We stayed in a hamlet called Mayschoss - about 30 miles away from the big radio telescope in Effelsberg. This telescope is massive - the size of a football field. It was so cool. At one point, they took us up onto the platform right beneath the dish. The cool thing about this scope is that it can move 90 deg. (downwards) and they have a system that rotates the scope 480deg. around. So cool. At one point, when we were on the deck, the scope was moving down, the base was rotating, and I was walking. I felt like I was in some sort of bizarre Einstein Paradox (which reference frame am I in?!?!?). But it was still cool.
The town of Mayschoss is absolutley beautiful. It's really really really really really tiny. It's right in the heart of wine country - as evidenced in the pictures. The hills that surround the town are quite steep, so the farmers made terraces all the way up the sides. They grow grapes and make wine the traditional way - feet stomping fun-ness!! (Ever seen that "I Love Lucy" episode?) Our first day there we hiked around the hills and through the vineyards. It was quite lovely. I met a lot of people as we walked around, talked with the farmers, flirted with the farmboys, hijacked grapes when the farmers weren't looking, and generally had a great time.
On the retreat we had our meals at a very fancy restaurant. I felt like I should have dressed up for the meals. I had venison, salmon, and eggplant all for the first time - and I really enjoyed it. The tables all had real candles - and, as I sat at the only table full of theorists, we discussed the luminosity function of said candles. I was grateful for Nana's instruction in my early early years on how to 1) eat properly with two untensils and 2) know which utensil to use when. It seemed like everyone else knew exactly what to do, and I (luckily) wasn't too far behind. bam.
cynthia, it's beautiful! i didn't understand a lot of the words you said, but the pictures are nice. :)
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