Archive for the ‘Adventure’ Category

New Years 2017 in NYC   Leave a comment

To celebrate New Years, and a few days free from the trials of intern year, Leah and I flew to New York City to watch the ball drop in Times Square. While we were there, we managed to catch showings of Waitress and The Book of Mormon on Broadway, wander through Central Park, and of course grab some bagels and dumplings!

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Posted 1 Jan 2017 by John McManigle in Adventure, Flying, Travel

Hudson River Flight, Take 2   Leave a comment

As one last pre-residency adventure, I took a quick northeast visit-flight tour. I set off from RDU to Pittsburgh to visit Katie from Penn State and Priya from Duke, now both residents at UPMC. After good visits (including a trip to the zoo and aquarium), I set off for New York City, to visit Léa from Blair and Natasha from Oxford. We were joined by Zach, and took a flight down the Hudson River and out to Block Island for the afternoon. On the way back, I stopped in Maryland to see my parents for Fathers’ Day before settling back in to Durham for the start of intern year.

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Posted 19 Jun 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Flying, Travel

Graduation Trip: Florence and Milan   1 comment

Our final stops on the graduation trip were Florence and Milan. In Florence, we had a packed day of museums, seeing the Museo Galileo, the world-famous Uffizi, and the Galleria dell’Accademia, which holds Michelangelo’s David. In Milan, we took a walking tour of the city and saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Finally, having had all of the adventure we could take in one trip, we flew back home to the States.

Milan

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Posted 12 Jun 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Travel

Graduation Trip: Pompeii, Rome, and the Vatican   1 comment

The day after the Oxford degree ceremony, my parents and I flew from London to Naples to begin our whirlwind trip through Italy. We started in Naples, and spent a day exploring the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. The next day, we set off for Rome, where we toured the Colosseum, the central Form area, and Vatican city before continuing on to Florence and Milan!

Roman Forum Area

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Posted 8 Jun 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Travel

Graduation Trip: Iceland, Oxford, and Bletchley   1 comment

To cap off the summer of graduations, I set off to Oxford for the DPhil degree ceremony, making a quick stop in Iceland along the way, and catching the Summer Eights bumps race while I was there. My parents met me in Oxford for graduation after a side trip to Paris. And after graduation, all three of us set off to explore some of the famous spots in Italy. The trip was a fantastic way to enjoy the last bit of freedom before residency starts: I got to catch up with old friends, have a few adventures in Europe, and spend quality time with my parents.

OURCs Dinner

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Posted 5 Jun 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Travel

Flight to Ocracoke   Leave a comment

One of my first fun flights from the Durham area, many years ago, was to Ocracoke, a small town on the North Carolina Outer Banks. It has remained one of my favorite destinations: The remote beach can be reached by air in a little over an hour, compared to the 6-hour drive. This relative isolation makes it easier to explore the beautiful town and shore, somewhat removed from the bustle of other tourist beaches.

My latest flight from Lake Ridge out to Ocracoke was around beautiful cumulous clouds on an otherwise sunny afternoon. I filmed the trip and sped it up to just a few minutes; enjoy the view!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dERej_z3c7Y?rel=0

Posted 21 Apr 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Flying

Fly for the Hills   Leave a comment

On a sunny post-medical-school-classes North Carolina day, two classmates and I decided to head out for the hills of western NC. We took off from RDU, circled Duke and Durham a couple of times, landed at Rowan County airport to re-fuel, and then set off west for Avery County. There, we rented a car and hiked a couple of the local trails, notably stumbling across Linville Falls, before heading back to Durham just before sunset. It was Riikka and Qihua’s first time in a small plane, and so pictures were copious…

Fly for the Hills - Linville

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Posted 30 Mar 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure, Flying

Lemur Center Tour   Leave a comment

To wrap up January, the Duke MSTP and friends organized a tour of the Duke Lemur Center. This research facility houses the largest collection of lemurs outside of Madagascar. These small primates, including more than 100 species with weights ranging from only an ounce to 20 pounds, evolved in isolation on Madagascar for tens of millions of years, likely after reaching the island on floating debris washed out to sea. The tour was fantastic, and we all enjoyed interacting with these amazing creatures!

Lemur Center Tour

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Posted 30 Jan 2016 by John McManigle in Adventure

Home, via Iceland   1 comment

Having completed all requirements of the DPhil degree, it is time to come back to the States and start my last year of medical school. To squeeze in one last adventure, I booked an IcelandAir #stopover on the way home. Sabine was able to join for three days in a Nordic paradise. We were able to fit in quite a few activities thanks to the incredibly efficient Iceland tourism industry. On our first full day, we traveled to the relaxing Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa set on a lava field in the Reykjanes Peninsula. The second day was for adventure, with a small airplane flight from Reykjavik airport to Rif airport on the Snæfellsjökull peninsula and back. The mountain and glacier views were stunning.

Iceland Flight

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Posted 6 May 2015 by John McManigle in Adventure, Flying, Travel

Adventures in Portugal: Lisbon   Leave a comment

The last stop on our Portugese adventure was Lisbon, the capital of Portugal and one of the oldest cities in the world — pre-dating Rome by centuries.

Lisbon

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Posted 7 Jan 2015 by John McManigle in Adventure, Travel