Lost in Frankfurt

the tragedy of lake mead

2008-07-19T21:54:00.005+02:00

We are making our way from Los Angeles to Chicago right now and we've decided to take a few detours and see the sights. One of which was supposed to be the man-made wonder that is Lake Mead Recreation Park. Unfortunately, we drove all the way down the boat launch and still weren't in the water, even though the GPS had us placed squarely in the blue.

Global warming at work I suppose, or perhaps just mankinds folly in thinking that they can divert a river and make it into a lake all in the middle of the desert. And we wonder why we have ecological problems throughout this country. Next thing you know, they're going to want to divert all of the fresh water from Lake Michigan to the water starved metropolises out West. I say NO! go live somewhere that water doesn't evaporate year round.

That's my thought anyway. Well, onto Zion National Park.

The Return

2008-07-11T18:34:00.001+02:00

I am officially back in Chicago. And the only word for how I'm feeling right now is surreal. I'd like to go back to Germany please. Or at least go on vacation. Somehow I don't think my three week trip to El Salvador is going to come soon enough.

Last Day of Work

2008-07-01T10:05:00.004+02:00

Well, that's that. Yesterday I finished up with work and am just about to embark on the madness of packing up my life here in Frankfurt. It's hard to believe that it's all over actually. I have one week of packing madness here and then many weeks of unpacking madness complimented by my dad's own unique brand of insanity. Here's hoping I stay sane through it all.

It's been a remarkable experience here in Frankfurt. In fact, I enjoyed this job more in the last year and a half than I have in a very long time. It's definitely due in no small part to the people that I had the opportunity to work with. Right to the end they managed to exceed all of my expectations whether it was taking extra time to be thoughtful about my review and how I could build on my experiences to giving me a leaving do that was more than almost anything I could have hoped for complete with my very own Schultutte (first day of school dealy) and a map where I could pin all of my travels in the last year.

More than anything, I feel like I'm leaving this job, this office actually, with new friends that I'll have drifting in and out of my life for a long, long time. I'm very lucky that way.

So, onto the packing madness I suppose.

Lost in the UK: Surfing Devon

2008-06-28T11:31:00.003+02:00

Ever have one of those trips where even if the conditions aren't exactly perfect it's still fantastic? This would be one of those trips. I have to say, despite the forecast, the waves are pretty crap. With my luck they'll smooth out on Monday when I'm back in Frankfurt for my VERY LAST DAY. Whoohoo!

Anyhow, crappy waves aside, the trip is pretty fantastic. Great girls, great food. Even some good music. We heard a band on Friday night called Scaramoose. Totally local, and with a kind of Jack Johnson/Ben Harper sound to them.

So it's been such a trip to far. I arrived on Thursday, Kerry gave me ENDLESS crap about my board bag. Which is a lovely board bag, if you have 3 boards which I do not. Anyway, we manhandled the sucker into the car and headed to her house. Our 5am start time didn't pan out quite how we had hoped, but we still managed to get onto the road by about 6am and we missed ALL Of the Glastonbury traffic somehow and even squeezed in a quick session before the other girls arrived.

It has been incredibly windy so far. So bad in fact that the other girls tried to put up their tent and one of the tent poles BROKE! Can you believe it? Crap tent if you ask me, but anyway, they've managed to swing themselves a camper that has heat and a real shower in it so I suppose we're making out well in the end. Kerry and I are actually camping which is great. Wake up to the birds calling and the waves breaking. And when you step outside the tent you can do a surf check right on Croyde Bay right then and there. Absolutely lovely. And there are two other breaks that we've been surfing as well, Putsborough Sands and Saunton Beach. The surf culture here in North Devon is truly amazing. There are surf boards and surf shops everywhere. When picturing the dream world of surfing, it's always been SoCal or Hawaii that really pop into my head, but man are they hardcore here. And they have so many places to go. Incredible.

Anyhow, I'm so glad I was able to squeeze this in before I leave Europe. Hopefully I'll be able to find more opportunities to travel with her even when I'm back in the States. . . .

Euro Cup 2008: Germany wins!!!

2008-06-25T23:04:00.006+02:00

Amazing! Germany has won a spot in the Euro cup finals. I can't believe it! Not that they played particularly well against Turkey, but man! They won!! There are car horns going off everywhere tonight it's like the entire city has come out to celebrate!

Go Deutschland!

Already missing Frankfurt

2008-06-21T11:58:00.002+02:00

I haven't even left the city yet and somehow I already miss it. I can't believe that I'm only a few weeks away from leaving Germany and heading back to the States for grad school. I know that it's the right decision, but somehow I just can't get excited about giving up my life here and going back to school.

There's something about leaving a city just when you start getting to know it and you start building a life there that actually feels like it could be yours. Frankfurt finally began to feel like a home to me after a little less than a year and a half. Good friends, an incredible boyfriend, and a world of experiences that have changed how I view the world. I finally know where to find the best produce in the farmers markets, the waiters at my favorite Italian spot know me by name and pour me a glass of good wine as soon as I walk in the door to order carry-out after a long day at work, I have found my favorite cafe to sit and read in. And my little apartment feels like home.

It's a hard moment to pick up again and know that I have to start all over again back in a city that was home for so many years. Somehow it feels like going backwards even though I know that I'm starting an entirely new phase of my life.

I am forever grateful to have had this experience and I know that somehow, Frankfurt will always feel a little like home to me, even though I only had the chance to be here for the briefest amount of time.

Euro Cup 2008: Germany beats Portugal!!

2008-06-19T22:37:00.001+02:00

Oh my god! Germany has beat Portugal! We're on to the semi-finals now! Euro Cup here we come!

Germany Wins!

2008-06-16T23:39:00.002+02:00

Germany has beat Austria! It was a kind of dicey game, a little underhanded on our part, but we beat Austria and are moving onto play Portugal next. It's incredible. I'm so glad I can be here for the excitement of it all. I love cheering on my adopted homeland.

Sorry Nick, I'm just not ready to root for Austria yet. . . .

Whirlwind Chicago Weekends and Frankfurt Springs

2008-06-08T12:40:00.003+02:00

So last weekend I hopped a plane for a 48 hour turnaround in Chicago to try and find an apartment now that I've officially committed to going back to Chicago for grad school. It was more than a whirlwind I have to say, I viewed close to 20 apartments in less than 48 hours before getting back on a plane to Frankfurt. But I think the trip was a success as I believe I have found a place I could happily live in for the next 2 years or so. And! I've found a little piece of my german home not too far from the apartment I'm hoping to sign on. Yup, so here's a little toast to my return to Chicago. I'll have to lift a glass at Prost once I get back there.

Anyhow, I arrived back in Frankfurt, mercifully not feeling too much jetlag and got back to my lovely abode just in time to miss being struck on the head by a massive thunderstorm complete with hail! I swear I have had the strangest weather since arriving in Frankfurt. No snow all winter until about May, and now that it's pretty much Summertime we're getting heat waves followed by huge thunderstorms complete with hailstones. And it had been so hot when I got home that I opened all of the windows, so I ended up with little hailstones melting all over the apartment. Strange days.

Lost in Belgium: Surfing in Oostende

2008-05-25T17:32:00.009+02:00

After traipsing around Brugge for a few hours, Nick and I decided on a whim to head up to the coast and dip our toes into the North Sea in a beachside town called Oostende. Immediately when we pulled into the center of town it was clear that this place was a summer tourist beach destination, probably in the order of say the Jersey shore or Rehobeth beach in Delaware. But because it's only the end of May, it was still pretty quiet.

We got down to the shore and my first thought was, 'Why didn't I bring Kyma!' That would be my surfboard, yes, Big Red actually has a name. Anyway, the waves weren't amazing, but they were there and just as I was starting to wonder if anyone surfed in this town, Nick looked over at this van parked along the boardwalk and said to me "Hey, do you think those guys are surfers?" They were pulling on wetsuits, so my bed was yes. And sure enough about 30 minutes later, there was a solid handful of guys out in the water, leaving me on the short to wade up to my ankles and get all windblown. Sad, but honestly if I had known you could surf up there, I'd have probably been making weekend trips there for the last two months. Oh well, next time I suppose. First I have to learn to read the weather charts so I can actually make it worthwhile. Nice to know there's surfable water nearby though.

Oh, and Oostende was actually quite cute, even though it was touristy. After he managed to drag me away from the surfers, we walked down near the harbor and were met with the site of fish stand upon fish stand upon fish stand. Most of them were selling a combination fresh fish, smoked fish and some kind of fish stew usually. I walked away with a lightly pickled raw herring and a smoked herring that I thought might be kind of like the smoked whitefish I love having with my dad at home. (FYI: It turned out to be quite tasty, but also completely whole. I've never had to clean out a smoked fish before but this one, well lets just say that in addition to de-boning it, I also had to clean out the innards)

We ended up having an amazing meal of mussels before we left. I mean, I don't think it's possible to go to Belgium and not has the trifecta of foods it's known for: Mussels, Beer and Waffles. Oh and chocolate. I can't forget chocolate. Because I love chocolate almost as much as I love little critters that live in shells for eating.

Lost in Europe: Eurovision 2008

2008-05-24T22:42:00.006+02:00

So last night, I had the joy of experiencing Eurovision 2008. For those American types who like me have no idea what this is, allow me to explain. Eurovision is a multinational talent music contest conducted every year with representatives from a series of countries throughout Europe, Russia and (strangely) Israel. Basically, it's like American Idol for the European continent. However it only takes place on one night. So all these countries hold their preliminary contests locally (although some apparently just pluck a group out of the ether) and the on a single night, they broadcast the performances throughout Europe. Each country is then allowed to vote (but they can't vote for their own country) and a winner is named.

We watched a broadcast of the contest commentated thstrange talent contest commentated by a very funny British newscaster, who filled the gaps between performances with snarky commentary on the trend of Eastern Block countries only voting for each other, thus the ongoing run Eastern European countries coming out tops. In the meantime I was treated to performances featuring strange Pirates of the Caribbean singing, overly plastic surgeried Swedish performers, Retro Frenchmen and a very strange Spanish man who was truly terrible. Most of the songs were in English, but a few groups bucked the trend by singing in their native language. At the end of the performances, the lines are opened up and people from all the participating countries are allowed to vote for 30 minutes before the winner is finally announced.

At the end of it all, the winner is Russian singer Dima Bilan who I believed my lovely commentator referred to as Michael Flatley on rollerskates.

Lost in Portugal: Sights around Lisboa

2008-05-15T01:14:00.006+02:00

So, I neglected to actually write more posts while I was in Lisbon, therefore I don't really have a place to put these as my earlier posts were rather random and too specific, but I have to say that I loved Lisbon as a city, it is quite beautiful with some wonderful architecture that really reflects the different cultural groups that have lived in and shaped the city.

Even though most of the weekend was cool, rainy and grey, I adored wandering through the steep, narrow city streets. In fact, the cool, rainy weather combined with the replica Golden Gate Bridge over the harbor and the steep, narrow streets climbing up the hillside just made Lisbon feel that much more like San Francisco. Although San Fran feels more upscale in many ways.

We saw quite a bit of the city and with the less than favorable weather even made it to the Lisboa Oceanario which has a phenomenal saltwater tank as its centerpiece, including perhaps the coolest fish ever, the Mola Mola, or Ocean Sunfish, a gigantic saltwater fish that can grow up to 11ft long and enjoys drifting on its side while the currents carry it through the ocean. Plus a fair number of sharks and barracudas floating around inside.

We hit most of the big sites: St. Jorge's Castle, Belém where we saw the Belém Tower and Jerónimos Monastery (both UNESCO World Heritage sites), the Chiado shopping district (although this time I refrained from tragging Nick through another shopping marathon), the Bairro Alto, and even the Jardim Botanico, which was slightly disappointing after the immensity of Berlin's Tiergarten. That combined with all the walking around the city gave us a pretty good sense of things although I can definitely see coming back for a longer stay. Plus perhaps a bit more time on the coast . . . gotta work on my timing on the waves after all.

Lost in Portugal: Lisboa Graffiti

2008-05-14T23:59:00.007+02:00

Saw a load of cool graffiti in Lisbon last weekend. Lots of it was stencil work with some freehand stuff, but the stencil stuff was so prevalent it made me wonder if it might be a single artist.

Lost in Portugal: Pastel de Belém

2008-05-13T13:18:00.003+02:00

So one of the things that we were told was an absolute, must try food in Lisbon was the Pastéis de Belém, a small egg cream tart in puff pastry. According to local lore, the recipe for this particular pastry cream is a closely held secret and only three people in Belém know the recipe, passing it down from one generation to the next as each retires. Jamie Oliver apparently tried to recreate the recipe without success, he just wasn't able to replicate the silky texture of the cream.

So with that knowledge in hand, we headed to what is supposedly the birthdplace of this tasty, creamy little tartlet, Antiga Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém. And taste, and taste, and taste we did. Tiny, silky smooth tarts, still warm from the oven. Flaky and tender but still sturdy as you bit into it so that you didn't end up with a lapfull of puff pastry shreds.

We purchased two dozen with the intention of bringing them home for our co-workers, but unfortunately the pastries were left behind as an unintentional gift for our new friends at the Surf Castle. I guess we'll have to return to Lisbon to partake in the joy again.

Lost in Portugal: Sintra Views

2008-05-12T19:58:00.009+02:00

Sintra is this beautiful little village in Portugal, a UNESCO World Heritage site in fact (I seem to be racking up quite a few of these lately), that we stopped in before heading out to the coast for my surf experience.

We didn't have nearly as much time as we would have liked to have in the town so we didn't get to see the summer palace, but we did hike up to the Moorish Castle (ruins actually) which took a good hour. The view was completely worth the time and effort (we foolishly hiked along a road instead of the trail from the village, a bit hairy now and then when the locals would come barreling around the tight, steep turns).

The castle wall was supported from below by enormous granite (?) boulders that must have been carried through the landscape by glaciers during the ice age. From the topmost part of the castle wall you could see all the way down the coastline, even to Ericeira an incredibly famous surf spot. Unfortunately I couldn't tell what the waves were like from there, but we didn't go there anyway so it didn't really matter. Next time, when I'm actually better at this crazy sport I've picked up.

Lost in Portugal: Surf Castle

2008-05-12T17:37:00.007+02:00

So it's hard to fly all the way to Portugal, which has some of the best surfing in Europe along the coast, and not at least attempt to get in the water for a few sessions. Unfortunately this entire weekend was massively blown-out with super high winds, mostly coming on-shore Saturday and Sunday. But today, today it is better. After a grey start this morning, we headed out from Sintra to Peniche so I could once again tempt fate in the water.

I had heard about this place in Portugal called the Surf Castle from a couple I met in Famara in March. So when I knew I was heading to Lisbon, I looked them up and got in touch to see if I could get a local heads up on the wave conditions and also maybe score a lesson. Still lots to learn after all.

The owner, Joao, was incredibly helpful, besides giving me the insider update on the conditions (which led to me NOT dragging my board along with us this weekend), he also helped me set up a session with an instructor named Pedro. All in all, a pretty sweet afternoon although I was only able to get a single, hour and a half long session in and the water is sooo much colder than it was in Famara. Once you start moving though you don't really notice, besides it's going to be a lot colder in Chicago this winter. Yes, if you look very closely at that little black dot in this picture, that is me, actually surfing. Albeit not as well as I would have liked . . .

The waves were small, but Pedro said it was the glassiest day they had all weekend, and besides I wasn't complaining, it's not like I can afford to be picky after all.Anyway, even a short session is good for me. The more time in the water the better I say! Gotta work on my timing paddling into the waves though. Practice makes perfect!

So a funny bit of the day actually took place over a late afternoon snack that Nick and I had with Pedro and his girlfriend. They asked me how I had found out about the the Surf Castle, as I related my Lanzarote story, talking about this kind of crazy Italian guy and his Irish girlfriend, they said, "You know Allie and Jenny? They're hysterical. They're coming back in September."

Not that I was really that surprised that they remembered those two, but Pedro even commented on Jenny's board, which isn't really her board since Allie rides it ALL the time. But anyway, love the small world connections.

Lost in Portugal: Coffee Days

2008-05-10T18:08:00.003+02:00

Much to Nick's delight we have discovered that Lisbon has quite the coffee culture. In fact, I think ordering coffee in Lisbon might almost be a complicated as ordering coffee in Vienna. A fact Nick found highly reassuring. That and the coffee tastes sooo good. Strong, but not burnt, deep roasts that can be served any number of ways if you just know how to ask for it. Not that we managed to figure that out in three days, but it was good nonetheless. Wish I had pictures, but sadly I have none.

Here is my quick Lisboa coffee primer, courtesy of my failed attemps and TimeOut Lisbon:

For Milky Coffee in a glass, ask for um Galao, basically like a latte but if you add the words Maquina, you should get coffee that's fresh from the machine as opposed to coming from the carafe of the stuff that's been sitting around for a while getting burnt

For a Cappucino like drink ask for uma Meia da leite (half milk).

For Espresso, ask for Bica but ask for um cafe or um duplo if you'd like a double shot.

For the really strong stuff, ask for uma Italiana, a tiny cup of sludgy coffee essence.

Granted, they don't take it quite to the levels of the Viennese, but I have no doubt that if you really know the city, one would find that the subtleties are just as extensive when you know your way around.

Lost in Portugal: Capoeira in the Street

2008-05-10T13:23:00.003+02:00

We started the morning wandering through the streets down towards the water and the main square. As we walked down that way, pounding drums and chanting started to fill the causeway between the buildings. I always love street musicians so we made our way towards the crowd and the drumming to find the delightful spectacle of a Capoeira school doing a demonstration with the instructors and their students.

We stood and watched while the teachers and their students wove a dance of martial arts and gymnastics. It was great. I've always wanted to learn a martial art, perhaps this should be my next sport . . .

Lost in Portugal: Literally lost

2008-05-10T12:38:00.004+02:00

This may be the worst marked subway station ever. It took us asking directions three times before we were able to locate it, and getting to it meant walking over a highway and through a roundabout. Not so convenient. . .

lost in Portugal: Caracois, caracois

2008-05-09T19:45:00.003+02:00

OK, we arrived in Lisbon. It was kind of cold and rainy and I was STARVING! Big shock there I'm sure.

So Nick and I went wandering around our hotel to see what we could find to eat. We wandered into this tiny little storefront and ordered a couple of sandwiches. I happened to see two women behind us eating what looked like a plate of teeny, tiny escargot. So when the server came over I said "I'd like a small plate of those, please."

He looked at me, said "Caracois?"

And I said, yes, what those girls are having. With smile he returned about 5 minutes later with a steaming, garlicky pile of tiny little snails, complete with tiny, little, smiling snail heads that had antennae.

Now I'm a pretty adventurous eater, but for just a moment even I paused. But after a stern, internal pep talk, I dug in with my toothpick while Nick looked on rather horrified. Until he tried them. And boy were they tasty. As long as you can get over the little heads, these suckers are really, really good. Nick only made it through four, but I devoured a good plateful almost before I was full.

Although not for the squeamish, I highly recommend them if you happen to be in Portugal and they're available.

Lost in Germany: The Lancia Musa and Me

2008-05-04T22:45:00.005+02:00

Ok, so I cannot lie, when traffic moves there is nothing more fun than cruising down the Autobahn going 180km/hr. Even in a Lancia Musa.
What is a Lancia Musa you might ask? Perhaps the crappiest most unaerodynamic vehicle I have ever had the good fortune to hop behind the wheel of. Honestly, this thing uses over 14 liters of gas per 100km when you're going 80. Awful.

But still fun to drive the Autobahn even with a less than spectacular car. I am super tempted to find a really nice car, like say a Porsche or an Audi A8 or (this one's for you Dad) one of the new Maserati coupes to take out for a spin for a day. You know, see what it's really like to drive these roads in an actual car.

Now however I am sitting in a 20km traffic jam only 100km from Frankfurt. Whoever said driving the Autobahn is always a speed adventure has clearly never driven thru Germany on a holiday weekend. Here's hoping we make it home by midnight, which would make a supposedly 4. 5 hour drive into an 8+ hour drive . . .

Lost in Germany: Beautiful Berlin

2008-05-04T17:10:00.010+02:00

Well, we managed to see a fair amount of Berlin in what really amounted to a long day and a half in the city.

In no particular order, here's a quick rundown on things I think are 'must sees' in the city:

Reichstag
The Reichstag building is the home of the German Parliament and offers a beautiful view over the city and the government quarter. From here you can actually see the top of Gehry's building in the nearby Pariser Platz and well as take in the expansive green of the Tiergarten that extends through the city.

Checkpoint Charlie
For those who haven't been before, I definitely recommend seeing Checkpoint Charlie. There's nothing real left there now that the Wall has been taken down, but the collection of posters around the sight detailing the history of the wall is fascinating and I definitely would recommend stopping by Cafe Adler which actually is the only original piece left from the pre-Fall days.

Unter den Linden
A lovely boulevard to walk along on your way to the Brandenburger Tor. It was named for the Linden trees that line the pedestrian pathway.

Bebel Platz
Located along Unter den Linden, Bebel Platz is probably most well-known for being the site of the infamous Nazi book burning.

Humboldt Universität
Berlin's oldest university, located along Unter den Linden. It was from Humbolt University's library that the Nazi youth took some 20,000 books and burned them on the Bebel Platz.

Brandenburger Tor and Pariser Platz
Definitely one of the most recognizable symbols of Germany, the Brandenburger Tor was builtin 1791 and modelled on the entrance to the Acropolis in Athens. The Tor sustained heavy damage during World War II and was restored in the 1950s. After the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, the Brandenburg Gate was inaccessible to the citizens of both Germanys and was ultimately regarded as the symbol of Cold War divisions.

Pariser Platz sits in front of the Tor and is home to an inordinate number of banks including the Deutsche Bank Frank Gehry Building.

Tiergarten
A fantastic garden spread through the center of the city, the Tiergarten reminds me a bit of Central Park, but it seems much bigger. In one of the meadows is a grouping of 7 large stones, part of an artistic installation called the Global Stone Project.

Schloss Charlottenburg
Schloss Charlottenburg was the summer home of the German ruling family. They have the most spectacular gardens there and even though it's a bit further out of the city, I highly recommend visiting. The palace itself is absolutely beautiful.

Nikolaikirche
Berlin's oldest church is located quite near to the Berliner Dom and also the Museumsinsel. Apparently, there's also quite a nice exhibit inside, but we didn't have time to see it.

Museumsinsel
A UNESCO World Heritage site, a host of museums are housed on this tiny island in the city as well as the Berliner Dom. We didn't bother heading inside of any of the museums, instead we camped out along the river and basked in the sun enjoying prosecco and apfelstrüdel. Very tasty.

Berliner Dom
A really gorgeous Gothic church. After climbing up a significant number of steps, you are rewarded with a wonderful view out over the city of Berlin. Definitely worth the hike to the top. That and there is a great exhibit with the scale models they used for reconstruction purposes while they repaired the damage caused by a firebomb during WWII.

Gendarmenmarkt
Considered one of Europe's most beautiful city squares, you can enjoy the view the Deutscher Dom, the Fransösicher Dom and the Konzerthaus.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Just a very cool looking church in the middle of Breitscheidplatz, also where I had enjoyed a tasty plate of Berlin's contribution to fastfood, Currywurst. Now keep in mind that currywurst is basically, hot dogs covered in warm ketchup and doused with curry powder. Strange but still tasty, check out this "authentic" recipe here.

Lost in Spain: Sights of Barcelona

2008-05-02T13:41:00.001+02:00

Had a few photos I just didn't know where to put. So here are a few of the sights I saw while we traipsed across the city over the weekend.

Lost in Spain: Sardanes in Squares

2008-04-27T19:28:00.003+02:00

As we were walking around today enjoying our last hours in Barcelona, we kept coming across circles of older folk dancing outside of the Cathedral near La Rambla. I didn't take any pictures of this unfortunately, but I found this one online.

It was so sweet to watch, these groups of men and women, clasping hands and dancing what was clearly a traditional dance around piles of their bags. We saw a group of teenagers start doing what all teenagers do: mocking tradition. Until an older man, stepped forward and chastised them quite strongly. It was great, the kids just picked up their bags and suddenly became respectful again.

Anyway, I thought for sure it must be some kind of demonstration or special event, so when we got back to the hotel I asked guest reception what was going on. The woman at the front desk said that these dances, Sardanes, happen almost every weekend on Sundays. People will just spontaneously begin dancing to the music in the squares. In fact, all children in Catalan are taught these dances in school, although most of the kids think they're kind of silly.

What a fantastic tradition though. I love that people just dance in the streets here. I quite like this city.

Lost in Spain: Sleepy Park Afternoons

2008-04-26T19:14:00.005+02:00

We've had our fill of art for the day, and now it's time for a nap. We've found a wonderful park up here on the hill where the Miro Museum is located. According to my Lonely Planet guidebook, this is supposed to be a superb place for napping. The park is called Jardins de Mossen Cinto de Verdaguer. I highly recommend a summer's day nap under the trees here. It's beautiful.

Lost in Spain: Miró

2008-04-26T16:57:00.006+02:00

So today, we went up the hillside on the funicular subway to visit the Miró Foundation museum. I have to be honest, I didn't really know much about Miro before we went up there, but it was something Nick really wanted to see, and I do love learning more about art.

It was a great museum I have to say. I've seen some Miro pieces before, but to see them all collected together was pretty imposing. If it had been a few decades later I might have thought the man was doing some pretty serious drugs when he was painting.

Anyway, we're off tomorrow to see the Picasso Museum which I'm really excited about. Apparently the museum takes you through a progressive exhibit that starts with Picasso's early training and leads you all the way through the last of his paintings. I'm so curious to see how he developed his style over the years.

Must say, the art side of things is kind of a nice counterpoint to all of the culinary emphasis this trip has had . . . . also better for my waistline.

Lost in Spain: Shop til ya drop

2008-04-26T15:09:00.005+02:00

Poor Nick. I've dragged him around all day hunting for shoes in my size (they grow'em too big in Germany so I can never find shoes for my itty-bitty feet). On my hunt though I did stumble by this rather fabulous clothing store called Tomate. They deal with about 60 designers living and working throughout Spain. Some very cool stuff. If you happen to be in town, I highly recommend checking them out.

Tomate

Located at:
Bayns Nous, 22
Barcelona, Spain
Phone: 93-3013788

and also at:
Capellans, 3
Barcelona, Spain
Phone: 93-3043665

website: www.tomate-bcn.com

Lost in Spain: Market Breakfasts

2008-04-26T09:24:00.005+02:00

So to continue our culinary binge this weekend, I dragged Nick over to La Boqueria, which is one of the biggest permanent produce markets in Europe. They actually have a partnership with London's Borough market (although from what I've read La Boqueria is much bigger even if the market in London is older).

the market. I had a super lovely cafe con leche and some churrosTo avoid the other tourist types, we went over early and got a bit of something to eat to build up the strength to wander through to top it off. Can't really go wrong with fried dough and coffee in the morning. Mmmm. . . .

What a market though, I mean talk about visual, sensorial overload. Between the rainbows of fruit and the juices they were being squeezed into and the gleaming, ice pack piles of fish, I could hardly decide where I should be looking. Of course there were oodles of stands selling the ubiquitous Jamon Iberico. Newly educated after our oh so satisfying meal at Jamonisimo our scrutiny of the offers was intense. Not that we had any chance of picking up a leg of ham to bring home, but there was definitely a very vigorous discussion between Nick and I on whether or not we could swing it.

I'm sad to say that I did not win out in this particular discussion. I did however manage to convince Nick to purchase almost a case of wine to haul back in my suitcase.

Lost in Spain: Gospel Subways

2008-04-25T23:47:00.004+02:00

OK, how random is this? Gospel singers from the Institut de Gospel in the subway? Who doesn't love that about a city!

Lost in Spain: Jamonisimo, the best ham I've ever had

2008-04-25T13:33:00.005+02:00

So today for lunch, Nick and I tracked down another restaurant recommendation courtesy of Anthony Bourdain's "Decoding Ferran Adria" documentary: Jamonisimo.

Birgit and John attempted the same on Tuesday before we all met up for the El Bulli Extravaganza with no success. So Nick and I were a little nervous that we might also end up with nothing to show for our efforts. Fortunately we found success.

And let me tell you, it was worth the tracking and blackberry searching and wrong turns down streets with no signage. This was by far the most incredible cured pork product I have ever had the pleasure of consuming.

So for those who are not Jamon Iberico connoisseurs, there are three different grades of Jamon Iberico. The highest grade is a type of Jamon Iberico labeled with the phrase "de bellota." Basically this indicates that these lucky swine were fed a diet of acorns exclusively which gives the meat and the fat an especially buttery texture.

After a bit of finagling over the menus (only available in either Spanish or Catalan, clearly this is a place only locals go usually), we managed to communicate to our lovely if non-English speaking store clerk that we wanted to try the sampling of the house Jamon, an animal raised "de bellota" in the Salamonca region of Spain. The selection of meats comes from three different parts of the cured ham leg, each with it's own special texture and taste.

Over a couple of glasses of cava, we slowly consumed the ham, bite by mindblowingly flavorful bite. The fat on the ham slices was practically melting at room temperature. Can I say divine? I think all ham will somehow seem pedestrian after this . . . A few bites of cheese and another glass of cava later and we found ourselves stuffed to the gills with only a few hundred grams of ham and cheese and smiling and gesturing to the shop keeper that we would be back the next day to purchase Jamon to bring home with us. There is just no way I can go back to Frankfurt without bringing John and Birgit a taste of what we just experienced.

Lost in Spain: Kit Cars

2008-04-24T17:53:00.003+02:00

OK Dad, this one is for you. Nick and I are driving along minding our own business when out of nowhere this noisy kit car comes pounding up the highway.

It does look pretty cool though. The guy was wearing goggles and everything.

Lost in Spain: Savoring the Sea

2008-04-24T17:52:00.004+02:00

So after what was by far the most incredible meal I have had the pleasure to consume, Birgit, John, Nick and I lingered this morning in Roses to dine at another place we had heard about called Rafa's.

We found this restaurant after watching a DVD Birgit bought John as part of his birthday present called Decoding Ferran Adria with Anthony Bourdain. In this video Anthony Bourdain mentioned two other restaurants that Ferran Adria had taken him to, one was a Jamon Iberico store in Barcelona (we're hoping to find it tomorrow) and the other was this tiny little seafood restaurant in Roses that is Ferran Adria's favorite place to eat when he's not working.

Apparently Rafa won't even open the restaurant if he doesn't think the seafood is up to par, but we were lucky today, he was open and he was cooking up a storm for us. We ordered more food than I can possibly believe and consumed it faster than you might think possible given the quantities, but somehow, it was just so fresh, so pure that you could eat and eat and eat and not ever feel too full.

We started off with a series of appetizers, all very simply prepared on the grill with olive oil, garlic and some lemon juice. It was so hard to choose so we actually ended up with five dishes as appetizers: wonderfully crunchy but tender sea cucumber, grilled baby squid, garlicky scampis, prawns (stripy ones that looks like tiny painted lobsters), and grilled clams. And then for the main courses we had sea bream (deboned tableside) and monk fish. Both were excellent, but I think the monk fish had the best flavor of the two.

And of course no meal on this trip so far would be complete without some type of dessert. not that we actually had room for it, but we just couldn't help ourselves when the waitress offered us a special dessert plate to enjoy. Actually it was a combination of three desserts, a fresh goat cheese (kind of a chevre, but even fresher) drizzled with sweet Spanish honey, a chocolate torte and apple tart. Very delicious and a good way to finish the meal. If this is how the eating has started out on this trip, I can only imagine that I'll be heading back to Frankfurt with no need to eat again for at least a month.

Lost in Spain: Driving Costa Brava

2008-04-23T15:33:00.005+02:00

We arrived and we're on our way to Roses for dinner at El Bulli tonight. I cannot believe this is actually happening. Fortunately we've had almost five hours in the car for it to sink in. . .

In the meantime, we've managed to stop off in a tiny little seaside town (Birgit has been feeling a bit under the weather after a night out yesterday), and Nick picked up a gorgeous rose for me for St. George's Day. I'm supposed to buy him a book, but they're all in Spanish so I don't think it will do much good. I suppose he'll forgive me though.

Costa Brava is gorgeous, the road winds along these immense cliffs above the shoreline, and as you drive them you look down into almost Caribbean blue water within the coves. We couldn't have had a more beautiful day for the drive too, bright blue skies and sun, sun, sun.

Saving for the Future: Germans vs. Americans

2008-04-20T23:34:00.002+02:00

OK, not really, but I did read an article today that talk about the absolute piss poor savings rate most Americans seem to have. What was interesting was that they directly referenced German savings rates vs. those in the U.S. Although the article wasn't really about comparing the two cultural viewpoints (really it was about how to get people to save more through inertia in decision making), I was just struck by the fact that they used Germany as a comparison.

Having now lived in Germany for over a year I've had ample opportunity to experience German attitudes towards money. While Germans may save a greater percentage of their paycheck in many ways it is because they simply have to in order to pay for ordinary or extraordinary purchase. Unlike the U.S. where a mindset of living on credit prevails, Germans rarely use credit cards. In fact, in quite a few places they aren't even accepted. When they do use credit cards, they often have to pay the balance off in full at the end of every month. So instead they live in what is primarily a cash based society. As a result, in many ways they simply don't have a choice. They MUST save more in order to do things like buy furniture, repair their cars, take vacations. They can't simply put it all on a credit card and pay it off over a period of months. A radically different situation than what currently exists in America, don't you think?

Anyway, just an interesting article to read now that I've got a bit more of the German perspective going on here. I think the Germans have the better approach than we do in some ways, somehow it just seems like it's better to live within your means. . . .

Hug, hug, hug

2008-04-19T12:53:00.005+02:00

It is a cold and rather rainy Spring day in Frankfurt this Saturday. One of those miserably damp days that just seems to sink into all the aches and pains leftover from a stressful week. Nick's friend Mike was in town visiting for the day and despite the unfavorable weather we ended up sitting outside at my favorite Saturday farmer's market at Konstablerwache having pancakes and cappuccinos before Mike had to catch his flight. As we walked him down into the subway, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by about 6 or 7 people carrying signs that said "Free Hugs" in a couple of different languages.

I have no idea what this was for or who was organizing it, but we all got hugs from the people with the signs. I got two for taking this picture. . . . It's definitely one way to brighten up a rainy April morning.

*** A quick addition to this. After a quick bit of research, apparently there is a Free Hugs Campaign out there. Check it out.

Mountain Lions and Earthquakes in Chicago? What next??

2008-04-18T17:48:00.005+02:00

Rubble lies in the street Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, after part of a cornice fell off a building. (Taken from the CNN website, see below link)

First a mountain lion appears in Roscoe Village earlier this week and now an earthquake has struck Southern Illinois. This morning around 4:30am a 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook Southern Illinois with enough strength to make the buildings in Chicago sway.Granted Illinois happens to sit on top of a rather major fault line in the continent, but still, it's not like this is California or something.

I think the world has gone a little off kilter this week. Maybe it's the full moon that's about to strike, I don't know. But I have to admit, once again I'm really starting to wonder if I just shouldn't stay in Europe, I think it might be safer. . . .

Return of the Wild!

2008-04-16T08:22:00.003+02:00

So I woke up this morning and as I often do when I have a few minutes before bolting out the door for work, I turned on my TV to watch a little German news and probably Sesame Street (does wonders for language learning, I tell you). And you can imagine my surprise when the first thing I heard on the news this morning was ". . . . Cougar aus Chicago"

Yes that's right. A Cougar. In Chicago. In Roscoe Village no less. Randomly wandering around the neighborhood as if it was just a normal day, before being shot and killed by Chicago's finest. Guess the animals really are reclaiming the cities for themselves.

Strangely, you never hear about things like this happening in Frankfurt . . . maybe I should stay in Germany.

Snowy Frankfurt Mornings

2008-04-07T07:08:00.003+02:00

Well, after all this time I finally have the chance to see a little snow in Frankfurt. What a surprise to wake up this morning and see the rooftops frosted with snow. I didn't actually think it would happen while I was here now that it's practically spring time. Then again, there's been a lot of snowfall in the Alps so I suppose it's not quite as crazy as it might seem.

I guess this means that I won't be biking into the office this morning.

Travel Stupidity

2008-03-31T19:58:00.004+02:00

So I'm home from the Canaries again, but as with most of this trip, it couldn't help itself but end in some sort of travel stupidity. So here we go.

On Sunday afternoon after a spectacularly late night out with Kerry and Suzie, I raced around packing and climbed into the cab to head to the airport and go home. The airline had changed the flight time to an hour later so I had plenty of time and my trip home started out well enough with the airline checking my surf board bag in without any additional charges (Yeah!). So bag checked and tickets in hand I headed to the gate. So far, so good.

Unfortunately it all went downhill once I arrived in Barcelona. Although I didn't know if for a good hour. When I arrived I took a look at the flight board to see where I needed to go. Checked the time and thought, 'Oh good! Now, I've got 90 minutes to sit, grab a drink, make a phone call or two and write some emails." Which is exactly what I did, I figured with a 90 minute layover I could spare a little time to relax before heading to the gate. So 60 minutes later, I stroll casually up to the gate to find absolutely NO ONE there. Yup, somehow I hadn't realized that Barcelona was actually an hour ahead of where I was coming from. Instead of an hour and a half layover I had actually only had half an hour. And there were no more flights to Frankfurt that evening. Brilliance.

So after some panicked racing around the airport and some heavy negotiating on flight prices (they originally wanted to charge me for a full ticket at 742 euro, but I got them to do a ticket change for 98 euro instead), I hauled myself to a hotel for a few hours sleep before heading back to the airport at 5am to track down my luggage. An utter disaster, but it all worked out in the end.

Hard to believe I'm sure, but in all of the travel I've done in the last year I have never come close to anything quite this ridiculous. Oh well, lesson learned. I'll never, ever do this again. At least I'm finally home.

Surf School Stories Part II: Last Night Out

2008-03-30T15:55:00.011+02:00

What a week it's been, new board, no clothes for 8 days and a couple of wonderful new friends.

Before I get to our big night out, I supposed I should elaborate slightly on my 8 days without clothing situation. When I arrived in Lanzarote last week, I was amazed to discover that while the airline had managed to deliver my surf board to me in one piece, they had some how left my duffel bag with everything else in it behind. Keeping in mind that the plane I flew from Frankfurt to Madrid and the plane I flew from Madrid to Lanzarote were the exact same one I was pretty amazed it had happened, but oh well. So after a few days of being told the bag was on the island and would be delivered only to have it never show up, the airline finally confessed on Sunday that they had NO IDEA where my bag was. So I called. Every day five times a day until finally they asked me for a list of "Identifying Objects" in the bag so they could put out a search to the entire European network to see if they could locate it.

Long story short, after calling for days on end, the owner of the surf school finally just swung by the airport on Friday only find my bag and have them telling me that it had been sitting there for at least THREE days. Yup. Three days, and every time I had called the airline had claimed that they had no idea where my bag was but they were looking for it throughout the European network. I hate to say this, but honestly, so Spanish. Fortunately I got everything back just in time to leave, but it did mean that I was able to spend a day surfing on the fin set-up that came with my board. So much better. I am in love with my new board.

So last night, my very last evening in Lanzo, I went out with a couple of new girls, Kerry and Suzie who just arrived on Thursday to this bar/restaurant/club kind of thing called Lago Mar. Apparently this place was built for the actor Omar Sharif and before he ever moved in he lost the house in a bridge game. I don't know much about that, but the space was incredible. It was built into the lava flows and is this huge complex of tunnels and lagoons and caves.

Plus the bar was fantastic. The bartender, Nino, was from Columbia but learned English from some American that had taught down in South America. Such a funny guy, and he made absolutely excellent capirinhas and mojitos. Who doesn't love a tasty drink on a Saturday night?

George and his newest girl showed up around 11pmish, just in time for the DJ to get things going in the bar. A few shots of rum, a few capirinhas and a lot of pictures of shoes later and I managed to find myself lounging down by one of the lagoons staring up at the stars. I guess there was only so much excitement I could handle in one night.

I have to say, it was a totally different Lanzo experience than Christmas/New Year's was, but it was still a good one. Quiet, reflective, sans my own clothes (you learn a lot about yourself when that happens by the way), and major progress in my surfing, or at least that's what I thought. I did learn to do a flick jump this time around! For those who don't surf that means I can now get up with out using my feet, I can basically just kind of flick myself into the air. Pretty exciting.

Anyway, I'm off now, already at the airport, and although I didn't manage to get a morning surf in today with Kerry, I did manage have breakfast with George, his new girl, Suzie and Kerry before heading off today. I do love the fact that I keep coming away from these surf trips with new friends. I'm hoping to get to Croyde this June with Kerry before I have to head back to the States. Oh well, gotta board the plane now, I'm homeward bound to rainy Frankfurt.

Surf School Stories Part II: Learning to Ride the Egg

2008-03-27T10:07:00.004+01:00

So I've been back in lovely Caleta de Famara now for about a week with Tim, Simon and George attempting (and I used that in the broadest possible way) to learn how to ride the rather expensive piece of sporting equipment I purchased after my last trip here over Christmas/New Year's.

On the one side, I'm utterly relieved to know that my passion for surfing was not simply a passing fancy. I completely adore this sport. I think it's one of the first times in ages that I've fallen so completely for something this quickly and enjoyed it this much even though it takes a incredible amount of effort. But there you go, I'm in love with surfing and particularly my lovely red board.

So about this board. It has been so much harder to learn to ride it than I thought it would. Compared to the big long boards (all over 9ft and super heavy) that I learned on last time with Tim my board is a Takayama 7'6" Egg and it's super, super light and much more maneuverable. I think it's taken me full five days to just learn how to paddle out and sit on my board let alone ride it with any sort of grace, but I tell you when I do get those few and far between waves and I'm up and ride, it is a sweet, steady and FAST board. It's perfect. I have this odd feeling that many of my vacations in the coming years will be surf oriented. Fortunately lots of the places I want to visit also happen to have good surf. . . .

Unfortunately the last few days have been pretty miserable conditions, everyone in the school has been having what Tim calls a good "grovel" out in the onshore mush we've been seeing. I'm off today, but think I'm going to go have a surf with Tim, his girlfriend and his youngest son at one of the other breaks on the island. Should be fun. It looks pretty miserable and cold out right now but that's what wetsuits are for.

Speaking of wetsuits now that it seems the airline has completely lost my duffle bag with all of my clothes in it, I believe I may invest in a wetsuit. Might as well if they'll have to pay for it, right?

Violence in Kenya

2008-03-17T21:40:00.003+01:00

Eight years ago, after I graduated from college I had my last hurrah as an undergraduate student and traveled to Kenya for three weeks to sit in lectures, stay with families and bring all of the classroom studies I had been doing the previous semester to life. That experience instilled in me a passion for and unending interest in Kenya and its developments as a nation and a people.

This December in the face of a disputed election, Kenya, arguably one of the most stable African nations erupted into rioting between the Luo and the Kikuyu that has still not fully dissipated. Randy Bell, a friend of mine from high school who is now a documentary filmmaker focused primarily on the slums in Nairobi, was on site at the end of December as the riots boiled around him. This is the short film he made about what is happening on the ground in Nairobi.

Lost in America: Beautiful babies and old friends

2008-03-04T18:33:00.006+01:00

So ever since we were skiing in St. Anton I've been waiting for the chance to meet my lovely friend Claire's newest addition to her family, Baby Jack. And now that I'm home I finally had the chance. He is beautiful! And so is Claire's new house.

I think it's kind of like seeing your friends play dress-up when they move into their first "real" house. I mean like a house in the suburbs like what our parents raised us in. It's a sign that we're all getting older, growing up, starting our own families. You know, turning into real adults.

Not that we haven't been adults before this, but the babies and the houses somehow make it that much more tangible. Anyhow, Claire and Jack look amazing. He is a beautiful, beautiful baby. And I can't believe that it's only been a month since Claire had him. She looks incredible!

Can't wait to see both of them again. Hope it isn't another year until I do.

Lost in America: Gorgeous Philly Gelato

2008-03-02T05:30:00.006+01:00

Okay, I admit I'm a sucker for any kind of ice cream. Even in the deepest depths of winter you can usually get me to get at least a scoop. So when I arrived in Philly to hang out with my brother and Denis mentioned that there was supposed to be this amazing gelato store in the city, you know I was completely game.

So after dinner off we went to Capogiro Karl, Jack, Denis, Lisa, Marc, Blair and myself. In the years since college, Denis has somehow turned into a bit of a gelato fanatic. And he wasn't wrong about this place, it was as good as some of the gelaterias I've been to in Italy.

On Saturday night I had this amazing Burnt Sugar Gelato, an scoop of deep, black Chocolate with a little Italian Blood Orange gelato to finish off the trio. Let me tell you. It was worth every calorie.

In fact it was so incredible, we went back the very next day to have a second round. Delicious! Not so good for my upcoming surf trip though. . . .

Lost in America: Mosaic Madness and Other Philly Moments

2008-03-02T05:29:00.009+01:00

So we've spent the day wandering around Philly, Marc, Blair and I. I'm kind of sorry I hadn't had a chance to visit before. There are some very cool neighborhoods around here plus the history is pretty thick which is a nice change from some other U.S. cities. I saw Benjamin Franklin's grave and the foundations of the original Presidential house that they just dug up which is near the Liberty Bell. It reminds me a little of Europe in some ways.

We met up with Jack this afternoon and he brought us to this crazy Mosaic maze on Philly's South corridor called the Magic Garden. Apparently this artist, Isaiah Zagar, had returned to Philly in the 60s after a stint in the Peace Corp and opened a gallery. Over time he began to mosaic the interior and then the exterior of the building. He stretched into the empty lot next door (illegally I might add) and expanded his creation. You can walk through the entire space and he's still working. He had this great quote about the garden, when asked if he would ever be finished the artist said: Only I will know when it is complete, but to you who are seeing it right now, it is complete.

Very cool.

Anyway, we're off to dinner with Jack, Karl, Denis and Lisa soon. Should be a fun evening. I miss these guys. It's good to have a chance to catch up with them for a little while.

Election 2008: Yes We Can

2008-02-25T17:27:00.003+01:00

So today I stumbled across this video while reading Ad Age and a poll they were taking on whether professional advertising type people should be volunteering their services to political campaigns. An interesting question given that I know back in the day the founder of my agency, Leo Burnett, himself contributed to the Goldwater campaign back in the early 60s (granted I believe we were paid for that, but nonetheless a professional adman was involved).

What fascinates me more though is how whether you are a believer in Barack Obama or not, the use of media and celebrity endorsement in this campaign cycle has been fascinating to watch as a marketer. What started as a use of new media during the 2004 election has become a full-blown paradigm shift in how information is conveyed to people during the campaign period and perhaps more importantly how individuals are getting involved in the campaign process. This video is simply one more (admittedly quite slick) example of individual involvement, and despite the fact that it is chock full of celebrities (which certainly helps it gain greater attention), at the end of the day it is an individual taking part in the process, trying to drum up support for a candidate that they believe in. And though it's cliche I'll say it anyway, the power of the internet and platforms like YouTube, Facebook, blogging, whatever is incredible.

Most of all I love the fact that in the short time I have been a conscious participant in the American electoral system (and yes, that has only been taking place for a good decade now), the internet has given people a platform for engagement. Truly this is the first campaign season I can remember that has actually sparked debate and involvement beyond the extreme right, the extreme left and the intellectuals. The first campaign that has captivated generations young and old in a way that possibly hasn't been seen since Kennedy was in office.

As we continue to progress through the nomination process and ultimately the election itself I have no doubt we will continue to see history made in America regardless of whether a Democrat or a Republican ends up in office.

Lost in Germany and Austria: Kaiserschmarrn and my expanding waistline

2008-02-18T23:43:00.007+01:00

After all of the time I've recently spent in Austria, I've developed a slight obsession with a very, very Austrian dessert called Kaiserschmarrn. Basically it's this incredibly doughy, chopped up pancake served with plum sauce and raisins and powdered sugar. It tastes sooo good and is sooo bad for my wasitline. But somehow that doesn't keep me from stuffing myself with it every chance I get. So in an effort to cut down my expenditures on doughy pancake desserts, I've located a recipe that I will now share with you.
Enjoy!

Kaiser Pancakes (Kaiserschmarren)

Imperial Austrian Cuisine by Renate Wagner-Wittula

Ingredients:

6 eggs

200 g (7oz) cake or pastry flour

50 g (1 1/2 oz) sugar

250 ml (8 fluid oz) milk

pinch of salt

40 g (1 oz) raisins

butter

confectioners’ sugar (powdered)

plum purée

Preparation:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Thouroughly mix the yolks, sugar, milk and flour. Whisk the egg whites, add a pinch of salt and continue whisking until stiff. Now, carefully fold into the egg yolk mixture. Melt butter in a large pan, pour in the mixture and sprinkle in raisins. Let cook on one side for a few minutes, turn over and tear into pieces with a fork. Now let finish cooking (ideally in a buttered pan in a preheated oven(. Be especially careful not to overcook the pancakes, otherwise they will dry out. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with plum purée.

Lost in Germany: Neuschwanstein aka Sleeping Beauty's Castle

2008-02-17T17:00:00.008+01:00

So post-Nick's morning ski we headed off again back to Frankfurt, but we made a small detour to see the original inspiration for Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle, Neuschwanstein. The castle is nestled in a tiny town in Germany and was actually built in the mid-1800s by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria. He was a little bit nuts but quite beloved by the people in his kingdom.

I have to say, the castle itself does actually look like something out of a storybook, but then again that seems to have been Ludwig's idea. He had a very pure idea of what a King should be surrounded by and he had a love of the Middle Ages and the courtly ideals they supposedly upheld. So the crazy thing about the castle is that even though it looks like it should have been constructed in the middle ages it actually has all of these hidden 'modern' amenities like hot air central heating, running water on every floor and even an telephone system! Ultimately the guy became a complete recluse and was declaired insane by the Bavarian government, deposed and then the day after he was interned at the Bern palace, he died in a mysterious drowning incident along with the psychiatrist who had declared him insane. Very strange. . .

Anyway, Nick and I arrived too late to actually get into the castle, but after napping in the car on the way there I had built up a lovely store of energy, so I dragged Nick on a very brisk walk up around the back way along a hilly path to a bridge overlooking the castle. It was a beautiful view and definitely worth detouring for on the way home.

And here's a moment of small world wonder. As we were hiking up to look at the castle from afar, I was chatting with Nick about winter skiing and riding snowmobiles on Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire. Something I always loved doing when I would go up to my friend's lake house during the winter. So low and behold, we round the bend and there in front of me are to boys, probably about 12 and 14 wearing, I kid you not, Mt. Sunapee Ski Team 2008 jackets. Seriously. Is that crazy or what?

The best part was when I asked them if they were from NH and told them I used to ski up there, they said they were in Europe to ski in Austria. In St. Anton of all places, just where I was last week. Strange small world it is, no?

Lost in Germany: Sunbathing Snowbunnies

2008-02-17T12:22:00.004+01:00

Now I admit that I've always held a bit of disdain for the type girl who chooses to perch on a sunchair on top of a ski mountain instead of actually doing something fun and physical like oh, say, skiing on said ski mountain. However after a rather disastrous equipment rental yesterday and a few still sore limbs and such from my snowboarding experiment last weekend I'd like to expound for a moment on the merits of sitting in the sun on a ski mountain.

It is wonderful.

I've spent the last few hours, perched in a sun chair looking out on the mountain, soaking up some rays, reading a book and drinking a cup of hot chocolate while paragliders coast overhead. It is peaceful, it is sunny and I can be grateful that I'm not one of the herd of injured skiiers that happen to be sitting next to me with piles of crutches near by.

This quiet time may be just what I needed after all the madness of the last few weeks.

Lost in Germany: Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany (and Austria)

2008-02-16T15:00:00.009+01:00

So after our fantastic week of skiing and lounging in St. Anton, I convinced Nick to hop back in the car and take another weekend trip with me, this time to Garmisch-Partenkirchen a small town close to the Austrian border that is also the home of a glacier covered mountain called the Zugspitze.

So the Zugzpitze is Germany's highest mountain. Actually, I think it might also be the highest peak in Austria as well. It's almost 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) high and it actually offers skiing all year round which is pretty cool. We arrived, took the gondola up the mountain and then Nick realized that he could actually step back into his home country! Just by walking through a hallway and out onto the other side he could arrive in Austria.

After snapping the requisite pictures from Germany's (and Austria's) highest point, we headed off to ski. Unfortunately I had managed to rent absolutely crap equipment, mostly the ski boots which had a disturbing habit of having the lining slide around every time I tried to set the edge on my skis. So being uncomfortable with the crappy equipment I decided to call it an early day and called it quits before lunch. But Nick had a blast and I got to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. Probably better for me anyway, I still can't quite sit down properly after my snowboarding experiment in St. Anton. No need to damage myself more this weekend.

So, random facts about the Zugspitze:

You can get to the top in three ways: Cogwheel train, Climbing or Cable Car
From the top you can see 4-countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy
You can cross directly into Austria/Tyrol from the top of the mountain
The highest chapel in Germany is located on the peak

Lost in Europe: The pleasure of trains

2008-02-10T16:59:00.008+01:00

We are on our way home from our wonderful week skiing in Austria right now. Even as we hop from one train to another (I think we have four transfers this time), I have to say that I have grown so fond of train travel in Europe. Excluding the occasional hassle of transfers, train travel may perhaps be one of my favorite ways to see things. Now stress about lost luggage or endless security checks (ie Airports which I see far too much of anyway), no trouble with massive traffic or insanely expensive gas prices (ie Driving, where I might add you can't even nap if you're the one behind the wheel). All that and the train usually drops you in the middle of whatever city you're on your way to! Superb.

Top that off with gorgeous scenery and the ability to get up, stretch your legs and grab a snack any time you want and I'd say it's just about perfect. Plus you get to see some of the country you're traveling through. This gorgeous sunset was part of my view as we headed home tonight.

Wish train travel were more of an option in the States. Even though the U.S. may be the one of the 4 or 5 biggest countries in the world it covers roughly the same area as the European continent, in fact even a little less (3.79 million square miles in the U.S. versus 3.84 million square miles in Europe). We really don't have much of an excuse. Anyway, time to sit back and enjoy the ride home.

My 100th Post

2008-02-10T12:16:00.002+01:00

So I've been abroad now for almost a year and I've written 100 entries in my blog since I got here. Some timely, some not. Some so greatly delayed that I wondered if I would ever actually get them written. But they've mostly all been written.

I have to say it's been a hell of a year, besides making the move to Germany, learning a new language and taking on more responsibility at work, I've traveled.

Boy have I traveled.

In the last 11 months, I've taken 32 trips, been to 13 different countries and over 40 different cities and towns. Sometimes I fly (most often), sometimes I drive, and sometimes I've even taken that oh so Euro form of transport, the train. I guess you could say I've been making the most of Frankfurt's incredible access to Europe and other points nearby. It's been amazing.

So amazing in fact that I can't quite imagine ever coming back some days. A fact my dad occasionally gives me a hard time about when I say that I just want to do more, that I want to travel even further, visit more cities, meet more people. That I can't possibly imagine not having these opportunities right at my fingertips. In his view, my time here is an gift most people will never have (I would argue that in the U.S. it's also something the vast majority has no interest in) so I should be grateful for whatever time I can get regardless of whether it's a year or 18 months or five years. I should be thankful to have had even a little bit of time here even if it ends before I'm ready for it to.

To be clear, I do, as a matter of fact, know that the opportunity I've been given to live over here, work over here and travel like a madwoman is an incredibly rare thing and I'm grateful for it. Every single day in fact. I am living my life as if this little dream existence I have could burst like a bubble tomorrow. It still doesn't meant that I'd be ready to give it up anytime soon, even, well let's just say it would take a lot to make me give it up. To steal a quote from a friend:

"People say that what we are seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."
~ Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

And that pretty much sums up my current philosophy on life. After spending the last (almost) year overseas, I can say with utter conviction that the experiences I've had and the people I've met in the last year are everything that makes being alive so incredible. And as far as I can tell in my 29 short years, the best thing you can do is find meaning in your experiences, in the people you meet and the impact you have. So here's to another year of unimaginable experiences, incredible people and maybe even another 100 posts.

(If anyone actually cares to read them.)

Lost in Austria: From One Board to Another

2008-02-08T15:51:00.004+01:00

OK, so I agreed to attempt snowboarding for two reasons today:

1. Nick said he thought I'd love it because it would be like surfing, but on the snow
2. I thought, "Hell, I can surf (sort of). I should be able to snowboard too. And I should love this sport, it's like surfing but on snow."

OK, yes it is, but no not really. First off, falling on a snowboard hurts a hell of a lot more than falling off a surfboard.

Water = Soft

Snow = Hard

Not so good for my little butt which I probably won't be able to sit down on again until next winter.

Second of all, a snowboard seems to accelerate a hell of a lot faster than a surfboard. Which often leads me to falling. Often. Also not so good. If I can just get the hang of this I think I could totally get into it. But right now I have a concussion so I'm going to bed.

And yes, Emily, I have invested in a helmut. I should have listened to you in the first place and bought one before I even tried this out. Lesson learned.

Welcome to the world, John Dwyer V!!

2008-02-07T21:50:00.003+01:00

Well, here I am, lying in bed, enjoying my lovely week of Skiing and I just got an email that my darling, wonderful friend Claire has done the fantastic and delivered her first baby this morning.

As of 11:44am, John Edward Dwyer V, aka Jack, arrived in the world at a rousing 21 incheslong and 7 lbs 9 ounces.

Big congratulations to the whole family. I can't wait to meet Jack when I'm home in March!

Lost in Austria: Après Ski in Lech

2008-02-07T17:55:00.007+01:00

OK, it's been two days. I've been in ski lessons all day and today, after I finally got to a point where I felt like I was getting the hang of the whole ski thing again.

Until I met up with Nick and Konrad that is. So Konrad is a friend of Nick's who has practically grown up in Lech skiing every winter, all winter long. In fact he's now a ski/snowboard instructor on the mountain. So you could say he's a pretty good skier. So is Nick for that matter. I on the other hand still feel pretty shaky since it had been about, oh I would say probably a good 5-6 years since I'd spent any significant time slipping down a mountainside.

Anyway, I met up with them for après ski and Konrad took us down a pretty steep, pretty moguly slope. So off go he and Nick, gliding down, looking graceful and smooth. Me, I inched down on my über tired legs just hoping that I could survive without suddenly catching an edge and tumbling down. But Konrad took us all the way up to the highest restaurant that was the only one left that would still have sunlight on it so we could have a few drinks before heading back for the night.

Despite the exhaustion, the view was worth it.

But given how tired I already was, you can only imagine how I felt about things after a few glass of prosecco. Somehow it doesn't make it easier to head down the slopes on alcohol weighted legs carrying when the snow has become slushy and then refrozen so it's almost like you're skiing through sand on the super steep slopes. . . .

But I made it. In one piece. Thank god, especially because tomorrow I'm planning to try snowboarding . . . yet more opportunities to fall. I love it.

Lost in Austria: Dead animals and Christmas ornaments

2008-02-04T11:17:00.004+01:00

OK, we have been in St. Anton now for a few days. It is lovely and so is our little hotel. Perfectly positioned just 15-20 meters from the ski lift. However, in our little hotel there is a strange preponderance of taxidermy critters. And they're really kind of
frightening. . . . Every time we come up the stairs I am greeted by this dog/fox like thing on the bench. Startling every time at night after a glass or two of wine.

Anyway, after my first day of skiing in blowing snow, I realized that my snowpants are no longer quite so snow resistant, so I have purchased a new pair on sale. Bright red. Combined with my green jacket I just realized that I resemble a Christmas ornament. Highly entertaining.

Lost in Vienna: My weekend amongst Viennese Society

2008-01-27T22:08:00.003+01:00

So I'm here at the Techniker-Cercle Ball, my first 'real' Ball in the European sense of things (somehow black tie in Chicago doesn't really compare to this). Honestly, it's almost as if time has gone backwards for a night in Vienna. Except there are a hell of a lot more hip flasks being pulled out of men's jackets than I imagine would have happened 100 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong though.

If you look closely at the clip of the opening waltz, you'll see Nick's friend Max right in the center (he's kind of in the center closest to the camera in the opening waltz). He spent the entire waltz looking utterly pissed off and counting out the choreography for his partner. Apparently the girl is called Rosina (translation: Raisin, who names their child "Raisin"???), given her apparent lack of dancing skill I can't really blame him for looking a little pissed off. But it was a gorgeous opening to watch and when all of the dancers entered they looked so stunning. I can only imagine what some of those dresses must have cost, they looking almost bridal!

And I have to say, I'm immeasurably jealous of the dancing skills every single man in Vienna seems to possess. Can I mention how glad I am that I took a dance lesson today? Not that you can actually dance once you get onto the floor, it's more kind of shuffling and trying not to get stepped on. But if you do happen to get some space it's such fun though. I could have danced all night long if it weren't for the migraine I was still sporting.

Okay, so I must make my slightly snarky comment on some of the jewels that these girls were wandering around in. Now don't get me wrong, I love beautiful jewelry as much as the next girl, but somehow I find it slightly disturbing to see girls in their late teens sporting jewels that, well quite frankly you probably could have put a nice down payment on a house or bought a car with some of the jewelry I saw last night. Nick and I had talked about it before, that some of the girls that move in this circle are so unaware of what they're walking around with, that for some of them it's just taken for granted, they're handed a credit card or an allowance and they don't really think twice about where it comes from, so at the end of the day I have to imagine that they don't really value what it takes to acquire all the pretty things they have in their homes/apartments/dorm rooms. I don't think I would ever be able to raise a child with that much privilege handed out without a second thought.

Having made my snarky commentary on upper society, I should point out that none of Nick's friends behaved in any manner that was less that wonderful. And they certainly didn't exclude me from anything just because I happen to be from out of town, well heck, from off the continent.

So anyway, I managed to make the night last from around 8:30pm until just around 3am in the morning, the ball went on until 5am, but I was pretty much done by then anyway.

It was amazing though, I wish I could have spent all night there. I can't wait to go back next year. . . hopefully I'll be able to break away from it all again.

Lost in Austria: Waltzer Lernen

2008-01-26T15:36:00.001+01:00

Dress picked out. Check.

Hair cemented into place. Check.

Migraine still firmly pounding behind my eye. Check

Time to learn to waltz.

OK, I know it’s a stretch for most of you to think of me waltzing, in heels no less, given how superbly coordinated I can be walking down the street, but believe it or not I can pull out some of the grace and coordination I learned in the various dance, gymnastics and figure skating lessons I took during childhood. I just need to be under duress to do it.

Today seems to be my day though. After finding myself standing awkwardly and uncomfortably with a migraine in the dance school where Nick learned to do the various formal partner dances I missed out on in childhood (once again, thanks for that Mom and Dad), I ended up with an instructor (no idea what his name was) who managed in an hour to teach me both the left and right waltzes. To some degree of finesse. Although I don’t think I’ll be winning any ballroom competitions in the near future, I should manage to twirl around the dance floor tonight with a bit more grace than I had in Baden Baden last fall.

Here’s hoping. And I’m wearing lower heels tonight.

Otherwise I think I might break an ankle.

Lost in Austria: Migraines and Hairspray

2008-01-26T12:40:00.006+01:00

I wish I could say I was excited about going to the ball tonight, but to be perectly honest my head feels like it’s going to split in two right now. I’ve had a pounding migraine for the last 24 hours and it’s just not letting up.

Regardless, I’ve managed to get my hair done by a guy named Josef that Nick’s friend Charlotte recommended. Apparently he does hair for all the fashion shows in Vienna (they hold fashion shows in Vienna? Who knew).

All I really wanted was to just get it straightened, but I walked in to find myself greeted by a reed thin man who took my hands gently when I said I just wanted my hair straightened and said:

“Darling, is this your first ball in Vienna?”

“Why yes.” I replied

“Darling, you’re going to the Techniker Cercle tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Darling, you want me to put your hair up. Trust me, you’ll feel much better if I do.”

“But . . .”

“No darling, trust me. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it down and straighten it for you.”

“Well. . . ok, I guess.”

“Darling, I’m very good at this. I shall make a sculpture of your hair!”

And he did. It’s very sculptural. Almost like stone there’s so much hairspray in there. I don’t think it would move right now even if I stood next to a tornado. Thank god it looks nice, I don’t think I have enough time to wash out all of the hair product before the ball . . . Speaking of which, I hope this migraine gives up the ghost before tonight. I’d hate to feel like this all night long.

Who says there's no surfing in Chicago?

2008-01-23T21:53:00.000+01:00

I believe this may be in my future whenever I get back to Chicago on a more permanent basis.

Good morning, Frankfurt!

2008-01-23T08:14:00.001+01:00

It is a gorgeous morning here in Frankfurt, crisp and cool. It might almost feel like winter save for the fact that there is absolutely no snow in the city. But it doesn't matter. I woke up to the sun scattered on the clouds behind my apartment. A more welcoming vision than what I had last weekend in Helsinki to be sure.

Time to start another day.

Lost in Scandenavia: Fish Markets and Cathedrals

2008-01-21T12:30:00.012+01:00

So Doug and Brianna headed back to the hotel again today and once again I decided to head off on my own to visit the White Cathedral and hopefully the fish market I've read so much about. Unfortunately there were only two fish mongers out there, it being winter an all here, but one of the guys was just fascinating. He'd been fishing and selling next to the docks for over 20 years, and his father and grandfather had done it before him. He was just chatting away with the three of us who had braved the rainy weather, gutting a fish, philosophizing on youth today and how he couldn't imagine doing anything other than fishing and selling at the market and that even with the tough economy he still made a good living to support his family and wife and all that sort of stuff.

It was like something out of a tour guide book, almost felt like it was staged. He was an interesting man though, with a fantastic salt cured face that had seen more than it's fair share of sunny days on the water.

After that I headed over to the Lutheran Cathedral which sits right in the Senate Square. It was really beautiful against the grey skies. Not the best light for picture taking, but really beautiful nonetheless. Not a bad way to end out my trip to Helsinki.

Lost in Scandinavia: Markets and Reindeer Kebab

2008-01-21T12:30:00.011+01:00

As always, I have to track down whatever food goodies possible when I travel, so of course I dragged Doug and Briana over to the Old Market Hall to check out the gourmet goodies.

The hall was small, not even half as big as the Kleinmarkt Halle in Frankfurt, but instead of being filled with fresh vegetables and Metzgerei butchers and Turkish drit was filled with all sorts of fresh fish and reindeer product goodies. There were a few oddities in the market, most notably the bear meat pate and the snow goose pate. Then again I suppose for a region that has bigger animal populations up north it's not so strange. . . I just love checking out local food spots like this, somehow I always feel like it gives me some type of insight into who the people are that live in the city and what they're like.

Anyway, probably the most entertaining random food for Reindeer Kebab that I ended up having for me was the lunch. I mean I'm all for consuming Rudolph just like we did over dinner the other night, but somehow it seems like it kind of defeats the purpose eating it as a kebab. Honestly, after all the kebab cooking it just kind of resembled any old kebab meat, well maybe a little chewier but still very tasty. It's kebab, imported street food at it's finest and most random here.

Lost in Scandenavia: Food, glorious food

2008-01-19T21:42:00.000+01:00

As Doug and I winged our way to Finland last night, we decided that we wanted to check out the only Michelin 2-star restaurant in Finland: Chez Dominique. Unfortunately they were booked solid. So we went for the next best thing (in my mind the better choice), a restaurant called Pos3.

Now the thing about Pos3 (pronounced Pos Tres is that was started by two of the sous chefs from Chez Dominique who defected right after the restaurant received it's second star. And they took a fair amount of the front house staff along with them. I love places where the chefs are young and hungry (please forgive the horrible pun), but honestly, these are the guys who always work the hardest to come up with a memorable meal. And it was definitely memorable. Completely worth the almost four hours we spent dining. We skipped the full wine tasting but there was a wine from Le Cedre (a 100% Malbec vintage) that was quite exceptional.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking out Pos3 if you happen to find yourself in Helsinki sometime soon.

Here's what our 7+ course meal looked like:

Pressed shoulder of lamb with Fennel and Truffle Oil

Duck Foie Gras Terrine with Brioche and Saffron Vegetables

Seafood Stew with Brill and Crayfish in a Potato Shell with Lobster and Fried Scallop, garnished with Asparagus Foam and Spinach Puree

Sorbet of Lemon with Champagne

Roasted Deer with Black Truffle, Shepard's Pie and Wine Roasted Pear

Goat and Sheep Cheese Selection

French Macaroon with White Truffle and Hazelnut Mousse**
Rose Marmalade Turkish Delight
Vanilla Marshmallow

**These were so good that we asked for extra macaroons to bring back to the hotel with us.

Peach Melba with Vanilla Ice Cream, Raspberry Sorbet with Fresh Peaches and Raspberries, and Raspberry Juice

Chocolate Ravioli with 12 Chocolate Sorbet

**Note 12 Chocolate is apparently a Venezuelan brand of chocolate

Lost in Scandenavia: Suomenlina

2008-01-19T12:21:00.008+01:00

Since Brianna doesn't have a Russian visa and that has essentially squashed Doug's and my idea of heading to St. Pete's for the day, we decided instead to head out of Helsinki and take the ferry over to an island called Suomenlinna. It's only about 20 minutes away from the city and as it's a UNESCO world heritage site it seemed like a nice idea.

The island itself is still a working fort as I understand it, it's certainly been around quite a while now. Anyway, we arrived off the ferry (filled with totally random people and a school trip of all things), it was raining, the wind was blowing, and it was freezing. So we bolted for the visitor center and pretty much decided after 30 minutes that it was too cold so we were heading back.

As we hurried back along the paths, the sun broke through the clouds for the first time since we arrived in Helsinki. The sky was so pale, that looked like it was just trying desperately to muster up the strength to be a different color than the clouds before the winds covered it up again.

It was nice to see the sun for a while though, but honestly it was even nicer to get back onto the ferry and head across the harbor to coffee and warmth. Mmm, warmth.

Lost in Scandenavia: Helsinki, Finland

2008-01-18T18:19:00.003+01:00

So I've arrived for my Helsinki adventure with Doug and Briana. It is January, we are officially bordering Russia and there is NO SNOW!!

Can you believe it? Rain, rain, rain and no snow and no sun. What kind of nordic country is this? I guess the effects of global warming are a bit more noticeable up here. Anywho, it is a gorgeous citiy. Beautiful architecture and some very cool stores to check out.

Everything here is on "Ale" this week too. We're guessing that means sale since all the prices are marked in red. . . .

We've spent most of the day walking around, although Briana and Doug decided to head back a little while before me because they got kind of tired of walking around in the rain. I was bound and determined to see a bit more of the city though because it is quite pretty despite the rain. I managed to get unbearably lost on my way back though. It took me three maps and three times asking directions to figure out where I was in the city at night I managed to make it back to our lovely Hotel Glo though in the end.

Briana is now off to the hospital with strep throat and I'm passed out in my little room watching BBC. Joy.

Not a bad first day for me in Helsinki, land of vodka and reindeer. . . .

Open and Closed: American Borders vs. the EU

2008-01-17T13:53:00.002+01:00

Today I made my first visit to the American Consulate in Frankfurt. Almost a year of living abroad has finally nearly filled my passport with various visas and stamps and seeing as I need to renew my residence and work visa for Germany shortly I figured that now was as good a time as any to get some extra pages in my little passport.

As I strolled up to the consulate, a rather large complex surrounded by fences on the outskirts of Frankfurt I was struck by the number of people waiting for entry visas to the U.S. I'm fascinated by the fact that as American tightens up its borders every day, Europe is experiencing the opposite. With the continued addition of new nations to the EU partnership, established European countries are being challenged to open their borders and relinquish control of how people pass in and out of their nations. From what I've read it has in fact caused quite a few problems, but at the same time it is creating a significantly more fluid workforce which should be a benefit to the overall stability of the European economy.

However even as America becomes increasingly xenophobic, so the European nations are struggling with their own issues. An article in the weekend Financial Times just this past weekend talked about how Germany is struggling with an influx of human trafficking now that the borders have opened up more with Eastern Europe. With every change comes new challenges for sure, and I just cannot help but be fascinated as an American watching Europe struggle with how to manage the flow of people, commerce and goods (legal and illegal) through it's borders and still maintain safety and a certain level of comfort among their citizens. I've already seen much of the resentment in Germany by disenfranchised youth against the Turkish population that they feel is taking up valuable jobs that in their minds should be going to German nationals. I have a feeling that as the population begins to shift around even more that this will only begin to happen with more frequency.

Interesting times to be abroad for sure. The topic of America's protectionist stance is the subject for another day. But in short, I think we're doing ourselves a disservice. I'm looking forward to a new administration come next January.

dim sum and friends

2008-01-13T17:51:00.002+01:00

I'm exhausted after the night out with Aari and crew at 333, but somehow, miraculously, we made it up and to dim sum to meet his friends and mine. And what dim sum it was, with my wonderful friend Annie and my old friend Saadia from college on hand to join in the finger food fun we ordered immense quantities of food and spent about three hours catch up before Annie and I had to book off to Heathrow to catch our flights to Zurich and Frankfurt respectively.

All in all a pretty spectacular weekend. Hope I can make it back soon. I could get used to London life.

Lost in the U.K.: A Ghost Devotion an Aussie band in London

2008-01-12T23:24:00.001+01:00

Such a night out. I think we were in the club for almost 8 hours before we finally stumbled out in the very early hours of the morning.

Anyway, after a day of wandering Regents Park I met back up with the Aussie boys extraordinaire for dinner and a night out checking out this band called A Ghost Devotion at a club in Chelsea called 333. It’s an Aussie band and the big selling point was that the singer didn’t want to kill himself anymore so the music wasn’t nearly as depressing as when they were in Oz.

Yup. Sounds like a perfect night out.

Surprisingly they were actually pretty good, but the best part was that 333 transitioned from bar with band to full on club almost unnoticeably while we were there. Thus the 8 hours of dancing and drinking before finding our second dinner: Burgers. Yum. Doesn’t quite match up to my favorite taco place in Chicago but definitely good “It’s 4am and I’m utterly starving” grub.

Gotta say, I kind of like the London scene, I could kind of see myself living here.

Lost in the UK: London Weather and Regents Park

2008-01-12T14:23:00.001+01:00

After arriving home from Lanzarote last weekend, then heading off to Switzerland, I've taken a last minute trip to London to visit friends, new and old. And truth be told I'm pretty happy to be here.

It is a gorgeous weekend in London. Now I know the words “gorgeous weather” and “London” don’t necessarily lend themselves to being used in the same sentence, but I seem to be lucky when it comes to London, because the last few times I’ve been here I’ve had pretty damn good weather. Even during Christmas a few years ago, the weather was really pretty lovely.

Today has been incredibly beautiful. Bright blue skies and crisp sunlight. I think I've seen more sunshine today than I’ve seen in Frankfurt in the last few months. I’ll take it. I've spent most of the day wandering through Regents Park. I feel like I'm following in my brother's footsteps a little bit because I know he used to come here and play soccer when he was doing his semester abroad in London. And it is definitely gorgeous, there are so many people out walking around, playing soccer or rugby. By the way, I think this is the first time I've ever seen a rugby pitch in a public park. But I guess that's because rugby just hasn't quite caught on in America.

Anyhow, I'm crashing with a couple of guys I met at surf school, Aari and his brother Tate. You might remember Aari from some of my New Year's Eve exploits. Nice Aussie guy who was kind enough to put me up this weekend. Anyway, had to share this picture of their "bike storage." I'm guessing the tub doesn't get much more use than what you see here. But better than having your bike stolen I guess.

Well, all said, a gorgeous day, a good night ahead and dim sum with Annie and Saadia on Sunday. Can't believe how long it's been since I've seen those girls.

Traveling. . . Again

2008-01-11T15:28:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm about to pack up for the day to head off to my fourth country for the week. Yes, you read that right, my fourth country this week. After getting home from Spain on Saturday, I promptly unpacked, did laundry and repacked for a trip to Switzerland on Monday. A brief stop in Germany yesterday allowed me to repack again, and tonight I leave for London.

Whoever said back to back travel was fun is certifiable.

Oh well, this weekend should be fantastic. I'm catching up with two good friends that I haven't seen in 1 and 3 years respectively. Here's to uncharacteristically sunny and warm London weather. Yeah right.

Off to the airport.

Acceptably Black

2008-01-10T14:57:00.004+01:00

As I skimmed through this week's issue of Ad Age, little did I expect to find a rather controversial article written by ad critic Bob Garfield on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The article is titled,

"Why Even Hardened Racists Will Vote for Barack Obama: In the Electoral Marketplace, He Had to Pass the Halle Berry Test"

Published just after Obama won the Iowa primary, the article has generated some very interesting responses. In fact, I ended up engaged in this very conversation with two Americans going from the Alps to Geneva just last night. The idea that Americans are voting for Barack Obama based on the fact that his skin color falls into the range of acceptable blackness, almost as if to make some kind of statement that "Hey look at me! I'm not biased by race or gender or pick your favorite cause" is compelling, slightly flawed, but compelling nonetheless. I have no doubt that there are plenty of people out there who are wowed by his incredibly persuasive rhetoric and then neglect to look beyond it see if there is substance to his storytelling. I believe there is and what he lacks in experience he will make up for in choosing intelligent advisers who will help fill in the gaps. Only time will tell, we still have to get through the rest of the primaries to see if he'll make America's cut for president.

Home again

2008-01-05T23:31:00.001+01:00

After almost 10 hours of travel I have finally arrived home again. Famara and surf school seem ages away. If I didn't have a few bruises and some sand still stuck in my hair (despite numerous attempts to wash all of it out), I might believe it hadn't actually happened.

I'm so glad that it did though. I'm already sifting through websites hunting for my new surf board (yes, Dad, this does mean I am buying one). It looks like I'll be picking up a Donald Takayama Egg when I have the chance, although I think I might get it in blue. Tim's recommendation of course.

The board description goes something like this on the Surftech website:

" If you're not quite ready to "rip and shred" on a short board, nor are you apt to "cruise" on a long board, then the Hawaiian Pro Designs Egg is the perfect solution. This model is an "eggy" looking shape that allows the rider to trim high on the wave in the middle of the board or race down the line on the tail, whichever the rider prefers. This board is also a perfect beginners board because of the overall forgiving shape that allows for a variety of mistakes without loss of speed or maneuverability. For a beginner or advanced rider, this board is an extremely fun alternative on any day."

I wonder if I'll be able to tone down my babblings on surf school after a week. I can't seem to stop mulling the last two weeks over in my head. . . well, we shall see. I have quite a few surf trips to plan in the coming months.

Surf School Stories: Bittersweet final moments in Famara

2008-01-05T11:21:00.000+01:00

Well, my two weeks in Famara have finally come to a close. I can't quite believe how fast the time has gone. It seems strange actually to think that by tonight I'll be back in Frankfurt getting ready for my next trip to Lausanne for work. I feel like I could stay here forever. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, so after a quick coffee with Anne today I'll be heading to the airport for what I hope to be a manageable trip home.

It's been an amazing two weeks. Completely re-energizing. I think we've got it all wrong in America when it comes to vacation time. We wear our overzealous worklife like a badge of honor, but finally after having taken a real vacation I feel like I am ready and capable of going back to work with energy and perspective. Something I think is a pretty valuable commodity in todays work world.

But enough of my rant on how I truly do believe that we as American's work far too much and don't actually know how to disconnect. Let me rant for a moment on how fantastic my surf experience has been. I have met the most incredible people from Ireland, Britain, Australia, Romania, Italy, Canada, you name it. I have people to visit all over the place now and it's fantastic. Plus I have a brand new sport that I will be pursuing with a passion. I've already hit Tim up for recommendations on what type of surf board I should get for myself.

I can only say the best things about Tim and his surf school. If you happen to desire to learn to surf, then this school in the Canary Islands is the place to go: Surf School Lanzarote. Amazing coaches, great conditions and warm water.

I definitely want to make a trip back as soon as I possibly can.

Surf School Stories: Last day surfing and almost back to reality

2008-01-04T18:01:00.000+01:00

The last day has finally ended. I hate to say it, but it was crap conditions for my last day. A massive storm system had created big surges of water on the beach where we have the course so the conditions were such that I couldn't do much more than just play around in the white water and fight the massive currents running along the beach. Actually I think I might have spent more time pulling my board out of the water and walking back up the beach so I could stay in our surf zone than I actually did surfing. What are you gonna do though? I mean it's not like I can control the wind, although that would be kind of fun. But that's ok, somehow I still had a blast falling in the water as my feet got sucked out from under me.

So part of the whole surf course is being given a rating at the end according to the British Surfing Association Standards. They come in three levels (Bronze, Silver, and Gold) and each level gets broken down further. I managed to make Bronze level 3 which means that I can drop down an unbroken wave and then ride the white water. I'd been hoping to make Silver level 1, but the conditions just weren't right for it. Oh well, gives me something to shoot for next time I do surf school, which hopefully won't be too far away. I'm completely hooked on this sport. I'll never be able to do massive tricks or maneuvers, but I think I might be a decent surfer. Good enough to at least get out and play around on a fair amount of waves and have fun.

Tonight is Jenny (our Swedish Amelie)'s 22nd birthday, so George and I have gathered up a bunch of people from the group to take her out to celebrate properly. I think we're having a big dinner first at one of the local spots and then off to, you guessed it, the Surf Bar. Do we ever go anywhere else?

Regardless, a great way to end the trip.

Quick shout out to Nick: Happy Birthday! Sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you, but I promise we'll do something fun when I get back to Frankfurt.

Surf School Stories: Big drops and near death

2008-01-03T10:35:00.001+01:00

Today was a big day. I was out on a long board and Tim paddled a group of us out back together. Apparently the waves are supposed to be getting really big and really rough the last few days I'm here, so this is one of our last chances to get out the back and paddle onto some unbroken waves.

I think today is the first time that I realized just how rough this sport can be. Exhilarating but rough. The waves were pretty big today (at least by my reckoning), and as Tim brought us out back, I got caught slightly behind the group. I paddled and paddled until my arms felt like they were going to fall off, but I missed the lull between wave sets and suddenly the waves were just piling on. I rolled under wave, after wave, after wave. It felt like and unending pounding with a massive struggle taking place between me and my board as I tried to hold on under the tumbling water. Finally, finally another lull set in and I was able to make the rest of the paddle out.

Wow. I dropped onto one wave right from the peak. I felt like I was staring down a cliff in the Cinque Terre it seemed so high. Before I could even process it, I was on my way down and the board kicked right out from under me. I was overwhelmed by it all. I couldn't wait to get back out and try again.

And then I had my near death experience. The waves pounded with unceasing force and I paddled desperately towards the surface only to realize that both I and another girl in my group, Mary, were sitting right under the crashing peak of another wave that tumbled us together like we were the most insignificant flecks of seaweed. We gasped for the surface together and started to clamber onto our boards when we realized that the wave had twisted our leashes together and another wave was about to bear down on us right then.

As soon as we came back up for air again, Mary pulled off her leash and we hauled our bodies on top of the boards. Mary started to turn back but ended up rallying and together we turned around, determined not to be shown down by a few waves.

It makes me appreciate just how much you are at the mercy of Mother Nature when you're out playing in the waves. And it gives me a much better idea of how long I can actually hold my breath. It's funny how the first time you go down and you scramble for the surface of the water, you panic a little, but after that, you relax. Somehow I knew that I would get up to the water's edge before my breath ran out, even if was going to be pounded by another wave as soon as I broke the surface.

Afterward, exhausted on the beach, Tim had us running drills to learn how to make a series of turns on an unbroken wave (I managed to fall over on the sand during my turn and broke into peals of laughter, as did everyone else as they laughed at me lying on the beach, all three coaches included). Over lunch, Mary and I both agreed that we are now quite good friends given out shared near death experience and we should plan a surf trip this summer. I think might actually try to go to Ireland to surf with her sometime in June if I can break away from the work madness.

What a day.

Lost in Spain: Lanzarote- The Hawaii of Europe

2008-01-02T10:50:00.000+01:00

Today I got up early to head to a resort called La Santa, it is the sight of 3 world class waves. On my way out, Tim poked his head off the balcony to see if I knew where I was going (which I didn't of course, he then proceeded to direct me to the telephone box, where I was to turn right down a dirt road until coming to a little white church where I should turn left. Amazingly I actually made it there). He mentioned that Lanzarote is considered the Hawaii of Europe with 15 world class waves located around the island, three of which he said would be great today.

So off I went. And after following his cryptic landmark directions, I arrived. And what a sight it was. The video above is of a wave called El Quemau, basically it looks like Pipeline in Hawaii and it was thumping today.

Just next to it are two other waves called La Izquierda (a long left breaking wave off a rock reef I think) and La Derecha which is a point break. All three spots had lots of surfers on them today while I was there, and there was actually a guy with a massive camera shooting guys surfing El Quemau. I know that I'll never surf anything like that, but wow. It was an incredible sight to see, really. I could have sat there all morning long if I didn't have to get back for my lesson.

You can read all about the different spots on the islands here.

Lost in Spain: Mirador del Rio, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

2008-01-01T11:00:00.002+01:00

It's New Year's Day, I've spent most of it sleeping after the big night out but somehow I managed to drag myself out the door and into my rental car to do some sightseeing as well as get lost around the island.

I can't say I saw that much and I know I'm missing out on some of the big sights like the active volcano park and the El Gulfo, the dormant volcano right by the shore that has filled to the brim with emerald green sea water. I did manage to Mirador del Rio though which was absolutely beautiful and I spent several contented hours driving (slowly) along winding, breathlessly narrow roads up through the valleys and over the peaks of the island.

It's beautiful here.

Vineyards are tucked away in the crevasses of the lava flow so that they are protected from the island sun and the dew that gathers on the leaves in the early morning lasts well into the day. The soil is pitch black in most places but spotted with furrows for growth. I drove past so many little plots of earth today with tiny plants growing in the soil. It's a striking contrast, the black volcanic soil and the pale green of new plant life.

Anyhow, as I said, I managed to get out to see the Mirador del Rio which is supposedly one of the most spectacular views in the Canaries. It was definitely breathtaking, however I don't think you actually need to pay to go in. You get quite amazing views from outside along the road.

On my way back I managed to get myself seriously lost. I think I drove in an enormous circle for a good two hours, but at least it let me see a bit of the island and I saw a gorgeous sunset over the valley.

I suppose I shouldn't have been that surprised that I ended up getting lost. Afterall, George did warn me that road maps really aren't worth much in Lanzarote. I definitely learned that the hard way.

Ringing in 2008!

2008-01-01T11:00:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year!

Well, for someone who thought that she was going to have a quiet contemplative holiday interspersed with some surfing, I have to say I’ve been remarkably social. Somehow after my comparatively quiet Christmas Eve dinner, I ended up having 8 people over for New Year’s Eve dinner last night. It was amazing, again, everyone piled in. My new friends Sarah and Matt went shopping with me for what was initially going to be dinner for 5, them, myself, Aari who returned from Fuerteventura for New Year's Eve and George. Then suddenly it started to grow, we ran into another couple from the group and then Tim introduced us to a new girl who would be joining in on January 2, Jenny from Sweden. So there it was. 8 people!

But between Sarah, Aari and I we pulled together a big pasta dinner (plus many, many bottles of wine), George pulled out his lying dice game (think poker but with even more bluffing and using dice instead of cards) and we kicked off a great start to the New Year's celebration. Somehow I also ended up with an extra table in my kitchen, but I think that came from Jenny's house around the corner.

After dinner and some dice, we went to our favorite place, the Surf Bar of course. We partied there until well past midnight, received strange gift bags with noses and hats and handfuls of grapes that we were expected to eat on the spot. I don't quite get the grape thing, it must be a Spanish tradition.

Around 2:30am, Aari and I finally stumbled out (he was crashing in my spacious three bedroom flat before his flight the next day), and on the way home we crashed a family karaoke session. We kept asking to join in, but the older gentleman at the garage door didn't seem to want us to participate. He just kept saying "Familie!" So finally we went home.

My lord what a night it was. I've been more social here than I have in months. It is so nice to have time to actually hang out with people. And such fun people at that.

I hope everyone had a great holiday themselves. All the best wishes for the coming year to you and your families!

Surf School Stories: On the green wave

2007-12-28T21:11:00.001+01:00

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

2007-12-27T18:30:00.001+01:00

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

2007-12-25T17:30:00.001+01:00

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

2007-12-24T19:45:00.001+01:00

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

2007-12-23T19:00:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-14T22:53:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-09T17:10:00.002+01:00

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

2007-12-05T12:33:00.000+01:00

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

2007-12-02T20:46:00.000+01:00

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.

2007-11-27T06:41:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-11-22T16:19:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-11-20T17:03:00.001+01:00

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

2007-11-19T15:23:00.001+01:00

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

2007-11-18T15:47:00.001+01:00

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

2007-11-12T07:22:00.000+01:00

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

2007-10-31T18:56:00.001+01:00

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

2007-10-24T10:17:00.000+02:00

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

2007-10-24T08:44:00.002+02:00

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!

2007-10-12T13:04:00.000+02:00

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

2007-10-02T10:37:00.001+02:00

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

2007-10-01T09:56:00.001+02:00

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. . .