This blog post will be slightly different than ones in the past. I recently went to Europe on a work trip, but I was able to carve out a couple of days for my own adventures. I’m certainly not going to write about work, but the trip had several experiences that I want to remember - hence the post.
I had planned to go on a whirlwind trip with 2-3 days in each location (Dublin, Berlin, and Geneva) and the way schedules worked out, I had a free day in Dublin and another one in Geneva. In Dublin, I did some searching for what I could reasonably do in one day and found a tour bus that would take you up to the Wicklow mountains for a day. This is one of a handful of national parks in Ireland and the site of several major films (none of which I can remember the names of). The specific place I went off to was called the Glendalough - which is a series of lakes in a large glacial valley. There is a somewhat famous trail called the Wicklow Way which runs for 79 miles and crosses through Glendalough about halfway along it’s length. This was the trail I ended up hiking, following it up the valley for ~3.25 mi before turning back to catch the bus.
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The weather in Dublin had been sunny/warm for the last 3 days that I was there. This day, however, was one of the rainest in several months. I did have a rain jacket so I was mostly prepared (although my shoes were not the best as I came to find out). The trail was only slightly uphill the whole way out and it was paved or packed gravel - which made for easy walking. The trail started off near a hotel/restaurant and went along a relatively crowded lake where a lake swim was taking place. As is common on every hike I have been on, it was relatively empty once you made it a mile from the trailhead. That was especially true today given the rain.
Going past the lakes, there was some marshland to hike along and then an old mining encampment before the trail started into switchbacks and rising out of the valley. The mining camp was old - probably from the early 1800s and all that was left was a couple of rusted pieces of equipment (so much so that it was not clear what they were) and the rock framing from old huts. This was my stopping point as I was running short on time - and the bus was going to leave whether I was there or not I was told. I did make it back with about 10 min to spare.
After getting back into town, stopped off at a pub called “The Old Stand” to get a pint and some fish and chips. Notably, this was the first time I’d had “mashy peas” which were mashed up peas that looked like mashed potatoes. They were a little bland, but the rest of the meal was good. I also walked around a bit to see some of the statues and took a quick pic of the Guiness factory (didn’t have time for the tour, unfortunately, but I’ve seen this one on a past trip).
I didn’t have to much time to explore in Berlin, but did stop for a couple of good meals/drinks. I also got one of the prettiest poke bowls I’ve had - complete with crushed rose petals sprinkeled on top.
I had a bit more time to explore in Geneva and the first place on my list was to visit the CERN supercollider. The site is home to 7 particle colliders, including the 3 largest in the world. The biggest of which is the Large Hadron collider - a 27 km loop located 300 ft underground where particles are accellerated to 99.9% of the speed of light before they are smashed together. They give tours of the site that last ~2 hours lead by one of the physicists on the project. The tours are free (amazing) and I had read that they book out quickly. That ended up not being the case for me and I was on a tour ~15 min after arriving. We visited 3 sites - the origional collider (built in 1950), the proton collider, and one of three sites of the ATLAS experiment (where the higgs-boson particle was discovered). I enjoy physics and I think I understood most of the physics challenges faced here, but I found myself being much more drawn to the engineering challenges they faced - which were entensive in putting a 27 km loop 300 ft underground with sub millimeter tollerances in assembly. When the large hadron collider is running (which it wasn’t during my visit), it uses the equivelent energy of 50% of the city of Geneva - all of which is pulled directly from the electric grid. This is apparently one of the big points of contention with the collider - and why it wasn’t running given the energy challenges in the EU during my visit.
After the CERN visit, I took a stroll around lake Geneva - which was quite busy with boat, both personal sailing craft and large paddle-wheel ferries. I grabbed some early dinner and a drink on the water (at a very fancy restraunt) - which had a beautiful view.
Geneva is apparently known for a water fountain called the “Jet de’eau” - which literally just means water jet. The fountain apparently started as a hydro-plant release valve, but people liked the look of it so they turned it into a real attraction.
The following morning, I grabbed some very fancy breakfast at a restraunt near the Monument Brunswick - a monument in tribute to a duke who invested a lot in Geneva in the 1800s.
My partner meeting was 20 miles away from Geneva but still on Lake Geneva (at a town called Nyon). The paddle-wheel ferry had a stop in Nyon, so I decided it would be a good opportunity to have a small adventure on my way. The trip was beautiful and I spent most of it on the top deck watching the water and the boats go by.
I headed downstairs at the end of the trip and discovered that the engine/pistons were all open for viewing. I could even see the engineer watching for signals from the captain (through lights) to switch from forward to neutral to reverse - this was truly a historic craft.
And a small movie showing it work:
After Geneva, I headed back to Seattle. It was a beautiful, clear day and I was treated with a great view of Magnolia as we came in to land.
