Sweet Sabbatical Photo Journal

Saturday, July 8, 2006

Werleshausen, Germany

Since today is our last day in Werleshausen, I took a few pictures of the estate.


We also went on a brief drive to pick cherries, and to have a look at Schloss Hanstein, which is a castle in the former east. (Werleshausen was originally supposed to be in East Germany, but the west traded it for another region to get a railway which lies just behind the town. So, we're very close to the former border here.)

Friday, July 7, 2006

Werleshausen, Germany

Today we continued on in Werleshausen, but the girls needed haircuts, and Reinhild suggested that we take them to Duderstadt, which is a very pretty town near here. (There's nothing special about the people that cut hair there I suppose.) The town has literally hundreds of half-timbered buildings. We didn't take a lot of pictures because it was raining. We were actually quite happy for the rain, since most of this trip has been quite warm.
The Duderstadt town hall


Duderstadt was in West Germany, but to get there we cut through the former East Germany. The towns we saw have been very nicely restored. We also went to a museum on the old border, which was probably quite interesting, but I was dealing with a 3-year-old who hadn't had her nap.

Thursday, July 6, 2006

Werleshausen, Germany

Today we drove to Werleshausen, Germany. We are staying with Volker and Reinhild von Christen, a couple who were Kyle's guest parents for half of the year that he was an exchange student in high school. Now that they have retired, they live primarily at their family estate here, which they maintain as a historical landmark. The grounds and the town are beautiful and peaceful, and the von Christens are amazingly hospitable. It's a very nice place to be.
The horse Diane is grooming is Fengü. He is 31 years old, and Kyle rode him when he was here 22 years ago. Diane on Fengü, and Logan Taking a break with Reinhild and Volker

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Today we drove to Darmstadt, Germany, by way of Strasbourg, France.

Strasbourg, France

We stopped in Strasbourg to have some lunch and see the Cathedral.


Darmstadt, Germany

We had a true German dinner for Megan and Phillip's last evening in Europe.

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Switzerland

Today we drove to Fribourg, Switzerland. We of course saw some pretty mountains on the way in, but didn't find a good place to stop to take pictures of any of them. In an attempt to find a good picture spot, we stopped at a rest area that had a playground and let the "kids" play...

Monday, July 3, 2006

Today we left Barcelona. At this point we are aiming for getting to Darmstadt, Germany, by Wednesday evening, because Megan and Phillip take off from the Frankfurt airport early Thursday morning, and the airport is a short drive on the Autobahn from Darmstadt. This evening we have ended up in Orange, France. On the way here we took a brief side trip to Carcassonne, France.

Carcassonne, France

Several people recommended that we stop in Carcassonne, because it still has medieval city walls surrounding the old part of the city. The lower sections of the walls are original, while the rest was added and/or restored in the 19th century. It was quite pretty and interesting on the outside of the walls, but inside was full of souvenir shops and over-priced cafes rather than anything historically interesting, which detracted from the enjoyment of the place.


Orange, France

Orange was really just a place to stay, but since restaurants didn't open until 7:30 for dinner (earlier than Spain, but still late from the point of view of feeding a couple of kids from the USA), we had a bit of time to site-see. The main attraction in Orange is a 2000-year-old Roman theatre, designed to sit 10,000 spectators. It was closed by the time we got there, but we got a few pictures from the outside. Once the restaurants opened, we went to one which was called Il Grotto, which seemed to be dug out of the hillside. It was cool and pleasant and the wine was good.

Sunday, July 2, 2006

Barcelona, Spain

We spent the day in Barcelona. This morning we went to see the castle at the top of Montjuïc, which means "Jewish Mountain." The name comes from a Jewish cemetery which was located there in the middle ages. The castle which is currently there was started in 1640, and I infer that it was used as a prison during the Franco regime (but check this!). Currently it is a tourist attraction, and houses a military museum that we did not go into. Normally there is a cable car that goes to the top of the mountain, but right now it is closed for renovation, so we hiked to the top (after taking an elevator train part way up). I would like to note that Spain is hot during the summer, but we made it, and Diane especially was a trooper.
The Sagrada Família (see description below), as seen from part way up the mountain The castle The courtyard inside the castle


A fountain that we ran into on the way down the mountain - most of the people near the top are our gang


After we hiked down the mountain and had some lunch, we went to the Sagrada Família, a monumental church started in 1882 which is still not finished. Shortly after it was started, Antoni Gaudí became the head architect on the project, and it became his life's work until he died in 1926. The façade is very intricate, in a Gothic sort of way, but then there are these spires with colorful tiled fruits on top. The whole thing is being financed with the money they make from visitors and donations. They expect it to be finished in 2030.


One last Gaudí building that happened to be along the route back to the hotel (photo credit: Diane)...

Saturday, July 1, 2006

Barcelona, Spain

Today we drove from Valencia to Barcelona, arriving mid-afternoon. Since it is nearly impossible to find a reasonable dinner in Spain before 8:00 (9:00 really), we had time to do a little site seeing. We went to Parc Güell, which is within walking distance from our hotel. This is a park with all sorts of crazy architecture designed by Antoni Gaudí, who is the best known architect from the late 19th century "Modernista" movement.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Burjassot, Spain

Today is my last full day in Valencia. Tomorrow we leave for a couple of days in Barcelona. I wish I could stay longer and get to know the city better. (There's also this one formula that I have not yet succeeded in deriving...)

I came in a bit late to work today, because I had to return a couple things we had borrowed from Toni. When I got here, everyone in the department was in the seminar room having a little party, because one of the secretaries is leaving for the math department. It gave me the opportunity to take pictures of many of the people who have been my kind hosts this month.
Isabel, one of the students who shared their office with me The woman in the black in the middle is the one moving on More folks

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Today I ditched work and joined the family on a trip to L'Oceanogràfic. The highlight of this place is really the large aquariums, including a couple that have tunnels through them so that you have fish swimming all around you. I didn't get any pictures of these, though, because I have not yet figured out how to tell my camera not to automatically flash, and flash photography was not allowed. However, my favorite fish was called a sunfish (some pictures of one can be found here), and it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was large and very primitive looking. A funny thing is that this tank was also filled with all sorts of crowd-pleasing sharks and rays, but Logan's favorite thing in the tank by far was the diver who was in there cleaning the windows. She got her to wave several times.

I did get some pictures outside...
Logan checking out some pelicans More pelicans The gang


A seal Diane in front of some sea lions There was a dolphin show

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Toni and his wife Macu invited us for lunch and swimming at their apartment in Valencia. They live in a very nice apartment at the top of their building. (Everyone in Valencia lives in an apartment - there do not seem to be any single-family homes.)
Macu y Toni A view from their patio Another view from their patio (you can see mountains if you look closely)

Friday, June 23, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Kyle, Diane, Logan, Megan (Kyle's sister), and Phillip (Megan's boyfriend) made it safely to Valencia!

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Valencia, Spain

First, happy Father's Day Dad and Kyle!

I had an unexpectedly interesting evening. Pilar, the woman from whom I am renting this apartment, came by with a couple of students who will be renting the apartment after me who had not yet seen the apartment. After the students left, she suggested that we go to the cafe on the corner and have some coffee. So, we went, and actually had horchata, a drink which is quite popular in Valencia. It is a sweet, milky drink made from a tuber they call chufa, which my dictionary translates as "tiger nut." According to a flyer I picked up yesterday, the fields around Valencia (la huerta) is the only place in Europe where la chufa is grown, although it is found in other parts of the world.

After we finished our horchatas, we walked to an area southwest of here called Campanar. Pilar referred to this area as a city within a city. It used to be a small farming settlement outside the walls of Valencia, which became part of Valencia as Valencia grew. It seems to be a historical landmark, because buildings in this 3-4 block area are not allowed to be higher than two stories. (Did I mention that Valencia is full of tall buildings?)
Pilar and I


As we walked around, Pilar noticed that people were putting out plants (see right-most picture above), and recalled that it is the Catholic holiday Corpus (Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ) (thanks Mother!). In Valencia, on Corpus, many churches have processions, the stars of which are children who received their first communion in May. There is a very large procession in the city center of Valencia. We were too late for that, but we stayed for the one in Campanar. Fortunately, with all the parents taking pictures, I didn't seem too out of place with my camera, although I may have seemed out of place in my jeans.
Before the procession, they lined the path with leaves.


Saturday, June 17, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Today I went to the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, which is billed in my tourist guide as "the largest cultural and leisure complex currently being built in Europe." It seems that the Valencians are quite proud of it. On the way there, I walked along a different part of the long park that was built in the bed of where the River Turia used to run. I like this part better. There were more people around than last time. This may be because I was there later than last time, after the "heat of the day."
This is the Pont de la Mar which crosses over the park. It seemed quite old. A view of the park from the Pont de la Mar. Some fountains and orange trees.


There are several playgrounds in the park, including this interesting one that consists of a giant Gulliver lying down for kids to play on.


From my tourist guide: "The entrance to the City of Arts and Sciences is L'Umbracle, a landscaped, garden walkway where nature, the sky and water form a novel architectural feature of special and delicate beauty." It was actually quite nice. As I was leaving, there was a just-married couple having their picture taken here.


There are four main areas in the complex. The first that I came across was the Palau de les Arts, which is still under construction.


The second thing I came across was L'Hemisfèric, which contains a planetarium, an IMAX theatre, and a laserium. Toni says this building is supposed to resemble a clam.
It's the building on the left in this one... ...and on the right in this one.


The third component of the complex is the Museu de les Ciencias Príncipe Felipe, shown here and to the right of L'Hemisfèric above.


The fourth and final component of the complex is L'Oceanogràfic. Unfortunately, because of all the fencing, I was unable to get pictures of more of the interesting architecture associated with this part.


I was going to go into one of these, but because of the time (about 6:00 at this point), I decided to wait until my family gets here. I walked back through the park, which now had even more people in it than before. Evening is apparently the time to take your kids to the park in Spain. As I was boarding the Metro, I received a call from Kyle saying that he and the girls and his sister and her friend are now safely in Idstein (Germany).

Monday, June 12, 2006

Burjassot, Spain

Every other day or so, I see a guy going down a street in Burjassot in a cart being pulled by a couple of ponies, dragging a tire behind it. My sources tell me (although there is not complete agreement) that the horses are being strengthened for some competitions that are held in a town north of here.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Today I took a tram to the coast, and walked along the beach and harbor. It was the first time since I arrived that I heard people from the US. At the beach...
This picture was supposed to show the umbrellas that were all up and down the beach. The building that stands out instead houses the restrooms and the nurse's station. Pobla de Farnals, a city north of the beach where some Valencians hang out in the summer. Hey Diane and Logan - a structure for kids to climb on! Toni says it's called "the spider," since it resembles a spider's web.


The America's Cup is going to be in Valencia next year, and currently they are having qualifying races. Consequently, the harbor was surrounded by fencing, and there were only a few points that one could go through, and at those points there were police officers and metal detectors. Today, though, they weren't too concerned - the metal detectors were off and the police weren't paying much attention to those of us going in and out.
Flags advertising the America's Cup The top of a big boat The main port building (it says "Puerto Autonomo de Valencia")


I'm not sure what this is, but it looked like something that one should take a picture of.

Thursday, June 8, 2006

Burjassot, Spain

Sometimes you can figure out the meaning of a Valenciano word because it's similar to the Spanish word, and/or because of the context. Sometimes, though, it's similar to English...

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

Burjassot, Spain

I had the opportunity today to go up on the roof to get a closer look at the telescopes. In addition to what I'm showing here, they also have a solar telescope which they've rigged up to project into the classroom which is right below these telescopes. I'm also going to be attending the public viewing session tonight.
This is Enric standing next to the refractor. Enric maintains the telescopes, hosts public viewing sessions, and also manages the department's computers. I discovered today that there are actually two domes on the roof. The larger one holds the refractor, and the smaller one holds a Schmidt-Cassegrain. This is their 3-m radio telescope.


While on the roof, I noticed something interesting on the ground below. Because space is at a premium, they have above-ground cemeteries.

Monday, June 5, 2006

Burjassot, Spain

The University of Valencia has three campuses. The one that I am visiting is the scientific campus, located in the suburb of Burjassot. The colleague who kindly agreed to let me visit is a faculty member in the Department d'Astronomia i Astrofísica, which is housed in the Edifici d'Investigació Jeroni Muñoz. This building is probably the most photogenic on campus.
The desk I am working at looks out one of the windows on the top of this side. It's a nice view. They have both an optical and a radio telescope for teaching.

Saturday, June 3, 2006

Valencia, Spain

Today I went for a walk through the city center to see some sites...

(A side note: I am trying to give the names of all of these things in Valenciano, which is the local dialect of Catalan, since that is the language the Valencians use to describe these things. (It should be noted that some Valencians feel that Valenciano is a completely independent language. I am of course in no position to judge.))

I started with a walk through the Jardí del Túria (garden of the Turia). This is a long, narrow park (it is the green strip you see in the map at this link) with trees and playgrounds and paths. It traces the path that the Turia River used to take. After the river overflowed its banks and flooded the city in 1957, it was diverted to another path outside the city and they built this park.

I walked along the park until I came to the Torres de Serrans. This gate was built in the 1390's, and was an entrance to the city, which was surrounded by a wall. The Torres de Serrans is one of only two gates still standing.

I next walked to the Plaça de la Verge. This ground of this plaza is tiled with marble, which was pretty. It also has a fountain, and is bordered by the Basilica de Mare de Deu dels Desamparats (Our Lady of the Abandoned), which is connected to the Catedral with its bell tower known as the Micalet. Construction of the Cathedral began in 1262.
The fountain The Basilica

The back door to the Cathedral The Micalet The main door to the Cathedral

Next I headed down to the Plaça de l'Ajuntament (plaza of the city hall), where there's a fountain and, well, city hall.
The fountain City Hall

At this point I was tired, so I hopped on the metro and headed back to my apartment.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Valencia, Spain
I am staying in an apartment in Valencia. It is on the fifth floor of a building which is about 30 years old.

Living and dining area Kitchen One of the four bedrooms
Bath

Monday, May 29, 2006 and Tuesday, May 30, 2006

A day full of airports... (I was also at Newark, but forgot to take a picture.)

KCI Madrid (this is the new T4 terminal) Valencia

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Lawrence, KS, USA
Logan's third birthday...

Friday, May 26, 2006

Topeka, KS, USA
Stoffer Science Hall, before the trip...

Northeast corner West side Southwest corner
Lobby

Blue Springs, MO, USA
And a brand new niece!

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Lawrence, KS, USA
Just playing with the camera

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