WELSH RUGBY SCARF 2012 ... a travel log in pictures.

[Alan H]

The Lunchtime Walking Tour.

The scarf wanted to see a few of the sights, and being a cultural sort....after all, he comes from a home with Good Music , I started out on a bright wintery day...

I started out my lunchtime trek with a quick visit to two of the other buildings in the medical center research area that I support... SIM 1 also known as the Center for Regenerative Medicine, and the Clark Center, home of the Bioengineering group known as "Bio-X"

Here's SIM-1, with the scarf out front...



Inside the foyer hangs a HUGE Gilhooley glass sculpture. It's gigantic, I'm always paranoid, walking under it.



From there I walked over to the Clark Center...



...and showed the scarf around for a bit...

[Mickey]

Man, you are having way too much fun with this! And I'm enjoying every second of it! Really cool that all your co-workers are getting this involved too!

I work with morons who didn't even understand the concept on the first go-round. I'm very envious of you And thanks again for the great pics.

[Alan H]

...and then I set off for the Cantor Art Center, one of my favorite places on campus.





The entranceway is *STUNNING* with all the marble, and this horse sculpture always attracts attention. It looks like it's made from driftwood....it's not. It's made from bronze, cast in mold made from driftwood and aged to look like driftwood. This picture does NOT do it justice.



Finally, just to give you an idea of the beauty of the inside of this building, I climbed up the stair to visit a certain Miss Pallas Athena, and the docent snapped a picture.



I visited the gallery where the Stanford family pictures are kept, but the flash glare off the canvas sort of spoilt the pictures, so they'll have to wait for another day... ditto for the picture of the case with one of the actual "golden spikes" from the Great Northern Railroad. I know a few of you would like to see that!

[Alan H]

Man, you are having way too much fun with this! And I'm enjoying every second of it! Really cool that all your co-workers are getting this involved too!

I work with morons who didn't even understand the concept on the first go-round. I'm very envious of you And thanks again for the great pics.

Thanks, hey I might as well have fun with it, right???

[Alan H]

From there, the Scarf wanted to go back outside, as he'd seen a few of the Rodin sculptures that the museum has in the Cantor Center Rodin Garden....well, I couldn't say NO, could I?



First stop OF COURSE is "The Gates of Hell", which the scarf confided in me, was equivalent to being taken around, against his will by a guy wearing a kilt with both white hose on .. AND a flat cap!



I'm SUCH an Art Lebowski...



So after getting a good tongue-lashing from the scarf on my boorish ways, we continued on; me - properly chastised!

[cryerelizabeth]

Great pictures! I can't wait to see who gets it next like i said it would be flipping awesome if it would arrive here in time for st. Patrick's day in Savannah

[Alan H]

All this Art was making me woozy, so it was time for a rest. We headed for a shady spot...

This little photo tour suggests that Stanford is all about Art Exhibits and grandiose buildings, but that's not true, Tucked away in little corners are places like this...

The Bamboo Garden between Swain Chemistry and Mudd Science Building. I walk through here whenever I go to the gym.



Or this lovely little nook, not far from Memorial Church, in the Quad. I used to come here now and then when I worked in another building on campus.



Stanford is criss-crossed by little paths that wind through the trees, especially in the Arboretum, the several hundred acres set aside by Leland Stanford, Sr. and fiercly protected by Jane Stanford after his death.

[Alan H]

After walking through the trees, and up to the Quad, it was time to show off Stanfords Most famous landmark...Memorial Church. The frescoes on the front are just spectacular, and inside the church is the closest I've been to a European cathedral, outside of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Sometimes when I need quiet, I just go to "Mem Chu" for a bit of time to sit.....but again, the inside is for another day.

Memorial Church




An artsy view of the Quad, with Hoover Tower in the background...darn the shadow of that tree!



...and a view down an outer Quad hallway, this one is right past the English Department.

[Alan H]

Honest truth was that at this point, the batteries were shot on my camera, so it was a quick trip to the Bookstore for me! I walked fast up towards White Plaza, and the fountain with the sculpture in it that probably has a a real name, but that generations of Stanford students have called "The Claw". Every year before the Big Game with Cal, the Stanford Band puts on a show in White Plaza, which culminates with a teddy bear getting impaled on the very top of the sculpture....



Here's a more "touristy" view of the Claw from the steps of the bookstore, looking across to the newly revamped Old Union.



Now that I had my batteries, I noticed on the clocktower that time had run it's course. It was high time to get back to work. However, on the way, I decided to snap pictures of the two buildings I USED to work at, when I first started posting here at X Marks the Scot...

Here is Meyer Library, home of the Academic Computing and Residential Computing departments. My office was on the second floor. It was here that I went through "First Kilt Stress and Angst"



---and finally..... a view of the really gorgeous old front entrance to Green Library, the main undergraduate library, with Hoover Tower in the background...

[Alan H]

That concludes the Welsh Rugby Scarfs tour of duty at Stanford University, the Beckman Center and the Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine. He'll be packaged up to head off on a new journey, tomorrow or Friday.

A clue to where the scarf is going?

I can't send the kilt to none udder
than that lanky and mean, old tough mudder!
You need a clue to lean on?
It's the state of Lindsey Vonn
though SHE's cute...this guy'll just make you shudder!

Cheers, Alan H!