Blogs from Grenoble, Rhône-Alpes, France, Europe - page 4

I am not at all sure about this rock climbing. Normally, I have no problems with heights, but am somewhat concerned as I have had a few small incidents (such as crossing a ridge with a sheer drop in Fiji) where I have had more than a hint of vertigo. None the less, Benjamin and I settled down to breakfast while Xavier went to the store to rent some extra gear for our climb. The four of us drove to the foot of a trail where we hiked for about 30 minute to an abandonned castle where were to meet up with Rafael and Francis. Here we tried on our harnesses and adjusted them. The outfit felt awkward and strange at first, and I was a bit concerned as to whether I had each piece adjusted ... read more

We got an earlier start today as we want to take the cable car up the mountain. With some practice, we managed to get our international phone card working (it involves dialing several numbers before the actual phone number and waiting for a “call back” before connecting) and got a hold of Tsetse as we plan to spend the weekend with her family, After leaving the apartment, we bought some lunch stuff (the French have the best makings for a picnic with French bread, Camembert cheese, and so on) before heading down to the riverside where the cable car is. We walked out onto one of the bridges that crossed the river to get a view of the aerial tramway- Telepherique (sorry no accents on our computer). While I was taking photos on one side, Evy ... read more

After getting up this morning we did our final repacking - moving single books from suitcase to suitcase to get the bags all under the 20 kg limit. After a quick final garbage run to the bins on the corner, we took one final bike ride over to Giovanin and Pia's for coffee. Giuditta and Luigi, who are going to be driving us to Venice, had got up even earlier this morning so that they could be finished milking the cows and the morning work for 10. At 10 we said our final goodbye to Giovanin and Pia before returning to the house to pick up our suitcases. The snow capped mountains seemed even closer this morning as we drove the side roads towards Codroipo. We passed the fireworks factory that had blown up last week, ... read more

The week is going by pretty fast. Tibi and I are working fairly hard. The main researcher who got the funding for us to be here is keen on getting something concrete out of our visit, so we're trying to come up with new ideas and improvements for something they are already working on, in order to get a publication in the future. In the evenings we're still trying to enjoy ourselves :). Last night we went out to an Irish pub with a guy we met here who is really nice. Tonight there was a group bbq for everyone in the small part of the lab we're visiting. It was about 20 people. We had some great sausages and shish-kabob, plus wine and beer, and played some games. At times it was hard because everything ... read more

Well, I'm now in France. A really nice city at the base of the alps called Grenoble. I came here by train this morning from Geneva. I'm very quickly falling in love with Grenoble. Its a clean city, surrounded by huge mountains, appears to have quite a few parks and trees everywhere, and my hotel is particularly awesome. Getting around is much easier now that everyone speaks french instead of german. Although, people still seem to have trouble understanding my french accent. I think I'm really out of practice. I took a lot of pictures on the train, since there were some great views. Sorry the quality is not so good, I was moving pretty fast and looking through thick glass with lots of reflections. Its also very hazy out today, which you'll see in the ... read more