Børk! Børk! Børk!

We finally see what the Swedish Chef was babbling about all those years. Sweden is awesome!

Thanks to another cheap flight deal on TUIfly, Andy and I were able to hop on a plane to the Land of Vikings for a weekend trip to see our long-lost friend Therese. Let me tell you, it was a super fun to have a Swedish friend as a tour guide. She totally hooked us up and introduced us to all the best Swedish stuff....from Viking Museums to cheeses to the ever classic Swedish meatballs (which she made for us herself!).

The trip started with a yummy dinner at a very nice Swedish restaurant. I had some delicious, super-fresh fish, and Andy and Therese both got a kind of giant veal meatball served with berry sauce. Sooooo good. I still can't decide though if dinner or dessert was better....but maybe that's my sweet tooth talking.

The amazing dessert. Oh, and some crazy tourists that jumped into the picture...

The next day we let Therese catch up on sleep (she's a wild-and-crazy world traveling consultant) while we headed to see The Vasa. It's a super cool ship, all made out of beautifully carved black walnut and, with its size and grandeur, dwarfing all the tiny humans there to gaze upon it. Too bad The Vasa had a tragic fate; it sunk after just 20 minutes at sea. As our guide said, "In fact, this tour will last longer than The Vasa's maiden voyage." Indeed. After resting at sea for 333 years, the Vasa was resurfaced in the 60s, masterfully restored for the next 25 years or so, and then made into a museum. Apparently, the reason it sunk was simply that it didn't have a sufficient ballast (the rocks in the bottom of the ship used as a counterweight). So, it was top heavy and when a gust of wind caught its sails, it tipped over enough that the gun ports filled with water and....well....that was that.

Ships along the canal near Therese's place

Huge sunken treasure: The Vasa

After getting our fill of the giant war ship, we met up with Therese for a stroll through the city center and Stockholm's old town. Very nice. The city's buildings are really very pretty.

We decided to forego another restaurant meal for dinner, and instead opted to have a feast at Therese's place. Good choice! She picked out all sorts of wonderful things for us to sample...cheeses, meats, cured salmon with dill honey mustard, fruits, it was heaven. She even shared with us a very nice bottle of champagne that had been a birthday gift from her mom. It was seriously delicious.

Awesome Swedish feast at Therese's place

And the goodies continued, as the next morning Therese made us some Swedish waffles (yum!) and let us sample some cloudberry jam. Fat and happy, we headed over to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit, followed by a visit that afternoon to the History Museum. I tell you what, those vikings knew how to pillage. There is a huge gold collection there! We even got to see the 9,000-year-old skeleton of a 40-year-old woman who had given birth to 12 children! If that doesn't give insight into the strength of the vikings, I don't know what does.

Cool window at the Viking Museum....kind of looks like a Viking muppet

We're eager to have a chance to visit Sweden again, to explore the countryside, enjoy some more delicious foods, and sail along the coast in the bright sunshine, but until then, we'll just have to cook homemade meatballs as a memento. Børk! Børk! Børk!

I like traffic lights

The famous Ampelmann walk sign of Eastern Berlin

I gotta say, I wasn't really sure what to expect when we visited Berlin. I mean, people told us it was great, but I just didn't really know much about it. Most of my knowledge came from its recent history: it was divvied up between four countries after WWII, a wall was built by the Soviets that divided the city, and when the wall finally came down it made my mom happy enough that she cried. In truth, much of Berlin is still defined by these parts of its history, but the city's character goes much deeper than that. After spending the weekend in Germany's capital, I've gotta say that I see why so many people love this city.

For me, Berlin seemed to give off a energetic vibe. The city is full of youth in so many ways, and just being there and walking through its streets somehow made me feel more alive. The city itself is a living contradiction: every bit as new as it is old. Its history runs so deep. The Brandenburg gate, the last remaining of several entrances to the former Prussian capital, still stands proudly a reminder of Berlin's triumphs. Just as the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church, heavily bombed during WWII, its damaged steeple a reminder of the destruction of war, rises above the stores on the Ku'Dam. And just as segments of the Berlin wall, covered in graffiti and weathered with age, remain as a reminder of the once divided city. Somehow the history of the city felt tangible as we walked the streets, and by the end of our two days we were already planning a trip to come back.

Andy in front of the TV tower in East Berlin, also known as "The Pope's Revenge." During the days of the DDR, the Soviets had all of the crosses removed from the churches of East Berlin. In the meantime, they had been working on constructing this TV tower, designed to be a display to the West of East Berlin's prosperity. When it was unveiled upon completion, the sunlight reflected off the faceted sphere in the shape of a cross, and thus the tower received its nickname.

Fountain south of Alexandar Platz, with the Berlin Dom in the background

Front of the Berlin Dome

Pretty city library near Humboldt University

The inside view of the Sony Center's dome in Potsdamer Platz

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church: damaged ruins of the bombed cathedral alongside the newly built memorial church.

View from inside the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Trabants. Once the main car of East Berlin, people were on 10 year waiting lists to get one. Now you can rent them and drive around the city on a tour, but be forewarned...they stink!

This parking lot was the location of Hitler's bunker in Berlin, where he committed suicide here, along with his wife, shortly before Soviet troops arrived at the end of the war.

Surviving section of the Berlin wall. Note the ceramic pipe along the top; this was used in lieu of barbed wire, since its circumference makes it impossible to grip.

Picture of the dome that Hitler planned to build in Berlin, which he wanted to rename "Germania". Ridiculously grandiose in scale (see comparison with the Berlin Dom), the laws of physics would make it impossible to build. It was to be so big, that it could fit 200,000 people at once. It would've rained inside just from the moisture produced by when everyone breathed!

Moving war memorial sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz, who herself lost two sons to war

Us in front of the Bradenburg Gate

Even better than the real thing

You all may or may not know this, but Stuttgart has an Oktoberfest of its own. It's called the Canstatter Volksfest, and takes place at roughly the same time as Oktoberfest. Even though it's not quite as grandiose in size, it's still the second biggest beer festival in Germany, and many Germans prefer it to the "real" Oktoberfest. Probably because there are fewer tourists...

We were fortunate enough this year to attend both festivals: Oktoberfest (see below) and the Volksfest. I still think Oktoberfest is awesome for a number of reasons, but in some ways I liked the Volksfest better. For one, I didn't feel like a tourist because it was local, and second, I liked the band a lot better. They played a nice mix of traditional German festival songs and cover songs that any sorority girl would love, like "I Will Survive". The other difference was that we had a big group of people that we crammed into our one reserved table. The more the merrier is right. :)

Actually, Melissa and Vicky were also able to experience both festivals, having taken a trip to Italy after the Oktoberfest trip and stopping into Stuttgart for one night before heading home. What better way to spend your last night in Europe than at a German beer fest?

Me, Melissa, and Andy "Prosting"

Melissa, me, and our friend Rebecca
(stole this pic and the one below from Rebecca's
husbands webpage...nice pictures, Victor!)

Our friends Mike and Kathleen.
Note Mike's Lederhosen...totally upstaged us! :)

Certainly there are some things that Volksfest doesn't have, like not as many rides and not as friendly waiters (ours was a real jerk...oh well). It also doesn't have nearly the selection of beer tents. Stuttgart has 3 large tents and 6 smaller tents, while Oktoberfest has 14 large tents and 19 smaller tents. Plus some would also argue that Bavarian beer tastes better than Schwabisch beer (and I'd be inclined to agree), but I don't know how much it really matters. Most people don't come to savor the beer....they just come to drink it. :)

Clarktoberfest 2007

Ah, yes. Our annual Clarktoberfest celebration has come and gone. We are now both one year older, and one year wiser....Er, I guess that last point is debatable. At least we know more about Germany than we did one year ago--that's something!

As many of you know, we spent our birthdays this year with Andy's family on a grand German adventure known around the world as Oktoberfest. What a rush. That place is crowded! And crazy! You've all got to promise to come next year.

We started our adventure in the humbler city of Stuttgart. We mostly took it easy, taking strolls downtown, shopping, visiting the Ludwigsburg palace, going to the top of the Fernsehturm, and visiting Schwabisch restuarants for the family's mandatory introduction to Maultauschen.

The Schlossplatz in downtown Stuttgart

Andy and Melissa in front of a Schlossplatz fountainStuttgart's opera houseDuck that was fascinated with Colin's camera
Night out for Schwabisch cuisine

After a few days in Stuttgart, we hopped in a rental car, drove to Munich, found our rented apartment, dropped of our bags, and raced to our reservation in the Hippodrom tent at Oktoberfest. Phew. Once there, we had €144 in vouchers that we needed to spend (you are required to buy these to get the table reservation), so we promptly ordered a round of beers.

Round of beers at the Hippodrom

Inside the Hippodrom Tent... Big, huh?

2 1/2 hours and €100 in vouchers later, our reservation was up. Vicky and Colin wandered the fest, Andy went home (he was sick with the stomach flu our first day or so in Munich...), and Melissa and I went to the Spatenbräu tent to have some beers, sing songs, and dance.

The next morning, we came right back to the Hippodrom to use up our remaining vouchers on some traditional Oktoberfest roasted chickens and some Weisswurst, all washed down with...you guessed it, beer. We then walked around and soaked in the fest a bit.

Horses outside the Hofbräuhaus tent

Inside the Hacker-Pschorr tent

Looking out on the crowd

We went back the next night to hang out some more. We hung out in Lowenbrau's beer garden for a while before trying to get into the tent. Unfortunately, Friday night entrance without a reservation proved a bit difficult. Andy and I ended up wandering around, playing carnival games, and people watching.

Showing off the bear and rose that Andy won for me. :)

Popular Lebkuchen hearts native to every German festival
You buy them for your sweetheart, and they wear it around their neck.
Mine said: "Suße Maus"

Although we were there for some portion of every day of the trip, we didn't spend all of our time at Oktoberfest. We also went to the Deutsches Museum (largest technological museum in the world), saw the Glockenspiel clock in front of Munich's Rathaus, visited a typical German cafe for breakfast, and spent an evening at the oh-so-festive Hofbräuhaus. That place is like Oktoberfest every single day of the year: meat & potatoes, pretzels, Maß of Bier, and traditional music.

A Munich favorite: Pork Knuckle with Potato Dumplings

We also took a side trip on our last day there to Neuschwanstein, the castle of Crazy King Ludwig. It's the one that the Disney castle is based on. Very over the top and, I thought, wonderful. We actually visited two castles: Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig grew up, and Neuschwanstein, the castle Ludwig built for himself just up the hill from his childhood home. The story goes that one day, before the castle was finished, King Ludwig went to see a doctor for a check-up and was declared "unfit to rule" due to insanity (if you saw this crazy castle, you might understand why). The next day, he and the doctor were both found dead in the lake. Supposedly no one knows exactly how they died. The castle was never completed after that, but several of the rooms were finished and they are all magnificent. Gilded, and mosaic'ed, with intricate carvings and elaborate paintings. Ludwig definitely had a vivid imagination.

If you'd indulge me, I'll tell you one of my favorite parts... In Hohenschwangau, there was a bedroom that was Ludwig's father's. This father had the ceiling painted with a bright blue sky with clouds. Ludwig, upon becoming king and taking the bedroom for himself, had the sky repainted to be a night sky. He then had holes drilled from select stars all the way up to the floor above, where those holes were connected with oil lamps, so that he would see twinkles of light across the ceiling as if he was sleeping outdoors every night. I thought that was neat.

Ludwig's childhood home: Hohenschwangau

Ludwig's creative masterpiece: Neuschwanstein

So, that was our trip, in a nutshell. A very good Clarktoberfest indeed. I'll leave you with my favorite pic from the trip...something you'd only see in Germany!

Girl in a Dirndl aiming a pellet gun

London looks cool in sepia tone

So I know that Andy already talked about our trip to London, but I was playing around with the pics and thought I would post them. There are all of these nice artistic shots that we took (mostly he took), that just look that much cooler when you make them sepia tone. Like they belong framed and effortlessly arranged on an antique bookcase. Enjoy. :)

Beer taps at the pub near Sandy's place

Big Ben and a double-decker bus

The Tower Bridge

Wheels of cheese at Neal's Dairy

Gardens at the back of Windsor Castle
(that the Queen's room overlooks)The facade of HarrodsOld pub near Victoria SquareThe London Eye

A conference with cow bells, what's not to like?

As some of you may know, I'm in the middle of a whirlwind of conferences. At the moment, I'm two down with one to go. Just to give you a recap, in the past two weeks I've presented one poster, given two talks, attended upwards of 60 talks, visited 4 poster sessions, met and memorized the names of 30 new networking acquaintances, and eaten 20 restaurant meals. Conference time can be exhausting.

The good news is, that sometimes you get to visit a place that's cool, like Braunwald, Switzerland. This tiny little village is perched some 1300 m (4265 ft) up along the side of a mountain. It's quaint character is increased by the fact that no cars are allowed, and the only transport up there is a cable car from the town of Linthal in the valley below. It was really a beautiful place to be, surrounded by rolling green hills and glistening white mountaintops.

View from the hotel over the Glarus Valley

Cows Grazing

This cow had a particularly loud bell

Riding scooters down the mountain.
A group of us took another cable car 200 meters further up,
then rented these scooters to ride back down. Super fun.
Here I am posing with Dan, a fellow post-doc
who works in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Green hills in contrast with white mountains

I have to say though, one of my favorite things was the cows. As you many know, it's common to tie a cow bell around the neck of each member of your herd, so that you can always locate your flock. Multiply that times dozens of cows spread over dozens of farms, and you've got a continuous little cow bell symphony each day. I took a video to try to demonstrate this effect:

My other favorite things was the fire hydrants, which were painted to look like miniature people:



All in all a very nice conference. I think it's inspired me to look into Switzerland as a weekend getaway option. Either for hiking in the fall, or skiing in the winter. It may be an expensive country, but when you see how pretty it is you really don't mind.