Europe June 2010

Modern day Berlin

jabs_was_here — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:46:00 GMT

Tues 22 June 2010

I´m now in the final stop on this European tour: Berlin! This city has a more modern day feel to it, and the people are really nice. One big difference is that I know someone here from a friend, so that has helped out tremendously. I can ask all kinds of questions and get info on the spot. I don´t feel that alone anymore :)

This morning, I´m doing a city bus sightseeing tour for 20 euros. The stops include Alexanderplatz, KaDeWe, Checkpoint Charlie, and the O2 arena among others. I´m going to try to go to the Pergamonmuseum too.

I can´t believe this is my last day in Europe. I´m happy with the sites I´ve been able to see and look forward to flying back to the US. Hopefully, I get to return to this place called Europe one day. But next time, it will not be so rushed and hopefully someone will accompany me. It´s the little things that help when traveling with someone, like watching each other´s stuff for a minute when going to get something, etc.

I´ll put up some more pics when I get home, as I´m a bit wary of plugging in my memory card on these internet cafe computers. The upload speeds are not that fast either.

Thanks to everyone who viewed this journal!

Paris and Rome, oh my!

jabs_was_here — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:30:00 GMT

Mon 21 June

I was off the grid for these past two days because I had difficulty finding internet cafes. But I found a good one here in Rome, where I'm waiting for my bus ride to the Rome-Ciampano airport for my flight to Berlin. I think traveling to so many cities has taken its toll on my body, as I'm constantly balancing keeping all my stuff with me, thinking about where I have to be next and how to get there, all while enjoying the site I'm visiting.

I went to the Eiffel tower and the Louvre musuem on Saturday. I got to see the Mona Lisa. It was a little bigger than what some people had led me to believe, but it was pretty cool seeing it in person. It really was the painting created by Leonardo Da Vinci. Seeing the pyramid outside the Louvre was pretty neat too.

Flew to Rome on Sunday morning and went to see the Galeria Borhese musuem where they have works by Bernili. I don't know the first thing about sculpturing, but what he's able to do with marble is pretty spectacular--especially the Apollo and Daphne masterpiece. Seeing the Colosseum was the highlight of my trip so far, that is until I went to see the Vatican this Monday morning. Being in St. Peter's square and going inside La Basilica was so inspiring.

The places, landmarks, and people my eyes have seen these past few days, I will remember forever. I know that not many people get to see these things, so I feel really, really blessed right now. I've had the luxury of maintaining my health, except for a few blisters on my feet from walking so much in my dress shoes, but that's ok.

Now off to Berlin for my last full day before flying back to the US for more travel. When all is said and done, I think I'll be happy to be home on 1-July. For now, I'm enjoying tremendously this experience, and just trying to stay safe. Confio en Dios que me acompañe en este viaje.

Saludos para todos!

It's drizzling in Paris...

jabs_was_here — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 10:48:00 GMT

Made it to Paris last night and stayed at a youth hostel for the first time. It wasn't too crowded like I was expecting. I met one person from New York; he was moving on to Denmark next. It's interesting meeting all these world travelers.

I can't get used to this French keyboard--all the keys are in different places! Anyhow, time to go see Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower...

IPPW thoughts...

jabs_was_here — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:30:00 GMT

This week has been focused on the reason why I´m in Europe in the first place--the International Planetary Probe Workshop. I chaired my session today, and it went well. Why is it that I always seem to be the youngest presenter/chair person at these things? At least by the end of the day I get the respect from the more experienced folks who may think I´m just a kid :) That feels good and makes the preparation I put in worth it. Yo simplemente le hecho todas las ganas del mundo y dejo el resultado en las manos de Dios.

I´m going to spend some time tonight studying the subway routes I need to take in Paris and Rome. The people I´ve talked to here say Rome isn´t that big of a city and that there are only two metro lines there. I´m soooo glad I talked to people who have already been in Europe before coming. The tips and tricks I learned from them have come in handy. This internet cafe I´ve been using has computers that are kind of slow, and it takes a long time to upload even one photo, so that´s why I haven´t put up some more. I did get to go inside La Sagrada Familia yesterday, and it was simply mesmerizing. I loved it! I even got to go up to (almost) the top, and oh boy what a view of the city!

Tomorrow I say goodbye to Barcelona! I´ve enjoyed the experience here, but I think I´m ready to move on to see these other famous cities. I don´t know what it is, but I can´t wait for Rome. There´s just something special about it that grabs my attention. I´ve even dreamed about it twice this week. Dios quiera que me vaya bien, y que pueda vivir esta experiencia por todos ustedes que no pueden estar aqui conmigo.

Barcelona Bus Tour

jabs_was_here — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:34:00 GMT

Sun 13 June 2010

Ok, so I went on this ¨bus turistic¨ tour of most of Barcelona. While I don´t remember all of the history given in the audio, I enjoyed it tremendously and thought it was worth the 22 euros. One thing is for sure: I will always remember the stop I made at La Sagrada Familia. It is an architectural masterpiece...so, so beautiful! Seeing this church with my own eyes in person was astonishing. To put it in perspective, I this meant more to me than seeing the Space Shuttle launch in person back in April. It´s too bad the line was so long that I didn´t get a chance to go in, but I still cherished the moment just seeing it from the outside. I wonder if seeing the Vatican next week will be even better...

Looked at the IPPW conference agenda, and activities go until 7 PM; there are also serveral social evening activities, so I might not get a chance to post another entry until late in the week. I did post one picture of me in front of el templo de La Sagrada Familia. Enjoy!

Barcelona city center

jabs_was_here — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:42:00 GMT

Sun 23 June 2010

Made it this morning to the hotel where the probe workshop will be held. It is just a 10 minute subway ride to city center in Barcelona. I walked around in Plaça Catalunya a bit. For some reason (perhaps my lack of world travel gives me nothing else to compare it with), but it reminds me of Guadalajara a bit. I know, that sounds crazy, but there are street performers working to earn their daily bread, areas with grafitti, and people walking fast to their destinations; but at the same time, the buildings are amazing. I can tell there is a rich history behind them--hopefully, during the city tour I can learn more about them. I met a group of young Italian tourists, and they did warn me about pickpockets, so I´m being extra careful to keep a close eye on my stuff.

I took a few pictures of the Plaça, and now I´m going to go on the ¨Bus Turistic¨ city tour.

I am thinking of everyone back home. I´m going to give it my all at this conference, and we´ll see what happens. For anyone who would like to be here, but cannot: this experience is for you.

Photos: Europe pics 2010

jabs_was_here — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:34:00 GMT

Barcelona...First Impressions

jabs_was_here — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 21:43:00 GMT

Sat 12 June 2010

I made it to Barcelona safely, even though my flight was delayed by two hours in New York because of heavy air traffic. Ah, the Spanish accent! It´s interesting contrasting how the locals speak the language with how I speak it. I haven´t seen much of the city, but I´m thinking of doing one of those city tours on a double decker bus. I can´t believe I´m actually in Europe!

Will spend most of today just getting settled in and figuring out how to get around here and in the other cities I´m going to visit.

So many different places...

jabs_was_here — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:47:00 GMT

Just realized that I will be flying to so many different places: Western Europe 11-23 June, then hop on a plane back home to the US and fly one day later to Washington DC to stay for three days. Then, I get to go to Chicago for a week. Si todo sale bien, I return home on the 1st of July. I wonder how I'll feel after so many hours spent on airplanes!