This last week marked the second time in two years I've gone to Madison, Wisconsin for a scientific conference. Lest this seem odd, I should point out that UW Madison is an excellent center of biology research, especially in fields related to microbiology. Add to that some really top-notch conference services folks, and it's no surprise at all that the conferences flock to Madison.
As summertime locations go, Madison is quite nice. It feels a bit like a midwestern version of Berkeley, with State Street standing in for Telegraph Avenue.
As I didn't feel like lugging around a real camera, I just have a handful of pics from my phone. Here's my defining image for my Madison experience:
Explanation and additional photos in the extended.
On my first trip to Madison, I noticed a little shop of some kind with Cyrillic lettering on the window. The people inside seemed to be eating, so I marked it as a restaurant and wandered in when I was hungry. Turns out it's a dumpling place, serving dumplings with the same marked purity of intent that In 'n' Out shows in their sales of hamburgers.
This year, I returned to find latin characters on the front window, so I now know that the place is named Pel'meni. The front window also says "Russian dumplings, made in the U.S. with love" (or something close to that).
Here's the Pel'meni menu:
Note the purity. Two steps, three options per step. I went to Pel'meni twice during my stay, the first time ordering Mix + Traditional, the second time ordering Mix + Spicy. Note that there's just the one order size, costing you five bucks, tax included. Also note that sour cream is, indeed, free. They have a refrigerator full of the stuff.
Here's what a single order of traditional dumplings looks like:
For the spicy, imagine those, but red and with some curry powder. I'm also completing the Madison experience in this picture by reading an issue of The Onion as I eat.
The UW Madison campus is in a beautiful location, on two different lake fronts. Here's a dock in front of the Memorial Union (the site of our conference):
Another lake view (I believe of Lake Mendota):
A friend asked if I'd made it to the Madison Dairy Store. Having not heard of this before, I went hunting for it on Thursday afternoon. After rather a bit of hiking across the substantial and sprawling Madison campus, I found it:
But it was closed. Unfortunately, conference hours prevented me from ever making it to the store while it was open.
My hike around campus brought me past many greenhouses:
...as well as placards explaining the history of the campus. Researchers at UW Madison made many key discoveries in the biological sciences, ranging from understanding the need for vitamins through developing the blood thinning drug (and rat poison) Warfarin. UW Madison was also where the first quantitative test of dairy quality was developed.
The weather was warm and moderately humid the entire time I was in Madison. During my last evening there, a storm rolled through, lighting up the downtown night sky every few seconds for an hour or more:
Having gone twice, I have to say I really do enjoy Madison. I don't think I'll mind my inevitable return for yet another biology conference next year.