lyon 2016 - #PalAss16

It has been quite some time since I wrote anything, in fact..not since my asian trip. This month though, I was able to combine a little getaway to another new place along with my very first academic conference. The conference and therefore main effort of the trip was the Palaeontological Associations 60th Annual Meeting and took place at the Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1. My initial thoughts on attending were purely based on attempting to learn new things first hand from researchers in the field, make some contacts which would help with future studies and of course, enjoy the sites of what is an old, French city.

So for the conference itself, I thought I would be clever and book early to save on costs of flights and accommodation. I decided to book an air bnb closest to the university Lyon campus BUT of course, a week or so before the conference took place, I decided to read the information guide that was probably emailed several months earlier and the conference itself was in a different campus about 30 mins away...sigh! It wasn't an issue in the end mind as the couple I stayed with were super friendly, the bed was super comfy and the metro journey was not too taxing. This was good news as it took about two days to de-stress from the outward journey. Let me explain...

The plan was to get a train from my house into Reading where I would have a 15 minute wait for a direct train to Gatwick. Easy! But as usual, my favourite, local train company (Great Western Railway) that are the cause for 70% of my stress levels was 15 mins late meaning that I missed my connection meaning that I would not make my flight to Lyon. No matter you say, I can go via London you say. This is true and that was the only option for me BUT thankfully, Southern Rail was on strike so Gatwick Express was not running properly and I would have missed my flight. Instead, I had to take the Thameslink from London Bridge and it all started out so well. I got to the station 20 mins before the train was due to leave and I would have got to Gatwick with just a smudge of time to get my luggage dropped off. As you can imagine, I was fairly tense at this point but the train came and left on time so I was much calmer. That is until we stopped for 10 minutes outside one station and a further 5 mins outside another meaning that after the whole rush, I missed the flight anyway. Luckily, EasyJet were acting like human beings that day and because they know of the train issues they swapped me on to a later flight for free. All i had to do was sit in the airport for 7 hours. Joy! So as you can see, my day was shit but O2 did cheer me up by telling me that the guy who sold me the upgrade actually lied to me and I was not entitled to some of the things he said I was. I shall stop there though due to the fear of a rant coming along.

The conference was good. It started early and finished quite late and on more than one occasion I got back and fell asleep in my clothes. I learned a lot about new pioneering techniques and research into the world of Palaeontology and Palaeobiology which I probably won't go into here. I even made a few friends which was nice.

Lyon itself can only really be described as French. It was not as dirty as Paris I must admit but it does seem to be a French problem when nobody cleans up litter. I think my phone thermometer was broken also daily it would tell me that it was only 5 or 7 degrees but in reality, it was much more of a bitter cold than London. Maybe the pollution here helps, who knows. Some of the sites were very beautiful, like the Basilica and various Cathedrals. Even the view of the city was beautiful but vert foggy. I have to say, the city seems to pride itself as a 'capital of gastronomy' but without going on and on, it really isn't haha. Most of the places I found were tourist traps but because I am now an experienced traveller, I avoided them. 

As with my usual visits to other cities, I had to visit the natural history museum. This was supposed to happen as part of the conference but I forgot to book my ticket so had to go a different day. Either way, it is called the Musée des Confluences, is quite new and has very weird architecture but had very fascinating exhibitions including one on species that has a really amazing, complete skeleton of my favourite species (Megaloceros giganteus - in the photo). Apart from some of the religious buildings, the museum and the odd other site, Lyon, despite being France's third largest city, was pretty small with no much to do.

So after conference and walking around for a bit, it was time to leave. As usual, my luck came to haunt me and the fog lurking over London delayed me for an hour but I suppose it could have been worse. My favourite train company also decided to not run trains from Gatwick to Reading due to staff shortage so once again had to go via London during Southern Train strikes. A fun trip all around and a useful experience but I think in summary, I am quite happy not to visit France on holiday as actually it is a pretty boring, underwhelming experience. 

As for the next blog, who knows where I am going next...

asia 2016 (tokyo)

I am going to attempt to get all of my Tokyo blog in one go so I hope it does not turn out too much of a long read. My journey to Tokyo did not start off too well. I was delayed leaving Beijing which meant that instead of a 2 hour layover in South Korea I got 40 mins. I only got 40 mins because the flight from South Korea to Tokyo was also delayed (I should have only had 15). Due to this, I can not say much about South Korea Incheon airport other than we had a very cool traditional Korean greeting waiting for us. Anyway, boring flying chat over, I landed in Tokyo at about 2030 and quickly got a bus to the main train station and then a tax to my place. For Tokyo I stayed in an AirBnB and it was probably the best decision I could have made. The apartment was a great size, comfortable and 15 minutes walk from Shinjuku station (the busiest station in the world with 2million passengers a day). There was a closer station but you always needed to go to Shinjuku and I am not lazy enough to not walk for 15 minutes.

What can I say about Tokyo in one word....nothing. It is impossible as there are so many things to say about this amazing city. It was completely like what I imagined after watching Lost in Translation. Flashing lights, very tall building, lots of people wearing suits, tv screens everywhere but then much more. Everyone was so polite, they smile, asking a question of someone in a shop etc doesn't feel like you are inconveniencing them. I decided early on that I would only stay in Tokyo as travelling to Kyoto would cost me £200 on the bullet train so it was not worth going for just a few days. Instead, I took the whole 8 days in Tokyo and will go back to Kyoto to give it the attention it deserves another time. Tokyo itself is not a very old looking city due to an earthquake in 1923 and from the Americans bombing it in WW2 destroying many of the old buildings. Due to this, everything looks very futuristic. You can get a hint of the old capital when you visit the Imperial Palace. The only bits surviving from the WW2 destruction is where the Emperor lives and members of the public can only visit on the Emperors birthday and at New Year. Instead, we can to wonder around the vast gardens which proved to be a very relaxing experience.

Whilst travelling around the other countries, I made a concerted effort to stay away from Japanese food knowing that I would eat as much as I could in Tokyo. Yo Sushi will never be the same again in all honesty as eating the real thing really does make you realise the big difference. Everywhere I ate, I tried to keep it local so seeing no white people was always a good sign. One particular bar I ate in did dumplings, I say bar because it was so small and you literally walked in through the door and onto a chair at a bar with the chefs behind and they just cooked your dumplings etc to order. I am pretty sure I have never tasted anything as good as some of these local places. I made a friend in Japan who studied at UCL. The best part of that day was coffee that turned into having dinner before hitting some bars and culminated with singing karaoke at 4am with a bunch of local young people that did not really speak English but could sing along to the Beatles. A very epic evening indeed.


Tokyo has many shrines and temples scattered around which were interesting to visit and spend some time just standing and thinking and enjoying the free green tea that they hand out at the Senso-ji temple. This is Tokyo's most sacred temple but unfortunately, lots of it was damaged by the American bombings during WW2 so has had to be re-built or things are just missing. The buildings were spectacular though and as with places in China, you had people giving offerings and praying right next to people trying to sell their bits and bobs. Unfortunately because of that, you can never get a photo without being photo bombed 100 times and just before you actually enter the temple area, you walk through a narrow outdoor corridor with small outdoor shops which took some time to navigate through due to the shear number of people. As I have said before, if you think London is crowded, the tourist areas in some of the cities I visited are twice as bad.

Whilst in Tokyo, I decided to take a trip to the Science and Natural History museum as you do. It had much more to offer than the one in Beijing with so many specimens including one of my favourite extinct species (Megaloceros giganteus) and virtual displays designed for children to understand things but useful to everyone.

Walking around Tokyo sometimes proved confusing and one of my two stress attacks came when trying to find a particular bookshop that according to the signposts existed but didn't seem to be anywhere. I eventually found it with some help but it was not where I expected. People do not cross the road unless the green man is on even if the roads are clear and it is illegal now to smoke outside. Instead you have to go to designated smoking areas that are randomly around the streets. It is an interesting policy aimed at cleaning up the air for the 2020 Olympics however you can still smoke inside so as you can imagine, coming from a country where it has been banned since 2005, going to a place to eat and being surrounded by smokers is a tad uncomfortable (and made my clothes stink).

One particular evening that I must share was when I travelled up to the observation tower at the Tokyo City Hall. 42 levels up was a pretty scary though and once there, looking out onto the city you realise just how huge it really is, it literally spreads to the horizon as shown in this photo (apologies for bad quality but the window reflects).

I was very sad to leave but at this stage, I had been travelling for 3 weeks and home time was getting closer. My next leg of the journey was back to Hong Kong and then finally back to London.

asia 2016 (beijing - part 2)

Arriving into Beijing station at 9am fresh from a fairly comfortable train ride, Seven and I (mainly Seven) helped the German guys to find their bearings and then we set off to drop our luggage and head to the Great Wall of China. For such a large population, the transport system is actually quite robust and the hour long journey to B station where all the tourists go to see the Great Wall was easy and we actually got to sit down. There is another place to visit the Great Wall but it takes about 3-4 hours to get there and today was a Monday so therefore a working day meaning maybe it would be quiet? Quiet in Chinese terms is relative but actually we didn't have to wait for very long as most of the tourists opted to use the sky lift to avoid walking, we walked up. The wall was built so that it always headed for the highest point, when reading this I did not even register the fact that actually this meant it was pretty steep. I was lucky enough to get a photo with not many people showing just how steep it was...

For miles around you could just see undulating hills and dense bush. I feel for the army that tried to get through it to be honest (but actually the great wall was not very useful and was breached twice (I think)). Luckily the weather was great, the sun was out and not much pollution was inhaled so overall a great day. On the journey to the wall, we met an Irish dude who ended up staying with is around the wall. He was fun to chat too and is living the dream life getting well paid to teach English in South Korea and then travelling and then back to South Korea. 

The following day, Seven had to return to work so I had the next couple of days to explore Beijing all alone. First up was the National Museum of China and at without wanting to risk being visited by secret Chinese officials, I was not all that impressed. It was a huge building and not filled with very many exhibits so it just looked empty. It did however have a very interesting exhibition on Chinese currency and how the use if different monies has evolved throughout the dynasties. As mentioned earlier, I decided against visiting the frozen corpse of Chairman Mao so a little walk around Tiananmen Square concluded that day. I could visit Beijing without a visit to the Geological Museum so that happened the next day. Photos are included in my Google Album for those that want to see but there were some really impressive specimens although very very few were on display. The whole museum was only 4 floors wth the 4th floor being a celebration of how much geology Chairman Mao new about (sigh!).

My final day consisted of a visit to the Summer Palace. A very large park with a palace that was destroyed many times by the British and French. I know this because literally every sign in the palace started off with 'this building was rebuilt after being destroyed by Anglo-French Forces'. The palace from what I read was mainly used by the Dowager Empress Cixi, most people might remember her as a complete b!*ch who spent loads of money including using money set aside to upgrade the Chinese imperial navy to build herself a concrete boat and eventually lead to the downfall of the Emperors and the start of the Republic of China. There is also a very large Buddhist temple in the middle of the palace complex. I found it a reoccurring theme that people would be trying to pray but in the background people are trying to sell 'tat' to tourists. Strange.

I have not really spoken about individual meal but my final one in Beijing must be mentioned. We went to a place that did hot pots, not the English sort though. In a nutshell you get a pot that is spit in two and you can choose 2 from a number of flavours of soup to go in them - see photo. We had spicy and mushroom. They sit on a cooker in the middle of the table and kept at the boil. You then order your food such as meatballs, crab sticks, noodles, beef etc etc and it comes raw (similar to Korean BBQ from HK) and place them into the soup to cook. It was beaaaaaaautiful food and the staff were so welcoming, helpful and chatty. One of the waitresses apparently had a crush on me (according to Seven) so she was always hanging around filling up my water which was pretty cute. We ordered noodles and proper noodle chef (yes they exist) can out and did some crazy moves including throwing the noodles around so that they almost hit my face before cutting them and placing them in the soup. All for really good value, I could not have had a better meal to finish my time off in China.

The morning of my departure was my first experience of stress. I literally could not get into the metro heading for the airport due to the rush hour. I suppose I should have thought ahead that a city of 17 million would have a busy rush hour. Luckily a taxi driver said he would just take me straight to the airport. Leaving China was also not as painful as I imagined and immigration was fast and efficient. Next stop was South Korea before onwards to Tokyo BUT we were delayed by an hour, something not uncommon in China so I was told.

asia 2016 (shanghai & suzhou)

Shanghai was one of those trips that had to be done as it was fairly simple to get too and of course, the British had great influence in the area is it was going to be interesting to see the differences between it and Beijing. In total, I spent 3 days in Shanghai and in all fairness, there is not much to see. The Bund is the main destination for tourists where you can see all the old colonial buildings etc. From here you can also stand on the promenade to view over onto the western side of the Huangpo River into the Pudong district. Think of the city Star Fleet HQ is based in in Star Trek......it looks just like that. At 7pm there is also a light show where they switch on the lights of all the tall buildings and the famous Shanghai tower - it all looks very pretty. The rest of the time was spent just casually enjoying the atmosphere of the mid-Autumn festival, visiting the busy Nanjing Road shopping area. I do have photos but as I am working from my iPad, I have found it hard to add them properly so I will just upload them when I get home.

The final day before getting a sleeper train back to Beijing was in a smaller city not far from Shanghai called Suzhou. It is was of the many Chinese cities that refer to themselves as 'the Venice of China' due to the fact that it has some canals. Suzhou is famous for being one of the early focal points for the silk trade. It has a more traditional look than Beijing in my opinion and definitely compared to Shanghai. Everywhere you go is a local shop or restaurant and chains were almost non-existent. Suzhou is also famous for its gardens and I visited the Lion Grove Garden. Again, more photos will come up soon and really I need them to explain how beautiful this garden really was. It once belonged to a Chinese academic (Suzhou was a place where academics retired too apparently) and is now open to the public to enjoy. Chinese gardens are famous (apparently) for their rock formations and how they are made in mazes that you can wonder around and play in. This garden was no different and it took about 1hr to wonder through all the twists and turns. Photos soon I promise!

It has to be said that the people I encountered here were on the whole, much more friendly and much less suspicious looking (more in the next post). You still had the security checks at tube stations but they usually smiled at you and although I do not view it as super important, more people spoke English so it was generally easier to get about. A note on that, I disagree that everyone in the world should be learning English as actually we Brits are terrible at assuming everyone should speak our language and that we should make no effort (except for the Americans of course - they are much worse). Before I get lynched, I am not at all saying that is always the case but you have to admit, it is the majority. On one of the evenings, I went to a bar and ended up chatting with a lady from Wales and a guy from Coventry (how weird!) who now lived and worked in Shanghai. Their experiences were all positive in all ways apart from certain beaurocratic obstacles placed on foreign people by the communist government in China. It was a unique experience for me as I did not realise Welsh people ventured that far abroad.

Suzhou and Shanghai done, it was time to board a comfy sleeper train where we shared a cabin with two Germans (who were sort of interesting but one studied marketing and the other said some stuff but also had his top off so I was distracted) and off we went back to Beijing for part 2 of my visit there.

asia 2016 (beijing - part 1)

Firstly I have to apologise for the delays to writing for all of my avid readers, having Google blocked in China is difficult and even with VPN, finding the time to type stuff up and then copy and paste it across was too much for me (to be bothered with). So here I am sat on the flight to Tokyo, just been informed that we are delayed. I think I am experienced enough in the way of the Chinese now to say...typical! I have loved my time in China very much but something I definitely take away is that the Chinese authorities literally do not care if you have an issue or somewhere to be. They do everything in their own good time and if they can be bothered (more on that later). I will have to break my Chinese trip into 4 parts I think. 2 for my time in Beijing, 1 for my time in Shanghai and 1 for my general feelings and to talk about some funnies that have happened whilst here.

So for the first part, Beijing is a huge city. In the UK we all learn that the Chinese have a massive population etc etc but you do not actually appreciate truly how big that is unless you come here (or attend Imperial College I guess). The metro system does not experience an off-peak time and I think I managed to get a seat twice on all the journeys. As I've mentioned before in other posts, I do like to walk everywhere but this seemed impossible in Beijing as everything is so far away. That said, you can not fault the transport system, it is efficient and quick despite having to go through a security check every time you enter a metro station. I was very fortunate to have a friend in Beijing who I met when he was studying in the UK, without him I would have been stuck as hardly any of the officials speak English and Chinese is a little bit beyond my ability to learn coherently in such a short space of time, especially as a slight 'mispronunciation' could mean something completely different even though to me, it sounds the same.

Day 1 started with a trip to the Forbidden City. This huge complex of royal buildings was the seat of power for the Ming and Qing dynasties but now has a huge portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the front and sits opposite where his frozen corpse is kept (and displayed in the morning - grim). I should note that I didn't visit Chairman Maos corpse as a photograph of the man who started the destruction of Chinese culture is not somebody I really care much about. Back to the Forbidden City, getting inside is fairly cheap at 60 RMB, it would have been cheaper as they do student discount but the lady on the desk did not believe that a 28 year old could be an undergraduate. I have many photographs showing the beautiful architecture in my Google Photos. One comment I made to my friend when walking through the FC is that one always thinks of Emperors, Imperialism and the general power of the dynasties when walking through these buildings but does anybody actually think of the skilled workforce who created it. The detail and small intricate differences in design all have meaning and the people who built this place must have been extremely skilled. I didn't even realise until pointed out that the guardian lions are actually male and female, you can tell which is which by the objects under their right paws - males have a ball and females have a lion cub. Looking outward, females are always on the right and males are always on the left. All the statues are in 5s or 9s as this had meaning for the emperors etc etc. All very fascinating stuff and totally different to what I have been used to in Europe.

The second day, I was due to fly to Shanghai. That day also marked the start of the mid-Autumn festival. This is where Chinese people essentially celebrate family. It is popular to eat Moon Cakes with the idea that when members of your family are not present or scattered all over the world, you all eat the moon cake and it is as if you are together. I was lucky enough to be invited to my friends family for lunch and it was an absolute feast. One of the uncles also took great pleasure in getting me to try the Chinese spirits which I can best compare to petrol. It was so strong. I had some amazing conversations with everyone (one uncle could speak English and another could understand me but not really speak English) about politics, their home affairs and it was interesting to get the real Chinese view of things as we in the west have a very definite view in my opinion when we think of China and Chinese people.

Lunch over it was time for the airport and Shanghai.

asia 2016 (hong kong - part 2)

I am currently writing my blogs out of synch as due to my own lack of organisation I am now in China and the Chinese block everything Google, Facebook, Snapchat or IG related. Therefore I will just finish off about my time in HK and then do a new post to talk about the interesting experiences of mainland China.

HK is probably one of my new favourite places. The mix of old and, I won't even say new as it's more like futuristic is intense. Everyone was friendly too whether it came to buying stuff or asking for directions. Although not a huge huge city, I walked everywhere and started to regret it by the end as my feet were on fire. The metro, or MTR, is quick and easy to use. I mentioned in my earlier blog (or I might not have but can't check as it's blocked) about the octopus card and that you can buy most things on it including food and for all the transport, the card also makes travelling extremely cheap. I am regretting only spending 4 days there so will likely find another cheap flight to visit again.

I would say one bad thing about HK though, the air-conditioning. It is near impossible to acclimatise to the humidity as when you walk indoors or just walk past a shop door, the air con is soooooo cold. In the international finance centre shopping centre where I hanged out to get wifi and a hot drink (whilst waiting for my train to the airport), the air con is sub zero I think and being there in shorts and t-shirt was not comfortable despite being a pale Northern European who should be used to it.

My final delight from HK was the fact you can actually check in your luggage for a flight at the train station! You can then just chill out and only have to go to the airport 40 mins or so before your flight so you can go through security. It is so so efficient, London could learn a lesson or ten.

Photos will follow and maybe the odd edit but for now, next stop Beijing.

asia 2016 (hong kong - part 1)

5.30am starts have never been cool in the first place especially when you have an 11hr flight preceded by a 6 hour transfer in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the plan to to go out into the city (in Amsterdam) did not carry through as you have to be back ridiculously early for long hurl flights. Instead I enjoyed a cultural McDonalds and numerous Starbucks whilst trying to work on my thesis. The flight itself was with KLM and as a frequent Ryanair flyer, I was surprised at how much they fed and watered you for free - I could definitely get used to it. Also, unfortunately I was not able to sleep so as I am writing this I have to keep correcting typos. Sigh!

Arriving in HK itself and the process of collecting luggage etc was less stressful than I thought. Even going through immigration was relatively simple and despite a huge queue for the bus into Yau Ma Tei (the area I am staying), it was also an easy experience. The currency here is something confusing though, everything seems so expensive but actually £1 is equivalent to 10 HKD. The rain though was something else. I remember getting off the plane in Thailand some years ago and you get that damp, humid smell that tells you what part of the world you are in. HK was no different and it was also awful torrential rain to the point where you couldn't even see out the window due to the stream of water. To add to the pain, the hotel did not let me check in till 1pm (I arrived about 12, they said at first 1.30pm but must have felt sorry for me).

The room is nice for the money I paid and smack in the centre. It is located on a long road called Nathan Street which runs straight into the Victoria Harbour and overlooks Hong Kong Island itself. I couldn't help myself  but take some cheeky tourist pics (see below) and then off for some authentic food in the style of Korean BBQ buffet. I was introduced to it by a friend and you basically get your own meat and fish (all raw) and cook it at your own table inside a small, round heater metal thing in the table. I'm sure they exist in London but never found one, it tasted amazing! 

Walking down Nathan Street proved quite hilarious. It was packed with people and the famous flashing lights everywhere. It also had random Indian guys trying to sell pocket watches and rolex watches to all the white westerners. Surely not you say? But yes, they literally moved through the crowds and only seemed to target us. Strange - does that mean they think we have money or are mugs - or both?

Anyway, a successful first day with lots more to look forward too :D

asia 2016 (intro)

So I am finally all set to go on my 3 weeks of travels around parts of Asia. First stop will be Hong Kong followed by China, Japan and Singapore. I have decided not to make any definite plans other than to visit Beijing and Shanghai when in China. Unlike the other countries, China requires a visa and in order to get one, you have to book your whole journey and then tell them. God knows what would happen if they decide to not give you one after spending all that money. 

I hope to keep my blog fairly regularly updated and will be sharing all of the photos on my Google Photos album so watch this space.

This will also be the very first time I have travelled alone, maybe a blessing as I do not have to worry about compromising with anyone over when I wake up, eat, sleep and where I go etc.

I suppose I am lucky that I will not be having any teaching this term on a Monday as being jet-lagged and trying to learn does not seen compatible. 

Next stop, Hong Kong (via 6 hours transfer in Amsterdam, not so bad I guess!)

map and thesis (part 6)

And the end is here. Finally after 6 weeks of hiking, climbing, observing, noting, interpreting and sweating 90% of the time, I am finally back home in sunny Twyford. I say sunny because I was hoping for it to be cool and maybe even rain but actually it's 31°C so the sweating has continued.

The final few days consisted of tidying up my work and doing some last minute data collection, all good stuff to help bolster the thesis which is making good progress at the moment (well, the introduction is done anyway). Early on in the trip, we decided to end the whole adventure with a day or so in Barcelona. I remembered from my time inter-railing that a fast train from Madrid to Barcelona stops in Zaragoza. Ideal then that we could drop off the cars and then catch the train and lucky that I managed to get fairly cheap tickets on the internet.

Barcelona is not a new place for me. In fact it is the 4th time I have visited. In line with wanting to keep the trip as cheap as possible, we decided to book a hostel. Using the good old hostelbookers website (a favourite of mine) lead us to a 'very nice looking' hostel close to the Plaza Catalunya which is effectively the Trafalgar Square of Barcelona and therefore smack bang in the middle of everything we needed. All seemed perfect until we arrived at the hostel. I will not name names as it was not the most terrible place I have ever visited and actually, despite the strong smell of BO and weed, the guys we first bumped into all seemed very nice. Indeed, within 30 seconds they had invited us to a festival. However, the general feel of the place was just grim. The bed was grim, the loo was awfully grim, the shower was grim (and had things growing on the base). I like to review everywhere I go on TripAdvisor as actually it has provided a really great service to me when travelling but here I am torn. I want to give it a bad review but the people (who all seemed to work in the hostel - it was strange) were so friendly that I would feel a bit guilty. Decisions eh!

The beach, Barcelona

As we only had a day, it was nice to just relax and have drinks (a fair few), eat good Spanish food at the famous Bilbao Berria (my absolute favourite Spanish restaurant) and walk around the beach. As it was a Monday, most of the museums and such were all closed as is common practise in Europe. 

Tuesday came and it was finally time to get home. The usual airport monotony was stirred up by listening to some loud mouthed scouse 'girls' (covered in tattoos, piercings and an unpleasant expression etc) trying to convince everyone why they needed to skip the queue for passport control in their own unique way. Lucky me also got to experience two delayed trains on arrival in the UK, typical really. So that is the end of that. As mentioned in earlier posts, now is the time to start writing up all of my observations and then using knowledge I already have and with lots of reading, I can make my scientific interpretations. This will be the bulk of my thesis and I have a few months from now to get in the first draft.

As for my blogs, I have a family camping trip coming up this weekend which probably won't warrant a post as all we do is sit, chill and chat. I have a dinner in Oxford next week and my dearest mother is going to visit so as you can see, not a hugely interesting few weeks to come. The next big adventure for me will be my tour of Asia starting in early September for 3 weeks. I plan to visit HK, China, Japan and Singapore and of course, I will have to write about my experiences there with lots of photos to enjoy.

Until then :D

map and thesis (part 5)

I am writing this with just 2 days of mapping left to go. Slightly out of synch for what I would have liked to do however, life currently is just a countdown to heading home. For those who are interested in the geological part of this little adventure of mine, it is still confusing. Unfortunately as mentioned in previous blog posts, lots of small forests have grown all over the area completely covering everything. With such low levels of exposure we are near enough guessing what is happening. In the adult world of geology, they would have more equipment to bore down and collect samples, have access to chemical analysis etc but alas, we just have our maps and coloured pencils. Either way, it is almost done and I actually think I will have a decent (first attempt) map to hand in. The hassle now is writing the thesis. My upcoming trip is going to include some typing during flights I think. 

On the social side, we managed to take a day off to visit the historic city of Pamplona. In all honesty, it was much smaller than we thought so also visited the fort town on Jaca, town that can also trace  its routes back to Roman times and is famous for its 16th century fort. 

The Cathedral of Royal Saint Mary, Pamplona

Spain is certainly a beautiful country but one has to wonder sometimes how it manages to function. Despite Pamplona being the capital of Navarre, it was such a quiet place. Bars and cafes were open but when you walk down some of the side streets it just appears deserted. The city is also famous for its bullfighting but this happened a few weeks past and now the very large stadium that hosts the event was closed and didn't offer the chance to look inside. I could not even get a good photo as the outside is surrounded by trees!

Since writing this blog I have not mentioned the fact that I have been driving, a function that none of my family would have thought me capable of. I passed my driving test through the army more than 5 years ago. The course they sent me on in order to get my license was up to two weeks long but with the option to take a test after the first week. Monday to Thursday consisted of meeting our (two of us had to share a car - can not remember the other guy though) very strange driving instructor who really did not seem interested in teaching. We would drive around a bit, do some manoeuvring then swap over and do it all again. My test was on the Friday, I did not feel ready. Upon meeting the driving assessor on the Friday morning I thought we could get this fail over and done with nice and quickly. We drove out of camp, went around some roads and parked on a hill where the assessor instructed me to turn off the engine. He then started to chat to me about my regiment, about his old regiment and his time in Northern Ireland. 15 minutes later I started off again with a hill start, drove in a loop and back into camp where he then assessed my parking (which consisted of me driving straight into the starting point). 11 minors later (unsure where they came from) and I had my pass. Boom! Luckily did not have to drive again....until now.

This would not normally sound very encouraging to most but actually it has been very simple (aided by the car being automatic) and nobody has died of fright from my dangerous driving.

So what is next. Sunday I head to Barcelona for two days of doing no geology at all. Tuesday I fly home and have a few days before heading off on a family camping trip to my fathers favourite place. More on that to come soon I think.

So sum up this post, here is a photo of a really neat little village we saw whilst driving to Pamplona that looks like Rohan from LoTR, it is built on a small hill and everything!

Until next time :)

map and thesis (part 4)

Only a short blog today as with only two weeks of fieldwork left to go, the week was dominated by a visit by my supervisor, Professor Charlie Bristow. The initial worry turned out to be unnecessary as he actually said my work was very good BUT, it appears both me and my mapping buddy made quite a big mistake in that we missed an entire formation (sigh!). Not to worry though as it turns out that in the ten years since he was last here, a small forest seems to have grown over all of the exposure and in the places where did did 'see it' we called it something else. Anyway, problem solved and ready to move on.

Much needed selfie before hiking around in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

To that end I do not really have much to talk about this week other than the 13 hour Geo Tour we did yesterday (Friday 5th) which included visiting some geological sites located close to scenic Spanish towns, a quarry that was once the start of a very large basin millions of years ago and finally a trek to the crystal blue waters of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (at almost 1800m above sea level).

I have some photos in my Google Photos but I have never in my life seen such clear blue water. 

The day culminated in some fossil hunting in mudrocks from the mid-Eocene, I was fortunate enough enough to find a very good Echinoderm fossil (photo below, pen is for scale). So overall a hugely useful visit from my supervisor who managed to clear up nearly 3 weeks of confusion within an hour of arriving. Now I have 2 weeks to correct the errors made and finish off the final few field-slips. The stressful part is only just beginning though as I have to write the thesis. With my little Asian tour coming up in September and my draft being expected by late November, I have had to start drafting my thesis now. Not my favourite past time after a long day in 30° heat but needs must and all that.

One part of this whole degree that has started to niggle in my mind is the viva at the very end. Rumour has it that the main topic for the viva is the map and thesis. The examiner is expecting a thorough and proven understanding of the geology around the area, the tectonics affecting it etc. I can honestly say that until yesterday(ish), I was completely bamboozled. By the end of these two weeks I hope to have it cleared up.

.......

My dead fly count: demi-god level

Andy's dead fly count: god level

.......

map and thesis (part 3)

3 weeks down, 3 to go. I can not make up my mind on whether it has gone quickly or slowly but it has been a steady routine of waking up, driving there (I am getting much better at driving), climbing up steep paths to map and then heading back home. We normally have to finish for around 2.30pm as it becomes too hot to work beyond that point.

I was asked a question about what I get up to in my daily life here as I have not said much about it. In all fairness there is a reason, my day is pretty boring. The main effort is all about finding out the rock types and where they change from one to another (this creates the map), then we have to describe what we see, sketch it and using our (very limited) geological knowledge, interpret what we think is going on. On the evenings I tidy up my notes, colour in my map where needed, browse youtube, and attempt to start typing up my thesis notes in order to save some time later in the year.

Week 3 included some cultural visits. The first was to the Castillo de Loarre, a medieval castle complex built between the 11th and 12th centuries and basically unused since the 15th century. It was one of the final bastions against Moorish rule and acted as a staging ground for the Kings of Aragon to start taking back land from the Moors. A thoroughly enjoyable visit for just €4 and a chance to see something that we rarely see in the UK. The views from this castle are stunning and I have more photos in my Google Photo gallery.

The second cultural visit was to Zaragoza, the capital city for the Autonomous Community of Aragon and 5th largest city in Spain. Another beautiful city to add to my growing list of explored places, Zaragoza has been around since Roman times and indeed shows very well preserved Roman ruins, Moorish buildings from its time under a Muslim kingdom after the downfall of the Caliphate of Cordoba and the medieval Spanish architecture when the Aragonese controlled it through to modern times. Photos are again available in my gallery. Whenever I travel to a new city, I normally make a visit to the cathedral or basilica priority. Zaragoza was no different and visiting the Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar (Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar) was an amazing experience albeit suffering my usual levels of annoyance at disrespectful tourists. The day culminated in some great tapas and of course, a night out. We decided to stay in a hostel so that we could enjoy a few drinks without having to worry about driving. I quite enjoy staying in hostels as they usually have a friendly atmosphere and sometimes, bar crawls can develop in the hostel bar. Alas, that did not happen this time as the bar was closed till 10 but the place did not even seem to be that busy. An ideal location for us either way and an enjoyable visit. 

In other news, I lost my job due to poor performance over the exam period and have no way to appeal as it was a 0 hour contract. Ah well, I now have more time to play the Elder Scrolls or some other game (and do uni work of course). The next few days will be the same as usual but we will be having a visit from our supervisor. If my next blog post is sad in its feel then it is because he has shredded my work to bits and I have to do it again (insert crying emoji).

We shall see. Until then.... :)

on studying (part 2)

So what are the problems with university? Lack of routine? Student? I suppose moving from a job where I did not really have that much freedom and always knew where I needed to be, at what time I needed to be there and what I needed to do made life much more simple albeit restricted. After leaving the army I found myself having for the first time in a long while, much more responsibility for myself (but more about that in my army blog).

So, I am now at uni aged 26 so slightly older than most people that would usually be attending uni...or so I thought. One of the special things about Birkbeck is that it is designed for older people who have careers but want to study in their free time in order to change careers or just because they are interested. It is quite unique, I mean for example, we have a guy who started in the same year as me (but is doing a slower course) who is a successful sort of chap working in the City of London BUT has an avid interest in other planets and space so is doing a certificate in planetary geology just for the shear fun of it. This unique situation means that actually I was not the oldest around and actually my short military career paled in comparison to the wide plethora of jobs people had. None of that mattered though, we were all there to look at rocks in the end.

Back to the problems. I had no routine now. I knew I had to attend lectures and I had work to do but nobody made me go and I certainly would not be punished for not showing up. It is strange for a 26 year old to suddenly have to develop a very fast sense of self-discipline. I always felt that I had it anyway but looking back, when in the army, if we could get away with not doing something then we would jump at the chance as we knew that some other crap job would be around the corner soon and the time off would slowly or suddenly dry up. Added to this was the sudden drop in cash. Luckily I have a job moderated for some certain websites but won't say anymore on that (:P) and I am in the OTC (another blog) and of course, student loans help. I am very fortunate that I do not have to pay tuition fees thanks to the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition pushing through the military covenant into law essentially saying that those without degrees who have done 5 years or more can get one for free.

Although I do like the university I go too, it also comes with problems, mainly that despite paying £9k a year in tuition fees we do seem to have to fork out an awful amount of money on extras such as all of the field classes. Being a uni that is geared for working adults, it sometimes forgets that it has full time students who are dependent on this degree to get a job. That said, we have some of the best lecturers around. Many of the professors are hugely approachable and you do not need to have a month long wait to chat with them.

Anyway, uni is great and well worth being there. One more year to go.

on studying (part 1)

As you may have read from an early blog post, I left the army in 2014 and decided to pursue an academic career. I have another post to write on my time in the army so I won't go into details now however there was a need for a definite shift from what I did (Tactical Communications) to what I wanted to do. At school I did a GCSE in Geology and loved it, after all who really can not be impressed by how dynamic our own planet is. You can go for a walk in the countryside, the beach, a mountainous and appreciate the beauty of what you see around you but can probably not appreciate how it came to be there. I found this all very fascinating and since completing that GCSE have also held a deep background interest in all of the Earth Sciences.

I should write something on Geology from my perspective before I talk about studying in general. Most people hear the word and say rocks but in fact it is so much more, in fact although the degree is called Geology, a more accurate description used in the academic world now is Earth Science (but I will stick with Geology for traditional purposes). Rocks is in my opinion a small part in what is a very vast subject that includes all the main staples of science - Biology, Chemistry and Physics - but also compliments humanity subjects such as geography and to an extent, history (I once read a book about how myths and legends of various cultures throughout human history have been influenced by the local geology - e.g. the volcano Mt Vesuvius in Greek mythology). Geology brings it all together and finds out why.

So I was set on what theme I wanted to do, now I just needed to find a university that would take me along with my poor A Levels. I have to admit to doing poorly in my A Levels as I was already set on joining the Army but I did not want to be a junior soldier (younger than 18) so needed to do something in the mean time. Looking back I wish I had done better but looking forward, it does not really matter now. I had to apply through UCAS but making the point in my statement about being a mature student (I was 26). Most universities look kindly on mature students as we work harder apparently, also because when I did my A Levels there was no such thing as A* so not possible to achieve anyway.

The universities - Birmingham, Royal Holloway, Leeds, Birkbeck and Brighton.

Brum said no (in less than 24hrs) because of grades. Leeds said yes but to do a foundation year with them first. Brighton said yes with no conditions. Royal Holloway became a sore spot for me. It is a great university set in a stunning campus. I went for an interview and the department basically said that wanted me but because I had been out of formal education for so long they wanted me to do an access course - not a problem I thought, I even got the army to pay for it. 6 months of access course later and a distinction grade overall with the Open University I thought I was in BUT....the admin people at Royal Holloway told the Earth Science department they could not take me because my results were too late (they came about 3 weeks after A Levels results). Bastards! (but much love to the department head who emailed me to say sorry that it could not work out).

So here I am at Birkbeck College, University of London. A uni that most people associate with older folk coming in the evenings to partake in some late life learning. This is true in many cases however what most people do not realise is that actually Birkbeck ranks 6th overall in the country for Earth and Planetary Science (another cheeky plug) and the course is accredited by the Geological Society of London - our sciences professional academic body - which actually knocks quite some years off getting chartership. We have some pretty eminent professors too who actually enjoy teaching and getting a meeting with them does not take 4 months and a piece of your soul.

Life at Birkbeck as a full time student is enjoyable with some decent perks (one such perk being the people) but of course has some major issues in my most humble of opinions.

Those and more for another time I think. Until then....

Assessed Field Techniques 2, Scourie (Scotland), 2016

map and thesis (part 2)

Week 2 is almost over yet I can not make my mind up on whether I have been here for ages or actually it is going quite quickly. To start with, I did promise some pictures so will add my favourites here that are also included on my Google+ site and Instagram (cheeky plug) with a quick description of what they could be (only just finished second year remember, not an expert yet). In terms of my actual work for the Map and Thesis, I guess the confusion has ever so slightly subsided however we have definitely picked a challenging area to map. For those who are keen geologists or just enjoy looking at rocks and stuff, this area appears on the outside to have it all. The problem occurs when you try to get to it and you have to fight your way through the sharpest nettles I have ever encountered OR as you get closer to an exposure (an outcrop of exposed rock) you actually realise it is on a vertical drop. All of this added the fact that we see a beautiful, thorn-free path from the distance and as we get closer, it actually was not a path or even better, is prohibited access has made the mapping area a challenge for sure but immense fun!

Ok, picture time...

So here we have me trying to look cool on top of Mallos de Riglos in the very Southern end of my mapping area which is essentially an Alluvial Fan. I had the great pleasure of having to climb up to get to the top and record some stuff about it.

A very beautiful thrusting / folding limestone formation next to Embalse de La Peña on the very Northern end of my mapping area. Unfortunately, no way to climb it (apart from directly up and that is not going to happen).

Overall a successful week, we managed to basically cover the whole North to South walk along the Western side of the River Gállego trying to interpret what actually happened here. It's a funny world looking at it from a geologists perspective as you have to imagine these huge formations of rocks being slowly pushed over each other or against each other creating all the complex geometries that I have the privilege to look at. It does take some imagination along with the scientific logic that I am trying to develop.

So what else? I was made to eat my own words recently as before deploying to Spain, I told the group of guys and girls that I am mapping with that it would not rain as we are in the North and it's hot and will be dry and roasting and I promise etc etc. Well, 80% of my statement was correct, most days have been 30°+ but this week we did witness quite a substantial thunder and lightning storm with very heavy rain that lasted for quite some hours, prior to that we had been out on the mapping area in our summer outing clothes so got appropriately soaked. My bad.

Another photo,

A yet unidentified fossil mould found in some limestone, worth a mention as it is such a good specimen.

Credit: Todd Downing (my mapping partner)

I also celebrated turning 28 this week. I must confess that I am not used to doing much for my birthdays as all but 1 since joining the army at 19 turned out to also be 'working days'. This one was sort of a working day but at least I am in Spain and not back in Afghanistan (like I was for my 24th) or training for Afghanistan (like I was for my 21st) or on royal guard / barrack guard or other duties / work (like I was for my 20th, 22nd 23rd, 25th and 26th). I did have my 27th off but that was because I was on resettlement leave - please forgive the rant. Either way, my uni friends here took me for dinner and paid. I was happy.

The final big news of the week was exam result. I might as well jump straight into this and say that although I am happy with getting a high 2:1, I am disappointed at being 3% off a 1st. Still, I can only blame myself for immersing myself too much into my role as the Senior Under Officer at the OTC (another blog on that) but it was also a dodgy year with an unwanted break up, still trying to find a good routine (it is so hard to re-establish once you lose it) and a general lack of confidence going into the exams. Still it means that a 1st is in sight with some extra work on next year's modules.

.......

My dead fly count: approx 25 confirmed kills

Andy's dead fly count: lost count

.......

More photos on my Instagram (twd1988) and my Google Photos

Y

map and thesis (part 1)

So am a few days into my university main project called the Map and Thesis. This is where we have to produce a geological map from scratch along with 1 or 2 cross sections (what is going on underneath) and an 8000 thesis (essentially all the typed up observations, some interpretations on what we see and a geological history based on what we have found).

Simple? Not at all. I have never mapped Sedimentary rocks (our whole area consists of Sedimentary rocks), little practise in mapping structures (we are in the baby part of a mountain range) and never mapped without supervision (so I can no longer have a small cry to the tutor in return for some direction). Despite this, the 6 of us who are mapping the area together are in high spirits and confident for a good 6 weeks of geological fun.

On a huge plus note, although I needed fork out £210 extra to get an automatic car, its drives like a treat (pics to follow when I have them uploaded) and I have not crashed - except for a tiny but trying to get out of the parking lot. I like Spain because everything is straight ahead, left or right and then straight ahead again. It is also quiet but what do you expect in the very north of the country where the average temperature is 35 degrees so I can not blame everyone for probably being far away on some beach.

Today (12th) was day one of actually obtaining information so I do not really have any fun tales to tell other than I decided to wear shorts due to the heat (30 degrees yesterday) but managed to fall off a rock and spent an hour wading through thorns just to check if there was Limestone at the top of a very tall hill (we could not see any due to the vegetation).

Anyway, now to try and do some more work and stop my legs from stinging like a bitch!

.......

My dead fly count: 3 confirmed kills

Andy's dead fly count: 10 confirmed kills

on travelling

I have always thought that I would like to create some sort of record for my love of travelling but as with most things that I do, the good idea did not materialise, until now. I suppose the spark that ignited ambition to travel to as many different countries and immerse myself into many different cultures started when I was serving in the British Army. Although, yes I went to places with the army, they were not all fun and even when they were, we were restricted to what we could do. Upon then meeting my third (and currently final) ex-boyfriend, another keen traveller, I was able to start off my dream with three weeks of inter-railing. More hardened travellers probably laugh as just a mere three weeks of inter-rail but alas I was still chained by the 'annual leave' prison imposed by my employer.

Either way, we got to visit a vast range of places that I have never had the luck to go to before. In order of march (army term) they included;

Paris

Amsterdam

Berlin

Prague 

(via several hours in Munich)

Venice

Milan

Barcelona

Madrid

A lot of places for such a short space of time you say, true indeed however, with early starts and late finishes, you can achieve quite a bit of distance. This all happened in 2013 so quite some time ago. To that end I am not going to go into depth about this very first experience of mine only that it was the first time I had used the eurostar, the first time I had slept on a sleeper train, the first time (self-imposed of course, I could have gone anytime but didn't) I was able to freely venture out into unknown places and do as I please.

So what is the purpose of this post? Well, not really for anything specifically other than to explain the very groundwork for why I like to travel and why I now have the confidence to travel alone without the need for a guiding military hand or indeed just a normal friend (or ex-boyfriend). I have been to a few places since but again I will ignore these due to memory lapse BUT.... This September (2016), I do my very first solo tour and the destinations of choice include Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Kyoto. This is where I will really start my travel journey. Trip Advisor tells me that I have only covered 9% of the world so there is plenty of time to amatuer blog.

Thanks for reading.