alex robinson » NICE http://alexr.norova.com Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:25:25 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 alex robinson http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/7931da9d246bf520f9a63360f4bc07c3?s=48&d=http%3A%2F%2F1.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536 http://alexr.norova.com Poznan http://alexr.norova.com/2008/poznan/ http://alexr.norova.com/2008/poznan/#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:20:42 +0000 alex http://alexr.norova.com/?p=187 I’m in Poznan, Poland!

Poznan, Poland

I’ll be here for the next week for another summer school (like in Karthaus) until Friday. We’ll be learning about paleoclimatology and using isotope records as proxies. The most fascinating part so far was the train ride from Berlin last night. I was on a train that looked like it came straight out of James Bond in the 60s. It was dark outside and we made stops in remote places, but of course, I had my guard up for when Jaws would arrive…

A friendly traveling companion

A friendly traveling companion

]]> http://alexr.norova.com/2008/poznan/feed/ 0 Karthaus 2008 http://alexr.norova.com/2008/karthaus-2008/ http://alexr.norova.com/2008/karthaus-2008/#comments Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:13:31 +0000 alex http://alexr.norova.com/?p=150 So I’m now at the Karthaus Glaciology Summer School. I’ll try to upload pics frequently over the next 2 weeks.

As I’ve learned so far, every night there is a five course meal, with wine included, just set out on the table in bottles. And lunch, there are 3 courses. And we have two coffee breaks between lectures with accompanying fresh warm pastries. I guess all the calories go into all the thinking we’re doing?! :)

Well of course I had to add some pics from the meals since yesterday. They even changed it up for lunch – the first day without pasta… instead it was a nice cheesy risotto. But we also studied quite a bit today, so I added some pics from the lectures too. But on our short day today (which just ended at 4pm), the weather isn’t quite ideal, with continuous slow rain throughout the day. We’ll see if our hike on the glacier is possible tomorrow. But we’re supposed to go up to 3200m or so and have some expansive views of the glaciers in the region. Now if someone will just lend me a hat!

  • On the way to Karthaus... look where people build houses on the vertical mountain!

  • View along the way :)

  • My (shared) apartment for the next 2 weeks.

  • My bed!

  • View from the window

  • Me!

  • View from the other window

  • Playing some ping-pong outside...

  • The main dish: venison (deer) that melted in your mouth! Spaetzle on the side, yum.

  • And dessert! "Snowmilk" (Schneemilch). I think the schnee is the inch-thick layer of cream on top.

  • A backwards clock! It ticks backwards too!

  • Our classroom!

  • Heavy rains blowing through...

  • Sunset it town...

  • It turns out you eat everything the chef proposes!

  • Our improved classroom!

  • Our backyard

  • We stayed in the building to the right

  • Karthaus from above...

  • Strolling through the woods

  • As you arrive at the table, wine is already waiting for you.

  • This is the first appetizer, after the obligatory salad, of course

  • Then some cream of pumpkin soup

  • And the main course, in this case, roast beef with lemon sauce, potatoes and artichoke. Divine, really.

  • And the dessert, homemade tiramasu

  • Waste not want not, the remains of two tiramasus...

  • The chefs hard at work on our special barbeque dinner last night

  • And the results!

  • Learning about ice shelves!

  • Foggy scene from lectures today

  • Creamy dessert this afternoon - Bonna Cotta (or something...), loosly translates to delicious!

  • In town today - things don't bode well for our hike on the glacier tomorrow...

  • Heading to class again after lunch...

  • It's rough ;)

]]> http://alexr.norova.com/2008/karthaus-2008/feed/ 0 First NICE meeting http://alexr.norova.com/2008/first-nice-meeting/ http://alexr.norova.com/2008/first-nice-meeting/#comments Fri, 01 Feb 2008 19:23:30 +0000 alex http://alexr.norova.com/?p=260 One of my first tasks as a PhD student here was to attend the 1st meeting of our research group, NICE. Coincidentally, it took place in Morat, Switzerland, just kilometers away from where I used to live in Le Locle! For a few days, I was immersed in the science of ice sheet modeling – in the company of some of the leading researchers in Europe. To boot, I got to catch up with many good friends that I hadn’t seen in a while.

  • Arrival in Zürich

  • Good ole' Coop!

  • At ETH University, looking out at the city

  • My hotel room in the castle

  • ...and the view

  • At my first NICE conference

  • Fellow Nicer's

  • The grounds

  • Yeah, Greenland!

  • Back in Switzerland...

  • Le Lac de Morat

  • A flashback! Anthony and Greg's brother

  • Friendly Petanque competitors

  • Greg, life is strange.

  • In Neuchatel

  • The old train back to Le Locle - somehow miss it...

  • Zürich by night

  • The IAESTE ski team reuniting, Aliaksei up for a visit from idyllic Lugano

  • Flo and Josep, looking sharp

  • Zürich again

  • eXtreme - powdermeisters converge. Lucky for Switzerland, we didn't smell any powder nearby.

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