Well, last weekend was spent in Bern with IAESTE. It was really good, the weather not so much but it didn't mar the experience. I'm glad to have seen the capital city (so small and quiet!) without a sea of football fans all over it. We began the weekend with a 30-odd km rafting expedition from Thun to Bern, which was hard work but good fun. We all got soaked to the skin, mainly because it poured down on us! Following this hunger-inducing trip we had a meal of Raclette and the rest of the weekend was taken up with sightseeing. I took a photo of a park that had more bins in it than I've ever seen in my life... maybe it was art??
Work through the week was slightly unsatisfying in that all the scans and reconstructions I carried out did not work. That's the thing about research though I suppose. It doesn't always work. I went to a couple of interesting talks on Friday and was much surprised that one of the guest speakers got his undergraduate degree at Aberdeen. He then went on the Cambridge and now is a boss type at Argonne National Laboratories, Chicago... I have different aspirations, but I still was really surprised that he went to little old Aberdeen!
I took a much needed shopping trip to Baden last week. I'm not a fan of shopping but I am pleased to report that I had a very successful trip and got everything I needed: I majorly needed flip flops and a rainjacket.
This week I am all on my own at work, left pretty much to my own devices while my entire team attend a conference in Zurich. Ah, by the way, you should check out - Super-Resolution X-ray Microscopy unveils the buried secrets of the nanoworld - This is what the team I am working with have recently had some success in. But yes, this week I am left to tweak the laser setup (tricky) and just work away generally. I think I should definitely get the website finished this week! I hope someone out there appreciates it...
PSI doesn't seem so busy at the moment - many people must be on holiday. I tend to forget that the majority of people go on holiday in the summer, because uni finishes quite early and after a week's break or so, I am working for the summer. Not that I mind though, not when work's like my current job and in an area where I can really live life to the full in the evenings and at weekends!
This past weekend I had another amazing camping experience. We had originally intended to travel towards the Italian-speaking part of the country, towards Pontresina, but with the weather forecast less than we hoped for, we didn't venture so far. Instead we went back to the mountains around Lucerne, this time staying at a campsite right on the edge of Lake Lucerne. I found the views breathtaking. I love the green of the mountains against the blue of the sky. We took a really nice, relatively demanding 5 hour hike up to an altitude of 1800m. Following that, some kayaking in the lake ensue
d! It is not the easiest sport, but it felt great and I marvelled at swimming in a beautiful valley after a hard day of activity. Jason, who is like the kayaking master, taught us the basics. It was a thoroughly good weekend. For this coming weekend there is nothing too much planned - perhaps a day trip to hike, and maybe a visit to Basel. We don't want to spend too much money because the following weekend Bennie and I will take a 4-day weekend and go camping, maybe even into France or Italy. I'm looking forward to it :)
I shall upload photos - from the barbecue that has been, from gatherings, Bern and camping. I'm considering making them all a bit more organised.. but I guess you'll see if they are or not when you get there ;)
I will leave you with the sights and sounds of the Swiss mountains. I moved a bit fast towards the end of the film, but it should give you some sort of idea as to the atmosphere!
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