Barnes, Burns and Blizzards
After spending Christmas back home in Scotland, I returned to Princeton rejuvenated and ready for plenty of science, while also squeezing in some more American adventures. This weekend, Heather and I aimed to tick off another item on our US bucket list — the Barnes Foundation in Philly!
We braved the plummeting temperatures and ventured down to the gallery where we enjoyed a fantastic tour of the uniquely curated collection. A mix of paintings festooned the walls with the eye being drawn restlessly in every direction. Rather than relying on information labels, Dr Barnes encouraged the viewer to draw conclusions from the intrinsic content of the art itself. After absorbing enough Renoir’s, Cézanne’s, and Picasso’s to last a lifetime, we headed back out towards City Hall to take advantage of the foody discounts as part of restaurant week.
With the highly anticipated winter storm approaching, we left Philly for home and cooried on down for the night. Come the next day, the snow had certainly arrived. Princeton was blanketed under a good foot of white, with more being steadily deposited throughout the day. We were keen to sample the conditions for ourselves, so battled our way through the IAS woods and around the pond — trudging through the snow was tough work, especially with it finding a way into my boots.
Warming up back home, we celebrated Burns evening with some poetry recitals, a toast of whisky, some homemade cranachan, and the wholesome movie `Sunshine on Leith’. Hopefully there will be sunshine in Princeton soon too, as this storm is meant to ease off overnight and into the week…
