Aquarium in Baltimore

Above is the view over the main aquarium in Baltimore. Striking!
There are also smaller aquariums, with this one being popular with the fans of "Nemo". Apparently up to two of these fishes can "share" an anemone.
The sea horses were moving very delicately...
... which was not the case of the octopus next door (oops, next window). This one looked much scarier than in a dish. Is it politically correct to ask how this one will finish? I also wondered if they would use it to predict some sports result, like its famous European counterpart.
Some aquariums looked peaceful and idyllic, while I was happy that there was a big glass between me and this nasty looking shark.

Discoveries around Washington

Slowly but surely, there are less and less unknown touristic sites around Washington. This time, the classic Shenandoah (see entry last year) was in full colors - the timing of the visit proposed by the guide was perfect.
The fresh air was perfect motivation to go for a walk to one of the waterfalls - dark hollow.
Besides the forest and mountain, a local gem is found underground. The Luray Caverns are one of the best I have seen, with lots of interesting, old, thick formations. The best was this reflective lake - look at the picture and it is almost impossible to see that it is only the reflection of stalactites that is seen. Of course, being in America, they could not avoid commercializing it a little bit - they installed an organ, which was linked to stalactites chosen so that the sound would correspond to the notes. Quite impressive performance. The other US influence could be noticed in the name given to some of the formation in the cave, in particular the "fried egg". Was it discovered at breakfast? Finally, close to the exit, there was also a pool where you could throw your money - each year it would be allocated to a different charity to the nearest cent.The trip led also to the roots of American history ... it does sound much further in the past than what it is. A little stop at Harper's Ferry, a small town in West Virginia, where the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers merge. Jefferson, on a visit to the area, stood on a rock, from which he thought the view was stupendous - the rock is now named after him. But the most memorable event in this town was the raid on the local arsenal led by John Brown, who wanted to abolish slavery. He was tried and hanged, but this event was one catalyst of the Civil War.

The two residences of the first American presidents are located in Virginia, respectively in Charlottesville and in Alexandria. In Charlottesville, the Monticello was the main residence of Jefferson, the third president. The house, actually I should say the whole estate, was carefully designed, certainly because Jefferson was a keen architect and found a lot of inspiration during his stay in France. It is one of the few UNESCO World Heritage in the US. But probably its moment of fame occurs daily, as Americans make use of the 5 cent coin.In Alexandria is located Mount Vernon, the house of George Washington, the first president. The best about it is actually the view over the Potomac river. Otherwise, it is less impressive, maybe reflected in the fact that it is "only" a National Historic Landmark. Still, there were quite a few common threads: the large memorabilia, the slave's quarters, the vegetable garden, the tomb, and their management by a private entity.Finally, the sky above us also was worth scrutinizing. I saw in the newspaper that astronomists gather at a field in a National Park, far away from the city lights. It was then very surprising to see that - on a cold October night - so many amateur astronomers there - they were also so nice to let us watch through their (huge) telescopes. The highlight was to see Jupiter and its four main moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Specialists also pointed to the center of our galaxy (in the Sagittarius) and explained various phenomena.

Nashville

Nashville, welcome to the Music City. It is similar to New Orleans, but this time it is country music. You indeed know you are in Nashville, when Madonna is remixed in country music!
Nashville is not only trying to be like New Orleans, but also like Hollywood. They have their stars as well. I only know one (see picture)... Should this lack of knowledge about country music make me feel bad ...?
More worrying for Nashville, it imitates Athens too. One of its most famous building is a replica of the Acropolis. Let's hope for them that they do not imitate its economic fate.
At the moment, it does not seem like Nashville will. The typical suburban life flourishes, with for example a meeting of greyhound dog lovers... The properties are huge and tidely kept - some have even deer grazing. My friends' family son was playing in a pre-school baseball game. Needless to say that they were all nicely dressed, and cheered up... but no trace of black kids.

scary Kings Dominion

When visitors decide to come and visit, you sometimes have to agree with their wishes and go along. So this time, following my visitors lead to the Kings Dominion "amusement" park.
On the map of the park, the names of the rides are already scary, such as the anaconda, the grizzly, the rebel yell, the volcano blast coaster, the schockwave, the drop tower, the skyflier and lastly the intimidator... Next to these rides, there were also signs indicating their degree of madness.
But what is worse than names on a paper, it is experiencing them!! Obviously, I was distraught when I saw that the volcano blast coaster was closed. It was the only level 5 ride I wanted to do... Kidding, I was already whiter than usual on the level 4 rides. And I cannot tell you the color I was, when I did a ride after the lunch break. And you will not see me either, because I did not find it appropriate to get any of the "photo finish" that are taken while you are on the ride.
Fortunately, there are also quieter things to do, like trying to win big stuff animals, listening to some music, and especially volunteering to take pictures. I am quite good at the last one!

US Open

There it is - the biggest tennis stadium in the world: the Arthur Ashe in Flushing Meadows, New York. On that day, there was a record 64000 spectators, including 20000 on the center court. Everything is well organised, including the arrival by metro. The staff is friendly and I surprisingly had the impression that there were less shops than at Roland Garros. The only annoying thing was the super long list of things that were forbidden to bring into the stadium, which included "no flags" and "no backpacks". This is America for you. So this time, I had to leave my Swiss flag at home.
It is a beautiful stadium. The night match is a great experience. Even placed a bit high up (we had to take an escalator to reach our seats), the view is clear - we could very well replace the "challenge" system with our own eyes. Still up there, there is a bit of cold wind. In the evening session, Murray easily beat Lopez, who did not seem much committed to his match. Maybe sweating is not part of his vocabulary. We had to admit that the women's match was a better contest.
The next day, the day session was even better. Great seats on smaller courts to watch Ferrero-Tipsarevic. Very intense rallies with good speed and a clever use of the angles.
Back on center court, Tsonga was battling against Fish, the top seeded American player. The crowd was supportive of the home favorite, but not as bluntly as in other countries. It surprises me that nobody brings flags in the stadium. And it cannot be said that it is because Americans are not patriotic - the presentation on the big screen of eight American soldiers sitting in a special box got a long standing ovation by the crowd.
The big name on that day was Serena Williams. Although she played against another ex-number 1, Ivanovic, she was clearly superior in all compartments of the game. Her serves were accurate, her ground strokes powerful and she was even moving surprisingly well...


Finally, a video of a nice rally between Ferrero and Tipsarevic. So nice to be so close to the players - who cares that we were not on our allocated seats... I should also manage to put a video of me hitting such a good backhand !

Good food !

Switzerland's food might not be the finest, but it is excellent nonetheless. It was great again to taste all the specialties. First, the wild mushrooms and the vol-au-vent. So tasty!
Besides mushrooms, a famous Swiss specialty is cheese. This time it was the raclette. Do not get fooled by the nicely decorated plate, the interesting part is the melted cheese on top of the potato.
There is never enough cheese... The next dish was indeed heavy, but this is what is needed to survive in our cold mountains. Obviously, the bottle of white wine helps too...
Switzerland is also a land of lakes, and we have the best little fishes, the perchs. With a secret sauce and some french fries, it is divine.
Obviously, there is other "foreign" foods to enjoy. One of the best was this pizza calzone! Such a good dough and a diverse filling of cheese, tomato, ham, egg and mushroom.
Of course, a meal is never complete without deserts. The nicest is when there is a choice of delicious cakes in front of you. And the best is, when you do not have to choose, but you can have all of them! The chocolate cakes - black forest and truffle - were only slightly more delicious than the fruity cakes.
In the end, it can not only be about eating eating eating. There is also a time for cooking. So there I made this healthy apple cake (with some welcome help). If you want a tip, it is best to eat it accompanied with ice cream and whipped cream.
After all this, what is one of the first thing I did back in Washington? Buy a scale...! Let me not write here what it did tell me...

Switzerland/France - mountains

The one thing that strikes me when I go to the little villages in the mountains (besides the fact that the temperature is cold... especially coming from Washington), is how nice and neat houses are arranged, built and kept. In "les Diablerets", this feeling was again very much present. And even if the weather is not always at its best, there is always something to do. This time the village hosted the "mountain film festival". The funniest movie was about this French expedition team which had set itself the goal of crossing a mountain channel in Argentina in 45 days, and failed miserably as all the possible hiccups happened. I guess the psychologists who accompanied the team had their work cut out on assessing "leadership in difficult conditions"...
Next step was to try again to see the highest mountain in Europe, the Mont Blanc. There again, no chance with the clouds... No chance with the walking path either. We wanted to walk all the way down, but could not find the right path and ended up walking back to the cable-car to take us back down in the valley.
But, not everything was lost, since we got to see these magnificent bouquetins, our very own mountain antelope. It was a great sight, and a first for me! Would you believe it - i had seen all the antelopes in Africa, but not our own... Sometimes, getting lost rewards you.
In my little village, the door to the round church was open, for a change. Maybe the paintings and the statues needed some fresh air. A good opportunity to take a picture of the most special monument in the village.
Otherwise, nice to spend some time at our house. The newly painted roof, and the newly made square in front of the house, show that things improve. A particular thanks to the municipality for the new square. Next time, I will make sure to take a game of petanque with me, to make the best of the smooth surface.