Wide Open Spaces

With my apologies to the Dixie Chicks for stealing their title; I thought that it was appropriate that the weekend before I left for adventures unknown that I would be spending a little quality time in the car between Northern and Southern California. This picture was taken on our way back up I-5 just as we came out of that particular bit of highway fun known as the Grapevine. Because It is a bit hazy so it's hard to tell that if it was clear, you could see forever and ever and ever. Our country is chock a block with so many places like this it seems like we will never run out of space to be who we are; it is ingrained in our culture to just spread out. Quite a contrast to where I will be spending the summer, but that is why I chose the program that I did. I want to learn how to balance the desire for alone time with the need to preserve spaces big and small. There are so many things to consider and I am looking forward to balancing it all to come up with solutions. Besides, these are some of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs; the words always inspire and remind me to think bigger and that is exactly what I will need to do.

Zürich the Gartencity

This summer, the town of Zürich will be more lush than usual with more than 300 enormous decorated pots placed throughout the city. The pots will display over 30 different types of plant species. Visitors can admire the designs on the huge pots and learn about the different types of plants from placards as they stroll along the mapped route. City leaders have said that this display goes along with the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of the city; specifically appealing to people’s love of the environment. Chicago had cows*, San Francisco had hearts, Berlin had the Buddy Bears* and now Zürich has some huge decorated pots to attract visitors and locals to the streets downtown.

* city list nowhere near complete

(image courtesy of gARTencity Zürich website)

To Pass or not to Pass, that is the question

This week I need to make another very. important. decision; whether or not to buy a Rail pass for my trip. Based on the fares I found on the Swiss Rail site a two month/three country Eurail Select Pass will save me approximately one-hundred dollars off the first class fare. But then I have to factor in the cost of a seat reservation if I want to be sure of a place on the train to call my own. The reservation fee from what I can tell, will cost anywhere from five Euro up to just over one hundred Euro for an overnight or high speed reservation.

Since I will have to go to the train station to check the schedule and buy the reservation anyway, I am wondering if I am actually saving anything at all, including time. Factor in the need to protect the flimsy piece of paper that is the pass itself and the fact that there are some discounted fares that I would eligible for once in country into the equation and I think I might be better off by purchasing point to point tickets on an as needed basis. That is still just as flexible and looks like it will cost about the same anyway.

Anyone for Rochambeau?

Slowing down

While I am in Europe this summer I will be taking a class titled Cities, Regions and Firms: The Role of the Global Business Environment and Local Economies. The second class I’m taking is titled Sustainability and Cities and will focus on the Slow Food and Slow Cities movements with a class project in a nearby town.

While both of these courses will be interesting, I’m most excited about learning more about Slow Cities (a.k.a. Cittaslow) and how the towns are choosing to approach each point in the charter. While it is great to learn about how larger urban areas work; I am really interested to learn how smaller towns are benefiting from having a thoughtful plan put into place.

From the Australian Cittaslow website (the official site is in Italian!) here are some of the main tenants of the Cittaslow movement.

A Cittaslow is one where the community chooses to:

• implement an environmental policy which nurtures the distinctive features of that town or city and its surrounding area, and focuses on recycling & recovery;
• put in place infrastructure with a focus on environmentally-friendly use of land;
• preserve the history of a region, the important buildings and historical locations and making sure they are identified, protected and maintained;
• encourage the use of technology that will improve the quality of air and life in the city;
• support the production and consumption of organic foodstuffs;
• protect and promote products which have their roots in tradition and reflect a local way of doing things;
• encourage learning about food and where it comes from;
• encourage a spirit of genuine hospitality towards guests of the town or city.

It seems like a good balance of preserving the past and taking advantage of current technology and I can’t wait to experience it in person.

Now, I just need to figure out how to slow myself down.

10 Black T-shirts, 4 scarves, 2 pairs of jeans, a skirt, a pair of fabulous pants...

Packing for a trip can be a mind numbing at best, especially when you are planning for a long one. I usually start with picking shoes based on the known activities, will I need flats or heels, hiking shoes, city sneakers (or both), sandals, etc… Once the type of shoe is narrowed down, color comes into play; black, browns or something more colorful? Shoe choice finalized, test driven and approved by an objective observer, I move on to clothing. The key for me here is that there are lots of ways to mix and match the chosen pieces. I have to be able to mix both styles and colors so that I can (a) carry my own suitcase without hurting myself and (b) don’t feel like I am wearing the same outfit every day (c) dress up or down as appropriate. Personal care items are chosen based on which things I really feel make my routine a productive one and a few key over the counter meds so that I don’t have to try and find them in a desperate situation, if you know what I mean. Finally, I pull together a small ‘survival kit’ for the airplane so that I can survive 24-48 hours without my luggage if I need to; a clean t-shirt, skivvies and a few things to freshen up with and the packing is done. It is usually fairly easy for me to pull things together, although the longer the trip, the longer it takes to pare things down the bare essentials.

The trip I need to pack for this month brings an added twist of several short overnight stays away from the central location. This means I need a satellite bag that is small enough to carry on the airplane (no second checked bag fee) and large enough to hold a few days worth of stuff. At the moment I’m thinking a large rolling suitcase, a soft-sided duffel for the carry on, and a backpack that will accommodate my camera, laptop, reading materials, etc. My handbag will go inside either the duffel or the backpack. Another possibility is two rolling suitcases; one small and one large. In that scenario I would pack the small one, insert it into the large one and check the whole thing, perhaps pushing the weight limits.

Stay tuned…

Sorting the Clutter

Amazing how a journey of a thousand miles (give or take a few thousand) can start with a thorough cleaning of a closet.

Now, where did I put the cotton balls?

To New Beginnings (a.k.a. That's Just Crazy Talk)

When this blog was first set up, the intent was to use it to post an image a day from my travels both near and far. Life got in the way and between full time work, part time graduate school, orchestra, family and friends, the blog (obviously) took a back burner. Then, suddenly I was given a very generous gift of time. I quickly assessed my options and decided to take advantage of a summer study abroad program that would be both an extension and an enhancement of my graduate studies.

Crazy, right? I mean, who loses their job and decides to go to Europe for six weeks? Evidently that would be me. I'm going to do my best to keep this blog updated with where I am, what I am learning and how it is all impacting me and what I do next. I will also try to post images along the way.

I think that this will be an interesting summer as I try to always remember; whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are always right.