3 of the last 4 weeks were conferences; after Marseille, Copenhagen

Comment I should've mentioned last time:
Part of going to Marseille involved the discovery that that is how you spell the name of the town (no "s"). I was quite surprised. 

Leaving Marseille/Luminy, I rolled out of bed at 7 am, ate breakfast, took the bus to the metro to the airport shuttle to a plane to Hamburg, landed around 13:00 hr, stopped in at the new apartment (to empty my suitcase and bag) and grabbed my new flatmate to help me move my stuff. It took about 3 or so hours of back and forth via the train, and not carrying too much stuff each time. I had bought a really nice inflatable bed for sleeping on ---I call it ''the cadillac of air mattresses'' (it even has memory foam!)-- which weighs a ton and was responsible for at least one of the trips almost on its own.  Then a celebratory dinner (hurrah new apartment!) and the next day I headed to Copenhagen/København (I've been told by my flatmate (who is a linguist) that the "p" sound I hear in "Køb" is probably "an unvoiced b; as German /b/s tend to be voiceless anyway, just weaker and unaspirated, this would explain the difference of perception" (that is, he hears it as a "b", even though I say it sounds like a "p")).

So, yeah. Just a bit busy over here.

I made it to Copenhagen and followed the treasure hunt-esque directions for picking up my keys to the room I was staying in. This involved walking towards the math department and ducking into a kiosk (think a super mini 7-11 which sells mostly booze and lotto tickets), where the confused guys behind the counter handed me a sheet telling me the address&floor to go to and a key.  Ok. I ran into some other people there who were (also) interested in seeing the Eurocup final match (between Italy and Spain),  for which the conference organizers had planned a group trip to go to a public viewing.  I was put in charge of navigating the way there, and we stopped at an amazingly delicious restaurant full of tasty salads (not meaning lettuce + tomatoes, but more what you'd see at a Whole Foods or other such froofy delicatessen place), called''Det Exotiske Hjørne'', although the label on the window says ''eksotiske delikatesser'' and above the door it says ''sandwich''. I was called upon to help them figure out the menu (between being good at context clues and knowing a little Danish, I was reasonably helpful).

Saw the soccer game on a very large split screen (very big screen of the main game, two screens of the aerial configuration of the players, and one extra screen per team coach (very boring screens, those)) set up in Kongens Have (King's Garden). Good game. Even when it was clear Spain was going to win, they kept attacking anyway, forcing the game to be interesting and lively. Also, they won 4-0, which is probably a record.

It was really nice to be back in Copenhagen, especially with the weather so pleasant. It had decided (until Thursday morning) to be Summer there, which was warm(ish, during the day) and sunny. I learned some more Danish words (only written, not spoken, since the pronunciation is crazy) while there, and was very surprised when one of the German people there stated that he couldn't figure out any Danish at all. I pointed out the nearby signs and what they must mean:

"Cykel parkering forbudt" (Bicycle parking forbidden)
"Møbel i Kaelder"  (on a used furniture shop-- German "Möbel" is "furniture", "i" is in, "Kaelder" is "celler")

and the sign at the university, on the bathroom door (leading in, not exiting, which is weird) saying
"Har du vasket dine hænder?"  (hint: "Hände" is plural German for "hands")

I also learned that "Hoegarden" is pronounced roughly "Who-hah-den" (I didn't put the "r" in, because it's not the American "r", and it's even breathier than the (German) "r" in "Berlin").

Here's the symbol/seal/whatever of Copenhagen, which is a lot like Hamburg's:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

At the conference itself, there were plenary/invited talks by ''Grownups'' and 30 minute talks by the rest of us, and also an hour or so of ''Gong Show'' talks. This has a backstory; there was a conference at Oberwohlfach (German math mountain retreat center) in which people got up and gave 10 minute talks about their work, with the 10 minutes strictly enforced by one of the participants sounding a gong (that was, for some reason, there).  This conference in Copenhagen had managed to (also) secure themselves a gong, borrowed from the Mahjong club (I don't know why they owned it in the first place, but there you go):

GONG!

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Mid-week we had excursions. That is, a boat trip, and then people splintered off into a variety of other things (a trip to the beach (Amager Strand) or Christiania or some museums, e.g.). Here was the (incredibly mature and dignified) sign that we met by for our tour:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

First on our trip, we had a sunny view of Christiansborg Slot (the palace with the ruins of several castles underneath that I visited when I lived nearby):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

And then the building which houses the stock exchange there. It's topped with a weird narwhal-ish spire, like so:

Dragons?

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Here's our view (looking back) as we moved away towards the harbor proper:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

We passed by the canal that is/is surrounded by Nyhavn ("New Harbor"), which is trendy, expensive and quaint:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Nearby, there were sandcastles!

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Ok, enough of me being impressed by epic sandcastle building.

Here's some cool stuff in the harbor. The thing on the right is quite old; the brick/stone part is just basically a sleeve to protect the rest of the wooden crane mechanism sticking out. It's purpose was to install and remove the masts of ships (see, old). 

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Oldest royal ship around that's still functioning. It's a yacht (said by our guide "yakt''):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

The backside of the little mermaid. I think the tourists nearby make it clear how small she is. She's apparently lost her head several times. There's another copy in the Carlsberg brewery courtyard (they gifted her to the city), maybe they just make a cast off of that and go slap it back on.

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Blah blah old building that stuff was stored in (salt? eh.) blah blah 

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Biggest dome in Scandinavia (we wondered if it was the only one):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Nearby is the ''Black Diamond'', which is an extension to the (main?royal?) library:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

We then went back in from the harbor and were wending our way about the canals. We got to see some pretty cool boats.

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

We also passed pretty close to Christiania. This spire is close to there as well (and if you climb up it, you can see Sweden (Malmö, that is)):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

I love the next two pictures. Pretty as postcards.

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Every time we passed under a bridge, we were reminded to watch our heads. Before a bridge (by Christiansborg Slot):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

After that bridge/as we emerged:

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Or, just with the row houses themselves (they're so cute):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

And, around the corner, Absalom and that thing I always see and never know what it is, behind him (the thing that's the same aged-copper color):

From Copenhagen 2012(picasa)

Next time, I'll write about my side-trip to Malmö, Sweden, after the conference.

Marseille/Luminy, conference on the coast of France

I was at a conference at the CIRM in Luminy, France. It's effectively part of Marseille, but removed a bit/more in the mountains. Marseille itself is rather run down, people living in collapsing buildings. I watched my wallet when I went to town. 


At the conference, things ran surprisingly on time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner began and ended at the exact times set.  Lunch and dinner were multiple course affairs, although in the end did not feel like that much food. 


Marseille by plane:

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's a view of the mountains at night. Rough, limestone.

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's a view of the main conference center building, in which we ate our meals and in which several of the speakers were housed. The rest of us were in the Annex, and I lucked out with a room that doesn't get hit with as much sun on the afternoon, so it's not as hot when I get back to try to go to sleep. 

From Germany 2012-2013

We spent our evenings on the benches by the building; the weather was really pleasant at night. 

The dining area was through/inside the white arches.

From Germany 2012-2013

The climate reminds me of Texas ``Hill Country''. Surprisingly desert-like, with sparse, dead grass and  very sparse, skinny trees. Limestone. Humid and hot, as well.

From Germany 2012-2013

On our excursion day (Wednesday), I went to Marseille proper with two other conference participants. We had heard of boat trips to nearby islands, including the famed one of Chateau d'If (of 'Count of Monte Cristo' and 'Man in the Iron Mask' fame -- Wikipedia says the latter is not in fact really associated with Chateau d'If, although popularly believed to be). 

Marseille is a bit run down. This was my impression on the bus from the airport, people clearly living in buildings with collapsing/collapsed roofs and dilapidated and cracked outer walls. In the downtown, the ground floor of buildings might be a bit better kempt, but above that, well. 

Ground and 1st floor clean and tidy, and the rest more typical

From Germany 2012-2013

I don't know what this is, but it was around the corner from where the bus to town dropped us off:

From Germany 2012-2013

Finding the harbor was easy, and the boat ride was very affordable. Something like 5 euros (and 10 cents). Here's the view as the boat eased out of the dock:

From Germany 2012-2013

Leaving and entering, we noticed a fortress right there at Marseille proper, not on an island at all, very blocky. There seemed to be something happening there. Maybe a wedding? Who knows.

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's the other side of the same fortress:

From Germany 2012-2013

And a nice view from the boat of islands we didn't visit:

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's one of the prettier things in the harbor area of Marseille, viewed from the boat. I'm not quite sure what it is:

From Germany 2012-2013

At last, Chateau d'If. Originally a Chateau, later converted into a prison.

From Germany 2012-2013

View from the Chateau's 'front door'

From Germany 2012-2013

Someone had a sense of humor and carved what I think is ''Hotel of Suffering People'' on the arch above the door, just inside the courtyard:

From Germany 2012-2013

A nice view of the courtyard and out to sea, from inside one of the ground floor rooms:

From Germany 2012-2013

There was a tour, but in French and with no walking around of the tour guide. None of us had good enough French to benefit from it, so we skipped it. Which is a shame, because all the displays were in French and I didn't really get a feel for what I was looking at.

In 1515 the monarch of Portugal was gifted a Rhinoceros by the ruler of India.  Wanting to get in good with the Pope, Portugal decided to ship it there. However, the ship wrecked around Marseille, and they put it on the island/in Chateau d'If (not yet a prison, it became one in 1582). Someone sent a sketch on to Dürer, who made a famous woodcut, which this is a print from:

From Germany 2012-2013

Oh, right. So the Rhino was there a while, then they decided to send it on to the Pope for real this time, but the boat wrecked (again, I know) and this time the rhino died. But the carcass washed ashore and they had it stuffed and finally that made it to the pope. 

There are three towers when there were supposed to have been four. Here are some views from various windows in one:

From Germany 2012-2013

From Germany 2012-2013

I found the entry-ways to the rooms to be very short, even though the ceilings were pretty high in general. It was fine for me, but anyone taller than maybe 5'7''(~170cm) would have to stoop. Here's the view down a hallway:

So, if you had money and you were imprisoned there, you could rent a nicer cell. They nice cells were quite nice, all had chimneys and windows and vaulted ceilings. Here's the doorway out of one:

From Germany 2012-2013

There was a strange display on the Count of Monte Cristo story. Also, we learned that somewhere in China is an exact replica, on an island, of Chateau d'If.

From Germany 2012-2013

There was a really lovely courtyard which is what the 'nice' cells overlooked. Here's a view:

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's a view of main/old Marseille:

From Germany 2012-2013

Here's a house-y building, viewed from the Chateau

From Germany 2012-2013

the area where we bought our tickets/entered, and some beautiful ocean water/coral nearby:

From Germany 2012-2013

more beautiful ocean

From Germany 2012-2013

and one of the towers

From Germany 2012-2013

One of the towers was bigger than the others, and had a good view down to the rest of the Chateau:

From Germany 2012-2013

The tower also had a cathedral in its top floor, so the roof was domed (which you could walk on, and had a sort of ''echo point'' in the very center):

From Germany 2012-2013

The general lack of rain was a bit more pronounced here. No trees at all, and lots of succultents around like this one:

From Germany 2012-2013

and my parting view of the Chateau

From Germany 2012-2013