My recent trip to Spain
Last november, Jaque and I went to Spain as part of a collaboration with the Universdad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM) and the Universidad Migual Hernandez (UMH). They were both kind enough to invite me for a talk during my stay, and UMH even recorded it (video below). We were really excited with this opportunity to learn more about one of the countries with most UNESCO World Heritage Site. I share in this blog post the video recorded from one of my talks and some of the cool pictures from our trip!
All pictures in this post are under CC (attribution) copyright, and can be re-used with proper attribution.
Presenting my work
This trip happened when I was starting my second year as a Post Doc, working with an amazing and interdisciplinary team. At that time, I was lucky enough to be invited to a few conferences and events to talk about my recent work. Although from slightly different points of view, the main topic was the interplay between fast decision making and stable representation of patterns in large neural networks composed of spiking neurons. When I presented at the Centro de Investigacion Operativas, Universidade Miguel Hernandez (UMH), they recorded my talk and posted it to UMH’s YouTube channel (video below). It was a little less than 50min, as requested.
It is certainly interesting to listen to yourself speaking in public. At that point, the fatigue of the trip was starting to get to me. Regardless, I need to look out for some repetitive words (e.g. “basically” and “like”). If you are interested in my slides, they are also available here.
More about our trip
Going to Europe with Jaque was a fantastic experience. It was not only my first time in Spain, but also Jaque’s first time in the old continent. We spent most of our time in Madrid during our trip. The first place we saw was the Escuela Politecnica of the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. We used a nice office there, at the Ada Lovelace Hall (wonderful name!).
With no doubt, Madrid is one of the cultural capitals of Europe. For starters, Prado Museum contains one of the finest collections of european art in the world. As recommended by many friends, we enjoyed the collection of works by Francisco de Goya. Especially for people like me, who like darker paintings and movies, it is easy to appreciate Goya’s unique style and technique. Still related to important artistic and historical landmarks, we visited the Plaza Mayor (first picture below). Another beautiful place to visit is the Buen Retiro Park, which dates back 500 years. One of its attractions is the Monument to Alfonso XII, opened in 1922. (second picture below). With respect to food, we were not so surprised to find many similarities between Spanish and Brazilian cuisines, which was particularly pleasant as Jaque and I have been in the US for a while now. Yes, I tried paella and loved it.
Madrid in general has a pretty unique charm.
During a Saturday, we decided to go to Segovia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with a rich historical content and wonderful architecture. It is not clear exactly how old the city is, but there are references in history books all the way back to 90 B.C. The work on Segovia’s Cathedral dates back to 1500 – i.e. it is as old as the new continent. But I was completely overwhelmed with Segovia’s Alcazar (kind of castle, I guess). It rises on a rocky crag, overlooking the confluence of two rivers. The panoramic view from the top of the castle is just breathtaking (first picture below). At some point, royal families lived there, and you can see their throne, belt room, paintings, decorated ceiling, armory room, etc. By the way, this castle served as one for the inspirations to the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom. You have to pay extra to go to the very top of the castle: it is damn worth it! But be prepared to sweat a bit.
It was pretty cold….
For this trip to Segovia, we had the company of our good friend, Aaron (Monday) Montero.
Our final destination was Elche, in the Valencian Community, another UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. Elche’s landscape is marked by beautiful palm trees (see pictures below!), most of them protected by the government. Based on the one night we spent in Elche, its nightlife is perfect for snacks (calamari!!) and good beers. According to my little research (i.e. google), Elche started as Helike, a settlement formed by Greeks around 600 B.C. Among the many archaeological remains found in Elche, the stone bust of the Lady of Elche - or Dama de Elche in Spanish - is a figure that you can spot anywhere in the city. The first picture below shows a replica in black. Apparently, the original stone bust is now in Madrid, as part of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Spain.
For more pictures, you can access the albums I created on Facebook.
We want to go back as soon as possible, but this time for proper vacation, with no work. Barcelona and Granada are sure destinies!