Surf School Stories: On the green wave

So today, Simon, one of the surf coaches, took me “Out the Back” meaning paddled me out beyond the white water waves to where I might be able to attempt catching a ‘green’ or rather unbroken wave.

Let me just tell you that paddling out the back is so much harder than it looks. OK, I have to admit that my first paddle out wasn’t that bad because we caught the rip tide out so we didn’t have to work that hard but I was still exhausted. Of course once we got out there, Simon said “Wow, that was easy, but we didn’t get to work on any of the rolls under the waves, so we’ll have to catch a wave in and do it again.” Ugh, but so right. Practice makes perfect after all. I will be in much better shape when I finally make it back to Frankfurt.

I did manage to catch one green wave before we headed in, I didn’t quite stand up because I was so surprised, but my god what a rush! I can’t wait to do it again. I really hope the conditions stay favorable the rest of the time I’m here.

Surf School Stories: Bang up on a long board

Finally I’ve moved off the soft training boards onto a proper surf board. It’s about time too because those Swellies have been tearing up my hands the last few days. I’ve had to wear latex gloves to keep from completely ripping them to shreds. Entertainingly enough, it makes me look like I’m about to give someone a medical exam of sorts.

Anyway, today I moved off the foam training board and got put on an enormous 9+ foot longboard, which means I had a lot of surf board to handle in the waves today. But it was so much fun! I fell off more times than I could count, but by the end I was up and riding again although I didn’t get to do the big paddle out with Aari, my new best competitive friend. He’s a fantastic Australian guy from Sydney who happens to be living in London right now. But he’s annoyingly fast at picking up surfing for someone who’s never done it before.

Oh well, always good to have a little competitive spirit to push you further.

Today was such fun though. I love playing on a hard board although I have this feeling I am going to come home with immense bruises all over my body because of it. So nice to feel alive again.

Surf School Stories: Christmas eve dinner

So here it is, I’ve made friends. After arriving knowing no one at all, in three days as the full mooon lights up the sky I’ve somehow found myself making dinner with George and two of the girls in the surf course for Christmas Eve Dinner. I guess I really am an extraverted personality type. I have been totally reenergized by all of the people I’ve been meeting and once again I’m am stunned by how many fantastic people I keep encountering in all of my travels.

As I said, Christmas Eve dinner at my house with George and two Irish girls I met the last few days, Claire and Anne (pronounced like Anna with an ‘a’). Very cool, very last minute and somehow, between George and I, we managed to throw together a makeshift Spanish tortilla with pan fried potatoes and more than a few bottles of wine. Not so bad for catch as catch can.

After downing the food and beverage plus a few photo ops of us doing our best surf poses we were off for the only bar that was open in town, the Surf Bar. And while there I managed to spend most of the rest of the evening staring mesmerized at a series of surf DVDs including one featuring some of the big waves around Lanzarote Island. I think I might have to rent a car to go check some of them out before I leave.

Finally around 4am on Christmas Morning, we all stumbled (and I do mean stumbled) home. Not a bad way to kick off the holidays.

Surf School Stories: Ballerina on a board

Well, I’ve earned myself the nickname ballerina from George, one of the three coaches, for how I dance around on the board. I can’t quite seem to plant my feet once I’m up on them. But regardless of my challenges staying upright, I’m loving the experience.

Surfing seems to combine some of my favorite activities, the obvious ones of course, swimming and surf, but also things like yoga and skiing. The element of balance and speed combined is unbelievably fun. I have a sinking feeling that I may be acquiring a new piece of sports equipment before I leave the island.

Surf School Stories: My first day

For the last few months I’ve been itching for a vacation that lasts longer than a four day weekend, so when I realized that all of my clients would be on holiday over the Christmas/New Year’s period I decided to seize my chance and escape for two weeks. Although Asia was first on my list, the flight was so incredibly expensive that I went to my fall back, surf school in the Canary Islands. For less than the price of a ticket to Hong Kong I have managed to secure myself two weeks accommodations, 10 days of surf school and airfare to Caleta de Famara, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain.

And here I am, I arrived yesterday and I have just finished my first day of surfing. So far, I love it. The coaches are fantastic. Two guys from the UK, both what you’d imagine surf instructors to be, typical beach blond boys who must be somewhere between 26 and 30 years old. But hugely knowledgeable about their sport. I’ve been so impressed already. And! I’ve actually managed to stand up one of the soft training boards. Not bad for having never surfed before.

It’s funny how after months of having no time to do anything active, I find myself so comfortably, physically exhausted at the end of the day. I really do miss this feeling when work gets too crazy and hectic to do more than just stumble home and fall into bed. I think it’s a good reminder that there’s more to life than just sitting behind a desk all day, every day for 12+ hours at a time.

I have a good feeling about this holiday.

In Memorium: Angela W. Siegel June 28, 1914 to December 13, 2007

Yesterday at the age of 93, my grandmother, Angela Siegel, passed away. She was the daughter of David and Honey Welcher, a sister to Ruby and Charlotte. She was wife to Archie Siegel, mother of Elliot and Melodee, grandmother to David, Mollie, Marc and myself, and great-grandmother to Nico and Dana.

She traveled the world at a time when many people didn't, visiting Europe, Russia, South America. Always turned out in the finest, she loved fashion and art. Somehow she was always a little ahead of her time. Her house is filled with the artists she loved, artists she found in Mexico when traveling with my grandfather. Art that in later years could bring tears to her eyes, paintings she referred to as friends, memories of the life she had lived and the man she had loved.

She was a complicated woman, a woman of contradictions. Challenging and cutting with her words, she still made sure that her family was never in need. Her relationships with her family were difficult and I don't think any one of us could say that it had always been easy and joyful with her. But yet she was loved. And she had friends that were there for her when our family was too far away to get there in a matter of minutes. For that I am grateful.

My grandmother watched her parents, her sisters and her husband die before her. But she also welcomed into the world two children, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She always told me that we should never mourn her, that her life had been well lived and she had no regrets. At the end of it all, the only thing she really wanted was to be with her Archie. After almost 30 years without him, that time has come.

This is for Angel, my grandmother. Here is to a life fully lived and a man truly loved. There are no regrets and while I am sad that she is no longer with me, I am glad that I can celebrate an extraordinary life.

Lost in Vienna: Melange afternoons

It is my third weekend in Vienna in three months now. This is a pattern I could get used to. . .

Sadly this weekend has been a grey and rainy one but that didn't keep the city from looking beautiful decked out in the finest of white light chandaliers that were strung down the entire stretch of the main pedestrian area in the heart of the city. It also didn't seem to impact our ability to drink rather copious quantities of punsch at one of the Christkindelmarkts last night. For those who might not be familiar punsch is the Viennese version of German spiced wine, but instead of wine they spike spiced orange tea with rum. Very tasty I have to say.

Anyhow, it's our last night here and no trip to Vienna with Nick would be complete without many hours spent in Nick's favorite Kaffeehaus, Hawelka. Unfortunately last night, Nick's phone got stolen right here where we are currently sitting. Nick said it felt like someone had walked into his living room and stolen something from his home. But here we are back at the scene of the crime, enjoying, admittedly, less than spectacular coffee, but thoroughly soaking up the inimitable atmosphere of this place for the second time this weekend with my former tour guide, Florian. And while they speak rapid fire German and Nick shakes off his sense of violation, I am busy with my German homework.

We're off for dinner with Max in a little bit to enjoy the two rabbits he shot hunting this weekend as well as some famous chocolate cake he promised to bake us now that I've brought him his US measuring cups/spoons. I admit I'm curious to see what kind of cake this is . . . then tomorrow an early flight home. Fortunately Nick has finally stopped wearing his light up Christmas cap, for a while there he was twinkling like a little elf.

Sometimes I just can't quite believe this is really my life. . .

Hanukkah, Latkes and Dad

The Festival of Lights, the famous minor Jewish holiday that grew in prominence during the 50s and 60s when secular Jews in America had to figure out how to fight Christmas envy amongst their children. I love it. Materialism at its finest.

But on a happy note, my dad was back from Berlin in order to kick off the first night of the holiday with me, complete with candle lighting, long winded histories of the holiday and my favorite of favorites: Latkes. Due to an unfortunate oversight on my part there was no dreidel playing or Hanukkah gelt involved, but next year, next year for sure.

Now for those who don't know and love latkes the way I do, let me tell you, they are fantastic. They come in all shapes and sizes and under a variety of names. For instance Germans call them Kartoffelnpuffer. Depending on the recipe they can resemble hash browns, more of a mashed potato type of consistency, or light fluffy potatoey goodness. Everyone loves the way their family makes them and it's practically sacrilegious to defect from the family tradition to another method of preparation. But one thing remains the same regardless of what the recipe is, they are all fried in immense amounts of oil. Delish!

So to all those out there celebrating 8 days of fried goodness, candle lighting and good old fashioned gift giving I say, Happy Hanukkah!

And in the spirit of goodwill, I share my grandmother's Latke recipe:

2 large Russet Potatoes
1 medium Yellow Onion
a pinch of Salt
1 T of Flour
1 Egg (Optional and totally dependent on the consistency)

Canola Oil for Frying

Peel the potatoes and the onion. Pop both ceremoniously into a blender. Blend until completely pureed. Add a pinch of salt and the flour.

Pour enough oil into the pan so it is about 1/2" to 3/4" deep and heat the oil until it shimmers. Test a small spoonful of the potato batter to make sure it is hot enough (The batter will immediately sizzle when it is). Make sure that the oil does not start to smoke!

Spoon the potato batter into the oil, about 2 tablespoonfuls per pancake. Fry on both sides until golden.

Serve with sour cream or apple sauce depending your preference.

**Note: Latkes can be kept warm in a 140°F oven while frying all the batter.

Lost in Germany: Nürnberg Weihnachtsmarkt and a Walled City

Another weekend exploring Germany, oh how I love it.

This weekend my dad was here so after a great day and a half wandering around Frankfurt we hopped the train to see another city, Nürnberg with a small side trip to Rothenberg ob der Tauber. Seeing as it’s now the height of the Christmas season I didn’t feel like I could live in Germany and not see the most famous Weihnachtsmarkt in the whole country. Besides, it’s a city with a wonderfully rich history and I knew that would appeal to my dad.

After a relatively quick and easy train trip, we arrived in Nürnberg to a grey a drizzly day. Not that the weather could possible stop us from exploring almost immediately. So we picked up a spare umbrella and headed off into the city. First stop: food. A great little find of a restaurant on Dürer Strasse, which actually led us to realize that Albrecht Dürer lived in Nürnberg and his house was just down the street. I being the uneducated girl that I am didn’t realize who Dürer actually was until my dad explained to me that he was one of the most highly respected European painters (insert more historical info here). With that bit of knowledge in hand, we toured through his family home listening to the headsets which gamely attempted to further inform my knowledge of the subject.

Once we trundled back out to the street fully educated, we headed up to the main castle in Nürnberg where we found ourselves on another tour, but this time it was live and in German. I guess it was a great opportunity to apply my recently acquired linguistic schools. Although I followed bits and pieces our guide really caught my attention when he took us into the well which was over 300 meters deep and had been dug over a more than xx year period. It took more than 10 seconds for water poured from a pitcher to reach the bottom of the well. Incredible.

The night was spent wandering through the Christmas market, and we did actually walk down every single aisle in the square where I found several of my heart’s desires: Nürnberg sausages and gingerbread. Yum.

After an early night, we got up the next day and wandered through the city a bit more. It was wonderful having everything to ourselves for a few hours. I love the feeling of a city asleep, there’s something so intimate about being privy to that. We didn’t linger too long though before we hopped on the train to Rothenberg ob der Tauber.

Another very old city, Rothenberg is a medieval walled city, in some ways very similar to Nürnberg but just a bit smaller. Probably the highlight for my dad and I was exploring the Lutheran church in the center of the city. All my dad could keep muttering was how hard it was to believe that it was a Lutheran church and not a Catholic one. Now I don't know that much about what distinguishes one Christian place of worship from another branch, but even I could tell this was an extraordinarily ornate Lutheran church. Beautiful for sure, but ornate. And in fact, somewhat contradictory to the principles of what Luther himself had preached, a move away from the conspicuous wealth and consumption of Catholicism.

Anyhow, it was a great little stop although we didn't linger long. Soon enough we hopped back on the train to head to Frankfurt. It's been great having my dad here for a few days. I think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and neglect to see how fast time is actually passing you by. I'm really grateful that we have this time together.

Here's to smoking. . . Again.

So I climbed out of the subway tonight to once again be treated to the sight of a protest winding it's way along the street in front of my building. That's right, once again my neighborhood pro-smoking protesters were chanting and singing their way through Sachsenhausen. The claims on their picket signs are all about how the smoking ban has decreased their quality of life. It's amazing.

And at the end of it all, before they fully passed by my house, the protest leader called out from his megaphone (warm in the confines of a car compared to the rest of the people) that they would be back next Monday.

This may become a weekly fixture in my life. How funny given what I do for a living.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, here I am. It's a cold grey day here in Frankfurt, and rain has been chilling the city all day long. But somehow, even though I'm not with my family, I'm grateful. Grateful for fact that I got to spend a few hours with my family and friends last weekend, grateful for the people I've had the pleasure of meeting these last nine months in Germany, grateful for the opportunities I've had in this strange and wonderful experience that is my life.

I hope all of you out there have many things to be thankful for this year. And in the spirit of that, I thought I would share this lecture I came across online. It was given in September by a Computer Science professor named Randy Pausch. He is dying of liver cancer and has been given only 3 to 6 months of good health. If for some reason you haven't heard his name yet, you should have, he's been written up everywhere including The Wall Street Journal and Business Week, and even invited onto Oprah. This is his 'Last Lecture' and it is a really wonderful, inspiring and often humorous reminder of all the things we have to work for and be grateful for in our lives.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends and everyone who happens to be a little further from home than they might like on this holiday!

Here's to smoking!

After an insanely long day/night of flying and almost a full day of work, I finally hauled my suitcases (which appear to have filled themselves with weights during the trip back) up the stairs and into my apartment. How wonderful to be home.

A little while later, battling the overwhelmingly soporific effect of my travels, Nick and I caught up over a light dinner from the Italian place downstairs, Trattoria Promis. A surprisingly good and reasonably priced place, I had a really delicious wild boar and chestnut ravioli in tomato sauce for dinner. Plus, whenever I stop by for take out after a long night at the office they ply me with prosecco or red wine while I wait for my food. Can't beat that!

Anyhow, over pasta our conversation rambled through wedding stories and pregnancy tales (sorry for the scare, Nick!) from me and snowy tales of Vienna and rowdy birthday parties from him until all of a sudden we could barely hear ourselves over a raucous chanting song that poured in from the alleyway.

Of all the things to see winding through the streets of Frankfurt at 8pm on a Monday night, the last thing I expected to see was a pro-smoking protest. They had signs and banners and even their own song! Given that my state in Germany, Hessen, recently passed a smoking ban in public places (this includes bars and restaurants), I'm curious to see how public opinion reacts as the weather gets colder. It's a new thing for this country and seeing as how Germany has one of the higher smoking rates in Europe I can't imagine people are too happy about it. Well, come to think of it, a protest on Monday night is a pretty clear sign that they're not thrilled. Then again, I think the Germans will protest just about anything right now, what with the rail strikes and such going on. Forgive the blurry nature of the photos, it was hard to get a quick shot off while they walked by in the dark.

Anyway, it was a lovely welcome home after my oh so brief sojourn in the States.

On the restaurant note, if you're interested in good Italian food in Frankfurt, I do recommend my little neighborhood joint.

Trattoria Promis
Gartenstraße 17
60594 Frankfurt am Main

Excellent Italian food for a pretty decent price.

Lost in America: Friends on the Fly

I've just arrived back in Frankfurt, what a whirlwind of a trip this has been. It's hard to believe that just 12 hours ago I was sitting in Chicago having lunch with friends. But I'm so glad that I go the chance to see at least a few people.

It was only three brief hours, but somehow I managed to cram in three people that I love. Apologies to all the people that I didn't see or didn't have a chance to call. This weekend really was a blur and it seemed like time flew by even faster than I thought it possibly could. Who knew 72 hours were so short!

On the other hand, somehow it made my coffee with Anne and lunch with Claire and Emily seem like the most normal thing in the world. Almost as if I was still living in Chicago and this was just a normal weekend. Strange how the brief nature of our visit somehow made it easier to get back on the plane to Frankfurt in the afternoon.

But to my girls, it was wonderful to see you. I miss all of you a bunch and I can't wait to see you again, hopefully sooner than 9 months!

And now back to the grind of the office and my battle with jet lag.

Happy early Thanksgiving!

Lost in America: A Wedding Reunion

So, 60 hours after arriving in Chicago I'm already on my way home from Denis and Lisa's wedding. I can't believe how fast this weekend has gone. But what a weekend it has been.

I think it must have been a little more than a year since all four of us were together, but I can't imagine a better reason to get together than to celebrate one of us getting married. So a little back story for those of you who didn't know me in college. Denis, Karl and Eric are three of my closest friends from Hamilton and it all started because of a spider infestation in my dorm sophomore year. Yes, that's right, a spider infestation. Brown recluse spiders to be exact. So when I ran into Karl, he and Eric offered me a spot on their couch while they fumigated the building. Denis was one of their roommates. The other, whom I'll call Eeyore for his inimitable ability to sigh depressingly, shall remain nameless. Well, from there on out we were pretty much inseparable and by the end of the year, Eeyore had moved into his girlfriend's room and I had a permanent place on the couch when I didn't want to talk down the hill to my room late at night. I think one of my favorite moments was the morning that Denis told his then girlfriend that he was going to have brunch with one of his "roommates" and I was the only one in the room.

So suffice to say, we've been friends a long time now and when I heard Denis was getting married there was absolutely no way that I could miss this wedding, even if it meant that I would only be Stateside for 72 hours. Before I even get to the wedding, a big shout out to my Dad for offering to drive me all the way up to Dearborn, Michigan. I know it was secretly a ploy to spend quality time with me in the car, but nevertheless, it was still a 10 hour round trip and I wasn't exactly available once we arrived. But Dad, thank you! It was fantastic to see you and chat away the hours through my travel induced haze on the way North.

Once we got there, and dinner with Karl and my Dad had been consumed, it was on to the lovely Cuban cigars that Nick donated to the cause (and were smuggled into the country by me) and after many, many hours of conversation and catching up we stumbled to bed. Ok I stumbled to bed because we'd had to finish the night off in Eric and Karl's room since the bar closed at midnight. Saturday, well Saturday was a lazy day before the wedding. Mostly we just watched the U. Michigan/Ohio State game on TV. Man, do I miss college football now that I'm in Germany. Not that I used to watch it every Saturday or anything like that, but I did like watching a few games every year.

And then all of a sudden it was time for the wedding. It was beautiful. Eric stood up as one of the groomsmen and Denis looked wonderful. It's just amazing to see these guys get married. Karl and I were talking and since neither of us wants to be the last man out, we've agreed that we should just marry each other. Seeing as we share the same birthday (I am 20 minutes older, thank you very much), it would make birthdays and anniversaries extraordinarily easy to remember. Of course then we realized that it might be kind of strange seeing as he's kind of like my brother. . . . so we gave up on that plan for now.

The reception was held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. It was gorgeous. On my drive up to Michigan my dad had been telling me all about this museum, it strikes me as kind of being like some one's attic, a motley collection of all things Americana. As the museum itself describes the place:

"It began as one man’s vision to document the genius of ordinary people by preserving the objects they used in the course of their everyday lives. It grew to become one of the largest collections of its kind ever assembled — a remarkable destination that brings American ideas and innovations to life."

And it was a beautiful place to hold the reception. The entire museum was open to the wedding guests. So I have to admit that Eric, Karl and I (Denis got to do the meet and greet thing as groom) spent most of the wedding wandering through the museum. The collection truly is eclectic. On one side of the museum were enormous steam engine trains, every car imaginable, there was an aviation section detailing the progression of the aviation industry. Everything from the Wright brothers to Amelia Earhart and on the other side of the museum was a series of exhibits detailing different periods in American history, most notably the 50s, 60s, 70s and the newer generations X and Y.

Probably my favorite part of the museum though was the aviation section, they had a hands-on station where you could make paper airplanes and test out how far they would go. Eric's snub-nosed wonder was probably the big winner. Although Karl did have one plane that made it over 20 feet . . . . Plus they had a reproduction of the inside of a Boeing jet from the 50s (much smaller) compared to today's planes (much bigger with much higher ceilings).

And then it was time for a little blast from the past. When we were in college sophomore year "our" suite in South dorm was constantly filled with music. I think that year we had 7 or 8 guitars, a bass guitar, keyboard, trombone (Karl's), mandolin, tambourine (don't ask why, I have no idea) and a few other random instruments that I can't remember right off hand. The room was constantly filled with music. I guess that's just the way it is when three of the people are truly, legitimately musicians. Constant music, almost every hour of the day. I can't actually remember a time when someone wasn't playing some instrument. So when Eric and Denis got up on stage at the reception it felt just like old times. Of course now, we're all grown up and relatively respectable, but still. I didn't have to work hard to pull out the memory of Denis playing Eric Clapton's "Old Love" when they got up on stage.

Around midnight, it was back on the buses to head back to the hotel. Hard to believe that this is over. Denis is officially a husband. Amazing how fast time is flying by now. I guess that's just what happens as you get older.

We made it back to the hotel, after a quick photo op by the "No Hockey Sticks in the Hotel Please" sign. Both Eric and Karl are huge hockey fans and actually used to have a hockey radio show when we were in college with our friend Jack. We went out for an early morning snack at a local joint called the Ram's Horn. Oh the jokes that name spawned the rest of the night.

And now I'm off, back to Chicago again for a few more hours before I head back to Frankfurt. It was such a great time, this little trip down memory lane and the chance to catch up on our lives today. A blink and you might miss it reunion with the boys, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Hopefully it won't be another year before we all manage to get together again.

Zürich, oh Zürich

A weekend away in one of my favorite countries, instead of lovely Lausanne, this time it was a quick trip down to Zurich for a little sightseeing and relaxation. I have only passed through Zurich twice before this trip and having only walked through the city for a few hours the first time I didn't really know what there was to see in the city itself. So it was a great chance to explore a (relatively) new place with Nick. And it was his first visit to Switzerland ever, something I actually find hard to believe given that Austria is so close, but hey, I guess there are a lot of states I haven't seen in America.

We arrived on Friday night to a lovely drizzly sky and grabbed a quick bite to eat down the street from our hotel. Saturday was kind of cold and drizzly, but we still spent the morning and afternoon wandering around the city, down the Bahnhofstrasse (one of the more famous shopping streets in Europe, very expensive) and through some of the smaller streets. There are some beautiful antique shops in Zurich. I wish we had the same kind of thing in Frankfurt. I could spend hours poking through them. Probably the shopping highlight for Nick was this tiny little scotch shop we found on one of the side streets. They had everything in there that had to do with scotch, whiskey and bourbon. Dinner, I am slightly ashamed to report, was fondue and raclette (my choice because somehow there's nothing better than melted cheese on a cold, rainy day. Totally touristy and not at all local to Zurich, but still good.

On our walk back to the hotel, and actually through much of the day, we saw scores of riot police wandering through the city in full riot gear. And across the river we heard an enormous amount of chanting and drumming. Given that Switzerland just had a rather contentious and somewhat violent election, I asked Nick if he thought it was a political rally. He figured either political rally or soccer match. Little did we know.

Sunday it was another drizzly day, not so great for sightseeing and this being Switzerland, everything was closed anyway except for the coffee shops. So after checking out of the hotel we went to find a place to camp out for a few hours and have a coffee. On our search for warmth we ran smack into the source of the drumming during the weekend, a Carnival marching band in full costume. And they were joined shortly after that by another band that played with them. When we decided to head to Zurich for the weekend, little did we know that it was the start of Carnival and all over the city there were bands wandering the streets in full on Mardi Gras style costumes playing for whomever they stumbled across.

It was unbelievable. So fantastic to see these people young, old and everything in between. I had no idea that Carnival marching bands were so big in Switzerland. Check out a little clip of our experience:



So some tips for Zurich if you so desire a visit there:

Hotels:
Hotel Rössli
Rössligasse 7
8001 Zürich
Tel: +41 44 256 70 50
Fax: +41 44 256 70 51
*Where we stayed, a very nice hotel, really central and convenient. I would definitely stay here again.

Hotel Otter
Oberdorfstrasse 7
8001 Zürich
Tel: +41 44 251 22 07
Fax: +41 44 251 22 75
*A cool looking boutique type hotel, it definitely looked like an interesting place to stay. Very funky room designs and a cool bar downstairs.

Shops and Restaurants:
Scot & Scotch
An amazing little shop that specializes in scotch and whiskeys from all over the world. I actually found small batch Kentucky bourbons here!

Sprüngli
A subsidiary of Lindt chocolates, Sprüngli has both a shop where you can purchase some really lovely chocolates and pastries as well as a cafe upstairs. The hot chocolate is fantastic as is the Gesztenye püré which is a Hungarian chestnut puree served in a small pastry with whipped cream. Very tasty.

Hiltl
The oldest vegetarian restaurant in Europe (from 1890).

Zeughauskeller
Totally touristy, but not bad food. It was a huge space, which was great when the marching bands started to pour in for dinner because they all played a set before eating.

Things to See:
Bahnhofstrasse
One of the busiest and best known shopping streets in the world, it runs from the Zürich Train Main station down to the lake. It's great for window shopping if your bank account doesn't agree to shopping on one of the most exclusive and expensive shopping streets in the world.

Also check out the Wikitravel guide to Zurich. Very helpful.

Lost in Vienna: Part II

Well, I just got back from my second visit to Vienna (and most definitely not my last). This was a totally different experience than the firs time when I went with Marc.

That trip was all sightseeing and wandering (exactly what I wanted to do mind you), while this trip was all about family and friends and sitting in the Kaffeehaus. Completely different, but just as wonderful. Although honestly the trip didn't really start out that way.

We left Frankfurt late, and since we were driving and there's a major train strike on right now, hit all sorts of insane traffic on the way to Vienna. What should have been a 6+ hour drive turned into an 8+ hour drive and we didn't actually get to Vienna until almost 1am in the morning. Ugh. But it was still a great visit.

I met Nick's family and some of his friends, we got the chance to sit and relax in his favorite Kaffeehaus, Hawelka, which Marc and I went to in October. But the best part was that I started to see the city as someone's home as opposed to just a place to visit. That's my favorite way to see new places sometimes, I mean it's fantastic to see all of the sights, but I really love seeing how people live. I guess that's the anthropologist in me coming out.

The culture here is completely different than what I've experience before. All of life seems to center around the Kaffeehaus. It's where people meet and sit and in some cases live. There are friends Nick has that he only met because they both happened to frequent the same Kaffeehaus, where I think I mentioned before Nick's Dad used to frequent when he was at university and starting out work. It is definitely a different pace of life than what we have in Frankfurt.

Before we left for Frankfurt on Sunday afternoon, we had lunch with Nick's family, and wouldn't you guess it we had Wiener Schnitzel. How apropos. His mom made it from scratch and it was so incredibly good. And although I couldn't follow the entire conversation he had with his family (most of it was in German), I did manage to follow some bits. I guess that's at least a small testament to the fact that I might actually be learning to speak German. Shocking to be honest, but I'm glad of it. Now if only I could get Nick to speak a little slower . . .

Anyhow, horrid traffic aside, it was a really nice weekend. I can't wait to go back with him in December to see the Christmas markets, he raves about the holiday market drink, Punsch. I can't wait to try it.

Nazis and Anti-Nazis

So last weekend, there was another round of protests in Frankfurt.

Three groups carried out demonstrations on Saturday:

The Nationaldemokratische Partei Deustschlands, with 2,000 people demonstrating, marched through the neighborhood where my office is located. This is the right-wing, neo-Fascist party here in Germany (aka neo-Nazis). They marched against Islamism in Germany and the construction of a new mosque that the Hazrat-Fatima community wants to build in Hausen (another nearby neighborhood).

At the same time, an alliance of religious communities and citizen groups, the Römerbergbündnis, carried out a counter-demonstration in the same area. And a radical activist group called ANTIFA (anti-Fascists who can probably be described as anarchists) also marched against the right-wing protesters.

As far as I know there was no violence, then again it's hard for me to tell since I can't really read the newspapers yet. Everything was pretty quiet in my neighborhood and in the city center. There's always some concern that the protests will end up around the European Central Bank seeing as it is such a strong symbol for capitalism within Europe.

It's so interesting to see how Germany struggles with protests of this sort. On the one hand, it is illegal to give a Nazi style salute. On the other they stand by freedom of speech and even though many of the Germans I've come to know in the last nine months abhor the idea of neo-Nazis they still allow them to protest. That's freedom of speech if I've ever seen it. In some ways they have more freedom than we do in American now. There have been so many rules enacted, so much surveillance permitted that nowadays if you have anything to say against the government you truly have to be careful. I guess so much of it seemed ok when the legislation was going through because we were all a bit shell-shocked after 9/11, but it has to stop at some point. Freedom of Speech is one of the critical tenants that America is built on after all. . .

Lost in Vienna: Part 1

I'm posting this a little bit late because after Marc left I got buried under an enormous pile of work in preparation for the brand plan presentations. However, I couldn't not write at least a little something about our trip to Vienna.

After a second night of drinking enormous steins of beer, we hopped on a train to Vienna. Oktoberfest is officially over and I think we’re both exhausted and I’ve definitely come down with a pretty horrible cold. But no fear on that front, we’ve still been good tourists in Vienna.

After arriving via train, we made our way to the hotel, a fantastic recommendation from Birgit, the Hotel Rathaus Wein und Design. A really lovely boutique design hotel located just outside the first district. It’s pretty much given us access to the entire first district which is where most of what we want to see is in the city.

Thanks to Nick we even have our very own tour guide in the form of his friend Florian. Honestly, it was practically a professional tour (I’m ashamed to say that after living in Chicago for almost 7 years there is no way I could give a tour to visiting friends that even comes close to his level of detail). With Florian as our fearless leader for the morning, we managed to see most of the major sights in the first district, the Stephan's Dome, the royal palace, Parliament, roman ruins and perhaps most importantly, Nick’s favorite Kaffee Haus, Hawelka, where we had breakfast.

After Florian headed off, Marc and I caught the U-Bahn out to Schloss Schönbrunn, the royal summer palace. It was gorgeous, but since neither of us felt like touring the inside because it was a really lovely afternoon, we ended up wandering through the gardens for a few hours. And it was in the labyrinth section that we found perhaps my favorite part of the castle, a math puzzle that took us (collectively) a good 20 minutes to solve. Obviously our basic math skills could use some refreshing. But we had such fun wandering through all of the labyrinths, activating the Male and Female principle stones (don’t ask, I still don’t quite understand what it was we were doing).

For dinner that night, Florian picked us up and brought us to a beautiful view over the city before we went to one of the Heurigan restaurants where they are licensed to sell the newest Austrian wine vintages.

One of the last things we did was to visit the Karlskirche which has been undergoing restoration for quite a few years now. It’s beautiful and interestingly has the Hebrew word for God incorporated into the main stained glass window over the altar. You can take an elevator up onto the restoration scaffolding to get a better view of the frescos. Marc and I actually did this and I have to say it is one of the scarier things I’ve done in a while and I’m not one who is really afraid of heights. But there seemed to be no one managing the number of people on there and quite frankly is just didn’t seem that stable to me. But we saw it and I have some wonderful pictures to show from the trip.

Not a bad introduction to Vienna, although I’m looking forward to coming back with Nick and seeing it a bit more as a local. I have no doubt that I’ll be back soon. All in all a really fantastic few days to end our trip together before we had to head home to Frankfurt for Marc’s last night/Poker game (where I might add he won! I so love beginners luck in these games).


My tips:

Hotel:
Hotel Rathaus Wein und Design
190 Euro a night

Things to See in Vienna:

Schloss Schönbrunn - the summer palace and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Parliament

Museumsquartier

Karlskirche - The scary climb to the top was not worth 5 euro

Stephan’s Dome

Food and Drink:

Dine at a Heurigen (wine bar licensed to sell the new vintage)

Have a melange at a true Viennese Kaffee Haus (I did really like the Hawelka!)

Good Resources:

Wikitravel.org

2007 F&W Best New Chefs!

Some of you may remember that a few years ago I took a brief foray into the world of public relations and had the chance to work with some amazing chefs in Chicago and Kentucky. Well, one of my favorite former clients, Paul Virant, was just named one of Food & Wine magazine's 10 Best New Chefs in 2007.

So if you are in Chicago and have the chance, or you haven't been in a while, I highly recommend you check out his restaurant, Vie. It's about 20 minutes outside of the city by Metra and his food is fantastic. Plus he's an all around nice guy and I just love promoting people I like even if I'm not paid for it anymore.

You can learn more about him and check out some of his recipes and even watch him prep one of his dishes here:

Oktoberfest 2007: Day 2

OK, I think we were all a bit in need of a calmer start to the day, and possibly some recovery from all of the beer we consumed last night. Thank heavens our reservation for the tent tonight isn't actually until the night.

So instead we have spent the day wandering through Munich. Top on the list was a surf spot (yes I know, I didn't believe it either) in a park that TJ wanted to to and check out. And sure enough, there it was, a bunch of guys and a girl or two in wetsuits surfing in a river. I guess what happened was that a log got lodged in the river one day and someone figured out that it was surfable. So now they've actually secured it under the water with cables so that it is always present. It was pretty unbelievable but cool to watch.

After a very leisurely afternoon, we headed back to the hotel to get back into our now, very unattractive smelling clothes (amazing how beer can permeate fabric, really amazing) and piled back downstairs or round two of the Oktoberfest madness.

Once again, the pictures tell the story so much better than I possibly can. But suffice to say it was another night of crazy drinking and dancing and singing. The tent we were in was a bit more exclusive than the Hoffbrau tent from last night, a bit more civilized but so much fun. And the food was unbelievable. If I were ever to go back to Oktoberfest, this is where I would want to have a reservation. Much more fun in some ways than the first day.

Of course, no Oktoberfest night would be complete without at least a brief stop at the carnival rides, unfortunately this time we managed to drink until all of the rides had closed. So instead part of the group went off to the arcade, I guess that's what I'd call it, where apparently Marc, my fearless and oh so talented brother, schooled the rest of the boys in how to play hoops. Talk about family pride.

Anyway, all in all a pretty amazing Oktoberfest. I don't think we could have had a more wonderful group of people to hang out with for this trip. Hopefully Vienna will be just as much fun (albeit with slightly less alcohol), and even more so, I'm very seriously hoping that this cold that is threatening me doesn't actually turn into anything. At least I have the train ride to sleep on. . .

Oktoberfest 2007: Day 1

First day of the fest.

After a whirlwind of activity yesterday that involved Marc arriving at 7am, a train ride to Munich and a frenzy of dirndl and lederhosen shopping, we were all decked out in our fancy (and still clean) new clothes.It was time to head off to the Hoffbrau tent for our first day of Oktoberfest madness. I could try to explain exactly what happened on this day, but truly I think that the pictures do a much better job of demonstrating what happened during our experience beginning with the enormous beer steins (yes they really are bigger than your head). Everyone's excitement was practically palpable as we strolled through the streets of Munich on our way to find our tent.

Probably the best part was as we walked down to the festival, people stopped to take pictures of us in our outfits. I guess we were quite a sight, all 10 of us in full German traditional clothing. I have to say, we did look pretty fantastic. But again, the pictures are perfect evidence of it all.

Birgit was once again our fabulous guide in getting us to the right place at the right time to actually begin drinking beer our of glasses bigger than my head. And yes I will have to say that again because it is true, I have never seen anything like this in my life. Not even in Wisconsin where I think they take beer as seriously as the Germans do.

After a full 12, yes 12 (!!!!), hours of drinking, some of us decided maybe it was time to head home, but about half of our group decided that the smart thing to do was to head out to the carnival rides. So off we went, all 10 of us, ok 9 because we lost Ben somewhere along the way. But there we were, heading up into one of those crazy rides that whips you up to the top of a very, very tall pole and then drops you down in sudden bursts making you think, well god knows what you're supposed to think. Honestly after three or four steins of beer (more than you think after 12 hours of drinking), I could barely feel a thing so it seemed like the most ridiculous ride ever. But hey! I was game.

After our brief jaunt on the rides, Marc and I decided we were ready to head home, so off we went with most of the group although we did leave Jeff, his sister and brother-in-law, and TJ behind. I have a feeling there are going to be some pretty funny pictures that come out of that decision.

I can't believe there's another full day of drinking after this day. I think my dirndl is going to be slightly worse for the wear as well. . .

Oktoberfest 2007: Kick-off in Frankfurt

Well, yesterday people heading down to Munich for Oktoberfest this weekend started to arrive in Frankfurt. Actually, we're now only missing my fantastic brother, Marc, who gets in on Saturday at 6am (yikes!!) and the illustrious Kent Middleton, Creative Director extraordinaire who will be meeting us down South.

It should be a pretty fantastic crew T.J. and his wife Melissa, Jeff Cantalupo and his girlfriend Leigh Ann (who just made the big move over to Spain to join him!), Jeff's sister and her husband, Birgit, Marc and I. It's a heavy Leo Burnett crowd, but so much fun.

Last night we went to a restaurant in Frankfurt called Silk. It's one of the molecular gastronomy crowd/avant garde food movement crowd. Obviously inspired by Ferran Adria, it's a good addition to my dining experiences in my long running quest to finally make it to El Bulli. . .

Here are the courses as best I remember them (this is definitely not all of them):

Olive -Olive Juice trapped in a soft casing to look like and Olive (very similar to a dish offered at El Bulli last year)
Salmon in a Cone - A thin wonton wrapper like cone filled with
Risotto
Pear and Goat Cheese - Pear Juice Shooter with Caviar, goat cheese and candied walnut
Breakfast Egg - Slow poached egg at 60C for 6 hours, gnocchi, Parmesan foam
Lobster
Chicken with mushrooms
Brownie withe Pine Tree Sprout Foam - pine tree foam, pomegranate compote, brownie and quark
Apple Tart
Silk Lollipop - Spun Cotton Candy wrapped around a chilled fruit cake (which I think may have been mango?)

Late Summer BBQs

Well, I think this may have been one of the last really beautiful weekends in Frankfurt. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, temperatures in the mid-70s with bright sunny skies. A perfect day for a BBQ and a birthday celebration.

After a rather raucous Friday night with Francesca, her new boyfriend, a couple of her friends, Nick, John and Christine (John's girlfriend's sister, confused yet??) which culminated in pasta being cooked at 2:30 am for a late night snack (have I mentioned that I love having Italians over for drinks??), everyone ended up invited to a celebrate the end of summer BBQ on Sunday.

So of course, after many burger patties had been made, John, my trusty fire starter appeared quarter to 4pm. Then 4pm arrived, then 4:10, then 4:20 and no other guests had shown up. John looked at me and said:

"You didn't invite any Germans, did you?"

To which I replied, "No, why do you ask?"

And he said, "No wonder no one is on time. The Americans never want to be the first one at the party and the Italians are guaranteed to show up at least an hour late!"

And he was right. Doug showed up next followed by Francesca and the rest of her friends at around 5pm. Almost exactly an hour late. Inside each cliche is a grain of truth. We had a great time though, good food, good wine and great company. It was a pretty perfect way to finish off the summer.

Not that the end of warm weather means I won't be BBQing any more. I am from Chicago after all, BBQ season is every season.

Rosh Hashanah and Reflections

Well, for the first time in almost seven years I am away from home and not celebrating the start of the New Year with my father. Without our regular twice yearly attendance at temple together (yes we are what my grandmother fondly calls "Revolving Door Jews": in at Rosh Hashanah and out after Yom Kippur) I feel strangely adrift. Although I'm not the most religious of people, somehow the ritual of yearly reflection and contemplation, penitence and forgiveness still holds great appeal for me. The idea that the High Holy Days is a time to reconnect with the people in your life seems even more important this year now that I am living across an ocean.

The last few weeks have been filled with sad occurrences, the death of my friend's brother, the news of a brain tumor identified and removed from my friend's wife, the sixth anniversary of September 11th. It feels even more important that I take a moment and pause this year to reach out to the people I love who are scattered throughout the world, the ones that I talk to every week and the ones that I only connect with a few times a year. Strange how distance suddenly brings that need and desire into such sharp focus, isn't it?

So to all those out there, Jews and non-Jews alike, those I've known and loved for years and those that I may meet and get to know in the coming year I say 'L'Shanah Tovah!' May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good and sweet New Year.

In Memoriam: 11-September-2001

Another day is passing quickly by in Frankfurt and aside from a few articles that I've read online, there has been no acknowledgment or notice of the day here in my office. How quickly and easily a day like this becomes just another day even as there are bomb plots being thwarted right here in my new city.

So a moment of remembrance in honor of those who died six years ago, in honor of those who are fighting today, and in gratitude for my friends who were safe on that day.

A Ball in Baden Baden and Waltz as a Contact Sport

So somehow or another I found myself attending a Grand Ball this past weekend in Baden Baden, Germany. Granted I've always enjoyed getting dressed up and looking pretty, but definitely nothing quite as formal as this. The black tie events in Chicago, while fancy don't usually involve an entire weekend of activities like fashion shows and clubbing . . . .

However, assisted in the fashion department by my team of advisers (thank you Andrea, Ilham and Birgit!!), I pulled myself together and found myself on the road Friday afternoon to Baden Baden ready to do anything but go out clubbing. . . .


. . . .which thank god we did not end up doing. Bless the boy for letting me having a quiet night. Seriously. I was so much happier the next day after a good night's sleep, we spent Saturday just wandering through the streets of Baden Baden which for those who don't know anything about it is this old spa town that was founded by the Romans and has a famous mineral spring that feeds a spa called Friedrichsbad. It also has a casino which is said to rival the one in Monte-Carlo as the best in Europe. The casino is actually where the ball itself was held.

There was a medieval street festival taking place in the town that was actually pretty cool. A group of woodworking apprentices were doing a demonstration. Nick explained to me that the clothes they were wearing are actually a traditional uniform for apprentices and as part of their training they make their way through the countryside seeking out master woodworkers to learn from. But for a few years they don't earn any money. Apparently the clothing is just the visible mark of the apprentice in this particular trade and sometimes you'll see them hitch hiking along the road.

So the ball. Oh the ball, was lovely. Nick claims it didn't even come close to comparing to the Viennese balls he goes to every year, but I thought it was pretty lovely (well at least until it devolved into something similar to prom at the end of the night, only with more expensive jewelry and clothes and a lot more alcohol). But the night was wonderful, I loved the opening waltz! Everyone in their beautiful clothes gliding and twirling around the dance floor to the strains of the Sleeping Beauty Waltz from Tchaikovsky. And believe it or not, somehow Nick managed to teach me to waltz while we were waltzing. I think it's because the Viennese come out of the womb waltzing, but that's besides the point. Somehow he managed to teach me to waltz while we actually moved across the dance floor. Now I know, I know that waltz is supposed to be the easiest of the partner dances to learn, unfortunately I never learned them (thank you for that mom and dad). So this is all new to me.

Before we got to the ball, Nick warned me that waltzing is actually a contact sport. To which I replied, well of course it's a contact sport! There are two people dancing, they have to touch each other. He laughed and said, no, think contact sport in relation to say, rugby. Well, I certainly wasn't completely convinced of this idea, but lo an behold, there we are dancing (on a relatively crowded dance floor) and all of a sudden I see this guy tumble over! And then some woman stepped on my foot and it just kept going. I couldn't believe it! Ballroom dancing really is a full body contact sport.

There go my romantic notions of classic ballroom dance as a gorgeously graceful give and take between two people whirling around the floor in some strange throwback to an elegant time in Europe when society would come together for an evening of sociability in the most gorgeous ballrooms in the world.

Anyway, the ball was lovely. We had a really nice time, but as I said before, Nick claims this didn't even compare to the balls in Vienna. And he's already promised me a true Viennese ball experience in January. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it truly does compare.

Sunday after the post-ball brunch, we spent the day lazing in the waters of the Friedrichsbad, one of several thermal spas in Baden Baden. There were 17 stages to progress through that included everything from sauna to steam room to a series of hot and cold water pools. Certainly an experience to be had while in Europe especially given how strong the thermal spa culture is in Germany. But if you decide to go just be prepared that is sans bathing suits and co-ed. But really wonderful, for only 29€, it's hard to beat three hours at this spa.

If you happen to be in the area of Baden Baden, I highly recommend that you stop by for the day, it's a beautiful (if expensive) little town near part of the German wine country. Just be warned, the nouveau Russian rich are everywhere.

You can find lots of information here on the Baden Baden tourism site, but for the record, here are my highlights:

Baden Baden Kurhaus - Site of many cultural and formal events, it's also surrounded by some lovely gardens

Casino - As mentioned before, it's said to rival Monte Carlo, just remember that men need to wear a jacket and tie to gamble there.

Thermal Spas - I went to Friedrichsbad, but there are several other wonderful spas in the city including Caracalla.

Churches/Cathedrals - Of course there are several lovely churches that can be seen in the city, the one we stopped to see was the Stiftskirche which can be seen after a somewhat strenuous climb up to the Marktplatz.