Not dead yet...

...and finally back in range of wireless. I've gone from Italy to Utah in the past couple of weeks for a field course and research, and I'll be back in WNY after a bit longer in southern UT. There will be lots of awesome photos. Stay tuned!

On break...

Magma Cum Laude will be taking a break for a few weeks - I'll be globetrotting on and off until July. Enjoy your summers!

2009 AGU Joint Session in Toronto: Sightseeing

Whoops! Guess I promised some Toronto photos - here they are, full of things I saw when I wasn't at the meeting trying to stuff my head with talks and poster sessions.

The St. James Anglican Cathedral at sunset. I haven't seen so many pretty cathedrals since I was in Paris - not something you expect in a North American city!

The CN Tower was right next to the conference center, which meant I spent a lot of time looking up. Too expensive to go to the top, though.

The Toronto Metro Conference Centre. If it looks a little small, that's because most of it is underground. I guess that saves on the heating bills?

A flatiron building on Front Street. I love the juxtaposition of old and new architecture in Toronto - it's much more interesting than just a bunch of modern skyscrapers. Toronto is also really walkable when the weather is nice, and they've got a pretty good public transit system as well. I love watching the trolleycars go by, although I didn't brave the subway on this trip.
Look really carefully at that building...

The Old City Hall, which has some really beautiful sandstone carvings.

It's a little hard to read, but the sign basically says that this is a Speaker's Corner, where you can say/argue/debate/shout anything you want, although the City isn't responsible for what other people do to you if they don't like it.

Lest you think that Toronto is all urban, there are some very nice parks within walking distance, and some of them even have wildlife (in the form of black squirrels - weird - and some really big woodpeckers).