Assertions by Tressa

The Maddux clan reunites in Paris

2010-07-20T11:02:00.000-07:00

The last week Scott and I were in Paris, we were joined by Scott's parents, Dave and Jana, and his little sister, Caroline. After two weeks in Paris by ourselves with no other English speakers this was a welcome change. Hanging out with family is always good. It also happened that sight seeing wasn't even the top priority for family activities. Scott was born in Paris, France, and it was Caroline's third time visiting, so none of us had a sight agenda. We were just there to be with each other. We did, however, go and see their old apartment, and the hospital where Scott and Steven were both born. We had lots of yummy food, and there was much girl time chatting with Jana and Caroline. (first pic: Scott on his old street; 2nd pic: Scott and I in front of the hospital in Paris where he was born)

On our last day together, Dave was feeling under the weather, so Scott stayed at the hotel with his dad, and us girls went out to see what we could see. Jana wanted to spend some time shopping, and Caroline and I wanted to see more Paris, so we parted ways temporarily, and Caroline and I headed to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. We climbed to the top of the Arc for a fantastic view of the city, and then headed to the Luxembourg Gardens. The hours we spent at the Luxembourg Gardens were all too short. That was the very definition of vacation. A beautiful garden so big it can hold Parisians and tourists alike, without feeling crowed or stuffy. We found a few chairs, put our feet up and commenced with our relaxation activities. Caroline read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, that she picked up at the Shakespeare and Co. book store just before, and I started a new lace knitting pattern for a scarf. We could have spent many more hours there, but alas, we settled for two, and then headed back to meet everyone for dinner.(pictured above: the view from the top of the Arc de Triomphe)

After dinner, we all headed to the Eiffel tower to see it sparkle in the last rays of the evening light. It was at this picturesque moment that we all had to say good-bye. The next day Scott's parents, and Caroline were headed back to Moscow, Russia, and Scott and I had a train to catch to Les Eyzies, France. What a great way to end our time in Paris, with Scott's family where there family first began.

Where we all said good-bye.

Having some lunch.

Paris again

2010-07-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so after two weeks in Paris, I have done tons of stuff! Here is a list.

Museums visited -- 10: Louvre - art, Versailles, Pompidou - modern art, Jewish Art and History, Orangerie - late 19th and early 20th century art, Rodin - sculpture, Cluny - medieval art, Orsay - art, Natural History, and the Museum of Evolution.

Other sights and activities: outside of Notre-Dame (too crowed to get in, but don't worry I have a whole week left), Rick Steves guided walking tour around the Left Bank, relaxing in the Luxembourg garden, shopping at an open market, and eating lost of rich and tasty French food.

Since I can't possibly do tell you about all of it I will just show you the highlights of my pics.

First dinner at the Louvre, which is the first picture on this blog. I had a lovely cheese plate as you can see above. I also like the second pic directly below it, because you can see the top of the huge pyramid in the background marking the entrance to the Louvre. I saw such great works as the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory (my favorite), and the Mona Lisa. Why are there no pics of this you ask? Well, photography was allowed without a flash, however...everyone completely ignored that rule, and millions of flashes were going off all around me damaging the art more and more as the minutes rolled on!...so I decided not to add to the rape of the artwork with my camera in any way shape or form. I was too disgusted. Aren't you glad you asked?

The third pic is me in front of a large statue in front of the Muse de Orsay. There are six of these representing different areas of the world; I am in front of "Africa." You'll notice that I am a wearing a large black boot on my right leg. For those of you who may not know, about 10 days before this trip I found out that I had a stress fracture in the 3rd metatarsal of my foot. I got this stress fracture from changing the way I run. I blame "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. I loved loved loved loved that book and I will continue to go back to the running principles I learned from this book as soon as my foot heals properly. Anyway, the fourth pic with Scott and a giant version of on of Van Gogh's self portrait is one of my favorites because, *smirk,* Scott looks like Van Gogh.

Fifth we have the beautiful pic of me...and the Notre-Dame cathedral. :) Next...

The last two pics (6&7) are from the Rodin museum. Guess what?! Rodin is considered the best sculptor since Michelangelo! That's quite a compliment! I do LOVE his sculpture, so I took a few pics outside in the gardens, and a couple inside too, sans flash. He is considered an impressionist sculptor, so his works look unfinished on purpose. He was looking to create the feeling of energy movement and life in his statues. If you'll notice, there is a feeling of restlessness and tension in his work, and I think that is so cool! Rodin's art is my new art "discovery" on this trip. I always have room to love some new art!

6) Me and The Thinker

7) Does anyone else think these guys need to be in a Beyonce video? "oh oh oh...if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it..."

Maddux OUT!

Paris reflections

2010-07-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

What to say about Paris....I love it here. I have to admit that it's taken me this long to post because I've been reluctant to come out of my fantasy land and admit that I'm not staying. Don't get me wrong, I really miss my friends; it's an odd dichotomy to want to be with your friends and a part of your community, but wish to utterly escape your life at home at the same time. I love the people here, I love the language, the art, the food...I am at home and at peace here. However, that may just be because I do not have the same responsibilities and demands on my time here as I do at home. Is this what vacation is like? If so, I am totally spoiled. To disappear into a totally foreign experience - a whole new culture, is so liberating. I find myself less afraid to be myself.

So what have I seen so far? Well, many many sights, and museums, which I will list in another post, but my favorite things are always just sitting in a cafe enjoying an espresso while people watching, or trying to talk to someone who knows less English than I do French, or just sitting in a shady spot in a garden reading or knitting. Is it okay that I'm not including any pics in this particular Paris post? I will post pics and get into what touristy things I have seen, but in the mean time I am loving just blending in to Parisian society -- buying fresh fruit at the open market, going to the local organic food store for breakfast or lunch, doing laundry, and smiling when someone starts to talk to me in French. (That means that they don't know I'm not French *smile*)

Scott and I eat at least one meal at the same restaurant, Le Diplomat, every day. The wait staff there already knows our faces and greets us warmly when we walk in the door. (No, it's not a sushi restaurant...I know it's shocking) We walk down the same streets every day, away from the tourist crowds...I love coming "home" to that every night. I do wish I could live here. More later...

Events of note

2010-06-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

So what happened after my world travels? I went back to work (duh), learned a new hobby, got a new kitty, visited with my dear friend, Jill, and her family, and turned 30!

My new hobby is knitting. I am so addicted! To use a popular term right now, it's very "zen" for me; it's relaxing, and allows me to slow my brain down and be productive at the same time. One of my very close friends, Hanna, taught me a few weeks before my birthday, and I was hooked. She very generously bought me my very own knitting starter kit as a birthday present, and I haven't been able to stop knitting since. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of my projects at the moment, but there will be time in the future.

My new kitty is all black and his name is Angus...(pause for chuckling). I fell in love with him and took him home on the same day. Ever since we brought him home he has been the best cuddler, and one of the most annoying cats ever. It really is one way or the other. I am either calling him my favorite kitty or trying not to strangle him. He is into EVERYTHING! My friend Wendy, who is a long time cat lover, said, "Oh yeah, well he's a kitten." No...that's not it...he consumes or tries to consume EVERYTHING. If I had a nickle for every time I have yelled a sentence that starts with, "Angus! No kitties in the..." I wouldn't need to work. Wendy very kindly volunteered to watch our cats while we are gone on our European excursion (sucker), and has since informed my that my cats are crazy...I tried to tell her.

"Angus! No kitties in the dishwasher!"

"Angus! No kitties in the trash can!"

Not too long ago we had a much anticipated visit from our friends the Grahams, Marc and Jill, and their two boys Desmond ("the Bruce" as Scott and I like to call him), and Jaxter. It was a whirl wind of a week, but a total blast. There were reunions with other friends that had moved away, a grand girl's night, some quality Jill-Tressa bonding time, and much playing and laughing with small children. For more information on this topic I suggest you take a peek at Jill's blog. She has recorded the excitement very well. (jill-log.blogspot.com)

...Yes...I am now 30. Some people are sad when they reach this birthday, but seeing as how I plan on living to at least 100, I decided that I didn't want to spend the next 70 or more years being sad that I'm no longer a 20-something (for various reasons involving lack of youth and fantastic skin). Therefore I say bring on my thirties! Good bye fast food and tee-shirts, hello sophisticated adult beverages, and fabulous dresses! To celebrate this milestone in my life I, of course, got a fierce new haircut, and threw a party at my house that included Scott's homemade tacos and devils food birthday cake! Scott worked so hard on the food and it was all fantastic! Thanks Babe, it was a blast and one of my favorite birthdays!

A few weeks after I finished my 6th school year at Strawberry Hill, Scott and I then embarked on another European summer adventure, this time for six weeks...let the art gluttony begin!

Sydney

2010-06-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

Last but not least on our winter trip was Sydney, Australia! This bustling city had tons to do, and since the museum there backed out on Scott, it was 100% fun. We took so many pics in Sydney that I'm just posting pictures and I'll let them tell the story.

First stop, Sydney Aquarium:

I like the sign...you'd think that no one would WANT to jump into a crocodile enclosure, but...?

...anyone have melted butter?

Next stop, Manly beach via ferry past the opera house!:

*singing* Ahhhh...

Lunch on the way to the beach. A half and half pizza of seafood, and kangaroo loin. Yumm.

Eating the baby octopus on my pizza

Scott at Manly beach

Our last stop was the Taronga Zoo. It's probably my favorite zoo because guests can be part of so many enclosures, minus the dangerous animals of course. I don't have room for a whole lot of pics, but Scott got to pet an Echidna, and we both got to get close to the kangaroos. (Shown below)

Adelaide, Austraila

2010-06-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

After such a harsh experience at the end of the China portion of our journey, landing in Adelaide, Australia was like landing on a different planet. We could understand what people said, and they smiled. The weather was much improved as well with the sun shining, and temps hovering around 100 degrees F. In those small ways, it was like coming home.

Adelaide was a near perfect match for me: sun...check, warm/hot most of the year...check, big city that feels like a small town...check, green...check, culture...check, foodie places to eat...check, WINE COUNTRY...double check! Scott and I really like Australian wines, and the National Wine Center is there in Adelaide. Naturally we had to pay it a visit. Of course we picked the day it got up to 115 to make the 40 minute walk from our hostel. Not our smartest move, but we learned a thing or two in the museum there and had a very tasty tasting of premium wines that we probably won't ever be able to afford...good times.

There weren't a ton of sites to see in Adelaide, it was just a nice place to be. We stayed in a very comfortable hostel, so we made our own food in the community kitchen. That meant that I got to spend some of my time during the day a giant market of fresh food. In my opinion, it was every bit as good as the Nashmarkt in Vienna.
We also went to a local church on Sunday morning, and we were greeted warmly by the members. We stayed after the service and had some coffee and conversation with the nice people we met.

Last but not least, Adelaide's best feature...beaches! Our most memorable evening was spent on Gleneg beach. We witnessed an absolutely breathtaking sunset. When I am trying to close my eyes and relax, I remember Gleneg beach with Scott. It has become my happy place!
Adelaide has been added to our list of places we would like to live overseas if the opportunity presented itself. I realize that this post could be a bit boring for the reader, and I'm sorry about that. I have to admit that I have had a hard time communicating in writing how fondly I remember our time in Adelaide. Enjoy the rest of our beach pics!

Beijing, China

2010-02-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm...what to tell you about Beijing. This vast, historical, and polluted city holds both my best and worst memories from our trip.

Best: climbing the great wall at the turning of the 2010 new year :)

Worst: stuck in the worst blizzard in Beijing in 60 years unable to leave the country :(

The pic to the right is the Temple of Heaven. It was the first sight that Caroline and I visited. It was soooooooo cold! Beijing basically felt like Iowa with less heated buildings. All the cool sights were outside, so we spent every day outside in temps in the single digits or teens. Not my favorite way to go sight seeing. The temple of heaven was fun despite the cold. Caroline and I made the best of things and took some fun pics. I am so glad she was with us!

This is Caroline and I at the Forbidden City. We were so cold (is there an echo in here)!! We couldn't stand to have our faces exposed to the open air.

This pic is from the Forbidden City. I just like all the zig-zag lines in the picture.

On this part of the trip we got to see a jade factory, a silk factory, and the pearl market. I enjoyed the pearl market because I was able to purchase a Tahitian black pearl as a birthday present. I call it "My Precious." We also got to visit with some friends from Texas that were in Beijing with Lets Start Talking. It was nice to see friendly familiar faces.

And now here are some pics from my favorite part of our China trip...The Great Wall of China.

On our way up to The Great Wall in a "lift" that was "made in China." Thus my nervous smile. I wonder how much lead is in the paint?

New Year's kiss on The Great Wall of China

Caroline, Me and Scott

Some places on the wall were really steep :)

All of The Great Wall of China pics are Caroline's. Hers were far superior to mine.

The day after these pictures were taken we were scheduled to go our separate ways, Caroline back to the states, and Scott and I to Vietnam. However, Beijing was hit with their worst blizzard in 60 years, and Scott and I did not get out of Beijing that day. We missed Vietnam completely, our travel agent worked some magic for us, and we left Beijing two days later for Adelaide, Australia.

(BTW, Caroline did make it out of Beijing on her original flight date, however, it was about 10:30 at night.)

Japan

2010-01-31T10:13:00.000-08:00

Scott and I had a whirlwind 5 days together preparing for our next phase of travel. Flight circumstances dictated that Scott leave a couple days ahead of me. I flew to Tokyo, to meet up with him in Tokyo, Japan with my sister-in-law, Caroline, on December 20, 2009. As in Europe, during the day Scott had to work measuring all kinds of skulls, and I was free to sight see; however, this time I had Caroline Maddux to bounce around with. We had a blast hanging out and learning and seeing all kinds of new things. The picture to the right is an old five story pagoda. Pretty cool.

This blog post is somewhat deceiving because the rest of Tokyo looks nothing like this. Tokyo is the Asian equivalent of New York City. It's modern, and chic bustling with millions of Japanese. Imagine that.

First breakfast in Japan. Scott and Caroline got nice big bowls of rice and coffee, while I was given a small bowl of rice and orange juice...yes...they gave me the "child's breakfast."

One of the first things Coroline and I decided to do was go to the National Museum. We found an area where you could design your own Japanese mirror or Kimono with stamps. There were a ton of kids there, but the museum staff cleared Caroline and I a spot, and the kids started to give us stamps. Everyone was really nice, and we had fun. Caroline chose a mirror and I chose a Kimono.

This was defiantly the highlight of our trip to Tokyo...having sushi for breakfast on Christmas morning at the fish market. This was an absolute dream come true!

Eating unagi at a historical and famous restaurant that specializes in unagi. Mmm...eel!

A spectacular pic in front of the imperial palace.

We all loved Tokyo! The constant sushi eating, ease of getting around, finding what we needed, the friendly people, and everything being made for short people made it so much harder to leave than I expected. I think Scott and I could easily live there. In some ways it was easier to be there than it was for us to be in Europe! I miss you Japan! Beijing, China was next on the travel menu...the antithesis of Tokyo...

Communism and Viruses

2010-01-11T22:29:00.000-08:00

Some of you who read this blog know that I am currently about to end my adventures in Asia and Australia. I wish that I could have written updates for you while I am away but two things have prevented me from doing so: 1)communism 2)a computer virus.

In China, the government blocks facebook and my blog! It was very frustrating and I got stuck there an extra two days, so I felt a bit like I was imprisoned. I was absolutely relieved to get to Australia, and planned on spending a couple days getting the blog caught up. However, the first day I used the wireless Internet in Adelaide my laptop got a nasty computer virus that put it out of commission for the entirety of my stay. I am paying for my time on the Internet to the tune of $1.00 for every 15 minutes, so I'm going to have to update retrospectively. Apologies to those of you who were hoping to live vicariously through me while I'm gone. Updates will follow shortly after I am home in Iowa (hopefully). In the mean time...a late happy holidays, and happy new year to everyone!

Fortunately, Unfortunately

2010-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

Fortunately, I got to spend two weeks with Scott after he got back from New York!

Unfortunately, he left for Africa on November 14, 2009 and wouldn’t return until December 15.

Fortunately, my dear friend, Jill Graham, and her two cute boys were in Iowa City with me to ease the pain.

Unfortunately, she eventually had to go back to Wyoming.

Fortunately, Tex and I moved in with some other dear friends the Steeles. I love you guys!!

Unfortunately, I had NO time to clean my house before my family came for Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, some other dear friends, the Guglliuzas, did a major portion of it for me. I love you guys too!

Unfortunately,that means I was working hard at school and not hanging out with them.

Fortunately, Mom, Dad, Clint, Jackson, and Sara all arrived at my house on November 24, 2009!

Unfortunately, Scott missed a very relaxing and yummy Thanksgiving with my wonderful family!

Fortunately, the six of us had a great time creating more Iowa Thanksgiving family memories together.

Unfortunately, they had to leave on November 28.

Fortunately, Tex and I went back to the Steeles' with only two weeks left until Scott returned.

Unfortunately, soon Iowa got hit with the first blizzard of the season.

Fortunately, I got three snow days off of school.

Unfortunately, I was sick during that time.

Fortunately, I got better in time for Scott to come home on December 15, 2009!

...And that's what I did while Scott was in Africa. We then had 5 days to get ready for Travel Phase 3...Asia and Australia!

NYC

2009-12-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks after Scott left for New York City, I used the rest of my personal days at work to take another long weekend to visit him in the Big Apple. My flight got in rather late on Friday, so, in true New York fashion, we had a piece of black forest cake at midnight at a pastry shop down the street from our hostel in Manhattan. I love New York!

The morning on Saturday brought rainy weather, but that didn't stop us from having a fabulous day. We started the day off right with some sushi! After that we took a walk through Central Park on our way to the Metropolitan Museum of ART. Which we thought was pretty clever since it was a rainy day, however the rest of New York was apparently just as clever as we were. It was very crowed, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. Scott got to see the Dutch paintings and I got to see my Italian paintings. I got to see some of the contemporary art too, but just as I was getting started they closed that part of the exhibit. Although I was disappointed, I did get to see their Jackson Pollock, so I was more than satisfied!

We started to make our way back to our hostel via Grand Central Station. While we were there, we got to have some dinner at Michael Jordan's restaurant...and by dinner I mean we each got an appetizer because we couldn't really afford to have dinner there. I had some blue cheese fondue, and Scott had some seafood chowder. Mmmmm.... When we had explored to our heart's content we hopped on the subway and back to our hostel in the pouring rain.

Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day, which we took full advantage of. We started the day by visiting ground zero. I expected it to be a bit more emotional experience than it was. There were construction crews working hard to rebuild. The experience of being there was poignant, but encouraging. There was an atmosphere of renewal and hope as we saw the new construction rising above the barricades surrounding the area where so much tragedy transpired just 8 years ago.

After some lunch we headed over to the Statue of Liberty. Again we were proud of ourselves for taking advantage of the great weather, and again the rest of New York City also seemed to have the same idea. This little adventure took up pretty much the rest of the day, but we just enjoyed being together, and got some great pictures! For dinner we had some special plans to eat at Cafe Du Soleil, a restaurant recommended by the curator Scott had been working with. It was a little French Bistro that had several menu items created from locally grown organic food. I had a salmon steak served medium, just like I like it, and Crème brûlée for dessert...so good. It was cozy and romantic, and a great ending to our last sight seeing day together.

Bright and early Monday morning I got up with Scott and went to work with him for a few hours to see what he had been up to the past couple weeks. We ate some lunch together, and then, once again it was time for us to say good-bye. Scott called me a cab and I headed back to Iowa, and looked forward to the next weekend when Scott would come home again for two whole weeks before heading to stop number 3 in phase 2 of the "Grand Tour:" Africa...

The Travels Continue

2009-11-28T16:53:00.000-08:00

...And you thought we were done traveling. In fact the travel saga does continue despite the tardiness of my update. While we were in Europe, I think I forgot what busy lives we lead. I then discovered just how much busier I could get as a dissertation widow. I have had so much trouble finding the time to post on this blog!!

Just three short weeks after Scott and I returned to home-sweet-Iowa, Scott embarked on a second phase of dissertation research travel while I stayed home and "brought home the bacon," and pined for his return. His first stop in travel phase 2: three weeks in Washington DC at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. While he was gone, I moved in with some generous friends, the Steeles, to keep away the lonelies.

Fortunately, I was able to take a weekend off to go and visit him. For those of you who don't know, Scott and I spent our honeymoon in this beautiful and historic city, and this is not the first time we have re-visited. We love DC, and we now have a couple friends that live there. Scott was staying with some of our former Iowa City friends the Lewises, and I joined him there on my visit. It was great to see so many people that I missed so much...granted I missed Scott more than the others, but seeing the Lewises was fantastic all the same! I got to get reacquainted with Olaiya and Naomi, two of the most precious girls in the world. The Lewis family took us to their favorite burger joint, Five Guys. It was a fairly small and simple place, but they had made the best burger I've ever tasted! While we were eating I got the pleasure of telling knock-knock jokes with Olaiya...very funny! I taught her the interrupting cow joke. Pictured here is my little friend Naomi.

Scott and I really had only one day of sight seeing together in DC, and we certainly made the most of it by hitting our favorite sites. The last time we were in DC we didn't get to go the American History Museum because it was under renovation. This time we made a point to go and see the newly redone exhibits. We had a great time seeing one of our favorite items, the first idea for the Washington Monument...George Washington in a toga. I think this is the most halarious piece of history! I also think that whoever said "Maybe we should think of a different idea to imortalize one of the nations most important figures," was very wise in his decision making.

Some of the other highlights of the museum (pictured at the end) were, seeing the Julia Child exhibit. I love watching her old episodes on PBS on Saturday mornings, so getting to see her kitchen and learn some other things about her was really fun. I also got to see the musical instrument exhibit. Of course I had to have a picture of their old French horn that uses crooks instead of valves. I'm grateful to the guy who invented valves. Playing the French horn used to be somewhat inconvenient.

Sunday came all too quickly and I headed back to Iowa City. It was hard to say good-bye again, but the very next weekend he got to come home before he flew to his second stop in phase 2 of the "Grand Tour" -- New York City!

Julia and me

French horn and crooks

Thessolanica and Home

2009-09-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Around noon on August 25, we boarded a train to Thessalonica, Greece with McDonalds in hand for lunch. This train ride was better because we had our own private sleeping car. However, shortly after eating our lunch, we were informed that there was no food on the train. We found that to be ridiculous since we would be on the train until 6:00 a.m. the next morning! Thankfully, we had packed some almonds and dried apricots just in case which we ate for dinner. Fortunately, by this point in our travels we were used to big lunches and small dinners. We did not starve.

We arrived, tired and nasty, in Thessalonica, Greece on August 26 at around 6:00 a.m. We could not contact anyone at the University to start work on the next “sacred” skull, Petralona, or check into our hotel, so we "parked" at a cafe in the train station. We bought some breakfast and killed three hours before taking a taxi to Aristotle University of Thessalonica at around 9:00 a.m. We soon found the professor in charge of the skull. He was personable and offered us coffee. After a few minutes introduction, Scott got set up and got to work. Petralona was the last skull, and the granddaddy of them all. The best part for me was that I got to help this time! Scott let me push the button that recorded the measurements he was taking! That was my one shining moment contributing to the world of science on the trip.

Once we were done, we grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch and took a taxi to our hotel...on the beach! After showering (finally), we headed out the door of our hotel, and walked fifty yards to the beautiful beach. It was the end of the tourist season, so it wasn't too crowed and there were plenty of eating establishments to choose from. We lounged with a drink for awhile, and discussed what we were looking forward to the most about being home a just a few days. Then we walked a little further down the beach and had a great seafood dinner right there by the water! The food was excellent, it was beautiful, and Scott and I were having a great time! It was just what we needed to cure our Eastern Europe and “I’ve been away from home for three months” blues. As you can see from the pictures, how could we possibly not enjoy our surroundings after three months of “hard” work!

We turned in early that night in order to get up early for our flight back to Vienna. We arrived at the airport and checked in nice and early. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave we heard our names called over the loud speaker to come to the ticket counter. What we learned is that our plane had a technical problem, so they were going to transfer us to another airline to a flight that was going to leave at 9:00 a.m. to get us to Athens, so we could make our connecting flight to Vienna. Seems pretty nice right? Well…transferring to another airline meant that they brought out our luggage, and we had to get tickets and check in all over again. Because of the massive lines that had formed by that point in the day we were pushing our limits on time. While waiting in line we saw on the departure screen that our original flight was rescheduled to leave at 9:15, so we were only saving 15 minutes that we would lose by having to pick up our luggage in Athens and recheck it with our original airline. On top of that, everyone that had to transfer airlines held up the 9:00 flight and we didn’t take off until 9:30. So…our original flight actually left before ours plus we wouldn’t have had to recheck our luggage...we were very frustrated.

Despite the best efforts of Olympic airlines we caught our flight to Vienna without incident, and arrived safely in Vienna with all of our stuff after lunch on August 27. On Friday morning, Scott finished up his work at the Vienna Natural History Museum, and then we spent the afternoon shopping, and planning and preparing for our journey back to the US on Sunday morning. On Saturday, we met our good friend Bob Lojeck (Raija had left for Finland to visit her parents), for some authentic Japanese sushi. As usual, after consuming the best sushi I’ve ever had, our conversation took us to another spot for drinks, and then dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. I can’t think of a better way to spend our last day in Europe, good friends and good food!

Finally, the morning arrived for us to travel home! Our flight from Vienna to London Heathrow went quite smoothly. We even arrived a few minutes early. However, since O’Hare and Heathrow, the two vortexes of travel, were on our itinerary we ran into big problems. Our flight to Chicago was delayed four hours. This meant that we would miss our connecting flight to Cedar Rapids, and guaranteed that we would be spending the night in Chicago. Fortunately, they put us up in the Hilton over night since the problem was technical. However, thanks to jet lag, we really didn’t sleep, which made getting up at 5:30 a.m. less of an issue to catch the first flight out to Cedar Rapids.

Our good friend Hannah Marsh was waiting for us at the airport, and we arrived back at our house at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 31 and were greeted by…a foiled living room! Our small group at church carried on a tradition that was started four years ago of pranking our house while we were gone. You can see that the quality of the prank is impeccable as they even individually wrapped a Starburst wrapper we had left on the table. Home sweet home!!

Romania

2009-09-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening on August 22 Scott and I boarded a night train; on our list of destinations, Bucharest, Romania, and Thessalonica, Greece. Scientifically speaking, this portion of our European travels was important. Each destination held a “holy relic,” if you will, of the human fossil world.

Whatever golden ticket of science this part of the trip was supposed to be, I was not looking forward to the long train rides. Bucharest, and Thessalonica are neither close to each other nor close to Vienna. Once again all the private sleeping cars were booked on our train from Vienna to Bucharest, so we traveled 19 hours on a train in a four person couchette. I could not wait to get off that train! We “roomed” with two very nice Romanians who did not speak English, and did not stop talking, except to sleep (thank goodness). The air conditioning on the train was very poor, and passport control woke us up twice in the 3:00 a.m. hour. It was not the best night, morning and early afternoon I’ve ever spent on a train. We arrived in Bucharest at around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, and went directly to our hotel to shower!

After lots of R & R in our great hotel room, Monday brought a brighter outlook. We had a late start to the morning waiting for someone from The Institute of Speology to meet us, which was just fine with us. A note about The Institute of Speology: it holds the “sacred” skull called Oase, the building that houses it is hidden among back streets and junk piles (the mailmen can’t even find it), and the guys that work there are serious “cavers!” They are absolutely passionate about the research they do, and they have NO MONEY to do it! Dr. Constantine, who started the institute, told us that he recently was awarded a grant of 1,000,000 Euros for his research, but because of the world wide financial crisis he was told he won’t receive a penny of it. We liked hanging out with them; they were good guys.

For lunch they took us to a great local restaurant. We knew nothing about Romania, so we asked what was good there. The suggestion we were given was Moldovan Stew, a traditional Romanian dish. Dr. Constantine did however give us the disclaimer, “I don’t know if you’ll like it, but they make it properly here.” That was good enough for us, so we each ordered one. So, it turned out …that the stew was made of sausage and internal organs of some animal of which only liver was identifiable. The other two items on the plate were a healthy portion of the best polenta I’ve ever tasted and a fried egg. Despite the mystery meat it was good! I ate most of mine, and Scott cleaned his plate. I have to tip my hat to the Romanians for making something yummy out of something so yucky!

Once we were finished at the institute, we hauled all our stuff back to the hotel and decided to eat at McDonalds for dinner. Yes, McDonalds…one adventurous meal was enough for me, so it was time for something predictable. We also picked up some lunch here before getting on another long train ride to Thessalonica the next day.

(Sorry for the lack of pics on this post. The pic of Scott working in Romania is one of the only pic worth sharing; I have another one with Scott smiling...that's about it.)

Vienna Highlights

2009-08-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

Life for us in Vienna became different after the Madduxes left. My title on the trip became less “tourist,” and more “housewife and supporter of science.” Staying the next 3-4 weeks in Vienna meant that we had to learn how to become temporary residents. I spent most mornings shopping for and making lunch for Scott and myself. Then I would take lunch to the museum where we would eat together. Many of my afternoons were spent trying to catch up my blog, shopping, or on an occasional excursion to a museum, or reading in a park or garden. In addition, once a week or so, I would load up all our dirty clothes in my pack and make the 30 minute trek by metro and walking to the wash center to do our laundry. All these daily/weekly activities took up a majority of my time during the weekdays; therefore, I don’t have too many exciting things to report from the last three weeks. However there have been several highlights worth sharing.

Making new friends at church takes the number one highlight slot. We were blessed to meet up with a Bob and Raija Lojek who live in Vienna on our first Sunday, August 2. They are also friends with Jerry and Sara Steele who are close friends of ours in Iowa. Through Facebook, Raija was sweet enough to welcome us to Vienna and invite us to their church on Sunday. We happily accepted their invitation and ended up enjoying bible class and worship there for the next three weeks. Church was always followed by lunch and lively conversation that turned into coffee which usually turned into dinner. They showed us some great places to eat including a great sushi place called Natsu. We ate with them there twice, and went on our own several times as well. We had a blast getting to know them as huge sushi fans, runners, and wonderful people! We had quite a lot in common and many travel stories to share. Getting to spend time with them has been one of the brightest parts of our European travels.

Highlight number two would have to be spending the next Saturday, August 8, at Schoenbrunn Palace with Scott. In my previous blog update I have already explained why I love this particular site and you have already seen pics from my visit. However, Scott was not able to come with us on our last visit, and he didn’t want to miss seeing one of his favorite sites in Vienna. As always we had a great time touring the opulent rooms of the apartments, and strolling though the gardens. I have included a couple pics here.

Highlight three was the next weekend starting on Friday, August 14. Friday was a short day for Scott because the Natural History Museum was doing some fumigation in some of their working areas. This means that he could only work a half day, but the all the exhibits in the museum would still be open. After lunch Scott and I spent the rest of the day re-exploring the exhibits at the Natural History Museum. We had such a great time that afternoon. We took several goofy pictures that I have included. It was nice to just get to play with him all afternoon. If anyone reading this blog gets the opportunity to go to Vienna you must see this museum. I think it has something for everyone even if you’re not into nature. The building itself is worth seeing. Even if it didn’t have excellent exhibits, which it does, it is worth seeing. The architecture and interior decoration are impressive! (yay Franz Joseph and Baroque architecture!)

We spent the next day, Saturday, Aug 15 at the Art History Museum. The building that houses this art collection is a twin of the Natural History Museum, and they face one another with a lovely courtyard in the middle. Overall that area is one of my favorites in Vienna. We spent the whole afternoon looking at the history of Dutch and Italian art. As you may know by now, I am the art fanatic, Scott is not. However, he was sweet enough to go with me, and also to go with an open mind. We had a great time, and he discovered that he likes Dutch artists, while my preference is for Italian ones (duh). Scott is more Rembrandt while I am more Caravaggio.

The following Monday, August 17, while everyone back at Strawberry Hill Elementary in Anamosa, Iowa was beginning a new school year, we took a day trip to Brno in the Czech Republic. Scott had a few important skulls to measure there. There isn’t much to report about this trip. It was just a work trip, and we didn’t get to see anything spectacular. As soon as Scott was done with his work we hopped back on a train to Vienna and were “home” by dinner time. The next weekend would be our last in Europe, but probably our most intense for traveling. Somehow we would have to go to Bucharest, Romania, and Thessalonica, Greece (yes, the one in the Bible), and back to Vienna in order to catch our flight back to Iowa on August 30…wish us luck (I think we’ll need all we can get)!

More pics:

Sushi at Natsu with Bob and Raija

I like this picture I took of a rose in the gardens at Schoenbrunn Palace

Scott wit a cool skeleton of a dinosaur at the Natural History Museum.

Tiny Arctic Tressa at the Natural History Museum.

Vienna -- Week 1

2009-08-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Vienna late on Monday, July 27. Both of us were relieved to finally be here! Four years ago when Scott was working on his masters we were here together for our first over seas data collection trip. Scott was here for 5 weeks. I joined him for the last two since I had to finish my school year first. We both fell in love with the city then, so coming back and getting to spend the next 4 weeks here was almost like coming home. We were also glad to see Scott's parents, Jana and Dave, along with Caroline, Scott's little sister, and Scott's Aunt Sandy. They left Moscow to meet us here in Vienna for a little "vay-cay" with the fam. They had never been to Vienna, so we were excited to show them some of our favorite museums and food. Unfortunately, Scott missed most of the site seeing this week for his work at the Natural History Museum. However, Scott is used to making such sacrifices for science, and he always joined us for dinner and festivities after work.

What makes Vienna so great you ask? Well...For any of you who don't know, Vienna used to be the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Vienna was where the Hapsburgs lived and ruled for 6 centuries. This means there is an overwhelming amount to learn and see, loads of art, history, and music. In addition, the historic center of Vienna was constructed or reconstructed during the Baroque period which means that it's also a charming. Add clean, safe, and not as expensive as other EU countries to the list and you have one great place to be! Every day I am surrounded by beauty and culture.

We started out on Tuesday morning with the Vienna essentials in the Hofburg Palace complex which is where they lived in the winter. They had a whole different, better one for the summer. You'll see some of that later. Within the Hofburg complex, we toured their silver collection (it's impressive!), the Sisi museum and the royal apartments. Pfew...we were tired.

Wednesday brought a new experience for me in Vienna. We took a bus tour of the Danube Vally. It took all day, and also included boat time on the Danube. This was really a winner for everyone. It was relaxing, interesting and beautiful. What more could you ask for? First we drove through the rolling hills of the Austrian countryside. There were trees and vineyards as far as the eye could see. Only an occasional castle or other beautiful historic building would interrupt the natural landscape. After a couple hours we arrived at the docking point for our boat tour. The boat was a decent size complete with cafe, and bathrooms. It was a little warm, but beautiful outside, so we enjoyed the tour from the top deck where we could watch the scenery go by as we sipped on various drinks and snacks. (The picture I included here was taken on the boat. I hope you will ignore the random guy standing up in my pic, and just look the the scenery. There is a castle above the guy's head.) When the boat again docked we got back on the bus and headed to lunch at our next tour site in Melk. In Melk we toured a Baroque monastery, and then we headed for home...er...I mean Vienna and our hotel rooms (Freudian slip).

Thursday brought a tour of the magnificent Schonbrunn Palace! This is where the Hapsburgs spent the summers. Oh, Schonbrunn is one of my favorite places... amazing Baroque architecture and interior decoration, lavishly furnished, extensive Baroque palace gardens that include a maze, monumental fountain, and a zoo! I have been there a total of 3 times, once in 2005 and twice on this trip (I went back with Scott)! We couldn't take pictures inside, but I've taken plenty on the grounds outside. There is also a small cafe on the edge of the grounds where I had a great melange (roughly an Austrian cappuccino), and apple strudel! I don't have a picture of it because I hadn't had breakfast that morning, so I ate it too fast. When we were done here we stopped there again for ice cream. *wistful sigh*

Friday brought another bus tour and another new Viennese experience. (Mom, I hope you read this because you will appreciate this part more than anyone else) This time our tour was only a half day through the woods. These were the same woods that inspired composers such as Beethoven and Mozart! However, the most interesting part of this tour was visiting an old gypsum mine. It was so much cooler down in the mine that they gave us blankets on our way in to keep us warm. We learned all kinds of things about how it flooded while they were mining gypsum, so they closed it, and then how they opened it back up just for visitors, and then how the Germans took it over during the war. The coolest part for me wasn't any of these things. The coolest part is that they filmed parts of the movie "The Three Musketeers" in that mine! They even left the movie boat down there (that I have a very bad picture of but can't resist including)! When that movie came out when I was in high school I went to see it in the theater 7 times! I had a huge crush on Kiefer Sutherland back then when he had his gut. You may be laughing now, or you may be disgusted at my taste in movies or men at that time, but it was true.

Saturday was our one day to site-see with Scott, so we went to his favorite site the Treasury Museum. This is an amazing museum! The Hapsburgs had loads of treasure. Some of these include: the crown jewels (of course), the largest cut emerald in the world, the "holy grail," and supposed relics from Christ's crucifixion! It was fun to go back.

Too soon after we finished at the Treasury, the Madduxes and Aunt Sandy had to fly back to Moscow, and Scott and I were left to finish out our trip on our own. We had a great time showing them why we like Vienna so much!

Extra pics that wouldn't fit right in the text:

Our tour boat: Prince Eugen

The castle above "that guy's" head

Me and my melange on the boat

Left to right: Aunt Sandy Vinzant, Caroline Maddux, Jana Maddux on the boat

Dave Maddux on the boat

In front of the Schonbrunn Palace gardens

Dave and Jana at Schonbrunn

A little traditional Viennese Sacher Torte and melange

Berlin

2009-08-11T00:57:00.000-07:00

In order to talk about Berlin, I must mostly talk about our adventure getting there. Berlin was hard to schedule in the first place, and by this point in the trip we had already rescheduled with them. Geographically there was no good time to go, and there was only one skull there. We only needed 1/5 of the time it would take to get there for Scott to collect the data he needed. However, this skull was important, so we figured this particular weekend after Florence (July 23-26) was our one shot.

Here was our plan:
We had booked a night train on Thursday from Florence to Munich in 2nd class because 1st was full when we made our reservations. This meant that we would be sharing a 6 person sleeping car with 4 strangers -- not ideal but at least we had beds. The night train was scheduled to arrive in Munich in the 6:00 a.m. hour, and then we would catch a train to Berlin in the 7:00 hour. We would arrive in Berlin just in time to take a taxi straight to the museum and measure the skull before they closed that day (Friday). Then we would spend a relaxing weekend in Berlin before heading to Vienna on Sunday which would take most of the day on another train. Scott's family was also scheduled to be in Vienna Sunday night, so we could spend our first week in Vienna with them.

Here is what actually happened:
We arrived at the Florence train station a couple hours ahead of time. About an hour before our train was scheduled to leave they posted a 20 minute delay for our train. Then, twenty minutes before our train was supposed to leave they removed the delay, so now our train should be leaving on time, but there was no platform number posted for the train, so we didn't know where it was. I asked a train station employee about it, and I was told that the train had not arrived and they didn't know when or on what track it would. THIS WAS THE SAME ANSWER I GOT 2 MINUTES BEFORE OUR TRAIN WAS SCHEDULED TO LEAVE! THE BOARD SHOWED NO TRAIN DELAY, BUT NO ONE KNEW WHERE OUR TRAIN WAS! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!
...I probably don't need to tell you that I was panicking. They finally posted the platform number as we watched the train pulling in. *exasperated sigh*

Anyway, Scott and I got on the train carrying 6 bags and one briefcase since we are, basically, hauling around a portable lab. We found that we were sharing our compartment with 4 tall very nice Danish college aged people. They spoke English well, and were just as interested in sleeping as we were. The train employee in charge of our car came around and took our tickets and our passports so she wouldn't have to wake us up in the night, and explained we would get them back at 5:30 when she came around to get us up for our arrival in Munich around 6:00 a.m. *pause* Well, that was the good part. Scott then had to whip out his mad Tetris skills to try to fit our luggage into our tiny closet of a sleeping compartment that somehow slept six people, four of them Danish giants (comparatively), that was already full of their luggage! Finally we got settled and got to know our bunk mates a little bit. While this was going on the train started to move. I looked at my watch in surprise when I realized that we had left an hour late! Already this is bad -- our "layover" time in Munich is about half an hour, so unless this train can make-up a lot of time on the way we will miss our next train. All we can do at this point is hope for the best, so we all go to sleep.

I woke up somewhere in the 2:00 hour to a loud creaking and disconnecting noise, and then silence, stillness, and darkness. On a train, these are not good things. I expect trains to move, and make noise when they do so, and the darkness meant that we were not stopped at a train station. However, I know from former travel experiences and Rick Steves that not all parts of the train always go to the final destination, so we might have been "dropped" somewhere waiting for another train to pick us up. In the meantime, there is no power, so there is no air conditioning. It is getting hotter and hotter which means sweatier and smellier. During this time I considered my situation. I am now possibly trapped in a tiny box with 5 other people without air or power in the middle of Europe with no idea if or when another train will come to "rescue" us... On that note I tried to go back to sleep. Eventually, we did start moving again, and the air came back on, but even in my half awake half asleep state that I was in for the next several hours, I knew something was not right.

At 5:30 someones travel alarm went off. It was about 30 minutes before we were supposed to get to Munich but there was no sign of the lady with our tickets and passports. I assumed at that point that we were late, but I didn't know how late. While I waited for my answer the train stopped a lot in random places, and when we did so there was shouting in a language I couldn't understand, and lots of banging noises. Finally, around 7:00 a.m. our "lady" comes by to give us our stuff back and let us know that the train had broken down and we will be arriving in Munich 3 hours late. This means we have missed our train to Berlin, and we wouldn't make it there before the museum closed for the weekend.

When we arrived in Munich tired and disheveled, we paid for new reservations since they could not change the original ones, and got on a train to Berlin before lunch. Fortunately, while we were on the train Scott was able to get a hold of the museum on the phone, and let them know what was going on. They said he could come on Monday morning, so he could still get his data. However, that meant that we had to sacrifice a day with Scott's family in Vienna. The pictures I included above are actually taken on the train we took from Berlin to Vienna, but I thought you might be interested in seeing how we have been dragging our worldly possessions with us from country to country, and to show you how much we had to stuff into our sleeping compartment.

Once we got there we liked Berlin, and were able to get out and see some of the sites. Enjoy the pics of the fun part. Monday we measured the one skull he needed first thing in the morning, and by lunch time we were on a train to Vienna. The down side is that we were on that train for almost 11 hours...but what can you do?

Saturday we toured the Charlottenburg Palace.
Scott took this picture of me in the gardens there.
Scott's museum was also in this complex.

Charlonttenburg Gardens

The Charlottenburg Place and gardens

Scott and me in the Charlottenburg Place gardens

Sunday we spent seeing some of the major land marks of Berlin. Here I am standing by a piece of the Berlin Wall. We also went to an art museum that we both really enjoyed. I got to see some old Italian art by Botticelli and newer Italian art by Caravaggio. We also discovered that Scott like Dutch painters.

My Florence

2009-08-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

After we said good-bye to Mel and Joe Thursday morning, Scott and I headed out to do some site-seeing. Scott has never been to Florence, so I knew exactly what I wanted him to see. We started by walking down along the Arno, saw the Ponte Vechio and took some pictures. Then we headed toward the Piti Palace. I have been waiting to take Scott to the Boboli Gardens that are a part of this amazing Florentine palace for almost 9 years!

When I was at Harding University in Florence (HUF) in 2000, we toured the Piti Palace and its Boboli Gardens. Back then, I was blown away by the beauty of the gardens. I decided that it would have been a great place for someone to ask me to marry them. I even took a picture at the particular spot I liked with a space left in the picture for whoever would be my future husband. I knew it wouldn't happen of course; that did not become my expectation, I just thought it was a romantic place for something like that to happen. I was overjoyed when Scott asked me to marry him two years later at his apartment in College Station, Texas. I have wonderful memories of that moment and I wouldn't change them for the world, however, since he turned out to be the man of my dreams I hope you can understand why I would want him to see the Boboli Gardens -- the setting for the proposal of my dreams. It was double special because our 5 year anniversary was less than a month behind us. As I requested of him, when we reached a spot that, as best I could tell, was the spot from my picture Scott asked me to marry him again, and I gladly said yes again! Yes, I requested it. I didn't expect him to know just how much I wanted him to say those words to me in that spot. Now I have a new romantic memory of the Boboli Gardens.

After our romantic moment we walked around some more and enjoyed the general splendor. It happened to also be hot as well as sunny, so soon we headed back into town to find some lunch and some shade! On our way, we ran across the "Piggy" Market where Scott also got to rub the nose of the boar.

After lunch it was just too hot to go anywhere else outside, so we found an Internet cafe, and effectively killed the afternoon. After our final Florentine meal we headed to the train station to catch our night train to Berlin. If we had only known then what an adventure that would be...

Scott and me in the Boboli Gardens at the spot where
he asked me to marry him again!

Boboli Gardens: those trees are so cool!

Scott rubbing the nose of the boar at the "Piggy" Market in Florence

Italy Part 2: Ventimiglia and Firenze

2009-08-04T06:47:00.001-07:00

After passing the relaxing weekend in Genova we took a truly ghetto train early in the morning to Ventimiglia on Monday. Before this trip I didn't even know this place existed; it's in no guidebooks to my knowledge. The only reason we were going was for science...and the BEACH!

"The Beach" pretty much sums up what we did that day. I felt bad for Scott because he had a really hard time getting to and from the fossil he was scheduled for that day. While he was hauling equipment and measuring a skull, we ate some more fantastic food(I had pumpkin filled pasta. It was excellent!), then we rented an umbrella and three chairs and laid out by the ocean all day! Now you could be thinking, "three chairs and one umbrella. Tressa that's not enough shade for everyone." You would be correct. This is how it worked: Joe and I are very white and pasty, so we cowered under the umbrella contorting our bodies in order to stay in the shade. We also both had on high SPF sunscreen. Mel, on the other hand, is Italian and Portuguese. She is not pasty, and grew up on the beach in Florida. She laid out in the sun all day, and she liked it! Now I'm not saying I didn't like lying around on the beach all day, but without the umbrella I would have roasted alive. Mel just got a little more beautiful!

When Scott was finished he was able to join us on the beach for awhile. We then had some more great seafood at a restaurant very close to the beach. Scott and I shared a seafood pizza! After this we got back on the ghetto train to Genova, and packed for Firenze (Florence)!

We got up early again on Tuesday to catch our train to Florence. We had to change trains in Pisa which Mel and Joe wanted to see, so Scott and I headed for Florence on our own. We arrived at the museum around lunch time, and I resumed my roll as "killer of time" until is was time for me to pick up Mel and Joe from the train station.

When Scott was done we all met for dinner where I ate some great pizza and finished off my meal with some lemoncello...mmmm.

While Florence is one of my favorite cities, and is full of great sites, for me the time here passed much like Genova. This particular time was my third time in Florence, my second time just on this trip, so it was more about time with friends than the city itself. I hope you will excuse my lack of city description. I did, however, take them to see the Duomo, Ponte Vechio, Piazza Vechio (where my favorite statue is), and Santa Croce. All are full of medieval Italian art! Love it!!!! We ended our last day with Mel and Joe at Piazzalle Michelangello where you can find the best view of Florence ever! The next day Mel and Joe took and early train to Naples while Scott and I had the day to site-see before we took a night train to Berlin. Enjoy the pics!

My favorite statue in Florence, Apollo victorious over Medusa!
I don't know why, but I could stare at it all day!

Rubbing the nose of the boar at the "piggy" market with Mel
Does this mean we are destined to return to Florence together?

Mel and me at Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence

Scott eating "lunch" in Ventimigilia

Joe is so silly :)

Italy Part 1: Genova

2009-08-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Genova, Italy on Friday evening, July 17 along with one of my college roommates, Melanie Horst and her husband Joe. (Happy Anniversary Amy & Kent, and also Sharon & Steve!) Why Genova you ask? Well, we used it as a “home base” to get to a fossil that was actually in the small coastal city of Ventimiglia on Monday. If you are ever headed to the Italian coast, Genova is not so much of a destination. It turns out that many tourists use Genova to either access smaller costal cities, like we were, or to take a cruise. Genova is still one of the most important ports in Italy, and not just for crusies, but also for shipping and other everyday commerce. This means that, while it does have some site-seeing, and a historical center of town, it is an average work-a-day Italian city. It’s still awfully pretty for an “average Joe” Italian coastal city isn’t it.

Our hotel in Genova was the nicest we’ve had on the trip, and I’m not sure it will be surpassed. The interior was modern and chic, and was one of only a few hotels where we had air conditioning. We also had a great bed with our choice of pillow firmness!

As far as big sites go, there isn't much to report. We toured the historical light house, and a palace during our stay. This part of the trip was more about getting caught up with good friends, goofing around, and enjoying the general splendor of an old city with more history than the United States of America.

The part of Italy that I enjoy the most is the food! My favorite meal in Genova was on our second day. We ate dinner outside at a cafe on the water. Not only was it beautiful, but the seafood was great! Mel and I both ordered a big bowl of muscels pictured here. They were as delicious as they were beautiful!

Paris

2009-07-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

We left lovely Leiden and arrived in Paris, France, birthplace of my husband, on Tuesday, July 14 (Bastille Day). Wednesday was a work day, so in the morning, we ate Parisian breakfast at a nearby cafe (Cappuccino, baguettes, and croissants with butter and jam...mmmmmm). Scott then headed off to measure skulls and I went shopping! I found some great deals and bought a couple shirts, and then headed to the Musee d'Orsay to feed my art addiction (no I didn't go to the Louvre; it's too big and overwhelming and I saw the highlights almost 10 years ago). I would also like to point out that the Muse d'Orsay actually has a discounted ticket for people under 30! I just made it! Anyway, I spent a lovely afternoon here gazing at art. I included a couple good pics here. Below is one of the sides of the main hallways of the museum -- very beautiful with lots of natural light for the statues. I love sculpture. The picture below that is my favorite sculpture in the museum. The girls "clothes" are sculpted from two different colors of marble while she is sculpted in the usual white marble. How did they do that?!

That evening Scott and I headed to the Eiffel Tower. We were not so keen on the massive crowds, or going to the top, so we got some dinner to go and ate on a park bench next to the river where we could still see the tower and take some good pics. The one just below, is me wearing one of my new shirts. The one under that is the pic I took of the two of us. Thus ended our first full day in Paris. Good times!

Thursday was beautiful. A perfect day to see churches. I started with Notre Dame (pictured immediately below). It was just as impressive as when I saw it almost ten years ago when I traveled here while I was studying a semester in college in Florence, Italy. This time I hadn't been there long before they announced they would soon start mass, so I took a respectful seat in the back and attended the service even though I am not Catholic. It found it beautiful and educational. I wanted to climb to the top of the towers to see the gargoyles, but the line was just WAY too long. Instead I walked over to see Sainte-Chapelle.

Like Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, is one of the oldest cathedrals in Paris. It's quite a bit smaller than Notre Dame, but surpasses it in interior decoration. The upper chapel is lined on every wall with impressive stained glass windows such as the one pictured below. Decorating the entrance are many relief carvings of different scenes from the Bible. At the bottom I have included a pic of one of these carvings that I find rather humorous. It is the scene after Adam and Eve have eaten from the forbidden tree and are confronted by God. Adam is covering himself with a leaf and pointing to Eve as if to say "she made me."

Once I was done with these two sites I was very tired and out of spending money, so I headed over to the Luxembourg Garden for a couple of hours and did some reading. Unfortunately, this was all the site seeing Scott and I were able to do. Due to some unforeseen train scheduling problems we had to leave early Friday morning in order for us to be in Italy when we were supposed to be. All in all, that's not a bad problem. "I'm sorry, you'll have to leave Paris a day early in order to go to Italy and meet up with your former college roommate and her husband." "Oh no, not an extra day in Italy, my favorite European country, with one of my best friends!" (please insert the appropriate amount of sarcasm.)

We LOVED Paris, but duty, a dear friend, and awesome seafood called in Italy...OFF TO GENOVA!

A Walk Down Memeory Lane (but not mine)

2009-07-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Before I proceed with my update, I must apologize for not updating sooner. Since London we have been in the Netherlands, Paris, Italy, and I am currently in Berlin. I finally have the time and the reliable Internet connection to begin catching you up on our adventures.

From London, Scott and I traveled to the Leiden area in the Netherlands. This was a special trip for the two of us because this was one of the places Scott lived as a child. The museum where he was scheduled to do his research was the museum his mother used to take him to often. It was significant for me to watch him return to this museum as a grown man with his own questions to answer in the scientific world. It meant a lot to me witness such a milestone in his life and in his career. I am so proud of him!

We arrived on Saturday which meant we had all of Sunday to chill (after having a little Scott and Tressa church of course). The bus system was great there, so we just hopped on one and visited Scott's old house in the nearby community of Wassenaar. It was a rainy afternoon, so technically not ideal for walking around, but it was a soft rain -- the kind that makes everything look greener. The houses were quaint and neat with colorful shutters, and beautiful flower gardens. They looked like they came right out of a post card.

Soon we were able to find Scott's old street, Dominee Honderslaan, seen here in the the picture. From there we were able to find his old house, and the park he used to play in. Next to the park there is also a pond where Scott had an incident involving frogs, a bike, and a rusty nail. Scott is pictured on the left next to the infamous pond. Check out Scott's blog if you want to know the story (scottmaddux.blogspot.com), it's one of our favorites! We laughed at old stories and memories. Scott marveled at how so much hadn't changed, but at the same time looked so different simply because he was now grown.

We walked around the neighborhood some more, and unbelievably Scott was able to walk us right to the old pancake house he used to eat at! We stopped here and had some delicious lunch. Scott said it was just as good as he remembered it. We then continued our exploration of Scott's childhood by walking into the main part of town where we found Scott's favorite pastry shop (unfortunately it was not open), toy store, and the big windmill. We also stopped for a little "pick-me-up" of cappuccino and chocolate cake, mmmm...

On Monday, it was once again time for work. Since this was Scott's only day to work at the Naturalis museum in Leiden, I took my trusty "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" book and headed to the museum with Scott (pictured right). There I spent the day reading among shelved and shelves of mammoth fossils in the collection room where Scott was working. We did get out of the collections room some. We had some lunch with the curator and two other American anthropologists that Scott knew, and we also got to check out the museum itself. If you also read Scott's blog then you already know that they have the world's oldest rock, and the first H. erectus discovery (see Scott's blog for details), an amazing mammoth skeleton, and a tiny dwarfed elephant skeleton. For me, one of the highlight was imagining Scott running around reading everything he could and marveling at all the cool new things he was learning.

There is something special to me about being able to see and learn about the places significant to the childhood of those I love. As I develop friendships, and especially close friendships, I find conversations often go back to stories of childhood experiences. I think we tell those stories because those experiences were part of shaping who we are. The foundations of who we all turn out to be are laid in our childhood, so for me to now be able to see a place in my mind where my husband explored, and learned was an intimate experience. The park, the pond, number 11 Dominee Honderslaan, are all part of where my husband learned to be the man he is today, and I feel privileged to have been able to walk down memory lane with him.

I think God had a surprise for me today...

2009-07-09T09:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I wasn't planning on updating my blog today, but I also wasn't expecting the kind of day I had today. I had an amazing afternoon. As I posted yesterday, my plan today was to go to St. Paul's. Quite honestly I was trying to think of other things to do that didn't cost money. However, I knew I wanted to see it, and I had financially planed all week to do so...so I went. Boy am I glad I didn't talk myself out of this one!

Once I arrived and bought my ticket, I heard music coming from the inside. I thought, "Cool. Is it a live group? Let see...why yes it is, and an orchestral group at that...wow, they sound really good I wonder If I can find out who it is? Oh look, a sign. I'll just go take a look." The sign said "Rehearsals in Progress for City of London Festival Concert. Symphony No 9 Bruckner. LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THE LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was all I could do to hold myself together! They were playing right there in front of me under the dome! I almost wept! I couldn't understand all the indifferent faces around me! Why were people just walking by and looking at other things?! I got as close as I was allowed, found the French horn section and stayed there for the next two hours until they finished rehearsing.

How did I get this awesome privilege to hear the London Symphony play Bruckner at St Paul's in London on my last day of site-seeing, for just the regular price of admission to see the church?! I hung on every note they played. Every time they would stop playing the sound would linger for several seconds in the acoustically perfect dome! I watched the conductor with wonder. How could he possibly hear anything to be improved upon? It was all liquid gold in my ears. To add to the beauty of the whole scene sometimes the sun would shine in just right through the side and dome windows and light up the violin section or the horn section. I hope and pray that I never forget those moments. I could have spent days in there listening to them under all those breathtaking Victorian mosaics.

The only sad part is that you have only my feeble words to experience the afternoon I had with the London Symphony and St. Paul's. No pictures were allowed inside, so I don't have a picture to share of the sparkling Victorian mosaics that decorate the ceiling above the choir and the high alter. Nor do I have any pictures of the orchestra, and it is impossible for me to recreate the sounds as I heard them today. I wish I could. It seems selfish to keep such an experience to myself.

Odds and Ends

2009-07-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was our last opportunity to site-see together. Naturally, on Saturday we set a prioritized agenda of things we definitely didn't want to miss. Then we checked our London guide book and discovered that everything we wanted to do costs money. We then cut our list to ONE thing we were willing to pay for. All of a sudden most of the things on our list didn't seem so important. From the picture you see here, Westminster Abby made the cut. It's a good thing we cut so many other sites because we spent most of the day in here. It's hard to believe how long Westminster Abby has been around! Every ruler of the UK has been crowned and buried here going back to the 11th century! We saw the tomb of Edward the Longshanks. We were pretty excited about that considering our favorite movie is Braveheart. We were not disappointed with our choice for the day!

On Sunday, not knowing how to get back to the C of C we went to last weekend, we visited a church that was recommended to us that is actually quite close to the museum where Scott is working. We enjoyed the service, but we miss our home church back in Iowa. We then headed down the street to the Science museum. We walked around in there for a couple of hours, and then we just decided we were too tired to do any other site seeing. The rest of the day we spent lazing about -- it was nice.

On Monday afternoon, I enjoyed a trip to the Tate Britain museum. After that, I met Scott after work and we took the tube to Waterloo. There we ate some pub grub and headed to the Waterloo bridge to watch the sunset. We had a great view of London, and a great night out.

Tuesday, I enjoyed the afternoon at the National Gallery. This was a memorable visit for me. Courtesy of a Rick Steves London book, I took my own tour and saw so many great famous paintings. Some of these included paintings by Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Van Gogh and more! I was in art history heaven! They don't let you take pictures in that museum, so I have none to include here. :( After work, Scott and I needed to go to the train station to book our chunnel tickets out of London. Once we did that we had a chance to look around. It's a beautiful station. We had some good fish and chips there for dinner, and I took this picture with a statue while we were there. We had a nice time. :)

This brings me to today. Today I realized that I am just about museumed out. After some debate, I ended up back at the V&A. I had a scone and some tea at the cafe while I read "Pride and Prejudice With Zombies" (thanks Jerry it's great!). When I was done I was ready to see more. Today I saw the fashion exhibit, and one of the British history exhibits. Here are some highlights. Fashion: work by Prada, Westwood, Versaci etc including the work of the 2008 graduates of the Royal College of Art; British history: lots of beautiful old furniture (and other things that I wasn't quite as interested in). The more I go to the V&A museum the more I like it. It has a vast variety of things to see, something for everyone if you will, and there exhibits are accessible, informative, and just look great! In my limited world travel experiences I think its my favorite museum ever. Although it is not topped by the Corcorin's exhibit on modernism that I saw in DC.

Tomorrow, I am planning to visit the Borough Market, and St. Paul's. All too soon, Scott and I will be cleaning and packing up to go to Leiden. I am looking forward to it, but as all the other places I've been I will be sorry to leave London. Until next time...

Daily Life in London

2009-07-06T13:46:00.000-07:00

We are staying at the home of Mike and Debi Kirksey. They live here in Chelsea London for half of every month for Mike's job. The other half of the month they are in Houston, Texas. Debi and my mom have been friends since high school, and they have been generous enough to let Scott and I stay here while we are in London. Thanks Mike and Debi!!!!

Since we have been fortunate enough to be here for awhile we have been able to establish some routines. Scott and I have switched roles for the summer. He has to get up and go to work, and I take care of things around the house. This includes, laundry, dishes, lunch packing, and grocery shopping. We go grocery shopping just about every day, so that we don't have to eat out every meal. There are two grocery stores within a 5 minute walk of the house. However, let it be known that Scott still makes dinner! He does a great job and I am ever so grateful that he does! Now about the house...

There is one characteristic that sets this home apart from others in which we have stayed. It is built in a rather vertical manner. The stair case you see in this picture is the stair that connects this home's 51/2 floors. It has all the normal living areas, it does not occupy an entire block, it is simply built...up. Can you say daily workout? This house has ALMOST cured me of forgetting things that I need with me at any given time. On the ground floor is the entry way, where all shoes live, and a bathroom. (Scott's shoes are not in the pic because he is at the museum measuring skulls.)Down one flight of stairs is the kitchen and eating area and the utility room. This is the area that Scott and I have turned into blogging/planning central with our laptops as you can see in the pic. To the right of this table and chairs is the kitchen. It's all part of one open room. Down three more steps (thus the "half" floor), is the TV room, another eating area, and a bathroom. Sorry, no pic of that. Up one flight of stairs from the ground floor is living area, ya know...with some couches. Then up one more floor is the master bed and bath, and a study/computer room. Sorry, no pic of the master bedroom.

Finally, the top floor is has two guest rooms, and two bathrooms. The room pictured here is the one we stayed in. From the lack of luggage and clothes in the picture you should correctly assume that I took the picture after cleaning up our stuff.
We are enjoying these two short weeks of stability before we embark on about 2 weeks of bouncing around from country to country before we land in Vienna for awhile. Hopefully we'll be in great shape for our travels thanks to the vertical house.

Lovely London

2009-07-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I am closing in on the end of my first week in London. Scott met me at the train station in London on June 26...our five year anniversary! I regret that I don't have any pictures of the actual day. I was quite tired, and too ecstatic to see Scott to worry about getting just the right picture. Scott took me to (ironically) a wonderful local authentic Italian restaurant called Ziani's in Chelsea, where we are staying. It was so authentic that the staff spoke Italian to each other, and for a minute I was trying to remember all the Italian I had just used the day before. The food was fantastic, and the place was cozy and romantic. I'll have to take a picture of it for the blog later. Our anniversary was perfect, and I can't imagine how it could have possibly been better!

We continued our celebration over the weekend with some site seeing, that I do have pictures of. We started our Saturday site-seeing around lunch time. Here Scott is finishing what's left of our order of fish and chips. Like most things I've eaten so far on this trip...sooo good!

We then headed to the Natural History Museum (duh). This is the museum where Scott is doing his research, but that doesn't mean he has time to actually see the museum. I took a picture with the lion...rwar. (Must...not make...joke...about school!)

The Natural History Museum is in a beautiful building and the exhibits are great, and quite kid friendly. When we were there it was really crowded with families -- lots and lots of kids.

Next we headed out to see the essential sites of London. This is me in front of the statue that's in front of Buckingham Palace. Just chillin.

Next, Westminster Abby. Unfortunately we didn't get to go inside. We arrived just 15 minutes after they closed. We are planning to go back on Saturday.

Parliament! Soooo cool!

On Sunday, we went with the Kirksys (people we are staying with) to the only Church of Christ in London. Of course the message was given by someone Harding affiliated, Charles Ganus. C of C people are everywhere! We went to lunch with him at a great Chinese place where I had some roast duck with rice (very good!). Then we headed over to the British Museum where I got my picture taken with the Rosetta Stone! That was one great weekend of site-seeing!
On Monday, Scott went back to work at the museum witch means I was left to my own devices. This means that I consumed as much art as I could possibly handle! I have discovered that art museums are just about the only thing that I actually enjoy doing all by myself. I can gaze at a work of art as long as I want to, and I can read everything about them without worrying if I am boring anyone that might have ventured to come with me. As long as the museum has a cafe, I can literally spend all day in a museum that I really like. The Victoria and Albert Museum is one of those, and I spent Monday and Tuesday afternoon there. Below is one of my favorite pieces. The cabinet is decorated with Mosaic! The gold is painted, but the details of the flowers, ribbons and such are not. They are different kids of stone cut in the exact shape needed for the picture. Again, apart from the gold, all the colors in the decoration are the colors of the natural stone! The affect is not captured properly in this photo, but it was so amazing that I decided it was blog worthy.

They also had a great modern/contemporary art exhibit that I also enjoyed immensely. This is my favorite piece from that exhibit. It is actually the design for two tables combined into one, an end table and a longer traditional table. The design for the end table is most visible on the end closest to you in the picture. Can you see it? The longer table design is one the longer less visible side in this picture. Just a really cool way of combining traditional and contemporary design!

In the middle of the museum they have a great court yard with a little cafe, a wading pool and beautiful blooming hydrangeas. I enjoyed a lovely avocado sandwich out here.

When I was done with the V & A on Tuesday afternoon, I met Debi, our hostess, and Carol, a friend of hers, for tea at the Chelsea Physic Garden, around the corner from Debi's house. It is the oldest botanical garden in London, established in the 1600s! In this picture I am having my proper English tea with scones, clotted cream and some kind of strawberry spread. I put milk in my tea and everything. There are two more pictures below this one from the garden. It was beautiful, peaceful, and so interesting.

I have no idea what this plant is, but it looks cool!

London is treating us well, and it's nice to stay long enough in one place to know where things are. Today the Kirksy's left to go back to Houston, so Scott and I are on our own here for a while. Hope all of you are doing well!

The Wallis Girls go to Italy -- Picture book style

2009-06-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

This was our typical breakfast every morning. Pastry and cappuccino...yumm!
Sara and me rubbing the nose of the boar in the "Piggy" Market in Florence. The tradition says that if you rub this statue's nose you will return to Florence. It's worked for me so far. I am going back in a couple of weeks.
If you're not crazy about art, too bad, because I am. This is me with "the Moses" sculpted by Michelangelo! So so awesome!!
This is Sara and me at the Roman Forum...in Rome... It's really big, so I just included this one. The large tower looking section behind us shows how tall the walls of this place were. Pretty ginormous!
This is Sara and me at the Trevi fountain. The tradition at this fountain is that if you throw a coin into the fountain with your left hand over your right shoulder you will return to Rome. Again, so far it has worked for me. Sara or my mom have a great cheesy pic of us throwing in our coins. I'll have to steal it from facebook when they get their pics up, but this pic is a good one too. Awwwww....

THE PANTHEON!

More art! This is the bronze alter inside of St. Peter's in the Vatican. It is done by my favorite sculptor Bernini! It's huge as you should be able to see in comparison to the people in the picture, and the bronze was all taken from the inside of the pantheon. Oh and all the stone they made St. Peters out of came from the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. That's why they are in ruins.

Last but not least is the most beautiful piece of art in St. Peter's...Michelangelo's Pieta!

So concludes my week in Florence and Rome with my mom and sister. After this tour we headed for our night train to Paris. We said a tearful goodbye in the airport, and I got on a train to London while my mom and sister headed for their flight back to the States. While I was sad to say goodbye, I couldn't wait to join Scott in London for our 5 year anniversary!

The Italian Countryside

2009-06-27T14:35:00.000-07:00

The rest of the week Sara, Mom and I spent together in Italy was fantastic, and tomorrow you will hear more about it. However, one of the highlights of the trip was Sunday, June 21. We were, of course, staying at a Church of Christ missionary facility, so we got up on Sunday morning and got ready for church. The people we stayed with were kind enough to give us a ride to the Church of Christ in Florence where I went every Sunday when I studied there for one semester of college. The director of the over seas program I participated in gave the message that morning, so I got to say hi and get reacquainted. He then invited us and another family to take a day trip with him to San Gimignano (pictured on the left at the top), and attend a local festival just outside of Florence. We immediately agreed and so began a magical day in the Tuscan countryside!

San Gimignano is a small medieval town with many towers. I was told there used to be more than 30, but there are 14 or so that have survived the years. It is not abandoned. and while it does attract quite a few tourists, it is not an "attraction." People still conduct their everyday lives in these beautifully preserved medieval buildings as you can see in the middle picture on the left. Sara is in the white sweater and a skirt. The cathedral here has some of the oldest surviving frescoes in Italy! Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them because, guess what...they were having a Renaissance fair that day! Can you imagine a Renaissance fair in this town? They don't have to recreate any medieval buildings; they just had to get dressed up and walk around!

When we were done at San Gimignano we drove down to a small town outside of Florence where they were having a festival. At this particular one they have a donkey race at around 10:00 p.m. People spend the evening before attending a parade, eating, buying local crafts, and putting money down on the donkeys. Oh...and I mention eating! My love for authentic Italian food was rekindled at the meal we had that evening. In no restaurant have I ever had food as good as home made local Italian food. We started with cantaloupe and prosciutto, then on to the pasta dishes, penne with home made tomato meat sauce, and tomato cream sauce. For a main course we had a sampling of grilled meat including, steak, chicken, ribs and sausage. We finished with some fresh watermelon. Great great memories!

Catch up

2009-06-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Trying to describe how the last week and a ha lf has been is difficult. Since Scott and I left Moscow we have been bounced around from place to place catching trains. Sometimes this was a simple task, and other times it involved panic, running and crying. I also had a bout with culture shock and homesickness. Despite these challenges, I have had a good time. I think the culture shock and homesickness have passed, and I am enjoying my trip to it's fullest extent.

The pictures to the right are from Rome. One on the bottom is Scott cooling off on the balcony of our hotel room. It was cute, cozy, and comfortable and just down the street from the University where Scott had to work the first day. We didn't have much time for site seeing, but we did get to look around at the Coliseum, so I have included a pic of that too.

Next, we caught a night train to Germany where we met up with my college roommate Melanie Horst, and her husband. Even though the are packing up to move back to the states as I am writing, they let us stay with them while Scott measured various skulls in Bonn and Stuttgart. I got to eat some sushi off of little floating boats, eat German ice cream (sooooo good), and hang out in downtown Wiesbaden with great friends (See pic above).

On Friday (19th) I said a hesitant good bye to Scott and picked up my mom and sister at the Frankfurt airport. That evening Mom, Sara, and I caught a night train to Florence.
We got to celebrate Sara's 16th birthday in Florence which was very special. I found that I remember a lot more Italian than I thought, and that has really made this part of the trip easier. We climbed 800 stairs to the top of the Duomo, ate gelato, and great Italian pizza the first day. We ended the day at the Piazzale Michilangelo at a fancy restaurant and the best view in Florence! The picture of Sara on the far right is from the night just mentioned. The picture of the three of us is in front of the Piti Palace.

More later...stay tuned!

Busy Busy

2009-06-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, this it the first internet access I've had long enough to post on my blog. I am in Wiesbaden, Germany with my close friend and college roommate, Melanie Horst. We arrived by train at around 10:00 a.m. which is 3:00 a.m. for all of you. We arrived very sleepy and smelly, but they let us in their house anyway. I can't you tell how how great it was to see a familiar friendly face. We are exhausted, but tonight we had some great sushi, that floated around on boats at the sushi bar, and some beautiful and rich German ice cream. I am very full and very happy to reminisce with a dear dear old friend. I am soooo tired, so no pic postings today. I promise some soon since I am in a predictable internet spot for a couple days. Ciao!

Maddux Moscowian Life

2009-06-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

For today's post I thought I might give you a little taste of what things have been like day to day here in Moscow.

In this picture Scott is at his parent's laptop checking email, as always, at the kitchen table. It was surreal to walk in the front door of the apartment and recognize the furniture knowing we had just traveled to Moscow. The same grandfather clock I am used to seeing and hearing in their house in Flower Mound, Texas now resides in the entry way of their charming two bedroom apartment in Moscow.

This apartment is different than American apartments in several different ways. Expectantly, one of those ways is the presence of a bidet in the bathroom that holds the newspaper. However, unexpectedly the towel rack is heated! The towels are always dry and cozy. Also unexpectedly,...there are windows on the bedroom doors...*raised eyebrow* (pictured right of Scott) Now, don't ask me why there are windows on the bedroom doors, it's just the way things are. In fact the only doors without windows are the front door, and the two bathroom doors. Needless to say, it has made life interesting.

Life outside the apartment has had its surprises too. It turns out that early June is when all the poplar trees are seeding witch means that there is this cotton-like fluff constantly in the air. These trees are EVERYWHERE, so the "cotton" falls like snow, and collects on the ground like snow as you can see in the picture on the right.

Cars here are surprisingly familiar. The cars we have actually taken rides in are Fords! Other familiar cars we have seen are Toyota Corolla, Honda, VW, Suzuki the list goes on. There is even a little Scion xA that is parked everyday on the same street as our apartment! I have only seen one Smart car in all of Moscow. I think there are more in Iowa City!

Our adventure here has been wonderful! Scott worked with the fossils here for the last time today. We had dinner with Erik Trinkaus which was great. He's an intelligent, gracious guy. Tomorrow we have one more day of leisure and site seeing with Scott, and then Sunday afternoon we fly to Rome. We have been very comfortable here this week, and we hate to see our stay draw to a close. I may or may not get to post again before Rome, so ciao......

Life and Death

2009-06-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

On Monday, June 8 Jana and I took a tour with the American Wives Club to the cemetery at Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. I heard that the tour was good, but I didn't expect to be as touched by it as I was. I know that cemeteries are good places for learning history; I've been to many and I have always appreciated the value of the history and memories housed there. However, this one at Novodevichy was peaceful, and by that I mean literally full of peace. It washed over me for the duration of the tour.

To understand why you need to know that the cemetery is very crowded and all the graves are beautiful with monuments and especially decorated with flowers. Many of the graves we passed had fresh arrangements of flowers on them, and not just one -- several big colorful ones! I learned that it is the responsibility of the family to keep up the grave sites. Sure you can have someone do it for the right price, but that is not the tradition. I know that we do this to some extent in the US, but not to the extent I witnessed, and will hopefully be evident from the pictures. In this post you will see two pictures of people tending grave sites with such caring tenderness. The cemetery was not about death. It was about love, life, and remembering beloved family. It was comforting -- almost as if these loved ones were not gone. They are still cared for and waited on by those who miss them most.

June 8 also happened to be Scott's birthday and this first day Scott went to work on his fossils. This means that it was also the day Scott met Erik Trinkaus -- a famous and highly respected biological anthropologist. I was able to keep my tradition of making Scott a cheesecake for his birthday. Jana had some candles, so we sang happy birthday. We didn't have 29 candles, or a number 2 and a 9 to put together, so I just put two candles on one side and nine on the other. As usual I worried about how it would turn out, but it tastes great. Between the cheesecake and meeting Eric Trinkaus, Scott had a good birthday, and I was grateful to get to celebrate it with him! So ended a beautiful day of life and death.

Moscow: Day 1 and 2

2009-06-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

I have finally found some time to blog about our trip so far. It took much more time than expected to set up a system for how I might do this more efficiently in the future. As you can see by the pic on the left Scott and I arrived safely in Moscow with no incidents. We even got a little sleep on the plane, and have had no problems adjusting our sleeping to the new time zone.

In this picture we are on Red Square in front of St. Basil's Cathedral, and some trees that are totally in the way. Friday, June 12 is a national Russian holiday, so they have a big stage in front of the "normal" view of this beautiful building. This pic is the best we can do for now. This was our first day of sight seeing. Scott, his parents, and I had a private tour of the Kremlin and Red Square.

This picture was taken the evening we arrived in Moscow. In order to try and get us on a normal sleeping schedule Dave and Jana took us out to dinner with some of their American friends to an Uzbekistan restaurant. If you look carefully at the picture, you will notice that there are no chairs. We are sitting on cushions Jesus style at the table. There were lots of extra pillows to make ourselves comfortable. The decorations were absolutely stunning. The picture below should give you an idea of our surroundings.

There were belly dancers that came out and danced every hour or so. You will NOT see any pictures of them because I didn't enjoy watching scantly clad women shakin' it anywhere close to MY husband!! Everyone else seemed to enjoy the "show," and took lots of pictures. Dave tried to get me in one or two of them, so if you know Dave and ever see any of his pictures of this particular night I'm sure you will notice how much fun I am having. It's written all over my face!

Despite the occasional gyrations of "sparkly-boobs," I had a really great time. They had crazy food and Scott and I took full advantage ordering baked rabbit in cream sauce. I haven't had a meal that good in quite a long time. I'm salivating just thinking about it! Jana was also brave, and ordered horse, which we also sampled. In case you're wondering, the way they prepared it tasted like roast beef. Needless to say between the dancing "tarts," the decor, the unique seating arrangements, and the food it was a memorable experience. I couldn't have picked a better way to start our adventures in Europe.

So I know I posted these picture in the wrong order as the restaurant happened first, but like I've said, I'm a newbe. I will get better at this. Stay tuned....I've seen a lot more than this so far!!!

Greetings from Europe!

2009-06-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Assertions by Tressa! To give you an idea of what to expect when you read this blog, you need to know that I don't like to read very much (sorry, Mom and anyone reading this from Strawberry Hill), I don't like to write very much either, but I love pictures. To me, pictures are worth a thousand words. I also speak fluent exaggeration. That does not mean that there will be any falsehoods in my entries, just that I have a tendency to express myself dramatically. While I have never written a blog before, I imagine this one will reflect these elements of my personality. My entries will be relatively short and heavy on the pictures. Consider yourself warned, and happy reading.

Europe or Bust!

2009-05-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog everyone!

This is where you will find all of my news and musings on my travels throughout Europe this summer. I don't have time to add much else to this post because I have to get ready to go! Check this item off the "to do" list! See you here in June!!