#Baltimore – Blog about neuroblastoma research

Sightseeing discoveries in Baltimore

Coming to live and work for a short period ignites opposite feelings. Should I see all the places recommended by Tripadvisor or do it at my pace as it happens? What if I miss something worthy? Perhaps, your own intuition balances somehow both.

I have discovered and loved two buildings in Baltimore. One is the building of Barnes & Noble bookstore in Inner Harbour and the other is Mount Vernon Place Church. Both have a great history behind and give a very warm feeling when you are inside.

Barnes & Noble bookstore is located in the former Power Plant. The features are easily spotted. From outside, the building looks like a Plant for modern social activities. Ugly slightly, isn’t it? Though, it is a different feeling when you enter the bookstore. The Plant scaffolds, chimneys and pipes are nicely crafted into a warm welcoming environment. Even lights are dimmed as back then. Rambling through the bookshelves and feeling the magic of the place and unread stories on them. You can pick up a book, sit where you are and enjoy the reading. Maybe it is the feeling of my childhood full of books and hours of reading?

Mount Vernon Place Church is next to the Washington Monument and recalls old Catholic Cathedrals in a Victorian Gothic Style. Built in 1872, the Church is actually the United Methodist Church from the very beginning. It is beautiful inside as well as outside. The stained glass and carvings have Nature themes. A big rose window in the rear of the church was inspired by the one in Notre Dame. It has an interesting history which you can read here. I discovered this place by chance and am glad that this chance came from my host family. I saw the interior not only the Church but also Asbury House. The mansion was a home to the first bishop of the Methodist Church in America – Francis Asbury (1745-1816). Have a look at the pictures, the furniture is well preserved, the staircase is similar to the one you can see in Slane Castle. Its light design makes it looks flying. Indeed, not everyone could use it at that times. Servants had a plain version at the back of the house, so none could have seen them moving in and out. Lots of blue and carved wood in the rooms. Incredibly beautiful.

Mount Vernon Place Church & Asbury House

Taste of Guinness in Baltimore

What is a must-see in Ireland? Right: visit Guinness brewery at St. James’s Gate and have a pint of right Guinness. It is one of the most recognised and famous beer brands. Rumours say Dublin is the only place where Guinness tastes Guinness. Traditions, traditions and traditions. Though the one we like most Guinness Draught is a relatively new addition – it was introduced almost 200 years after the brewery establishment in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.

So, what if you like tastes ‘outside the box’? Then Guinness brewery in Baltimore is for you. Respecting the Father, they do completely different stuff. Imagine, 16 different tastes, including the one we know! You can have a guided tour of the brewery, hear the great story and do a beer tasting. Have you tried one? Not, the one in the pub or with the friends at BBQ. It is a special way to feel the bouquet of flavours and taste the difference. There is a difference between the beer drunk straight from the bottle and from the glass. Because you can smell it as simple as that.

Taste of Guinness, the Guinness Brewery opened in Baltimore, MD, the USA in 2017

During our guided tour, we rambled inside the experimental brewery, learn the basics of beer production, tasted 4 types of beer: Guinness Blonde, Oatmeal Pale Ale, Guinness Draught and Guinness Milk Stout. Three were absolutely new for me. I liked Oatmeal Pale Ale, found Milk Stout a bit dessert style, Blonde – too citrusy. Do not forget, another 12 you can taste at the bar in a special set! However, to enjoy the most you have to bring your friends. All is much better with the right company!

Beer tasting comrades at the Fri night out

Halfway through

Can you control the time? I can’t and know none who can. It flies, when things around you work out, and drags on when not. The time flies for me here in Baltimore. It feels so intense sometimes and then slightly slows down. I take pictures almost of everything: the path’s signposts when rambling in the network of Johns Hopkins Buildings, the first frosty morning, joyful deer at the backyard of my host family house, outdated clothes in the shop…

In the past, I had a similar journey to Ireland. It was 3 months research placement during my PhD. Did I like it – oh, yes I did! I travelled a lot, felt romantic and changed my life on my return home. But I did not run a diary or tag my way on Facebook. I have learnt the lesson: do it even more intense as you can’t travel back in time and write down your experience. It may be funny or educational to read in a couple of years! I become addicted to it though not always have time to do it.

I like the people who I am working with. They are a fantastic bunch of self-motivators and open-minded personalities. They are workaholics either naturally like me or because of the exciting projects they do like I do. Who knows, but very likely because of both. Isn’t it a dream to have an exciting project and great people around you? The luck like this gives you wings.

The American enthusiast studying Russian and my Mum

The host family – is my other great luck! This luck was crafted as a parallel story when none knew how the Fulbright application and an American enthusiast learning Russian may intersect. You would not believe, but parallel lines can be non-parallel sometimes! His journey to my home city in Russia paved the way to the opportunity to stay at his aunt’s house.

Every day 50 min drive to and from Hopkins opens up the other side of the local lifestyle and infrastructure. What are the rush hours? How many drivers are signalling before taking a turn? How do they call the shopping trolley? How parking system works?

Experiencing life as an American working in Baltimore.

September Highlights

I pass this traffic light on my way to work every morning. It has all mentioned in the text: the street label, and the additional sign regarding ‘red’ light rules.

The first month flew in a flash. Vibrant and exciting. What did surprise me? Well… No public transport in Baltimore as we got used to in Dublin. Driver friendly environment. I like street indications at the junctions. Helps a lot in navigation. Clear and straight to the point. You can drive anywhere, you find a parking spot within 1-2 minutes, though the fee can be very high if in town. Around Johns Hopkins Hospital street parking is just 1 USD per hour, though limited to max 2 hours. You can turn on ‘red’ if no danger posses. As it always happens some drivers read this rule on demand and turn on ‘red’ even the additional road sign prohibits it. Many jammed/bumped cars in use.

Ok. Baseball. I and some man from my host family went to see a match of the local team Baltimore Orioles vs Chicago White Sox. I like their positive team colours – orange. It was sweet to get a free orange hoodie at the game and eat a standard size ice cream cone – enough to feed 2-3 people. Their stadium is a big museum of Orioles success. Nice to rambler around. The team is not doing well in the current season. They lost 0:2. Many players are traded in and out. Did I gain all insights of the game? Hmmm… But, wish the team and the fans best of luck in the next season!

What about the American Church? Yep, I did it, too! I attended the worship service in Glen Mar Church – a United Methodist congregation. Wikipedia says that the United Methodist Church (UMC) is a mainline Protestant denomination and a major part of Methodism. Did not hear about it much, but I am staying with the family who is not just active members of the UMC, but the head of the family is a recently retired pastor. So, I went there for his last service. It is very different to Catholic or Orthodox and the feeling that you get entirely different. Pastor and church members interact actively and not passively. It feels more like a family or person consulting and support environment rather than a dogmatic lectureship.

However, my main highlight is NASA. And it deserves a separate story.

And finally, the Fulbright journey has started

Air Canada was my first bridge to connect me and Baltimore. A new luxury plane with great service brought me over Atlantic to Montreal in 7 hours. Watched many films and TV movies starting with ‘ Battle of the Sexes’ and finishing with re-running some episodes of ‘Young Sheldon’. Food was excellent, fast service, great taste. The US Customs met me with two state flags flanking a copy of the Liberty statue at the Canadian Airport, so had no need to do anything at the final destination. My 2nd leg was way shorter – just 1.30hrs!

At BWI a lovely American family picked me and my bag up and brought to their sister’s house – my American home for the next 4 months. It is promised to be a true cultural experience. How I found them? It is a story for a separate post to follow.

My American house is in Baltimore outskirts and in 30 min drive from door to door. My first drive to work was a break of all statistical predictions about tyre’s punctures. One of the tyres went flat almost on the half-way in probably not a very safe neighbourhood. With no cell phone, no roaming and no a spare ‘donut’!

What happened next? ‘Emergency lights’-ON, pulling my hand out to stop anyone with a cell phone. After a couple of dozens passing by cars, one pulled down, a nice couple of doctors offered me their help. Phoned to my host family and explained the situation. “Stay in the car with locked doors, we are on the way”. While I was waiting for them a nice man from the Afro-American neighborhood tried to help me out. “No, no… thank you… I am fine… Help is on the way…” in a sort of fear I replied.

Next, both I and Rod (the head of the family) were looking for a spare ‘donut’ and tools to lift up the car. Nothing. The same nice man came again offering his help. We did not resist. He pulled his brand new shiny Lincoln Continental and brought all you can dream of in my situation. A jack to lift the car, an electric screwdriver to get the tyre off… His name is Melvin. I and Rod run into the nearest garage to fix the tyre, while Melvin was looking after my car.

Forty-five minutes later, I continued my journey and arrived 2 hours later than planned. Rush to hunt the ID and car parking. A long queue of new commenced stuff needed exactly the same and disappeared in 25 min. Interestingly, I got the spot in 5 min for my use during the next 4 months as all the rest from the queue. Imagine, to get something like this in Dublin Centre area. Now, my car is parked in 5 min walk from the building I work in. A nice end of the first day!