wpc7 in europe

Barcelona

2008-08-06T15:16:00.002+02:00

I'm finally home, but I'm still two weeks behind on these posts!

I got to Barcelona on Thursday after my flight. I stowed my luggage in the train station. I tried to buy my train tickets for the trip to Madrid the following day, but there was too much of a line. I left for the hostel intending to return to purchase tickets on Friday.

After checking in, I headed towards the southern part of the city, between the old town and the coast. I got off and wandered towards the beach. I've never seen a more crowded beach. There were way too many people there.

I continued walking and made it to their Arc de Triomf. There were also lots of people here doing tricks while bicycling, skateboarding, or rollerblading.

I walked around the old town more and then took a long walk back to the hostel.

I was hoping to meet up with my friend the next morning. She was supposed to call me but it never came in. I was thinking my phone had quit working. It turns out she lost my phone number and couldn't get it back. I still had fun going around alone.

I first headed to the train station to stow my luggage and secure tickets to Madrid. The station was once again packed in the morning. I waited in line for the same-day-departures, to find out there was only one ticket left in business for the overnight train to Madrid. I would be paying more and only getting a seat. I decided a bus would be better, so I headed out for the bus office. I waited in line for the national departures, to have the sales person tell me to goto the next building. There wasn't a next building, so I went back and stood in line for the international bus departures, but he said I had to buy it from the other line. Finally I waited once more and got my bus ticket to Madrid. This was all a bit frustrating.

I headed back to the train station to wait in line for the future-departures to go ahead and secure a train ticket from Madrid to Lisbon. I didn't want to be stuck for this trip. The guy didn't speak much English, so I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting (I asked for a bed in the overnight train. It ends up just being a seat, but more on that on the next post).

With all of my travel arrangements made, I headed back out to wander the city.

I walked up and down La Rambla. The famous tree lined streets full of street performers and shops. Lots of people just dress up and sit there. They get money from donations and people taking photos with them. I didn't see this statue, but I wish I would have: http://urbanprankster.com/2008/07/the-golden-ass/

An open air market that I really enjoyed walking around:

I rented a bicycle and went around the city. I went around and tried to get a view of some of the Catalan architecture designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Saint Paul's Hospital:

It ended up being a long and terribly uphill journey to the Güell Park overlooking the city.

And Gaudi's masterpiece: Sagrada Familia. It's still under construction. I didn't realize when I went in I'd mostly be seeing a construction area. It's still pretty though.

Finally I headed out to the bus terminal to catch my overnight bus to Madrid.

The bus ride in itself was okay. I can sleep anywhere, though it's not as restful sitting up. I was asleep right away. However, sometime around 2AM, we stopped at a gas station. The driver made everyone get off the bus for about 20-30 minutes while I guess he fueled the bus. I was really tired and afraid I'd fall asleep at the gas station and get left. This made the trip terrible, and I was a bit exhausted when I arrived in Madrid.

Overall I really liked Barcelona. It's a very pretty city. Though I kind of think there are too many people and tourists there. I still enjoyed it.

All pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/Barcelona

End of the Research

2008-08-04T22:33:00.002+02:00

After Cologne, I had two days to finish all of my research and turn in my paper. It was a lot of work and I stayed very busy for those two days, but I finished the paper. It was not as long or full as I had hoped, but I finished.

Wednesday night was my last night in Belgium. So like every Wednesday night, I went rock climbing! I never ended up taking pictures of the rock climbing gym, but it was very nice, and I really enjoyed my time spent there.

I got back to my apartment that night to have a small going away party with my apartment-mates (Javier and Marc), Kan, Emanuel, and Vagelis. It was a lot of fun to hang out one last time. I wish we could have spent more time after work hanging out like that.

I stayed up super late packing and organizing and woke up in the morning. My landlord kindly drove me to the airport and I was off! To Barcelona! (and home...)

Cologne

2008-07-27T20:30:00.003+02:00

I'm having a wonderful end of my summer. There are so many things I want to write about. I want to do them all justice, and time is not my friend right now, so you'll just have to wait. (I'm currently in Madrid, about to head to the train station to catch an overnight train to Lisbon, Portugal).

So two weekends ago was Belgium's national holiday on Monday. To celebrate, Wassim and I left for Germany to visit the nearby Cologne.

It was a really fun trip. We didn't "do" all that much. Our train left very early on Sunday (so we didn't have much sleep because we got back late from Ghent). It took about 3 hours to get to Cologne. The first day we walked around the city. We went to a chocolate museum that was really nice and informative. We then headed back to the hostel to take a nice afternoon nap. We went back out to walk around a bit and eat a bit of dinner.

That night we hung out at the hostel talking to folks. We met a nice girl from London who was going to tour the cathedral the following morning.

I should of course mention the Cologne Cathedral! It's massive! Definitely the first and most memorable thing to notice in Cologne. As my guide suggested, we walked past it at first because it really takes a few hours to do it justice. We headed back the following Monday morning with our London friend and another Canadian backpacker we met. We had a full tour which was nice. It's famous for having the bones of the three magi. It was my first tour of a cathedral. It's kind of neat to get the history behind things. It was worth the money, but I probably won't take one again.

The afternoon was spent walking around the other, newer, part of the city. It was raining which is no fun! I wish we had had more time to explore some of the surrounding German areas such as Aachen or Bonn.

Overall I had fun. Unfortunately, I think Cologne is the most "American" city I visited. There were tons of American restaurants and stores. I think this is mostly due to the bombing it withstood during WWII. Most everything there is new and modern.

All pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/Cologne
Time to jet! I've got a train to catch :-)

Ghent Summer Festival

2008-07-22T20:00:00.000+02:00

This past Saturday I returned to Ghent for the day. It was the first day of the 10-day street festival, Ghent Fests. It was a lot of fun to walk around the city. They had parades and music. I think Ghent may be one of my favorite cities in Belgium.

I went with Wassim. He's a stagiaire from France, originally from Algeria.

I didn't take very many photos. You can see them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/GhentFestival

Stagiaire Party

2008-07-22T17:00:00.000+02:00

So this past Thursday, July 17, 2008 was a very important day (in case you weren't aware, that was the day I turned 21). To celebrate, I threw a party for all of the interns here at the VKI.

It was a potluck party, where everyone had to bring a dish. At first no one seemed interested, but as the date got closer, more and more people began talking about it during the breaks. We ended up with 25 or so people there (and we have about 30-35 interns), so it was a great turnout.

It was a nice opportunity to sample some different dishes from everyone's region.

I didn't think to take photos until after the food was all eaten. Here's the damage:

My few photos from the evening here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/StagiaireParty

Paris!

2008-07-22T08:54:00.002+02:00

Last weekend I went to Paris! It was an awesome trip. I left Friday after work with Javier, my Spanish roommate. We got off the train and his friend from Madrid picked us up. We drove around through the city a bit on our way to the other side of Paris. We stopped, walked a bit, and then ate dinner at a nice fondue restaurant. Afterwards we walked around for a while and tried to go into a club, but we were not adequately dressed. Finally we drove out to stay in the dorm of Javier's friend at Ecole Polytechnique.

The next day we woke up late, took the train into the city and dropped our bags at the hostel. We walked around the city a bit. We walked by the Place de la Concorde, and saw where President Sarkozy was going to be for the Bastille Day parade. I went up in the Arc de Triomphe for spectacular views of the area.

Afterwards we walked a bit more and made our way to the Eiffel Tower. I went up to the top, by way of stairs. It was a nice journey and it offered great views of the city. I went up at sunset, which is definitely a great time to go.

The next day, Sunday, we woke up and walked to Sacre-Coeur. It is a beautiful church, and it's on the highest part of Paris so it overlooks the city with more spectacular views.

We walked down from there and across town to Place de la Bastille, the site of the beginning of the French Revolution. After meeting up with Javier's friend and walking a bit more, I split up for the evening. Javier went to meet his father and spend time elsewhere, while I took the train out to the Palace of Versaille.

I got there a bit late in the afternoon. I did not get a chance to go inside, but I walked around outside and in the gardens for quite a while and they are beautiful. I had fun watching some children feed ice cream to some of the fish for a while too.

The next morning, Monday, July 14th (the national holiday), I woke up and began walking around the city. I went to the Opera de Paris which is a beautiful building. Definitely made me think of Phantom of the Opera. Next I walked around and watched the parade a bit. They had a lot of military marching in one area, but I found another section of parade where every few minutes they'd have about six military vehicles come through: tanks, supply vehicles, hum-vee's, camouflaged construction vehicles, and lots more. That was kind of cool to watch. It's quite intimidating how loud and fast a tank can fly down the street.

The afternoon was spent in the Louvre. It was free as part of the national holiday. I walked around for quite a long time, and I think I made it into almost every room. Mind you I didn't spend very much time in any of the rooms. I found it interesting that most everyone is there just to see the Mona Lisa. There are signs throughout the museum directing you to that picture. Of course, I did go and see it.

Overall I had a lot of fun. This was a great weekend!

All pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/Paris

Leuven

2008-07-20T00:57:00.002+02:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been a bit distracted! (It's a good thing ;-). )

When I last left you readers, I had just returned from the gliding week. On Tuesday of my week back, I went to Leuven with Javier, my roommate.

We met up with two of his friends from Madrid. They are spending next year at the university there for their ERASMUS. They were in the town to rent their apartment.

Gliding Week

2008-07-10T16:19:00.003+02:00

Last week I took off a week of work to participate in the summer VKI gliding week. It was an incredible experience!

All pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/GlidingWeek

On Sunday we left the VKI at noon and began the drive to the middle of Germany, with Michaelangelo driving and Rosario navigating. Destination: Laucha

As soon as we crossed into German borders, the weather became very pretty. The countryside was filled with wind turbines. Also, it was very common to look up and spot one or two gliders in the air. I later asked about this, and was told that gliding is a very popular sport in Germany. Similar to the popularity of golf in the U.S.

We got there Sunday night (after ~7 hours of driving), just in time to watch the Eurocup final game: Germany vs. Spain. Spain went on to win the match.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the hanger, to discover it was completely packed with gliders. They had a LOT!

They didn't crash in there, that's just how they pack them in so that they can store so many. (The picture is actually after we've taken one or two out).

It wasn't long before we began flying. When I fly in the US, it's always done with aerotow: an airplane carries the glider up to ~1500-4000 feet and you can begin gliding. However, this is more expensive (aviation gasoline). The very common way in Germany is a tow using a winch.

It is an incredible ride up. It lasts for 10-15 seconds and you disconnect at ~250-400m.

In the ASK13 glider, getting ready for departure:

Most of my flights were in the ASK21, which is very similar to the PW-6 that I fly in Starkville.

The winch cable is 800-1200 m long, so it's quite the operation to launch. There is a vehicle which two cables get attached to and are driven to the flight line.

One cable is set to the side, the other attached to the plane. After the launch, another plane is made ready and launched with the second cable. They also had cars for ground towing of the planes from the landing site to the flight line. It was all very fast and efficient, when things worked.

Unfortunately, because of various circumstances (winch broken, too hot, wind awkward, etc), the number of flights was less than ideal. Even still, I had a lot of fun and managed to take a total of 15 flights. I began flying at MSU in October and had 18 flights before the week. It was very nice to nearly double my number of flights in one week. I am now able to control the plane nicely during all aspects of flight: take-off, turns, thermal-ing (using natural thermals of the hot air rising to stay up longer), and landing.

On Thursday we woke up at 4am in order to have sunrise flights at 5am. It was a lot of fun! The afternoon was too hot so we went kayaking on a nearby river.

Wednesday afternoon I took an aerobatic demo with the aerobatic flight instructor. As soon as we came off the winch, he dove to gain speed and started doing aerobatics: loops, rolls, clover leafs, humpties, and everything else that I could imagine.

My last and longest flight (on Sunday) was one hour and thirteen minutes and we reached a peak altitude of 1100m. My instructor helped with the thermal-ing. Also, after we had reached the peak altitude, I asked the instructor if I could try flying a loop. I had the aerobatic instructor with me again and he is a fantastic pilot. He said the loop was the simplest pattern to fly and let me do it: you push forward, gain speed to 200km/h and then just pull back. The trick is you have to commit to it and keep pulling back so you don't get stuck part of the way through. It was really easy and very cool. The rest of the flight was spent with us discussing aerobatics and him demoing them for me. (We had to tighten our seat belts super tight in the air because of the maneuvers). We did one, a negative loop, that was quite painful. Normaly for a loop, you dive and then pull back. I asked him if we could dive first into the loop. He said it was painful but he would show me. We dove down and you are pulled out of your seat, with all of the blood going up to your head. I could feel it for the next hour or so. During this flight, everytime we went in and got ready to land (around 250m), we ran into another thermal and went back up into the air. It was incredible.

All pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/GlidingWeek

Brussels, Antwerp

2008-07-03T09:11:00.002+02:00

This past weekend was fun. I spent Friday going into Brussels and walking around with my roommate Javier. He was meeting a German friend who is an Au Pair in Paris. We walked around, ate dinner, and I practiced a bit of French.

Saturday I woke up and went to Antwerp with Vagelis and one of his Greek friends. I really enjoyed the city. We walked around a lot. They seemed to have a lot of festivals going on. I'm not really sure what most of them were about. One was an Indian festival with people dressed up and things for sale. It was pretty cool to see.

We also went to a naval museum that explained how Anterwerpen was the departure point for many Europeans leaving for America. The museum was pretty cool.

A few photos from Antwerp: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/Antwerp

Sunday I woke up, packed, and headed to the VKI. We departed for Germany at noon. More to come on that!! :-)

week five

2008-06-27T16:00:00.002+02:00

It's hard to believe that I've been here for five weeks. I just have four more after this one.

The students at VKI (the more permanent ones) are taking a trip next week for Laucha, Germany to go soaring. My first supervisor didn't like the idea of me going and missing a week. However, my new supervisor is a lot more laid back and thinks it will be a good opportunity to meet people and have fun. So next week I'm going to be gone from work and will be soaring every day. I'm quite excited. It'll be similar to what I've been doing in the US (me and an instructor flying around), but different in that they use a winch launch. I'll post more about these things when I get back. The trip lasts from Sunday to Sunday.

Because the trip leaves Sunday, it doesn't really make sense to goto Paris this weekend. Also, no one else was really interested in going. There are some students from Paris that say they'll be driving home on a weekend soon so I think I'll go with them sometime soon.

This week has been fun. Tuesday was spent rock climbing at the gym. Wednesday we went to Brussells to watch the Turkey vs. Germany soccer match (Germany won). Thursday I worked on my landlord's bikes and then rode around. Afterwards I watched Spain vs. Russia with my roommate (Spain won). Soccer is a lot of fun to watch with other people. I'll probably goto some of the MSU games next year.

This week I've worked on creating a photo album that depicts the typical day-to-day life for me. I started when I woke up, taking pictures of the apartment, the trip to the VKI, going around work, and the night watching the soccer game. You can see the album here (with comments on the photos): http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/DailyLife

Amsterdam

2008-06-27T11:43:00.002+02:00

Last weekend Kan and I went to Amsterdam on Saturday. We left at the crack of dawn for the first train (at 6:30). It took about 3 hours or so until we got there. We walked around the city a bit and decided to take a canal ride trip.

After the canal trip, we wandered the city some more. We went by a few sites, such as the Anne Frank house where she stayed. The prices were high and the line was extraordinarily long, so we decided that an outside view of the house was sufficient. Next we headed back to the train station to goto the nearby town of Zaandijk. No, I don't know how to properly pronounce that.

Zaandijk is an area that feels like it was built up or preserved at least just for tourists. It was still really cool to see though. It is a village with a lot of windmills and some little exhibits. There are several tourist shops around. The interesting ones were a cheese shop where they have people making cheese that you can watch. They had about 20 different types of cheese for sale, so I enjoyed having the samplers. Every one of them was good. They also had a wooden shoe making place. I tried some on and they aren't too bad.

We went back to Amsterdam, walked around, and then ate dinner. We watched the Eurocup game (Holland vs. Russia). The streets were decorated for the game and tons of fans were around all day. It was loud of packed for the game. Unfortunately Holland lost.

The red light district has these lights all around it so that's probably where it gets the name...

Okay, not really. It comes from the red lights that are lighting up the windows that the prostitutes are standing in. There "coffeeshops" (shops where you can buy small amounts of marijuna), sex shops, and bars everywhere. It was quite unreal.

Overall I'd say it was an interesting experience. It was a bit too extreme for me. Definitely worth a visit so you know what people are talking about.

All images here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/Amsterdam

week four

2008-06-20T17:00:00.001+02:00

This has been a great fourth week for sure!

Sunday after returning from my mediocre weekend, I met Javier. He's my new roommate from Madrid, Spain. First impression was that he was very inquisitive about everything, trying to learn as much as he could about the VKI before starting work the following day. He is also a stagiaire in the short training program.

Monday after work we walked around the city, checking out the sites. Javier had never been. We went through some highlights like Manequin Pis and the Grand Place. We also went through the business district where they do a lot of EU business. Kan (from D.C. area) says it looks a lot like D.C., and I would have to agree.

My work project completed changed on Tuesday. The professor decided that since the part still hadn't come in from the chemical company that I should change projects to do something more useful. I am now looking at sensor data from an area to see if a power plant affects the area's temperature. It's a local warming issue. I get to study wind and the atmosphere. I will work to do mostly post-processing of the data, but at least the data is interesting to me. The answer is supposed to be "no, plant does not affect the area locally" according to my professor.

Wednesday I went into Brussels for another night of rock climbing. I think this will be a good weekly habit. It was a lot of fun once again! I looked at buying some gear (shoes and harness) so that I wouldn't have to rent while I was here. That was a fun interaction as the sales clerk didn't really speak English and my friend didn't speak French. I was able to communicate with my little knowledge of French and a lot of pointing. I didn't like any of the gear they had, so I'll be renting for the summer :-).

Thursday was spent fixing my landlord's bicycle. He told me if I fixed it I could use it. So I fixed it!

I really like my landlord. He really likes America and Americans. He is appreciative for what we did for his family during WW2. He loves American WW2 memorabilia and has lots of things in his collection. I asked him where I could buy stamps to mail some postcards. He offered to pick some up for me, and gave them to me as a thanks for fixing the bikes.

This weekend: Amsterdam / The Netherlands!

My original plan was to leave after work and goto Den Haag, but no one else was up for going. My mediocre Luxembourg trip was partially due to going alone. Also, I'm more interested in meeting people and interacting with them than I am to see a new place and check it off a list. My roommate is staying in town this weekend, so I am going to go to Brussels with him tonight.

Tomorrow I'm getting up first thing and going to Amsterdam! Woo, I'm excited :-)

namur and luxembourg

2008-06-19T22:46:00.002+02:00

Last weekend I went to Luxembourg as planned. The hostels were full in Luxembourg, and I wanted to see more of southern Belgium, so I first went to Namur, Belgium.

I got there Saturday and explored the city. It was an important one for various historical reasons. It sits on the edge of two rivers, and has a large citadel. It was a powerful city.

There wasn't too much going on in Namur, but it was an interesting city to walk around. I went through the streets and walked all of the paths around the citadel. I went to sleep and got up early for the train to Luxembourg on Sunday.

Luxembourg City really didn't have too much to offer. I walked around and explored the city. It was fun seeing it, but I wouldn't really recommend going there.

Pictures from my trip are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland/NamurAndLuxembourg

week three

2008-06-13T14:36:00.002+02:00

This past week nothing too much new has happened. We are waiting on a part before the experimental work can start for my project. It has been really cold here. I didn't realize how far north I was.

Buying produce at the grocery store this week was interesting. I got in trouble for getting my own produce. Apparently they're supposed to get it for you, and they didn't like when I bagged my own potatoes and was weighing them for a label. A bit odd I think.

I had been wanting to go to one of the rock climbing gyms in Brussels. I found some people here at the VKI that go once or twice a week, so I went with them Wednesday. It was a lot of fun and a really good workout. It is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) rock gym in the world. It started in 1987. It was a bit crowded, but a lot of fun and very challenging.

I've got a rough idea of my future weekends:
june 13 - luxembourg
june 20 - amsterdam
june 27 (3 day weekend) - paris
july 4 - vki soaring trip
july 11 (bastille day weekend) - paris
july 18 (3 day weekend) - cologne

I will leave the following weekend (july 25 is my last day). I'm not sure where I will go exactly (I'm thinking about Spain or Greece). Spend a few days wherever, and then fly to Greenbay, WI where I will take a shuttle to Oshkosh for the EAA airventure show. The world's largest airshow.

Ghent and Bruges

2008-06-13T09:16:00.002+02:00

Last weekend was a lot of fun! Vagelis (the Greek Stagiaire), Kan (other American), and I went to Ghent and Bruges. We had a lot of fun! Picture gallery here.

Kan (left) and Vagelis (right)

We got to Ghent Friday after work. We wandered around in the rain and explored the city a bit. It was one of the richest cities during the middle ages.

We went to an authentic frietkoten (fries barracks) for some Belgian fries. The popular way in Belgian means putting mayonaise on them, so I had to try it at least once. The mayonaise is better then American mayonaise, but I still think I might stick to ketchup. The fries themselves were amazing though!

The scenic picture showing Ghent:

We went to a restaurant that claims to have invented the Belgian waffle. They served it the authentic way, square with a bit of powdered sugar on top. It was good, but I think I prefer the American way of doing things.

Saturday we left for Bruges. After putting our stuff in the hostel, we headed out for dinner where we met two Australian girls who were a lot of fun!

We walked around Bruges on Sunday. Their belfry was really cool with good views. We got up there at noon as they were playing a song, so it was cool to see the bells being hit.

After walking around Bruges for a while, we took the train north to Ostend unplanned. We knew it was very close and I wanted to see it. Ostend is a big city on the North Sea.

Me and the North Sea.

No one was swimming, but it was a bit cold.

All in all it was a great weekend!

lots of photos

2008-06-12T13:44:00.002+02:00

Thanks to google and their picasa and its onine web albums, my photos are now online!

You can view them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/wcleveland

And some more highlights:

Florence:

View from the Florence Cathedral's Roof

David (the copy out where he used to be)

Pisa:

Leaning city of Pisa (the tower is straight in this shot)

Milan:

Armani in the streets

Weird Building (viewed from Milan cathedral)

Lake Como:

Cinque Terre:

Beautiful beach shot with great friends! (Addie, Laura Beth, Caitlin)

From the boat ride (In the background you can see Manarola, the city where we stayed)

Brussels:

Icon of Brussels: Manneken Pis

The Atomium

I hope you guys enjoy!

bicyles and weekend plans

2008-06-05T22:27:00.004+02:00

There is an old bike at work that has been sitting there for the past 2 weeks. I asked another stagiaire who said we could use it. I brought it home with me today, or rather rode it home. The tires were a bit flat and the brakes were very loose. I asked my landlord if he had a pump that I might fix the tires a bit which he did have. He also showed me his families bikes which he said I was free to use, if I fixed them up :-).

I spent the rest of the night with his tools first fixing the bike I rode in from the VKI and then working on his bikes. The oldest one (from like 1950 or something) is also fixed and in working order now. Nothing too much wrong with it. However the bike has to be continously pedalled (even when braking), or else the chain comes off. Its a problem with the derailer I guess, or it's the older style. It got late as I was fixing the second of his bikes, and he had a broken part on the brake that I wasn't quite able to repair or fix, so the brakes are worthless for now. I had a lot of fun this evening doing that. Man I miss Douglas's bike expertise though.

Both of his bikes had a contraption on them that I hadn't seen which is pretty cool to me. It was a little device that spins (a generator) when the bike is moving and powers a headlight and taillight for the bike.

My other option for the night had he not had a bike pump or tools was to go into Brussels to on of the rock climbing gym. I'll probably do that one day next week.

Weekend plans!!
Tomorrow (Friday) Kan and I will be in Flanders (the Flemish region), this weekend. First we goto Ghent after work. We are staying in a hostel there. We will stay in Ghent for most of Saturday and then take the train to Bruges. We stay in a hostel in Bruges and will return on Sunday.

pictures!

2008-06-04T18:00:00.001+02:00

okay, partial picture update as promised!

going in chronological order in italy:

Venice:

View from Rialto Bridge

Gondola Ride

Verona:

Arena

Rome:

Football Game

The Coliseum

About to make a quick getaway

da Vinci Exhibit

Vatican City:

Huge Assembled Crowd

The Pope! (Picture taken zoomed in and through binoculars)

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

From the roof of St. Peter's Basilica

More to come soon!

one week in belgium

2008-06-03T22:23:00.002+02:00

Sorry for my delay in updating, I'll try to be more diligent in the future.

Last Wednesday I met with my supervisor finally. She thought I was arriving the following week and apologized for the miscommunication. She explained my project to be basically optimizing a liquid-liquid extractor. It turns out that's really more of a chemical engineering job, but it should be interesting. I've spent the last week reading up on the process (or trying to at least) and some various background information.

Thursday was my first time to go into Brussels proper. Kan, the other American, and I took the bus into town. He was familiar with the area from his previous week, and played tour guide for me. He showed me the main square, Grand Place, and the nearby Manneken Pis, the icon of the area, or so it seems. Finally we met up with a friend at the movie theatre and watched the new Indiana Jones. Entertaining, but a bit over the top.

Finally we take the tram back to the train station. The tram, however, is much much slower than the subway. We get there about 15 minutes after the last train back to Rhode-St-Genese (town where we are staying). Getting off the tram we run into two boys about our age who appeared to be asking for a lighter for their cigarette, but they are speaking quickly words I can't understand and trying to distract my eyes with their hands: definitely pickpockets. I watch him and tell him to leave and I come out okay, Kan tries the same but realizes later he lost his subway ticket (with 2 rides left on it). Not a bad run-in with pick-pockets, but these weren't very good ones mind you.

So we're at the station after the last train and we have to call a taxi. Quite an expensive way to get back into town, but it beats staying at the train station until 6am for the first train or bus.

My next adventure begins Saturday morning. Kan and I head into Brussels again to explore the city. (He keeps a decent blog, with many more pictures. His post from this venture here. - My pictures are coming soon I hope.) We wander through central brussels with stops such as The Koningsplein, an area resembling an open-air, indoor mall, The Cathedrale St. Michel, a museum of Belgian history. The museum is less informative than I would like, as they are trying to serve speakers of French, Flemish(Dutch), English and German. Quite a difficult ordeal, so overall it's mildly helpful. I'm not so sure they have that extensive of a history anyways.

We head to the site of the 1958 Expo for its attraction: the Atomium. I go up into it and get a great vantage of the city. Finally we end the day by wandering the city somewhat at random and then heading back home.

Sunday I sleep in until noonish. I get a call from Kan asking if I am interested in Waterloo. It was on my list of places, so I'm definitely up for it. Waterloo is the closest place to Rhode-St-Genese. Just 2 miles or so, and is where I rollerbladed to for the acquisition of a cell phone.

We take the train to a stop just beyond waterloo to get to the site of the Battle of Waterloo, the famous one you hear about that stopped Napoleon. Erected there is the Butte du Lion, a tribute to the soldiers lost. After seeing just about everything that the site had to offer (lots of little exhibits, movies, etc that isn't really worth the money), we head into Waterloo proper. There isn't really much there, but we wander around a bit before catching the train and calling it a night.

The movies shown at the Battle of Waterloo exhbit make me realize how much of a problem it is with these multiple languages. The movie tried to convey the ideas of the battle almost completely without words. Quite a feat really, but it just left me confused mostly. I wanted a narrator the whole time.

Not too much to report from work. I'm understanding things better. The book is putting me to sleep a little bit less. I've found out there is a rock climbing gym in Brussels so I think I might go one night for fun and exercise. Waking up and exercising in the morning has begun to prove unsuccessful. Even if the sun rises at 5h30, it's hard for me to motivate myself to be up any earlier than I have to be for work.

life in belgium

2008-05-27T22:01:00.002+02:00

another slow day at work, but no worries, i think tomorrow will pick up!

two interesting things i've found:

according to my cell phone companie's rates online, it's cheaper for me to call to the US (13 cents / min) than to call anywhere in Belgium (25 centers / minute). Though it is free for me to receive calls, so if you want, I'm reachable here: +32 0488 68 10 47 (mobile)

the ads on facebook (and other sites but most noticeably facebook) are in Flemish, or maybe Danish, or maybe German, or some other language that certainly isn't English nor even French.

I cooked dinner tonight for myself with some things I found in the kitchen. Some rice with instructions in French, German, and Danish. I could read enough of the French and stare at the diagrams to know that I could just put it in the water, cover it up, and let it run. Huit (8) minutes. The red beans I read enough French to cook them, I only had to chaud (heat) them and they were good for 48H (48 hours) after opening. yay!

VKI day one!

2008-05-26T21:34:00.003+02:00

Today is the first day of work! First day of a new routine so I create a nice precedent for myself. I wake up at sunrise (5.40AM) and start the day off with some nice exercising and stretching and whatnot (after email checking and such :-) ).

I put on nice clothes and walk to work and make it on time (8.10AM), though I was aiming to be 5 minutes early. So it's more like a 20 minute walk and not 15 I think. I go up and get my badge and am told to wait downstairs. I wait for about 20 minutes and no one comes for me so I go back up to the secretary upstairs, the other one has arrived who can help me, and she shows me to an office where I sign a bit of paperwork.

I am then shown to an office where I get a key and am shown the room I'll work in. I then am to wait for my supervisor, who hasn't come in yet (it's 9am), (I have two and the other is in Italy until Wednesday).

Another professor (not the supervisor) meets me and tells me my supervisor won't be in until later. He shows me to the computer center where they create my account (to be ready that afternoon) and then to the library where I am instructed to start looking up information on my topic. I do so (or try to) for about an hour and then it's 10:00 and time for the morning coffee break.

Eager to get out and meet some people and not sit in the library, I go! My friend's friend spots me and introduces himself: Kan Yang. Very nice guy who introduces me to the other Staggiores that are on break (the name for us in the short training program). He suggests I check out a library book and come to the Staggiore room.

After the break I plan to do this. We run into the other American there (a PhD student there for 3 years now), who is very outgoing. He knows my supervisor and says he saw him on break just now so he takes me in and introduces me. My supervisor complains that he is far too busy now and all day and all week really. He suggests I come by his office after lunch and he'll give me some reading material (oh joy).

I head to the Staggiore room and meet with Kan, who shows me around VKI. After a very nice tour, we head to lunch. Lunch that day consisted of a plate of cheeses, bread, and grapes. Most of the cheeses were pretty good, though I had no clue what was what.

After lunch I go to meet my supervisor but he is not there. I get another book from the library to read and read it a bit and wait. Supervisor still not there. Read a bit, no supervisor. I go on like this every 30 minutes. Finally it's time for the afternoon break, and I go (though I don't see my supervisor).

Finally it's about 4:30 in the afternoon and I'm a bit frustrated with it and don't really know what exactly I should be doing so I head out a bit early for the day and walk back.

I make it to the apartment, discuss laundry with my landlady who usually does it for the tenants, and then head out. I strap on the roller blades and go for a nice ride. It's only two miles to the nearest town (and cell phone dealer), so I make it to Waterloo, and buy a cheap cell phone and pay as you go plan.

After making it back to the apartment with only one fall all day, (my braking is better, but I got sloppy hopping up on a curb), I shower and eat dinner. The landlady returns my laundry, wet as requested. I save 2 euros to not dry it becuase electricity is so exepnsive here. I put them up to dry on a rack (first time ever which is scary), but I think it will work out.

Now it's time for bed! Goodnight everyone!

Brussels, Day Two

2008-05-26T21:29:00.004+02:00

I sleep in and wake up late morning on Sunday. I spend some time in the morning unpacking and getting situated. Finally I have had enough with it inside (it is a fairly pretty day mind you, especially considering I've had rain almost every other day in Italy).

A previous tenant in the apartment had some roller blades and he left them. The landlord said I was welcome to try them, just not to hurt myself. So of course I put them on and go outside. These are about size 8 and I usually wear size 11.5, so they are a bit small. But I know it's a faster way to get around so I cram my feet in and go with it.

I haven't rollerbladed since I was in sixth grade, maybe eighth grade (7+ years). So I get them on and can get started no problem (just like ice skating and roller skating and such), I've got good balance so I can stay up just fine.

I make it about to where the grocery store is and town is starting, and there is a hill and I suddenly realize that I don't remember how to stop and the brake is mostly worn down from the previous owner. So I fall pretty nicely but I'm okay.

I get up and skate around town, skate around the park, and skate back to the house and call it a night. Only one fall isn't too bad. I spend the evening looking up tips online for roller blading and how to stop :-).

Brussels, Day One

2008-05-26T21:20:00.002+02:00

Well I made my flight and arrived safely in Brussels on Saturday.

I should mention that I grab my baggage and pass out of security and into the airport without ever passing a customs person. Which kind of worries me. I don't have a visa stamped on my passport for Belgium. Is this a problem? I have one for Italy...

Anyways, the next plan was for me to buy a temporary cell phone at the airport, but alas, the shop was closed. I was then supposed to call my landlord with my new cell phone and he'd leave to pick me up (30 minute journey). So I used a payphone nearby which charged 40 cents for a connection and 50 cents per minute for calls, gave no change, and had a minimum of 1 euro (worst machine ever i think), to call my landlord and let him know I was there. No answer, I call and call and I finally get him and I run out of coins to put in the machine and the call goes out (total rip off).

I get some more change and call again and again, finally giving up I wander the airport seeing if he happens to be there. I don't see him, so I get some more change and call a few more times. I talk to him once but run out of money again (since I had missed a few more calls before), I'm leaving voicemails these times you know, but I don't know that he's getting them or anything), and finally start to wander out again and finally see a man holding a sign "William, VKI", which must be me.

He apologized for the miscommunication, but he couldn't really hear me because it was so noisy in the airport, and he had my flight schedule so he came on ahead. My flight was early though so I didn't see him when I first came out of the gate.

So all is well and we're heading down to the town where I'll be living this summer, and where VKI is located: Sint-Genesius-Rode, . Not too bad of a drive, and we're there. He drives a bit extra and shows me where VKI is located, the way to work, and the closest ATM and the grocery store.

After dropping my bags off at home and showing me the apartment, he takes me back to the grocery store where I buy a few things to have on hand (milk, eggs, cheese, veggies, fruit, etc). We come back, I put them away, and then I pass out for the rest of the night. I was utterly exhausted from not really sleeping the night before!

Also, the not really sleeping leads me to develop a bit of a sorethroat which follows me even today at the time of the writing (Saturday until Monday). Bleh!

Cinque Terre

2008-05-26T21:08:00.002+02:00

Oh my gosh, Cinque Terre is amazing. And I thought Lake Como was beautiful. It doesn't get any better than Cinque Terre! Beautiful cliffs, on the Mediteranean Sea, hanging out with three gorgeous girls... I mean come on!

So I made it down safely to the Cinque Terre. First we had lunch! Addie is also adventurous with food, so we tried the fun stuff on the menu (that I had been wanting to my entire trip in Italy, but I like to split things and not order it all you know). So we had some Octupus (not so good, but memorable), and some other things I can't recall now.

Next we had some Gelato and wandered along the harbor of Vernazza (best harbour). Next we took the train to Monterosso al Mare. We wandered along the beach and hid from the rain. Stopped for some wine, and sat for a bit, then headed back to Manarola (our base town). Caitlin and Laura Beth gathered their belongings and we bid them farewell as they took the train out to Paris for their flight home.

Addie and I wandered the cities, took the trail to Riomaggiore, and ate dinner at a restaurant. We split the pasta with shellfish from the cliffs (not so good) along with the fish of the evenings (sold in 5 euros per 100g), which was outstanding! Watched the sunset and ate gelato and then went to bed. What a day!!

The next day, Friday, Addie and I got up and headed out. We wanted to take a train then a boat ride, but we misread the train schedule and waited for a really long time. Finally the trian came and we headed to Monterossa al Mare where we got on a boat. It was an incredible boat ride along the coat, lasting about 45 minutes or maybe less, but absolutely delightful anyways. Back to Riomaggiore and then we took a train back to Manarola for Addie to catch her train to Rome and her flight home.

Left alone for the afternoon in Manarola, I decided to wander the trails a bit, stop by the beach for a little while (and get really sunburnt unfortunately), and enjoy the evening watching the sunset and talking to the other travellers watching it. I met some cool kids on vacation from Canada after having just graduated all in engineering (yay!).

So I'm cheap, but not only that, but to make sure I got to the airport on time, I decide to skip out on the hostel that Friday night and instead take the 1:00AM train back to Milano for my flight out. Wow that was a terrible idea. I made it of course to Milan at 7am, completely exhausted. My flight was at 13.00 (though the earliest train I could take in the morning put me in Milano at 11.00, not really enough time).

Lake Como

2008-05-26T21:06:00.000+02:00

written on the train to Cinque Terre from Milan

So I'm really glad I stayed in Milan an extra day! I had a great time :-)

We woke up early and took a train north to Como. It's a small city on Lake Como. If we had stayed on the train we would have ended up in Switzerland. So we were right on the border of Switzerland with a beautiful lake and the base of the Alps with big mountains everywhere, or at least rather large hills.

We wandered around the city for a bit, and then took a water bus to Bellagio. It was a 2 hour trip with fantastic views the whole time. There was a tour on the group so we heard them pointing out such things as George Clooney's and Versace's houses.

After wandering around Bellagio, we took a bus back to Como and then the train back to Milan.

Last night in Milan we went to an Irish pub to watch a championship pro soccer game. It was really intense and a lot of fun to be there with everyone cheering. "Let's go United!" everyone around us cheered for Manchester United who beat out Chelsea.

Now I'm enroute to meeting up with Caitlin, Addie, and Laura Beth in Cinque Terre!

back in milan, update on plans

2008-05-21T01:48:00.002+02:00

Today was our last day of class! We were in Milan again. We went to the Milan Cathedral, the third largest church. It was incredible. We also went to the galleria which is like a shopping area.

So I mis-communicated with Addie: I won't be going to Manarola until Thursday (sad because I just read about all the fun stuff to do there since it's on the water and I love the water).

In any event, tomorrow we are probably going to take a day trip to Como, and then I'll continue as planned down to Manarola on Thursday.

Firenze

2008-05-19T09:38:00.002+02:00

The past few days in Florence, or Firenze, has been great. Why is it that we don't call these places by their proper names? In Italian it's Firenze, but we had to improve the name to the English version of Florence. Possibly Firenze has something to do with the word flower, as does the word Florence in Spanish. But there are others too that come to mind: Milano->Milan, Venetia->Venice, Italia->Italy, Deutschland->Germany. Do we think we know more than them? Well Italy, we think you were wrong with the spelling / pronunciation of your city name, but we can fix that.... Seriously though, Florence has been wonderful.

The Florence Cathedral is really an impressive structure. We climbed to the roof of the Dome!

Yesterday we took a day trip to Pisa. I got to go up in the leaning tower. Going up the tower was a bit dizzying because the stairs weren't level nor were the walls, and it all just kind of played tricks in my head.

Today we went to the Accademia Gallery and saw David and the Uffizi Gallery where my favorite I think is the Birth of Venus.

Just wandering around the city and checking everything out has been wonderful. Tomorrow, we leave for Milan(o), our last stop with the Italy Maymester.

It's hard to believe that in a weeks time I'll be in Belgium!

The plan: tomorrow to Milan. Wednesday to Manarola in the Cinque Terre to meet up with Addie, Caitlin, and Laura Beth. I'll stay in Manarola until Saturday. I'll catch a morning train back to Milan and catch a plane to Brussels.

And if I ever get some time and some good internet at the same time, I'll post some highlights of the pictures I've taken.

rome!

2008-05-16T00:09:00.002+02:00

The past few days has been great! We started off the morning of two days ago by going to The Colosseum! It is quite a massive building! Next we walked around the area which is all artifcats from ancient Rome.

Later that afternoon, we went into a church to escape the rain. The church was built in the 14th century over a 4th century church that was built over a 1st century Pagan temple. You saw different things as we went underground. Finally we went to the St. John's Basilica, which is the Catholic Church of Rome. It was amazing site, and next door were the Sacred Steps. They are the steps up to Pontius Pilate's house where Jesus would have walked several times on the day of his crucifixion. You have to go up them on your knees.

Yesterday we went to the Vatican first thing. We were going to see St. Peters Basilica, but there was a huge crowd when we got there. It was Wednesday morning around 10:00, and that is when the Pope comes out to the crowd. So we waited around, and at 10:30 (the Pope is allowed to be 30 minutes late), the Pope came out so that was cool to see! We went to the Vatican Museums after seeing him which holds the Sistine Chapel. They also had a really cool exhibit on the missionary church, which showed artifacts from other regions and religions and how the religion spread.

That afternoon, there was still a huge line to goto St. Peter's Basilica, so instead we went on ahaead to the Pantheon. It is really cool, with a very nice, large dome. (Though we'll see a bigger one in Florence). We ended the afternoon going to the Trevi Fountain, which is a very large, nice fountain. I'm sure to come back to Rome because I wished far it and threw money in :-).

This morning we got up early and went to St. Peter's Basilica. Man that place is amazing beyond words. Everything is huge and grand and very nice. Probably the nicest / most expensive place I've ever been. The Church of Rome was amazing, and this completely trumped it.

Afterwards we spent the afternoon wandering around Rome. We went by and saw the Sant' Angelo Castle, the Navona Piazza, and then ended up at an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci. They had various working models of different inventions he had designed.

It's hard to believe I've been here (in Italy) for 7 days! It's been great so far! We have another week of the trip, and then I'm off on my own. Tomorrow, we leave for Florence!

\rome

2008-05-13T01:26:00.002+02:00

\today we made it to \rome! and the (\s are because that is where the shift key should be on this keyboard).

Ack, i think i have it figured out, but i have to look down...

anywho, obviously the internet at the hotel doesn't go with my laptop, but there is a public computer in the hotel i'm using.

We spent most of the day travelling, got to rome around 15,00. We checked into the hotel and wandered the streets a bit, and then ate some dinner. Chinese food tonight which is different in italy... a lot less greasy and such. it was good.

then tonight we went to an all-star soccer game that was a lot of fun. but the subways quit running after 24,00 when we left so we had to walk most of the way back, and we took a few buses that were going in the general direction we wanted. we'll be in rome for the next few days!

verona

2008-05-12T00:57:00.002+02:00

Today we went to Verona. It was really cool. First was the Castelvecchio castle and museum. There were lots of people there, including some French students. It was fun to hear them talk, but very intimidating for my trip to Belgium. I won't be able to understand people at all.

Next we had some lunch and walked around the city. There was a festival of sorts going on with lots of street vendors and different foods to try and buy. It was pretty excellent. Also they had some performances including some nice belly dancing.

Finally we went to the arena. It was huge and very old! Definitely a nice site to see. We skipped the fabled "Juliet's house" from Romeo and Juliet, as most historians agree that it is not truely her house. Though the story is set in Verona.

We got back to Vicenza and had Ethiopian food for dinner. It was definitely different. No utensils. You had this flat bread that was like a tortilla sort of to use to pick up your food and eat it. Sort of reminded me of the taste of Indian food. I really enjoyed it.

We've gotten in the habit of not ordering drinks with dinner as it's like 2 euros for water when I can have a bottle in my backpack and have it for free. It's like 16 cents for a 2 litre in the grocer.

So I haven't mentioned, but it's kind of hot around here. At least in the hotel room. We can't figure out how to work the air conditioner, so we just kind of leave the window open all the time. It's definitely warm!

Tomorrow we travel to Rome! No telling how my internet will be there, so these posts might be more intersperssed. Hopefully it'll be better, as Rome is larger.

Ciao!

venice part two

2008-05-10T22:27:00.002+02:00

Yesterday was another great day in Venice. We road the water bus around for a while, and went to a small island across the channel. We went in a large, beautiful church called Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore. The view from the belltower looking back to Venice was phenomenal.

Then we went and walked around the streets of Venice. After sitting near a Gondola dock area for a while, we started talking to the Gondola drivers, and bargained with them for a while and eventually got a ride for the six of us for only 60 euros, which is much better than they usually charge. (Though I still think we could have done better... no one else in my group likes to haggle).

On to Verona for the day! (And the internet is still too slow to bother with pictures right now, sorry).

train strike

2008-05-09T23:41:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my roommate, Scott, and I woke up and began walking to the train station after some hotel breakfast. We knew the general direction, and started taking off. Deciding it was probably far, we hopped on a bus going the same way to snag a ride. The bus was packed and we didn't know much about the bus so we just kind of hopped on. After riding for about 10 minutes I noticed a sign suggesting that if you didn't have your ticket when you got on, you should give the drive 2 euros, exact change immediately. We quickly got off and walked for 45 minutes the rest of the way to the train station through the city. (It's much farther than we thought it would be).

We got to the station and met up with folks from the trip to head to Venice for the day. We were about to purchase tickets when all of the ticket buying windows closed. Odd huh? But no worries, I saw two Italian girls use the automatic ticket machine yesterday, so we headed over to it and used that for our tickets. Once we all had our tickets, we waited for a while and thought it was odd the trains weren't moving. Also it was odd that next to all of them on the screen was SOP, which evidently indicates that the trains were on strike. Or at least the workers were. After standing around confused for a while, we finally learn that they're striking until about 2pm.

We head back into Vicenza and explore the city a bit and goto a big Theatre. We also sample the gelato and have a bit of lunch. Finally we make it back to the train station and use our ticket from earlier to make it to Venice.

It's very easy to get lost in Venice. The first thing our professor does is shows us the signs that are spread our that indicate the direction to walk to get to the Rialto bridge, Saint Mark's Basilica, and the train station. We walk to the bridge which is very nice. The walk there was fun and we got to see some of Venice. The bridge is very nice and we talk for a while about the structure of the bridge (weight bearingness and other fun engineering perspectives on it), and we talk about the space of it (get the architectural aspect of the class).

Next we walk to Saint Mark's Basilica. It was beautiful. Finally we talk about the space of it and the surrounding area in Saint Mark's square, and then our professor bids us a farewell, a good luck finding the train station, and a see you tomorrow morning. My group of three wanders through Venice for the evening, stopping for a spot of pizza, and then we make it back to the train station.

Armed with a good map of Vicenza, we walk back to the hotel which only took about an hour or so. We did stop for 10 minutes while Stephen and I climbed a huge set of stairs behind an arc to go up to a hillside that overlooks the city.

Today we are heading back to Venice to look at more buildings. I'm looking forward to it!

And I'm trying to post pictures but the wireless in the hotel is a bit sketchy. I might update this post later, otherwise you'll just have to imagine.

2008-05-08T21:50:00.004+02:00

Nice, quiet evening getting acquainted with things. Walked around the city a bit. We're staying next to a US Army base.

After eating some pizza, we watched some local teen football players do what they do. Tomorrow: Venice!

the adventure begins

2008-05-08T16:42:00.003+02:00

Well the plane ride was uneventful. We landed in Milan, picked up our luggage, ate some lunch (I had Turkish food), and then got on the train for Vicenza. We are staying in a hotel at Vicenza.

Being jetlagged, a nap on the train seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, my comrades didn't awaken me until they were deboarding. I quickly gathered my belongings and made for the exit just as the train pulled away from the station.

Two very nice and beautiful Italian girls assured me it would be okay and I could catch a train back at the next station. They got off on that stop, helped me purchase a return ticket and showed me the platform I needed.

As all good stories end, I made it back safely. Now I'm enjoying free wireless internet in the hotel, getting ready to do something fun this evening, as I am no longer jet lagged from my nice nap.

If you have skype, you should add me: Skype name: wcleveland7

packed and ready

2008-05-07T22:08:00.002+02:00

Miraculously I am all packed up for the summer. I'll be living out of my backpack and two small suitcases.

I'm now sitting in the Atlanta airport, ready to board the plane to Milan. We'll arrive at 9:30 in Milan and hit the ground running. So I'm leaving on a jet plane and don't know when I'll be back again... no really, I don't have a return flight home yet. I'm super excited!!

europe

2008-05-04T08:32:00.003+02:00

Thanks Andy for the suggestion to blog this summer: http://wpc7europe.blogspot.com/

If you don't know, I'm going to spending my summer in Europe. I'll use this as a way to let you guys know what I'm up to, with posts of pictures and things that I'm doing.

First I'll be spending 2 weeks in Italy with the BCoE's Maymester trip: http://www.bagley.msstate.edu/international/maymester/ seeing Milan, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Venice, and Cemona.

Afterwards, I'm going to spend 2 months in Belgium at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics Research in their Short Training Program.

You should definitely leave me or email me your address! :-)