Switzerland - 2017

CERN: More CERN!

This is an example of part of the collider. These tubes, connected to form a 27km circumfrance circle underground, acclerate protons to unimaginable speeds, then smash them together. Different detectors (the ATLAS project can be seen behind) measure different things about the collisions as a way to try to understand what matter is made up of and how the world works.

CERN: The interior of one of the magnetic tubes.

CERN: One of the many cool montors that can be found around the campus.

CERN: They had cool street names.

CERN: This is CERN's first particle accelerator. The particles spun around in a small circle in the bottom part of this device. It made many great discoveries before being retired in the 90's.

CERN: CERN trucks!

CERN: The outside of the ATLAS project building has an illustration of what the actual detector looks like (it is 100m underground). The actual detector is twice the size of the drawing.

CERN: The ATLAS Control Room.

CERN: I wish I could go through that door...we had to watch through a window.

CERN: CERN stuff. The metal sculture is pretty cool - lots of Physics stuff all over it.

CERN: This canister provided the hydrogen that was used to give protons to the Large Hadron Collider. It didn't take much!

CERN: More views of the cool water cannon.

CERN: The flower clock...an iconic view of Geneva.

CERN: The streets included lit up cobblestones. It made for a neat view at night.

CERN: Cool fountain.

Aiguille du midi: Upon reaching the town fo Chamonix, I took a cablecar to Aiguille du midi - a mountain next to Mont Blanc. They allowed me to stand in a glass box with a long drop below.

Aiguille du midi: One view of the side of Mont Blanc.

Aiguille du midi: The parting clouds allowed for a quick view of the summit of Mont Blanc. Note the paths of footsteps on the bottom left of hikers.

Aiguille du midi: Beautiful view of dramatic peaks.

Aiguille du midi: Really cool panorama. View this in full res at photos.raynolds.net - it's got incredible detail of the area.

Aiguille du midi: The building looks like a Bond villain's hideout, much like the last mountain I visited. Remember the glass box I was standing in a few pictures ago...you can see it on the right side.

Aiguille du midi: Many hiking trails in the area. You could do worse for a nice hike!

Aiguille du midi: Cablecar in front of Mont Blanc.

Chamonix: Nice break to enjoy a quick lunch!

Chamonix: The town of Chamonix is dwarfed by Mont Blanc above it.

Chamonix: Nice statue!

Chamonix: I'd never seen a real ski jump before. It'd take some guts to go off of that!

Chamonix: Went for a hike in the woods around town...nice views.

Chamonix: Who's that rugged outdoorsman!?!?

Chamonix: The views were not bad.

Chamonix: Got to see several glaciers.

Zurich Airport: I loved these boiled eggs! How cute!

London: Buckingham Palace. I had a long layover and happened across a fun event...

London: The changing of the guard. People freaked out for this. It was PACKED!

London: I'm a fan of London, but for looks, Switzerland wins every time!