Not-A-Blog.de

Another recent trip (besides New York and the shorter-than-expected Yellowstone weekend) was to San Diego. But this time not (only) for fun  - no we actually went there for work!! Kelly sent us to visit a lab at the UCSD (University of California, San Diego). They are experts in microscopy and the right place to learn some techniques we would like to establish in our lab. The first impression we got: What a view!!! You come into the office and you have these big windows facing the ocean. So all you see is water, coast, and palm trees. It’s like paradise and I really don’t know how people can sit on their desk and actually work. And all the offices are having this view…it’s not only the PI who gets to see this every day, but every student. Wow!

Well, but we actually worked quite a bit and learned many useful techniques. And of course we enjoyed the time in SD, or to be more precise in La Jolla, a wealthy SD community. After work we always went to the beach, we visited the famous San Diego Zoo and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps and went back to the good Italian place we had found in 2006.

One interesting thing to experience was how much we’re used to SLC. The architecture in San Diego is very different from what we have in Salt Lake - houses look very different and they somehow seemed strange to us. Something I hadn’t noticed three years ago. Well, of course they’re not, they’re just different. But I guess it shows you how much we appreciate SLC by now.

I really liked the climate there - at least during the summer. It’s very mild and there’s always a nice breeze coming in from the ocean. It’s not as hot and dry as it is in SLC. You are comfortable being outside and I would have loved to go running. That’s something I haven’t done for months. In SLC it’s just too hot!! But I’m sure I wouldn’t like to have this weather all year round - I would certainly miss the different seasons.