Science, Scenery & Scandinavia

Dinner while watching people & planes.
 

Hello, again, Blogonauts!

Like every fine-cut gem, we all have many facets, each catching and reflecting the light in its own way.

So like everyone else, I have several varied interests. And the trip that begins today is designed to shine light on several of them.

Currently I'm at Logan Airport, waiting to board a flight that will eventually take me in Manchester, England. This weekend in Manchester is the QED conference, a gathering of people and presenters focused on the advancement of science, and as such, reducing the influence of misinformation and pseudoscience.

You may know that I enjoy podcasts...in fact, LOTS of podcasts. And among my favorites are those where trained, engaged experts explore current topics in science and medicine.

Many of those podcasters are presenting at the QED conference. So rather than just letting them inhabit my ears while I do chores or walk the dog, this weekend will allow me to have face-to-face encounters with them and others who share that facet of my interests. (Well, probably facemask-to-facemask encounters. Covid still is a thing, after all.)

Then, after what I hope will be an elucidating long weekend, I'm off to join Bob, Shawn, & Toby in Norway for another of our world wanderings. We'll spend a few days in Oslo, take a reputedly glorious train ride across the country to Bergen, and then rent a car to explore fjords and mountains.

This trip will keep me a bit busier than my last couple, so perhaps you'll get updates every few days. I'll try most of all to post a few photos along the way. Earthporn rules!

Blog to you later!
Larry

Location: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), East Boston, MA 02128, USA

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2023 at 6:34 AM

    Have fun everybody...what a great time to visit Norway!
    Randall

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2023 at 6:49 AM

    Have fun! Can you share some of your favorite podcasts or podcasters?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2023 at 6:50 AM

    Sorry that was Anna and Joe

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2023 at 2:38 PM

    JP here. Happy travels !! Is that red cabbage on the tacos ?? If so, nice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2023 at 8:02 AM

      Yes... Red cabbage on fish tacos

      Delete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2023 at 4:22 PM

    oh fish ! Nice !

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for taking the time to comment. Please leave some indication of who you are, either by name or a known alias. :-)

Popular posts from this blog

Serfdom to Soviets: Estonian Farms

Image
  An Estonian serf family home, circa 1800. Hello again, Blogonauts! We haven't left Tallinn, but we have slipped momentarily away from the city center. Today I spent much of the day wandering the grounds of the Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum. (Say that 3 times fast! Heck, say it even once slowly!). Rest easy... I'll save you the trouble. That particular bowl of alphabet soup translates into the Estonian Open-Air Museum . It's a luscious mixture of woods and fields nestled alongside Tallinn's bay, and this vast park holds dozens of relocated farm buildings from many parts of Estonia (and covers many eras of its agricultural history). But this is no haphazard collection. Each set of buildings has been curated to show how a farm family would have lived over the last 300 years. (The exhibits even carry visitors forth through the era of Soviet collective farming.) Let's highlight a few. The building above dates from the early 1800s and served as both the family's primary home...
Read more

I'm Tallinn for Estonia!

Image
  A portion of Tallinn's old town skyline Hello again, Blogonauts! Let me invite you to join me in the small country of Estonia, and its capital, Tallinn. So where are we? As you may know, three former USSR states (Lithuania, Latvia, & Estonia) edge the Baltic Sea. Estonia is the northernmost of that trio. I joined a 2-hour group walking tour today to see much of the old town. In a way, I'm channeling the tour guide (a Londoner now married to an Estonian) to give some of the stories that help to explain the pictures.  So back to those stories: While Estonian culture is centuries old, the Danes, the Swedes, the Germans, & the Russians have each fought to rule over this land. Estonia's existence as an independent country is therefore relatively modern...really only around 100 years, with an enormous Nazi-&-Soviet-filled gap in the middle. The skyline photo above, though, points to medieval history. Stone parapets, medieval towers, earthen ramparts, and even the re...
Read more

Finagling Finland

Image
  This little tugboat carried me & a thousand companions from Tallinn to Helsinki Hello again, Blogonauts! Oh, the headlines I considered for this post!    Beginning With A Big "Finnish"    Hell not floatie, Hell sinkie!    This Is Another Finn Mess I've Gotten Myself Into! So you can thank me that I spared you the pain of those puns (...or did I?). At noon on Monday the bedazzled barge "Finlandia" embarked across the Baltic, baring me and bundles of vagabonds bound for the cloudy, windswept harbor known as Helsinki. I had worried a bit about becoming seasick, but that was never a threat. Instead I whiled away the time planning my 3-day Finnish foray while pretending I was eating at the cafe in IKEA. I'm sure I've eaten something similar in IKEA's cafeteria.   I trammed & toddled my way to my hotel. But then, time and daylight were wasting! After quickly stowing my luggage in my room, it was my moment to orient myself to the...
Read more