Madison Adventure - 2012 North American Biodynamic Conference

Back in August, I applied and got a scholarship for the Biodynamic Agriculture Conference that would happen in November from November 16th to the 19th in Madison, WI.

I had a friend, Zach, that graduated from Central and went to live in Madison with his brother about a year and some ago, so it would work perfectly because he said I could stay over for the weekend!

Later in September or October, a friend of mine, Madelynn got the same scholarship and I was thrilled I was going to have a travel partner! Before, I was planning on doing all the travelling, etc. by myself which would be a little rough. After a couple of weeks, both of us got an email saying we had a huge discount for a pre-conference workshop on Thursday Nov. 15th., so we decided to leave Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, stay overnight in Chicago and continue our trip to Madison in the morning. I thought it would be too much on Zach to have my friend and I over for 4 days, so I looked into couchsurfing with another Madison local on Thursday night instead! It is a pretty cool thing I learned a couple of months ago through a friend: http://www.couchsurfing.org/

On Wednesday, Madelynn, Jackie and I left Mt. P. late afternoon. Jackie is another good friend of mine. She is going to Brazil with me in December and she had applied for a Brazilian visa a couple of months ago. It is kinda of a pain because the nearest Brazilian embassy from Michigan is in Chicago, so she had to go all the  way over there just to grab her passport. It kinda worked perfectly tho because then the 3 of us were able to  have a road trip together. Jackie is also a very good city driver, and we would be in trouble without her! hahahah

We first looked into hotels/couchsurfing in Chicago but we decided to go for a Hostel. It was the best decision we could have made. So, we left Mt. Pleasant we would stay:

1. Wednesday- Hostel in Chicago
2. Thursday - Couchsurfing
3. Friday and Saturday - Zach's

I booked the ISHP Chicago Hostel, not knowing a thing about it just because it was so darn cheap! Literally $49 for a room that would accommodate the 3 of us! When we got there, Madelynn told us it was in Wicker Park, her favorite neighborhood in Chicago. I have been to the city before, but never to that part of town. It is more of a hipster area with lost of alternative clothing stores, records stores, natural restaurants and thrifty places!

ISHP has 2 buildings. I made my check in  the main one and we headed to the second one, where we were staying. We had free parking over there too, which was amazing! The room was pretty good, there was a huge and very clean communal kitchen and good and clean shared bathroom. After getting situated, we left the building and headed towards the restaurants to have dinner.

ISHP Chicago Room

We ended up at this place called Native Foods Cafe- http://nativefoods.com/ - It is an amazing vegan restaurant! I had a marinated fake chicken with a quinoa vegetable salad!
 

Native Foods Cafe

After that we went to a record store and to the Myoptic book store - http://www.myopicbookstore.com/ - and we spent some time there. It was so nice to be in a city environment after being "stuck" in Mt. Pleasant for a quite a while (no offense but Mt. P. is definetely my favorite place in the whole world).

Madelynn at the Bookstore

Myoptic Bookstore

Jackie and I

On Thursday morning we went to Madison and left out stuff at our couchsurfing host before the workshop. We got to know Brian for a bit and he was very nice to open the house for us early in the day.

My workshop was about the 9 Biodynamic preparations as proposed by Rudolf Steiner, it was very interesting as my introduction to Biodynamic farming.

After the workshop we went to see Zach and hang out with him for a bit! It was super fun, I think I hadnt seen him for a year before that! Then, Madelynn and I headed downtown to give a ride to Brian's friend, Benjamin, who was coming from Minneapolis for a guitar audition at University of Wisconsin.
That night we hung out with Brian, Benjamin and some of their friends. It was lots of fun!

Next day, Madelynn and I were back to the conference. During the afternoon we went for a walk in Downtown Madison. It was awesome! So many cools stores and coffee shops to see at State Street and all around the capitol! We even found a pharmacy co-op that was AMAZING and we could have at least 10 hours there! hahaha

Monona Lake

Downtown Madison

                                                    

That night we had pizza at the Roman Candle, where Zach works. The pizza was great and we got a great discount because of Zach! Then, the 3 of us headed to The Cardinal to meet Brian and Benjamin and see Toni Diakite and his band band that plays great african ethnic music!

Farmers Market

Farmers Market

On Saturday, we attended some workshops and then went to an indoor farmers market that was going on in the same building as the conference - Monona Terrace-. It was truly amazing! So many beautiful things to see and to buy! If only I had more cash on me! I got the best roasted garlic cheese of all times, bread, soap and carrots!


Later on Saturday, Brian and I went to the community gardens and the nature reserve at UW. It was quite beautiful! Madelynn and I had dinner at this great Indian restaurant and at night we hung out with Zach and girlfriend, his brother and mom! It was great!!

                                                         Sunset on Lake Medonta

On Sunday morning, Madelynn and I met this UW dietetics professor that has a great sustainable homestead at his backyard! He has a big garden space, 2 hoop houses and a chicken coop. Unfortunately, I did not take picture of those things but it was very amazing! We shared some ideas of sustainability  and he got me very inspired of, one day, doing the same thing myself!

Then, Madelynn and I hit the road and came back to Mount Pleasant!

This trip was one of the best I had so far this year! I can't wait to return to Madison and I am considering UW for grad school as well. Who knows ;)

Emilie

Boston, MA

I went to Boston on the last week of August to help my little sister, Stefanie, move there. She got accepted  at Suffolk University and had to move into the dorms on early August!

I left with my dad from Michigan on Saturday August 25th by car. We stopped somewhere on the way to spend the night and we continued our trip on Sunday morning.

When we got there after 18 hours of driving, my sister and my mom were waiting for us at the apartment that they rented for they week (they flew there the day before).

Apartment in Boston

I am writing this post like 3 months later so I won't remember the details but I'll do my best. The apartment was located on the South End which was fairly close to Stefanie's dorm at Downtown Boston. I liked South End, lots of cute restaurants, some clothing stores and surprisingly lots of community gardens!

Stores at South End

South End

South End Apartments

My mom in front of a Cathedral in South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden- South End

Worcester Street Garden - South End

Stefanie' dorm is located right downtown, close to everything! So different from Mt. Pleasant, oh God..hahaha.

Next day, my mom and I went to a walk on South End and then to Newbury street. Newbury is more of a up scale place. Lots of famous brands stores and expensive restaurants. The street is very beautiful with lots of trees. I loved the atmosphere over there (although I like the community gardens better :). We ate at Samba Sushi, veryyyy good food and brazilian music!

Samba sushi

Newbury St.

Newbuty St.

Newbuty St.

Newbury St.

Parallel to Newbury st. is Boyslton St. where the South End Church and the Boston Public Library are located. Both are beautiful! There are also lots and lots of stores and restaurants there! Great place to be, oh big city  <3

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

South End Cathedral

Dartmouth St.

Dartmouth St.

South End Cathedral

South End Cathedral

South End Cathedral

 

South End Cathedral

South End Cathedral

That night we went to Allston, MA to eat at a Brazilian Restaurant called "Cafe Brasil" which was very good! Picanha, pastel and guarana, yummm :)

Allston, MA

Street Art in Alston, MA

On Tuesday, my mom and I went to the Museum of Fine Arts while my dad ad Stefanie went orientation. I am kinda biased when it comes to museums, because I love them anyways, but this one is a must see! Wonderful! We had a blast there, beautiful, beautiful!

The next day, my parents and I (Stefanie was in orientation again : / ), we went to the Harvard University Arboretum in the Jamaica Plains! As a botanist, I LOVED IT. I love the contrast of city and nature so close by makes me smile. Having a place like that to walk and botanize for a bit makes me feel so good. After, we ate at a sushi restaurant nearby and went to a food co-op. Then we met Stefanie at her dorm and walked around Downtown for a bit!

The Harvard Arboretum

I can't quite remember what we did on Thursday but I believe we spent the day helping Stefanie move in properly! I remember going to Best Buy and Target to buy stuff.

During the later afternoon, I went to the Charles River Esplanade hoping to find the spot where people from the group "Slackline Boston" go to Slackline mostly everyday! I walked the wrong way for a while and when I got there I got to slackline for a bit before they took the lines down. I got to meet Sonya, Sean, Harry and Sabrina and we all went to the bar afterwards! It was a great place, over 200 beers on tap. I can't remember the name right now, but we had a wonderful time. At least I did ;)

Same thing on Friday, I cant remember quite well what we did and later on the day Stefanie went slacklining with me! I got to see some awesome tricks everyone was doing, and I practiced some more as well! I had a total blast!!
 

I also remember going to dinner at little Italy 3 times during the week, but I dont really know which days! It was very tasty tho. I keep thinking it would be fun to live there. The streets are cute and there is great food all around, the type of atmosphere I love! On Friday we had dinner at the Brazilian restaurant (again ;) called "Muqueca." It was truly amazing, we ate Muqueca, obviously, and Feijoada. After that, not so happy, our car got towed because we parked in a tow away zone :/ We also got 2 tickets and paid a ton of money on parking. Lesson here: NO cars in Boston, ever!

On Sunday, me dad made one trip to Michigan. Yeap, 18 hours in a day! Crazy, he did most of the driving and I am so thankful for him. It was a great family vacation, the only down side was to have to "leave" my sister there and come back. It is hard to live far away from her but I am so happy that she'll have the opportunity to study in Boston!

Till next time,
Emilie