First morning in Antwerp.
2002-06-24 11:30am
I am trying to write this but one of the most
talkative people in the world is IMing me. He really
should be asleep right now. Since it is like 5:30am
over there. Oh ok now he is going to bed.
The picture is from the Solar do Vinho do Porto, which we
just referred to as the
IVP. Me and Yao-Fen went there twice
by ourselves and twice with Sushil, tasting various glasses
of port wine. In the end I bought an expensive bottle to take
back and Yao-Fen conned me into getting one for her as a
graduation present. =) She has a while before she graduates though.
Should she be allowed to open it early?
Yesterday me and Betty flew from Lisbon to
Brussels. They are in the same time zone but the
length of day thing is giving me worse jetlag
than I had flying from DC to Lisbon (DC, Lisbon,
and San Jose are all at the same latitude). I
can feel the length of day like a plant. Anyways
we got to her place at midnight and the sky was
still a little bit light. Here are the stats, thanks
to
Jenny (with length of day
from weather underground):
ANTWERP
latitude: 51° 13' North
sunrise: 5:27 AM
sunset: 10:02 PM
length of day: 16:34
DC
latitude: 38° 53' North
sunrise: 5:44 AM
sunset: 8:37 PM
length of day: 14:58
ANN ARBOR
latitude: 42° 16' North
sunrise: 5:59 AM
sunset: 9:15 PM
length of day: 15:21
The city of Lisbon was excellent. I went to
3 or 4 record stores, dois museus, e um milhão
de restaurantes. I think Yao-Fen the foodie wins that one.
Hopefully I will see more record stores here in Belgium...
but... it gets expensive...
I don't know what to
write about Lisbon. It was such a rich experience.
I guess the most memorable parts of the trip for
me are riding public transit, eating with Betty, the steep, winding,
narrow, cobbled streets of the bairros, drinking lots of espresso,
beer, port, and wine, and the view atop that mountain at Sintra.
I had my camera but I was kinda just living for the
moment and forgot to take pictures unless Yao-Fen
thought of it.
Top three new Portuguese words:
- melão
- limão
- não
There is also constipação but it's not
quite as appealing. (oh yeah 1=melon, 2=lemon, 3=no)
The conference itself was great. I feel bad though
because I forgot to return to take down my poster and
Gordy's poster. I think that is bad form. Someone
will end up throwing them away for us. But I recall
saying at one point that it was the most scientifically
valuable conference I've ever been to.
Corrections:
- my number one portuguese word is actually melões (pronounced melõush;
bump all the other words down)
- and lisboa & antwerpen are one hour apart, not in the same time zone
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