Lisbon - Guest Post by D.

A nice sand sculpture on the boardwalk along the shore in Lisbon.

Last week I had an opportunity to attend the DaySol 17 conference in Lisbon.  This was a small conference of ~70 people working in printed electronics and low cost next generation solar technologies.  There was an attempt to focus on industrial players and markets for devices, not only scientific research.  The conference was tied to a meeting of a European Union-funded project that my colleague has been leading for the past three years.  I knew about half the people there from prior conferences, so it was nice to reconnect with them and to meet some new people.  Several of us are working on collaborative experiments together, which I enjoy.  I had two posters at the conference and my data was also shown in one of the oral presentations by my collaborator.  We had one official dinner out as part of the conference and there was traditional music played on a Portuguese guitar.

Portuguese guitar

I had never been to Lisbon or to Portugal before.  I really don’t know Portuguese history as well as I should.  I do know that they had a wonderful and inexpensive public transit system with trains, a metro, trams, trolley cars, funiculars, and buses.  Most notable, it includes the Santa Justa Lift, an elevator that appears to go to nowhere (actually it does connect to the top of steep neighboring hill behind it).  

Santa Justa Lift

A panoramic view of Lisbon from the top of one of the seven hills near the top of the Santa Justa Lift.

The elevator was built in 1901 by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a disciple of Gustavo Eiffel, and was converted from a steam engine to an electric motor in 1907.  You can see more pictures and read about it here.  Every time I went by the lift the line was incredibly long, so I did not ride it, but I did hike up the hill and enter it from the top side where there is a small café and no lines.

In many ways the city of Lisbon reminds me of San Francisco, but warmer and far less wealthy.  It is the city of seven hills, and the hills are steep.  Buildings are close packed and colorful with tiles rather than paint for decoration. 

Square at the top of one of the hills.

Local government buildings with nice tiles.

One of the few beautifully restored buildings.

A snack shop with beautiful tiles.

A smaller scale building also with nice tiles.

No tiles, but my AirBnB is marked by the circle.  We had the whole 2nd floor.

There are more standard European aspects as well, old churches, castles, cobblestones (white with black inlayed patterns) big plazas and markets.  

Black and white cobblestones are inset all over Lisbon.

A big plaza with outdoor markets and more cobblestone artwork.

Near the top of the Santa Justa Lift is the Igreja do Carmo Church (without a roof).  This hilltop church was built in the 13th century, but was devastated by an earthquake in 1755.  They started to rebuild it, but then stopped and preserved its ruins.  It is now an archeological museum, with a rather eclectic collection.  

Igreja do Carmo Church (without a roof).

One thing I did enjoy seeing there were samples of older tiles from the 15^th and 16^th century in Lisbon.  

15th and 16th century tiles in the Archeological Museum within the church.  

More modern tiles in one of the many beautifully decorated Metro stations.

I guess Lisbon is famous for tin cans of fish, and there were several stores that celebrate this with souvenir sardine cans, which is a bit different from other cities.

This shop sells souvenir sardines in cans.  They have different can designs by year.  You are supposed to buy the ones from your birth year, but they have a hostess who clearly explains in English the that the sardines are not that old!

There are some wonderful old trees in Lisbon.  These are near the Botanical Garden.

Outdoor markets and stands were all over town, but not the type of sellers I see in Barcelona, who have canvas bags that they scoop up when the authorities are coming.  I declined the chance to buy drugs a few times in the busy tourist filled plazas.  A local treat I did enjoy were egg custard pastries called “natas”, which are delicious and sold everywhere.  They originate from a city a bit west of Lisbon, Belém.  My Pomona student urged me to go there and the shop there serves them hot all day long with sugar and cinnamon on the side.  That was the best.  I did not take a picture, but there are very nice pictures of the bakery where I went, Pasties de Belém, online.  All the ones I had in Lisbon were cold and plain, but still very tasty.  

The city has segments that are in need of repairs and one has the impression the economy has been struggling.  Of course there are some very wealthy people here, but it felt like many people were just getting by.  Prices were lower than I have been seeing in Spain.  Tourists were everywhere I went.  On the Metro I met a French group having a bachelorette party for their friend.  The bride-to-be had to wear a crazy costume and it seemed like some type of scavenger hunt or bucket list was involved.  She asked me to pose for a picture with her because I had a moustache. 

A lovely French bride-to-be asked me to pose with her on the Metro.

I spent Saturday morning exploring in central Lisbon on foot with friends, but for the afternoon I took the train out along the Atlantic coast to see nearby beach towns.  It was a beautiful day and the train was packed.  There was a wide diversity of people all headed to various beaches.  

I got as far as Sao Pedro do Estoril, where I had a great lunch at a local restaurant. Later I walked back along the coast two train stops to Carcavelos, which has the Forte de São Julião da Barra at the east end of the beach.  It was warm out and the water was cool (I only went knee deep) with a rocky coast between the beaches.  On my way back I got off the train in Belém, before taking a bus back into Lisbon. 

Sao Pedro do Estoril Beach

The clifftop walking path between the beaches.

A rocky section of the Atlantic coast.

Waves coming off the Atlantic Ocean into the rocks.

Blankets and towels for sale in underpass that provides access to the beach.

Carcavelos Beach 

Palace in Belém

The only real problem on this trip was that my flight was supposed to land in Barcelona at midnight, but was delayed 2 hours, meaning not only was I up late, but there were no trains back to San Cugat after 2am.  I hired a cab and hope to get reimbursed.  We’ll see.

Going Hjem, it is hygge!

 Guest post by D.

Back in October I had the pleasure of attending a conference at Fraunhofer ISE in Frieburg, Germany and seeing many of my former European collaborators there.  One was the host of my last sabbatical leave in Denmark.  We had some very nice conversations, and I got to see meet one of his current PhD. students who presented a very nice paper on environmental impacts of plastic solar cell production.  She did a full cradle to grave analysis as well as experimental measurements on leaching of materials from cells into rain water and soil.

Not long after, I was pleasantly surprised to be contacted by my Danish colleagues asking if I could be an external examiner for this PhD candidate an one other who would both defend on the same day.  I readily agreed, and looked forward to a chance to visit in Denmark.  J. and A. have been back regularly, but I had not been there since we left in 2011.  While I have attended PhD. defenses at several universities in the US, in Denmark, and in Spain, this was my first chance to be an official PhD. examiner since my own institution does not grant PhDs.  My Danish colleagues booked my plane and hotel including a few extra days on each side of the defenses, so I could enjoy being there.  I reached out to several friend in Denmark (with help from J.) and managed to see most of them.

Arriving by plane, I knew I was in the right place when I recognized one of the first non-food stores in the airport.

One of two that I passed in the CPH Airport!

I bought my train ticket to Roskilde and was truly surprised how much it warmed my heart to get off at the Roskilde Station.  It really felt like going home to see the square with the three giant vases...

The Iconic Roskilde Jars sculpture across from the train station.

I checked into my hotel, and my friend J.D. picked me up and took me out for dinner.  This does not sound like a big deal, but eating out at a restaurant was a very rare event for me in Denmark, where the cost of a restaurant meal is significantly higher than in the USA, in part because everyone working in such places gets paid reasonable wages.  That night I unpacked my folding bicycle in the hotel so I could get around on my own without worrying about bus schedules or tickets.

The next day went out on my bike and rode around the harbor and the fjord to the Boserup Forest where we used to mountain bike.  It was a bit cool, but there was no snow while I was there.  I only got caught in the rain once during my stay.

Out around the Roskilde Fjord on my way to Boserup Forrest.

I enjoyed looking at the outdoor portion of the Viking Museum and then up the other side of the fjord to our old neighborhood.  I was disappointed to see that a historic old building (once a finishing school for girls) was being renovated in way that seemed to lose its charm for me, even if the cause is a good one and I know the building was in need of restoration.

Baldervej building under restoration.

Then I went by our old neighborhood, including Klostermarken school where R. and A. were students when we lived here.  The pro-bike culture here is so much stronger than other places I have lived.  I love it.  Here is just one of the smaller bike parking areas around the school on a cold winter day.

Cykel parking outside Klostermarken School.

I also stopped at the library which was one of our regular haunts when we lived in Roskilde.  In the park outside the library was the first place I remember seeing one these public book swapping stands.  This one is still there and still among the best I have ever seen.

My first and favorite book exchange spot

After this I went to meet J.D. for lunch and to see INSP! where she works on a variety of projects.  One of the things I liked at INSP! was the outdoor patio furniture made from recycling shipping palettes.

Clever recycling of ubiquitous shipping palettes.

I enjoyed more sight seeing in the afternoon, including continuing my visits to a variety of Cykel shops, some I remembered, and some new ones.  I did not find myself purchasing anything, but enjoyed seeing what was popular there.  Fewer motorized bikes than in Germany.  Fewer folding bikes than in Spain.  More cargo bikes though including this one I saw while out shopping.

This custom bike is orange, for the Roskilde Festival, and has the name "Clockwork" 

In the evening I had the pleasure to reconnect with two families we knew.  It was extemely hygge (cozy homey Danish feeling) and we talked about our families, politics, work, friends, and many other items.  There were five adults and six kids at the dinner.  It was a fantastic evening.  I enjoyed seeing the boys playing a three person chess game which was new to me.

Three person Chess in the round.  Pieces can move across the center circle on prescribed paths.

The next day was completely dedicated to my official work at DTU.  They have a rule that a thesis defense and examination must be completed in three hours.  We had two of them to do and we had to write up our reports on each as well.  Interestingly enough in the DTU system, the examiners read the theses and provide a preliminary assessment report two full weeks before the defense of the PhD.  That is the only time where the examiners are allowed to request changes to the written document.  In this case, both theses contained impressive amounts of work representing several published papers by the large number of scientists in the research group.  Unfortunately, it was not always clear how much the work presented was led by the two particular students.  I am hugely sympathetic to these students who had to write their PhD. thesis in English (lucky for me) which is not their native tongue (one is from Brazil, the other from Germany.)  One thesis was right up my area of expertise (plus I had heard the student present some of the work at the conference) but the for the other I learned quite a bit of chemistry, as her thesis was much more focused on synthesis of new polymers for making solar cells.  Since both candidates passed their examination, there was a nice social celebration afterwards, and I toured some of my colleagues' labs as well.  At the end of the day, the two PhD. advisors (who are not on the examination committee) took us out for a nice dinner.

I made plans to return the next day to visit with some of my former colleagues who I had not seen while I was busy with the defenses.  This was my second day of riding out to the labs where I used to work.  I rode every day that we lived in Denmark in all types of weather.  I always loved the ride and I still do.  Here are some views from my ride on a sunnier day than the day I arrived.

The Roskilde Fjord looking toward the campground and beach.

The windmills from DTU collaborations, the most financially successful part of the DTU Energy program.

In the windmill picture you can see the main road, but on the far right is the separate road for cycling which exists on both sides of the main road.  It was great to ride there again!  I enjoyed seeing people there and stayed through lunch in the cafeteria before returning to my hotel and packing my bike up to head into Copenhagen.  There was a Scandinavian bike show in Copenhagen, and I was tempted to try and squeeze it in, but instead I chose to visit with old friends.  One in our old neighborhood, and another my former Danish teacher, who was super fun both in and out of class.  We enjoyed a great visit and then I headed for the airport.  Unfortunately my return flight was delayed, so I had extra time in the CPH airport.  In addition to the Lego stores, I enjoyed the bookstores, including this section:

Can you identify the books by their Danish titles?

I came back home very late in Barcelona.  It was good to be home, both here and there!

Exploring near Swansea - guest post

Sunday I decided to travel out about 10 miles and back by bicycle to a new place and go walking. 

The map shows my cycling route

 This is the region where I went hiking.

This place was one of three suggested to me by my host.  She had encouraged me to take the bus there, but on Sunday busses are not running much, so by doing it on bike I was free to come and go when I wanted.  I checked that there was a small coffee shop/general store there that would be open, so that I could get some warm lunch there if I wanted, and also some advice on where to walk.  The shop was good and I purchased a Sunday Observer (Guardian) for J. there.  They also had a wide selection of other papers and someone who could give me commentary of the political leanings of each.

The ride there was okay, not great, but reasonably direct.  I decided to sit for a light brunch before taking my hike.  The strange thing about the hike was that in this gorgeous place there were not many people, and I was a bit confused if I was supposed to be on a specific path or trail, but the locals I met said you can go all over as long as you don’t cross fences into private property (which I really did not notice at all). 

I enjoyed walking on the green undulated surfaces at the tops of the cliffs, but it was so un-American that there were no guard rails or fences to protect you from walking over the cliff edges!  

My mild fear of heights did kick in as I tried to capture photos of the cliffs.  The terrain was really different as well, just not flat at all, but filled with small craters and hillocks all over.  It was beautiful even if it was not as sunny as the previous two days.  I got some sun, and no rain or bitter cold, so that was fine.  I went down to one of the small cove beaches near where the earth view map has the “Google” label.  There I took off one shoe and dipped a foot in the ocean.  There were caves cut into the cliff and I looked in some of those too.  Then I went up over the cliffs and down to the edge of “Three Cliff Bay” but did not go down to the beach there.  

Then I went up inland to the Castle, and over the Pennard Golf Course.  The castle was more in ruins than I had expected, but still very interesting.  Amazingly, there is no signage with either warnings about climbing, or historical facts at the castle at all, very very different from the US. This is my third castle visit here, and you can read about the castle here,

The other two I have visited which at least had some signage are:

http://www.castlewales.com/swansea.html (this is next to my apartment!)

This one I went to on Saturday on my walk to Mumbles lighthouse and pier along the coast.

The golf course was built up around the castle, so one had to cross it at points.  I learned to play golf in my teens and enjoyed it a little, but this golf course is a completely different experience from the ones I have played on.  I found it much more interesting topographically, and playing here would require significantly different skills than just hitting long straight shots like you try to do on courses I have played on.  You can see this a bit on this website.

All in all a very nice outing for me today, and while I was on my own, I made small conversations with several different folks while I was out and about.

Heading home on a converted railroad track.

Chanukah Too!

Another guest post from D. :)

While we have enjoyed the many regional celebrations of the winter seasons as noted in the recent postings, we did mark Chanukah, too!  Having it fall over the week from Dec 24 to Dec 31 was unusual, but reasonably convenient, as R. was in from USA, and A. and D. were off from school and work respectively.  We were fortunate to be able to buy candles at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, and A. and D. made the menorah borrowing some inspiration from an old Hebrew school project.  The first night looked like this:

Gelt, candles, menorah, etc.  It's Chanukah!

On the second day (Dec. 25) D. and A. went to walk around ports, beaches, and parks in Barcelona where they played Pokemon, and enjoyed the sun, the shore, and the architecture.  After the cold and snow in Vienna, it was a noticeable change!

A three-masted functioning tall ship used by the maritime museum for educational purposes.

We literally picked up a Chanukah present for J. from the sand, a broken piece of the flower tile, or Panot, so famous in Barcelona and mentioned in the November Under foot post.  After turning back inland, we got nice views of more of the public art in Barcelona.

Marc by Robert Llimós

This statue has a partner in Atlanta that connects the two Olympic cities.  You can read about it here.  Facing Marc from across the Plaça dels Voluntaris is this very large statue:

David and Goliath by Antoni Llena

You can read more about it at this site about free art in Barcelona

Then we walked back through the Parc de la Cuitadella, which has a really interesting back story. The area was originally the largest fortress in Europe built to suppress Catalonia by Spain, but now it is a fabulous park with Parliament, the Zoo, a Natural History Museum and much more.

The pond and fountain, Cascada 

There are several monuments and memorials in this park, including this one for all the people from Barcelona who died in Nazi concentration camps.

André Fauteux's Holocaust memorial 

Even though we were in the park on Christmas day, there were many people there.  The pond was filled with people messing about in boats.

Boats on the pond in Ciutadella

The next day was the third night of Chanukah, and we had our big party with my former student, E. who lives in Barcelona, and his friend from Ohio, S.  With their help D. made tons of crispy potato latkes, J. made delicious homemade applesauce and chocolate chip cookies, and we had a great dinner.  We lit candles and played with a new set of Dixit.  It was quite festive.  

R. expressed an interest in connecting with the Jewish community in Barcelona, which is a bit complicated, but we found that all the local Jewish organizations were having a joint Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony for the sixth night with a giant Chabad style menorah downtown by city hall in the Plaça de Jaume.  R. and I went down to join them for speeches, lighting, a live band, and sufganiot!  Earlier that day, D. and J. were busy turning in a new Hungarian wedding certificate with an Apostille and an official translation, so that hopefully D. will be able to complete his residency documents which is an entirely different cause for celebrating. 

The first LED decorated menorah topped with candles

A live band playing Jewish music

After the event R. and D. had yummy falafel and stopped in the Plaça Catalunya where the central fountains were putting on a show choreographed to music.  Here is a short video which tries to capture how sophisticated and dynamic this was.

  

We continued our tradition on only giving and not receiving on the 7th night of Chanukah, and then it was the last night of the last night.  While our menorah needed some mending (the hot glue we used to hold the nuts would soften as the candles burned down) we had no problem getting it ready each night, and here it was on the final night along with all our various paper menorahs in the background.

Happy Chanukah!