tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-116431302024-03-07T22:40:50.259+00:00Northern PhotosFirst Iceland, then London, now Heidelberg. Next... the world?
<p>Primeiro a Islândia, depois Londres, agora Heidelberg. A seguir... o mundo?</p>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-41344209889166924822011-07-05T20:03:00.000+00:002011-07-05T20:03:49.259+00:00Doha II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Doha deve ser de facto um paraíso para os amantes de arquitectura moderna. Às vezes, parece que foi palco de uma competição de arquitectura e design, mas em que os concorrentes, em lugar de apresentarem maquetes e plantas a concurso, construíram de facto os edifícios...<br />
<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Doha must be a real paradise for anyone with a passion for modern architecture. At times, it's almost as if the city staged an architecture and design competition, in which contenders actually built their buildings, instead of simply presenting scale models and blueprints to the juri.</span><br />
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</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHtCoor0GEgQl0XOLGOcMHW_Ne8DebTYDpX2kkUO9fk1SC_GzAJz-FgFiyaIPXtRCikft0wI-3LM0CcN-mse7kOj3mjQWq7N86UNPEm4orHzOp8NC6dtq5sPUUkD_roeAne3xyA/s1600/P1020103.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLHtCoor0GEgQl0XOLGOcMHW_Ne8DebTYDpX2kkUO9fk1SC_GzAJz-FgFiyaIPXtRCikft0wI-3LM0CcN-mse7kOj3mjQWq7N86UNPEm4orHzOp8NC6dtq5sPUUkD_roeAne3xyA/s320/P1020103.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Um pátio interior no edifício onde se realizou a conferência. | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">An inner courtyard at the conference venue.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oFocSAY0WQnitfBejgzN_AfdSNy4I99OsM5JiLHEJZqE6Ddkl6yZJ1GH-WZxGzncubcYVDa8ku2uMmmdDFqckNWTuV6RzFl5kHSkcQm9toWRjuNQg9WCJT1MxO8iL3ALiHXyOA/s1600/P1020111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0oFocSAY0WQnitfBejgzN_AfdSNy4I99OsM5JiLHEJZqE6Ddkl6yZJ1GH-WZxGzncubcYVDa8ku2uMmmdDFqckNWTuV6RzFl5kHSkcQm9toWRjuNQg9WCJT1MxO8iL3ALiHXyOA/s320/P1020111.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Um edifício ao pé do meu hotel. | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">A building near my hotel.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqAVoFfqOyh6KUbyvvwtNr2en1vdrifn-jzadmhNVh-wXbt2fVoAwGBjn2a4ymy5UDSIZRVEKL46Y1j39fI6nKNv3Wqm5vGjGdD69BbquQKgmT8ZzDA3Y22E5DJDwYYVAJHr6gA/s1600/P1020128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJqAVoFfqOyh6KUbyvvwtNr2en1vdrifn-jzadmhNVh-wXbt2fVoAwGBjn2a4ymy5UDSIZRVEKL46Y1j39fI6nKNv3Wqm5vGjGdD69BbquQKgmT8ZzDA3Y22E5DJDwYYVAJHr6gA/s320/P1020128.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">O hotel Sheraton e os barcos de pesca tradicionais (a motor!), agora convertidos para passear turistas, vistos da "promenade" à beira-mar. | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The Sheraton hotel and the traditional fishing boats (motor-powered!), now converted for tourist trips, all seen from the seaside 'promenade'.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Quando passeei aqui, eram 7 da tarde, e por isso os habitantes de Doha estavam a aproveitar o "fresco" da tarde (acima de 40ºC) para fazer jogging (incluindo algumas senhoras com o tradicional fato preto comprido, só com os olhos e os ténis à vista), flexões e abdominais na relva...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">When I went for a walk by the seafront here, it was 7 o'clock in the evening, so the locals were taking advantage of the evening 'cool' (over 40ºC!) to do their jogging, push-ups and sit-ups on the grass...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP69vXiq6eU1n6VhuvFSCncddI_CabOaazjwF73OftQ8zI6iY6vWotB5yldGcoKO6RM-UkNsyME3PQ6VC1iDQZKxa8V5TJHHsNdlrxXJ59eYbwFMAEseugnaJrf40UXTnVB_N1pQ/s1600/P1020140.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULt5YuEh7U60H6t_ofS-7lZgsa67NKp_WKzsgrYXtLnAPaRSkBjx8VlmE2A5yjrkvtoJplhWZ8Wy8aXZLKTVMNGOz0NcN7rK-XfxNuIhKY_IwR0QNmRAQoNJAs2NFO_GA8zsvYg/s1600/P1020139.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjULt5YuEh7U60H6t_ofS-7lZgsa67NKp_WKzsgrYXtLnAPaRSkBjx8VlmE2A5yjrkvtoJplhWZ8Wy8aXZLKTVMNGOz0NcN7rK-XfxNuIhKY_IwR0QNmRAQoNJAs2NFO_GA8zsvYg/s320/P1020139.JPG" width="240" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Um edifício da companhia de petróleo e gás do Qatar, ao anoitecer. | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">A building belonging to Qatar's oil and gas company, at dusk.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP69vXiq6eU1n6VhuvFSCncddI_CabOaazjwF73OftQ8zI6iY6vWotB5yldGcoKO6RM-UkNsyME3PQ6VC1iDQZKxa8V5TJHHsNdlrxXJ59eYbwFMAEseugnaJrf40UXTnVB_N1pQ/s1600/P1020140.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Um edifício de escritórios, em todo o seu esplendor nocturno. | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">An office building in all its nightly splendor.</span></div></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-42197665740625861412011-07-04T21:27:00.001+00:002011-07-04T21:28:24.289+00:00Doha, Qatar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Aqui ficam umas imagens da capital do Qatar, onde estive na <a href="http://www.wcsj2011.org/">conferência mundial de jornalistas de ciência</a>: | <span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Some photos of Qatar's capital, where I attended the</span> <a href="http://www.wcsj2011.org/">World Conference of Science Journalists:</a></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2b_rpxDmi1eBb0ph4zwz-kPTxpHT6RnBAuqCEyFPUEj19TffYy4CEQQG9rZUJ-WyruSJutJkhNwbTQPjRCNRlApQfyE9WQkrvUuh8Mc_IqFynch4CMg_YF0ZD96CqA_FZ7PqB2g/s1600/P1020096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2b_rpxDmi1eBb0ph4zwz-kPTxpHT6RnBAuqCEyFPUEj19TffYy4CEQQG9rZUJ-WyruSJutJkhNwbTQPjRCNRlApQfyE9WQkrvUuh8Mc_IqFynch4CMg_YF0ZD96CqA_FZ7PqB2g/s320/P1020096.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A vista do meu quarto | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">The view from my room</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lkFp7swmQ8iHoBBtg4NyQdrQizwDuwgLLkB5wGl1qB2AuCLu5DlzjHYnJp-J75sRLHL01zbIGMyKEIIHKrkn-nbjKs7Nt8zzimQ0jsDMbQiyBHwyWdKf81-Mz_1aq2P8ugN-Ug/s1600/P1020112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9lkFp7swmQ8iHoBBtg4NyQdrQizwDuwgLLkB5wGl1qB2AuCLu5DlzjHYnJp-J75sRLHL01zbIGMyKEIIHKrkn-nbjKs7Nt8zzimQ0jsDMbQiyBHwyWdKf81-Mz_1aq2P8ugN-Ug/s320/P1020112.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Uma "rua" de Doha | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">A Doha 'street' </span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: cyan;"> </span> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6-_Qhan8H7kGBNu1IFs2jJH0W0vsBYIr9Jy-pq8oWAhPC7txRVix3-TDig-7Har4Wk1miJL-mDV5flC6j6buBMARACASZptCztHu7V-HTZYGOO5uZ26NgJLrFwMX_j_GcvDsXg/s1600/P1020137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6-_Qhan8H7kGBNu1IFs2jJH0W0vsBYIr9Jy-pq8oWAhPC7txRVix3-TDig-7Har4Wk1miJL-mDV5flC6j6buBMARACASZptCztHu7V-HTZYGOO5uZ26NgJLrFwMX_j_GcvDsXg/s320/P1020137.JPG" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Outra "rua": entre mim e os prédios estão 6 faixas de trânsito | <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Another street: there are 6 lanes of traffic between me and the buildings </span></div><br />
Quanto à conferência:<br />
Conheci pessoas fantásticas (incluindo algumas que já conhecia "virtualmente"), e não tive mais de meia dúzia de conversas que não fossem interessantes. Resumindo: foi um sucesso (para mim, pelo menos)!<br />
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc;">As for the conference, I met fantastic people (including some I knew from the 'virtual world'), and can't have had more than half a dozen conversations that were not interesting. In short: the conference was a success (for me, at least)!</span><br />
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</div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-80012717573803978472010-11-30T17:54:00.002+00:002010-12-01T18:20:29.812+00:00Barcelona – parte 3Ora neste dia finalmente conseguimos comprar bilhetes e ir até Figueires... e no caminho reparámos que os bilhetes (que não podíamos comprar de véspera) eram válidos por um mês! Ou melhor, o bilhete de volta era válido por um mês... Conclusão: se quiserem comprar bilhetes com antecedência, aparentemente o truque é ir até Figueires e comprar um bilhete de ida e volta para Barcelona, e assim podem ir de Barcelona a Figueires em qualquer dia durante o mês seguinte, sem estar na fila!<br />
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Seja como for, lá chegámos a Figueires e seguimos as placas/o nosso mapa até que avistámos o Museo Dalí. Curiosamente, todas as fotos que tínhamos visto na net e nos guias davam a ideia de que o museu está sozinho, com bastante espaço à volta – não sei muito bem como, porque, como descobrimos quando lá chegámos, ele está basicamente encaixado num mini-largo, rodeado de casas...<br />
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As traseiras, sim, têm um bocadinho mais espaço (mas também não muito...):<br />
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Como entretanto eram horas de almoço, achámos que seria boa ideia comer antes de o explorar. O nosso guia falava num castelo ali perto que supostamente tinha um jardim, que nos pareceu um óptimo sítio para comer as nossas sandochas... até darmos 3 ou 4 voltas ao quarteirão onde supostamente estariam o castelo e o jardim, e nem sinal deles... Havia um jardinzito pequeno ali ao pé, tinha bancos à sombra, e nós tínhamos fome, portanto pusemos de parte a ideia do castelo e ficámos mesmo por ali.<br />
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Depois desta aventura, lá entrámos realmente no museu, que foi tão vislumbrante e (passe a piada) surreal como esperávamos, ou talvez mais! Acho que não há muitas palavras que consigam fazer justiça às criações deste senhor, portanto deixo antes algumas imagens (que não se comparam, nem de perto nem de longe, com <b>estar lá</b>):<br />
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Depois de algumas conversas menos lisonjeiras quanto ao amor que eu e a Rain temos pelo Natal, tenho, no entanto, que referir que o museu tem uma sala onde estão expostos os postais de Natal que Salvador Dalí criou, um por ano, durante 20 anos... Aqui fica um dos meus preferidos:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSQ6LzxXyd1Q60yj3zB_kr_U1C_5JlR7hdCLRZRc-8bLEieqHPQq2SGlt5Fe81PvzoNAS3cxlJOzONYKOFVXeykN-s0ExQWB5kXSVviqIhKF19sNEq3ZQ8Al8hNBumukIn34Ztg/s1600/dali_natal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSQ6LzxXyd1Q60yj3zB_kr_U1C_5JlR7hdCLRZRc-8bLEieqHPQq2SGlt5Fe81PvzoNAS3cxlJOzONYKOFVXeykN-s0ExQWB5kXSVviqIhKF19sNEq3ZQ8Al8hNBumukIn34Ztg/s320/dali_natal.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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Ao lado do museu (e incluído no bilhete) está um outro museu dedicado às jóias desenhadas por Dalí. Como nenhuma de nós é dada a ornamentos muito espalhafatosos, não ficámos propriamente com vontade de levar nenhuma das jóias para casa, mas gostámos ambas de ver os desenhos originais do Dalí ao lado de algumas das respectivas jóias.<br />
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Ainda pensámos em ficar em Figueires durante um mês para justificar o esforço de conseguir os bilhetes, mas a ideia de um jantar no chinês ao pé de casa da Rain acabou por levar a melhor...Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-15390106346822443172010-10-11T19:13:00.001+00:002010-10-11T19:16:51.736+00:00Barcelona - parte II<div style="text-align: justify;">Neste dia a ideia era irmos até Figueires ver o Museu Dalí, mas quando chegámos à estação, munidas com o horário dos comboios e o mapa de como chegar ao Museu, descobrimos que umas máquinas só vendem bilhetes para os comboios locais e outras só vendem para os de longa distância - nenhuma vende para os de distância "média". Adivinhem em que categoria entra o trajecto Barcelona - Figueires... Ora, a fila para a bilheteira dos comboios de média distância estava - surpresa das surpresas - tão comprida que seria impossível comprarmos o bilhete a tempo de ainda apanharmos o comboio que queríamos, portanto fomos forçadas a uma mudança de planos.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Deixámos Dalí para o dia seguinte, e fomos antes apreciar uma das obras de Gaudí: o espantoso Parc Güell.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">O parque é realmente incrível, e para além dos conhecidos bancos ondulados cobertos de pedacinhos de azulejo, e do famoso lagarto logo à entrada, está cheio doutros pormenores curiosos, como estas "ondas" de pedra:</div><br />
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... ou as casas logo à entrada, que parecem feitas de açúcar:<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Mas acho que o que mais me deslumbrou foi esta zona, que a minha guia-anfitriã me explicou tinha inicialmente sido pensada como um espaço para o mercado (mas que nunca chegou a ser usado para tal). Eu já estava a achar um piadão ao facto de as colunas que suportam o tecto estarem em ângulos bizarros, mas isso a modos que passou para segundo plano quando a Rain me apontou o tecto.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Desgraçada, depois disso teve que esperar um bom bocado enquanto eu andava de olhar esgazeado para trás e para a frente, a apreciar as diferentes formas e cores, e tirar milhentas fotografias... Quase me senti uma turista japonesa! Quando finalmente deixámos para trás o Parc Güell, íamos a descer a rua quando encontrámos uma rua toda decorada para as festas locais – e o melhor é que as decorações eram todas feitas com garrafas de plástico e outras embalagens!</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Seguimos caminho, e fomos almoçar num jardim com vista para a Sagrada Família, onde até conseguimos encontrar um banco quase à sombra!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3vHKE9bCEdNEP4dhE5EfLZFIMv7mjovMGHtkftioNFN4gTxPgd8khyv1Sa463MSKhsV451hee_MbaKk_4pxStSoA1P8hgcDQ9lgrrW2EYeI6ttSnO5nwDyb7X7_tWgK49En7mg/s1600/sagrada_familia2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3vHKE9bCEdNEP4dhE5EfLZFIMv7mjovMGHtkftioNFN4gTxPgd8khyv1Sa463MSKhsV451hee_MbaKk_4pxStSoA1P8hgcDQ9lgrrW2EYeI6ttSnO5nwDyb7X7_tWgK49En7mg/s320/sagrada_familia2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Demos uma voltinha pelo exterior daquela que vai passar a ser a nova catedral de Barcelona - quando um dia estiver acabada - a deleitar-nos com os pormenores que o sr. Gaudí escondeu em cada recanto, e depois fomos apanhar o teleférico para subir até ao Castell de Montjuic.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Do teleférico têm-se umas vistas bonitas da cidade e do verde do monte. Quando chegámos, ficámos entusiasmadas com o anúncio de uma exposição sobre o futuro do Castell, já que aparentemente andam há uns tempos a discutir o que fazer com aquele espaço (que foi devolvido pelas forças armadas há poucos anos). Uma exposição sobre o futuro do Castell, pensámos nós, iria finalmente dizer para que ia ser usado, ou pelo menos mostrar quais eram as diferentes hipóteses em debate. Afinal, a exposição era mais uma história do castelo do que outra coisa - de "futuro", só uma animação no final que mostrava a construção de um anfiteatro algures... Impressionadas com esta exposição visionária, seguimos até ao topo da fortaleza para apreciar a vista do mar (e do porto). </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Parámos para beber qualquer coisa num quiosque ali à entrada do castelo, e causámos algum embaraço ao empregado quando este se apercebeu que percebíamos castelhano, incluindo os comentários que ele tinha estado a fazer ao colega... Ainda bem que não comentámos muito a situação ali, porque logo a seguir descobrimos que o colega era brasileiro!</div><br />
Já refrescadas, começámos a descer o monte, parando, claro, para andar neste escorrega:<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Um rapaz inglês sentiu-se inspirado e fez o mesmo, mas não conseguiu convencer a cara-metade... o que nós achámos bastante triste... Mas pronto, lá seguimos pelo monte abaixo em direcção ao estádio olímpico, cuja fachada clássica parece destoar um bocado do "espírito" de Barcelona, mas enfim, quem sou eu para questionar... À entrada do estádio há um pormenor brilhante: no chão vêem-se as pegadas de várias estrelas do desporto mundial. O meu 35 até nem parece muito pequeno ao lado do pé da Nadia Comaneci, mas havia outros em que a perspectiva era bem diferente, garanto... Confesso que também achei uma certa piada a comparar os tipos de sapatos do pessoal dos vários desportos (filha de sapateiro, irmã de desportista, só podia dar nisto!).</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Na descida ainda passámos na Font Magica, mas ainda faltavam umas horas para o espectáculo, portanto decidimos antes ir comer um Bikini (que noutras línguas menos gráficas se chama tosta mista) num jardimzinho enquanto víamos os velhotes das redondezas a passear os cães - ou, nalguns casos, os cães a passear os velhotes...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A caminho de casa, passámos na estação de comboios para comprar bilhetes para Figueires para o dia seguinte. Resposta do senhor da bilheteira: não podem – para estes comboios só se podem comprar bilhetes no próprio dia!</div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-88250544998168836232010-09-23T20:22:00.000+00:002010-09-23T20:22:57.846+00:00Barcelona - parte I<div style="text-align: justify;">Depois de 3 dias de trabalho no EMBO Meeting, no quarto dia pude literalmente desmontar a barraca e ir passear... com direito a guia turística e tudo! A sempre-simpática e hospitaleira <a href="http://www.orange-clouds.blogspot.com/">Rain</a> levou-me, nessa primeira tarde, num passeio pelo centro da cidade, com passagem, claro está, por alguns edifícios do Gaudí, como a casa Batlló, cujas varandas parecem máscaras de Carnaval:</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPJWIjTVt7YCq6pA_ambYzEV8l2y-bZIDcPbzy9sFcMAZ3ZmvVdalriRindW9OriyZsOrNspaplJb3tkKniVbQNDJKc3stDOAYPzOeDazp-jh4UscJAko3E-vHdMt-T_06fooqQ/s1600/casa_batllo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPJWIjTVt7YCq6pA_ambYzEV8l2y-bZIDcPbzy9sFcMAZ3ZmvVdalriRindW9OriyZsOrNspaplJb3tkKniVbQNDJKc3stDOAYPzOeDazp-jh4UscJAko3E-vHdMt-T_06fooqQ/s400/casa_batllo.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Ora como a minha guia me explicou, esta casa está localizada no chamado "quarteirão da discórdia", porque quando a cidade de Barcelona começou a expandir para além das muralhas, confiaram a vários arquitectos diferentes a planificação das casas, sem nenhum padrão nem regras gerais, e o resultado foi uma colecção algo... errática... como se nota pelos bocadinhos dos prédios vizinhos na foto acima.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Descemos até às Ramblas, que, embora sejam supostamente uma das atracções da cidade, não me impressionaram por aí além (confesso). Basicamente, é uma rua com uma zona pedonal no meio com árvores e esplanadas, e duas faixas de trânsito bastante movimentadas de cada lado. Honestamente, acho que a Av. da Liberdade, em Lisboa, convida mais ao passeio — e é sem dúvida mais larga...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seguimos em direcção ao mar, e aí sim há um passeio simpático, que inclui até uma ponte com desvios para plataformas laterais onde o pessoal pode ficar simplesmente a admirar a paisagem.</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Tinha chovido enquanto eu arrumava o estaminé ainda dentro do centro de congressos, mas por altura do nosso passeio já fazia sol, estava uma temperatura simpática, por isso parámos do lado de lá da ponte para comprar umas garrafas de água. Não esperávamos era passar uns belos 5 minutos a tentar abrir uma garrafa! Em nossa defesa, a garrafa estava deformada...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">No regresso, passámos por umas pontes por cima da estrada que pareciam prensas, e vimos uma escultura brilhante de uma lagosta:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAey3tIhC9iYuaiVwoq2x2yaGn1qYjEOGMTHQ_PaXzhSpmSDPY3_ZIe6T2h6_iATPD2BynM4a4pMLzPfRpoH4IRoJzETaLzRzF-IR8rj-AHewGqG_jSoqvxMCVWKvKKkDNrB0aA/s1600/lagosta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAey3tIhC9iYuaiVwoq2x2yaGn1qYjEOGMTHQ_PaXzhSpmSDPY3_ZIe6T2h6_iATPD2BynM4a4pMLzPfRpoH4IRoJzETaLzRzF-IR8rj-AHewGqG_jSoqvxMCVWKvKKkDNrB0aA/s320/lagosta.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Ah, e pelo meio passámos por um edifício das forças armadas, que tinha umas esculturas no topo que supomos representem os vários ramos das ditas — agora digam lá, não gostavam de saber qual o 'briefing' que resultou nisto?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQUWIrKqh0o9AHOFD0B1WF5EQCuOGsF7Kwt2Dk_tfmjx7sSxeU7JbR5QrTXTNDqYLfhx-61dGFYQZmgANL5FeqfXMGQ0UBcEpaxp9W-8vR_1WOWRpEYtQ4CVh1GaD0Fw90jufMw/s1600/farmadas1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQUWIrKqh0o9AHOFD0B1WF5EQCuOGsF7Kwt2Dk_tfmjx7sSxeU7JbR5QrTXTNDqYLfhx-61dGFYQZmgANL5FeqfXMGQ0UBcEpaxp9W-8vR_1WOWRpEYtQ4CVh1GaD0Fw90jufMw/s200/farmadas1.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwEwTeSb3jxy8jewVoqhoWG1bidG39lCEITYjnVjyovtcP3C1X8gp6-lndZXk01FpG3f5Rc46bMynsHNzsmXF_v1edlncL3i3uFb6Bd4w1dfYTsJhIIC_RTA1sXx3MjM80BIwUA/s1600/farmadas2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwEwTeSb3jxy8jewVoqhoWG1bidG39lCEITYjnVjyovtcP3C1X8gp6-lndZXk01FpG3f5Rc46bMynsHNzsmXF_v1edlncL3i3uFb6Bd4w1dfYTsJhIIC_RTA1sXx3MjM80BIwUA/s200/farmadas2.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH7usW0ruYOd8Il-4ceRCPeAYBlSTGR4EX2XmefzuvCGmffm9UvXnUZaJLzoXUUn8J8JegLdAHAKrUK5pSr8tnkqUxUGXVEuOjQsD7t646dg0ezYDmHLSuFIKNVGUH-ZUOWHsfg/s1600/farmadas3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH7usW0ruYOd8Il-4ceRCPeAYBlSTGR4EX2XmefzuvCGmffm9UvXnUZaJLzoXUUn8J8JegLdAHAKrUK5pSr8tnkqUxUGXVEuOjQsD7t646dg0ezYDmHLSuFIKNVGUH-ZUOWHsfg/s200/farmadas3.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1FP9KNxAjxvE55Kf4YjnsckI5rXpUoUZS9OI5jsvt8efr5qg1Fpu5mysCHuIdQe8ZN9EB3uCHNplHTDdsUCma3Cn0e6voR4EK9jJhElTnIiiU5VtOO65UosRi6GKmOo5ddFfoA/s1600/farmadas5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1FP9KNxAjxvE55Kf4YjnsckI5rXpUoUZS9OI5jsvt8efr5qg1Fpu5mysCHuIdQe8ZN9EB3uCHNplHTDdsUCma3Cn0e6voR4EK9jJhElTnIiiU5VtOO65UosRi6GKmOo5ddFfoA/s200/farmadas5.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Voltando a afastar-nos da zona marítima, ainda tivemos tempo de vislumbrar uma secção da antiga muralha da cidade, passear na zona da catedral, e ver uns senhores a fazer bolas de sabão praticamente do tamanho deles, antes de entrarmos no restaurante de tapas de eleição da minha anfitriã, para jantar.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmfoxTDMdO59a98uVp89xjy0BVKJtnIV1aCNdNVEtAtCF2reQr5Tsm-zuleKMN9lkSJEWHQ83y6xUnhUBPyRG4B72b0PZkoRH9STelkv0kOXCuDVkcmJbgeyio-gB-b5tIGTSww/s1600/castelo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmfoxTDMdO59a98uVp89xjy0BVKJtnIV1aCNdNVEtAtCF2reQr5Tsm-zuleKMN9lkSJEWHQ83y6xUnhUBPyRG4B72b0PZkoRH9STelkv0kOXCuDVkcmJbgeyio-gB-b5tIGTSww/s400/castelo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Estávamos nós a estudar o menú quando começa a chover a potes lá fora, com trovoada e tudo! No entanto, quando finalmente acabámos de nos deliciar com as tapas, tinha parado de chover, e nem tivemos que recorrer ao metro para voltar para casa: pudemos seguir a pé nas calmas - e na maior das tagarelices (<i>aliás, o som de fundo para todo este post e os seguintes é o de duas raparigas a conversar quase ininterruptamente...</i>)</div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-62958522351581277922010-07-20T18:23:00.000+00:002010-07-20T18:23:07.086+00:00Relances de TorinoFui a Torino, no norte de Itália, a uma conferência, e aproveitei para passear um bocadinho pela cidade.<br />
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Tenho a dizer que não houve nada que me deslumbrasse particularmente, mas ficam umas imagens de coisas que me chamaram a atenção enquanto passeava…<br />
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O palácio de Belas Artes, em cujo pátio foi a festa da conferência (apesar de toda a informação que nos deram dizer que ia ser num castelo ao pé do rio... cof):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s9R8EEnuC3xsgokNXI5vC6maW9LblmabjFtvC9_j2VT_nmG2k9WlHb0LvRUfc5L9FOifvO4K56BbUVgKrKnLlhtu9h94WS4j6hS6vUEMC0Qb8Rx8n2sJ1gEMZ3rad0P5cd2ZWA/s1600/belas_artes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s9R8EEnuC3xsgokNXI5vC6maW9LblmabjFtvC9_j2VT_nmG2k9WlHb0LvRUfc5L9FOifvO4K56BbUVgKrKnLlhtu9h94WS4j6hS6vUEMC0Qb8Rx8n2sJ1gEMZ3rad0P5cd2ZWA/s320/belas_artes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Uma das portas da cidade (acho eu): <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsr1ZT88Amv-a__jY-OuLMsdJxQwJLWhUf01Rdg4fiBL25mfd2mi9jVPuNslQinIvWLnTAAGQN5Z3vu7_o9ouIFim66fiVkbeeCf7MK1YXvxkZFkTj3kWUEK9MUyb0lNFN3_HfLg/s1600/porta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsr1ZT88Amv-a__jY-OuLMsdJxQwJLWhUf01Rdg4fiBL25mfd2mi9jVPuNslQinIvWLnTAAGQN5Z3vu7_o9ouIFim66fiVkbeeCf7MK1YXvxkZFkTj3kWUEK9MUyb0lNFN3_HfLg/s320/porta.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A maior praça ao lado do rio (a linha de árvores ao fundo marca a estrada que passa mesmo à beira-rio, e o edifício com cúpula já é na outra margem): <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIV4XDVr8XQJ_UnZovOrlzCbpfsMpoiNmpXb4MVa8CkTqvuC7NOAH3D4qwV1jM9ORPBguQKnvViSgMPDy1bjSvvPMGX5KfCC84FPjzbadoyOYn2vvPnUcKISDts9GtNHLxU65vA/s1600/praca_rio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIV4XDVr8XQJ_UnZovOrlzCbpfsMpoiNmpXb4MVa8CkTqvuC7NOAH3D4qwV1jM9ORPBguQKnvViSgMPDy1bjSvvPMGX5KfCC84FPjzbadoyOYn2vvPnUcKISDts9GtNHLxU65vA/s320/praca_rio.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Numa passagem à beira-rio, estava este mural ao qual achei uma certa piada (e de onde deduzo que os ratos de computador também se chamem ratos em italiano):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsuUKXDsEOmokfcQcUFz5Fktya_RS38dk3Ut1pSuZUK5nUSZqr0myUYD9Mh2DQLZT0FRXX1D7QNzmY6TC7f8NtVryXkGZ40jLv-hyfSezXf8AZKNZbXJmNTMnRkpA-u6Y8sdkrQ/s1600/mural.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsuUKXDsEOmokfcQcUFz5Fktya_RS38dk3Ut1pSuZUK5nUSZqr0myUYD9Mh2DQLZT0FRXX1D7QNzmY6TC7f8NtVryXkGZ40jLv-hyfSezXf8AZKNZbXJmNTMnRkpA-u6Y8sdkrQ/s320/mural.jpg" /></a></div>Subindo do rio de volta para o centro da cidade pelo outro lado da praça, encontrámos estas "bandeiras" que vão contando a história da cidade (reconhecemos as invasões napoleónicas!):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7PtJRMrySigbdfeT2i6KW8JzKL16DwZOc5XWql72b4dKqmlQtWqy-MBR5jH7kr0CEZysMKGJ0XQXw8DOVu8VCX5teObGDyofDeEki5sT37gMcT3rKOLLeoxV2-SRqB9J_ARZrg/s1600/historia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7PtJRMrySigbdfeT2i6KW8JzKL16DwZOc5XWql72b4dKqmlQtWqy-MBR5jH7kr0CEZysMKGJ0XQXw8DOVu8VCX5teObGDyofDeEki5sT37gMcT3rKOLLeoxV2-SRqB9J_ARZrg/s320/historia.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Uma das "atracções do centro da cidade é a Piazza Castello, que tem o castelo que lhe dá o nome (à praça, não à cidade!). Suponho que o castelo nunca tenha servido para defender a cidade - considerando que está basicamente numa zona plana - mas se serviu, isso talvez explique a quantidade de invasões e guerras descritas nas "bandeiras" da história...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhqhBDZjI9fOKP15jq9aM1MrGYy7C1h2Yb-oKdNxSs8kwU5JeFNCMiI_NUyNINBhc0ERk2SnHYvFmduIElSgIJVVtOiDkU656DYMUb_L_n9miHSG42mqOm-7hrGWsGTTtPlATbA/s1600/castelo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhqhBDZjI9fOKP15jq9aM1MrGYy7C1h2Yb-oKdNxSs8kwU5JeFNCMiI_NUyNINBhc0ERk2SnHYvFmduIElSgIJVVtOiDkU656DYMUb_L_n9miHSG42mqOm-7hrGWsGTTtPlATbA/s320/castelo.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Outra particularidade desta praça é que tem uma justaposição algo estranha de edifícios e estátuas de épocas completamente distintas (não se vê na foto, mas um pouco mais à esquerda está uma estátua egípcia...):<br />
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E pronto, lamento a fraca qualidade das fotos, e o facto de muitas serem de noite, mas... foi o que se arranjou, até porque eu não estava propriamente a ser paga para passear (e o centro de congressos e o hotel ainda eram longe do centro da cidade)...Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-43817707144194900722010-07-20T17:49:00.000+00:002010-07-20T17:49:09.728+00:00San Diego - part IIIA nice lady on the bus told the family in front of me that they should go straight to the pandas when they arrived at the zoo, as the babies are usually on show in the mornings, so I decided to follow the advice. And sure enough, when I reached the Giant Panda enclosure, there was Yun Zi, the newest member of the Zoo's panda family, aged 6 months (I think!):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpwn4xl_M4m9wOFYY25_vck2JVxopzWy8wQcbNm-Vxz7y4iXz6oUZuYQGMZbhWZdawpoUiwUanLZMH880P35G_NH3Qn29KrGswp1zxz08-a6NtFRKKtgQnjRoZOJ-nlpKvR2Q8g/s1600/yun_zi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCpwn4xl_M4m9wOFYY25_vck2JVxopzWy8wQcbNm-Vxz7y4iXz6oUZuYQGMZbhWZdawpoUiwUanLZMH880P35G_NH3Qn29KrGswp1zxz08-a6NtFRKKtgQnjRoZOJ-nlpKvR2Q8g/s320/yun_zi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Adult Giant Pandas leave scent marks as news bulletins for other pandas: "this is my territory", "I'm in heat", or "I'm a good-looking guy, come and get me". Okay, only males leave that last message. And when they do, one of the ways they show off how great they are is by doing a headstand, so as to leave their scent as high up a tree trunk as possible (thus demonstrating how big and strong they are). Well, Yun Zi is already practicing for that moment... although when I visited he was still at the stage where the headstand turned into a somersault as soon as his feet left the ground:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLiEV0Qkx5VZbKoRjVeb1pWkR_rXWahVyqbkA9hAqUXFgPfijDuQYiEmyTQpNu2DvxTkMHpc09MTwKSDvjbjfz-BwZYLbdnafdByQVoWxu0HLfRDBYDV3c4nk27yXEbRA3_X8Gwg/s1600/headstand_marking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLiEV0Qkx5VZbKoRjVeb1pWkR_rXWahVyqbkA9hAqUXFgPfijDuQYiEmyTQpNu2DvxTkMHpc09MTwKSDvjbjfz-BwZYLbdnafdByQVoWxu0HLfRDBYDV3c4nk27yXEbRA3_X8Gwg/s320/headstand_marking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
After gawking at Yun Zi for a suitable amount of time, I went on to explore the rest of the zoo. It has some really nice enclosures, including a huge pool for the hippos, where you can even see below the water level to watch them when they dive. Of course, when I was there all the hippos were lying happily behind some logs at the far end of the bank, enjoying the sunshine... even though the water did look inviting!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGx2BQZY8-ArmclLPXfU1UxXszmsIa68QaX0BlfW6WpAR3XCbb-pK_YXoc414OINTczFd_GaatkNzVQMtkwS5OcWSklm61s7qfh4ajEOROQyJW8TflP1JJ-jvn_vyoWASuEPLSQ/s1600/hippo_dive.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGx2BQZY8-ArmclLPXfU1UxXszmsIa68QaX0BlfW6WpAR3XCbb-pK_YXoc414OINTczFd_GaatkNzVQMtkwS5OcWSklm61s7qfh4ajEOROQyJW8TflP1JJ-jvn_vyoWASuEPLSQ/s320/hippo_dive.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeaQ3v9zy79hI8N7pbGQL9Z2taI_o03qIyqHXXjrzwuLWCgxt-Q0q5CfZXQyGxlt2TqBH1q0jUisQTJP0Lmn_ZPhIVFDUJUkB9z4vyIagL1w5JLEUse-A5x2wUEmtoqGhYCiF-g/s1600/hippo_pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCeaQ3v9zy79hI8N7pbGQL9Z2taI_o03qIyqHXXjrzwuLWCgxt-Q0q5CfZXQyGxlt2TqBH1q0jUisQTJP0Lmn_ZPhIVFDUJUkB9z4vyIagL1w5JLEUse-A5x2wUEmtoqGhYCiF-g/s320/hippo_pool.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
'Polar Bear Plunge' I suppose must be based around the same kind of principle, but it was being remodeled, so I didn't get to see those bears, unfortunately, although I have to say the enclosures for other bears, and especially the accompanying information panels, were rather good.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were a number of other interesting things, including harpies, birds of paradise, and an enclosure with otters, monkeys and buffalo, but the professional photographer wasn't there so the evidence is somewhat dubious... And there were also little things that reminded you what country you were in - like coin-operated automatic foot-masseurs and escalators in the steepest areas...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TInu6TtSeRGX58GT7PkZRbzHWWVcGaYevFuOlrl9en-JObOeUoBECK4c1h1d2plSRAF118v4S27_T3bdkPZp09WStONuWsPW4Z55mVyiYo7Fob8JRacha-TndFCSmjUeIopi6A/s1600/foot_masseurs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7TInu6TtSeRGX58GT7PkZRbzHWWVcGaYevFuOlrl9en-JObOeUoBECK4c1h1d2plSRAF118v4S27_T3bdkPZp09WStONuWsPW4Z55mVyiYo7Fob8JRacha-TndFCSmjUeIopi6A/s320/foot_masseurs.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezS3xsSFkfW_zCOi4DZzCU9fTe2EGQhdjCjYeeCApt7lONSEPuo10eSZCI1Ic_SWqHzMkAG_YUDKpuErZUt2f4bJ4jydmnHIJM5I87_LXSymGtacimqvhcCUD1e2oxJaHHmA42A/s1600/escalator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiezS3xsSFkfW_zCOi4DZzCU9fTe2EGQhdjCjYeeCApt7lONSEPuo10eSZCI1Ic_SWqHzMkAG_YUDKpuErZUt2f4bJ4jydmnHIJM5I87_LXSymGtacimqvhcCUD1e2oxJaHHmA42A/s320/escalator.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
When I was beginning to head towards the exit, I saw a wombat! Unfortunately, the battery on the camera had run out by then, though... :s I suppose it might be an excuse to go back...<br />
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And that concludes the (belated) report on my trip to San Diego - hope you enjoyed it! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-49680115674808582732010-04-14T17:53:00.000+00:002010-04-14T17:53:12.797+00:00San Diego - part II<div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday, after the conference had finished, I bought a ticket for one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours (on the 'San Diego Trolleys', which are modeled on the old trams), and headed off across the bay to Coronado Island, which lies in front of San Diego, in hopes of getting a good view of the Pacific... which I did. Of course, I had to put my hand in the Pacific Ocean, to test the water (it's a time-honoured tradition in my family)! :) It seemed less salty than the Atlantic, at least at that spot...<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFoqi5IcAEKerEdd-qWspGDzbbVvqSqqQkbIdp4pMubLpErILPrpF7sMILON9jPx-4NH60Www0KzzZQ7spnxl-rtetRdRR3zRZX8d8HH3nLHClLGoJJW77bvSnEXRDG1D8PYtagw/s1600/pacific.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFoqi5IcAEKerEdd-qWspGDzbbVvqSqqQkbIdp4pMubLpErILPrpF7sMILON9jPx-4NH60Www0KzzZQ7spnxl-rtetRdRR3zRZX8d8HH3nLHClLGoJJW77bvSnEXRDG1D8PYtagw/s400/pacific.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was photographing shells and various unidentified items of birdlife (even the garden birds are all different over there, it being a different continent and what-not) on the beach, and watching a family (or rather, a father!) build a sand castle, when suddenly I looked up to find the beach was being invaded... by a seemingly never-ending stream of army men running as if they were the only ones there (I literally had to get out of the way...)!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9y0r-_cbhmcx-ixLNrz6Setf7tyN1n5h4ItBdqsEIOMc5hj8uAh0Hgol2Cc04pbwYl_qM0rYek9W2GhC8l_GLw0K9v5NdvDb4f_Dtq-LWd4swjJM0XedTnVNKWvA9QcGNZ9Sfw/s1600/invasion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn9y0r-_cbhmcx-ixLNrz6Setf7tyN1n5h4ItBdqsEIOMc5hj8uAh0Hgol2Cc04pbwYl_qM0rYek9W2GhC8l_GLw0K9v5NdvDb4f_Dtq-LWd4swjJM0XedTnVNKWvA9QcGNZ9Sfw/s400/invasion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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On Coronado Island, facing the beach, sits the Hotel Del Coronado, which was built without a plan - apparently, they'd finish work in the evening and discuss what to build the following morning... The result looks almost more like a collection of inter-connected houses than one complete building, but I admit it has a certain charm...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-51eICpQwPpgcwr_b5pwAw3KoqcNFaNhywBc9I2vDTygwGHa4foSRAXchy5MT-Ru2t8iWSEd2Lgz0YyPcp7TvR_1O6v4qQqWZkXe36VYEGLVeBTFGyzWh-i5TGbjmuwy-921_Gg/s1600/hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-51eICpQwPpgcwr_b5pwAw3KoqcNFaNhywBc9I2vDTygwGHa4foSRAXchy5MT-Ru2t8iWSEd2Lgz0YyPcp7TvR_1O6v4qQqWZkXe36VYEGLVeBTFGyzWh-i5TGbjmuwy-921_Gg/s400/hotel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another interesting curiosity about Coronado is this poor lonesome tree on what's essentially a traffic island, which is... a National Park! It's no wonder the USA is the country with most Natural Parks in the world, if they're counting things like this... :s (There's also a square where you can play 'spot the differences' with the houses, as there's a law that says no 2 houses on the island can be the same, so some construction company/architect made 6 or seven variations on a - very similar - theme, but I couldn't get a proper photo of that from the moving 'trolley')</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCp_Fs172qzgRm1UIliDmIMUxaxQ_GDBYRme0yKs4UZktL2dHWFcj9qcwSFQO7uzIlLOhXO6AlZUetredQOhinDp_SNndXlOQhJ6abh8W47MhTq6VATSc5AZdkbkg6EcPg_1qyQ/s1600/national_park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipCp_Fs172qzgRm1UIliDmIMUxaxQ_GDBYRme0yKs4UZktL2dHWFcj9qcwSFQO7uzIlLOhXO6AlZUetredQOhinDp_SNndXlOQhJ6abh8W47MhTq6VATSc5AZdkbkg6EcPg_1qyQ/s400/national_park.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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I left the island the same way I'd come, and this time kind of managed to get a picture of San Diego itself, while we were driving across the bridge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CSg9MrNUdGZe-l_EYJqF_mkVfcTPzi9zUaixJ8EuVw72uKN34bb2oAKlADFlapG0D1eJfvZLrD9rtoKs2EOppOvhw5nZ43hwdvDWAL3cvN9fhqnoJgiKEYk6EJyI5-O0h0P2pQ/s1600/san_diego.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CSg9MrNUdGZe-l_EYJqF_mkVfcTPzi9zUaixJ8EuVw72uKN34bb2oAKlADFlapG0D1eJfvZLrD9rtoKs2EOppOvhw5nZ43hwdvDWAL3cvN9fhqnoJgiKEYk6EJyI5-O0h0P2pQ/s400/san_diego.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Next stop on the bus route was Balboa Park, a piece of land which was set aside to create a park by some visionary who saw how much the city of New York had had to spend to buy back the land to build Central Park (the trolley driver/guide really delighted in telling us how San Diego had gotten a much larger park for much less money), and which now hosts 13 or 15 museums (depending on who you ask). These include the Botanical Pavilion (the photo shows the view from the pavilion's entrance) and the Natural History Museum. The latter was showing the Darwin exhibition I'd managed to miss first in London and then in Lisbon, so guess where I spent the next hour!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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Then it was back into town to find some supper, and get to sleep... or at least watch some olympic ice-skating from the hotel-room bed! ;)<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The following day, I went to the Zoo (which is also in Balboa Park)! This picture of the view from the Zoo's cable-car is only a teaser, to give you an idea of just how green San Diego Zoo is... </div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4VFGiI-YO-c7-sW56hePPbTIIhBRm_Y-N9DIacBoq98fqlEWD9-rej5WibtAJ5rk6W3GIcBe-_8QZl1AEjE5ix8zEniXwljEz3VSI48y4Zn2Z6IUFHXbF8QQEcQamDZVEJcUGg/s1600/zoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha4VFGiI-YO-c7-sW56hePPbTIIhBRm_Y-N9DIacBoq98fqlEWD9-rej5WibtAJ5rk6W3GIcBe-_8QZl1AEjE5ix8zEniXwljEz3VSI48y4Zn2Z6IUFHXbF8QQEcQamDZVEJcUGg/s400/zoo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The rest of the Zoo adventures will have to go on (yet) another (belated) post! ;)</div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-69177922692696388192010-02-18T17:30:00.000+00:002010-04-12T17:33:19.394+00:00San Diego<div style="text-align: justify;">So, a while ago, in my new capacity as Press Officer for EMBL (the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, for anyone who didn't know), I went to the annual meeting/conference organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, better known as 'the people who publish the journal Science). As several people have asked about this trip - my first time outside Europe - but I never got round to writing a proper post, here is an account partly taken from an email I sent my parents & brother:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">My first sight of another continent was the view of Hudson Bay from the plane - can't you almost convince yourself you can see polar bears down there? (or was that just a side-effect of 10hours on a plane combined with a lifelong passion for those creatures? Don't answer that...)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGSj4gzidTDPkLHYFYS7HMHEa2Rp3Prpbs5BvkUULmH9I2RzeARqpFpQRM3_KU4vnpov2-CMdlN9OG-rtHkGK4Z5zTYJf-sFjs30N56SNoNRSSQNbi5jIdhQjdjU7myMP1bEsEg/s1600/hudson_bay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGSj4gzidTDPkLHYFYS7HMHEa2Rp3Prpbs5BvkUULmH9I2RzeARqpFpQRM3_KU4vnpov2-CMdlN9OG-rtHkGK4Z5zTYJf-sFjs30N56SNoNRSSQNbi5jIdhQjdjU7myMP1bEsEg/s400/hudson_bay.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Once we had dropped off our bags and dirt (aka had a shower), my EMBL colleague Angela and I went hunting for a meal.. In the process, we found the official start of the historic part of town we were staying in, called the Gaslamp Quarter because all the street lamps used to be gas lamps and are supposedly still preserved (although now running on electricity).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-azPCscrvfVZ_iJuLQw3gNfO3hsI8MxtcoaJVMJAZMVXUlG7aLY70pKefUs6vQPQUsd7P58eCKij_MTid5yVd4MekdKk7khyphenhyphenZJug6nxCFApHjQi5i3hmDhNR70FQKc8IdpUDuIA/s1600/gaslamp_quarter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-azPCscrvfVZ_iJuLQw3gNfO3hsI8MxtcoaJVMJAZMVXUlG7aLY70pKefUs6vQPQUsd7P58eCKij_MTid5yVd4MekdKk7khyphenhyphenZJug6nxCFApHjQi5i3hmDhNR70FQKc8IdpUDuIA/s400/gaslamp_quarter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The strange thing is that actually this 'historic' quarter looks as if it could have been built last year (Ok, maybe 10 years ago)... it's all tall, modern buildings, with the occasional 'period' hotel thrown in for good measure (like the one we were staying at, which Angela described as "20th century American idea of Victorian" - I myself couldn't have put it better... the <i>pièce de résistance</i> was the box of tissues in the bathroom, which looked like marble, but was in fact plastic...)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">On our first walk to the convention centre (or center as it is spelled there), a street sign had me baffled for a few seconds... it seems a pretty good example of the American penchant for strange abbreviations... (the first non-American commenter to guess what it means wins a prize!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05C4T8p3Uc_VSgZZqSB-3YEd31TISfAUrg1UhAIHc1vEQOVO2v-QYJdSvXffnOEQkxHQJTCrhgIGWJUX1fojIi0Fj_wAKJ2Tot66qP89Z4xYYH3oWahQIIde95r4wop1SbUlhnw/s1600/american_abbrev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05C4T8p3Uc_VSgZZqSB-3YEd31TISfAUrg1UhAIHc1vEQOVO2v-QYJdSvXffnOEQkxHQJTCrhgIGWJUX1fojIi0Fj_wAKJ2Tot66qP89Z4xYYH3oWahQIIde95r4wop1SbUlhnw/s400/american_abbrev.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">By the way, for the first 2 days I was walking around thinking "that rhythm is familiar" everytime I stopped to cross at traffic lights, until Angela pointed out they were modelled on birdsongs! Most of the ones we came across were cuckoos, but at intersections where you could cross in 2 directions (and where the light for each turned green at a different time), they had different songs for each direction (we think the other was a nightingale, but we're not sure)...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another aspect of the trip for me was a kind of culture shock. First came the realization that the smallest coffee size at coffee shops seemed to always be called 'Tall', or 'large' or some other equivalent... On one of the evenings, for instance, we went out to supper with EMBL's Science & Society programme coordinator, who is Icelandic, and when the time came to choose desert, they rolled out a trolley to show us the different options. One was 2 profiteroles with chocolate sauce, and Angela and I decided they looked quite nice, and ordered one helping each - this is what each of us was brought! To give you an idea of scale, the spoon resting on the plate (which is what I was brought to eat it with) is <i><b>a soup spoon</b></i>! Welcome to America, I guess... ;) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2cn8R0ZB8f_RybRQX0LLBDJW6SEv_96c_IQPudW5oo2iLDLWU-_YDPKzq5RdAV6jd5NfaPVkPKTZj_8KDuptJt7siWKBm6bjL9AYBpcGD_cLqYe6pAs6pOkMGW9uiyboamM84BA/s1600/profiterole_surprise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2cn8R0ZB8f_RybRQX0LLBDJW6SEv_96c_IQPudW5oo2iLDLWU-_YDPKzq5RdAV6jd5NfaPVkPKTZj_8KDuptJt7siWKBm6bjL9AYBpcGD_cLqYe6pAs6pOkMGW9uiyboamM84BA/s400/profiterole_surprise.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-45832582844106407282009-02-19T17:11:00.011+00:002009-02-19T17:28:16.309+00:00Hyatus...<span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Hum... a lot has happened in real life but apparently blogs don't write themselves, so there's a gap here... I may eventually get round to filling it, but in the meantime, a quick update:</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Easter - June -> finished my Masters in London</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >June/July -> My parents visited and we went to Cornwall for a week</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >July-end August -> Wrote my dissertation in Portuguese summer</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >August-September -> Internship at the Natural History Museum, London</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >September-January -> back in Portugal, job-hunting</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >January -now -> paid (!! :D) internship at the European Mollecular Biology Lab in Heidelberg, Germany</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >If all goes well I'll be posting more about Heidelberg and our adventures here in the near future... but don't hold me to that promise... ;P</span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-735428729808624152008-09-28T18:13:00.004+00:002008-09-28T18:56:25.724+00:00Edinburgh - days 4 & 5<span style="font-family:arial;">The following day started with another arrival: Joana, another colleague from our Biology course, who we hadn't seen for a few years, and who is now working in environmental education in Dublin.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We went back home to drop off her luggage, had a wonder round Edinburgh, lunch at the mosque, </span><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4y8zN575U7mWs44FayV-B9Wq-TKhapGZC-GoSEiASggEzJO4eL6mOlZFm5DnK78uOA53OVsVgpbQLdZoRWWx0EnWMUiwL3bOBQu39bVuzpN5MQ0ofKz3tyW_shA8QmK3lUAXjqA/s1600-h/_DSC1980.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4y8zN575U7mWs44FayV-B9Wq-TKhapGZC-GoSEiASggEzJO4eL6mOlZFm5DnK78uOA53OVsVgpbQLdZoRWWx0EnWMUiwL3bOBQu39bVuzpN5MQ0ofKz3tyW_shA8QmK3lUAXjqA/s200/_DSC1980.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251143885770949762" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">and then João went off to Uni to do some work, while the three of us explored... </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQKYbzX5UdKye5LVhwvsVKuS3lNIiem0zBnLoML5O_RmyCRXPU6Jre_hirCG8TNh-1klaJZEdxAupmQ3r9j8jrE2kwvhA2C_xbb81NTg5a-_KpX1KrzqTlZHKnM0MQRKHerxiYA/s1600-h/_DSC1969.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSQKYbzX5UdKye5LVhwvsVKuS3lNIiem0zBnLoML5O_RmyCRXPU6Jre_hirCG8TNh-1klaJZEdxAupmQ3r9j8jrE2kwvhA2C_xbb81NTg5a-_KpX1KrzqTlZHKnM0MQRKHerxiYA/s200/_DSC1969.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251143899623329346" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">... the park, including the statue the French gave Edinburgh, and which according to the guide was placed in this spot because it would be covered by the trees most of the year...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcRmj-XrInacr9VnO9BgLgyzjb7dYbigKCTfKhyUCTLuSoTZOEMxq8N_NenP4lT7bC1W_3dkwbUGqyR9-5z-aHTb8FSOcPBp6wywL2GcLEzD1IMdKy_4yys-9Q0R4BBoBuyoWsg/s1600-h/_DSC1984.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAcRmj-XrInacr9VnO9BgLgyzjb7dYbigKCTfKhyUCTLuSoTZOEMxq8N_NenP4lT7bC1W_3dkwbUGqyR9-5z-aHTb8FSOcPBp6wywL2GcLEzD1IMdKy_4yys-9Q0R4BBoBuyoWsg/s200/_DSC1984.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251143894865458002" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">... the grave of Bobby, the dog who stayed by his owner's tomb for years (I love the fact people leave him sticks!)...</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwP9AwurW5Dgfi1biolY9elvMZdbGzxGodnp2aeIzYlsAwKZnReTdDGfXN4ol8tyooSK89xW7RmYoCCBKlimIgjR_Chkw_y0nKTcT8LYb-OlrxZOTj-omtRhUWkO12IddrXHtoQ/s1600-h/_DSC1993.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwP9AwurW5Dgfi1biolY9elvMZdbGzxGodnp2aeIzYlsAwKZnReTdDGfXN4ol8tyooSK89xW7RmYoCCBKlimIgjR_Chkw_y0nKTcT8LYb-OlrxZOTj-omtRhUWkO12IddrXHtoQ/s200/_DSC1993.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251143901732104754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">the café that now stands in Haymarket commemorating Half-Hangit Maggie, the girl who was hanged for having had a baby out of wedlock (and trying to get rid of it), but survived... and went on to live a long life, as the law forbade hanging people twice!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxW4cHlLoyRsqEVZzXw5zpH-IkmCSc6-250LVX-u5fBw9O-HKU0FhrwyzmHw4eOv3V-QxlDf2LcYGC6a3ApEHQwxzA53Dpo8CowrJtTc1GsnZYFrP1bXBii75qGH26Qtt01XINQ/s1600-h/_DSC2009.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxW4cHlLoyRsqEVZzXw5zpH-IkmCSc6-250LVX-u5fBw9O-HKU0FhrwyzmHw4eOv3V-QxlDf2LcYGC6a3ApEHQwxzA53Dpo8CowrJtTc1GsnZYFrP1bXBii75qGH26Qtt01XINQ/s200/_DSC2009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251143904780305170" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">...and the castle, which also had a canine attraction.<br /><br />Of course, being who we are, we couldn't leave Edinburgh without visiting the local Zoo, so our last day was, inevitably, spent there...<br />If I remember my facts correctly, it has the largest penguin colony in Europe, including the wonderful Gentoo penguins:<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNuAsL99CoY85-n682THsMC_WoPyIRRXv1i1mB7XmrgC2sI2w2qJ8ihRRPt-uypzJuC4-opigazlo8wnK7zJAvxxTkdHiNdUUw9CpCS91iW5YwBsegHnAnMOVs9b2p5GARMMKGQ/s1600-h/_DSC2096.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrNuAsL99CoY85-n682THsMC_WoPyIRRXv1i1mB7XmrgC2sI2w2qJ8ihRRPt-uypzJuC4-opigazlo8wnK7zJAvxxTkdHiNdUUw9CpCS91iW5YwBsegHnAnMOVs9b2p5GARMMKGQ/s200/_DSC2096.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251147362042804370" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We got slightly carried away at the Zoo, and had to rush back to get our stuff and get to the airport in time, but we made it... and loved the fact that Edinburgh airport is so small that you can stand in the duty-free shops and be literally no more than 2 metres from your boarding gate!</span><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-52546389495607253592008-03-25T22:51:00.000+00:002008-05-25T16:08:08.527+00:00Edinburgh - day 2As our host was arriving that evening after his Easter holiday in Lisbon, we checked out of our B&B, deposited our bags in a locker at Edinburgh station (if you ever try this, be warned: the locker machine only takes coins, but NO-ONE in the station will exchange a note for you - including the ticket offices!), and went off for our bus & boat tour (here's a <a href="http://www.edinburghtour.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140&Itemid=91">map</a>, if anyone's interested). The bus trip was fairly uneventful, in spite of the on-board commentary, as it was essentially just a means of getting to South Queensferry.<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVbX9eFZG9b0vHpVY5yZhYHPuGVPCT3JQhyphenhyphengPw6u0obkqLbcMe9utOhA_ODhyphenhyphendaDETfhN8QNHMinlC62GHSjd5CkB3YT1G2pqfLJTqGXMM5JSpbHyBKQIrwpbCQnc_Rd1w7l5QA/s1600-h/HR010570.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizVbX9eFZG9b0vHpVY5yZhYHPuGVPCT3JQhyphenhyphengPw6u0obkqLbcMe9utOhA_ODhyphenhyphendaDETfhN8QNHMinlC62GHSjd5CkB3YT1G2pqfLJTqGXMM5JSpbHyBKQIrwpbCQnc_Rd1w7l5QA/s320/HR010570.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204110480309609042" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />This was where the fun really begun: we were lead down to the pier, where we admired the Forth Bridges (the red iron railbridge and the silver roadbridge), while waiting for our boat to come and get us. We'd learned on the bus that the little hamlet we were in was called Queensferry precisely because it was where the Queen (don't ask which!) caught the ferry across the Firth.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJy4Dzm1UThHMdLJqaXzUy0FScTEuoWoj9Wy-B7WGFQfG4xNMeQB-d9vVSSSnixvhElQi8fOgem3IVJermwRKdwSmvJxpiw8my4ZhO1_ej-h0FqF0NyWypn5-Z7u1pqsIK-dqlAA/s1600-h/_DSC1679.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJy4Dzm1UThHMdLJqaXzUy0FScTEuoWoj9Wy-B7WGFQfG4xNMeQB-d9vVSSSnixvhElQi8fOgem3IVJermwRKdwSmvJxpiw8my4ZhO1_ej-h0FqF0NyWypn5-Z7u1pqsIK-dqlAA/s320/_DSC1679.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204110484604576354" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7P5dzXQSChvQdkBABAUiWxX9WJBoyBiB_V2dzVB2GXfFKvQBnKRp8hJ6Y0GSdrdt_t4rLBwh7EDoxbMNH07xScl1lvpqpzksGDyHyy39IxVCQMGmZ14_TJz6ek3HDP4sTK-GLQ/s1600-h/HPIM0583.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7P5dzXQSChvQdkBABAUiWxX9WJBoyBiB_V2dzVB2GXfFKvQBnKRp8hJ6Y0GSdrdt_t4rLBwh7EDoxbMNH07xScl1lvpqpzksGDyHyy39IxVCQMGmZ14_TJz6ek3HDP4sTK-GLQ/s320/HPIM0583.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204112627793257074" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Once the <span style="font-style: italic;">Forth Belle</span> was safely moored, we half-walked, half-skidded over the somewhat slimy pier and stepped aboard. While the crew were smoking their fag and catching up on news prior to departure, we had shared the deck with a group of Thai tourists (Hugo decided they were Thai) and their cameras. Hugo even momentarily became their best friend when he took a group photo for them... 5 or 6 times! (It had to be on everyone's camera...) Once we started moving, however, everyone sat in the closed-in section, so we had the open deck almost to ourselves - our only company was a lonely photographer. The weather being similar to the previous day, it was quite nippy, but this time we'd come prepared: extra layers of clothing (including water- and windproof trousers), and hoods, as well as the mandatory scarves and gloves. We may have looked like we were wearing rather bad 'rebel hoodie' costumes, but we were warm!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqKXXqvxNXGjAMtbdmYOafsTgD1jhC2E39DZKn_aJ_wceDorFZVIVbHGEBQmhglFcTWnk-mL7OSqGLmkRH77KgJG_k5ryvNg7qdtQbmixfWhiBjTtBWRuKZp4OpVcdKHKlpRjlA/s1600-h/HPIM0602.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqKXXqvxNXGjAMtbdmYOafsTgD1jhC2E39DZKn_aJ_wceDorFZVIVbHGEBQmhglFcTWnk-mL7OSqGLmkRH77KgJG_k5ryvNg7qdtQbmixfWhiBjTtBWRuKZp4OpVcdKHKlpRjlA/s320/HPIM0602.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204110471719674434" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />One of the sights pointed out in the recorded commentary was an island at the mouth of the Firth, which was fortified during the Second World War: the fortifications were built specifically so that seen from a distance the island resembles a war-ship, in the hope that this would deter any would-be German attacks!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIhBgWvpEYb_gA0PLdxn1aeeX0ZE4mD69egmJLdex9mnktOc87uwLp5lB0MG0D18RxgvepK5TUhOthxqqHSt-2nCymitfxLrWNiR6q-XfgFyEoJkeE-HsZKLukOUY0lWMA_Vv8A/s1600-h/_DSC1688.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTIhBgWvpEYb_gA0PLdxn1aeeX0ZE4mD69egmJLdex9mnktOc87uwLp5lB0MG0D18RxgvepK5TUhOthxqqHSt-2nCymitfxLrWNiR6q-XfgFyEoJkeE-HsZKLukOUY0lWMA_Vv8A/s320/_DSC1688.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204119753144001282" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />In fact, we only stepped inside to buy tickets to visit Incholm Island, with its medieval Abbey, built by monks who had to row all the building materials over from the mainland... I don't envy their task!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXQbpp-pJhWzaAi5-vQ18aPT7uD6UTJklEEyBNSOLIc4jxylMX3_wGjl_RxZAMQaHBzJy6vFLiEdsRI9JRhJTBOTdILnOqSv7zwd2To-812JUQqZ0ycDSKNlQRi7TsmHio-L7VA/s1600-h/_DSC1877.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXQbpp-pJhWzaAi5-vQ18aPT7uD6UTJklEEyBNSOLIc4jxylMX3_wGjl_RxZAMQaHBzJy6vFLiEdsRI9JRhJTBOTdILnOqSv7zwd2To-812JUQqZ0ycDSKNlQRi7TsmHio-L7VA/s320/_DSC1877.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204112649268093602" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />There are no longer any monks on the island, but a very special family lives in and around the island's harbour, and they were lying on the rocks as we arrived:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ov-QiAp6vcFZMUERClLJJUOKYj0BX1dn1MmsebyMPorfQSx-P6yC2Ny5HYT8aAaqnxref1TV6BN16tFZvgLvkpXK1LN5xRWQHayobbDzVjihrO_QpfieOffwjSNWw-ybwxMkZA/s1600-h/_DSC1867.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ov-QiAp6vcFZMUERClLJJUOKYj0BX1dn1MmsebyMPorfQSx-P6yC2Ny5HYT8aAaqnxref1TV6BN16tFZvgLvkpXK1LN5xRWQHayobbDzVjihrO_QpfieOffwjSNWw-ybwxMkZA/s320/_DSC1867.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204118421704139442" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Having oohed and aaahed and clicked away with our cameras for 10 minutes, the crew finally persuaded us to get off and make use of our tickets by exploring the Abbey and the island. So we stepped ashore, spent another 10 minutes admiring the seals, and then set off for the Abbey itself.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwE9VndaYF-yKKEdwm6O_h4VC-fyQDGbx8dwZQuqIgPg8MR4cmCi3W14y-yt47JFGxGF9CwyMn_plHHU06hHwk0qAhyphenhypheniPhDJzEMzqnuEd3th5KUajkufY7JlOx264ALgr_lhXYLQ/s1600-h/_DSC1821.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwE9VndaYF-yKKEdwm6O_h4VC-fyQDGbx8dwZQuqIgPg8MR4cmCi3W14y-yt47JFGxGF9CwyMn_plHHU06hHwk0qAhyphenhypheniPhDJzEMzqnuEd3th5KUajkufY7JlOx264ALgr_lhXYLQ/s320/_DSC1821.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204118430294074050" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />The Abbey is now somewhat rundown, but the National Trust is taking care of it (our ticket money is supposed to go towards helping preserve it), and there are a few labels in some places, although most of them simply state the name of the room you're in or the feature they're attached to. Actually, this made it quite interesting, as we tried to come up with explanations for what exactly happened in those rooms or what the reason could have been behind particular names... We explored every nook and cranny, even squeezing into the narrow spiral staircase leading up the first half of the tower - only half of my foot fitted on each step, Hugo must have had to walk on tip-toe! - and the suspended wooden staircase leading up from there. The view from the top was worth it though, and granted us a novel look at the weather vane.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtO28js4mXUTChuXOaw9tXhx4SyMxvwqw3gZuE65Mbx4gE74YJm-Yvmt5KvAMt03p9WXSd7dz5ILS9xnhLRvJMpB_rDjLd0oEJ9uhwtUgFj16abRFqVj3cdDyMgoESQvaTpx96w/s1600-h/_DSC1745.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvtO28js4mXUTChuXOaw9tXhx4SyMxvwqw3gZuE65Mbx4gE74YJm-Yvmt5KvAMt03p9WXSd7dz5ILS9xnhLRvJMpB_rDjLd0oEJ9uhwtUgFj16abRFqVj3cdDyMgoESQvaTpx96w/s320/_DSC1745.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204118438884008674" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />After that cultural interlude, we reverted to our default positions and set off on a walk around the island, birdwatching and photographing as we went. Of course there were seagulls gallore - mostly lesser black-baked gulls and herring-gulls, as far as I could tell - and the occasional pigeon, but there were also a fair amount of cormorants and shanks and - avian highlight of the day - we spotted <span style="font-weight: bold;">a pair of Great-crested grebes</span>! These beautiful birds were almost hunted to extinction in the UK for their feathers, but population numbers seem to have recovered, and as the species is not currently considered threatened. They are still distinctive, though, and it was wonderful to be able to see them after months of reading about them!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23P3hpdEmxNoeXqupGatrFbFp7-CjgCkNqYapmWQ61SoYqF4sYDwvWm-bn587zgprEClO7B2NzyGBhVZOs7JRR26b0MiYHhfUXO5-NbkmUrKvh6160-qbtE5W87wJUSNeCrlXhQ/s1600-h/_DSC1794.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj23P3hpdEmxNoeXqupGatrFbFp7-CjgCkNqYapmWQ61SoYqF4sYDwvWm-bn587zgprEClO7B2NzyGBhVZOs7JRR26b0MiYHhfUXO5-NbkmUrKvh6160-qbtE5W87wJUSNeCrlXhQ/s320/_DSC1794.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204118438884008658" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />When we were nearing the end of our round-island walk, we spotted the Forth Belle coming to collect us, so we scrambled down the hill to the harbour, where our Thai friends had been waiting for about an hour, having apparently become bored after snapping a few shots of the Abbey and its environs... We bid farewell to the seals, and on the way back we had a treat: the captain switched off the recorded commentary and gave us his own live commentary over the microphone, about the wildlife he's encountered in the Firth over the years - including orcas last year, apparently - and some of the conservation issues involved: mainly over-fishing, climate change and oil-rigs such as the one we'd seen on the way out to Incholm.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj622ZIdbZenEzEsD4peuhIhFj-_BfH3W66b6ZtRjqFWp9klZYw7u9fLkYo5LEoJ5hdawPCW2RfzVevHCU6f_9slhLuTuO6lReqpC3FCH0zqDQwUa3R66FtccCyC5yaZger3k1nRQ/s1600-h/_DSC1712.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj622ZIdbZenEzEsD4peuhIhFj-_BfH3W66b6ZtRjqFWp9klZYw7u9fLkYo5LEoJ5hdawPCW2RfzVevHCU6f_9slhLuTuO6lReqpC3FCH0zqDQwUa3R66FtccCyC5yaZger3k1nRQ/s320/_DSC1712.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204119757438968594" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />During this return trip we got a closer look at cormorant and shank colonies, as well as some more seals, so all in all we were happy people when we moored at Queensferry.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewsY7yo46A3o9nn_TVtxVJ78xHCS0pr9PoTysK71fU0KUrG0UhNbDre2xMK8QE-AmrLuaw2yvt9vbUzJwQqzsBy8YmC4JUWy87hkRlnSxRDXddi5PhvAINgU6vvHNXC0063Pq1g/s1600-h/_DSC1883.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewsY7yo46A3o9nn_TVtxVJ78xHCS0pr9PoTysK71fU0KUrG0UhNbDre2xMK8QE-AmrLuaw2yvt9vbUzJwQqzsBy8YmC4JUWy87hkRlnSxRDXddi5PhvAINgU6vvHNXC0063Pq1g/s320/_DSC1883.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204112644973126290" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />We (or should I say I?) were also hungry, lunch having so far consisted of a Cadbury's Cream Egg each, so we were quite pleased to see the bus arrive, as Queensferry, pretty little hamlet as it is, didn't seem to offer much by way of entertainment (a quilt/souvenir shop, a second-hand shop and a pub was about it). On the drive back to Edinburgh I spotted a curlew, but my mouthful of crisps meant I informed Hugo of it by making strangled noises and pointing excitedly at the window... by the time I'd swallowed enough to be more eloquent, the offending beastie was, of course, out of site, but Hugo's reaction was a non-plussed "Oh, a kiwi-bird..." (If you're unfamiliar with the story, the whole family spent days calling curlews "kiwi-birds" when we were in Finland, because we didn't know what they were but thought they looked like kiwis)<br /><br />On arriving in Edinburgh, we decided to make use of the advice one of the friendly bus guides from the previous day had given us: "if you buy tickets for <a href="http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/index.asp?cat=Home"><span style="font-style: italic;">Our Dynamic Earth</span></a> on the bus, you get a discount". As this was supposed to be a rather good science display showing the geological history of the Earth, we thought we'd give it a go. So we bought discount tickets for it off the bus driver, hopped on a bus, and hopped off at the Scottish Parliament building, as the same nice guide had told us it was one of the cheapest places to eat in the area (and we still hadn't had lunch!). Hugo got some interesting glances from the security staff at the door, when he started pulling down his trousers before walking through the metal-detector: his wallet and mobile phone were in his trouser pockets... underneath the water-proof trousers! So a third of the time we spent in the Scottish Parliament was actually Hugo undressing... We grabbed a sandwich and ate it as we walked over to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Our Dynamic Earth</span> building next door. Upon entering, however, we found a closed ticket office and couldn't find any way into the exhibition. After some searching, we located a couple of members of staff who informed us that the exhibition was closed on Tuesdays... So we hopped onto the next bus to come by, and went straight back to the 'headquarters' to complain. There was some confusion, as the exhibition was now supposed to be open on Tuesdays, but they refunded our tickets and we left them ringing up the exhibition people while we went for a walk instead.<br /><br />We had just decided on where to have supper (a pub with haggis on the menu) when we heard from João, our host-to-be: his flight had been delayed, and he was still in Stansted... While we enjoyed a nice supper - yes, we liked haggis - he phoned up his Maltese flat-mate and got back to us with directions to his place, so after we'd stuffed our faces with tasty Scottish food we picked up our luggage from the station and caught the bus to the other side of town - with some help from the man who was replacing the leaflets at the bus station, who cross-referenced our map with 2 different leaflets until he could tell us which bus we wanted and where to catch it from! So we appeared on this poor Maltese girl's doorstep, saying "Hi, we're João's friends", and she let us in, made us a cup of tea, and chatted to us for an hour or so, until our host finally arrived...<br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-66535189138032993372008-03-24T00:09:00.002+00:002008-05-24T01:15:49.387+00:00Edinburgh - day 1<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;">We got up at some ungodly hour, but the up-side was that, having found a bed&breakfast, dumped our things, and grabbed some food, we were ready to start exploring Edinburgh by lunchtime! We decided to invest in a ticket for those hop-on, hop-off open-top bus tours, which allowed us to catch any of 3 different city tours plus one which included a ferry trip in the Firth of Forth (to the non-Scottish world, the river Forth's estuary) and was valid for 2 days. The tickets were well worth the price: the trips with live commentary had excellent guides, and the one pre-recorded one had a brilliant kids' version (as well as 9 different languages), written by one of the authors of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Horrible Histories</span> books, which was wonderfully full of gory silly jokes!<br /><br />From the top of the bus we got our first glimpses of Edinburgh castle, which, if I remember correctly, is reputed never to have been breached - and if you look at it, you can see why!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8rwnlrbI-lNyLfzljaXjofHqQxz6wPm3t1sT9W-agb90X8vjPwQafMGGayCMrBsTkxcdNQTx9gegc-pwVOF9mvNxfDDzJNzkLMVOxUPznapyIR45728R1xwmhyzZ9ynqCnn65Q/s1600-h/_DSC1559.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8rwnlrbI-lNyLfzljaXjofHqQxz6wPm3t1sT9W-agb90X8vjPwQafMGGayCMrBsTkxcdNQTx9gegc-pwVOF9mvNxfDDzJNzkLMVOxUPznapyIR45728R1xwmhyzZ9ynqCnn65Q/s320/_DSC1559.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203744209793573362" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci_2MozEP4fW8bjYP935_aovVY1ej2FsE-qb_YDaO30QRcMByFzbMAlBWgawJY-fyDNBStxbp8kBPtpoIxNf31Kaf6RXkFbmvUh5o9yDeSB8lc7M1GRVASvvVUcUecdFC8fbgUw/s1600-h/HPIM0544.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgci_2MozEP4fW8bjYP935_aovVY1ej2FsE-qb_YDaO30QRcMByFzbMAlBWgawJY-fyDNBStxbp8kBPtpoIxNf31Kaf6RXkFbmvUh5o9yDeSB8lc7M1GRVASvvVUcUecdFC8fbgUw/s320/HPIM0544.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203744205498606050" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All tours start at the Scott monument - not a nationalist symbol but an homage to the 18th-century poet and novelist Walter Scott, so we went from virtually never having heard of him to not bearing to hear his name in one afternoon... Truth be said, however, the tours were very good in the sense that they made a point of telling different stories about the sights that were covered by more than one tour, and pointing out different things along coinciding routes.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLwI1xNspo6QTepKjzg0X_q-P90rhsJJJAz3Bd80la8KFBhIalTobAeOnx6c1wM35q93G1VBene-xvKmEqC9_qqyAnwDVx9JT23Cafe6DXXOS7G_nD7kQJma1Cy4uBKZjvrPneg/s1600-h/_DSC1533.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLwI1xNspo6QTepKjzg0X_q-P90rhsJJJAz3Bd80la8KFBhIalTobAeOnx6c1wM35q93G1VBene-xvKmEqC9_qqyAnwDVx9JT23Cafe6DXXOS7G_nD7kQJma1Cy4uBKZjvrPneg/s320/_DSC1533.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203745317895135762" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All routes afforded glimpses of some of the city's churches. There are said to be hundreds of them, but most no longer function as places of worship. Notable amongst these is the one that now houses the Edinburgh Festival information centre and ticket office (pictured below), but there are many others serving all sorts of different uses, including, in true Scottish style, a pub!<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFLwXHos5CtulPZwRzrrGfr63tV3ii2jrlAtau4p8MTg8VORiAVBs_syFjiN1T4ofqitriF-QHGCKvwQrfnPkXxYI-W_rS6kgbHVBaX2LmKLVmLIXYkVDq0EMZctyrsqYqaQpLA/s1600-h/HPIM0559.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdFLwXHos5CtulPZwRzrrGfr63tV3ii2jrlAtau4p8MTg8VORiAVBs_syFjiN1T4ofqitriF-QHGCKvwQrfnPkXxYI-W_rS6kgbHVBaX2LmKLVmLIXYkVDq0EMZctyrsqYqaQpLA/s320/HPIM0559.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203745326485070370" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Curiously, one of the churches that does still function as a church has a mural on which there is always a painting relating to the time of year. On the face of it, this may not seem all that curious, but the curiosity factor lies in the fact that, apparently, more often than not the paintings are quite controversial. We thought the one that was up when we were there was quite simply brilliant:<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSwvGeyJaCgQ7FJq6JHSIwDBERhz0WYqGGUaUDDXCCZ4mprhdIdiEk0DdbxwuoeiV-nWztUHqIe0LOKSttRCvj3J4vR7O1GrS9LHw1OmTxl9Qtwt-G86Q1spRKEphR35dycvC0A/s1600-h/_DSC1548.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSwvGeyJaCgQ7FJq6JHSIwDBERhz0WYqGGUaUDDXCCZ4mprhdIdiEk0DdbxwuoeiV-nWztUHqIe0LOKSttRCvj3J4vR7O1GrS9LHw1OmTxl9Qtwt-G86Q1spRKEphR35dycvC0A/s320/_DSC1548.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203744214088540674" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">We got a brief peep at the haymarket in amongst the building-work, and I learned its name arises from the fact that it was where grazing animals (i.e. cows, sheep, horses) were sold in the olden days.<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharVkchO3F90thLnk4FcDudw-re_T9I80Pkz65SdzB4jtKULG8wnY2rSGNw58AI5VN23cqEb9NSYk3rA3BkhIpKllTxk5Zovp4rp18DMng77N_Prdjs-r4IKctMndv9Z8nFuq5Fw/s1600-h/HPIM0554.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharVkchO3F90thLnk4FcDudw-re_T9I80Pkz65SdzB4jtKULG8wnY2rSGNw58AI5VN23cqEb9NSYk3rA3BkhIpKllTxk5Zovp4rp18DMng77N_Prdjs-r4IKctMndv9Z8nFuq5Fw/s320/HPIM0554.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203745330780037682" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Of course, we insisted on sitting in the open part of the top decker of the bus, so that we could enjoy the journey properly and take photos... and there was the occasional short flurry of snow, much to my delight... but this means the temperature was not exactly high... Let's just say that when we got off the last bus, we walked around for a quarter of an hour with no feeling from the knees down - never mind details such as toes and fingers!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We (literally) tripped off in search of a nice warm place serving warm food, and ended up at a pub which promised a live jazz band that evening. It was lovely and cozy, the food was delicious, the desserts were divine, and the music was brilliant - all in all a nice end to a nice day. Until we had to step out into the bitter wind and walk back to our B&B!</span><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-68883890983480174682008-03-23T23:07:00.007+00:002008-05-17T23:43:28.423+00:00Easter Sunday | Domingo de Páscoa<span style="font-family:arial;">We woke up and saw...</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"> | Acordámos, e vimos...</span><br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEwxjw9PkgCZXwrxGlS6xfPZQ9etZi9nyLKXWAsi5y4ICdwpV6YCkN-bbU6uIOPardGxYxROV3VQqAczBIVYMJeT-Q8fmMVTK7pOr4qU0XFISiYPSkxf5YIfEl5uwFEcGmA9uJQ/s1600-h/_DSC1218.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEwxjw9PkgCZXwrxGlS6xfPZQ9etZi9nyLKXWAsi5y4ICdwpV6YCkN-bbU6uIOPardGxYxROV3VQqAczBIVYMJeT-Q8fmMVTK7pOr4qU0XFISiYPSkxf5YIfEl5uwFEcGmA9uJQ/s320/_DSC1218.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201493976059410962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Although I was ecstatic at the first proper snow since I'd been here, when we reached Hyde Park we discovered a downside to it... the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.easterskate.co.uk/">bunnies on rollerskates parade</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> we had been planning to watch (and photograph) was postponed!<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Embora eu estivesse eufórica com a primeira neve a sério desde que cá estou, quando chegámos a Hyde Park descobrimos-lhe uma desvantagem... o </span><a style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(204, 102, 204);" href="http://www.easterskate.co.uk/">desfile de coelhos em patins</a><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);"> </span>a que tínhamos planeado assistir (e fotografar) foi adiado!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuFO08jWD-05fk7hx_ZsLbjbJr53ABEBcbA6kPDki0NMBJqpzBDSS4wAeLEUdMrHWvzxU5lC5mH9x9BvfCNtjdcKAsa9JeDQY0Q16uLdq1yZ_c687YdHw7Fbv1DAsLU8EOjCtOg/s1600-h/_DSC1377.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuFO08jWD-05fk7hx_ZsLbjbJr53ABEBcbA6kPDki0NMBJqpzBDSS4wAeLEUdMrHWvzxU5lC5mH9x9BvfCNtjdcKAsa9JeDQY0Q16uLdq1yZ_c687YdHw7Fbv1DAsLU8EOjCtOg/s320/_DSC1377.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201493984649345570" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So we had a walk around the park, and went on to the only other Easter event we could find in London: a ukulele workshop at the Southbank Centre. What Hawaiian shirts and ukuleles have to do with Easter we have yet to find out, but there was a giant Lyndt bunny near the London Eye... at least the publicity said it was giant...<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Portanto demos um passeio pelo jardim e seguimos para o único outro festejo de Páscoa que descobrimos em Londres: um workshop de ukulele no Southbank Centre. Ainda estamos para descobrir a ligação entre camisas havaianas e ukuleles e a Páscoa, mas ao pé do London Eye havia um coelho gigante da Lyndt... pelo menos segundo a publicidade...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaDSQOXBYerP5mYgxOgxGDQ6Yn4K1TOj82C525tf6sQ6GeKqRHr5wQrLWYHtv3RVbaHkw0gKGvaUQpoRgt0cxww0jRVSuCuKA4Nqu7fffU429cpZR7NIz4zIH-mLILDBPDJlVUg/s1600-h/_DSC1485.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaDSQOXBYerP5mYgxOgxGDQ6Yn4K1TOj82C525tf6sQ6GeKqRHr5wQrLWYHtv3RVbaHkw0gKGvaUQpoRgt0cxww0jRVSuCuKA4Nqu7fffU429cpZR7NIz4zIH-mLILDBPDJlVUg/s320/_DSC1485.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201493988944312882" border="0" /></a>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-90268234958618034912008-03-22T16:19:00.003+00:002008-05-05T18:07:46.071+00:00People, people everywhere!Saturday we figured it might be time for a more cultural, non-animal related outing. However, the queues at the entrance to Madame Tussaud's led us to consider the value of a few hours of our lives, and we therefore made do with Sherlock Holmes' metal sculpture and headed off to the British Museum instead.<br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqngDABYRFUN6PtleLL5cgk9Z7GRX-hTe-fDIV1jfF5_hxJotKr5g30wYQ5-7ZRPbJPxEmeD5FfIaP6IQqV5eoe6gNCWTxcbwxLRHP8oW7vCt9wh8i-BhxHodRJnxHnY2tF6eYiA/s1600-h/_DSC1148a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqngDABYRFUN6PtleLL5cgk9Z7GRX-hTe-fDIV1jfF5_hxJotKr5g30wYQ5-7ZRPbJPxEmeD5FfIaP6IQqV5eoe6gNCWTxcbwxLRHP8oW7vCt9wh8i-BhxHodRJnxHnY2tF6eYiA/s200/_DSC1148a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196946674882904002" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The ticket office is circled in the distance... and yes, the queue was 3-4 people wide!<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7m_CgiBXa-knd40Sa9FWZvt2dygGjGbA5_OX3Nuu7DV7NtVI4oeadPW6xcsGyGT7mar-Z3OEGjQrqCqmncjP0yokTQ1iexlfgjkMVl8F-UAkxH6A0a798JQu8UfLLKkS3c15xQ/s1600-h/_DSC1161.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI7m_CgiBXa-knd40Sa9FWZvt2dygGjGbA5_OX3Nuu7DV7NtVI4oeadPW6xcsGyGT7mar-Z3OEGjQrqCqmncjP0yokTQ1iexlfgjkMVl8F-UAkxH6A0a798JQu8UfLLKkS3c15xQ/s200/_DSC1161.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196950630547783634" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"Elementary, my dear Watson!"</span><br /></div><br />Even there, the crowds took us by surprise! We knew it was Easter Saturday, and everyone was on holiday, but even so... the British Museum is huge, and it still managed to feel packed! The Egyptian and Greek galleries on the ground floor were the busiest. After a look at some Abissinian murals, we squeezed a peep at the rosetta stone between the camera-pointing throngs, explored one of the larger Egyptian rooms, and then found ourselves in a room with sarcophagi and mummys, but almost no breathable air! We escaped the pressing crowds via the first door that presented itself, and after briefly consulting the map decided to head upstairs to an exhibition of Japanese artifacts. This was finally quiet enough for us to be able to fully appreciate its contents, and we spent a happy hour wandering around statues of dragons, miniature good-luck gods, samurai armour, swords and Japanese paintings...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKcvO0Sjc4VNeygSV2B2kPtaZCJyG-eVHDAua0z9nJJZVoPe6D_5tgxk_iwIIDtJCkfjGESk5s35yPn-aBxW89oL8xS0jRCM0bpAnpOog-iO22Mf2DLZBNNUH-Mu-GwMv6BT_Aw/s1600-h/_DSC1198.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKcvO0Sjc4VNeygSV2B2kPtaZCJyG-eVHDAua0z9nJJZVoPe6D_5tgxk_iwIIDtJCkfjGESk5s35yPn-aBxW89oL8xS0jRCM0bpAnpOog-iO22Mf2DLZBNNUH-Mu-GwMv6BT_Aw/s200/_DSC1198.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196950647727652834" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">"No, Hugo, you can't take a sword home with you!"</span><br /></div><br />As we were being ushered out of the Museum at closing time, we passed an Easter island statue in a strange room we couldn't quite work out the theme of: hanging above the Easter island statue, for instance, were flying machines... I'll report further on this room once I've gone back and looked at it properly.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMA_FsQjGH0c-ho8Db3oSi3S1p9IUMhHakD6QWP3buZpNp6lcxzIele2RdaDGvfAAP38WGWK_R1l-utFPDY1HRYxfj2p0UHmjyZLYG_56KPosx5Wx6AXexXgz8EYc0DcyJ8Bx6g/s1600-h/_DSC1204.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMA_FsQjGH0c-ho8Db3oSi3S1p9IUMhHakD6QWP3buZpNp6lcxzIele2RdaDGvfAAP38WGWK_R1l-utFPDY1HRYxfj2p0UHmjyZLYG_56KPosx5Wx6AXexXgz8EYc0DcyJ8Bx6g/s200/_DSC1204.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196950652022620146" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Notice the people actually have space to move...</span><br /></div><br />Before we left, we spotted a mini terracota army, made by schoolchildren who had visited the exhibition before Christmas:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1GWb6PTET3SVeB6kv-7VUYROtS2kbuoGCiXoNjAiFXdnkcvJYE1kf9yRLdCNvdzJ4VlOkN1a0FNXtirgLLUNfoG5tUG3MwhTG7jzuQtjp2-kNAtELSIIFm0aLWn-gbZi4UDSMQ/s1600-h/HPIM0532.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1GWb6PTET3SVeB6kv-7VUYROtS2kbuoGCiXoNjAiFXdnkcvJYE1kf9yRLdCNvdzJ4VlOkN1a0FNXtirgLLUNfoG5tUG3MwhTG7jzuQtjp2-kNAtELSIIFm0aLWn-gbZi4UDSMQ/s200/HPIM0532.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196951657044967458" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAlbVrg0uB7PLrb48F2Kzat1sofc8i53pkR1IrLiqar3tPKJp57-sqKat12Ag9_hYjtFBMuuH5Zce5rUyprzogwk8GMfRXzUfIrZ5BsFYJeTklNWUW5igOyeylHz0MohiYa7bCQ/s1600-h/HPIM0541.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAAlbVrg0uB7PLrb48F2Kzat1sofc8i53pkR1IrLiqar3tPKJp57-sqKat12Ag9_hYjtFBMuuH5Zce5rUyprzogwk8GMfRXzUfIrZ5BsFYJeTklNWUW5igOyeylHz0MohiYa7bCQ/s200/HPIM0541.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196951665634902066" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Md3oZgVdeJ9QrMiGWsXFr-lf3gyLoXUfzA7TVxfSBtMzlTrPWAGJjy7vPV2kaEsSAf4kzbjvgjx65-fcDD8PFDMR9OPg-XgMkHkNSeBBqFWX3oNMzmkrX4TPd6-9tRx66TAz4g/s1600-h/HPIM0535.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Md3oZgVdeJ9QrMiGWsXFr-lf3gyLoXUfzA7TVxfSBtMzlTrPWAGJjy7vPV2kaEsSAf4kzbjvgjx65-fcDD8PFDMR9OPg-XgMkHkNSeBBqFWX3oNMzmkrX4TPd6-9tRx66TAz4g/s200/HPIM0535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196950664907522066" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfD211RvrSxbE-9vhh1XKc6wLG1jNDXGsPCQWoTXx_7cC4QEzUVbUyZraysvw4EyGCfsVFrtU646Ox8_hdfGxBlXzjO2vHYJUrTZzlrmKZrB4Aw3LpTEy9DdQdTMFR4nme2kPOQ/s1600-h/HPIM0533.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjfD211RvrSxbE-9vhh1XKc6wLG1jNDXGsPCQWoTXx_7cC4QEzUVbUyZraysvw4EyGCfsVFrtU646Ox8_hdfGxBlXzjO2vHYJUrTZzlrmKZrB4Aw3LpTEy9DdQdTMFR4nme2kPOQ/s200/HPIM0533.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196956171055595586" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Aren't they cute... errr, menacing, I mean, menacing!</span><br /></div><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-58621869114710046292008-03-21T15:12:00.004+00:002008-05-05T18:02:27.331+00:00Ducks and water...<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">Friday morning was bright and sunny, so we headed off to the London Wetlands Centre, where we spent a happy day birdwatching and where Hugo got in plenty of photography practice... with moving targets!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmS3ABqIupljZFhBg91ol-VTSd0NOAIErto-6Ti1MHmLAvew4TfSEdNiyjIiwtDfdp2r7sRb4Wvr29PKpq3kocY8VJlczTs42wnLclQzYmE0u6wXg72PyB0uvZpHqDeIr_oSbcQ/s1600-h/HPIM0530.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmS3ABqIupljZFhBg91ol-VTSd0NOAIErto-6Ti1MHmLAvew4TfSEdNiyjIiwtDfdp2r7sRb4Wvr29PKpq3kocY8VJlczTs42wnLclQzYmE0u6wXg72PyB0uvZpHqDeIr_oSbcQ/s200/HPIM0530.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196918212134633202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div face="arial" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I love the sculptures at the entrance!</span><br /></div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCYqMf34jgMjTbnQdq_0xKb2M9DBZUYxN0HplXFwPxhEs0V_nqlLlw_bLBJzkjO8dcokJ8WVx4gTcHSICnhHYrKNVIsj1peUpXqUrQTok1HRfKMcH1D5qMhT_Jfhsx8Y9u48hI7A/s1600-h/_DSC0818.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCYqMf34jgMjTbnQdq_0xKb2M9DBZUYxN0HplXFwPxhEs0V_nqlLlw_bLBJzkjO8dcokJ8WVx4gTcHSICnhHYrKNVIsj1peUpXqUrQTok1HRfKMcH1D5qMhT_Jfhsx8Y9u48hI7A/s200/_DSC0818.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196918216429600514" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicC_KtrIVAm7pRBEjjNonJHsmHOx9E7CjMzhodV4r2iSjk-v9VZ1Vwi1BRKN6bYS04Tk-y5ZESjx66v7FjWYgWC2JDXnY-A5bzIVjxFZcjIA7x8H_WeKAQYOdz4cuTW_NKlyq69g/s1600-h/_DSC1036.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicC_KtrIVAm7pRBEjjNonJHsmHOx9E7CjMzhodV4r2iSjk-v9VZ1Vwi1BRKN6bYS04Tk-y5ZESjx66v7FjWYgWC2JDXnY-A5bzIVjxFZcjIA7x8H_WeKAQYOdz4cuTW_NKlyq69g/s200/_DSC1036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196923567958851474" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">A fast-moving Coot, and a still one</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmPEzrZYVo6f41By8hfJZ9EPafdFfd5Swn-CVGTA7jqUsq1onHO4DM_WbIZSSioi85HKlQhzOdnbjDDTgNS0CEwSecIitIQQsc4TDqJUm3u2z16Pnm7aceeA9XWXgqJc3MeuG0Q/s1600-h/_DSC1119.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpmPEzrZYVo6f41By8hfJZ9EPafdFfd5Swn-CVGTA7jqUsq1onHO4DM_WbIZSSioi85HKlQhzOdnbjDDTgNS0CEwSecIitIQQsc4TDqJUm3u2z16Pnm7aceeA9XWXgqJc3MeuG0Q/s200/_DSC1119.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196923593728655282" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iPiYeqzdqJFNadCuQrzXYkiAMHURE1R-UKRbu2hzK8E56BGYstFtkK2dUBnaS3wvEzkDOIeU3lCzf5qI3xKMIvuw9TKQByCn-eN0LDhrG1hfaBe0C2_FAaO88a1bXyVhbP9vGQ/s1600-h/_DSC0843.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8iPiYeqzdqJFNadCuQrzXYkiAMHURE1R-UKRbu2hzK8E56BGYstFtkK2dUBnaS3wvEzkDOIeU3lCzf5qI3xKMIvuw9TKQByCn-eN0LDhrG1hfaBe0C2_FAaO88a1bXyVhbP9vGQ/s200/_DSC0843.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196918220724567826" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"> The ever-present Moorhen and a flesh-and-bone Wood Duck, in spite of its name</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6_NP4fCN2eTWPJpiQM-kUuRPEPMKJ4ul0fOWlj7Wj9PgVS-zlQmTCT8j2jFCW7PTfhlEZv4S-VlVhHnbFWJquEjb-vaNF8-AYlegj2cOy8FhGP_GrMMZ_EnUCLopieJoqiVdMA/s1600-h/_DSC0857.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6_NP4fCN2eTWPJpiQM-kUuRPEPMKJ4ul0fOWlj7Wj9PgVS-zlQmTCT8j2jFCW7PTfhlEZv4S-VlVhHnbFWJquEjb-vaNF8-AYlegj2cOy8FhGP_GrMMZ_EnUCLopieJoqiVdMA/s200/_DSC0857.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196921725417881378" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVEzryfVkfyPW8rt0LDJ8_R8U6k8QfBCpIuY2vntU8yeYeARDolTzf0boGl1ihCwUriHtyvamNaaV1Citz84yY5pHWgeMCrKQy11MJOeeyqf4RXht8sWgm8oAxX7zRLg4JunHqw/s1600-h/_DSC0950.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVEzryfVkfyPW8rt0LDJ8_R8U6k8QfBCpIuY2vntU8yeYeARDolTzf0boGl1ihCwUriHtyvamNaaV1Citz84yY5pHWgeMCrKQy11MJOeeyqf4RXht8sWgm8oAxX7zRLg4JunHqw/s200/_DSC0950.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196921751187685202" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">A resting Smew and a talkative Mallard</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8iGkXUxsddNyDgRS6Zrm_RrjB4WfkMl6b4RoxgO60fMSTYQGx3RFTsTtsBmYLgnOrftmD4laL2IH_IXQDKK8e-wKAX4u_XfxQp3sGW-i3mieT877rZMB_1bY1KTZFc6kBIjBTw/s1600-h/_DSC0883.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8iGkXUxsddNyDgRS6Zrm_RrjB4WfkMl6b4RoxgO60fMSTYQGx3RFTsTtsBmYLgnOrftmD4laL2IH_IXQDKK8e-wKAX4u_XfxQp3sGW-i3mieT877rZMB_1bY1KTZFc6kBIjBTw/s200/_DSC0883.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196921734007815986" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsXyIirtmCrqnR-DuUuZLKsn_ZJvNE_twriEcqT3uOSUMcPqENyR-eqDGdzw9vd0d-b8q3Q31dkw66wdd68fD23y-OjSygxVt-si1YPQhBhjpc31-9G0J9LzvKPetz-qAj_Wt7w/s1600-h/_DSC1017.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsXyIirtmCrqnR-DuUuZLKsn_ZJvNE_twriEcqT3uOSUMcPqENyR-eqDGdzw9vd0d-b8q3Q31dkw66wdd68fD23y-OjSygxVt-si1YPQhBhjpc31-9G0J9LzvKPetz-qAj_Wt7w/s200/_DSC1017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196923555073949554" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">Mr. & Mrs. Shoveler demonstrating their namesake, and a flying Shoveler</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhErUAu-N9MFqS1NZeUaaxJYCFUeHepi7WLD2HyGvjDFscllQzmYASD2QminDLpSfrf3kSjSBmgaCrHELZTQGQuSurm_-bTnFwMYbwAODRHxEp5U2RCx-6y_Ko9O3afqzlgxt87g/s1600-h/_DSC0938.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhErUAu-N9MFqS1NZeUaaxJYCFUeHepi7WLD2HyGvjDFscllQzmYASD2QminDLpSfrf3kSjSBmgaCrHELZTQGQuSurm_-bTnFwMYbwAODRHxEp5U2RCx-6y_Ko9O3afqzlgxt87g/s200/_DSC0938.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196921742597750594" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZlauzzGkH_No8p5nC_IuO4sMiMHxk8Wfk_d8uc8eyUjSJFSDAOepExDvYboBCAxmCr6QshD-Y2my1PugtMavqHboJofQV2T_5Y9wSCtPAGOsLlV1IXC4yALEKQM4Ng88KGSTvg/s1600-h/_DSC0983.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZlauzzGkH_No8p5nC_IuO4sMiMHxk8Wfk_d8uc8eyUjSJFSDAOepExDvYboBCAxmCr6QshD-Y2my1PugtMavqHboJofQV2T_5Y9wSCtPAGOsLlV1IXC4yALEKQM4Ng88KGSTvg/s200/_DSC0983.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196921755482652514" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;">A view of the main lake, with a Lapwing on a sandbank and Ravens on the lawn</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHw9N4-tuOrcI6nezDW3dXREFOub82YNQbzp0jdc9cXjiQqWyka6rYs4CQy15mohUquiKTcR281AwcW4NdMpIpIuJbOHQ9qfoo0ZTv8LjOkWLxyYnypXs4SOe7LZSHllEGjTH0w/s1600-h/_DSC1021.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUHw9N4-tuOrcI6nezDW3dXREFOub82YNQbzp0jdc9cXjiQqWyka6rYs4CQy15mohUquiKTcR281AwcW4NdMpIpIuJbOHQ9qfoo0ZTv8LjOkWLxyYnypXs4SOe7LZSHllEGjTH0w/s200/_DSC1021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196923563663884162" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">A Cormorant flying over the main lake</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ww5AyD_uYJGbuIMaIJjsoAuk1Gj8bvlQCVo-LrgNsDMfZBrs7fclpz_7cVFd5DabiOXg-BvA3RQs5J39D9KfIcGvY9iu6ptbT0XMw-oujXQdtPyID7tLeC64bi-2Nk7Oa1pnYg/s1600-h/_DSC1082.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ww5AyD_uYJGbuIMaIJjsoAuk1Gj8bvlQCVo-LrgNsDMfZBrs7fclpz_7cVFd5DabiOXg-BvA3RQs5J39D9KfIcGvY9iu6ptbT0XMw-oujXQdtPyID7tLeC64bi-2Nk7Oa1pnYg/s200/_DSC1082.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196923585138720674" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">And the goose that tried to attack me!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">At the end of the day, we discovered the Centre's tactic for ensuring all the visitors leave promptly at closing time: they cause a thunderstorm with heavy rain! At least we assumed that must be the case, as said storm, though heavy, coincided exactly with closing time, and lasted only about 20 minutes - just long enough for everyone to run back to the exit for shelter!<br />We dried off on the train home...<br /></div><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-50350725887635604262008-03-20T12:17:00.000+00:002008-05-05T15:11:51.522+00:00Inevitably...<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;">The weather appeared to be keeping ok next day, so we decided to go for another outdoor trip. One which might be considered an occupational hazard, but considering how much we enjoy it, such a description would probably be missing the point. Our destination was, of course, London Zoo, where our letters from Lisbon Zoo granted us free entrance. The nice boys at the ticket office did try to extend their hospitality and get us into the official (VIP) opening of the restored Blackburn Pavillion (containing the only hummingbirds in the UK), but unfortunately they didn't quite manage to convince the big bosses... well, it was worth a try!<br /><br />In the meantime, our weather prediction abilities had failed us somewhat, and the day turned out to be rainy, so our route was defined according to two criteria: what haven't we seen yet, and does it have a roof over it?<br /><br />With these considerations in mind, we deemed fit to start off at the reptile house, where we spotted a real-live Gaboon Viper (as opposed the skeleton we knew from Lisbon Zoo) and a Black Mamba.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSjEUYZIEh39If_S961IKlax_yG_HLGRCU_FUncc2DCI5joA1GV_j3V73DiYBNAzNDInigLeUf-MheloVAuS29xW8I8Zx0cp75Pk-hahgYklN-OKdqVZwmP_ezeqr4YMu8E-KFg/s1600-h/_DSC0598.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuSjEUYZIEh39If_S961IKlax_yG_HLGRCU_FUncc2DCI5joA1GV_j3V73DiYBNAzNDInigLeUf-MheloVAuS29xW8I8Zx0cp75Pk-hahgYklN-OKdqVZwmP_ezeqr4YMu8E-KFg/s200/_DSC0598.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196886919002914402" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">A live Gaboon Viper</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br />And, of course, we played the traditional game in these places: find the animal! This was especially complicated in the frog section - yes, I know it was supposed to be a Reptile house, and I know frogs are amphibians, but they need similar care and conditions and are therefore housed together - finding tiny frogs through misty glass in the middle of dense foliage is not easy... even when they're bright-coloured! A few, however, such as the Yellow Poison-Dart Frog, we had no trouble finding! Unlike this gecko, hiding in the most inaccessible corner of its enclosure, above the glass... and therefore "spottable" only by shorties such as myself... being 1.5m tall has to have some advantages!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6VcrljDS0R1nxZixn2fxnYZ-PDS-SNj3DfiHIyvemx2DRYoSqSE0qIklXT8bXxQc1tGeYgx2xK1DmHgyIiFsKXxXTo88T9_UjRpcnBq5Sk3jPH6bQg0Z_16HKBEmQ6qC9PyW4Q/s1600-h/_DSC0652.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6VcrljDS0R1nxZixn2fxnYZ-PDS-SNj3DfiHIyvemx2DRYoSqSE0qIklXT8bXxQc1tGeYgx2xK1DmHgyIiFsKXxXTo88T9_UjRpcnBq5Sk3jPH6bQg0Z_16HKBEmQ6qC9PyW4Q/s200/_DSC0652.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196886931887816322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJxYW2WXYuHomiCtw3fbNBU25o86pE6BbiNw8UHLwGZ8oTsC-yiaS2V6fTyzg6v0rDAeg1hAKB3rLyrsgkwF1aJuFInNeD90C_Wy6TKEDWR4ZSnrX-fnHYDCxnVpxFOJZY8oB_g/s1600-h/HPIM0486.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLJxYW2WXYuHomiCtw3fbNBU25o86pE6BbiNw8UHLwGZ8oTsC-yiaS2V6fTyzg6v0rDAeg1hAKB3rLyrsgkwF1aJuFInNeD90C_Wy6TKEDWR4ZSnrX-fnHYDCxnVpxFOJZY8oB_g/s200/HPIM0486.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196903626425695922" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The spotting game: the conspicuous yellow poison-dart frog, and the hidden Madagascar gecko</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br /><br />After a brief detour via the Komodo Dragon enclosure, currently on loan to Matilda, the Aldabran Giant Tortoise, we visited the Pigmy Hippopotamuses in their heated winter pool. They seemed to be enjoying their jacuzzi, I must say!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo5XcCqqPlcTzdJ3O6mlLOupPCPFyatAgIF3k8dCSFciJlA4mtF28SG9Z_fThdnt8OEijdZGiaCKnk08sBjQF7fsXaydvTHeBka34bOweIJOaPm_etrMk_VZTGDJJhU0lhV-P6Q/s1600-h/_DSC0641.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGo5XcCqqPlcTzdJ3O6mlLOupPCPFyatAgIF3k8dCSFciJlA4mtF28SG9Z_fThdnt8OEijdZGiaCKnk08sBjQF7fsXaydvTHeBka34bOweIJOaPm_etrMk_VZTGDJJhU0lhV-P6Q/s200/_DSC0641.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196886927592849010" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iU2dFZFvkkoBV_oV2n5hyDepdcWW0t4wF-egwPSqBe1G0zmMghlV6RnhGtUERh9jMlsszR1sc3VGpD3ckWXknuWnN7RHwYnT53HeQxOnUzHklyjg_hYHduSjrzxuoxtMucJwPA/s1600-h/_DSC0697.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0iU2dFZFvkkoBV_oV2n5hyDepdcWW0t4wF-egwPSqBe1G0zmMghlV6RnhGtUERh9jMlsszR1sc3VGpD3ckWXknuWnN7RHwYnT53HeQxOnUzHklyjg_hYHduSjrzxuoxtMucJwPA/s200/_DSC0697.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196903604950859410" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LZ_XJm5pk1j_9CTixZfr0IDiwoUQSQObZLRBDmfl2qwucXTqZrTh1kZbLM0uxr2UxNNyvrxnsKanB8YKBSA50wg5fEIzRQruZJGN1gqY0v0-69NXLIW_jT3V4WkH-Kl5SUTcGw/s1600-h/_DSC0705.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LZ_XJm5pk1j_9CTixZfr0IDiwoUQSQObZLRBDmfl2qwucXTqZrTh1kZbLM0uxr2UxNNyvrxnsKanB8YKBSA50wg5fEIzRQruZJGN1gqY0v0-69NXLIW_jT3V4WkH-Kl5SUTcGw/s200/_DSC0705.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196903613540794018" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The shy Matilda, and the warm hippos</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br />Next, following advice from our friends at the ticket office, we went to watch the clock outside the Blackburn Pavillion strike the hour. It is a wonderful tin contraption honouring the Victorians and their love of birds, with two toucans making the pendulum swing between them by pecking it, and a Victorian couple holding cages. On the hour, metal birds fly out of the cages and around the couple, while others appear on the roof of the building, amongst the lettering. It is glorious to watch, but as we had to do so from the shelter of my umbrella, I have no photos to illustrate it... yet!<br /><br />We did have a wander around the walk-through Squirrel Monkey enclosure next door while waiting for the clock to spring into action, but the monkeys were obviously more intelligent than us, and were all huddled up inside their house!<br /><br />Next stop, Africa! First, the African bird safari, where we were made to realize just how big the Hammerkop's 1.8m tall and wide nest actually is:<br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYR_-6KwBi4QpEs1BNukFAQHw5RyCblxHJ8b-WuVTSTMwbggGyUechcwlj5-EQbKunRlhN4N1pPxCB4s50bVPX1dKUanZmZbgOrkZQnD9oURf-0F9jkSESPMlMbENUASJhOzBcA/s1600-h/_DSC0735.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYR_-6KwBi4QpEs1BNukFAQHw5RyCblxHJ8b-WuVTSTMwbggGyUechcwlj5-EQbKunRlhN4N1pPxCB4s50bVPX1dKUanZmZbgOrkZQnD9oURf-0F9jkSESPMlMbENUASJhOzBcA/s200/_DSC0735.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196909798293700306" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF8lll6wLbVIpKrqWStJzwdy4Uu37R2xR5Ci3vYpw3Kg4p-5iMkdpxwS5LJA0KNEapRhUHUdhrzMawi7_LPbQ0zxNxhNqoOuufOUeyOadTj7SxycdusjZTDlBDPjse4cz0MuxUg/s1600-h/_DSC0737.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXF8lll6wLbVIpKrqWStJzwdy4Uu37R2xR5Ci3vYpw3Kg4p-5iMkdpxwS5LJA0KNEapRhUHUdhrzMawi7_LPbQ0zxNxhNqoOuufOUeyOadTj7SxycdusjZTDlBDPjse4cz0MuxUg/s200/_DSC0737.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196909793998732994" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">The Hammerkop, and its nest</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br /><br />Next, the African mammal area, with its Giraffes, Okapis, Zebras, African Wild Dogs and Warthogs, plus an antelope whose name I'm affraid I can't remember...<br /><br />Finally, we visited the aviary and the owls, including the Burrowing owls, which must have a personality disorder - they all appear to think they're flamingos!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuK7iNFDuBIyA8UHH_5zLHXHKwPWjUs7Koa91kB0E9i8u0EbGBUsphE4GcxOVqRxHjd6pPN8uyrr8HaWnODh4xIyq5lSkh8z-YWMxnKb6mrEOMjzr6ScWq6bsIdM8yiAsqucN7Q/s1600-h/_DSC0805.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjuK7iNFDuBIyA8UHH_5zLHXHKwPWjUs7Koa91kB0E9i8u0EbGBUsphE4GcxOVqRxHjd6pPN8uyrr8HaWnODh4xIyq5lSkh8z-YWMxnKb6mrEOMjzr6ScWq6bsIdM8yiAsqucN7Q/s200/_DSC0805.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196909802588667618" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Even the photo on the information board showed the Burrowing Owl standing on one leg!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-89776414470283652752008-03-19T22:31:00.005+00:002008-04-20T02:04:01.956+00:00Kew Gardens... but no Borka!<div style="text-align: justify;">After a lie-in to recover from the Sci Comm celebrations, we had a late breakfast and caught a train to Kew, where we found the Royal Botanic Gardens in their full spring splendor. We had a nice walk among the flowers and around the lake, admiring the pansies & primulas, tulips and daffodils, as well as the coots and moorhens, ducks... and even a goose in a flowerbed!<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjbGevRKJLgRO4ZR0OiZWJh89a7qIK7jk3nA4SCIfqR5Fuf006gXdKnXIX1dpYLY0oMdwo1uLzVhizVAIzX2l37CAf-ir9f5Evu3CamolEIcnj0PAi6NDxok5QdZjsKs-7FHCSQ/s1600-h/_DSC0453.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNjbGevRKJLgRO4ZR0OiZWJh89a7qIK7jk3nA4SCIfqR5Fuf006gXdKnXIX1dpYLY0oMdwo1uLzVhizVAIzX2l37CAf-ir9f5Evu3CamolEIcnj0PAi6NDxok5QdZjsKs-7FHCSQ/s200/_DSC0453.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191059054551174258" border="0" /></a>We found a nice bench under a tree to enjoy our pasta lunch, and discovered it was such a nice spot that this jay wanted to share it with us:<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuxFKgbv4rbdcRB_y0rcq4dC9JZyeejT-vu0EwbdNbDZNKfMGcgL35pzH0O4YmmFTLX9jhOtrevbJ9qt9B9uOJ1_nluv0fASdlu1vn_CO-rRNkZ-sZ7bHU04Ezzh60tHqeyh-Kw/s1600-h/_DSC0470.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiuxFKgbv4rbdcRB_y0rcq4dC9JZyeejT-vu0EwbdNbDZNKfMGcgL35pzH0O4YmmFTLX9jhOtrevbJ9qt9B9uOJ1_nluv0fASdlu1vn_CO-rRNkZ-sZ7bHU04Ezzh60tHqeyh-Kw/s200/_DSC0470.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191101188180348066" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18ZJQUF6Kg8gyU9dicyscpWPQK4zIJV6mrVeT4AUYtQ1xPRdFQ_1tQd0N8_x0KcFdI9GrmRnEtTd1K6S1Ki6k552i9ArsEXYvzUbxkAOXIAVNe5D8LoKOv3ck3Sx380DbpFaDeg/s1600-h/_DSC0486.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18ZJQUF6Kg8gyU9dicyscpWPQK4zIJV6mrVeT4AUYtQ1xPRdFQ_1tQd0N8_x0KcFdI9GrmRnEtTd1K6S1Ki6k552i9ArsEXYvzUbxkAOXIAVNe5D8LoKOv3ck3Sx380DbpFaDeg/s200/_DSC0486.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191101192475315378" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">After lunch we headed for one of the hothouses, which started with a desert clime. I've never seen so many different cacti! From tiny to huge, including this one which looked like it had tentacles:<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYsfvdlPVKXIFLQcP6-4f3hwYuL5pn5U_TR72pyt3TzUKT66rXVwgJu10tRZ5GGo4dpSAtWFqaXhEUcGy1acCBccoSFFqoYh2iZsK4iYb9m1DQTOfAzd3y6-_gHvhsnUdCf7hqw/s1600-h/_DSC0498.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHYsfvdlPVKXIFLQcP6-4f3hwYuL5pn5U_TR72pyt3TzUKT66rXVwgJu10tRZ5GGo4dpSAtWFqaXhEUcGy1acCBccoSFFqoYh2iZsK4iYb9m1DQTOfAzd3y6-_gHvhsnUdCf7hqw/s200/_DSC0498.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191107166774824130" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The next section - forest - had a little side-room with carnivorous plants, such as these venus fly-traps and some pitcher plants.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRWMfcv-qRE-FHfnRcdH4A0k26a5UKFX6RUY-vQ-tOLS8D4oSM6KaBLXHGjckxkGM8DDTsEO-HJQixfOoi4p6bCoN040c8fcqerh5IM1DiIoia-objdjE3GecslrEY3FlbZdwUQ/s1600-h/_DSC0505.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRWMfcv-qRE-FHfnRcdH4A0k26a5UKFX6RUY-vQ-tOLS8D4oSM6KaBLXHGjckxkGM8DDTsEO-HJQixfOoi4p6bCoN040c8fcqerh5IM1DiIoia-objdjE3GecslrEY3FlbZdwUQ/s200/_DSC0505.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191111345778003154" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">After walking past a waterfall and a cocoa tree, we entered the orchid-rooms: apart from a whole array of different orchid species, there was a creeper-sculpture the Gardens received as a gift from Easter Island and a little nursery which usually houses the species of orchid which are flowering at that time of year - even though it was out of service due to some technical problem, I still liked the idea...<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOTcqs92W3gC3M586nY5RIsdKJOl4DWY0gJ-qsYSdFktLoVl5_Ruq4bnDwo5iugl8P04DnS3ep6LnpFYNutmW0d17AGzI2foxBunPA9IMaE5aPUsozmghHBFIIEs_T5a5A5R9TA/s1600-h/_DSC0542.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOTcqs92W3gC3M586nY5RIsdKJOl4DWY0gJ-qsYSdFktLoVl5_Ruq4bnDwo5iugl8P04DnS3ep6LnpFYNutmW0d17AGzI2foxBunPA9IMaE5aPUsozmghHBFIIEs_T5a5A5R9TA/s200/_DSC0542.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191119355892010210" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNaxdGXuMSnXz-MU6cn7RUyjiRI_VZ9-y8jrG7bJixcjtDgFw_MPR8AywVK6L-_5-M6XDXErTTkYYuKPdT5RMGoc33t-EgI8VJCRve3WWsOYb0hXwjprBK1QSyCB3UGO39OTFSw/s1600-h/_DSC0531.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnNaxdGXuMSnXz-MU6cn7RUyjiRI_VZ9-y8jrG7bJixcjtDgFw_MPR8AywVK6L-_5-M6XDXErTTkYYuKPdT5RMGoc33t-EgI8VJCRve3WWsOYb0hXwjprBK1QSyCB3UGO39OTFSw/s200/_DSC0531.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191126661631380754" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dtOJoG2_V9iKSZLUvQiBNb_PaQuxkJlDpCq63U7jB7OXBXll5YoxlwHvC_WttpxMdLS3N_rm3IAM8lhMukwEPJZzcWp-5Xb6LSSOuZGdGZ4wEvR61YnLtRPuXA1xgeum9qA5iA/s1600-h/_DSC0545.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dtOJoG2_V9iKSZLUvQiBNb_PaQuxkJlDpCq63U7jB7OXBXll5YoxlwHvC_WttpxMdLS3N_rm3IAM8lhMukwEPJZzcWp-5Xb6LSSOuZGdGZ4wEvR61YnLtRPuXA1xgeum9qA5iA/s200/_DSC0545.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191119360186977522" border="0" /></a></div> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Uxq_SLrlK27D9N6Kg1nkL8HH3ji2IWU2BixLiostHEIx_HFllPuAqQWLQDdqyTbnpOxN_I5HR5UZ1Z1iU96Nq54PEXyH9OG1YeJeBWhaDcFbCd1VQPI7UgbIE7LIjUjo2Rdf-Q/s1600-h/_DSC0552a.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Uxq_SLrlK27D9N6Kg1nkL8HH3ji2IWU2BixLiostHEIx_HFllPuAqQWLQDdqyTbnpOxN_I5HR5UZ1Z1iU96Nq54PEXyH9OG1YeJeBWhaDcFbCd1VQPI7UgbIE7LIjUjo2Rdf-Q/s200/_DSC0552a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191126665926348066" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">After the hot-house, we passed a lovely area with flowering almond and magnolia trees, took the mandatory romantic photo, and moved on in search of a cup of tea, but arrived at the café doors just after they'd been closed. As it was nearing closing time for the Gardens themselves, we made our way back to the gate, via a scenic little wooden bridge over a creek and a speedy walk next to the rock garden. Also <span style="font-style: italic;">en route</span>, Hugo spied his first squirrel of the trip.<br /></div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFgbGCW0SHP0jqVuHJiTi0oC7owKKUTUNZsi0hAHmbH_uioEllTv8i_pFrld-_PX257NMY1_mBSXv1fuwxwGapDxCMuTmqGopR_0dllUlY_bL4oK8BpdWeBhfDNmAh6A1n1oz7g/s1600-h/_DSC0567.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFgbGCW0SHP0jqVuHJiTi0oC7owKKUTUNZsi0hAHmbH_uioEllTv8i_pFrld-_PX257NMY1_mBSXv1fuwxwGapDxCMuTmqGopR_0dllUlY_bL4oK8BpdWeBhfDNmAh6A1n1oz7g/s200/_DSC0567.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191132146304617778" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">We decided to go back home via Kingston, since Hugo wanted to check out a photography shop there, but upon arrival in town discovered that not only was that shop closed, so was every other shop, including the shopping mall - at 6p.m.! The timetables in this country I still can't get used to... Eventually we found a café which was still open, and managed to have tea before heading back home...<br /><br /><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-87034861835202941622008-03-19T18:11:00.009+00:002008-04-20T02:01:43.777+00:00Hugo and the unforgettable Sci Comm presentations<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Hugo timed his visit so well, the day after he arrived his cruel girlfriend dragged him to Imperial College for a whole day's worth of Science Communication Group Project presentations! This was the end of a term's worth of work in groups of 3, responding to a brief which basically said "take what we discussed in last term's academic modules and produce something creative". So, from a soundscape+visual display based on BBC Radio's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Shipping forecast</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" > to an elephant representing science or a doll's house incorporating science, the media, the public, and the relations between them, there was plenty of variety... including my group's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" > Bumper Book of Science Parties</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >: our presentation involved decking everyone (including the teachers) out in brightly-coloured mortar-board hats, having them play </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Searching for the Truth (</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >a.k.a</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >pass-the-parcel), and... we had fairy-cakes and apple pi to go with the end-of-term drinks!<br /><br /></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrwIq_ciqdPCZPdM7voqqeyWVQbtXSKd0VDwet_MJ7B5pmjHV7iodZv1P9mkxE9x3NnZp0fBchJkS7vXd52n3TlJrdcX089UQoISGf5qG6PorNx4MyWfEDp7nP6WTensIcWjOiw/s1600-h/group+project+blog.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyrwIq_ciqdPCZPdM7voqqeyWVQbtXSKd0VDwet_MJ7B5pmjHV7iodZv1P9mkxE9x3NnZp0fBchJkS7vXd52n3TlJrdcX089UQoISGf5qG6PorNx4MyWfEDp7nP6WTensIcWjOiw/s200/group+project+blog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189924362836315170" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Funny how no audience can look bored wearing these hats!</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(51, 255, 255);font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >So, on his second day in London (this time round), Hugo got to see some wacky presentations, and discovered my colleagues learned two new concepts in this course: paradigm and metaphor (apparently no group managed not to mention either, and most mentioned both)!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >But, on the plus side, he did get to join in the aforementioned end-of-term drinks & snacks, the ensuing trip to the pub, and the pizza&partying at Kamini's place!...</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >The next day marked the start of my holidays, and of our tourist trips... but there'll be more about them in the next post!</span><br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-90006182099323694562008-03-02T22:22:00.002+00:002008-03-02T22:35:04.911+00:00What I like best about London: | O que mais gosto em Londres:<span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 255); font-family: arial;">The concept of back gardens.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 255); font-family: arial;">Suzanne came up to let me know there was a woodpecker in ours, so I leaped to the window to investigate, and spent the ensuing half-hour staring out the window at a green woodpecker, a blackbird, two great-tits, a robin, a squirrel and a jay, each minding their own business and getting on with their lives in our and the next-door-neighbours' gardens! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">O conceito de jardim-das-traseiras.</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">A Suzanne veio cá acima avisar-me que estava um pica-pau no nosso, de um salto pus-me à janela a mirar, e passei a meia-hora seguinte a admirar o dito pica-pau (que em Português se chama Peto-verde, aparentemente), um melro, dois chapins-reais, um pisco, um esquilo e um gaio, cada um a fazer a sua vidinha nos jardins - o nosso e o dos vizinhos do lado!</span>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-7632343951281986342008-02-10T22:03:00.003+00:002008-02-24T01:03:25.305+00:00Kung Hey Fat Choi!<span style="color: rgb(102, 255, 255);">Since first my train and then the Underground were delayed, I was worried I'd be late, but as it happens when I reached Charing Cross both Ana and Mireia were still below ground, in transit. As the Parade had already started, I decided to make my own interpretation of our meeting point arrangement. In a typical foreigners' approach, none of us knew any landmarks in the area, so Mireia had decided the meeting point would be "the most colourful thing you see when you come out of the Underground" (is it very obvious we all had mobile phones?). Well, I decided the most colourful thing in the vicinity were the colourful fish going past on the parade, which I could just glimpse above the assembled heads!</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(102, 255, 255);"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vE9g8plpYo0Vus3PhA77IS-E9UJJyJn_946XSapy_0nwgAavqSSmxgX9sI4BTizMMFEEGs1GIjOOFjB97vK7PQ3w5k67FfVJGDDn63DOsk7rwN6PS8hR0GAPCwrd8eoXEdCHvA/s1600-h/DSC05695a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vE9g8plpYo0Vus3PhA77IS-E9UJJyJn_946XSapy_0nwgAavqSSmxgX9sI4BTizMMFEEGs1GIjOOFjB97vK7PQ3w5k67FfVJGDDn63DOsk7rwN6PS8hR0GAPCwrd8eoXEdCHvA/s200/DSC05695a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168025819014383906" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaPUQ2DLTcOIqbBQFDsBUvWgQ_sr8Lu75sCuBzga1Iisl592Ti4MF2CZO9-Vpn5qGJSCFRxqLsX-xI1LJI1gaMXsJONlR5fjeNt1linrLYi02BylNP5TDBodea9XNz9ZjSulk3g/s1600-h/DSC05696a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaPUQ2DLTcOIqbBQFDsBUvWgQ_sr8Lu75sCuBzga1Iisl592Ti4MF2CZO9-Vpn5qGJSCFRxqLsX-xI1LJI1gaMXsJONlR5fjeNt1linrLYi02BylNP5TDBodea9XNz9ZjSulk3g/s320/DSC05696a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168026115367127346" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />For once, being short was actually handy - everyone felt sorry when they saw me craning my neck and stretching my camera above my head to photograph what I couldn't see, so before I knew it I was right at the front, next to a 4-year-old! Having managed to get to this great spot, I enjoyed it, delighting in the little chinese girls dancing with a cross between a fan and a scarf, older girls with long coloured ribbons, a group in red doing amazingly coordinated jumps and twists, a giant panda promoting a new film (Kung Fu Panda is supposed to be premièring some time this year - I have the paper headband to prove it!), and many others.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbwB-jlGotQGatDd_VYlVZ-kt-TXHd3MG7_WrSpu2U7ZDKiUygeDjHN3ZhWczIuqYkpP5OCIZSX35wOfY6RFggnnHqqVkRSkHd8bqxwUVVvJwoXNCwU-cP5qHSxuieffZOS1irTg/s1600-h/DSC05713a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbwB-jlGotQGatDd_VYlVZ-kt-TXHd3MG7_WrSpu2U7ZDKiUygeDjHN3ZhWczIuqYkpP5OCIZSX35wOfY6RFggnnHqqVkRSkHd8bqxwUVVvJwoXNCwU-cP5qHSxuieffZOS1irTg/s200/DSC05713a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168029207743580482" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYPFdSn93l4wvc60F_Qhcu-UMi2pLpFhx5YaMmmcYdDdhVyEFrBLbDKhdDjedsNipgMB9LXnx8DYFxHCa51jewW-5o_lvQ8edHhk93UrJS8LzMVIX_02aarGLEOyflQpY4D0kng/s1600-h/DSC05704.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFYPFdSn93l4wvc60F_Qhcu-UMi2pLpFhx5YaMmmcYdDdhVyEFrBLbDKhdDjedsNipgMB9LXnx8DYFxHCa51jewW-5o_lvQ8edHhk93UrJS8LzMVIX_02aarGLEOyflQpY4D0kng/s200/DSC05704.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168029216333515090" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIo5V0C6tAbyFGzewEsYbfGsr5EyBMICBPgNNoCHTKB3dhNJklCEs0d6xhRZ0-uFIKdV-ynho09jI2Lf7pYBJqtMbs_WSDi2HS-E9vW2nxR7T7U0FOEimmt1M2wCEeRYWSRnsArw/s1600-h/DSC05716a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIo5V0C6tAbyFGzewEsYbfGsr5EyBMICBPgNNoCHTKB3dhNJklCEs0d6xhRZ0-uFIKdV-ynho09jI2Lf7pYBJqtMbs_WSDi2HS-E9vW2nxR7T7U0FOEimmt1M2wCEeRYWSRnsArw/s200/DSC05716a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168029224923449698" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />Of course, my position was not so fantastic when Mireia arrived and was trying to find me - somehow my "I'm in front of Charing Cross Train Station, in the front row watching the Parade" wasn't considered very helpful, perhaps because I didn't send a periscope with it! So I squeezed back out through the crowd. It must be said it's considerably easier in that direction - can't think why, but people seem much more willing to let you go past them if you're moving away from the front!<br /><br />Having disentangled myself from the crowd and found Mireia, it became clear that it would be virtually impossible for the two of us to reach the front again together, so we opted instead to make our way to Trafalgar Square, in the hope of securing a good vantage point there, to watch the 'real show': the official Chinese New Year in London.<br /><br />As we were making our way to Trafalgar Sq., Ana made contact, so we met her there and after peeping at the parade as its end went round the corner, we made our way down to find a spot in front of the stage... or kind of!<br /><br />Being the official celebrations, they started off with all the official speeches: the Mayor of London, the head of the London Chinatown Association, the Chinese ambassador, the head of the Metropolitan Police... the only relief from boredom were the mildly befuddled presenters and the accents - both of the Chinese officials attempting to speak English and of the English ones struggling to even wish people a happy new year (Kung Hey Fat Choi)! The only speech we really enjoyed was a non-planned one: one of the presenters organized things to secretly surprise a police officer who's been working in Chinatown for 30 years, and enjoys it so much that he is staying on, even though he was due to retire this year. She managed to organize things so that he would be posted near the stage, and called him up to pay him homage, much to his surprise. So he had to give an impromptu speech, which - perhaps not surprisingly - was much more lively and interesting than all the official ones, and he actually said 2 or 3 sentences in fluent Cantonese!<br /><br />Before they were allowed to leave, the VIPs (and the police officer) took part in an important ceremony: the awakening of the dragons. Two dragons were brought onto the stage, wearing blindfolds, and the VIPs were to 'wake them up' by painting their eyes on, thus allowing them to see the world and begin their dance.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-SRSuYblBstuXn2GZz2gay19OkQwkfF8uA_p-ZnsuLVHpVZgH2C7F5jmPlDOZvmC6LHfSiRP4_ujRqzwh1kIIsnc9qZTbGUxkwaL96cBy7rBX1ljv7IsHUHYiRwMe4wxcdRIQw/s1600-h/DSC05747a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge-SRSuYblBstuXn2GZz2gay19OkQwkfF8uA_p-ZnsuLVHpVZgH2C7F5jmPlDOZvmC6LHfSiRP4_ujRqzwh1kIIsnc9qZTbGUxkwaL96cBy7rBX1ljv7IsHUHYiRwMe4wxcdRIQw/s200/DSC05747a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168034885690345842" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />We thought the first dragon's dance was very good, until we saw the second one! Besides finding the dragon itself much prettier, in gold and red rather than fluorescent yellow and pink, the dance itself was superb! The speed with which those people moved around, over and under each other without hitting each other with their poles or tying knots in the dragon's body, I honestly do not know!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw60rMZZIXy4rOEX3l1kmQPR-DcRut36QKDnkotlI1wWGd2tf0NhEKJiOhwv-uQRh6RHiWtOMnjV9ku4LG98ovvcWiBKIkSiBqFTO6pvww_OVX1jAwFw4hEXxt50BchkPU13GGhg/s1600-h/DSC05776.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw60rMZZIXy4rOEX3l1kmQPR-DcRut36QKDnkotlI1wWGd2tf0NhEKJiOhwv-uQRh6RHiWtOMnjV9ku4LG98ovvcWiBKIkSiBqFTO6pvww_OVX1jAwFw4hEXxt50BchkPU13GGhg/s200/DSC05776.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168037686009022850" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRiK8a_aokRnuY6VQ3jaCDFxk2hmHram4l5e6Y9wDygDJ-Usisl264Vff1qG-UwfLAUlYPktIADXMd_WW1wx9BEqfiZwJv2xYoEs5DU228JxEaIldQAIPuzKI-TUKiutwf9r6Kg/s1600-h/DSC05788a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXRiK8a_aokRnuY6VQ3jaCDFxk2hmHram4l5e6Y9wDygDJ-Usisl264Vff1qG-UwfLAUlYPktIADXMd_WW1wx9BEqfiZwJv2xYoEs5DU228JxEaIldQAIPuzKI-TUKiutwf9r6Kg/s200/DSC05788a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168037690303990162" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-TNsv1C1pjwl9VS9LGCJaq3GfHiOi9HZplFjryoVEhkwGtIOJm2p8e2I37exZoH43sfoqMveOW_s1yu4st2q7JT96oPO37jBcRB8igbcu6eZpCrcU043t3d7G3N1ZdKqodD3Pg/s1600-h/DSC05794a.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-TNsv1C1pjwl9VS9LGCJaq3GfHiOi9HZplFjryoVEhkwGtIOJm2p8e2I37exZoH43sfoqMveOW_s1yu4st2q7JT96oPO37jBcRB8igbcu6eZpCrcU043t3d7G3N1ZdKqodD3Pg/s200/DSC05794a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168037698893924770" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br />The dragon dance was followed by performances from the "Chinese All Women's Youth Association" (I hope I got the name right!), starting with a dance in which each girl was dressed to represent one of the different Chinese peoples - although exactly which 'culture' was represented by the Mickey Mouse ears in a green leaf-like head-dress, we couldn't quite decide... They were followed by a fantastic group of kids playing traditional musical instruments and several dance groups, including a group of girls with a single long feather in their head-dress, which danced beautifully with every elegant move they made.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyiIBpzkaAqvRMA3mY9_SOLcEPtlJhUQQFkLTX8xwcX4s0NEdAEHgKkwriFHF3nSnIUvd2WiM4mQZRUhyphenhyphenSbIpQjIJzFUGoeYvBNWDmcG6g6XaSacIuXPItMi4gMpyRHG73FaZng/s1600-h/DSC05814a.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyiIBpzkaAqvRMA3mY9_SOLcEPtlJhUQQFkLTX8xwcX4s0NEdAEHgKkwriFHF3nSnIUvd2WiM4mQZRUhyphenhyphenSbIpQjIJzFUGoeYvBNWDmcG6g6XaSacIuXPItMi4gMpyRHG73FaZng/s200/DSC05814a.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168039451240581554" border="0" /></a><br />By this stage, we were starving, so as good 'latin girls' we abandoned the performances in search of food. Of course, on a day such as this, we <span style="font-style: italic;">had </span>to eat Chinese food, in Chinatown! There was a warm red glow to the streets, with the sun's rays reflected off all the hanging red and yellow lanterns and streamers. We followed the trail of people walking back out with nice-smelling foodstuffs, and, guided by our stomachs as much as our noses, found a little shop with a production-line food sale process. Once we'd eaten, Mireia and I were in desperate need of respite from the crowds, and Ana, though unaffected by our agoraphobia - "this is like a normal day in the centre of Mexico city" - was in need of a cup of tea, so we headed to a quiet little esplanade. En route, we made stops for Mireia to buy some traditional Chinese sweets for dessert (a bean sweet in batter covered with sesame-seeds and a 'Tiger roll') and for Ana and Mireia to buy a little rat each, as a good luck charm for the Year of the Rat, which is their year, as both have the Rat as their Chinese zodiac sign.<br /><br />While we were enjoying our tea and experimenting with the Chinese sweets, Kamini called to announce she'd given up on writing her assignments and decided to join us for the festivities instead. After a nice tea and a chat, Mireia decided to head back to Oxford to tackle <span style="font-style: italic;">her </span>assignments, and myself, Ana and Kamini headed back towards Chinatown, for another look around as the dark set in, and bought a half-price dragon each (the advantage of shopping at the end, when people want to get rid of stock!), while we waited for 6 o'clock to see the fireworks at Leister Square. Ana, Mireia and I had heard them throughout the day (they went off every hour from 1pm), but we were convinced they were just firecrackers and therefore not very exciting to watch. Kamini soon put us right, and we caught the last, and arguably the best - as it was in darkness - firework display of the day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCmX73Mdy0UlA76-atHFjik3B_YEhdE7Fob5iq03QZkOHx7zGgunReFIgRY5c3DfjNDtwIk2PWAGmYra_TcVkClXrQqYeoEIwGXDAFh5hBz2rb8gdLHJl5fiAlWDtXP7anBwCjQ/s1600-h/DSC05838.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCmX73Mdy0UlA76-atHFjik3B_YEhdE7Fob5iq03QZkOHx7zGgunReFIgRY5c3DfjNDtwIk2PWAGmYra_TcVkClXrQqYeoEIwGXDAFh5hBz2rb8gdLHJl5fiAlWDtXP7anBwCjQ/s200/DSC05838.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168040331708877250" border="0" /></a><br />It was quite impressive, although not the most spectacular I've ever seen, and even though it ended with soot falling in my eye... We wandered back through Chinatown and finally declared an end to the day's festivities and went home, where Suzanne found a nice habitat for my dragon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqaqxL0OZGyFA3oYdsif4Tfnq7QKupDFz5J9Z96kVuWdv8BINiO4S-EH7pL57dDTaRiaBvSH-smtSRA-nnRbgOfMeCPI4h5rePXa-SvRrT70926x4FhPii02LdG-2N8CvZZOkww/s1600-h/DSC05864.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNqaqxL0OZGyFA3oYdsif4Tfnq7QKupDFz5J9Z96kVuWdv8BINiO4S-EH7pL57dDTaRiaBvSH-smtSRA-nnRbgOfMeCPI4h5rePXa-SvRrT70926x4FhPii02LdG-2N8CvZZOkww/s200/DSC05864.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168041585839327698" border="0" /></a>NOTE: Mireia was kind enough to point out I somehow misunderstood them - both her and Ana are Chickens, not Rats. My apologies, girls! ;)<br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-34616143510483354902008-02-02T22:42:00.000+00:002008-02-04T22:03:32.091+00:00Porque tenho um irmão extraordinário...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZVwdEzg3-WLYNW6uQfM-LqRtxWKwqGy3GbVGZeM_we853QX8EkcietxCtGCODBJNDwKCfd2-z5p5pxxLjxDvsapUdd1AJXChn0r_bkLU6MxcZ_LhY5hS2z5HJfwXfdYdcWrlLw/s1600-h/DSC05506.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZVwdEzg3-WLYNW6uQfM-LqRtxWKwqGy3GbVGZeM_we853QX8EkcietxCtGCODBJNDwKCfd2-z5p5pxxLjxDvsapUdd1AJXChn0r_bkLU6MxcZ_LhY5hS2z5HJfwXfdYdcWrlLw/s320/DSC05506.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162550783864638658" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >O majestoso Royal Albert Hall</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Esta tarde fui ao Royal Albert Hall, ver <a href="http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/varekai/intro/intro.htm">Varekai</a>, do Cirque du Soleil. E foi absolutamente fantástico. Delicioso. Vibrante. Lindo. Nem sei por onde começar a descrever. </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xeAlP-7bcOS57paREF1IR8-nqXx4bcVESQAVugszNlqYaYGAvfsstDPreyRfXgg0ixmFbmrJCWgrUWdtfvwq0YfVAurEetpiMi94mHzcidkp7YdP_H4ziD2ro2aYA3CfmYiuaw/s1600-h/DSC05505.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-xeAlP-7bcOS57paREF1IR8-nqXx4bcVESQAVugszNlqYaYGAvfsstDPreyRfXgg0ixmFbmrJCWgrUWdtfvwq0YfVAurEetpiMi94mHzcidkp7YdP_H4ziD2ro2aYA3CfmYiuaw/s320/DSC05505.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162550801044507858" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">E foi ao ver isto que eu me apercebi que ia <span style="font-weight: bold;">mesmo</span> ver Cirque du Soleil ao vivo!<br /><br /></span></div>Talvez o melhor seja dizer que nós temos em casa o DVD que foi gravado quando o espectáculo estreou, e o que vi hoje está ainda melhor. Nos cinco anos que já tem de vida, o espectáculo foi sendo alterado, mudaram algumas cenas, tiraram umas, acrescentaram outras... E eu confesso que estava um pouco céptica em relação a algumas das decisões... quando fui ao site e descobri que tinham tirado o par de dança/acrobática, que era dos meus números, e que a contorcionista no papel principal já não era a mesma, tive dúvidas que tivessem achado alguém adequado para os substituir. Mas o facto é que em vez do "meu" par de dança-acrobática hoje tivemos direito a um grupo de acrobática/dança que incluía alguns dos momentos mais espectaculares do número antigo (tenho dúvidas se 2 dos membros do grupo não serão o par antigo...) e ainda coisas que eu nunca teria imaginado possíveis!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlI9wHSRj_CzRldXozXnB-RtJeIMP40OSMAhHMglazAFjUYcKTgya1dkouTK_uvO5BMLe8HoZ0sqa9rOQfWuefMbjRnTAKjxad_KjhpcRV4UadeKeVhol9Gr1-RNR8y3g-YuLLqA/s1600-h/from+film2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlI9wHSRj_CzRldXozXnB-RtJeIMP40OSMAhHMglazAFjUYcKTgya1dkouTK_uvO5BMLe8HoZ0sqa9rOQfWuefMbjRnTAKjxad_KjhpcRV4UadeKeVhol9Gr1-RNR8y3g-YuLLqA/s320/from+film2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162560168368180466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">O grupo de acrobática/dança<br /></span></div><br />E quanto à contorcionista, digamos que se não tivesse sabido da troca por outros meios, a minha reacção seria: ena, a Olga está ainda melhor agora! ;)<br />Outro número totalmente novo envolve uma rapariga a fazer exercícios em suspensão num arco (daqueles do hula-hoop). Enquanto ela basicamente usa o arco como um trapézio, tudo muito bem, faz coisas incríveis mas "normais" para o Cirque... Mas depois a certa altura a rapariga fica pendurada no arco pela nuca! Só! Nada de mãos, braços, pés, pernas, não, isso é para os fracos! Ah, e devo acrescentar que tudo isto foi feito sem cabo de segurança... E o mais impressionante é que nós, público, estávamos todos tão fascinados e encantados com a sequência toda que acho que ninguém reparou sequer nesse pormenor até o número ter acabado!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim387eTPGPKXHpnyQc1xZrGZyG1d-evIgTLajgYAP_68zT7DQpVDbLyfdQ5emi06USSbmZczsvq-c-erfZEIWDlYqFB3W-r2FGuuhJSe7p28EECGA7MoGrASo2FklxakB2VkH17w/s1600-h/DSC05535.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim387eTPGPKXHpnyQc1xZrGZyG1d-evIgTLajgYAP_68zT7DQpVDbLyfdQ5emi06USSbmZczsvq-c-erfZEIWDlYqFB3W-r2FGuuhJSe7p28EECGA7MoGrASo2FklxakB2VkH17w/s320/DSC05535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162561229225102594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">A Olga, que agora é Irina (se não conseguirem distinguir diferentes partes do corpo, não é da foto!)</span><br /></div><br />Quanto aos números antigos, os gémeos nas fitas (daquelas penduradas do tecto) continuam deslumbrantes: irrepreensíveis, mais expressivos do que nunca, e quase que sou capaz de jurar que acrescentaram cenas mais difíceis ao número... Mas a prova de como o número é bom é que ficamos em transe, absolutamente vidrados no que estão a fazer, e não conseguimos sequer bater palmas, porque os milissegundos que demoramos a reagir são suficientes para eles terem começado outra coisa ainda mais estonteante... Às tantas estava a começar a sentir pena deles, porque parecia que não tinha direito a palmas... a sério... cheguei a um ponto que a vontade de lhes "transmitir" o facto de que estávamos realmente a adorar o trabalho deles era tão grande, que comecei a bater palmas mesmo a meio de sequências. E acho que não era a única a sentir-me assim, que a senhora ao meu lado parecia estar a passar pelo mesmo! Não que eu lhe tenha visto a cara (isso implicaria tirar os olhos dos inigualáveis senhores das fitas), mas pelos comentários e pela linguagem corporal (vista pelo canto do olho), arrisco-me a dizer que sim...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLJgvmZLgP-cLON9e-BqanFTRrjMlm_cv-fL6KgOT0jDi0OroUtHmZ6CZaWtBguPNtrTasEvy8YwNmbdDO0hI-kkoNtDyFDcecQo1nHPHF6J7IJQtFSKgDO6MdKhr1dqhy2cN6w/s1600-h/ScreenShot001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLJgvmZLgP-cLON9e-BqanFTRrjMlm_cv-fL6KgOT0jDi0OroUtHmZ6CZaWtBguPNtrTasEvy8YwNmbdDO0hI-kkoNtDyFDcecQo1nHPHF6J7IJQtFSKgDO6MdKhr1dqhy2cN6w/s320/ScreenShot001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162560155483278562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Outro número antigo: estes srs. fazem coisas mais difíceis do que alguma vez vi em 10 anos de trampolins de competição!<br /></span></div><br />E não posso encerrar este post sem falar dos comediantes (são muito mais do que palhaços!). A melhor forma de descrever como são brilhantes é dizer que mesmo já conhecendo a maior parte das piadas, chorei a rir!<br /><br />Há muito, mas muito mais para contar, mas nada do que eu possa dizer vai sequer chegar perto da sensação de assistir a algo assim... Portanto, um gigantesco OBRIGADO ao generoso e fantástico ser que me deu o bilhete!<br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-9923124183271796482008-01-23T22:31:00.000+00:002008-02-01T01:43:16.524+00:00Toy Museum | Museu do Brinquedo<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">As we were going to have to analyse an exhibition for one of our modules this term (1st step - choose your exhibition), and we had to be in London in the afternoon for official course business, Kamini, Mireia and I decided to start off the day with something fun: we went to visit <a href="http://www.pollockstoymuseum.com/">Pollock's Toy Museum</a>.<br /><br />In fact, the original plan, for me and Kamini at least, had been to start off with a stroll round (part of) the British Museum, then move on to meet Mireia at the Toy Museum. Maybe it's just because she's living in Oxford, but Mireia appears to have had better foresight... Neither I nor Kamini were capable of dragging ourselves out of bed early enough to make it to the British Museum!<br /><br />So, after minor delays caused by late trains and police demonstrations, we eventually convened at Tottenham Court Rd underground station. Unfortunately, none of us had thought to print out directions from the website, so all we had was a rather limited map on the train company's promotion leaflet. Nevertheless, Mireia dug out her trusty A-Z, and we enacted our roles as tourists perfectly:<br />1.) Stand on a corner looking repeatedly from street names to inappropriate map<br />2.) Get out different (better?) map<br />3.) Repeat step one while walking along near-randomly chosen road<br />4.) Find your destination on map<br />5.) Find your current location on map<br />6.) Decide on directions<br />7.) Round corner still looking at map<br />8.) Lift eyes momentarily from map (after 7a.- narrowly miss bumping into someone) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">spot your destination right in front of you!</span><br /><br />So we got there, bought our tickets, and started exploring! Meaning we walked through the first door and sat on the stairs. Before you start labeling us as lazy, allow me to explain: the Museum is housed in a relatively small space, so they make the most of it - the stair walls are covered in board games (complete with explanatory labels) and other toys.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Eew4n_PeUIyInW_GsIpOjMg30XAJRR_zmL27ttGQilwqc7CKR6GI10yUrypcx24VUyoT6IEy-lHpJADXtEfvaxTpOnyWJbX06dDAxJbJWUqXE_HKgZr7nWQJmH3TzT2B08titw/s1600-h/DSC05388.JPG"> </a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Eew4n_PeUIyInW_GsIpOjMg30XAJRR_zmL27ttGQilwqc7CKR6GI10yUrypcx24VUyoT6IEy-lHpJADXtEfvaxTpOnyWJbX06dDAxJbJWUqXE_HKgZr7nWQJmH3TzT2B08titw/s1600-h/DSC05388.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Eew4n_PeUIyInW_GsIpOjMg30XAJRR_zmL27ttGQilwqc7CKR6GI10yUrypcx24VUyoT6IEy-lHpJADXtEfvaxTpOnyWJbX06dDAxJbJWUqXE_HKgZr7nWQJmH3TzT2B08titw/s320/DSC05388.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161818393156422818" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstQ6YWK2PE1wTYWUUkFwWPZhDeBraVoI0e-E7ulo_75yWQF4CCqHXb-_mvUrFL22mkiyC6O94O1xzwn_gEXbfQA1DIdXf4BjGW_bABgqi7lKg_Lnq0PEtgt2li2xvcncUsbg62Q/s1600-h/DSC05391.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstQ6YWK2PE1wTYWUUkFwWPZhDeBraVoI0e-E7ulo_75yWQF4CCqHXb-_mvUrFL22mkiyC6O94O1xzwn_gEXbfQA1DIdXf4BjGW_bABgqi7lKg_Lnq0PEtgt2li2xvcncUsbg62Q/s320/DSC05391.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161818401746357426" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >Mireia (Catalonia) and Kamini (England/India) on the stairs with the games</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(153, 255, 255);font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);">So while we sat on the stairs (after letting two groups of people past, as we were taking longer than them - can't think why!), we learned - amongst other things - that snakes and ladders was originally a more complex Indian game involving ascending to states of increasing purity (through good deeds) or reincarnating in lower life forms (due to bad deeds). And that magnetic fishing, jumping paper frogs, mikado and many other games from our childhoods (including, in Mireia's case, the Juego de la Oca - to all Portuguese people reading this, it existed for year as a board game before being warped onto TV!) had been around in one form or another for far longer that we had imagined... Not to mention getting to see sheep's knuckles like those used as dice by the ancient Greeks...<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1-jvKFSBH2z4AhjDKaRBroZR7jBRJmc1Xx0D5LCvVx9ZAO8c-raNSzX0iRN6PUsvEOnLh-LnYvSoSv_a3W3X2H4mcwI52s52AOQKSlcgQONiXp_VH-_HpIjIbdqU1HL8m0WpyA/s1600-h/DSC05395.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1-jvKFSBH2z4AhjDKaRBroZR7jBRJmc1Xx0D5LCvVx9ZAO8c-raNSzX0iRN6PUsvEOnLh-LnYvSoSv_a3W3X2H4mcwI52s52AOQKSlcgQONiXp_VH-_HpIjIbdqU1HL8m0WpyA/s320/DSC05395.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5161817353774337170" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >The "original" snakes & ladders - or near enough!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: rgb(153, 255, 255);"><br />In the rooms (yes, we eventually got past the stairs), we saw everything from old cardboard theatres to rocking horses, including a cabinet with "Sooty & Friends" cuddlies! Amongst these was the oldest version of a caleidoscope we had ever seen: it basically looked like an old microscope, but on the plate at the bottom there was a pile of randomly glued shreds of coloured fabric, and there was a handle which rotated the plate, so that you saw "changing patterns" when you looked through the view-piece!<br /><br />There was also a room with waxed dolls, where conversation suddenly turned to horror movies... when Mireia and Kamini had got themselves 'psyched-up' by talks of spending the night at the museum, getting chased by zombie dolls and saved by the oldest and most battered-looking one, someone came into the room through a door they hadn't noticed existed! After my two companions had re-composed themselves, we moved through the "magic door", and eventually came to a room with teddies... unfortunately, old teddies never look very nice, but one display was particularly bizarre: a glass case with a tree on which teddies were sitting/dangling at the weirdest angles! We wondered if they had originally been nicely arranged, then struck by an earthquake - and obviously now no-one must know where the key to the case is... seems the only logical explanation to me...<br /><br />Our walk back down was via a different set of stairs, where we marveled at Chinese shadow-puppets, traditional African puppets, and many more wonders, until we reached the gift shop, where amongst other things (e.g. replicas of the cardboard theatres to take home and build), Kamini found one of those old handle-wound musical boxes without the box (I've no idea what they're called and can't be bothered to go search) and I found an aardvark cuddly. Now I have what some would call an obsession with cuddlies, and own quite a diverse collection of them myself, but never before had I seen an aardvark cuddly! I resisted temptation, but I may yet acquire one before my stay in the country is over...<br /><br />By this stage we were in need of sustenance, so we stopped for lunch and then moved on to Euston and the <a href="http://www.wellcomecollection.org/">Wellcome Collection</a>, where we managed to see about a third of the <a href="http://www.wellcomecollection.org/exhibitionsandevents/exhibitions/sleepinganddreaming/WTD037124.htm">Sleeping & Dreaming</a> exhibition before we were due to meet our teacher and the exhibition's curators for an "informal seminar"...<br /><br />The seminar was really very interesting, especially as we discovered that the exhibition had been created in partnership with a museum in Dresden, having been mainly developed over there and displayed there first - in a bigger and different shaped gallery, which also posed challenges to the transfer. The next collaboration will be the upcoming Medicine & War exhibition, which will be mainly curated by the English, but with considerable input from the Germans - and should be quite interesting, considering the topic!<br /><br />After the seminar, we went back and saw another third of the exhibition, including a girl falling asleep at a table they had there (and the poor staff-guy not knowing quite how to react), before closing-time kicked us out... So we still have to go back there (anyone want to come?).<br /><br />We tried to watch a show at the Southbank Centre, but it was sold out, so after discovering the British Film Institute wasn't showing anything we were interested in, we decided to head off home.<br /><br />I fell asleep on the train... and woke up just as it was leaving Norbiton (a.k.a. my stop)! So I had to go on to Kingston, get off, and catch the train back again. Oh, and hope not to get stopped by any inspectors, as my pass is valid for zones 1-5 and Kingston is in zone 6!<br /><br />Kamini fell asleep on the tube, as did Mireia on the bus, so it must have been - in Mireia's words - "side-effects of the exhibition"!<br /></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-66502837352985131912007-11-21T14:47:00.000+00:002008-01-19T16:36:45.855+00:00Hugo - dia 1| Hugo - day 1<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;">No primeiro dia do Hugo em Londres, decidimos não nos afastar muito de casa, e simultanteamente dar-lhe oportunidade de se manter treinado na fotografia. Para isso, nada melhor que Richmond Park! Lá fomos a pé até ao dito parque, para dar um passeio, munidos de rações que incluíam ainda Fudge. Passámos pela Isabella Plantation – o jardim vedado para não ser devorado pelos veados – onde o riacho fazia umas mini-cascatas engraçadas, e passámos algum tempo (como não havia nenhum não-biólogo connosco para se queixar, não sei quanto...) a observar as várias espécies de pato e galinha-de-água que por lá andavam. </div><p style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">On Hugo’s first day in </span><st1:city style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);" st="on"><st1:place st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">, we decided not to stray too far from home, and simultaneously keep him in training for his photography course. What better place than </span><st1:place style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);" st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Richmond</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"> for such an endeavour? So we walked to the Park to have a walk, armed with rations which still included Fudge. We walked through the Isabella Plantation – the deer-protected garden – where the little stream made some nice mini-waterfalls, and spent some time (as there were no non-biologists with us to complain, I don’t know how much…) watching assorted ducks and waterfowl.</span></span></p><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRkBPzIoepgzoA4WhVGL_Z7fRFQSq5zXUJi-5FjL_Gp2_MQfF5uNuOdqm293ZHX__XC7nTDxcI8zH_ButtONRfPgfUaSfZLd9qns09gBO_Pc0OKQADgJGaqQIc53KqJ8iuLkf1Q/s1600-h/pato.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgRkBPzIoepgzoA4WhVGL_Z7fRFQSq5zXUJi-5FjL_Gp2_MQfF5uNuOdqm293ZHX__XC7nTDxcI8zH_ButtONRfPgfUaSfZLd9qns09gBO_Pc0OKQADgJGaqQIc53KqJ8iuLkf1Q/s320/pato.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157200544005891010" border="0" /></a><p style="font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"> </p><p style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Pato arlequim a beber no lago.| <span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Harlequin duck drinking from the lake.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Acabámos por almoçar em frente a um grupo de veados, e o Hugo aproveitou para dar de comer aos corvos (as pessoas normais alimentam os pombos e/ou pardais, mas os biólogo-fotógrafos têm que ser originais!)</p><div face="arial" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"> We ended up having lunch in front of some dear, while Hugo fed the ravens (normal people feed pigeons and/or sparrows, but biologist-photographers have to be different!)</span><br /></div><br /><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-ZtP_Ftl3Doal0vlMfkqG4704LgHsrDNwCbqrW_JCkX24K8l-PtNvUeLcW-07iTGdXTttI9hqGLfo85dhZCMaRhjEpvL0lPrEvbZuL5x44nFOa3aQWZzMsp7WbFyF7twfAziPg/s1600-h/deer+rut.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW-ZtP_Ftl3Doal0vlMfkqG4704LgHsrDNwCbqrW_JCkX24K8l-PtNvUeLcW-07iTGdXTttI9hqGLfo85dhZCMaRhjEpvL0lPrEvbZuL5x44nFOa3aQWZzMsp7WbFyF7twfAziPg/s320/deer+rut.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157203644972278738" border="0" /></a> <p style="text-align: center;font-family:arial;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">E apanhámos o fim da época de brama!|<span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">And we caught the end of the deer rut!</span></span></p><p face="arial" style="text-align: center;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;" class="MsoNormal">Na deambulação de regresso a casa, já ao entardecer, além dos corvos, pêgas e periquitos invasores abundantes nesta área, vimos um pica-pau verde! Infelizmente, ele andava muito escondido na erva alta, e na altura era eu que tinha a máquina fotográfica na mão, o que implica que não há grandes fotografias do bicho...</p><div style="text-align: justify; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);"> On the roundabout walk back home, at twilight, after ravens, magpies and the ever-present invasive perikeets, we saw a green woodpecker! Unfortunately, it was hiding in the tall grass, and I was holding the camera at the time, which means there are no great photos of it...</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3yV9pcRIYzRqK9sXqqRkqZ0NN0YAYvgGQ1I1TN9a3PWaW9IWDNLx5s688PrH6t9jFazB6e_LiEJ6FCHI3kg7jMKij7Qr1crpt7x243hBEdeAZmSXwbWMLgT0e95TGOWaul0dew/s1600-h/woodpecker.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP3yV9pcRIYzRqK9sXqqRkqZ0NN0YAYvgGQ1I1TN9a3PWaW9IWDNLx5s688PrH6t9jFazB6e_LiEJ6FCHI3kg7jMKij7Qr1crpt7x243hBEdeAZmSXwbWMLgT0e95TGOWaul0dew/s320/woodpecker.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157206690104091618" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Juro que está um pica-pau nesta foto!|<span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">I swear there's a woodpecker in that photo!</span></span><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11643130.post-18727355322156393392007-11-08T00:38:00.000+00:002007-11-18T23:36:02.306+00:00"I went to London, to visit the Queen"<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Last Tuesday, Rui (my "godson" from college) was passing by London, and we arranged to meet at Westminster for a touristy morning. When I got off the train in Waterloo, I decided it wasn't worth getting the underground, I could simply cross the bridge and walk along the riverside. So I set off, and shortly after crossing Waterloo bridge, I realized why traffic looked so chaotic: the road was closed. Fortunately for me, as I'd forgotten my map at home, the road was open to pedestrians, so I was able to enjoy a nice walk with no exhaust fumes or engine noises. I stopped on the corner in front of Big Ben, and decided to phone Rui in order to avoid the two of us walking round in circles chasing each other: take out my English mobile (the one he'd sent his message to) to check his number, take out my Portuguese mobile to phone him from, repeat the whole process because the mobile decided to ignore the +351 and then complained the number didn't exist, and finally Rui answers and says he's in front of Big Ben. For a moment I thought he was on the other side of Big Ben in relation to me, but as the conversation advanced it dawned on me we were on the same side. That's when I (finally) had the bright idea of actually lifting my head and looking around. And there was Rui, talking on his mobile, on the 'island' in the middle of the road - where the zebra crossing at my feet lead! So close, in fact, that I realized then I could hear his voice through the ear that was not glued to the phone... Anyway, after the inevitable comments, and although we were still rather puzzled by the fact that all the roads around us were closed, we decided to make the most of the opportunity to walk along the middle of Westminster Bridge. Fortunately our "making the most of it" was less enthusiastic than that of the group of Italian tourists (don't ask me why, but I mentally labeled them as Italian) who had sat down on the floor to take photos... and had to jump out of the way when two police motorbikes zoomed by, escorting a pick-up truck! We took the mandatory photos with the famous clock...<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Na 3ª-feira passada, o Rui (meu afilhado da faculdade) esteve de passagem por Londres, e combinámos encontrar-nos em Westminster para dar o belo do passeio turístico. Quando saí do comboio em Waterloo, decidi que não valia a pena apanhar o metro, podia simplesmente atravessar a ponte e ir a pé à beira-rio. Pus pés ao caminho, e pouco depois de ter atravessado a dita ponte (de Waterloo) descobri a explicação para o ar caótico do trânsito: a rua estava fechada. Felizmente para mim, que me tinha esquecido do mapa em casa, a rua não estava fechada a peões, e assim tive um passeio sem fumo de escape nem barulho de motores, o que foi agradável. Parei na esquina, frente ao Big Ben, e achei melhor ligar ao Rui para evitar andarmos às voltas à procura um do outro: toca a sacar do telemóvel inglês (para onde ele me tinha mandado mensagem) para confirmar o nº dele, sacar do telemóvel português para lhe ligar, repetir o processo porque o telemóvel decidiu ignorar o +351 e depois queixou-se que o nº não existia, e por fim o Rui atende, e diz-me que está em frente ao Big Ben. Por momentos pensei que ele estivesse do lado oposto ao meu, mas depois pela conversa dele percebi que não. Foi aí que tive (finalmente) a ideia brilhante de levantar a cabeça e olhar à volta. E lá estava o Rui, a falar ao telemóvel, na "ilha" no meio da estrada, onde ia dar a passadeira aos meus pés! Tão perto, de facto, que nesse momento me apercebi que conseguia ouvir a voz dele pelo ouvido que não estava colado ao telemóvel... Enfim, depois dos inevitáveis comentários, e embora continuássemos um bocado perplexos com o facto de as ruas todas das redondezas estarem fechadas ao trânsito, decidimos aproveitar ao máximo a oportunidade de passear a pé no meio de Westminster Bridge. Felizmente, o nosso "aproveitar ao máximo" foi menos entusiástico que o de um grupo de turistas italianos (não sei exactamente porquê, mas estão catalogados na minha mente como italianos), que se tinha sentado no chão a tirar fotos... e teve que se levantar literalmente de um salto para dar passagem a 2 motos da polícia a escoltar uma carrinha de caixa aberta! Tirámos as fotos da praxe com o relógio famoso...</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F7pvQMwnTnmO9nUisCyKfynh9x37dFvpuonEixupHzBNpmOokLUA7kabGA13VBnOCYIIOWdSV-d6kCpj6bh_0qqwUQ_5Or8uxznHIphy7IFjOKpu4QCFHtQjcTtRPlRmDvq8Nw/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+015.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F7pvQMwnTnmO9nUisCyKfynh9x37dFvpuonEixupHzBNpmOokLUA7kabGA13VBnOCYIIOWdSV-d6kCpj6bh_0qqwUQ_5Or8uxznHIphy7IFjOKpu4QCFHtQjcTtRPlRmDvq8Nw/s320/Visita+do+Rui+015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130268388048241506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">and walked down toward Westminster Abbey, after checking with a policeman that it was open - with so many policemen about and part of the road cut off even to pedestrians, we were beginning to wonder! As we walked down we became aware of an ever growing number of people, which we only truly understood when we saw a group of liveried horsemen go by... That's when I finally clocked it: it was the Queen's Parade, when Her Majesty goes to Westminster to officially declare the start of the parliamentary year (why in November, I don't know, but I'll try to find out). After the horsemen we saw three horse-drawn carriages go by, one of which (the most adorned one) we presume was the queen's... I only managed to get a (bad) photo of the last one, and it took some effort - I had to find some convenient steps 1st!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">e descemos a rua em direcção a Westminster Abbey, depois de confirmar com um polícia que a Abbey estava aberta - com tanto aparato policial e parte da rua cortada até aos peões, já estávamos a ficar com dúvidas! À medida que fomos descendo fomo-nos embrenhando num aglomerado cada vez maior de gente, que só percebemos verdadeiramente quando vimos passar uns cavalos com cavaleiros em trajes de cerimónia... Foi aí que se fez luz no meu espírito: era dia da Queen's Parade, quando a rainha vai a Westminster abrir oficialmente o ano parlamentar (porquê em Novembro, não sei, mas vou tentar descobrir). Depois dos cavaleiros vimos passar 3 coches, um dos quais (o mais engalanado) supomos ser o da rainha... Só consegui fotografar (mal e porcamente) o último, e foi com esforço - 1º tive que encontrar uns degraus!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMlVX51d-_ePJn_opGnsJKPRGNppUdKoJZaUbI_Fw3Ul7IyCQbVUcvMD8X0rcOmGLHC9mGLFA2pfj1FLDHl4Xgb6ZLZe1tX2hBQ3W0IPzrSIqo66Ze17XzqptN1I-twj4PFmv_g/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+017a.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQMlVX51d-_ePJn_opGnsJKPRGNppUdKoJZaUbI_Fw3Ul7IyCQbVUcvMD8X0rcOmGLHC9mGLFA2pfj1FLDHl4Xgb6ZLZe1tX2hBQ3W0IPzrSIqo66Ze17XzqptN1I-twj4PFmv_g/s320/Visita+do+Rui+017a.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130270213409342322" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />After the carriages, it was the guards' turn to move out (in the meantime we discovered, through a fellow crowd-member, that the queen had gone into parliament at 11a.m. and was now - at noon - returning home), which was quite fun to watch, if for no other reason then to pity the Beefeaters, who must have been positively melting there in the sun!<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Depois dos coches foi a vez de todos os guardas se retirarem (entretanto descobrimos através de uma "companheira de multidão" que a rainha tinha passado a caminho do parlamento às 11h e que agora - meio-dia - estava a regressar a casa), o que até certo ponto foi mais giro de ver, mais que não fosse para ficar com pena dos "Beefeaters", que deviam estar literalmente a derreter, ali ao sol!</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjZIt__5TwMsTgGOppud4ouEupGbbQ1qzGzoWnK_Nrrn7czV6CiX_2885UlrE0oQBBQsuyqFacu34PXgpqVr0_nIIWJyCBkQcut37MUBVz08QhKbAA6_SRJZHINKbVMONen__EA/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLjZIt__5TwMsTgGOppud4ouEupGbbQ1qzGzoWnK_Nrrn7czV6CiX_2885UlrE0oQBBQsuyqFacu34PXgpqVr0_nIIWJyCBkQcut37MUBVz08QhKbAA6_SRJZHINKbVMONen__EA/s320/Visita+do+Rui+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130265781003092786" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />After the parade had gone by, we took a few more photos of Big Ben while we waited for the street to re-open, so that we could cross the square and (eventually) reach the Abbey...<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Passado o cortejo, tirámos mais umas fotos ao Big Ben enquanto esperávamos que abrissem as "barricadas" para podermos atravessar o largo e chegar (eventualmente) à Abadia... </span></span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKTtlyEVakRxChAqZbg2Vn0po_3MIvNh4U2yAbbyIpfU6U7F_0qWohx45Ifez8E_kLkWu8H1902jiWziBoURvI9O6pWvcftVSPNsSeKmEuQnlRE9a7OV5L4Edcx7FLv2k_0x-dg/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+013.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHKTtlyEVakRxChAqZbg2Vn0po_3MIvNh4U2yAbbyIpfU6U7F_0qWohx45Ifez8E_kLkWu8H1902jiWziBoURvI9O6pWvcftVSPNsSeKmEuQnlRE9a7OV5L4Edcx7FLv2k_0x-dg/s320/Visita+do+Rui+013.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130265750938321666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />On the lawn by the entrance to the Abbey, some volunteers were hammering in these crosses with poppies on them, for Remembrance Day celebrations, originally dedicated to all servicemen (and women) who died in WWI and WWII (and to their families), and now extended to all servicepeople who died on duty. There's one cross for every dead serviceperson, and most even have messages on, written by the families... The idea is part of the annual fundraising Poppy Appeal campaign for the British Legion, where you can contribute by buying a poppy for your lapel or dedicate a cross, star of David or Muslim crescent to the memory of a fallen soldier.<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >No relvado frente à entrada da Abadia, estavam voluntários a colocar estas cruzes com as papoilas, para as comemorações do Remembrance Day, dedicado inicialmente a todos os militares que morreram na 1ª e 2ª Guerras Mundiais (e respectivas famílias</span><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">), </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >e agora a todos os militares mortos em serviço. Está uma cruz por cada militar morto, e a maior parte tem mesmo mensagens escritas pelas famílias... A ideia faz parte da campanha anual de recolha de fundos da British Legion, o <a href="http://www.poppy.org.uk/">Poppy Appeal</a>, <span style="font-family:arial;">uma campanha tipo pirilampo mágico mas com papoilas vermelhas para pôr na lapela, e em que para além de/em vez de comprar papoila</span> quem quiser pode dedicar uma cruz, estrela de David ou Crescente (Muçulmano) à memória de um soldado falecido. </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwLxIMDnCAA0BTKLtNk0iqIhGy0N8itN9NgNb0Uua0nA4bh5D53pVKP7J4eC4cMGAWA03Ce6XeukwrPn0k5MmKeSNyxNwSSF9rWfV0Ph5IBGb_hVm5O1ErILN72N_KfaJI3uxMQ/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+014.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwLxIMDnCAA0BTKLtNk0iqIhGy0N8itN9NgNb0Uua0nA4bh5D53pVKP7J4eC4cMGAWA03Ce6XeukwrPn0k5MmKeSNyxNwSSF9rWfV0Ph5IBGb_hVm5O1ErILN72N_KfaJI3uxMQ/s320/Visita+do+Rui+014.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130265772413158178" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Soon it was time to say goodbye: I took Rui to the bus for Stansted, and went on to my history class.<br />But my appetite had been wet for the tourist's life, so I thought I'd make the most of the fact that the sun sets at 4p.m. to see London "by night" and try to convince my camera that it can take night photos and that I don't shake <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> much...<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);">Num instante chegou a hora de nos despedirmos: fui pôr o Rui ao autocarro para Stansted, e segui para a minha aula de História. </span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 255, 255);font-family:arial;" >Mas tinha-me ficado o apetite para a vida de turista, e por isso lembrei-me de aproveitar o facto de anoitecer às 16h30 para ver Londres "by night" e tentar convencer a minha máquina de que ela consegue tirar fotos à noite e eu não tremo assim tanto... </span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoKDqGPVuKZvqUwPvg9gova9Wfg7MBOvXI6QYgvU82Mrcw8EAfTZMONS1dyiphhhXzizs0-NmfrNm1n_uly3Ic00jduZtQs-zWMgbNrw9D8uQ2biPlG9QHEM95HjUx8_Jgtvpew/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+021b.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoKDqGPVuKZvqUwPvg9gova9Wfg7MBOvXI6QYgvU82Mrcw8EAfTZMONS1dyiphhhXzizs0-NmfrNm1n_uly3Ic00jduZtQs-zWMgbNrw9D8uQ2biPlG9QHEM95HjUx8_Jgtvpew/s320/Visita+do+Rui+021b.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5131026793373369218" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2_KiIFJ1hZml3V-NNzrvLkCQqtOoazJslHQIk3L3QuHppm8QiC3tqwgpsYqYzK4LbAhN-wJXxoKuLh4KkI9Ta1IQpZCLdZleb7_ulsKqS8KDZ0LgchQQYDeuCUOtvtpQBGLxYQ/s1600-h/Visita+do+Rui+032.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2_KiIFJ1hZml3V-NNzrvLkCQqtOoazJslHQIk3L3QuHppm8QiC3tqwgpsYqYzK4LbAhN-wJXxoKuLh4KkI9Ta1IQpZCLdZleb7_ulsKqS8KDZ0LgchQQYDeuCUOtvtpQBGLxYQ/s320/Visita+do+Rui+032.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130267434565501778" border="0" /></a></div>Aurorahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02438492583118379201noreply@blogger.com6