New England is the northeastern corner of the US, and it includes the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Although southwestern Connecticut is really a suburb of New York and it shouldn't be considered New England. They root for the Yankees and not the Red Sox after all, so they aren't real newenglanders.
One of the most interesting features of New England is the intensity of its deep forests. Weather is quite wet, and that makes for incredibly green woods. And in the Fall, the leaves start turning, from their original green, to different tones of ochre, brown and even deep red. You can see an example here, taken in Maine this weekend from the car (with great peril to my life XDDD).
Here's another example, a tree which is starting its process, taken Saturday on the Bowdoin College campus. Imagine the sight of going up a mountain, and seeing the next one covered with a cloak of all colors, from green to red.
It is very spectacular to see a tree with its leaves deep red. See these two beautiful trees, which flank the door of the Tufts math department. My office window was in front of the right hand one, and in the Autumn afternoons there was this red glow coming in through the window. Quite spectacular.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Maine
Today Sunday I arrived from spending the weekend in Maine. Maine is the notheast corner in the US, see it in the map, and it is famous for its woods, mountains, and the rocky coast. Also for a large Navy base, and for its lobsters. It's really beautiful, quiet, and people are very friendly. I have been visiting my friends Jen and Thom, professors at Bowdoin College, and their lovely kids Maia and Micah.
During this trip I have experienced some sensations I hadn't felt in a long time:
During this trip I have experienced some sensations I hadn't felt in a long time:
- The pleasure of driving during hours on the impressive American interstates. These big highways, with six or eight lanes, give me an incredible feeling of freedom. I love it.
- The beauty of the New England Autumn. This deserves a post by itself. Next post.
- The feeling of being at 44 degrees again. Being cold when you take your clothes off, then get under two comforters and warm up. Mmmm.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Visit
This weekend I have had the pleasure of hosting Jaume, a good friend and coworker. Jaume is visiting the University of Delaware for the month of October, and since I was here he decided to spend a weekend in the big city. We have spent a very enjoyable weekend walking around New York. In the picture we are sitting at an outside table in Union Square.
And a warm hi to all our friends and colleagues back in the department, especially to Mónica, Xavier and Narciso.
And a warm hi to all our friends and colleagues back in the department, especially to Mónica, Xavier and Narciso.
Les Misérables
Last night we went to a Broadway play. The play was "Les Misérables" at the Broadhurst Theater, on 44th Street, and I must say I was quite pleasantly surprised.
Based in the well-known, melodramatic novel by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French ex-con who climbs back to a respectable life and ends up in the higher classes of Paris, living first-hand the social events taking place in the first half of the 19th century, right after the Napoleonic Wars.
Having read the more than a thousand pages of the 19th-century drama, I was wondering how they were going to fit it in a two-and-a-half-hour musical, but they do a great job. The stage has a moving, circular part, which lets the company change the set very quickly and scenes just go by at a fast pace. The singers were exceptional, with wonderful voices, and I really wanted more. Maybe I'll go to see some other musical before I go back to Barcelona.
I recommend to anyone the TKTS service, where you can get tickets for same-day Broadway plays at half price. It has two locations, one near Times Square and one down on the Seaport area. Get there early, the lines are long.
Based in the well-known, melodramatic novel by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables tells the story of Jean Valjean, a French ex-con who climbs back to a respectable life and ends up in the higher classes of Paris, living first-hand the social events taking place in the first half of the 19th century, right after the Napoleonic Wars.
Having read the more than a thousand pages of the 19th-century drama, I was wondering how they were going to fit it in a two-and-a-half-hour musical, but they do a great job. The stage has a moving, circular part, which lets the company change the set very quickly and scenes just go by at a fast pace. The singers were exceptional, with wonderful voices, and I really wanted more. Maybe I'll go to see some other musical before I go back to Barcelona.
I recommend to anyone the TKTS service, where you can get tickets for same-day Broadway plays at half price. It has two locations, one near Times Square and one down on the Seaport area. Get there early, the lines are long.
Friday, October 5, 2007
The New York Subway
This blog wouldn't be complete without a post about the Subway. The New York Subway is really the city's soul, without which it would collapse immediately. With 2058 miles of tracks, 734 stations, and more than 4 million travelers every day, it is the way to move about the city we can't do without. Everybody in New York takes the subway, rich and poor, white and black. Even the mayor takes the subway to work.
The New York Subway has some features that make it different to the rest. For instance, it is so big, that it has local lines and express lines. The express lines only stop in every fourth or fifth station, and they are great when you have a long trip. Obviously, the local lines and the express lines can't go on the same tracks, but they do share the stations. This is possible because each line has four tracks, two in each direction. This is the most important feature of the New York Subway, in each direction you have two tracks, the local track and the express track. You can see the green line (4,5 and 6) in the picture, which is a detail of the subway map, of the 5th Avenue area. Lines 4 and 5 are express, and line 6 is local. On 59th and on 42nd Street, they all stop, but on 23rd, 28th or 33rd, only the 6 train stops. The same way, in the orange line, the B is local while the D is express. The only way the express trains can pass the local ones is if they go in separate tracks.
As everybody knows, the New York Subway never closes, it runs 24/7. Again, this is possible because of the four tracks in each direction. In every subway in the world, the tracks need maintenance, and to be able to do it, the tracks have to be empty for some time (usually at night). That's why the Barcelona subway stops from 12 to 5. I had a student once who worked in the subway maintenance and he told me that they run up and down all night repairing tracks.
In New York, thanks to the double track in each direction, they can fix one track while the trains in that direction can still run on the other track. This is crucial to be able to keep the train running at all times. But then, at night, or on the weekend, the local or express lines can change at any time, or run on a different track than they normally do. You can be riding a local train and suddenly they announce that it's running late and it becomes express. So you see some people getting off, because it doesn't stop at their station, and some others quite happy because now they arrive faster. Or you can find the train running on a different track than usual, which can be quite confusing.
Every weekend there's a long list of changes, due to maintenance, and which you can see in the weekend changes website. The employees post the changes signs in each station, which you must read if you are taking the subway at night or on the weekend, because your train may have changed.
As you can see, this coming weekend (October 6th-8th), the C train doesn't run. In small print you can read that you must take the A instead, which is the express in the same track. But if you were expecting the A to be express, now it's local. And so on.
The New York Subway has its own jazz song, Take the A train, by Duke Ellington. It's said in it that the A is the fastest way to get to Harlem.
A ticket is $2. If you use a MetroCard the ticket goes down to $1.66. And there's daily, weekly and monthly passes. I am currently using a monthly pass, which is $76.
Anyway. The New York Subway is expensive, dirty and chaotic. But it also is fast and reliable.
The New York Subway has some features that make it different to the rest. For instance, it is so big, that it has local lines and express lines. The express lines only stop in every fourth or fifth station, and they are great when you have a long trip. Obviously, the local lines and the express lines can't go on the same tracks, but they do share the stations. This is possible because each line has four tracks, two in each direction. This is the most important feature of the New York Subway, in each direction you have two tracks, the local track and the express track. You can see the green line (4,5 and 6) in the picture, which is a detail of the subway map, of the 5th Avenue area. Lines 4 and 5 are express, and line 6 is local. On 59th and on 42nd Street, they all stop, but on 23rd, 28th or 33rd, only the 6 train stops. The same way, in the orange line, the B is local while the D is express. The only way the express trains can pass the local ones is if they go in separate tracks.
As everybody knows, the New York Subway never closes, it runs 24/7. Again, this is possible because of the four tracks in each direction. In every subway in the world, the tracks need maintenance, and to be able to do it, the tracks have to be empty for some time (usually at night). That's why the Barcelona subway stops from 12 to 5. I had a student once who worked in the subway maintenance and he told me that they run up and down all night repairing tracks.
In New York, thanks to the double track in each direction, they can fix one track while the trains in that direction can still run on the other track. This is crucial to be able to keep the train running at all times. But then, at night, or on the weekend, the local or express lines can change at any time, or run on a different track than they normally do. You can be riding a local train and suddenly they announce that it's running late and it becomes express. So you see some people getting off, because it doesn't stop at their station, and some others quite happy because now they arrive faster. Or you can find the train running on a different track than usual, which can be quite confusing.
Every weekend there's a long list of changes, due to maintenance, and which you can see in the weekend changes website. The employees post the changes signs in each station, which you must read if you are taking the subway at night or on the weekend, because your train may have changed.
As you can see, this coming weekend (October 6th-8th), the C train doesn't run. In small print you can read that you must take the A instead, which is the express in the same track. But if you were expecting the A to be express, now it's local. And so on.
The New York Subway has its own jazz song, Take the A train, by Duke Ellington. It's said in it that the A is the fastest way to get to Harlem.
A ticket is $2. If you use a MetroCard the ticket goes down to $1.66. And there's daily, weekly and monthly passes. I am currently using a monthly pass, which is $76.
Anyway. The New York Subway is expensive, dirty and chaotic. But it also is fast and reliable.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Winter Crocs
I am sure all of you know the Crocs, those rubberized clogs/sandals that have become quite the rage this Summer and which are so ugly (but so comfortable). I am sure many of you who think they are ultra ugly are thinking that people won't wear them now that Winter is coming. Well, think again.
Digital Life
Yesterday, my friend Albert and I went to Digital Life, the computer fair at the Javits Center in New York.
It was OK, but I thought it was small and actually not that great. Madrid's SIMO is much better. But anyway, we spend a couple hours, and we saw a few novelties. The best was a stand where they were giving away tattoos with the company logo.
When I was a kid, these tattoos were called calcomanías. [Removable tattoos for kids]
It was OK, but I thought it was small and actually not that great. Madrid's SIMO is much better. But anyway, we spend a couple hours, and we saw a few novelties. The best was a stand where they were giving away tattoos with the company logo.
When I was a kid, these tattoos were called calcomanías. [Removable tattoos for kids]
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