As you might have noticed, the blog frequency has dropped: I'm quite busy and not having a laptop makes the workflow a lot slower as well. My apologies but this is the way it is going to stay.
The title of this post refers to the incredible rate at which time is passing: it's already been two weeks in Buenos Aires, meaning that my classmates are leaving or will soon leave and also that I am already halfway into my stay here. The total trip is nearly 5 months under way, with some impressions already feeling as ages ago. Working life in Holland for instance feels really far away. That being said, the journey has already passed its midway point: I should start thinking about where and what my life in Holland should be.
I recently received an email from the research station in Chile where I would like to do an internship, it looks like this will go through. Giving me two months to get used to a working schedule again, and also two months to contemplate future plans.
This blog post however deals with activities already long past: a couple of days in Phoenix and a week in Florida.
Warning: huge post ahead.
Phoenix was a rest stop: 5 nights in a motel, with all the time in the world to relax, explore a little and make plans for Florida and South America. I'll drop some pictures here with their stories, but for the rest there's not much I can tell except that it was very hot.
The first attraction on the list was the Hearst museum: a museum on native American culture getting good reviews. There was a lot of different stuff on display, with a guide telling you all about it on a waking tour. There were a lot of beautiful objects on display, but the museum was not really what I expected: most objects were modern art- and craftwork, with very little background on culture and history of the various tribes that were making the items: for some sections it was as if u were walking in a jewelry store. Besides that, the museum covers tribes all over the US, not specifically from the phoenix area. On top of that the entry fee was ridiculous compared to other museums, making it a mixed visit for me.
Picasagoogle+ links(picasa seems broken, so evil g+ for now):
The title of this post refers to the incredible rate at which time is passing: it's already been two weeks in Buenos Aires, meaning that my classmates are leaving or will soon leave and also that I am already halfway into my stay here. The total trip is nearly 5 months under way, with some impressions already feeling as ages ago. Working life in Holland for instance feels really far away. That being said, the journey has already passed its midway point: I should start thinking about where and what my life in Holland should be.
I recently received an email from the research station in Chile where I would like to do an internship, it looks like this will go through. Giving me two months to get used to a working schedule again, and also two months to contemplate future plans.
This blog post however deals with activities already long past: a couple of days in Phoenix and a week in Florida.
Warning: huge post ahead.
Phoenix was a rest stop: 5 nights in a motel, with all the time in the world to relax, explore a little and make plans for Florida and South America. I'll drop some pictures here with their stories, but for the rest there's not much I can tell except that it was very hot.
South American jewelry and ornaments made of bird feathers and insect husks: very colorful
The first attraction on the list was the Hearst museum: a museum on native American culture getting good reviews. There was a lot of different stuff on display, with a guide telling you all about it on a waking tour. There were a lot of beautiful objects on display, but the museum was not really what I expected: most objects were modern art- and craftwork, with very little background on culture and history of the various tribes that were making the items: for some sections it was as if u were walking in a jewelry store. Besides that, the museum covers tribes all over the US, not specifically from the phoenix area. On top of that the entry fee was ridiculous compared to other museums, making it a mixed visit for me.
Dolls that were originally simple and used only once a year for religious purposes evolved into elaborate puppets sold to, and designed for tourists
Next up: a commercial center and going out area: the stadium and the nearby west gate mall. Not much interesting happening there, except that's is a nice place for a drink and some food.
The day ended with a trip to a nearby mountain to see the sun set, but the sun made it down first :-(. Beautiful skies all around though and a good place to sit down and enjoy the spectacle for a bit.
Time went fast and after a couple of nights it was already time to leave the west of the USA. I must say I did this with a little pain in the heart after having spent such a great time there, having seen so many incredible things and having met so many wonderful people.
The flight was a daytime flight and offered many beautiful views of desert, mountains and different cityscapes. It also goes on the list as being a flight in the smallest aircraft I've flown in so far. Sadly the flight went the wrong way: first back to LAX to wait half a day for the night flight to Miami.
On the same day that I was flying from Phoenix to LA my parents were crossing the big pond from Amsterdam to Miami via Atlanta. They had a lot of delays and mishaps on their journey, but made it to Florida safely. While I was waiting in LA they had picked up a rental car and checked in at our hotel, to get a good night of sleep before they'd pick me up at 07:30 the next day.
Finding me the next morning proved a challenge: they'd crossed half the airport and had also had to drive a while to find a parking spot. Seeing them again after all this traveling great! My luggage was first off the belt though, so were soon on the road again, but not before having had to deliver another wad of cash to the scoundrels of the car rental company to allow for me as an extra driver.
The day was supposed to be a resting day, but after a shower and discussing our plans a little we considered ourselves awake enough to already head for an exploration of the Everglades.
You expect lots of water but it was dry season so what you get was a sea of grass! We booked a tramride to an observation tower as it was way to hot for my parents to go walking or cycling for such a long while. We hoped to get glimpses of the local wildlife. What we got was lots and lots of wildlife some from very up close. The area seems to be teeming with life, especially the waterways. An impression in pictures below.
Alligator
Sea of grass
Some kind of snapping turtle
Black vulture
Anhinga
Turkey vulture
Southern water snake?
After this trip we ate dinner at the hotel (or at Denny's, can't remember). And went to bed early to get some necessary sleep: the next day we had to get up early to drive to a coral reef national park in the Florida Keys.
The drive was not that interesting, the park from the outside not so beautiful, the boat drive to the reef was nice, but also not spectacular, the fun started when we slowed down above the reef.
My last glass bottom boat trip had been on Bali, with a small, weathered and not very clear window on an overfished and half destroyed reef (get out of Kuta as soon as you can), so my expectations were low. The quality of the glass bottom, the huge viewing area, the clear water, the untouched reefs and the enthusiastic crew made this a remarkable trip, and as close as my parents will get to understanding why I enjoy diving so much.
We saw lots of fish, colorful angelfish, parrotfish and wrasses but also larger fish as barracuda. Besides that the marine biologist on the crew explained about the different types of coral and other underwater life we were passing. I hadn't planned any dives in Florida, nor had I expected it to have such beautiful reefs. No more time on this trip though, so it will have to go on the 'to dive' list.
There was still more wildlife to be seen next (my mum was involved in selecting sites). A little further into the keys is a small bird sanctuary, just on the edge of the mangroves. It was nice to be able to come so close to the animals, but for most I would say it would be a better idea just to kill them (there's a lot of birds with no chance of recovery that stay at the sanctuary because they would not survive in the wild). It's funny how one's opinion can change over time: I would have never thought this ten years ago. Anyway the people there are doing great work for helping birds that do recover so we left a small donation.
That night we got stuck in a terrible traffic jam so when we spotted a Denny's dinner I turned off to grab dinner and sit the traffic jam out. I had had great food there before (for instance in Page, AZ), but the quality of food and service we received there was of such abominable level that it was nearly inconceivable. The food was bad and cold, the maid rude and disinterested and when my mother had accidentally dropped a spoon+sauce on the ground this remained there for the whole evening, with the maid doing as if she didn't see although she had to step over it each time she came to serve something. We had a beer in the hotel and the restaurant was soon forgotten.
With the sites we wanted to see all visited in the first two days we had the third day open as a rest day. We took it easy but didn't need a full rest day, so instead we visited Miami Beach. Quite the contrast with the other two days!
But of course wildlife also attracted our attention here: the small lizards living on the peer's rocks had an interesting way to make themselves look bigger.
After walking along the water for a while we went to visit Miami Beach proper: ocean drive. Lots of (crazy looking) people, weird cars and great art deco buildings.
The first day of June was a driving day: Miami-Orlando. Driving in Florida is extremely boring: the road is surrounded by a green corridor and the land is flat so all that you see all day is green to the left, cars in front and green on the right... Ow yeah, and one car crash.
Luckily the next day brought something more exciting: rockets! Kennedy space center: an unique site, so a must visit. Except for rockets, familiar launch sites and one of the biggest buildings in the world we had little idea what to expect. What was funny is that this visit came mostly from my list, but that my mother seemed most impressed by the whole visit. I'll take u through it via a series of pictures.
Surprisingly similar to Thunderbird I no?
The first thing you see when you enter (actually already from some distance away) is the rocket garden. I thought that the big rocket lying on the ground was one of the Saturn rockets ( developed for the Apollo program) but an employee me: this is only the small stuff. We would see the big stuff (really, really big) later in the day. At 10:30 we had booked a tour, so we had about an hour something to fill. We were recommended to check the historic section on the start of space flight first, then if time allowed it, visit the space shuttle and afterwards the tour. So we started with cold war era technology.
The first american satellite: a response to the Russians' Sputnik
Control room of the 50's
Trusty Russian technology still in use today: Soyuz
The exhibits in this museum really breathe a 50's cold war atmosphere: from the eery control room to the roots of both space programs in Nazi Germany. A display on space craze with all the toys, household robots and future visions of colonies provides for a small lightening of there mood, but you are soon reminded that the world was once at the brink of nuclear war: the rocket that put Shephard in space had originally been designed to carry a nuclear warhead to the ussr. It was nice to step out into 2014 to see where science and technology had since brought us.
A nice homage to international collaboration
Entrance to the shuttle building
We had just 20 mins left to get first glimpse of the shuttle before the tour would start. When we entered we came to a queue and it became clear you couldn't just enter the building, you first had to see a 12min movie...lame. Well actually it wasn't that lame: It was a very american movie, but the story of the development cycle of the shuttle project spoke to me. The collaboration in a team, the setbacks, the ideas turned into reality, time and money constraints... As an engineer and also as a budding project manager these things were all part of life, albeit at a much more modest scale. The finale of the movie comes when the teams sees their creation become reality after 12 years of work, the same moment that for us museum visitors the curtain is lifted and you are confronted with an impressive full scale space shuttle.
Instead of taking this all in we had to run downstairs to get to the exit and to our tour bus! During the wait in line for the bus the tour guide went along the waiting people to introduce himself and have a little chat. Very nice touch and a good way to make an otherwise boring wait a nice opportunity to meet someone new.
A little sense of scale: looking out towards the VAB from the land bridge to cape Canaveral.
A familiar site: almost any space shuttle launch you see on posters or in videos took place from this launchpad
Yup that is molten concrete
The huge crawler that carries the rockets from VAB to launchpad
When first entering the cape Canaveral area by bus you are confronted with a strange mix of nature and wildlife, coupled with a living and working space port: the components of which can be seen dotting the horizon. Due to safety zone around launch pads and between them and control and office locations there's a lot of room at the space center. All this space is actually a wildlife reserve and managed by the national parks organization, which is why you can see a nesting osprey surrounded by rocket launch pads.
I had expected the tour to bring you up close and into the space center but distances stayed large. A little disappointing but being in such a unique place this is soon forgotten. The building above is the VAB from up close: this is where satellites are loaded into rockets, where the Hubble space telescope was first loaded onto the space shuttle and where most of America's space journeys started. Fun fact: it takes 45 minutes to open the doors (which are the worlds largest doors).
The tour ends by dropping you of at the Apollo museum, which starts with the now familiar entrance movie. Pretty cool again this time set in the launch control center, taking you through all the checks and people involved during launch.
The scale of the Saturn V's main engines is quite extraordinary
Evolution of the moon suit
The capsule that returned you to earth
The Apollo museum describes the story of one of man's greatest technological achievements. Besides that it is also a story that is very much a part of my parents lives, they remember seeing the moon landings on TV. With the very few people that have actually walked on the moon and the long long time since these missions happened it is really awe inspiring to walk around the equipment developed to make this happen. The stories of the people making them, the tragedies of lives lost, the sense of discovery, the earth as one, hearing about the first footsteps on the moon. A very impressive gallery indeed!
At the end of the day we still had a little time left to have a proper look at the modern shuttle museum. Another one of these unique achievements, a sense that is one again brought across very accurately in the museum.
Nose to nose with space shuttle Atlantis
Hubble
Space shuttle belly with the infamous thermal protection tiles
If you are a kid or have more time there are a few more places to visit on the site but for us this concluded our visit, we left the space center awe filled at all the amazing stuff we had seen. The day was ended with a properly american meal: steak in a wild West steakhouse.
Our final touristic day in florida had manatees on the program. When I looked them up earlier in the year I had found crystal river as the best place to look at them and with thinking that that was a river in Orlando (many tours are offered starting in Orlando) I hadn't really thought about it until we were in Florida couple of days... big mistake. Crystal river is a city on the west coast of Florida with most tours leaving already at 06:00 or earlier in the morning (when the manatees are most active). With Orlando as a home base and everything already booked this just want an option. We opted for a boost tour of coco beach instead, hoping to see some manatees too.
We were lucky and got to see lots of manatees. It was actually their mating season so there was a lot more splashing and activity going on than normal. The water is not as clear here as on the west coast but it did give good enough a sight of the animals.
Another fun thing is that we saw lots of dolphins even one who had learned to hunt against the flood wall and we saw him catch a fish. Besides this wildlife the tour featured lots of real estate: there's a lot if rich people living in coco Beach!
After the boat tour we visited the local beach, only to be grated by a raccoon... Not your typical beach creature you'd expect.
The day ended with a dinner at a restaurant that was getting rave reviews. After the waiter brought in the main meal before the starter and this also didn't taste very well we were beginning to suspect something fishy. And sure enough, after we left after this very disappointing meal we saw that the place with the rave reviews was next door, and closed... Ah well... We skipped a visit to the largest surfshop aka theme park in the world and went straight back to the hotel.
The next day was another boring driving day and also our last one in Florida: back to Miami. At the hotel we asked for a tip for a good american hamburger restaurant and the clerk recommended fuddruckers... A name I only knew from movies. We went there however and can that guy was right: best burgers ever! Great service, great food and they even served Grolsch (in beugel!). I had to drive though so they got me a closed bottle to take away. This served as the perfect finish for the US trip.
The next day we had an easy schedule to get cash dollars for my trip, turn in the rental car and say goodbye to each other once again. This of course was emotional, especially with my parents rightfully not liking the stories they heard about Buenos Aires. Due to the layout of Miami airport I could not join them all the way to their gate, but we had to say goodbye a little earlier. For them it was back to home and missing their son, for me it was on to new adventures!
Florida day 1: Everglades
Florida day 2: Florida keys
Florida day 3: Miami Beach
Florida day 4: driving
Florida day 5: Kennedy space center
Florida day 6: Manatees
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