Here we are. High on a mountain in the Sierra Nevada.
Few things to say about the trip, I’ll try to post pictures and let them explain.
But here few words, just to be unnecessarily rhetorical

We left early this morning, with a mini van; ten people among astronomers and telescope operators, three rows of seats in the car and three conversations in three different languages!
Spanish in the front,  where the driver tried to kill us (here another similarity with my trip in Mexico! – others next time. Observatory drivers seem to like overtaken other cars at high velocity, just on bends along steep mountains roads… mam, do not read this, I am fine!)
An english conversation about work in the second row.
And something in German in the third, the wrong one I choose! Or was that the right one, just to practice my Deutsch? There is no way out, i am surrounded by Germans here too, actually more than in Munich!
(yep, the telescope is operated half by the Max Plank Society, so…)

So we started driving up and up, first by car.
We are in the middle of Sierra Nevada Mountains, declared National Park; sometimes I imagine that the need of having a telescope at high altitude, far from civilization, in an amazing landscape is just an excuse astronomers have found to make these trips something .. metaphysical besides physical. You see the land changing, the snow starts to appear; you have the full overview on the valley below, and you start smelling the cold pure icy air, mixed with the  smell of just-backed bread …

- C’mon, it’s not my fault if the driver stopped at a bakery to fill a bag with bread. I didn’t ask for that just to make this story better  -

And you see the antenna up there, you are suddenly arrived. You take a cable-car, and in few minutes you are climbing with your I-come-from-a-city trolley luggage over a Snowcat. You compress with the others inside, and while bouncing one against the other you start smiling.. you try to behave, not to look too childish, with that increasing smile over your face. But when you are almost succeeded in going back serious, yo turn and see The Telescope.. and there is no way again!

Arrived! I am in Granada right now, it’s dark outside.
I am waiting for the others, we still have to have dinner… moving south from Germany have also these side effects. Let’s see later how this ancient city, celtic, greek, moorish, will welcome us.

In the meanwhile the trip was good, we had no big problems.
Indeed, the best part was landing in Madrid. We couldn’t see the land for the whole journey because it was cloud. And when we started approaching the city, the plane did a couple of veers – luckily from my side! – each of them to change direction by almost 180 degree, each of them by descending for some (hundreds?) meters, closer and closer to the clouds, plunging into that white water, but not really touching them..

I was feeling anxious to reach the clouds, and light because of the falling, even if it was not real. So strange…

Oh, they call me for Tapas! Silvia, let’s go back to real, concrete world.

Yeah! To prove that my German lessons are kind of working, I have set up a new approach. I decided than I will learn crazy difficult words and I will actually put in practice. So the effort to learn them will be worth Sounds Reasonable, right?

Yeah! To prove that my German lessons are kind of working, I have set up a new approach. I decided than I will learn crazy difficult words and I will actually put in practice. So the effort to learn them will be worth
Sounds Reasonable, right?

So, as a first test, on thursday I have learnt this new verb, schlittschuhlaufen.., and on Saturday I went to apply.  And, guess what… I went ice-skating!
As last year, we went to the Olympia-Park and had a fun with friends, trying to falling and dancing on the ice. I should point out that we where almost girls, ’cause the men where scared to hurt themselves… Shame on them, eheheh

Oh, bye the way, I had almost forgot to explain you the  etymology of the verb (lucky you that I remembered, eh?). It’s easily explained. “Schlitt” means sliding, “Schuhe” means shoes, and “laufen” is running… Ingeniuous!

That one of the examples of why I am starting to love German, actually!!!

tschüß

Spain, I am coming.
Ah, the harsh job of an astronomer…wake up one morning and discover that in two weeks you have to flight to Spain, for an observing run  at a new telescope… What could you say, when they are going to pay you the flights,  the staying, and it’s a good chance for your job to learn something new, to get involved in a new project? What could you say, besides…

” My luggage is ready, when does the plane take off? “

So, just a quick look at Google Map:

to discover that the telescope is close to Granada [where I am staying a day as a tourist: wouldn't you me to be back in Munich on a Saturday night, right?!] .

Then a check at the official website to read that ” the 30-meter telescope on Pico Veleta in the Spanish Sierra Nevada is one of the two radio astronomy facilities operated by IRAM. Built in only four years (1980 to 1984) at an elevation of 2850 meters, it is one of today’s largest and most sensitive radio telescopes for tracing millimeter waves”.

A look at the pictures gallery [Preview to the pictures I will take]

And in two weeks ready to leave!

you’ll get  a cake if you are lucky

Today was the tipical bavarian day. If it wasn’t middle Oktober!
Cold, grim, snowy… c’mon! Where is autumn?

Wondering why there are not half seasons anymore – and I am sorry if that sounds  like a conversation between embarrassed neighbors but it’s nothing that the true – I remembered that ONLY last weekend was almost summer and I had a nice solo trip by bike.

It was the other kind of typical bavarian day: sunny, the sky blue crossed by small soft white clouds…I even took pictures, impressed by the smooth autumnal weather (Oh, If I had known!) …
I feel I have to publish them, I feel I have to do this for all the Europeans who are dealing with the sudden winter and are not mentally prepared and need some summer-which-was reminder..

It was a beautiful sunday, so I picked up my bike and went riding to one of the small lakes near my town.

It was just perfect, music in my hears, sun on my skin, warm around, a blow of wind, enough for moving the grass. Peaceful with the world…

For the last weekend, Oh If I had know!!!

My sister has arrived! Here some pictures
(end explanations soon..)

Nymphemburg Schloss

Today pictures from the conference we had in Italy in July arrived.
So let’s play: find a Silvia (and a Michi) in the picture [too big for this post..]

Big prices for people who guess… (even if it’s pretty easy..)

Yep! Since is September, in Munich the Oktoberfest has begun this weekend..
It is going to last for the next three weeks, which means that for the next 20 days you cannot take the Ubahn (underground) from 7 pm to 12 pm because crazy, drunk, German thousands of people move around Munich!
But if that is the bad part, what is actually cool is that German people really feel the Oktberfest is a kind of national event to be proud of, and for three weeks you see men and women, children and teenagers, couple of grandparents walking in the traditional Bavarian outfit!

You see men going to work wearing the short leather trousers, with braces. Often, you have to turn your face not to smile in front of someone who so proud of his German origin [but, to be honest, sometimes also worths just to have a more careful look at.. ].
And you see women wearing the dirndl, the female dress, for taking their children at school, or go to the shop, or stay in an office.

Actually, the female dress is pretty nice, so nice that yesterday Irina and I were around for shopping, saw a window full of colorful dirndl and couldn’t resist! We didn’t buy one, do not worry!, but we HAD to enter, try and take pictures!

Do we look like real  Munich girls? I guess so… but before judge, please, have a look at this video. You have to, especially if you are in a bad mood or you are feeling stupid…
Hope it is going to help* : I love Bavaria

*you’ll also understand why I made these pictures so kitsch…

by Robert Louis Stevenson

paint by Alphonse Mucha