Hi!
Yesterday we took a train ti visit Breda and s-Hertogenbosch. Breda used to be a fortified Nassau city, which most Spanish people associate with a painting by Velazquez (“The surrender of Breda”). We were not able to visit the castle, but the main square with the city hall (where two couples got married while we were there) and the “Grote Kerk” was nice. I really liked the outside of the church, even though the inside was a bit disappointing. We went up to the top of the tower, from where the view was great.
On the way back we stopped in s-Hertogenbosch, mainly to visit St. John’s cathedral. St. John is supposed to be one the most beautiful (and the largest) cathedral in the country. However, it’s being deeply renovated, so we didn’t get the best impression. The rest of the city was nice, check out the pics at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30056&l=487af&id=653533084
Best,
/Eugenio
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Nijmegen
Hello!
I have already been one week in the Netherlands, and it's been a nice time, I have to say. I go to the university by bicycle every morning, which is something I miss since I moved to Los Angeles, and the atmosphere at work is very good; people work hard but are very nice and frequently take short coffee breaks.
The city itself is small but cozy. The river is definitely a plus and it has a pretty downtown, with the market square and St. Stephen's church, which is best viewed from the bridges over the river. By the way, we went in yesterday and they had a book market inside. I couldn't help thinking: "if my grandmother saw this... she'd probably feel like Jesus Christ in the market".
Apart from being bicycle friendly, as most of the Netherlands, Nijmegen is also a nice place for running. I'm lucky that we live just outside the city, so it's easy to find places to run away from civilization. Fresh air is something that you don't enjoy when you live in Los Angeles!
I have posted some pictures of Nijmegen in Facebook, at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29377&l=f73a2&id=653533084
Take care!
/Eugenio
I have already been one week in the Netherlands, and it's been a nice time, I have to say. I go to the university by bicycle every morning, which is something I miss since I moved to Los Angeles, and the atmosphere at work is very good; people work hard but are very nice and frequently take short coffee breaks.
The city itself is small but cozy. The river is definitely a plus and it has a pretty downtown, with the market square and St. Stephen's church, which is best viewed from the bridges over the river. By the way, we went in yesterday and they had a book market inside. I couldn't help thinking: "if my grandmother saw this... she'd probably feel like Jesus Christ in the market".
Apart from being bicycle friendly, as most of the Netherlands, Nijmegen is also a nice place for running. I'm lucky that we live just outside the city, so it's easy to find places to run away from civilization. Fresh air is something that you don't enjoy when you live in Los Angeles!
I have posted some pictures of Nijmegen in Facebook, at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29377&l=f73a2&id=653533084
Take care!
/Eugenio
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Hoe gaat het met je?
Hi again!
After a while without updating this blog due to my prelims, I'm back to writing but now from the Netherlands! I'm going to report from here for a couple of months, which is the time I'm going to spend working with a professor in Nijmegen, close to the German border. I've only been here for one day, but I can tell you that 1. I definitely appreciate the fact that I can go downtown by bike in 15 minutes without risking my life and 2. I don't really understand why toilets have such a weird shape :-)
I'll get back to you soon!
Best,
/Eugenio
After a while without updating this blog due to my prelims, I'm back to writing but now from the Netherlands! I'm going to report from here for a couple of months, which is the time I'm going to spend working with a professor in Nijmegen, close to the German border. I've only been here for one day, but I can tell you that 1. I definitely appreciate the fact that I can go downtown by bike in 15 minutes without risking my life and 2. I don't really understand why toilets have such a weird shape :-)
I'll get back to you soon!
Best,
/Eugenio
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sequoia National Park
Hi, once more!
Last weekend my friend Gabri from Italy / Sweden was here visiting me so I decided to go with him (and another Spanish friend) to Sequoia National Park. The timing was perfect because the weather is already pretty good but it's not officially summer season in the park yet, which means that the stores and restaurants are closed and therefore the park was not very crowded.
We stayed in Lodgepole, a campsite located over 2000m high. There was some snow left, and it was rather cold at night; nothing that people used to living in Madrid / Sweden couldn't handle, or so we said.
What did we do? We saw a couple of waterfalls, not as spectacular as in Yosemite, but still pretty good. We also visited the Crystal Cave, which is a marble cave. We obviously went to see sequoias as well, including the famous General Sherman, which is the heaviest tree in the World: 85m high, 1500 cubic meters, 2500 years old. Another great spot was Moro Rock, a granite dome with wonderful views. Still, the best thing about the trip was the fact that we could hike nearly for hours without bumping into people :-)
I have as usual posted some of my pics in Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25123&l=8e99c&id=653533084
Best,
/Eugenio
Last weekend my friend Gabri from Italy / Sweden was here visiting me so I decided to go with him (and another Spanish friend) to Sequoia National Park. The timing was perfect because the weather is already pretty good but it's not officially summer season in the park yet, which means that the stores and restaurants are closed and therefore the park was not very crowded.
We stayed in Lodgepole, a campsite located over 2000m high. There was some snow left, and it was rather cold at night; nothing that people used to living in Madrid / Sweden couldn't handle, or so we said.
What did we do? We saw a couple of waterfalls, not as spectacular as in Yosemite, but still pretty good. We also visited the Crystal Cave, which is a marble cave. We obviously went to see sequoias as well, including the famous General Sherman, which is the heaviest tree in the World: 85m high, 1500 cubic meters, 2500 years old. Another great spot was Moro Rock, a granite dome with wonderful views. Still, the best thing about the trip was the fact that we could hike nearly for hours without bumping into people :-)
I have as usual posted some of my pics in Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25123&l=8e99c&id=653533084
Best,
/Eugenio
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Yosemite
Hi!
I had seen kind of similar landscapes before, but not with those gorgeous waterfalls. I don't have much time to write right now, but the pictures are in my opinion worth seeing...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23091&l=c8749&id=653533084
Have a good one!
/E
PS: the last 2 pictures are from the "moonbow", a rainbow created by the full moon on the waterfall at night. They are both very long exposures, so that's why the water looks blurry, I haven't modified them with Photoshop or anything!
PS2: the moonbow was almost invisible to the human eye, but the camera easily captured it.
I had seen kind of similar landscapes before, but not with those gorgeous waterfalls. I don't have much time to write right now, but the pictures are in my opinion worth seeing...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23091&l=c8749&id=653533084
Have a good one!
/E
PS: the last 2 pictures are from the "moonbow", a rainbow created by the full moon on the waterfall at night. They are both very long exposures, so that's why the water looks blurry, I haven't modified them with Photoshop or anything!
PS2: the moonbow was almost invisible to the human eye, but the camera easily captured it.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Orange County
This last weekend I had a Swedish friend on a visit, so yesterday we decided to rent a car and drive around the Orange County. We went to Anaheim first, where we visited the Crystal Cathedral. It’s a very new building that looks more like a convention centre, but still interesting to visit. It can host 3,000 people, and it offers the possibility of attending mass from your car.
Afterwards we headed to San Juan Capistrano, a very small town which is very famous for its mission. Even if the church was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, the rest is decently preserved and it is very interesting to visit. Finally we returned to Los Angeles along the coast, taking a couple of stops on Laguna beach and Huntington beach. The latter is supposed to have a huge surfing tradition, but we didn’t see so many people surfing from the pier, probably due to the low waves and also the late time at which we arrived.
Take a look at the pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22450&l=ca0df&id=653533084
Have a good one!
/Eugenio
Afterwards we headed to San Juan Capistrano, a very small town which is very famous for its mission. Even if the church was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1812, the rest is decently preserved and it is very interesting to visit. Finally we returned to Los Angeles along the coast, taking a couple of stops on Laguna beach and Huntington beach. The latter is supposed to have a huge surfing tradition, but we didn’t see so many people surfing from the pier, probably due to the low waves and also the late time at which we arrived.
Take a look at the pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22450&l=ca0df&id=653533084
Have a good one!
/Eugenio
New York, New York
Hi guys!
My sponsor arranged an enrichment seminar in New York to which ca 150 grantees (me among them) were invited. The purpose of the event was actually unclear, at least for me, but it ended up being very interesting. I met hella interesting people from all around the World. We even had a couple of guys from Iraq and Afghanistan, which is quite impressive considering all the c*_p going on between these countries and US, to be discussed elsewhere.
The activities consisted of a few talks, visits to high schools to tell the kids about the upcoming US elections from a foreign perspective (and also to talk about own countries), a US election simulation (the republicans won) and even nice social activities, including dining at homes of old grantees. We also had some time to walk around New York, but not much. I posted a few pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22444&l=122f6&id=653533084
After the seminars, I spent a few more days in New York with my sister, my parents and a couple of friends of theirs. I had then much more time to walk around New York. I have posted a few pictures of the MoMA, the Natural History museum, a NBA game, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn bridge and other sights at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22447&l=b38ce&id=653533084
Nope, we didn’t go to the Metropolitan because we had the brilliant idea of showing up on a Monday. But it’s definitely a good excuse to come back :-)
Regarding my impression of New York: I would recommend the visit to anyone, but I don’t think I’d like to live there... too much stress in the air, people walking fast in all directions at all times through streets with high buildings on both sides resembling a canyon, and almost no place to take it easy except for Central Park (a.k.a. the lungs of the city). But it’s definitely a city with a lot of life and also beautiful sights and amazing museums. You should go at least once in your lives, if you can!
Have a good one,
/Eugenio
My sponsor arranged an enrichment seminar in New York to which ca 150 grantees (me among them) were invited. The purpose of the event was actually unclear, at least for me, but it ended up being very interesting. I met hella interesting people from all around the World. We even had a couple of guys from Iraq and Afghanistan, which is quite impressive considering all the c*_p going on between these countries and US, to be discussed elsewhere.
The activities consisted of a few talks, visits to high schools to tell the kids about the upcoming US elections from a foreign perspective (and also to talk about own countries), a US election simulation (the republicans won) and even nice social activities, including dining at homes of old grantees. We also had some time to walk around New York, but not much. I posted a few pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22444&l=122f6&id=653533084
After the seminars, I spent a few more days in New York with my sister, my parents and a couple of friends of theirs. I had then much more time to walk around New York. I have posted a few pictures of the MoMA, the Natural History museum, a NBA game, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn bridge and other sights at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22447&l=b38ce&id=653533084
Nope, we didn’t go to the Metropolitan because we had the brilliant idea of showing up on a Monday. But it’s definitely a good excuse to come back :-)
Regarding my impression of New York: I would recommend the visit to anyone, but I don’t think I’d like to live there... too much stress in the air, people walking fast in all directions at all times through streets with high buildings on both sides resembling a canyon, and almost no place to take it easy except for Central Park (a.k.a. the lungs of the city). But it’s definitely a city with a lot of life and also beautiful sights and amazing museums. You should go at least once in your lives, if you can!
Have a good one,
/Eugenio
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