I'm not quite sure how she wrangled it, but Julie received extra grant money to take me along to the Gordon Research Conference on Single Molecule Approaches to Biology (Gordon Conference) as Kyle's nanny! Talk about a plum babysitting job! We met in Pisa on Saturday the 26th and stayed overnight at the Hotel Novecento, right down the road from the Leaning Tower. I was amazed at how much Kyle had changed in just 5 weeks since my visit to Ann Arbor. He was into repeat mode, so I had to control the "s" and "f" words that sometimes escape my lips. We wandered around the main attractions most of Sunday morning. Julie's favourite pastime was watching all the tourists taking photos of their friends holding up the leaning tower. I had been to Pisa twice before, and forgot that the rest of the city is nondescript and rather boring. Unlike most of Tuscany, Pisa is very flat - a good thing when you are walking with a stroller and a toddler. Kyle decided to walk for about an hour, and Gramma Dale made up a wonderful game: see if you can find the circles in the sidewalk and then jump over them. This was a variation of the childrens' classic called "don't step on the cracks". Eventually we ended up at a yummy pizza place where we ate on the shaded terrace and then pigged out on excellent gelato.
They were very happy with the outcome of that game. Alas, Germany ended up in third place.
Unfortunately, the resort has seen better days. As Jeff always says when we go to a restaurant with bland food but interesting decor: "you can't eat atmosphere". The same principle applied to Il Ciocco. The setting was gorgeous, but the facilities were limited, and the food was not up to Italian standards. There was no transportaion to any towns or villages nearby (other than a few afternoon excursions during the high heat siesta hours), and mealtimes were inflexible.
Kyle and I hung out at the park for hours and hours. He has mastered sliding down and climbing up again.
The conference was a success for Julie. Aside from the new material that was presented during the week, she also had a lot of time to network with people she had previously only met through emails. I was impressed that there were 200 participants from all over the world. My eyes glazed over when they started talking shop, but once they realized I was merely a guest, conversations turned to travel and food! I got a lot of surprised looks when I mentioned that I live in Hong Kong. I think Jeff and I are turning into interesting conversation pieces.
Julie, Kyle, and I were booked on the same flight to Paris on Friday, the 2nd. We had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to catch the shuttle to the Pisa airport. Actually, Kyle and I had to wake up - Julie had been out partying with her colleagues until almost 3! We arrived in Paris around 9 a.m., and I headed into the city for my two days of R&R. Julie and Kyle were scheduled to catch their flight home to Detroit around 1 p.m. Unfortunately, their plane had a problem, so they were bussed to an airport hotel and didn't leave until the next morning. The joys of travel!
Here's the verdict according to Dale: Paris is still the most beautiful city in the world (or in the parts of the world that I have seen so far). The last time Jeff and I were there was in April 1995, celebrating our 25th anniversary. It was freezing and raining that entire week, but it didn't stop us from walking and ogling all the gorgeous architecture, food, and fashionable people. On this trip I lucked out in terms of weather. It was very warm and sunny (most of the time) on Friday. I walked from my charming Hotel Chomel in the 7ieme (thanks to the Cotters for the recommendation) across the Pont Royal, past the Tuilleries and the Louvre, along Av. de l'Opera, and on to Haussmann and Galeries Lafayette, stopping to take photos of the unique features of the city.
The next morning I awoke to thunder and lightening and feared that the weather would foil my plans to visit the Monet museum at Giverny. In 1995, Jeff and I kept waiting for the perfect day to go there, but had to finally give up. This time, I was determined to go, rain or shine. By the time the train arrived in Giverny, the rain had stopped and I was able to enjoy Monet's house, gardens, and especially the water lily pond.
Meanwhile back at home in HK, Jeff took a walk to Hong Kong University. Like the rest of the city, the uni is built vertically, and even makes the McGill campus look flat by comparison (Peel and Pine). He said that anyone who graduates out of shape must be trying hard! HKU is highly ranked among Asian universities, and like the US and Canada, many buildings bear the names of their donors. Access for the disabled is limited, and there is very little green space.
Jeff spent a couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City last week. He said that Saigon still appears on many signs. He also had a few comments about the traffic: there are thousands of motorbikes. At traffic lights they whiz by you like a herd of wildebeest in a Discovery Channel video, except these guys are not migrating and there are no lions waiting for them.
Other news: my Y group is growing (literally). Congrats to Nesrine on the birth of her second boy. Sarah and Lisette are also pregnant. Gramma Dale will get lots of practise holding the new babies.
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