Comparisons and Statistics

I've been collecting observations over the past 9 days about my return to the US. First, a glimpse into how long 99 days really is: When I left home, the high temperature for the day was a scorching 106° F, which was very hot even for an Indiana summer.  When I returned, the high temperature for the day was 67° F (which occurred at midnight) and then fell to about 39° F. The interstate numbers have changed because a new section of I-69 has opened. My grocery store moved across the street. The Olympics started and finished. A tree fell in my backyard. The front of my house changed, as Laurel did some landscaping. Some observances on differences between Europe and the US which I see now.  It's the little things, really. Light...

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UK Day 8 - London

London is huge.  It's not something you can see in one day, or even 1.5 days, which is the amount of time I have here.  Earlier, I decided to go to Buckingham Palace and a museum.  Quartney went with me to the palace (she had never been) and then took off to head home while I went to the British Museum. Buckingham Palace is everything you would think proper British royalty is.  Enormous rooms?  Check.  Fancy staircases?  Check.  Huge portraits of your family tree?  Check.  More forks than you can shake a scepter at?  Check.  Unfortunately, they didn't allow photography of the exhibitions, so I don't have many pictures to share of the occasion.  I can tell you that they have...

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UK Day 7 - Brighton to London

This morning I got to try a "full English breakfast" which consisted of two poached eggs, baked beans, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, sausage, and toast.  It was pretty good and a nice way to start the day.  I also got to try "brown sauce" which is apparently common over here in the UK.  It tasted a bit like barbecue sauce, only a little sweeter than average.  Interesting, and OK on eggs.  I still have no idea what the baked beans are doing at breakfast. We also walked around and got a few photos of Brighton's beach, which was nice: The next stop was the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.  I got a photo of it (through the rain) from the outside, but they allowed no photos on the inside. The Pavilion...

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UK Day 6 - Warwick to Brighton

Today started with picking up the rental car in a nearby town.  Quartney and I were headed out for Brighton and London, and considering the cost of rentals, train tickets, and Quartney's recently-acquired UK driver's license, it made more sense to rent a car rather than use trains.  I, of course, will not be driving.  Firstly, I don't know how to use a manual, and secondly, UK driving would be hazardous to my blood pressure, insurance rates, and ego. The rental car is lime green with a racing stripe.  Quartney was excited about this.  Take a look and see if you can tell why... The drive from Kenilworth to Brighton was surprisingly quick, especially when compared with the drive from Inverness to Kenilworth.  It...

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UK Day 5 - Warwick and Stratford

Monday was a day of sightseeing and friends in the UK.  I stayed with Sagar and Quartney, and as soon as we were dressed Quartney and I headed to Stratford.  The folks in the US may better recognize Stratford by its longer name, Stratford-upon-Avon.  As I'm sure you're straining your brains to remember, this is the town of Shakespeare. Stratford is not terribly far from Warwick ("Warrick"), so we took the bus over.  I got to ride on the top half of a double-decker bus!  It's slightly terrifying at first, but then you get used to it.  The British bus drivers should really be commended on their skill in maneuvering around corners, by cars, and through low-hanging branches. Quartney is turning into an unofficial...

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UK Day 4 - Inverness Race

Yesterday, I woke up and the first order of business was to complete the 10k race I had come to Inverness for in the first place.  The Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running, unfortunately, does not have a half-marathon to complement the marathon, 10k, and 5k events.  I usually run a half-marathon (about 21k) in the spring and fall of each year, but this time I had to make due with a 10k race. Quartney (I keep forgetting to link to her blog.  You can find it here.) is more hardcore than I am, so she was running the marathon.  Thus, she also had to be up and out the door earlier than the rest of us.  Sagar and I were running the 10k event, and Amy was our injured cheerleader (otherwise, she would have been in the...

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UK Day 3 - To Inverness!

The first part of my day was boring and consisted mostly of getting myself to the train station.  At this point, the hills of Edinburgh are a little annoying because I have to lug a suitcase up and down them in order to get to the train.  Oh well.  I would prefer to travel lighter, but this is a cross between vacation and moving home, so some additional weight is a necessary inconvenience. On the train to Inverness I was seated in a group of four seats, two front-facing and two back-facing, with a table in the middle.  This is the sort of setup where conversation is inevitable if the languages allow.  The other three seats were filled in by a family going also to Inverness, where the mom is going to run in the marathon...

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UK Day 2 - Edinburgh

This morning started out with a few surprises for me.  First, I knew the hotel was providing free breakfast.  I was expecting what happens in every other hotel when they say "free breakfast" - a buffet line with various dishes.  Nope.  Instead, they had a couple young ladies who took orders. That was fun, and I noticed that they had a familiar accent.  I asked, and one was from Romania and the other from Poland.  I gave the Polish girl a surprise when I said "dzien dobry!" I got out of my hotel a little earlier than I had expected, so I had some more time to explore before reaching the castle.  My hotel is halfway down a hill (Calton hill, specifically), and the main part of the city is up-and-over the hill....

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On to Scotland!

Written earlier today I usually write my blog posts in the evening after the day has mostly finished, but I'm currently writing from on board a train bound for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Surprisingly, there is wifi on this train, although I don't intend on using it much.  The first-class passengers receive it free, and the coach passengers still get 15 minutes free, but then us peasants have to pay for more than 15 minutes.  One very nice bit of information, though, is that on the sign-in screen they display the current location and speed of the train.  I can proudly report I'm moving north at 110 MPH.  Also, I've seen some items that look surprisingly like home.  For example, we've passed by several fields...

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Poland Departure and UK Arrival

Although Wednesday was my last official day in Poland, it was pretty much going to work and then waiting for the plane to take off.  My group at work got me a t-shirt, though, and that was unexpected and sweet of them.  Other than that, the day was pretty typical. My last night in the city center of Kraków, on the other hand, was Tuesday evening.  I had dinner with John at the Sukiennice terrace restaurant on this clear, barely-autumn evening. The terrace restaurant provides a great view of the eastern half of the main square.  It's so good that during the day they charge a cover, otherwise it would be overrun with tourist-photographers.  During the evening, though, it hardly seems like anyone knows about it. After...

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Last Sunday in Kraków

Today is my last weekend day in Kraków.  It's hard to believe that time has gone this fast! I decided that I should go and see a Kraków landmark I had yet to see here: Nowa Huta ("Noh-vah Hoo-tah").  The name translates to "New Steelworks."  It was a planned community by the Soviets when they were in control of Poland.  I'm getting most of the following information from the Wikipedia article on it, but it's an interesting story all the way around. The Soviets were having trouble with Kraków, which had a healthy middle class, so they decided to bring up a large working class in a huge, planned, industrial suburb.  That was Nowa Huta's goal, anyway.  The choice of putting a steelworks (the largest in Poland, I...

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