A European Sports Saturnalia: Le Tour de France

As World Cup fervor recedes, Europeans are shifting their attention to Le Tour de France.  During morning coffee, we now debate whose countryman will not only emerge in the yellow jersey along the Champs Elysees but also who will clinch the polka dotted jersey (apparently this is awarded to the “King of the Mountains”).  As an aside, my co-workers found it hilarious that I had no idea there were other competitive facets of the Tour de France  After consulting the route map, I realized that the 2010 Tour passed within a kilometer of Geneva and hastily organized a LGO reunion (my dual degree program) there for last weekend.  Pictured below are Karla (Turgi, Switzerland), Chris (Liverpool, England), Kevin (Basel, Switzerland), Dannielle (Sienna, Italy), me, and Todd (Marburg, Germany).

We spent the bulk of Saturday sightseeing and aimlessly wandering around Geneva.  While we were taking an afternoon rest with our feet in the lake, we heard a great deal of commotion.  Turns out our trip to Geneva coincided with their annual Lake Parade which can best be described as Mardi Gras coupled with a gay pride parade.  I won’t sear anybody’s eyes with pictures so instead here’s one of our customary MIT shots with Geneva’s iconic Jet d’Eau water cannon.  By the time I graduate, I feel as though I’ll have a coffee table book’s worth of these poses.    

Sunday marked Stage 8 of Le Tour; the alpine stage between Station des Rousses and Morzine Avoriaz.  I had strategically booked rooms literally on the Swiss – French border (France was 1/3 cheaper) so all we had to do on Sunday was roll out of bed and walk 10 minutes to the Tour route.  The group looked a bit skeptical when I had us all plop down under a tree in the middle of a roundabout in the French countryside but within 30 minutes we were joined by a hundred or so other spectators.  A hour before the first riders come through, an endless caravan of sponsors whizzed by throwing out everything from water to gummy bears to hats.  

We got decked out to show our Tour spirit and cheer on Lance.

I was surprised by the speed of the first group of riders.  The lead sprinting group of five or six riders was a good ten minutes ahead of the peloton.  Unbeknown to us at the time, Lance had fallen at the beginning of the stage but by our position had recovered to leading the peloton with Team Radio Shack.

We cheered our hearts out for Lance however he suffered two crashes later in the stage and is effectively out of the running for the yellow jersey and plans to retire at the end of this year’s Tour at least according to BBC aka the only English television channel I receive.  Who knows, maybe we witnessed a little bit of cycling history?   

World Cup Delirium

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I don't remember the 2006 World Cup.  I was living in the bustling metropolis of Towanda, Pennsylvania at the time where life revolved around hunting, chewing tobacco flavors, and caravaning to the town's high school football team away games.  In Europe, the World Cup has been the only thing that matters.  Country flags adorn nearly every window and balcony in Basel.

Co-workers wear country jersey's to work and fill out brackets with an intensity and creativity I never saw in my eighteen years during March Madness living in the heart of ACC territory.  Businesses feature World Cup specials from cakes (see below) to drink specials.

During the earlier rounds with day time games, Novartis set up giant outdoor screens with free food and drinks.  I remember distinctly my second week, sitting outside watching a game eating my free bratwurst as one of the many beer waitresses came around refilling drinks thinking that I had died and gone to work heaven.  Later rounds meant 8:30PM games when all Swiss people have long since left work so we started attending public viewings.  Basel is uniquely positioned to give inhabitants the flexibility to literally walk to France or Germany so we began attending game viewings in their home country.  Below is a German game we attended in Freiburg.

Of course we had to join in the local festivities and made friends to outfit us in German attire.  The picture below features Kevin having a German flag drawn on him.

Here's the end result

Though I may not be living in Europe during the 2014 World Cup, I hope to bring some of the fervor I've witnessed wherever I am.

Paris at Last

Though it's unclear if it stems from my love of crepes, the allure of the Eiffel Tour, or the lackluster Disney adaptation of Victor Hugo's Hunchback, I've always wanted to go to Paris.  That wish was fulfilled with an extended weekend trip last week - that's the best thing about not daily responsibilities, as long as I deliver, they're very flexible on work location and duration.  I met up with a friend who's working in Spain.  He had also never been to Paris and we must have walked a marathon during the trip just exploring the city.

Paris was as beautiful of a city as I always dreamed it would be.  I loved the history, the architecture, the food, and the general air of sophistication.  See gratuitous tourist shot below.

It's hard to pick one favorite spot or activity.  We visited all the major tourist sites, the Eiffel Tour, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, & the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  We sampled the cuisine and wine, went on a cruise of the Seine, watched street performers, rode a ferris wheel on the lawn of the Louvre, and spent hours people watching at a cafe on the Champs Elysees.  If I had to pick, my favorite part is the hours we spent in the Louvre, audio guides in our ears, wandering around listening to the stories behind some of the world's most famous paintings.

Maybe my boss will let me work from Paris a week a month :)

Happy Birthday America

By my recollection, today marks my fifth time celebrating the 4^th of July abroad.  In no particular order, I’ve spent the day lounging at a beach outside Barcelona, begging for a seat and consequently sitting on a jumpseat beside an armed guard between the Lima and Cuzco airports, meandering through the streets of Rome, and swinging champagne and singing along to John Denver with other passengers flying from Sydney, Australia (Qantas customer-service is incomprehensibly superior to US airlines).  Without fail, the day involves consumption of American food even if it’s only McDonald’s, new expat friends, a few listens of Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”, and time for ruminating what the song means.

Today was no exception as I began my holiday observance in Paris sitting in the garden at the Rodin museum gazing up at The Thinker listening to my favorite American tune (more on Paris trip in a subsequent post).  See photo below.

I enjoyed contraband Budweiser and swapped travel stories abroad the train to Strasburg with a group of recent college grads making the European transition to adulthood pilgrimage.  To cap off the day, I had dinner in Basel with a friendly face from home, Professor Welsh.  He’s one of my MIT advisors and will be accompanying me to work tomorrow to check on my project progression.  Though there were no fireworks, ballpark franks, or Boston Pops, as always 4^th of July abroad morphed into a memorable experience befitting of the occasion.  Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Amerika!

MIT = Disney World?

It's certainly been a banner year for working my way through my bucket list.  MIT is my nerdy version of Disney World where dreams from tromping around Toyota City to meeting Bill Gates come true.

I found out yesterday that another dream may be fulfilled this fall.  My design team is a finalist in the National Design Awards sponsored by the Smithsonian. Wow, I don't know how we got nominated but I'm elated albeit shocked.  As my readers probably know, I was very disappointed to go out in the final round of the MIT 100K competition for our self-inflating bicycle tire invention and business (thanks again for everybody who so nicely took surveys to help me develop a marketing strategy) so this is a great chance for inventor's redemption.  Far and away the coolest part of the competition is the awards banquet at the White House in the fall presided over by the first couple.

For the techies out there, our product is below.

My team partnered with a non-profit to design and develop a cost-effective, robust solution for neonatal jaundice in developing countries.  Glad to see my days spent as a lightbulb engineer have come in handy.  Come on billibed!