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Thanksgiving - New Orleans

This year we found cheap flights to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. (It is pronounced more like Norlans) One of my work mates, Carlos, used to live there so he gave us valuable insight and a few contacts.

We set off early on the Thursday, missing the Wednesday night rush. I went to pick up the small, fuel efficient, rental car at New Orleans. I was offered a 'free upgrade' to an SUV (4WD). I declined to the confusion of the attendant. I explained that I was a climate scientist and that it would be hypocritical to drive such a huge carbon emitter, especially in a city that will suffer from impending sea level rise. The attendant was amused and promised me a 2-door small car. I was happy, until we saw the car ... a sports car. I don't think she quite understood 'fuel efficient'! Never mind, we had fun driving it.

On the Friday we went on a swamp tour. I had been imagining a swamp like a billabong in Kakadu. It was very different. There were alligators, but very little wildlife or beauty. It actually looked more like the Murray. The tour guide was amusing. He promised that would "learn y'all about the swamps here in Louisiana."

We then went to visit two plantations that had been used for growing cane sugar many years ago. The first was Laura Plantation. We loved this one. The tour guide was very passionate about the place and not afraid to tell good stories as well as bad. http://www.lauraplantation.com/welcome_frame.htm

The plantation was run by a series of matriarchs spanning about four generations. It had a large slave population (I think 200) and some of their houses are still standing. The Br'er Rabbit stories were recorded there.

 

The other plantation, Oak Alley, was grander, but blander. All we saw was the mansion and were told about how grand life was.

 

That evening we met up with friends of Carlos' - Jackie and Hans. It was great to get their insight on life in New Orleans and what it was like to live through Hurricane Katrina. They evacuated in time, but lost everything as their house was almost completely underwater.

Saturday morning we were up early watching the ABC live election coverage. Needless to say we were celebrating and look forward to coming back to Australia now!

Later on Saturday Jackie and Hans took us on a tour of New Orleans to see what had happened since Katrina. Many areas looked as though they were just run down. We didn't realise the destruction till we saw suburbs similar to what they used to be. Other areas such as the ninth ward no longer existed. They were just flat grass land.

One of the levees that broke.

The Ninth Ward.

Many of the houses were yet to be renovated and looked like that had been pushed off their foundations. It was very sad to see the crosses still spray painted on the front of houses which labelled when they were searched and how many bodies were found.

On a happier note, we went on to have lunch with Jackie and Hans at a lovely cafe. We liked the food in New Orleans - it seemed to have more flavour than what we get here. The idea of sugar on everything seems to be US-wide though. I was convinced to try Praline bacon which is bacon coated in brown sugar - very bizarre. Because the US only has the rasher and not the eye of the bacon, the bacon flavour wasn't strong. It tasted just like fat and sugar.

Saturday evening we went to Bourbon St. in the French Quarter. This is the main pub and nightclub street. It is hard to describe the buzz of this street. There were people of all ages from kids to grandparents. Groups of teenagers were playing jazz in the streets and people dancing. We wandered in and out of bars listening to live jazz, blues, rock ... as the mood took us. We ordered sweet potato fries for dinner and bravely tasted them with the accompanying maple syrup - wouldn't recommend it.

Halloween

Can you guess who we are?

Dr Who and a 70s Dr Who chick.

The second bit

 

Well we have done a lot on this trip and I can't remember most of it. No, not from drinking - but because we have done so much!

    

We have spent most of the last week in Ireland. Linda's favourite place was Scotland, but I think I like Ireland the best. I've really enjoyed the historical parts of Ireland and the stories. The cynical humour suits me more too.

       

We are very sick of British food and it will be a long time before I eat meat and boiled vegetables again. I am craving a good stir fry or something a bit more exotic. We have had endless scones but none as good as Nans.   

We've drunk Guinness and Smithwicks and Paddy's whisky.

 

 

Dublin has lots of statues which all have nicknames. Below  is the 'tart with the cart', there is also the dick with the stick and the stiffy on the Liffey.

 

We have kissed the Blarney stone ( except for Mum who was too scared). We climbed castles, been in dungeons and murder holes. I rubbed a pagan ruin of a woman giving birth - apparently this is good luck for having beautiful children. I'm not sure it is a money-back guarantee.   

There are 'interesting' people on the tour. No one too annoying but a few characters. Mostly Australians, some Canadians, a couple of South Africans and a few Americans.

We wander around shops but haven't bought much.

The southwest of Ireland looks a bit like Tassie with the hills and lakes - but a hell of a lot greener. Scotland has lots of water and lakes, which seems so unfair!

After leaving Ireland we travelled into Wales, staying in Cardiff. The next day, back to London via Stonehenge and Bath.

We were all very relieved to finish the tour. It was fun, but tiring. It was good to be free of a timetable and free to eat and use the toilet whenever we wanted .... not when we were told.

 

We had a few days in London together, before Mum, Linda and Christine headed to Paris and I went back to the US. I also had a day in Southampton giving a seminar.

The highlight was a night out seeing Momma Mia. We also went to Madame Tussards where Christine got another picture with the Queen.

 

A good start to the trip

Well I must say it is not as bad as I thought it might be!

I have spent the weekend in London with Pete's family - staying with Cousin Sam. Aunty Ann and Uncle Al took me to Hampton Court for tea and scones and a look around the palace. The gardens are beautiful.

Mum, Aunty Chris and Aunty Linda arrived on Monday morning where I met them at the hotel. It took 2 hours for them to get from Heathrow to the hotel due to traffic. A good introduction to London traffic.

Much to their disgust the plane trip had given them cankles (Fat ankles).

 

We went out to the London Eye and a cruise down the Thames. Our culinary adventure began with bangers and mash for tea for me, scampi for Christine and Steak and Ale pie for Mum and Linda. Not surprisingly however it was an Australian pub - they are difficult to miss. It seems the holiday is mostly about all the foods we are tasting. Mum, Linda and Christine were still a bit jetlagged so it was an early night before the tour started at 7am.

Day 1 of the tour: London to Coventry.
We got on the bus and I wasn't the youngest! We were handed name tags but most people conveniently lost them. We drove out of London to Oxford for a quick tour. Next stop was Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's stomping ground. Lunch was our first traditional cornish pasty and a stop at the lolly shop. (Liss, you would've loved all the fudge). The highlight was a visit to Warwick Castle which was built around the 13th Century. It looked just like a Robin Hood movie set.

 

There was a beautiful display of a grand dining room with a model of the queen which had been roped off. Christine was keen to have her photo taken with the Queen to show her grandaughter. She jumped the barrier and snuggled up to the Queen. Next thing we know the alarms have gone off and we are making a run for it! Linda stuck around to see officials running from everywhere and panicking that we'd stolen the silverware. We tried to hide until the bus left.

Day 2: Coventry to Leeds.

The highlight was definitely York and the cathedral. Too hard to describe the cathedral and just how big and ornate and beautiful it was. It took 250 years to build.

Day 3: Leeds to Edinburgh.

Another cathedral today. This one built in the 11th Century. Amazing what they could mange back then. I am sitting on the bus at the moment on our way to Edinburgh. More later as I'm starting to motion sickness!

OK, back again - that night we went to a Scottish show and dinner. A lot of fun watching men dance around in kilts with little underneath. We got to taste haggis of course.

Day 4: Edinburgh.

We are staying in a castle and have spent the day touring Edinburgh. After some of the other beautiful cities it seems a bit grotty. We went to Roslin Castle which may or may not house the holly grail.

We also looked around Edinburgh castle. Castles and churches are quite amazing but we have had our fill.

Day 5: Edinburgh to Chester.

A day mostly of travelling. Stopped in a cute little town and went on a river cruise and train ride on Windemere Lake. I was surprised home much the trees and lakes look like New England (but a bit grander). We saw lots of sheep and cows. This evening we are chilling out. Have been to the pool and hot tub but there were too many budgie smugglers so we had to leave.

All in all we are having a great time. Probably feeling a bit rushed if anything. It is good to have everything organised so it is very low stress.

Getting ready for the UK

I leave for England in a few days so I thought I should update the blog before it is swamped with news from the holiday.

Life has been plodding along. We are trying to do lots and see lots before we go back to Australia.

For the labor day long weekend we went for a holiday to New Hampshire staying in a log cabin: http://www.bearmountainlodge.net/

I saw a bear while on to the phone to Dad for Fathers' Day but it disappeared before Pete came.

We've done all sorts of things including tubing down a river for two hours which was very peaceful - except for falling in.

Last weekend was the geology field trip. Pete thoroughly enjoyed it - I didn't see why I had to go to work on a Saturday.

Dramas mount before the trip to England. It is day -1 and Aunty Linda has lost the Eurostar tickets. Aunty Christine broke her suitcase practicing wheeling it. Mum is wondering why she actually wants to go at all. It seems we've been planning for years! I will keep you updated on daily dramas.

If only we knew how to line dance...

Its been a long time since I've updated the blog I know, but I was waiting for some happy news rather than all sad.

March/April/May have been a difficult time. We got a phone call one evening to say that Pete's Mum, Pam, had been rushed to hospital. Pete left the next morning and I followed the day after. We were in Hobart for 2 months as we sat with Pam through her last days. It was a horrible experience, yet also very special in many ways.

We are back in New Haven now and trying to get life back on track.

On happier news. Melissa and Luke arrived at the end of June for a holiday. Luke came to stay for a weekend as he was in the US first and Melissa arrived later. We all met up in New York City to have a city adventure for a couple of days including a trip to watch the Yankees play baseball at Yankee stadium. We also took them to a stand up comedy show. We were somewhat shocked to realise how Americanised we had become as Pete and I got many more of the jokes than they did.

We headed back to New Haven on the Sunday. I think Liss and Luke were relieved to not be a hotel anymore and eating home cooked meals (even if they were vegetarian).

On Monday we ventured into the world of American consumerism and spent 5 hours at the malls. Clothes are very cheap here compared to Australia and I've located most of the bargain places so we walked out with heaps. Surprisingly I think Luke ended up with the most clothes. It is quite cheap to buy Billabong/Roxy/Adidas/Under Armour etc over here if you know where to look.

Monday night we ventured down town where they are filming Indiana Jones 4. The shops have all been changed to look like the 1950s and there are old cars in the streets; rather surreal.

Tuesday Liss, Luke and I headed off on a road trip, Pete had to work. The first stop was a B&B on a farm in Ithaca in New York State at the southern end of the Finger Lakes. The farm was organic and run mostly on solar energy. We were fed huge organic vegetarian breakfasts. We spent our time hiking and visiting wineries.

Thursday we drove through NY state to Niagara Falls. We took the back roads passing through farms, particularly Amish farms, stopping to buy fresh fruit from one. Niagara was not what I expected. The falls were magnificent but would've been better if they were still surrounded by nature. Instead they were fenced off and in the middle of a city. They had more of a feel of being some hollywood fake, especially at night with the coloured spot lights on them. We stayed on the Canadian side of the falls so Melissa could get another stamp in her passport. I've heard people say that the Canadian side is different to the US, but I couldn't tell.

Friday we drove east to the northern tip of the Finger Lakes to stay in a B&B at Waterloo. This would have to be the most entertaining B&B run by Mike and Joan and their dog Harley. Mike loved to chat and gave us samples of the local beer. The evening was spent drinking wine in their hot tub. Breakfast was particularly memorable as we were treated to a traditional American experience. It began with a Pineapple and Pecan muffin (after which we were all full). This was followed by strawberries in a sugary sauce, then chocolate waffles with raspberry sauce and extra choc bits accompanied with 4 rashers of bacon (yes all on the same plate). We couldn't finish it all and felt sick for most of the day. Apparently some guests eat it all and ask for more.

For the weekend, we headed north into the Adirondak mountains to a town called Lake George. It was absolutely gorgeous, though full of tourists. Saturday night I think was the most memorable part of the trip when we went to the rodeo. It began with a 'Texas style BBQ'. Luckily we only bought one serve as it was inedible. Not that I normally eat much meat, but one bite of those ribs was enough to put me off for life. Even Liss and Luke struggled to eat them. Instead we people watched, observing the rather large Americans ho-ing in. The start of the rodeo was nothing like we expected. First there was a philisophical discussion of the meaning of freedom and how we were free to choose to come to the rodeo that night, and how the US was the greatest country in the world cos it was free. Clearly that turned into a tribute to the men and women in Iraq who risked their lives so we could freely choose to come to the rodeo. We listened to some songs about the might and power of the US, and the anthem. Then of course we thanked God and said a prayer for the cowboys.

Finally the rodeo was underway. It was rather disturbing watching the cruelty to the animals. I quite liked the bull riding cos it felt like the bulls got some of their own back throwing the cowboys off and trying to kick them. The rodeo finished and we moved to the bar. The music was entertaining with lyrics like "I wanna see the other half of your butterfly tattoo" ..."I wanna take you out in the sticks ... I wanna search you for tics" "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, a red neck girl" and finally "Save a horse, ride a cowboy". Unfortunately none of us knew how to line dance so we couldn't join in. It was a whole other world out there. Interesting to visit but I wouldn't want to be part of it.

The next day we decided to try horse riding ourselves with a one hour guided ride through the forest. We loved it though I am still sore. An American on the ride fell off in the first 10 minutes, but we did fine. Our horseride was followed by rafting which was magnificent. Halfway through the rafting we jumped out and swam for a bit. The water a bit chilly but so clean and fresh! Unfortunately we couldn't take the camera on either of these adventures so no photos to show you. I didn't realise the US had such beautiful scenery, quite a contrast to being in NY city.

We finally made it home, greatful again for Pete's cooking and never wanting to see anything deep fried again, or a hamburger. I'm not sure what we will do today. Liss and Luke are still asleep (it's 9am). I think we will just chill out at home. On Wednesday we go back to NY city for a night, and hopefully go to Mary Poppins on Broadway. Liss and Luke leave early Thursday for LA to stay with Luke's Mum.

OK, enough from me now. I will try to add some photos once Liss and Luke get up.
Jaci xx

Feb - Another busy month

This weekend has been peaceful and quiet with nothing to do!

After my visit to Oxford we had our belated Australia Day party. It was great fun. Elisabeth came up from New York and we had some of my work friends over. We drank Fosters and Australian wine. Fosters is the only Australian beer here. We ate lamingtons, fairy bread, anzacs, curried egg and lettuce sandwiches. I had bought goodies from Australia and the UK including freddo frogs, chicos, twisties, burger rings, shortbread.... Then we went to the ice hockey.

San Francisco: Beach, Workshop Dinner, the bendy street.

The next week I was off to San Francisco again for a workshop on Systematic Errors in Computer Models. It wasn't an exciting way to spend my 29th birthday, but well worth the trip. I stayed an extra day and went sightseeing around San Fran. It was a gorgeous day, about 21 degrees C which was a lovely change from the freezing rain that was falling in New Haven.

So this weekend I am happy sitting at home and catching up on jobs around the house.

In April I have two more job interviews at Stanford and Johns Hopkins. I've also written a proposal for an ARC grant in Australia - so fingers crossed.