Peale Island -- Day 1

I was going to wake up early and get a run in before we spent the a large portion of the day in one vehicle or another. But it was 5am and I had been up late trying to get packed. So I rushed to get everything ready and then get down to the HRC so I could unlock the building for the interns and then get the HHR ready to get down to Lake. I packed myself in and then grabbed Heidi and Trudy. Luckily, it was a fairly uneventful ride down to Lake and we made it there by 7:50. 10 minutes early for the ride.
We got on the boat and headed to the island. As usual, the ride was fantastic. I just love being on the research boat. On the way, we saw our first groups of pelicans. There were pelicans galore this weekend. So. Cool.
When we off-loaded, Trudy, Heidi and I grabbed our bags and headed for Peale Island while Eric and his dad went to check out some bays for aquatic plants. After we got set up, we headed over to help them look for more plants. This involved a lot of wading in the mud and letting me get touched by icky plants.
After a few hours of this, it was back to the island for dinner. Heidi and Trudy cooked up some burritos, including warming the shells. It was fabulous.
We then introduced Barry to the joys of Farkle. Eric had already played and we had a rollicking good time.

Brussels Day 1

We went with the Belgian Journeys company and our guide was owner Marie. She is a fabulous guide and had appointing she is very willing to share. Neuhaus? Not in her chocolate tour. #1 she doesn't like it; #2 they use palm oil in their chocolate.
Pralines in Belgium are all chocolate - not mixed with almonds
Started in Chocopolis -- looks tacky/touristy but is local and they are the only company to ship anywhere in the world
There we got to taste a dark chocolate ganache (dairy free in Belgian) with chili -- nice and smooth and then, POW!
The. We walked over to the next stop and saw some history along the way.
Picture of the "Royal" area, palace, library, etc.
Museum of Music -- art nouveau
Brick building closeup is of an art nouveau building (ransom, just a neat building)
Confiseer - buys chocolate that is already made, melt it down and create from there
Chocolatier - buys cocoa beans and creates their own chocolate
At the second shop, Frederic Blondeel, Marie had us stop and smell. It was a fabulous: all fresh chocolate.
Marie told us she likes to start with single origin, then have an old favorite and then end with something experimental (flowers, etc.)
So we got a 73% chocolate from Papua New Guinea and then we got to choose between bay leaves/basil/peppercorn, black pepper, and citronella and THEN a choice between a milk praline hazelnut, a raspberry caramel, passion fruit caramel, and sea salt caramel) and THEN a ganache with Christmas spices and run
We went to the next stop, Pierre Marcolini, which was very busy but our guide took us up to the second (third) floor which had a thick carpet but it was fake grass which was interesting to sit on.
Marcolini was a pastry chef until he developed a gluten intolerance and then turned to chocolate
First chocolate was 75% chocolate from Madagascar. He makes tea with chocolate but also makes chocolate with tea -- we tried the Earl Grey Tea. Not Dad's favorite
And third we tried a chocolate that had a paste inside with cardamom. Interesting. That's all I've got for that one. Interesting.
On the way to the last chocolatier, we passed the medieval wall of Brussels. It is in Flemish territory but it is different.
Then we passed the Mannekin Piss, the official symbol of Brussels. The first one was put in in the 14th Century. Then it was replaced in the 17th Century when it was stolen. The last time it was stolen was the 1970s and it washouts in the river with its legs cut off.
We stopped in Grand Place which has existed as a square since the 12th century. It was mostly razed by Louis XIV's troops in the 1500s (except for the tower.
We went through the Royal Galleries (picture of the open air arch). Very Fancy Shops (Shoppes?)
Our last sweet shop was Meert which originally opened in 1761 (but only opened at this location in the last 5 years). We got to choose two and I got the Yuzu (lime from Japan) and the sea salt the Marie recommended.
The first beer stop was a puppet theatre. There are low fermentation beers (quick to make, most of the well-known beers e.g. Corona, Heineken, Budweiser). High fermentation is for the more complex beers (ales). Spontaneous fermentation (lambic beers from Brussels). We tried a cherry lambic, not sweet.
11 Trappist beers in the world, 6 in Belgium (only one in the States).
Duvel - like beer and champagne had a baby
The fries in Belgium are deep-fried in beef fat
We tried a stout which was good
Double and Triple beers -- beer used to be 3%, 6%, and 9% alcohol (so three, two times three, and three times three).
We had a round with Manchego and bread and then some salami and Serrano.
Apparently fresh hops and fresh weed smell very, very similar since they are in the same family.
The last beer was an IPA on the sweet side, not as citrus-y.
Then it was on to the oldest bar in town with traces into the 17th Century. I got a "girly" beer (another Kriek) while the "male" beer was the Trappistes Rochefort 8. Mortsubite.

Notre Dame and bus tour

We started off with a Metro trip to Notre Dame. After an hour spent in quiet contemplation, we hedges off for a bus tour. It was really nice to spend a few days on foot and then a day sitting and getting the whole overview of the city (and get to listen to interesting Frencc music relating to the areas we're in
And you learn a little bit about the whole history of France. Like the fact that this tour really likes to talk about the .salacious side of France, referring to Henry IV as a philanderer (twice) and talking about what people got up to after beheadings (brothels were involved.) students went in search of the lowlife in the disreputable areas near <jardins>
The picture of the Eiffel Tower includes a look at the statues in the Trocadero, seven men and one woman.
It takes 60 tons of paint to recover the Eiffel Tower
We also experienced some excitement when a motorcyclist went around the bus and we all went flying forward when the driver hit the brakes. Seatbelt are a good thing
he obelisk is the oldest monument in Aris

June 6 in Paris

An example of breakfast:

Paris Walks -- Notre Dame with Chloe

The Notre Dame Cathedral used to be a temple to Juno

I think this is the Hall of Justice

The spire (see picture) was added in the 18th century by a man named La Duke who really captured (some say invented) the Gothic style. Though he took many liberties.

Chloe really getting into it

Oldest working clock in Paris

Oldest Public clock in Paris dating back to 1894(?)
It was very noisy as we were on big public streets, Chloe had an incredible vocabulary throwing in words like "vertiginous" and "insalubrious" "palaver."
There are 36 bridges that cross the Seine in Paris
Picture of Man on the horse -- Henry IV town planner, made a lot of public places - Green and Gallant one
#36 where Maigret works
Notre Dame -- Key stone laid in 1150(?)



















We walked over to the Latin Quarter to eat lunch. Dad and Brian had been wanting sausages and they got... something orange? We also got some really awesome desserts including a locally made sorbet.

SLA conference in Vancouver - Day 1

Today was the first day of the trip that I had something work-related to do. Getting to the convention center was a breeze. I am totally on board with being close to the hotel to save on transportation. It was fantastic. 

The opening session was... an opening session. Lots of awards. The keynote speaker was pretty good looking at easy data and epidemiology. It was enlightening and a little scary. 

Then Jackie and I went to the Government meeting/60 Government sites in 60 minutes. There were some good sites listed.

SLA Conference

Every year, Jackie and I get to go to a library conference. Usually we go back and forth between SLA and WYLD or another smaller conference but for the past few years, we haven't really gotten to go anywhere. Last year, our check didn't get turned in in time for the SLA early bird rates and then our flight was was canceled to another one we were supposed to present at (we ended up Skyping our presentation). So, last October, we got set up for this year. I wasn't super-excited, because, last time, there wasn't much that I felt like I learned. This year, so much better. Plus, I was close to family (except for my parents who were in Montana.) Jackie and I went to go visit Breanna at her restaurant, David Burke's Primehouse. It was... beyond fantastic. I wish I had taken pictures of the food. It was... sublime. The trip was fun and I felt some very renewed energy in librarianship. Yay!

Where's Jackie?

Lake Michigan

Me and Bre

Great Falls

Finally writing a blog post in the same month as a trip.

Heidi had a training in Helena so she suggested that we all go up to Great Falls since she had been wanting to see the mermaid bar at the Sip 'n' Dip and one of my bucket list items was to ride a mechanical bull, the closest of which was at the Flamingo in Great Falls.
So, I left work early on Friday and picked up Trudy and Christie for the four hour ride up to Great Falls. It was an awesome ride up and when we got there, we used Trudy's Droid to check Trip Advisor for a recommendation for dinner. The number one restaurant in Great Falls was a

place called "Goode's Q and Bayou Grill." Of course, Fuddrucker's and Perkins also made the list so it was a little suspect but we still got in the car and headed over. What... an.. AWESOME... decision. It was about 20 minutes 'til closing and there was only one other table in the small restaraunt but we went in anyway. The staff was incredibly friendly and greeted us all with smiles and let us sit anywhere. As we were waiting to order, the owner himself came in and chatted with us. He was so impressed that we came over because of Trip Advisor that he ordered us an etouffe (the house special) for the table. Delicious food, wonderful atmosphere, will have to go back some time.

We then went over to the Flamingo where I had tracked down the only mechanical bull in montana. Or at least the closest one I could find. It was about 9:30 when we got there and it looked for a little bit like I might not get to ride the bull. They need at least eight people to sign up before they blow up the safety mat and there weren't enough people in the bar. We were all anxious to get over to the Sip 'n' Dip because we didn't want to miss the mermaid. Luckily, a big group of people came in and all wanted to ride the bull. So I got my $4 ($4!) ticket and waited my turn to ride the mechanical bull. I had no clue what I was doing but it was totally awesome. I ended up riding twice because Trudy (Thanks Trudy!) bought me another ticket. She and Christie also got to ride when some other folks dropped tickets off at our table.
We then went to the Mermaid Bar where the piano player was still in residence. She is probably older than dirt and doesn't sing, per, se, but is very fun. There are also two large windows behind the bar which look into the pool and, on the weekend, feature swimming mermaids. The picture on the left is me pretending to be a mermaid the next morning.
The next morning, we again consulted Trip Advisor and had breakfast at Five Loaves in Great Falls. It was okay. More of a coffee shop than a breakfast place but the coffee was excellent and my bacon and cheddar pocket was pretty yummy.
We then hit the Charles Russell Museum which was a dream of Heidi's to see.
On the road again, we stopped in Helena, which is actually a cute little place and also in Townsend, to see the glass blowing place there.