The last day of the meeting on Wed Sep 17th went well. For dinner, David went with another group to a pizzeria near the hotel. David commented it sounded like the setup to a joke: "Three Americans and two Brits walk into an Italian restaurant in Switzerland and...". One wouldn't think that Swiss pizza would be any good; however, Switzerland does share a border with Italy, and there are many quality pizzerias in Geneva. David ordered a pie with prosciutto ham - and he's got to say that it was the best pizza he's EVER had. Thin crackly crust and delicious sauce and cheese - better than Jersey pizza! And the ham toppings were not little chunks, it was entire thin slices of the best quality prosciutto. It wasn't just this restaurant either; one of his dinner companions said he'd had a little better at a different place the night before, and David had another great pizza pie at yet another place on Thursday night. For dessert, David ordered ice cream in a plastic cow. The waiter just stopped and said, "But that's for children!". David ordered it anyway; he wanted the cow for Nicholas. When he was done, the waiter tried to take it away, but he just said he was going to give it a "shower" so David could take it home.
On Thursday the 18th, David took the Golden Pass train from Geneva to Interlaken and back. It was a little over three and a half-hours one way, and the trip requires a couple quick train changes because of different track grades. The first part of the trip went along the north side of Lake Geneva. There were clouds that kept the visibility poor for most of the trip along the lake, but once the second leg began and the train started into the mountains, the clouds were mostly gone. The views were spectacular, of green hills and farms in the valley going up to treeless mountains on the side. There were chalets and farms and cows and goats in the valleys and along the tracks. The final leg of the trip went along the south edge of Lake Thun into Interlaken. David walked around town, did some shopping, saw some very clean blue water in the river, and had a big lunch of sausage, onion gravy, and rösti before getting on the train back to Geneva. The best pictures from David's trip are online.
David flew back into Newark on Friday the 19th - and a few hours later, he had a new niece! Paige Elizabeth is her name, and David and his Mom and Dad got to visit the baby and Steven and Jenne in the hospital. He stayed the night in Madison, before getting on the Amtrak train back home after one week away.
Alison and Sarah and Nicholas did well enough without "Daddy" around. Ali dropped off Sarah at Nico's day care before work, and Ms. Beth gave Sarah a ride to school once it opened. Nicholas did try walking down a concrete step, and landed on his face. He hardly cried, and only scraped his nose and cheek a little. But the next day, it looked like he was in a brawl the day before. *grin* He healed fully in just a few days.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
David in Geneva - Part III
On Tuesday night the 16th, David decided to go to a Swiss hockey game. He'd seen some ads for the team on the buses and saw the schedule and decided to go. He almost talked one of his NASA colleagues (also a hockey fan) into going, but he was too tired. By the time David got back to the hotel after the meeting to change, the game had started, so he tried to call to see if tickets were still available. After only hearing a pre-recorded message in French, he decided to just go out to the arena and risk it. The arena was only ~95% full and David got there in time for the start of the 2nd period.
The fans were very vocal during the entire game; it was like watching a European soccer match. Many things at the game were the same as American hockey (rules and style of play, food, mascot, zamboni). But some things were just different enough to feel odd. There were NBA-style cheerleaders, who danced to music in the aisles during breaks in play. Even stranger was that half the music was European disco-pop and the other half was American arena-rock standards (The Offspring, Outkast, Donna Summer, etc.). The home team won 4 to 1.
The fans were very vocal during the entire game; it was like watching a European soccer match. Many things at the game were the same as American hockey (rules and style of play, food, mascot, zamboni). But some things were just different enough to feel odd. There were NBA-style cheerleaders, who danced to music in the aisles during breaks in play. Even stranger was that half the music was European disco-pop and the other half was American arena-rock standards (The Offspring, Outkast, Donna Summer, etc.). The home team won 4 to 1.
David in Geneva - Part II
Some pictures and movies from David's trip are now online. He also spent a little time after the poster session playing with the mapping feature of the pictures.
At lunch on Monday on the 15th, everyone went to the cafeteria on the WMO building. The cafeteria is on the top floor, and there is an open air deck all around the building with spectacular views of the area. David ran into someone he knew from grad school who now works at WMO. He is half-Swiss and moved back to Switzerland about 10 years ago. They had a nice sandwich lunch out on the deck, at least until the cold wind chased them back inside.
That evening, David went out to dinner
at Les Relais de l'Entrecote with some CEOP scientists. The restaurant only serves one item for dinner - steak with their special sauce and thin french fries. The waitress wrote down on the paper tablecloth how well everyone wanted their steak cooked. She even came around and filled the plates with both steak and fries again after they were cleared once. David had a Cardinal beer with dinner; everything was delicious. On the walk to dinner, they walked across one of the bridges over the Rhone. David tried to take pictures of the night cityscape, but the wind was blowing the camera (and shaking the bridge as well).
The meeting itself is going well enough. David is glad to see everyone who he only sees at most every year or two, as well as talking to them on international telecons every couple months. Some of the scientists though tend to filibuster when showing their results, and the agenda kept getting pushed back. There were many interesting results shared, and there will be additional international collaboration in the coming months and years.
At lunch on Monday on the 15th, everyone went to the cafeteria on the WMO building. The cafeteria is on the top floor, and there is an open air deck all around the building with spectacular views of the area. David ran into someone he knew from grad school who now works at WMO. He is half-Swiss and moved back to Switzerland about 10 years ago. They had a nice sandwich lunch out on the deck, at least until the cold wind chased them back inside.
That evening, David went out to dinner
at Les Relais de l'Entrecote with some CEOP scientists. The restaurant only serves one item for dinner - steak with their special sauce and thin french fries. The waitress wrote down on the paper tablecloth how well everyone wanted their steak cooked. She even came around and filled the plates with both steak and fries again after they were cleared once. David had a Cardinal beer with dinner; everything was delicious. On the walk to dinner, they walked across one of the bridges over the Rhone. David tried to take pictures of the night cityscape, but the wind was blowing the camera (and shaking the bridge as well).The meeting itself is going well enough. David is glad to see everyone who he only sees at most every year or two, as well as talking to them on international telecons every couple months. Some of the scientists though tend to filibuster when showing their results, and the agenda kept getting pushed back. There were many interesting results shared, and there will be additional international collaboration in the coming months and years.
Monday, September 15, 2008
David in Geneva - Part I
David is in Geneva, Switzerland this week for 2nd International Implementation Meeting of the Coordinated Energy and Water Cycle Observations Project (CEOP). The meeting is being held at the World Meteorological Organization building. The WMO is near buildings for the International Red Cross, the World Trade Organization, the League of Nations, and numerous United Nations buildings, including the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
David took the train from New Carrollton to Newark to get onto a direct flight to Geneva. He got in at ~8 A.M. on Sunday and didn't sleep much on the plane. He was able to check into the hotel early and (after testing the alarm twice) took a one-hour nap. Then he took a quick bus to the downtown area by Lake Geneva and the Rhone River. David doesn't use/own a watch, and his cell phone didn't connect to anything, so he considered buying a Swiss time piece. After looking at the prices, he decided to just use the digital camera to help tell time.
David walked across bridges over the Rhone to see both the Left Bank and Right Bank sides of town. The weather was overcast and very windy, so the famous water jet fountain in the lake was not operating.
There were many sailboats on the lake taking advantage of the winds. David did see some historic buildings, several lovely parks and gardens, and even watched a little of a club soccer match. For dinner, David went to Les Armures and had pumpkin soup to warm up and then Swiss sausage and rösti. He'd entered the restaurant right behind someone David knows from the CEOP group, along with his wife. He is mostly retired, and they live in the Eastport section of Annapolis, very close to the SPCA where Alison works.
David took his work laptop (which is really great because it is so small and can last about all day without needing power, especially because the Swiss use different electrical plugs), but the wireless is not working at the hotel. There is a computer in the lobby, and it uses a Swiss keyboard. Most of the letters are the same, but the punctuation/special characters are really moved around. The y and z keys (or is that the z and y keys?) are switched, making it a QWERTZ keyboard. There's plenty of power and wireless within the WMO building. David's decided to listen at ~75% and post to the blog, rather than fall asleep during the meeting from jet lag and sleep deprivation.
David took the train from New Carrollton to Newark to get onto a direct flight to Geneva. He got in at ~8 A.M. on Sunday and didn't sleep much on the plane. He was able to check into the hotel early and (after testing the alarm twice) took a one-hour nap. Then he took a quick bus to the downtown area by Lake Geneva and the Rhone River. David doesn't use/own a watch, and his cell phone didn't connect to anything, so he considered buying a Swiss time piece. After looking at the prices, he decided to just use the digital camera to help tell time.
David walked across bridges over the Rhone to see both the Left Bank and Right Bank sides of town. The weather was overcast and very windy, so the famous water jet fountain in the lake was not operating.
There were many sailboats on the lake taking advantage of the winds. David did see some historic buildings, several lovely parks and gardens, and even watched a little of a club soccer match. For dinner, David went to Les Armures and had pumpkin soup to warm up and then Swiss sausage and rösti. He'd entered the restaurant right behind someone David knows from the CEOP group, along with his wife. He is mostly retired, and they live in the Eastport section of Annapolis, very close to the SPCA where Alison works.David took his work laptop (which is really great because it is so small and can last about all day without needing power, especially because the Swiss use different electrical plugs), but the wireless is not working at the hotel. There is a computer in the lobby, and it uses a Swiss keyboard. Most of the letters are the same, but the punctuation/special characters are really moved around. The y and z keys (or is that the z and y keys?) are switched, making it a QWERTZ keyboard. There's plenty of power and wireless within the WMO building. David's decided to listen at ~75% and post to the blog, rather than fall asleep during the meeting from jet lag and sleep deprivation.
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