Deciphering Travel

Piece of me !

2011-01-25T10:57:00.000+03:00

Hello Guys!

Been ages since i wrote. No blame game here but work + squash + christmas + new year + first wedding anniv = me breathless. This is a lil intro to me :) I rem writing this when i was totally jobless and lazying around at home on a moody day - March -09. Will update the list soon. So, now you can have a piece of me !

1. I dont know who came up with this idea of writing random things ...but it sure is fun !!! especially when im a lil jobless atm..LOL !! Yipee !!!!

2. My first name is sweety, but I'm totally opposite to what it really means.. :)

3. I love walking, my best walk that I ever had was in Dublin, greystones to Bray, bright sun, beautiful weather, full of strength, I jumped, ran, danced, sang, laughed. and ended up with a ligament tear.

4. Never ask me to sing, It’s better to play an instrument...I sing and keep on singing...it’s hard to get me to stop. I don’t sing in toilets, I sing on the phone...A lot !! One of the few ways to keep the person at the other end shut their mouth !!

5. I once won a prize for having the ‘best smile’ back in Alain..:)

6. I use every chance I can to talk about God, even in the smallest matters because He is the truth to my existence..:)

7. 2008 is the year I celebrated the most happiest birthday of my life. Totally taken aback by the 4 huge b’day cakes and all the love..:)

8. I do miss some aspects of other times and places in my life, for example staying at #1, Shastrinagar with the gals and having unlimited fun!!!

9. My energy level is very predictable...you can sense them from the way I talk..:)

10. I love twix and die hard fan of leonidas chocs and haagen das icecream!! ..Its the next best thing to me!!!

11. I enjoyed my student life, infact – the best years of my L.I.F.E!!:D

12. Almost every thursday I used to disappear into a fantasy land of my own, I move away from the crowd that always go yap yapa yappin.. "Neverland". Never has anyone been there except me. I can’t think of any person who fits in to come along with me..There are a few that pester me to take them along, but i bet they still have a lot of growing up to do..lol..:P..( sorry eric)

13. I dont know a thing about soccer, though I live in a country close to where the Premier league action is.. I know David Beckham. And I supported Manchester United for 2 hours, only because i had to yield in to a blackmail!!!

14. I support and cheer for Anshu.. Both of us together are warriors ..buhahaha..:D

15. Given a chance, I would travel all around the world.

16. I drive, the only thing is I dont have a licence.

17. God has been so good to me, through thin and thick, explains faith as oen of my best assets..:)

18. I love to dance, though in my heart I still wonder if it really is a good source of stress busting

19. My favourite song is ‘History Maker’ by Delirious and others come and go..:)

20. I can read Arabic and speak a little bit of german. Most used german word,is Danke schön!

21. I spent a substantial amount of my time in Ireland standing infront of RCSI, like a damsel looking out of her window, waiting patiently for the prince who comes to rescue the princess and catch the very drop of tear that streams out of her eyes...The result??? Ask

22. I get high singing gospel music with the rest of band members at church .

23. I haven’t had a pet till date –reason-doggophobia but some day hope of owning a Chihuahua :)

24. Well, I couldnt stop there. .I have to say more.... But i guess that’s all

The Ghentian Spell !

2010-09-14T14:15:00.001+03:00

Too much write ups on life! I guess i h've been donning the 'thinking cap 'a li'l too long , so abandoning it till its gets back ! So back to travel memoirs. I’m gonna write up about my trip & stay at Ghent & Brussels at Belgium.

The flight took just 2 hrs to get to Brussels, but early hours = less sleep, restricted baggage allowance= packing everything to a 20 kilo luggage carrier for a 2 month stay = Hopeless? The moment we touched down Brussels, ran around clueless but finally arrived destination via three connecting trains .The heavy baggages , long hours at the airport, slow immigration clearance made the journey impossibly tiring. So, we decided to leave Brussels out for another day and stuck to getting down & sightseeing Ghent.

Now, when I’m referring to ‘we’ , I mean ‘K’ & I. “K” & I went to post grad school together and even though we come from different backgrounds, countries, cultures, traditions…( fill up the rest by your selves), we got along well and she still remains to be one of my closest allies till date. The course required us to take up modules at other European Universities and Ghent was the first of ‘em.

Getting back to where I left, we arrived at Brussels and took three connecting trains and finally reached ghent. We, checked in at out student accommodation and went for a stroll around the city.

Alas, Ghent is magical ! The city has the effect to make you feel like u have lost the present age and have been deported to the old European Renaissance Period but another sect equally competes for boasting of having anything and everything technologically advanced. We walked around gaping at the UNESCO heritage sites, the Gravensteen Castle, the huge metallic spider web, the city centre, the malls and yes! By the river!

I fell in love with the Castle, the Church, the bridges, the buildingsJ. So appalled by the European architecture, I could n’t help stare at some of the buildings speechless to which another pal ‘C’ remarked, “ Guys, these buildings look like the miniature ones I put up during decorating the house for Christmas ” ‘C’ is of an Italian heritage but second generation Canadian immigrant. C was a fellow classmate as well and three of us decided to step out out student accommodations to check Ghent out!

Along the three weeks we covered the Belfry, St Nicolas Church, St. Michael’s church , St Bavo Cathedral with the ghent alterpiece, the gravensteen castle and the architecture along graslei harbor. A personal favourite was the latter where I used to love hanging out whenever I could! Hopefully, The ghent authorities should take notice of the number of times I visted the graslei and rename it as ‘S’ harbor or something: P

The post office, old but huge and very much intact inspires one’s architectural understanding. The meat hall caught my eye as well. Some of the paintings seen at St Bavo Cathedral by Reuben & Bosch educated me on the same yet so take me by surprise by their deep rooted, well known characteristic paintings.

We walked around, bought some necessities & grocery and got back to the student accomod. Retired early to begin fresh for the beginning of a new course at a different school from host tomorrow!

I loved my student room, the facilities were so-so but I simply loved the window right above my ceiling in the centre. I could watch the stars and moon in the night drifting away to slumber land in the night and in the mornings wake up to a room flooded with sunlight right in the centre.

But, the window still didn’t keep me from strolling and wandering around ghent. I feel, the air at Belgium is so distinctively specific- love the waffles, chocolates, oyster clams, frites with mayo--- Btw, did you know that French fries did not originate from France and it did from Belgium. Belgium is divided into two areas, the Flemish region speaking , the wallon region speaking french & german and Brussels, the capital is bilingual.During the World War 2 , frites with mayo got very popular and the Americans who went back termed the dish as ‘ french fries’ and thus the misnomer stuck. Both K & I went on a waffle tasting spree and finally awarded the best one to a wafflemaker at the Kornmarket.

As Victor Hugo rightly puts in "Gent- It is a marvelous city, the meeting place of four rivers, the Scheldt, the Lys, the Lieve and the Moere. A network of streaming water dividing the town into 26 islands. With its barges, its bridges and the reflection of the old facades in the water, Ghent is a kind of Venice of the North”, I had to agree that nothing else could ever better this description of the beautiful land.

School was interesting but loaded with assignments and scores of literature to go through for the written testand though we were occupied through the day, we ventured out in the evenings catching up with the city happenings, shopping, tasting local delicacies & spending time with other classmates.

We frequented ‘S’ pad since he was the best Indian cook and quite a dear teddy bear with a huge heart ! Our class was a mix from all corners of the world, from Canada to Vietnam and it was a great experience to exchange information, experience and have fun together yet in a foreign land. During the Three weeks at Ghent, we went for two field trips, one to the Grolsch distillery at Netherlands & to the Duvel factory in Belgium. It was also somewhat confusing to hear that the ‘Abbey beers’ produce by priests are some of the best Belgian in the world. And to think a priest can brew a beer which can turn it to a best seller!!!

'A' also joined us for frequent walks to the city centre & waffle tasting :) ‘A’ is a Mexican, smart, amicable person and a very health conscious one :P. I remember, we used to jog giant laps at 5 am in the morning at ghent and do gym& swimming back at Dublin. The jogs were more like a brisk walk session for her and more of hardcore panting sessions for me due to excessive running to keep up with her. Gradually, i gave up trying to pace with her while she finished another two more laps :)

The end of class, due hard core examinations saw us passing out to be happy & relieved master brewers but all of us missed the GHENTIAN spell we were in while we relocated to the next one.

Over due one!

2010-08-03T23:29:00.001+03:00

Originally to be posted 8 days back!

I love this month! Long waiting period’s come to an end! Managed to get the driver’s license! ‘B’s progress at work front! Met some great people, bracketed in ‘my cherish list’. Ah!! So many things happening! Slow Down World!!

I’m thoroughly elated and ecstatic about the sudden events & a transparent face value is genuinely hard to control. Now, to those wondering, “What the heck is she blogging about?” ---- No Q’s & A’s sessions, just getting down point blank to some inference gained in the run! Why do we humans, tend to celebrate and be proud of ‘the happy state of mind’? Why don’t we give any credits to the preceding low phase, which changed almost everything including developing better individual skills like patience, perseverance, humbleness and others? Not to mention the far sightedness, practicalities of the world?

Most of us are taught to qualify written exams and not to create awareness in ourselves: P. Experience, they say, is the best teacher and I guess, time proved it true in my life.

Over the past few months, I argued, struggled, grumbled and came to acceptance with the truth to the question, “What is the pursuit to happiness?”A ‘fancy, flashy’ lifestyle sounds tempting but maybe a ‘dutiful’ or ‘world saving’ lifestyle would seem focus driven! Many thoughts filled the vacuum in my head and I realized its human minds that conceive notions and barricade ‘mind thinking levels’. Create a mindset and try to live up to it or by it! --- Sounds like a software program to attain ‘happiness’:D

In short, each individual is ‘just one who tries to emulate/ live up to ‘another individual’s perception. Now, you know why those ‘ never ending’ soap operas in TV channels get high TRP’s and how cliché movies run packed houses?

For me, ‘the phase’ lasted months and while ‘sulking to contentment’ took a life time to manifest, i gained knowledge each and every day! Reading my ‘reference guide’, meditation & implementation helped me analyse problems in a different light. I, began to notice the subtle changes including new found traits ‘perseverance, patience, contentment & inherent joy’ materializing. The build-up of negative energy slowly started to drain away, giving in to constructive ideas, methods & plans. My better half, ‘B’ supported me a huge chunk, nodding to all my ploys & ideas :)

Reality Check: Self realization is a must and helps each one of us to be better individuals !

“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.” - Richard Wright

How random things can change your outlook to life!

2010-06-22T07:25:00.014+03:00

I'm one of those lucky lot who hates having to do much in the kitchen :)Its a candid confession, so imagine my surprise how i got hooked on to baking one fine jobless week end?

It all began, with me craving for an apple pie- yes as simple as that! The last time i had an amazing scrumptious apple chocolate tart was at Brioche Dorée, Paris in 2008 !It was bloody expensive at 5 Euros but well worth it! After that I kept having apple tarts and pies occassionally but all of them tasted something like concentrated apple & sugar syrup with some processed apples wrapped in flour!

(The pic shows my travel partner 'k' infront of the Brioche Dorée Outlet, Paris before we gulped down the tart :P)

Dean & Deluca opened doors to Doha last month and since i have neither been to the US or any of its international stores, i was quite apprehensive about their pâtisserie!I walked into the store accidently with a friend after movies and ended up buying an assortment of pastry goods and among them included an apple pie at QR 18 ( i could find only that pie/tart which had apple in it). Tasted it and it was a slight dash of heaven found on earth for a milli second! Fresh apples baked to perfection that the juices are bubbly with a faint lemon tinge and a layer of fresh cardamoms processed with syrup above the sliced apples with flaky crust!

The taste invoked my senses and fostered in me a courage and excitement to bake something on my own. Well, the reality is I have neither baked any pastries/cakes before or even seen any one bake and my education gives me an upper hand in food engineering, processing & food safety parameters, not how to make them. In simple words, I have always been a mediocre cook- a label i use to explain, "What ever i cook sticks to being edible and ensures your nourishment but taste is compromisable" :)

The experiment at kitchen began on a saturday evening, stuck by baking a carrot cake, advocating it to family at the pretense of nutrition value of the dish than edibility :P

Three hours later, when my significant other tasted the cake, his face expression brought an inherent delight and smile to my face!Later folks & friends who tasted the cake loved it and some of them could'nt believ that it was my first attempt! Eureka ! I did it !For me, baking a cake required great guts and the probability that it came out well was more like a fairy mother smiling my way but i baked another carrot cake two days later and reviews were positive!

The new found appreciation and interest propogated me to bake a strawberry chocolate cheesecake two weeks later and it looks like i have finally found something in the cooking world which seems to make me happy as well as others!

Reflecting back, there are so many things in our life which we fail to tread on,fear of failure, lack of interest, laziness all sums up some of the reasons! But, when there is a definite life span laid down for you in this world, don't you think 'venturing in' is definitely worth a try? Maybe you'll end up baking a great cake or at least you'll know that you tried baking a cake and it turned out to be a shortbread :)

"Do not know yourself. I want to continue to surprise me".
Arielle Dombasle

Relationships - keeping it alive

2010-05-24T10:46:00.006+03:00

Today as im sitting down to write this blog, i thought of penning down something on life and so here it goes :

This world we are living in,is pretty strange and harsh to some of us esp in terms of relationships, be it friendships, family or courtship - all have to surpass mountains of patience, endurance, faithfulness & temptations ! But, the bright side is , if suceed in keeping the relationship during the lean phase, it just means the relationship is the one and just meant to be ! Cheers to that!

Recently I met up with a friend 'T' after 13 years, We went to high school together, were consecutive lab partners in all science subjects for 3 years straight and then after school we just lost in touch! So, it was really great to catch up this old friend after such a long time and indeed she has morphed into this classy, elegant home maker who has developed an interest to simple modernity incorporated into her home interiors and carried out as an extension to her living.

At 25, She is a proud mum of 1.5 year old baby boy 'A' who seems to be running around handling balls, play guns and table tennis bats. A gorgeous smiles erupts on the lil one's face as soon as you pass on a ball. We sat down to have a chat reliving old school memories and sharing experiences , tastes and differences.
It did feel nice to go down memory lane and made me wonder how easily we can erase a relationship by writing off contacts maintaining 'the i'm busy - no time to keep in touch' principle ?

The incident also made me think over how i met my pal-turned husband? 'B' & I went to college together but we also got to be acquainatnces in the third year of college. After years of getting to know each other, when he professed love, although we knew our frequencies matched , we just decided to wait and see whether, 'we'were 'the one' for each other. Patience & Love - Strong Stuff ( Never underestimate either one of them).I would be lying if i say God didnt have any role to play. He is the best matchmaker and led us to take our vows early this year.I can't help thanking God for 'The One'in my life!

Relationships can be made and broken by man! When you embark on one,it leaves us the decision either to nurture and care for it or strain and uncared. Our life on earth is numbered, so as long as we're here, lets try our bit to make a lil bit of heaven on earth :)

Today,give a stranger one of your smiles.It might be the only sunshine he sees all day - P.S I Love You

Life at Alain , U.A.E

2010-04-21T17:56:00.007+03:00

Born and raised for most part of my shelf life, at Alain in Abu dhabi, UAE gave me a casual outlook of the Middle east. Yes, Petrol, Oil, Camels, Dates, Shawarma, Sand & Sun - all sum up the middle east and UAE is no exception! But, the modern architecture continues to daze any single soul who's been based at UAE for the last 20 years or more! Every time I go to Dubai- the business capital, I find new roads and new complexes sprouting up in record time!!

Alain is an oasis city, quite an inherent part of Abudhabi-the capital and very different from the other emirates of UAE.An hour and half drive from Dubai and Abudhabi, through dunes, farm; cattle rearing takes you to the destination. Alain is surrounded by picturesque, Rocky Mountains and sand dunes. It also forms the eastern border of UAE separating from Sultanate of Oman. Known as the Garden city of UAE, Alain attracts UAE Sheikhs & Expats to enjoy the parks, springs, history.

Visual Attractions at Alain include Alain National Museum, Jebel Hafeet , mineral springs, restored forts, oasis’s all around, Zoo and numerous parks and amusement park ‘Fun city’. My favourite spot include a mineral spring named ‘Green Mubazzarah’ . This was late His Highness Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan- the late President’s pet project which saw acres of desert converted to greenery and springs are channelized to form streams which in turn leads to a lake. A glimpse of this place in the night would often tempt people to think they were holidaying at the never ending green pastures and mountains in Vienna or Czekh Republic. The springs are at the foot rest of a huge mountain called the ‘Jabel Hafeet’ about 1250 m and form a beautiful view from any part of the city.

Modern day huge malls and leisure developments have given impetuous to accessibility. Alain is also home to Alain FC- football club which plays at National and Asian level. Alain also has an go-karting track which has been opened to the public since 2008. Camel racing is also a common sport which the Sheikhs indulge in! Duning, Desert Safari are very common.

Idea of writing a travel blog

2010-04-01T09:49:00.008+03:00

Oops !

I almost forgot abt the ( not too often blogging) i indulged in. The last updated blog - march 2009? :P

Well, I'm not one of those types who can either keep a daily account of life or record daily bills so, why not convert the all 'happenings in my life blog' to a travel blog? :)- something that i can't stop if i start :)

I think , i inherited the travel gene when Vasco da Gama landed In India. Dunno why but he clung to be an inspiration during those history lessons back in high school .Surprisingly, history began to fascinate me and since then i nurtured a dream - to see the world.

So, here after, I'm gonna be blogging about the places i hve visited, stayed and vacationed. An insight to some of the best places in the world through my view :)

So, there you go! Destinations, Details n Fun lined up ahead as time travels!!

Two months post 08

2009-03-01T22:19:00.005+03:00

Life sure amazes me , in fact in many ways.. At times I get the feeling that life is moving on and Iam holding on to the past just too much but at even times, I believe God defines each of the phase in our lives..

Sadly, some times we tend to overlook the 'highs' as minimum tenure and choose to concentrate more on the 'lows'.I know it's quite a depressing phase but believe me, I was on the verge but thankfully, I know and believe that God has a plan for me and Jesus is a part of his plan..

To top up my difficulties, I acquired a ligament tear on my left leg :P

Come tomorrow, Iam back on crutches..and I guess its back to reading and understanding more the word of God when I have the time and that is now.Visa renewal can wait for a week, leaving me to be an illegal resident here till then...:D

I miss the hi phase :P but Im sure when i emerge of the low phase, I will be a better individual and will learn some thing new of the whole experience and grow closer to God..Because He lives, i can face Tomorrow :)

Talk abt Refiner's fire :)

A great birthday weekend..

2008-09-28T00:57:00.003+03:00

hiya...

been a long time since i scribbled down but was actually busy trying to fit in at work..trying not to make those absent-minded errors n paying good amount of concentration..week pulled off fine..but teh week end was absolutely great..my friend V got down to dublin from wexford for the week end and as her bday was on monday,i shooted off and gave her a huge surprise today..All five of my ex house mates took a day off at work and we headed to bray where we played in the beach and park..we finally gave a surprise to 'V' by thrusting a huge black forest cake infront of her where she cut the cake and we had a great irish dinner at a nearby restaurant.It was a gals night out..slept over at 'V's place..next day woke up and i planned a small itenary to the outskirts of dublin called dalkey..we visited the remais of dalkey castle,church and saw the small village around..took a ferry to the dalkey island..it was fun..we were there for teh next hour and half taking pictures and running all over the island to cover it all..the best bday ever..celebrating it on an island with sum goats ...lol..it was fab..something which none of us had ever done before and quite adventorous.At the island,We ran into none other than Irish Butlers Chocolate cafe's Co-Owner Ms 'M',got introduced to her husband and her two kids,'A' and 'J' - Indian origin but irish brought up..God bless her and her business..She has a great heart..Only after we visited Doleky,did we actually get to know,Dolkey is similar to Beverly Hills in USA.All the famous celebrities like Enya,Bono of U2 band etc stay put there..We did glance through the mansions ..Quite a dreamplace..We concluded Dolkey with dinner at an Italian restaurant,had lovely pasta and choc cake with vanilla icecream..got back to city and pushed off home..i Got back to Ashtown and 'V' to her place..I hope i made her bday memorable this year,coz in a months time she relocates to Dubai soon.."Meeting and Parting is a way of life"Some people leave impressions in you for life and 'V' is one of them"..I will definitely miss her but will always hope and pray the best for her...

awrite, me signing off..tc..good night..

Sunday...

2008-09-14T20:55:00.000+03:00

friday didnt go all that bad..the party went great..although i was dressed in rags,i thought the time im here ,i am not gonna regret later thinking on how i missed the oppurtunity...the dinner was delicious and it happened to be a farewell party for a manager as well..everything went fine..by 11 pm everyone hit the dance floor,i just left all worries and got o the floor with pam..he he..we rocked the stage...more like we just enjoyed dancing non stop till 1 am even though the dj played more of 70's songs...we even manged to rope netta into dancing in one of her westlife number's..lol..the funny part was i danced with my lab partners too..had fun..one of them dropped me home...bless her.

today went fine..had a great time at church.latey i hve been upsetting the Big Man a lot...we sorted out today and felt good to be in his presence..I decided to be more orderly..getting up at 6 am everyday and gona go for walking/jogging..head back home,shower and head to research centre..after work get back and relax a bit and start up with lit reviewing...(high time)..

i kinda feeling a lil hollow today..but dont worry,i awlays get those feelings once in a while but teh Big man makes me whole..Iam sure i should be more patient and rest on him..he h..forgot to mention this..bro sends me an email on dating tips..i dont believe this..hilarious..anyways ..he did mention a lil list he wants me to get when i get down home in three weeks time..i better start shopping one by one..arrrggghhh..

Insignificant lab bug!

2008-09-12T16:25:00.002+03:00

My life isn't all that great at the moment.the lab exp got screwed because the 15 hr duration odf analysis was cut to 5 hour analysis thanks to faulty plate counter..and one of the blank sample got contaminated..even though i pipetted in the laminarhood..talk about faulty lab researcher with her faulty plate reading machine..as a result, my hard work for three days got screwedup,and the merciless bugs ( e coli) ,i just let them grow in the waste bin with no food,no air and ultimatley kill them on monday.. they deserve it,fancy them; getting contaminated and not give me any readings( i refuse to see my carelessness)....I just have to get back on mon and start with the 3 day exoperiment all over again..(groan)..

I am even more terrorised about the fact ,currently my supervisor has gone to norway to attend an important conferemnce..When she gets back,think she is gonna get mad at me for not getting any readings..have u ever had those days when u feel like ure worse than the most insignificant bug in the lab?yeah guess,today was my day...blimey..

To top it all,I forgot that today was the Annual Summer Barbecue Dinner Party held at my office.One look at the rest room mirror and i feel so under dressed,in a blue jean and a very normal tee with hair pulled back with no make up on...I cant believe that some of my lab mates have actually taken half day,rusehd home to get dressed for the big event..Iam gonna look like a lost soul..total freak..

I wish i was a lab bug..could grow and give results to my researchers..just be not fussy at all..The only good thing about today is its a friday and this week end, iam gonna relax and stay put at home..k..gtg...

Psst : The person in the pic is my pal Zhou - how he retaliates with incompetant lab procedures :P

monday blues..

2008-09-10T00:21:00.000+03:00

have u ever had those times when everything and everybody annoys u..yea..yesterday was one of those days for me..jeez..bro lectures me to get a guy (becoz im aging..just 23 going on 24 yrs),and esp gives an intro to his pal thru fb..even when he knows i kinda admire sumone else and sumday might strike off with the special person..tough luck.convincing my bro is next to impossible ,so i figure out..its better to lie low and quiet till nagging part is over and look for meas off escape from him..

destiny- not my side .,kept making mistakes at work..got some contaminated pathogen results and just didnt get any lab results..infact the microorganism in the nutrient culture just refused to grow..my boss kept giving stern looks but i preferred to ignore them and act as though i was so keen into what i was doing...after lab,as i got geared all to go home,it started raining...deluge..omg...wet to my bones when i reached home...

Home sweet home..i quickly took a hot shower and head up to kitchen and to my surprise...no ready to eat food..and iam too lazy to cook..satisfied munching a kellogs cereal bar with a glass of cold milk i went to my bed...maybe i should do something more constructive tomorrow..

Week end trip to Kerry

2008-09-09T17:40:00.006+03:00

hmmm..just got back from a week end trip to another county..felt almost like another part of the world..quite true when people say that after paying a visit to county kerry,people cant get back to normal routine in dublin..everything about kerry and dublin is quite contrasting..(atleast it appears to me..lol..) maybe felt more evident because im stuck in a lab job from morn 9 am to 5 pm..

my lab skills are ......,but thanks to my super supervisor,its kinda improving..lol..anyways getting back...the trip was fun..road trip to one of the most beautiful part of ireland..completed the ring of kerry and drove along dingle bay..visited the aquarium, muck ross house, torc waterfalls...heavenly..well deserved break..but too short..back to lab...studying pathogens..