Birding

Today we took our friends Roger and Karen out to bird. It was a gorgeous day and we say lots of young birds including this grebe and her baby. We also saw a swarm of crabs, shown below.

Congratulations, President-Elect Barack Obama

What an amazing day for America! Everyone here in Australia, it seemed, was glued to a television set, watching history unfold. In the School of Psychology we had a large room set aside with a projection TV, with a map where people coloured in states once the results were known, where together we watched that amazing speech. (When Barack Obama spoke of people huddled in a corner of the world listening to a radio, our Head of School quipped "That's us in Australia!..."

:)

For the first time in a really long time I was not just grateful to have been born in America, a land so rich in opportunity, but was fiercely proud to be American. To be from a country which can inspire such hope to people around the world when we set our mind to it. And you could see that hope mirrored in people's faces all around the world, people celebrating in many dfferent places in the world, wishing us well for the future, wanting to pitch in and help us in trying times. It is so wonderful... Congratulations President-Elect Barack Obama!


Honolulu, Hawaii


At Obama's former school in Jakarta, Indonesia


Barack's step-grandmother Sarah Obama in Kogelo, Kenya.


Sydney, Australia


Japan


Beijing, China

Lovely Dinner with Friends

Today my PhD student from Portugal Daniela and her partner Carlos came to dinner at our home before flying back to Portugal to spend Christmas with their families. Daniela baked the most delicious Portuguese dessert... most of which I ate myself the next day!

Gardening Weekend

Today we spent the day putting in plants in the garden, including the Blackthorn and Australian Fuschia plants pictured above. Very relaxing for Nancy, but Tim was trying out his new chemical weedkiller sprayer - less relaxing...

Peking Duck for Tim

After a nice weekend of shopping, good food, some lazing about and visits with friends, we ended the weekend having a fantastic dinner of Peking Duck...

Birthday Weekend

Today was the first day of a two day "Tim's birthday" weekend. We started by going to our friend Corinne's house. She rehabilitates various species of bats, particularly those that get caught in barbed wire fences like this character (named Freddie). It was terrific to see the bat recovering so well.

Good News!

While pictures from my recent trip to Portugal slowly get posted, we interrupt this blog for an important update! Went to see Kirk my wonderful oncologist today, where he pronounced me in COMPLETE REMISSION from my bout last year with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Basically as the PET scans since last year show no active signs of cancer, and since the tumor has shrunk more than 90%, the doc says I am in complete remission. This does not mean that the cancer cannot come back - chances of that (on a population level) range from 10-20% in cases similar to mine, but the doctor is confident that my chances are closer to 10% if not a bit better given the excellent treatment response to date. So of course we are all quite pleased...

Tim gets a major grant!

Today Tim and his colleagues in the business school John Steen and Mark Dodgson received an Australian Research Council national grant award of $170,000 to do innovation research!

Red in Tooth and Claw

Today we had a bit of drama at our house - a brown goshawk caught and ate a crested pigeon literally on our doorstep. The footage is a nod to Alfred Hitchcock...

Broken Finger!

Yes, you may have noticed I had my finger wrapped in gauze in many of these last photos from Portugal. Turns out that I DID break my finger in Portugal! Today I landed at 6:30am, went to the GP at 10am, got x-rayed at 10:30am, picked up the scans and report at 11:30am, and the GP gave me the news at noon. (Australia truly does have an excellent health care system...remember we do not have private insurance...) I just have to keep my finger wrapped for a week, as I've already had it wrapped for a week, then I start physiotherapy to make sure I get back 100% movement.

Farewell to Portugal

On my last day in Porto my host Oscar Ribeiro took me to a fantastic restaurant by the sea before dropping me off at the airport. Luckily before I left I had time to buy some port wine in duty free!

I had such an amazing time in Portugal! I can't wait to visit again next year with Tim!

Talk at Aveiro University

Today we took a train to the town of Aveiro so I could give a lecture at Aveiro University. The university is very modern with an impressive library. The town is quite charming, with lots of canals. We had a lovely lunch of fish before returning to Porto. That evening after dinner I saw an architectural exhibit, making the most of my last hours in Porto.

Serralves Museum and Ice Cream by the Sea

Today I went to the beautiful Serralves Museum, a lovely spot in Porto. My excellent tourguide Maria Joao explained lots about the museum and Porto in general. We talked about music, politics and life - a terrific day which ended with ice cream by the sea.

A fine day in Porto

Today I had the most lovely meal in the Majestic Cafe in Porto, after a satisfying morning of shopping. The desserts in Portugal are particularly great - there is no such thing as too much sugar in a Portuguese dessert!

Then I had a stroll around Porto, eventually ending up in Gaia, the port wine centre. Here I took a tour of the Sandeman port wine house, then sampled some 20 year old tawny port - terrific!

A Sunday Drive to Arouca

Today we took a drive to the region outside Porto known as "Serra da Freita" (Freita's mountain). There we saw some really lovely landscapes and also the very interesting rock formations locally named "Pedras Parideiras" - something like CHILDBEARING STONES. We then were lucky enough to have dinner in Arouca at their local festival "Feira das Colheitas".

Views of Porto

I am staying in Porto for the remaining week of my stay. Today I visited the famous Livraria Lello bookstore, in my opinion the most beautiful bookstore in the world...

I also took some time to wander around Porto a bit...Even the views from my hotel room were gorgeous.

The Old University Town of Coimbra

Today, after a most civilized breakfast by the pool at my hotel, I gave a talk on late-life anxiety and driving. Afterwards my colleagues Horacio and Mario gave me an excellent tour of the University at Coimbra. A terrific day!

A romantic story...

Today almost immediately after my arrival in Porto, after a brief lunch with my wonderful hosts at the Unifai ageing centre, I caught a train for Coimbra, an historic university town. My host Professor Horacio Firmino was kind enough to provide accommodation in the most wonderful Hotel Quinta das Lagrimas, or "The House of Tears". This hotel (palace, really!) is the backdrop to the romantic story of Pedro and Inez, Portugal's version of Romeo and Juliet, which you can read here.

The Marvelous Town of Sintra

The best castle I have ever been too in my entire life - the Castle of the Moors in the city of Sintra, not far from Lisbon. It was beautifully situated on top of a hill overlooking the countryside...

I next visited the National Palace of Pena, which you can see from the Castle of the Moors. This palace is amazing - around every corner was another amazing vista.

Finally I took a longish bus trip out to Cabo da Roca, the Westernmost point of land in Europe. (I even splurged and got a certificate verifying I had been there!). The views were spectacular...

Lisbon Sights

Today I spent the day seeing the sights of Lisbon - a street market, St George's Castle and the Museum of Tile. Dinner was in the restaurant district of the city...

The skyline of Lisbon is really wonderful...

First Day in Portugal

Today I landed in Lisbon and even though I was bone-tired, could not wait to get out and see the city! Walked around town, went to the amazing Santa Justa Elevator, and the amazing Lisbon Oceanarium.

Not only was the oceanarium museum beautiful, it was filled with both amazing fishAND amazing birds, including the Inca Tern below...

Am flying to Portugal today. It has long been a dream of mine to travel to Portugal, so I really can't believe I am going! I will spend a few days seeing Lisbon, then travel to meet with research colleagues in Porto, Coimbra and Aveiro.

Dementia Conference

Attended a conference in Sydney on dementia research yesterday and today. Heard some amazing speakers and am very pleased Australia is trying to address the issues associated with dementia through innovative research.

Broken Pipe

This weekend a pipe broke at the sewage treatment plant near our house and a TON of (treated) water overflowed into our backyard. But no damage was done...

15th Wedding Anniversary

Today Tim and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary with a 3 day weekend at the Gold Coast. We stayed in a great hotel called the Phonecian, right across from Jupiter's Casino (my Evelyn's favorite spot in Australia!)... We had a terrific weekend!

Gallstones for Tim

Today we got the unwelcome news that Tim has gallstones which most likely will need to be removed (along with the gall bladder itself) with keyhole surgery. At least this explains why Tim has gotten occasional stomach aches over the last 3 months. He is in no pain since cutting out soda. He will probably have the operation before Christmas.

A Blue Zamboni goes to the Vet

Today we took Zamboni to the vet as he hasbeen sneezing. The vet diagnosed a cold and prescribed some antibiotics. Weirdly, when we too him out of the carrier at the vets he was mostly blue from having rubbed up against the inside of the carrier... (photo taken with iPhone).

Successful Teaching Grant

Today I was really excited to learn that I'd received an Australian Learning and Teaching Council grant to study and make recommendations on the curriculum in clinical psychology in Australia - we had a really fabulous team across 5 universities and it will be a great project.

Oliver Sacks

Today we went to hear neurologist and author Oliver Sacks speak downtown. It was a very interesting lecture. His most famous book (The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat) is probably still my favorite.

New Technology!

oday I got an iPhone - it is incredibly nifty - will bring together in one device phone, address book, memos, camera etc. - very cool!