Apparently, Austria was also involved in my European adventure this summer.

After yet another long plane ride, I landed in Switzerland. We rented a car and my dad had the joy of driving it from Zurich to Solothurn. We stayed the night in the tiny, slightly boring town. The next morning we went to visit my grandmother's cousin who is a nun living in the town. We had lunch with the relative and the rest of the retired nuns. Everyone was extremely hospitable, it was a lovely morning.

We then drove to Erstfeld, where I got the pleasure of meeting other cousins of my grandmother and their families. I met a ton of family that I didn't even know I had; it was the warmest of welcomes, too.

The next day, I saw where my family used to live and where they kept their animals. The family still owns some of the property and still has some sheep.

After we saw the sheep (and the two yaks that protect them), we had lunch. I was taught an accordion bass line. I need to edit the video before I put it up because my mom didn't know how to stop the video on my camera...

Then we went up a funicular to the top of a peak and saw a manmade lake, which was quite picturesque (agree?).

After that, we went to the Devil's Bridge, which has a legend behind it that the people that lived in the area couldn't construct a bridge, but the devil said he would do it for the price of the first soul that crossed. The people outsmarted the devil and sent a goat across first. It's also the sight of a battle between Russia and France during the Napoleonic wars. That being said, I went to Russia (because they own a small bit of land where they commemorate their victory).

Dinner was filled with family again, which was just wonderful. Everyone bent over backwards for us and were just so thrilled that we could come. It was such a tight feeling of family. It turns out that the family that stayed in Erstfeld keeps expanding in the area, and no one seems to move too far away, which keeps the knowledge of the history fresh.

This morning we said our goodbyes and headed to Windsbach, to see the town that my grandfather was born in. Along the way, we drove through Austria, which was unexpected. We also seem to have driven along the border Lichtenstein. It really is a tiny country.

Windsbach took forever to get to because the autobahn is just a bad plan. Anyway, Windsbach wasn't anything special. We walked around a bit, had a late lunch, and went on our merry way to Munich.

Yes, I notice that the dust speck in my camera is now worse than it was. I really will get it fixed soon.

Munich, so far, seems like any other city: there is a ton of new construction and too much traffic. However, there is a beer garden right down the street from our hotel... Of course, that was the first thing that we did after checking in to the hotel. Highlights of that include old men stumbling out muttering obscenities and soft pretzels larger than my head.

I plan on checking out this large, animated clock I've heard about...

The end of a Brazilian adventure.

To finish, I skipped out on a few days of the conference to see the city. I actually have something to say here about Rio!

Wednesday, I went shopping in the morning and didn't really come across any good tacky souvenirs, but I did come across some nice crafts. After that, I went up to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain to have a picnic as the sun set. That was a lovely experience because I got to ride in the suspended cable car four times!

After that, I went to a soccer match at the local stadium, which is supposedly the largest in South America. To tell the truth, the game sucked because no one scored, and the one team was just not that great.

Even though the playing of the game left much to be desired, I did enjoy watching the people, especially the ones that thought fire was a good plan.

Aside from watching people, I ate. Unfortunately, the food was a bit on the disappointing side. I just had popcorn and a popsicle. Don't get me wrong, they were good, but I just hoped I could try something new.

Today, I went to see Jesus on his perch high above Rio (Corcovado). On the way up the hill, I got to ride in another fun vehicle, a sort of train. While on it, a samba band boarded and played for us.

I then found myself at the base of a huge statue of Jesus. I wish I would have counted all of the people that had their hands spread like the statue and were having their photographs taken in front of it.

After Corcovado, I went on a tour of the Rocinha favela just outside of Rio de Janeiro. The first stop was a samba school right outside of the favela. I'm a bit confused by how the people that live in the favelas don't have to pay taxes, but have samba schools that compete in Carnival with elaborate, expensive floats and costumes...and have cable and internet...

Anyway...
A picture will be added soon. I'm having trouble with the upload.

There were streets where I could take pictures and streets where I could not. I also had to be aware of the fact that there were people just carrying guns around with them. I was told that I shouldn't be alarmed because they won't hurt tourists because they don't want cops in their neighborhood. I was taken up and down winding roads. I met some prominent citizens that do things like after-school art classes to try to keep the young kids out of gangs. It was an extremely interesting experience that will be hard to forget.

The next day, my final day in Rio, I went on a tour of two of the observatories of Rio. They had small, but important telescopes, as well as some extremely rare scientific instruments. I was quite pleased as I enjoy looking at old science things.

Later that night, I flew away from Rio. I got home yesterday and am leaving tonight for Switzerland and Germany. I'm excited, but tired.

Ilha Grande: Yet Another Island Paradise

After a long week of conferencing (four days), we cut out on Friday to go to Ilha Grande. Aside: For those who care, my talk went fine on Thursday. I completely forgot how to describe the light output variation due to non-radial pulsations, but I stammered something out that was right and continued. I also attended a Young Astronomers Lunch and met a senior astronomer who seemed impressed by me. I was impressed by her and all of the helpful things she had to say.

Moving on...

After a walk, a metro ride, a taxi ride, a bus ride, another taxi ride, and a ferry ride got me to the beautiful Ilha Grande. It is a lovely island off the coast of Brazil that can be best described a

s paradise.

We found a hotel and walked around the little town to find dinner. The next day we w

ent on a boat tour to go sit on beaches, swim, and snorkel. While snorkeling, I found a fish that changed color as it swam next to different parts of the coral reef.

After doing that all day, we wandered around town, and I ate the best meal I've had here: street food. I had a Blue Lagoon drink (I went snorkeling in the Blue Lagoon earlier, so I thought it was appropriate). It was limes crushed with sugar, some blue alcohol that I can't spell the name of and am too lazy to look up, and vodka. It tasted like candy, very strong candy, but I think it's my new favorite drink (yes, it has displaced the vodka and cranberry, which also tastes like candy). It was recommended to try it with a base of lemonade and less vodka. I think I might enjoy it more that way...

Also on the menu was chicken-on-a-stick, covered in breadcrumbs, as recommended by the vendor, and slathered with garlic sauce, also upon recommendation. It was delicious. I also had a dessert that was three strawberries covered in fudge then covered in a chocolate shell. So good. I then followed that by a scoop of hazelnut and a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. My stomach was thrilled. I could have done without the drink, but I couldn't find a non-alcoholic drink vendor on the street.

OK, so...lots of sun, fish, boats, and food for that day. The next day, we took another boat to a prime surfing beach. I sat around in the sand and jumped in the waves most of the day. We also walked through a bit of rain forest, which was painful because it was steep, and I had on a backpack. My knees were not thrilled with me.

After that it was time to say goodbye to Ilha Grande. Before I said my goodbye...I got another strawberry dessert! Oh, gluttony...

We took a speed boat back to Brazil as the sun set and a van to the door of our hotel. This was so much a better decision than how we got to the island...

This week I will be going to a soccer match in what I'm told is the world's largest stadium, going to observatory tours, going to see Jesus on the hill, going to another famous hill, and going to markets to shop. There will be a little bit of conference in there, too.

An Elusive Rio

There has been a whole lot of conferencing going on and not much else. Today, I gave my little talk about non-radial pulsations, and I only stumbled on the words once.

A few days ago, we had the opening ceremony that featured some traditional Brazilian dances, captured in this video.

I haven't seen much of Rio yet because of the conference, but I will take a day or two off from the conference next week to see the sights. I did spot Jesus from the conference center, however. Truthfully, he's pretty visible from most places in Rio, but this was the first time I could get a picture. He's on the top of the highest peak in the picture.

I plan on going up to that peak as well as the "famous" Sugar Loaf Mountain, which apparently involves a nifty cable car ride. It is reported that souvenirs can be purchased at these places. I'm so excited for that.

This weekend I'm going to Ilha Grande, so I'll have to report when I get back. It's an old prison island off of the Brazilian coast. The prison has been destroyed, but the island is supposed to be fantastic. I'm so excited!

Exhaustion and eating: the typical way to start a trip.

After flying to Houston from Newark there was a long layover. Fortunately, the flight I was on from Houston to Rio de Janeiro was the first-ever non-stop flight flown by Continental on that route, so they had a little reception by the gate that included cupcakes. I had one (left).

The ten hour flight to Rio seemed to drag on and on. I slept quite a bit, but not enough. We landed, and the gate that the plane was pulled to was broken, naturally. There was some more taxiing and then finally departure. That final delay was just a little insult to injury at that point.

So then it was a taxi ride into Rio! We drove all through the city and saw a huge spectrum of quality of living in the different areas.

There was time for showering off airplane-stench and brief napping, which was followed by extensive eating. We went to a seafood restaurant where we had shrimp, crab, and lobster concoctions. My favorite were the shrimp wrapped in cheese, breaded, and fried. I also got dessert, which was an unidentifable fruit wrapped in a pastry shell. All of the waiters were old men who didn't seem to care that the only Portugese that we know is "thank you", which was a relief even though conversation was difficult.

We then checked in with the conference and walked along the beach. To the right is the view from Copacabana beach as the sun started to set. The water is warm and inviting. As a direct result, my pants got very wet.

Instead of going into the ocean at that point, I went swimming in the hotel's rooftop pool afterward.

I'm exhausted, and it's not even 8 p.m.