Trajectories

I did a lot of walking around alone today. Chris is off and running with his work–it looks like he’s going to be in an important role in helping the lab look forward into the coming year. He’s excited to get started. So, while he was doing real work, I was playing tourist, travel guidebook and all. The nice thing about touring alone is that you get to decide exactly what you want to do–no negotiations between group members needed. If you want to stand in front of a statue for twenty minutes trying to understand the expression on his face, you can! No one will think you are weird!

What is this man trying to say? To me, it simply looks like he was dumbstruck by something. "Whaa?? Is that our enemy storming the castle gates?? Whaa??"

I thought I would share some of the highlights of my little excursion.

After deep sea diving, I had to spend most of the morning in a hyperbaric chamber.

Okay, so I didn’t go deep sea diving, but there was this display at a museum I went to that talked about ways to provide shelter for the homeless, and this was one of their ideas. I’ve seen versions of this before. I don’t know about you, but if I was looking for somewhere to keep me safe for the night, this gigantic double-decker microwave oven would not be my first choice.

Fine dining at its most luxurious...

The best decision I made all day was to actually take my travel guidebook’s advice and go to this beautiful cafe called Luckac’s Cafe. Seriously, the most beautiful place I’ve been allowed to eat in. Here is what I had (don’t get jealous):

Chocolate mousse with a caramelly-nutty center

All of my dreams have come true...

That chocolate bomb extravaganza was so rich I could only eat half of it. I walked out of there weak in the knees. My vision was fuzzy, so I thought what I saw next was a mind trick:

A boy fishing in a fountain. With no fish in it.

Maybe he was practicing?

Next came Heroes Square, a square that honors…heroes. It’s a pretty beautiful, amazing place. The statues tower over you and the square is smack dab in the middle of a crazy busy round-about and main thoroughfare.

Heroes Square. Where's Cowards Circle?

At the end of my lovely walking tour, I came upon one of the most inspirational statements I’ve seen in awhile. I think we all need to take a moment and think about this one:

Well, at least I failed better. That's all I can hope for, really.

So, dear friends, go out in the world and fail better. You’ll be glad you did.