Celebrating Jeff’s Birthday

Today, which is also Jeff's birthday, is the first day of competition for diving. Jeff texted me while I was having lunch to report that the US women's 3 meter synchronized diving pair won silver at that event. Sadly, Jeff did not get to judge this event because the judges' panels for all finals are only made up of judges from countries without competitors in that event. Regardless, this was a great birthday present for Jeff.

After I ate my lunch at The Hood, I decided to return to the hotel because I did not want to continue dealing with rain. On the way back, I scouted out an automaton called The Defender of Time and decided it would be a great pre-dinner treat for Jeff. Jeff returned to the hotel soon after I did, and we had a mini-birthday celebration with some desserts I bought.

When 5pm rolled in, we met three other judges and together we trooped back to the automation I scouted out earlier. At 6pm, the automation started moving. It featured a man fighting a dragon, a crab, and a rooster. More info here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-defende…

After the automaton, we brought the judges to see the Stravinsky Fountain, and then we had dinner at an Indian restaurant where Jeff introduced his friends to kottu, a dish he learned to love during our trip to Sri Lanka last year.

Along the way to the restaurant, we visited another Atlas Obscura-listed site: an exterminator's shop featuring taxidermized rats. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/julien-auro…Read more