Nematologicus Populusque Romanus

A satisfying voyage to witness the glories of Rome. Byron and Keats capture the emotions of living the city better than I can so I will refer to the latter for words of well-deserved praise. One thing that Childe Harold did not see, as far as I was told, was the City of Rome Pipe Band. He probably also missed the cars burning in the streets. I stayed in a building in the center of it, which was a striking scene to see upon emerging from the Metro on the way to get some fine pasta. Good eats to be had. And yea, there was such splendor to behold (click here for pictures). Even the ruins of the city speak to its vivacity and endurance. Before my poetic waxing gets too uncomfortable, I will let another English-speaker take responsibility for me (although he himself put his sentiment in Latin): "As long as the Colisæus stands, so shall Rome; when the Colisæus falls, Rome shall fall; when Rome falls, so falls the world." The statue did fall, but the meeting place for charioteers, Christians, and other hapless swordsmen makes a nice substitute.

Echt kölnisch Wasser

Genetic mapping screens are done! In celebration I made the pilgrimage to see the revered King of the Franks, conquerer of the northern heathens, and apparently the last person to keep Europe under control. I also went to Cologne, where they got a church. I met a nematologist colleague there who graciously showed me around the place. You can see a few pictures here.

The high festival of Pentecost

I got to visit Berlin this holiday weekend. A fine way to celebrate Pentecost, whatever that is. The main idea was to check out a few museums on the so-called "Museum Island" there. The Pergamon Museum really lives up to the hype, I think. While I was there I also did the circuit of Mexican restaurants -- two places at least. The first night was another sad ending. The Alaskan totem poles to match the Mayan-themed wall murals should have alerted me to danger. But the second try was glorious: a place for "California-style" burritos. It was the closest thing to a taco shop I've seen in Germany: cheap, you have to stand to order, and they even wrap stuff in paper and foil. And it was good! Reasonably good, anyways. It was similar to Chipotle, maybe even a little better, although sadly my memory of a real burrito may already be fading. How I long for the taste of the soccer-playing chile pepper at Los G's.

I did also do some sightseeing while I was up that way. Of course I took some pictures, which you can see here. Besides seeing the "fun stuff," including a few settings from some of my favorite movies, I also visited a memorial to the victims of Germany's darker history, the old concentration camp at Sachsenhausen.

A nice dimension to the weekend was meeting a lab colleague, Robbie, and his girlfriend Amanda for a burrito. Apparently they also thought that Berlin would be nice during Pentecost. They were right! And I'm happy the burrito left them with a good impression. After all my whining about missing those BRCs, I feel somewhat responsible for representing the cuisine of my homeland.

Ghent

So I was in Ghent for the past couple weeks. I was invited by the Nematology Section at the Univsersity to give a lecture series on nematode morphology to the Master's students. I think it went pretty well, although my own enthusiasm for stylets and denticles may cloud my interpretation of events. I'm glad I finally got to visit this place with such an established tradition of nematology research. My visit also lined up with those a few international colleagues whom it was good to see again.

While I was in town I took the chance to explore Europe's nether regions, geographically speaking. Of course I took some stock snapshots of buildings and streets, which you can see here. Went to some art museums. Now on to broad generalizations, if I may: I appreciate the cultural openness I saw in the Dutch-speaking world. I also appreciated the waffles. Especially of the Luiks variety (apparently there are two kinds of "Belgian waffles"). There were also plenty of fries, which came in heaps whether they were expected or not. Whoever said America is special as a land of Super-Size-Me fried food is full of it. And the dipping sauce: who would have thought you can flavor mayonnaise in so many ways? The idea of which (i.e. as a potato condiment) has slightly grown on me, by the way. But I still prefer to take them with ketchup, even at 20 cents a packet. Call me red-blooded American if you will. I should mention that there are probably also vegetables to be found, because I saw plenty of farmland outside of the cities. But it is extremely expensive to eat in Western Europe when you don't have a kitchen, so I still know little about finer Belgian cuisine.

Speaking of fried food, I also ran the local 10K ("Stadsloop Gent") my last day there. It started across the street from where I was staying, and I had the shoes for it, so what the hey. I even got a silver medal! I tied for second with 4507 others. Now I know what it means to "show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders." No wonder the IRA was so unimpressed.

All in all, a good visit. I just hope my little friends have survived my absence -- a concern when working with live nematodes (imagine that). How I fondly recall the dead specimens of yesteryear.

Easter(n Bloc) weekend

Because everything was bound to shut down in Tübingen anyways, I went away this weekend to a place I've wanted to see for a while now: Buda-and-Pest! While I was at it I visited some other towns (Szentendre, Esztergom) along the Danube. You can find a photo account of my trip here. Other than adding a few more lines to my codex of slow adventures, things are going pretty well. I got some mutant nematodes going, so my story of nematode mouthpart evolution is moving along. For the time being I'll be counting a few more worms, after which I make the nematologist's pilgrimage to Ghent...

Narri! Narro!

So the week before Lent is celebrated a bit more vigorously in Germany than it is in most of North America. The festivities typically begin on "Dirty Thursday," which I honored by partaking of the traditional fare of jelly donuts (do we need a holiday for this?). Although Tübingen has its share of events for Carnival, the nearby town of Rottenburg am Neckar, which is historically Catholic, is more famous for its own celebrations. Together with a lab colleague (Vahan) and his friend, I ventured there to see the spetacle of the "Fasnets-Ommzug" held on Tulip Sunday. The lively costumes and the Narren wearing them were quite a sight to behold. Onlookers were beaten with sow bladders and brooms by some and showered with bite-sized bars of Ritter Sport by others. Ushering in several weeks of self-denial was, at least for me, never so entertaining. You can see a few pictures I took here. Now I look forward to Krokant-Eier and (more) marzipan.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

My roommates Dan and Barbara finally had their daughter (congratulations!), so to give them some extra time to adjust I skipped town for the weekend. Hence I went to Franconia to visit this charming, well-preserved medieval town (click here).



While I'm at it, here are some pictures from a day-trip I took to France last month. I'm still not sure about where to point a camera, being used to just loading a specimen in front of a lens. But as it is, you can at least see what I do. Alles Gute!

Test post

I've just started a blog to link to the pictures I've recently put online.  Maybe I will even write something about how things are going over here on the old side.  It may be a while before I figure this all out...