Walking in Memphis

We recently returned from Memphis, which is our second trip in less than a year. I seem to be drawn to Memphis. I don't know whether it's the "ya'lls", barbeque, and the feeling of a small but friendly city or the opportunity for professional development. Or both. This time, instead of staying in downtown, we were in the Eastern suburbs for the most the trip. We had great barbeque at Corky's and breakfast at Blue Plate Cafe.

Before we left for our return trip, we spent some time at Mud Island River Park. Mud Island is a peninsula that juts into the Mississippi River. Part of it is affluent-looking condos and the other part is an ampitheater, a museum, and retail space. Unfortunately, it looks like some of the businesses and have moved out. It might be a seasonal thing, but it looked to me like there wasn't quite as much money to be made by this venture and the upkeep is suffering. It's a shame, this could be a really nice facility.

What we like the best of the river park was the scale model of the lower Mississippi River. The model begins around Cape Girardeau, MO and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. The model reminds of a topographical map, but where the contours are vertical accurate. It's about six blocks long in total. The photo below shows one of the bends in the river. Owen is in the distance, near New Madrid, if I remember correctly.

It was a warm day, and we had a great time splashing in the water. His main goal appeared to be finding spots where he could jump accross the river.


And because Owen always challenges himself, he looked for wider, and then wider spots to jump across, until...
...ouch. He was fine, though his confidence and pride were damaged more than his knees.

A few more photos:

In this photo, the model represents Memphis. There's a map of Memphis just to the left (out of frame, but you can see the beginning of it) and the bridge on the left is I-55, which we drove out of Arkansas into Memphis. Doesn't this make you want to take out your little toycars and drive them over those bridges?

This represents the Gulf of Mexico. This is where I could the upkeep was not as good as it probably was in past years. This was filled with algae and debris, and if it weren't I'm sure that there would have been little kids playing in the water. Then again, maybe the algae and debris is intentional?

Last photo: a plaque for Dad to read.

Sweden: skol!

Well, this post took a bit longer than I expected. I traveled to Sweden a few weeks ago for a workshop. I came back two days before classes began, and then had a grant to write, and then, and then, and you get the idea. I had wanted to write something in the same scope as the Finland trip last year, but even though I had a great time, and in many ways, I enjoyed this trip more than the Finland trip, I feel less inspired to write about this trip. So, I'm hitting "publish post" as-is.

I was able to spend two days in Stockholm before heading out to a field station for the workshop. Most of the photos are from Stockholm, because I didn't take many at the field station.

Stockholm is situated on an archipelago that bridges Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea. Every where you turn, there is another island surrounded by dramatic cliffs and sparkling water. They tell the tourists that no fishing license is required, and that the water is clean enough that you could live off the fish you caught in the city.

An example of one of the little islands, with a government building on it.


Day one consisted of arriving in Stockholm at 8 AM local time (1 AM my time). We (I convinced a friend from grad school to make this trip with me) couldn't check into the hotel, so we did a boat tour in the morning. It was a great way to start the trip, because it's a quick orientation to Stockholm and you don't they don't mind if you fall asleep on the boat! That night, we ate tapas and crashed.

The next day, after the jetlag had been addressed, we went to Gamla Stan, which translates to "Old Town." We visited the Stockholm Castle. We saw the changing of the guard (well, I *heard* the changing of the guard) and the crown jewels. Next, we hit the Nobel Museum which was fascinating, but no pictures were allowed.

A star within a star at Stockholm Castle.

Gamla Stan is a very touristy portion of Stockholm, but a good way to introduce yourself to the city if you've never been. I also did some shopping, ate lunch (meatballs with lignonberries).
Here's a square on Gamla Stan. The Nobel Museum is just to right, out of frame.

The Royal Church on Riddarholmen. Generations of Swedish royalty are buried here.

The train station. Great public transit in Sweden.

A plaza on Riddarholmen, where I had a cup of tea. The building across the water is the Stockholm's city hall (Stadshuset).

An alley I liked on Riddarholmen.

It's not every day that I sit in an outdoor cafe in Stockholm, drinking a Coke costing 35 SEK (~$5.50). So, I photographed it.

I stayed at the Nordic Sea Hotel which houses the Absolute Icebar. The Absolute Icebar is essentially a refrigerated room with walls, seats, and bar of carved iced. Even the cocktail glasses are made of ice. You're given heavy coats at the front door and you're only allowed 45 minutes in the bar. I stayed long enough to drink lignonberry-vanilla vodka cocktail and take a few photos.

What can I say? It was cool.

After two days in Stockholm, I took a bus to the workshop, which was held at Tovetorp Research Station. The station supports many zoological research projects.

Some phlox (?) in the front of one of the research buildings. The red colored building is common in the farming areas.

Sven, who is the director at the research station. Sven knows more about sperm competition than anyone I've every met before.

Me with a fallow (tame) deer.

The Big Easy

Last week I was here:



I had a conference in New Orleans, and I was able to squeeze in some sightseeing along with work. Good conference, but an even better trip. I lucked out with flights and juuuusst missed all of the American delays last week. I learned about barbecued shrimp and lattes with beignets. I even took a morning off, and a friend from college and I went on a cemetery tour. The tour began in the French Quarter and we walked to St. Louis Cemetery #1, which is the oldest still-standing cemetery in New Orleans. We had a real gem of tour guide, both knowledgeable and a real advocate for cemetery preservation.


The blue sky in cemetery photo is no Photoshop trick, it really was that beautiful that day: 80 oF and low humidity.

I stayed at a Hampton Inn that had been converted from a cotton factory/warehouse. Check out the entrance, covered in tropical vegetation.


In fact, I was fascinated by the palm trees the whole trip. Must be my Midwestern upbringing.


A paddlewheel boat docked on the Mississippi River:


One of my favorite spots: St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square.


This was a surprise: the gates to the cathedral close before dusk and minutes after the gates are closed and after the tourists leave, a group of cats came out. They lounged on the sun-warmed cement and played. It was like they were relieved that finally! those pesky people have left and we can relax!


The miniature Bunsen burners inside the gaslights in the French Quarter. I'd never seen these before, always figured they were from another era and long gone.


I couldn't resist a mardi gras hat for O. He calls it his dragon hat, which makes more sense and is easier to explain than mardi gras, so we're going with his words for it.

I am Memphis' newest fan.

We had a good trip. The conference was fine, J.'s meeting was fine, but Memphis was cool. Or maybe we were just starved for city-type activities? Regardless, we enjoyed it more than we expected.

We were downtown for most of our stay. We used the trolley for transportation down Main Street. For O., the trolley was a Big Deal, and he loved riding on it.



We walked on Beale Street and enjoyed being in a mixer of music.


We saw the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated. O. ate at his first Hard Rock Cafe (so-so food, but the memorabilia was worth it--the Blues Brothers suits, hats, and sunglasses were my favorite).


J. and O. also visited the Memphis Fire Museum, and O. went ape over the fire trucks, which he could climb all over.

We could have stayed at least another day or two. The Children's Museum and the Mud Island River Park looked interesting with O. in mind. We drove by Graceland, but didn't have time to tour it. I would have liked the Civil Rights Museum and Sun Studios.

O. has been talking about the trip off and on ever since. Sometimes he tells the story of riding the elevator in the hotel ("Door open. Push the button. Up, up, up, ding, ding! Door open again. Down, down, down, ding, ding! Lobby!") And sometimes he speaks mournfully to all of the things he say "Bye-bye fire trucks. Bye-bye elemater. Bye-bye trolley train."

The View From My Room

Not too shabby.

I didn't have a chance too actually BE in those mountains, but it was nice to have them nearby.

The Finland Trip

I returned from Finland a few days ago. I attended a workshop for young scientists in my field, which was held at University of Helsinki's forestry field station. The field station, called Hyytiälä (pronounced hoo'-tee-ah-la) was about 2.5 hours by bus North of Helsinki.

Signpost to Hyytiälä.

The field station was build in the early 1910s for the university forestry students' summer courses. The oldest part of campus reminds me of an US Midwestern farm. The forestry students, in fact, have an agriculture component to their studies, and keep sheep during the summer and harvest them in the fall.

The barn and the old bell tower.

The field station is located next to Lake Kuivajärvi, which is one of 187,888 glacial lakes in Finland.

The forest is 90% pine and spruce, with a few birch and poplars thrown in. Since wood is abundant, the signs at the stations are wood relief carvings, really beautiful.

A map of the station as a wood carving.

Finland is the most North I've ever been (about 61 degrees latitude at Hyytiälä), and because the season was summer, the sun is visible for all but a few hours every day. The sun set around 11 PM and rose around 3 AM. Even the night wasn't very dark, only twilight. Most of these photos were taken mid-evening (9 PM-ish), so you can see for yourself.

In the 1990s, the forest field station was expanded and a SMEAR research station was build (SMEAR = Station for Measuring Forest Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations). It is a unique site in that it is comprehensive, and able to measure many of the inputs and outputs of the forest ecosystem and in as many measureable parameters as possible. It is located in a boreal forest a short hike from the forestry field station.

One of the central features is the main cabin, show below. It was made from two log cabin kits put together. There is little insulation in this design. In fact, the wood is thick enough and the instruments produce enough heat that electrical heating is used only on the coldest winter days. There are bars on the roof of the cabin, which prevent snow from falling sliding off the roof when it melts and damaging the inlet ports. Most houses that I saw in Finland also have a ladder attached to their roofs, so that homeowners can shovel the snow.

Main Cabin

Another main feature is the 72 meter tower, shown below. The tower is tall enough to rise high above the forest canopy, which enables measurements at the atmosphere/canopy interface. Each crossbar on the tower has at least one instrument on the end. Instrument maintenance has an added excitement--to maintain the instruments, someone scales the tower, pulls the crossbar back, and then has to decide whether to fix the instrument on the spot or bring it down.

72-m sampling tower

One of the goals of the station is to measure the energy fluxes (carbon, nutrient, water) in and out of the forest. For this reason, it is important to not disturb the ecosystem, and these walkways were built. Each sideboard leads to a sampling device, often the rainwater or leaf litter collectors. It was like a maze to me.

Forest Floor Walkway

Sauna. As far as I can tell, sauna is a daily activity for many Finns. I was told that most homes have a sauna, and there are four saunas at Hyytiälä. They are separated by gender, although families usually take sauna together. The Finnish researchers prefer saunas heated by woodburning stoved to electric or gas. I did try sauna, and it was nice, although I think I enjoyed it more for the swim in Lake Kuivajärvi afterwards.

The food. Since I ate at a cafeteria-style dining hall most of the time I was there, I don't really know if I had typical Finnish food. I presume it would be a version of what Finns would eat at home. If that's the case, I've learned that boiled potatoes are very important in a Finnish diet. Most meals (lunches and dinners) included some chicken or beef dish with a creamy sauce, and it was served with potatoes. Fish was not as common as a I'd hoped, although a couple of fish dishes were served. Lettuce salads were served at all lunches and dinners, too, although only one kind of salad dressing: thousand island. I don't know whether it's the national favorite, or if salad dressing is not eaten by Finns and it was a concession to the Americans. Puddings are common desserts, although they are flavored differently than I'm used to. They are less sweet (although sugar is offered with them). Usually, a fruit preserve was served with them, too, sometimes whipped cream. The flavor of the puddings were different, too. They tended to be flavored less and differently. I had one that sort of tasted like prunes, and another that I'm told was flavored with rose hips.

I did eat reindeer, in a wild mushroom and cream soup. The soup was very good, and although I didn't get a good sense of what the reindeer tasted like, it reminded me of prosciutto. I was told that eating reindeer is reserved for special occasion dinners.

I also ate Karjalanpiirakka for breakfast a couple of times. I didn't quite figure out what was in them, but I think Karjalanpiirakka must be Finnish for "tasty gooey buttery pastry pie."

The meal structure and timing was different, too. There are 4-5 meals per day. Breakfast at 7 AM, lunch at 11 AM, coffee and a pastry or dessert at 1 PM, and dinner at 5 PM. At the field station, a fifth meal, a late-night snack was served at 10 PM, although it was mainly for the hard-working forestry students.

At literally every meal, there was what looked like to me to be a sandwich spread: cheeses, cold cuts, bread, plus cucumbers and peppers and breads. Even at breakfast. At first I thought it was an option for people who didn't like the main dish being served, so that they could make a sandwich, but I saw the people from the Nordic countries taking a few slices of the "sandwich" platters at each meal, and eating them more like hors d'ouvres, and I was told it was common in Finland to do this. I came to rather like this, and by the end of the week, I'd have a slice of cheese wrapped in cucumbers for breakfast.

The flights. Oh my, the flights. I have a new least-favorite airport in the world. Before this trip, it was O'Hare; now it is Heathrow.

Heathrow is a beast. There is no short layover at Heathrow, especially if you have to change terminals. To change planes, it goes something like this: exit the plane (and this is the last point where it stopped being like any other airport I've seen before). Take a series of ramps and escalators, stairs and lifts to arrive at the gate. (Note this is just the gate; this is not the main part of the terminal where you'd go to transport the next terminal). Walk to the terminal, which can take 10-15 minutes. Finally, you're at the arrival terminal, and you hit a long line at a security checkpoint. Wait, wait, wait, and finally go through the security procedure (which was on par to a US security checkpoint for terminal entry). After security there is another walk and escalator to the terminal transfer point. At this point, you have at least a ten-minute wait and a ten-minute bus ride to transfer to your departure terminal, more if there's a long line. After exiting the bus, there are more ramps and escalators, reminiscent of the exit gate, and finally you're at your terminal. Heathrow does not set gate numbers for flights until 30-40 minutes before boarding, so it is here that you find your gate number. Once you have your gate number, you have a walk between a 5 and 15 minutes long to your gate to board your plane, and this is with moving walkways. At the gate, there is an additional security checkpoint (instituted only after recent events), which is the open your carry-on, turn on all electronics to prove they're not bombs, take of your shoes and pat-down type security checkpoint. After that, you're finally ready to board the plane. Whew.

In the future, I don't think I'll choose a flight through Heathrow if I have an option, and if I don't, I wouldn't choose one without at least a two-hour layover if I could afford to miss my flight, and no less than a three-hour layover if I couldn't afford to miss my flight. I had a 90 minute layover at Heathrow on my return, and I made it only because I ran the whole thing, because my departing flight was running late, and because I probably lucked out a couple a places. My checked luggage, however, was not so lucky, and of this writing (home for about 60 hours), I haven't received it yet. (Edited to add: luggage was returned after a short sidetrip through Memphis almost five days late.)

Other than Heathrow, my flights were fine. Everything ran a little late, but I think a little late is the new on-time for airline travel. A couple of other random notes about the flights:
-A two-hour layover in O'Hare is pushing your luck if you have to go through customs with checked baggage. I actually think I made it to my connecting flight on time because I lost my luggage. Without checked luggage, I had nothing to declare at customs and I didn't have to recheck my bag, which meant I was able to glide through passport control instead of waiting.
-Filed under coincidences in a small world, during the London flight, I sat next to a gentlemen who has the same career as me (though in a different sector) and lives in the same town as my undergrad university. We didn't know that many people in common though.
-Heathrow has a snippiest-sounding public announcement system: "Passenger So-in-so, please proceed immediately to your gate. You are delaying your flight departure and your fellow passengers." Imagine that with a prim British accent and simmering disapproval. It makes you feel guilty even if you're not the person who is misbehaving.
-My travel experience was bracketed by encounters with obnoxious drunk people. At Heathrow security queue, there was college-aged man a few people in front of me who had purchased duty-free vodka on his London fight, and did not know that you can't bring liquids of that size with you if you have a connecting flight. Rather than waste his vodka, he'd decided to drink it while waiting in line for the security check. He loudly let everyone know the injustice of the situation, and that he ought to be trusted since he was an American and from the Bronx and not to be messed with. I think he's lucky that made it through security without being subjected to a body cavity search.

And for my last flight home, I sat in front of drunk Shiners (which, I'm told, is an oxymoron), who provided entertainment by singing barbershop quartets while we waited for a ground hold to clear. I thought it was the most fitting ending to my trip. And this blog entry.