Think of all the beauty...

Instead of the quick hour-long nap I intended, I wound up sleeping for three and a half hours, so I decided to do the Rijksmuseum the next day and walked over to the Jordaan, which is a funky little neighbourhood near the Anne Frank Huis. I spent the first part of my walk learning how not to get run over by cyclists.

Here's the thing: there are no stop signs in downtown Amsterdam. A few major intersections have lights, but mostly you count on common sense to

That's more like it: First morning and barely a hitch... sort of...

Note: Not every photo I took will be posted in the blog. To see them all, click on the link to my photo albums.

Tuesday morning: I got off the plane, and despite being one of the last off, managed to be one of the first at the customs gate.  I presented my passport, was asked how long I was staying, stamped, and passed through in a matter of minutes.  I was ready for a bit more of an inquisition. But no "how will you be returning?"  No "how do you intend to support yourself while you're here?"  Just a "you need a visa to stay more than 90 days.  Have a good visit."  To tell the truth, I was a little disappointed. I'd practiced and everything! Getting my luggage was also really quick; my bag was the fifth one off the plane.  Wow! If the rest went this smoothly, I'd be walking around Amsterdam in about an hour...

My next bit of fun was finding the ticket machines to catch the train from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam Centraal.  I knew, from reading

Oh, that was very nearly not a good start...

I'm here! Hello, Amsterdam. Thank you for not raining yet.

So, Aged P drove me to the airport yesterday, and after we left I realized that I'd forgotten to do several important things, like empty the rest of the tea from the pot and toss the veggies and milk that won't keep from the fridge -- oh, yay, something to look forward to when I get home! However, I couldn't worry too much about it because I WAS ON MY WAY!

Having checked in online, I got through the dropping off the bag process very quickly, although my suitcase seemed to have gained a kilo on the way to the airport. The very nice lady behind the counter said "Well, we can't

...And she's off!

ETD: 5:55 pm

Next stop: Amsterdam!

This is how I roll...

I have a problem.  It's not a full-blown addiction, yet, but I know it's only a matter of time.  My name is PhysicsGirl, and I like pretty, shiny things.

Earrings, mostly.  Some women have a shoe thing; I have an earring thing.  Ever since I finally talked Aged P into letting me get my ears pierced at age thirteen, I've been collecting dangly ear baubles.  I have decided that my major souvenirs from this trip will be earrings.  Which means I have another problem.

Better finished than perfect

Back at the dawn of the history of my 4 over 5 (so, um, five years ago), I thought "wouldn't it be neat if I, having spent some time in Paris and other parts of Europe, didn't have to fly home with all my carefully considered purchases but could sail home across the Atlantic, as they did in the olden days?"  It turns out you can, on the Queen Mary 2. 


Part of the fun of the voyage on a transatlantic liner is that you get to dress up for the occasion.  There are

Ada Lovelace Day: Caroline Herschel probably didn't have to worry about the pronunciation...

In honour of Ada Lovelace Day, which you can read about here, I've pledged to blog about a woman in science.  In keeping with the theme of this blog,  I'll tell you that one of the sights I hope to see in Bath is the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, former home of Caroline and William Herschel.  William Herschel was the guy who discovered a planet he called "George's Star," but which later became known as Uranus, thereby ensuring grief for future science teachers.

His sister, Caroline (1750-1848), was a medal-winning astronomer in her own right, as well as a lovely singer.  She was the first woman to officially discover a comet (she discovered a grand total of 8) and did a lot of the grunt calculations for her brother.  She even got paid as his assistant when William was appointed King's Astronomer (which in my uneducated opinion was pretty good for that time).

You can read about her on MacTutor here.  I like the idea of Gauss visiting her in her old age, because "when you hear the name Gauss, you must bow."


I leave you with a link to a poem by Adrienne Rich.  Happy Ada Lovelace Day, everybody!

7 Days Was All She Wrote...

About this time next week, I'll be stepping off a plane to the cheerful sounds of someone saying "Goedenmorgen" and "Let op de afstap!" (or whatever the Dutch is for "Watch your step!") I'd like to say I'm practically ready to go, but the truth is there is still rather a lot that needs to be done.

Many things have been taken care of: Aged P and I had a successful Skype trial. I have almost everything I need for the trip, including tickets. I have been practising tying scarfs à la française. I've fixed the major issues with The Dress... but...

Two weeks to go...

I've put travel stops on my cable/internet and newspaper.  I decided to save money and not put my mail on hold, since the housemates can put it in a basket for me.  I've arranged for top-up medical insurance and some more fun things to do.  I have been spending some serious quality time with guidebooks and downloading all sorts of free walking guides.



I have acquired a global sim card, a quad-band cell phone (that works only occasionally -- obviously I need to exchange it), some euros, pounds, and US dollars.  I exchanged my old Visa card for a chip-and-pin.  I have started acquiring mailing addresses for postcards.  I'm tweaking the Dress as we speak; it should be completely finished by tonight.  Finally!

All I have to now is mend a bunch of clothing and plan out what I'm taking with me, as well as make an organizer for my earrings.

I'm starting to freak out.  I'm sure there is something major I have forgotten.

They know me so well...

My favourite piece of advice from the Girls' Guide to Paris: pack a collapsible suitcase.  Done!