CERN + BBQ

Today, Sharon and I headed to the farmer's market for our usual pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat. We found a great stand with cheap and delicious fruits and vegetables - I bought turnips, radishes, and apples and have never tasted better. I love eating in season!
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After lunch, Sharon, Christoph, and I took the train to Zimeysa (near Geneva) to see the Microcosm exhibit at CERN, the world's renowned Large Hadron Collider.



The exhibit was free and pretty interesting; they offered a very detailed and simple explanation of their experiments and how the LHC operates, as well as a bunch of interactive games and experiments for "kids" of all ages. They had some old models in the museum that you could touch and read about their history.



It was especially interesting to see the timeline of technology, since CERN was responsible for creating the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. (Sorry, it wasn't actually Al Gore, in case you thought so.:) It wasn't even an American discovery.)



They explained the need of data storage (each year, the LHC provides enough data to fill a stack of CDs 21 km high!!) and how much processing would be required to maintain the device. It really was amazing to learn about how extensive the system was (and the size!).

This was definitely an experience that every physics lover (or science enthusiast, in general) should take part in. Especially since the guy giving presentations to kids took pity on me when I saw there was no more liquid nitrogen ice cream and he made some for free. I never thought I'd see the day of so many free things in Switzerland.



Free ice cream tasting and demonstration.

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Afterwards, we had a barbecue on the lake, where I made some delicious garlic mustard tofu skewers.



Look at those mountains!



Gigantic crows that evidently don't exist in Belgium.



Above: Merguez sausage, hamburger. Below: Tofu skewers and spring rolls (with curry ketchup, a Heinz specialty for Belgians)



Christoph brought some spring rolls to throw on the grill, and I brought the German chocolate cake that I had baked earlier in the day.





We spent the evening sitting by the fire and eating until we could no longer move. It was a pretty wonderful way to spend a Saturday!