting and eating? Yet somehow they manage, and the end result is a culinary experience unlike any other. A typical Greek meal occurs outside, sitting next to a pedestrian road or a long stretch of beach. If one is careful about choosing where to eat, one can sit in comfy couches or padded chairs. Red wine and water comes first, followed by tsatziki and bread. Next is a Greek Salad, which contains tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, olives, but definitely NOT any lettuce (yes mom, believe it or not I'm eating tomatoes every day!). For main courses I've been having moussaka, souvlaki, gyros, and other Greek staples. Often a complimentry shot of homemade raki (read: moonshine) will finish off a meal. This whole process takes an absolute minimum of two hours, and a true Greek can stretch it out all night.

Needless to say, one of the best parts of the trip has been the food. We look forward to our dinners out just as much as we look forward to the beaches and tourist attractions. We just finished two nights in Rethymno, a Cretan university town. We stayed at our first true youth hostel, and met tons of cool people. Last night was spent at a taverna listening to Cretan music and drinking (what else?) endless shots of raki with our new friends from around the world. Here is a picture of them. The Austrailian guy on the right had Greek parents, and though he goes by Pete, his full name is Pythagoras. Jess and I found this extremely cool. The girl on the far right is from a small town just west of Toronto called "Milton". Crazy.



We are currently in Hania, and it is drop dead gorgeous. Here is a picture of the Venetian harbour. We are definitely wishing we had more time to explore Crete; once escaping ugly Iraklio, Crete is just as beautiful as Santorini was (stay tuned for picture from Samaria Gorge, which we are trekking tomorrow).



Finally, a funny story...Having had all these fantastic Greek meals, we decided to try it out for ourselves in our small kitchenette. We cut up veggies, added feta and olive oil, and went out onto our balcony to enjoy the sunset over a delicious Greek Salad. What could be better, right? Only problem was, we realized that the balcony locks from the outside, and that we were trapped on our 3rd floor balcony with only greek salads and sporks to save us. Eventually, we shouted down some people on the street who spoke English, and they alerted the hotel owners to our plight. A traumatic experience to say the least, but on the plus side the owner decided that we deserved some raki on the house for our troubles. So forgive me any spelling mistakes tonight; We are already on our second complimentry shot, and I have a feeling more is on the way...

Today I write from the busy city of Iraklio in Crete. We really enjoyed our time in Santorini, and it was sad to watch it fade away from the ferry window. We ended up staying the entire four days at the same small hotel, called Villa Agas. The owner Nikos reminded me of Paulie from Goodfellas. He didnt move too fast, but thats because Nikos didnt have to move for anybody. He was even nice enough to drive us down to the ferry on our way out. While technically the ride was free, we paid the price of listening to him sing to Greek radio the whole time. Opa!

One of my biggest regrets of the last europe trip was not seeing a winery, so this time we decided to stop in Santo wines, a co-op the makes world renowned dry whites and dessert wines. We arrived to find a stunning view and the oppurtunity to do a tasting of 12 different local wines. If anyone is planning to visit Santorini (and I hope my pictures can help persuade you!), then this is THE best way to enjoy the caldera view. In Fira, a drink/dinner for 2 will cost 40 Euro or more, but we got to enjoy this for only 16 Euro. The setting was priceless (I know, I sound like a Mastercard ad...) The "vinsanto", a specialty dessert wine, was especially delicious (its the small glass on the far right side)



Our final stop in Santorini was Red Beach, named for obvious reasons. We almost skipped this, but thankfully at the last minute decided to check it out. It requires a bit of a strenuous trek to get there, but the rugged backdrop and uber-relaxed attitude was worth it.



Just so that you dont think its all paradise here, we arrived in Crete late last evening, and woke up to this lovely view out of our hotel window. 



Iraklio is not particularly attractive, but it is close to the ancient Minoan palace of Knossos, which we visited this morning. These were ruins that were 4000 years old, and the cool thing is that many historians think that the explosion at Santorini is what destroyed the Minoan civilisation. Guess thats the price to pay for having such a nice view while drinking wine!



Tomorrow we are checking out the local museum, and then we are heading west to either Hania or Rethymno. I'll try to post again then.

 

Yup, thats me on a donkey. One of more popular forms of transport from the port to the tall cliffs of Fira is by donkey, and I felt like this was something I just had to do. After a bit of convincing Jess agreed, so we got the smelly and hilarious experience of donkey travel. That'll do donkey...that'll do.

This is the view of Fira from our ferry on the way in. The buildings on top almost look like a snowcapped mountain:



This is a view of Fira from above. We had fun getting lost in the maze of houses, hotels and restaurants:



Yesterday we spent the afternoon at a beach in Perissa. The sand is black from the volcanic eruptions. Very hot on the feet, but the dogs dont seem to mind:



Today we took a boat cruise around the caldera. This is a picture taken from the still active volcano in the middle of the caldera. We could see steam rising from cracks and smell sulfur. Jess was very excited!



We also stopped at the small island of Therasia, and climbed all the way up. The view (and the cold beer) were well worth it:



The last stop on the cruise was the village of Oia. Its smaller, more picturesque, and less hectic that the touristy Fira:



The star attraction of Oia is the amazing sunsets. We had a 3 hour long dinner at a taverna overlooking the setting sun:





Jealous yet?

Tonight I write from an internet cafe outside Fira on the island of Santorini. I took about 200 photographs today of some absolutely stunning scenery and I've been looking forward all day to posting some of them to share with friends and family. So those of you who know me, what does that mean? Thats right, I forgot to bring my USB cord to the internet cafe! Grrrrr....I'll try to post some tomorrow or the day after, because the scenery we have seen the last two days is beyond words. Until then you'll have to use your imagination.

We took a ferry yesterday morning from Pireaus (the main port just outside Athens). Remember how I was talking about how nice Athens was? Well Pireaus is the definition of sketch-bag. We only saw the main harbour area where are ferries were, and even that was enough to convince us it was a cesspool. I can only imagine what it was like a few more blocks away from tourist-land.

The ferry ride is a pleasant experience, although the 7:35 starting time was a little early for Jess and I. Travelling on the cheap meant we got deck chairs, but this provided us with some relaxing views as we watched the islands float on past. The arrival in Santorini itself was an event, with everyone on board rushing to the rails to take in the stunning caldera view. I wont say anymore on that for now; the pictures will do the talking.

Our time so far on the island has been fantastic. Our hotel charges only 10 euros a night, yet is clean and friendly. The owner Nikos saw us eating our dinner outside in the courtyard and brought us complimentary glasses of vinsanto, a sweet Santorini red wine. We toured the capital city Fira this morning, and hit the beach in Perissa this afternoon. After all of the sun we are both dead tired, but we are looking forward to travelling out to the volcano in the center of the caldera tomorrow. 

Sorry for no pictures, but keep checking in; the wait will be worth it!