CERN day

Miraculously, all 23 in the group arrived on time at the Science Gateway. After all the agonising about our left-behind passports and whether driving licences would be accepted ... they didn't do any ID check at all! Just gave John a box of lanyards. Prof Mario who works for UCL was our guide for 2.5 hrs and he did a fine job in the Centre, SPS Control room and ALICE detector. The Ring was operating so we could not go down or in, but only gaze from outside. Perhaps our biggest impression is no matter how clever the physics are, the engineers are their equal. Their cafe is good too.







Tram 18 took us all the way to the Old town where shady coffee & lemonade in the park was welcome. Cathedral of St Paul is suitably Calvinistic, this being the seat of the Reformation.





Ice cream stop, larger than needed and a fiver each but what the hell. Strolled down Rue Grande, aptly named because the shops, galleries and wine bars are all v grand. I do mean down because the Cathedral sits on quite a big hill. N's hip is coping with lots of sitting rests - we took a stool on the tour.

Tram 18 again, 2 stops back to Gare Cornavin and the short walk back to our apt. Feet up and a cuppa. And this. This evening we have a PantSoc dinner of 9 people organised by John, nearby thankfully. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Corking day

Image
Up at 0630, chatted to Kevin over breakfast after he'd returned from his spin class at the gym, said our goodbyes with heartfelt thanks and headed off by 0830. 2 hr drive to Cork slightly marred by mistake at bottom of M8 - it does not become the N8! Googlemaps got us back on route and we went to the Park & Ride - L's bright idea to avoid city centre parking stress. €5 for parking and return bus for 2 of us, pleased with that. We hit the English Market first, and have never seen such displays of meat and fish, we think it even beat Bury market. We had a coffee and resisted the cakes, strolled in the city centre, Saint Patrick's street, and climbed onto the City Tour bus. After a cold, damp start the sun came out v hot. We ate sandwiches kindly provided by Noel as we toured the city. The pre-recorded commentary was leavened by acerbic comments from the lady driver - she was very funny. We jumped off at the Cork City Gaol and spent an interesting hour learning about the p...
Read more

Kerry Ring part 2

Image
The pizza last night from the Watch House was excellent, not too big so all crusts were eaten. Boston's Bar, the only pub in town, was a 5 min stroll. A pint and a half of Guinness was consumed. The bar was busy until the gaelic football match finished. There was talk of music later but it didn't seem certain and again we were tired so we didn't stay. The weather cleared, blue sky and distant hills were seen, and it was a lovely evening. The assessment of the Valentia campsite was not so sunny; the showers were fierce with no controls and no seat, and the WiFi was flakey then broken. This morning the cloud was back down with a vengeance, can hardly see beyond the campsite. We exited Valentia via the small ferry and continued along the Ring which frankly isn't that scenic on the sea side; maybe the hills/mountains are good but we can't see them. We diverted to Killarney to find a pharmacy open on a Sunday, to get insect repellent- we are starting to get bitten. Killa...
Read more

Heligan & Mevagissey

Image
After a quiet night post the storm, and a light breakfast, we hit Heligan again. Free this time as got weekly pass free yday. Did the Jungle (spectacular & tropical) and the Hidden Valley (hot and birdy - heard lots and saw 2 buzzards). There was even a rope bridge Lunch in van then the 7 minute drive to Mevagissey. Never been. Pretty, touristy, excellent museum, busy harbour. Had ice cream and cheese straw, both shared natch. Saw a turnstone on the quayside. Headed home at 1600, before the school holiday onslaught.  
Read more