Christmas, Madrid-Style

Even though I had to sit for 3 hours on the runway trying to get out of snowy Dublin and then only had 6 hours in the city on a quiet Christmas Eve, Madrid still was taking the lead as my favorite city by the first night!

Quick tangent: Sometimes I am SO glad to be a US citizen. When arriving in Madrid we had to go through immigration since we were coming from Ireland, but there were two lines: an EU citizen line and an All Passport line. Within minutes the EU line was gone while the 10 people in line in front of me at the All Passports were still there. It seemed like there was a problem with every person going through. It was taking forever. So I finally get to the counter and the guy looks at my US passport, opens it, flips to the first blank page, stamps it, and passes it back. Not a single word and finished in 8 seconds flat. Boy I love being an American!

Anyway to back to the trip. I got to my hotel (which was directly across the street from the huge Prado museum), checked in, and then started wandering. The city is beautiful. The architecture is gorgeous! The quiet and quaint streets were almost as clean as the streets in Munich! I worked my way to the Christmas Markets which compared to the German and Irish were a bit of a let down, but Madrid can't be the best at everything! I did enjoy the nativity scenes and the crazy wigs/hats/prank items for sale though. (Apparently the 28th is Fool's Day in Spain.)

So the next morning was Christmas and despite not being with my family, I actually had a wonderful day. I got up and had a big breakfast in the hotel and then had to walk some of it off before my massage at noon. :) So I headed to the nearby Parque del Buen Retiro (or El Retiro park for short). It was indescribably peaceful and relaxing. The park was full of joggers and families out walking since it was perfect weather for a tranquil Christmas walk. This was probably my favorite walk ever. Even though the plants weren't flowering the park was still beautiful and I returned there the next day because I couldn't stay away.

Well, after my massage I wandered a bit more before my Madrid Christmas Tradition tour where I learned a ton. And then for once my indecisiveness paid off. I was meandering around trying to decide if I should brave a tapas place with no Spanish when I walked past one that had the tapas out behind a glass (so I could point) and only one other person eating there (so I wouldn't get pushed around and wouldn't embarrass myself in front of lots of people) and I took a chance and went in. It was delicious! The guy was so nice and patient too! A bunch of people came in later so I knew I had made a good choice. The only frustrating part is that I have no idea what was in my favorite one. It could be anything, even cow heart for all I know, but Good Lord was it delicious!! Oh and then I got a piece of dulce de leche cake at the bakery around the corner since it was Christmas after all.

The next morning my indecisiveness paid off for a second time. I wanted coffee before my Essential Madrid tour at 10 so I wandered and wandered and finally just went into a place and wow! It was one of those cups where you don't need to add any sugar or anything. Beautiful.

Next was the tour where I was one of three. As interesting and informative as it was I found myself distracted a fair amount because I was certain I was freezing to death. By the time it was over I was finally slightly back above freezing so I went to this huge outdoor fair held on Sundays. I decided it was best if I left after about an hour because I was really fighting the urge to start pushing people. Next was my big food crawl. Most of the bakeries and other special restaurants were closed the day before so I had to hit them all on this one day. I was in and out of a dozen brilliant bakeries, but I only got cookies and a Spanish version of a Napoleon at 2 different bakeries, so I was very well behaved.

While I was galavanting through all of the bakeries I didn't realize I was missing my chance to go to the one museum I was particularly interested in (Sofia). But the day was not without it's culture element, I went to the Prado for the evening as it was free on Sunday nights. I'm glad I didn't pay and to be honest I think I think that is enough fine art for me for a while.

The food, the people, the architecture, the parks, the Spanish people who are nice to (and patient with) a non-Spanish speaker. What's not to like about Madrid?! New favorite!

Country or State or Region? I'm Still Not Sure.

I decided it was time to add a new country (or state or something) to my list and headed up to Belfast. I'd like to say that after spending almost 10 hours there that I now know what to call Northern Ireland, but I don't.

So I headed out really early and as we approached Belfast the train go more and more full as all the shoppers from the south headed to Belfast where apparently everything is much cheaper. And well within the first hour I might have stopped in a few shops and did some shopping myself (but I can justify it because they were stores I'd never seen before and thus it was allowed). Now the challenge will be to find space in my suitcases.

My first good decision was to walk from the train station to the city center instead of waiting for the free bus. Lucky I did because I happened upon the St. George's Market which is a huge food market which has existed there since 1890. I think I can safely say that this is the 2nd best market I have found in Europe (the one in Lyon might still win). There was tons of meat and fish and veggies and lots of prepared foods, amazing shortbread cookies, giant American style cookies, and (my favorite) the American food stand with pop tarts, fluff, candy bars, peanut butter, and a bunch of different pop. Hilarious.

The second good decision was to go on one of the bus tours. (Ok actually it was a recommendation from my colleague who is from Belfast, but it was my decision to listen to her.) Anyway it was good because there are some very interesting and impressive sites outside of walking distance from the city center. The murals were so telling of the history of this amazing city. The amount of history in this one city is astounding. I still have lots to learn!

Oh and I decided I want to go back to school at either Queen's College or Campbell College. I don't care what they teach me, I just want to be on those campuses.

The Christmas market in front of the City Hall was great, a bit too crowded for me, but very international. I even had a springbok burger. It was from a place which serves exotic burgers: alligator, wild boar, ostrich, venison, kangaroo. Not bad at all.

I liked Belfast and I need to go back some time and learn more about the all of the history there of the Titanic. Oh, but be warned, Belfast has the most slippery dry sidewalks I have ever experienced. I hate to think what they're like when it is wet.

Even Better the Second TIme Around

Well, I'm back in Dublin for 2 months for work, just like last year except more familiar but also more complications. Anyway, I had the privilege of having Bridget stay with me here for over a week and it was so much fun. In fact I am not sure how I will adapt to life in Dublin without her. It's so much less interesting today. Plus coming home from work next week and not having her here will be painful. I loved coming home and then heading out right away for dinner somewhere awesome. (And let me just say that we found some amazing restaurants, including finding the city's best cup of coffee!) We basically had a week long conversation and never ran out of things to talk about. Now that is friendship!!

On Saturday we ventured out to Cork. My favorite part about the train ride there was the girl next to us getting ready. She went from "just rolled out of bed" to "ready for a night out" in 2 hours on the train. She covered every detail. Not only did she remove her nail polish on the train (seriously?) but she also applied a new coat. Then she proceeded to put on every possible make-up item. I didn't even know what some of them were or what they were supposed to do. I can't imagine what she could have achieved had she gone the whole way to Cork and had another hour to primp.

Once we arrived it of course was raining, but we successfully found our way to the city center with no map. Aside from the occasional rain, it was the best day ever. We walked through fun shops and lots of bookstores and found not only The Wholly Grain but also the best chocolate store ever. The chocolate shop had a cafe where they made hot chocolate, one of which also had a shot of espresso. So naturally we had to get one. Oh. My. Lord. Best drink I have ever had!! It had to have been a melted chocolate bar with a shot of espresso (which of course just brings out the chocolaty goodness even more). It took us an hour to get through them though. After each sip you needed to recover from the sugar rush and chocolate overload. Best chocolate I've had in a long time (and this includes Belgium and France!)

We also stumbled upon a craft fair in an old rec center. There wasn't much inside, but we both had luck with this great hippie girl and her hand made items. I got a super cute polka dot apron and Bridget got a gorgeous table runner. I love being able to talk to the person who made an item. It always make it so much more interesting and overall better. She was a hoot.

On Sunday we had an "as close as we could stand to get to an" Irish breakfast and also discovered the best cup of coffee in town. After this great discovery we went to the Guinness Brewhouse so we could use the tickets I bought a year ago. We went on the absolute perfect day. At the end of the tour you get a free pint of Guinness and you can drink it in the Gravity Bar in the very top of the building. Luckily on Sunday there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We could see everything, including out to the channel. Totally worth it. Then we attempted to go see the Book of Kells but we just missed the last tour group. Instead we just had dinner at this great vegetarian restaurant. Another fabulous day.

During the rest of the week we had more amazing dinners and hit up some nice pubs. Although it has come to my attention that Dublin pubs are more bar like than pubs in the smaller cities. Either way you meet fun people, hear good music, and have nice conversation. Oh, it just won't be as much without Bridget here. I should have tried harder to make her miss her flight . . .

Now I Understand All the Hype

I had the great pleasure of seeing Paris through the eyes of a local. I went to visit a friend who moved to Paris last year and I had the greatest trip! Her apartment was literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and of all the sites I have seen in the past year and a half, the Eiffel Tower was the site that held up to the hype the best. I have been disappointed by other sites on my trips, but the tower was truly amazing. Just the shape makes it so pleasing to the eye and then at night when it is lit up and sparkling it is breathtaking.

Not only is the Eiffel Tower beautiful, but all the buildings in the city are exactly my style. I started playing a game where I tried to find a building I didn't like and well, it took a while!

One of the great things about staying with a friend is that we could enjoy the days. The first morning she picked up a fresh baguette and croissants for breakfast and we just took our time with breakfast looking out the window at the Eiffel tower. Then we headed out for a bit of site-seeing: the Opera, the Galleries Lafayette (with the most amazing ceiling in any shopping center in the world, heck just about any building in the world!), Sacre-Coeur (but the rain blocked the view of the city), Place du Tertre (artist square), some macaroons & cookies, and then to lunch at a nice little organic cafe. Then on for some more: St. Germain des Pres, the Palais du Luxembourg gardens, and the Latin quarter.

Then that night we headed to the Great Irish Houses (yep, that's right the Irish Culture Center) for a concert in this tiny chapel. It was really well done. Then we went to dinner with friends of my friend who we had met for the concert. That night when we got home I got to see the 1 am lights of the tower where they only leave the sparkling ones on. Gorgeous.

The next morning we got up and she made a fantastic, big breakfast and then we headed to the Grand Palais for FIAC. It is a huge international contemporary art show in Paris once a year. I really enjoyed (most of) it, but by the end I just needed to sit. All that contemporary art can be exhausting. Plus it can be hard to be judgmental all day, I mean let's be honest, a huge block of taxidermy animals is not art. Sorry.

The highlight of the day though was dinner. We went to dinner at a man named Jim Haynes's house. For the past 30 years he has been hosting dinner at his house every Sunday night and has between 50-60 people over. You call to get on the list for the night and then you go and just meet people. It was so amazing. I met an author working on her 2nd book, a model in town for Fashion week, a few retirees, a poet, some students, and more. All ages and all walks of life. We ate amazing food and met all sorts of people. Jim was involved in the theater and whatnot and knows all sort of famous people and just loves to connect people. Check out the website (http://www.jim-haynes.com/index.htm).

The next day my friend went to work, so I did the tourist thing. I went up in the Arc de Triomphe for a perfect view, down to the Louvre, then to Notre Dame (loved the stained glass inside), and then to the Shakespeare and Co. English bookstore. Then I wandered around the Latin Quarter (ok, I admit it, the first 15 minutes was wandering, the next hour was trying to figure out where I was). Then to the Rodin museum which was closed, although I think I saw the back of "The Thinker" when I peeked through the gate and bushes.

Then I grabbed a fresh baguette and cheese for dinner and headed to the airport.

Observations:

- People only have those tiny "non-dog" dogs in Paris

- Every person in a service industry speaks English (a far cry from Lyon)

Ah, the Discos

Last week I had the great pleasure of showing my sister, brother-in-law, and niece around the southern portion of this wonderful continent we call Europe. Because we had such a great time and did so much, I am not going to try to write everything but will make this a very high level, bullet-point type recap.

They arrived just in time to catch the last day of Oktoberfest. After dropping their things off at my apartment we made the venture down to the Wiesn and so did the rest of the entire city. The day was beautiful so it makes sense that the rest of the city (and more) were there, but still. We went through a fun house (which would not be legal in the US based on safety concerns) and then Carli and Ava went on a roller coaster and the swings. We had all the Oktoberfest food: sausage, chocolate covered fruit, candied almonds, magenbrot, and good old cotton candy (which it turns out Ava does not like).

Next morning we picked up the rental car and headed to Switzerland with a nice little stop in Liechtenstein. The more countries the better! Not only did we see the beautiful snow capped Alps but we discovered that Ava gets carsick. Poor thing, she was such a trooper and even managed to make it outside of the car before, well, you know. Our hotel was at the end of a long, insanely narrow and winding road and it had a view from the movies. Not even the movies, it looked fake. Let's just say that the view from the restaurant (directly below our room, so the same view) had to be the best view I have ever had while eating (and playing I spy).

Next day we explored the area of Davos and rode the gondola up to the best petting zoo I've ever experienced. Big open pens with 2 types of goats, pigs, chickens, and llamas. The animals were actually fun and not as pushy as normal petting farm animals.

The next day we headed down to Florence where we ate our way through the city. Between the spaghetti, pizza, and gelato I think Ava was as much in heaven as the rest of us. Speaking of which, the Fiorentina steak was actually worth the hype. You must try it.

During those 2 days we saw all the sites, did some major shopping, and even got to see 'David.' He was much more impressive than I had imagined. Ava was so good in the museum and insisted on getting not only a face shot postcard (which she could take to school) but also wanted the full body shot postcard. That's my girl.

Then we headed to Siena for the day. There we got to see more of a medieval Italian city with a bit more character. This was the site of the astounding occurrence where a 5 year old child asked to go to a museum and the adults didn't want to. This was the first (and probably last) time that will ever happen. It broke our hearts to say no, but we really didn't want to go.

Then that night I am quite certain we sat next to the Florence mafia at dinner. I mean who else would get their food so quickly. It took us forever just to put in our order. Plus every person walking by stopped to say hello.

Then it was on to Lake Garda. I now understand why it is the German vacation destination. It is a beautiful, huge lake with mountains all along one side and it is only about 3.5 hours from Munich. It was such a fun night. We played foosball and bocce ball, which Ava was oddly amazing at. She won 3 out of 4 games! Then we decided to be lazy and just eat at the restaurant at our little hotel and what do you know, not only was it reasonable priced, but it was one of the best meals of the trip!

The next morning we headed back to Munich and then they spent their last day here exploring the city. We of course hit all the churches and then had a nice traditional Bavarian dinner. My favorite was when we were in St. Peter's church and Ava said that "the 2nd disco is my favorite disco." Not bad, I mean who's heard of a fresco anyway?!

Berlin . . . Finally! (Alternative Title: Keep Your Eyes Open for Another Balzac)

I finally made it up to Berlin (it only took me over a year and a half) and I have to say that it did not disappoint! I left ridiculously early last Saturday morning to fly to Berlin with a friend. So early in fact that we were in Berlin by 7:30 am and thus achieved my earliest hotel check-in ever. The best part of trip into the city center from the airport was the group of 3 Russian boys (and I mean boys, they couldn't have been over 17) who were on the U-bahn with the travel basics: an around the neck passport holder outside of the shirt and a full bottle of cheep liquor. Honestly, who drinks hard liquor before 9 in the morning? It would be impressive if it weren't so sad.

After dropping off the bags we headed to Potsdamer Platz where we wanted to grab some coffee and what do we see first thing off the u-bahn? A Balzac coffee shop. (This is a chain I had heard about several times before and I found that my inner 10 year old couldn't not giggle and my inner 15 year old couldn't refrain from bringing it up in conversation. Luckily Rachel found it equally amusing.) So armed with one of the best cups of filter coffee I have had in a decade, we headed past the Brandenburger Tor and to the Reichstag (beautiful parliment building). The line to go in was so long that we postponed the tour to the next morning.

Then we strolled down Unter den Linden and saw all the sites, then to Museum Island, the s-bahn to Kurfurstendamm, and finally to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. (A "finally" is necessary here because up until this point I had declared every church tower I saw as the "bombed out church" memorial. None of which were correct until now.) But to be honest it was quite a disappointment. The tower was impressive and really showed the destruction, but then they had built this new "modern" tower next to it as part of the memorial and it was horrible. It was ugly and was filled with a flea market/tourist shop. I don't know, but that just feels wrong to me.

Moving on, we headed into the KaDeWe (supposedly continental Europe's largest department store) because I needed a toilet and ended up in the discovery of the trip. Let me explain. The 7th floor of the store was the food section and exactly what I see in my dreams. An entire section for every type of food you could want. Huge cheese counters, meat counters, bread counters, multiple dessert counters, and on and on. BUT not only could you buy the groceries, but each section had a place where you could sit down and eat: fresh seafood restaurant, dessert restaurant, sushi restaurant, multiple wine and champagne bars, and on. So we went to the sausage section and I had my very first currywurst! (Appropriate since they were "invented" in Berlin). And I have to admit it was fantastic. It had something to do I'm sure with the gourmet sausage they started with, but still. We spent lots of time on this floor. Oh and they had a fairly large American food section where the combination of items they actually carried and the prices that they charged for these items about stopped my heart. A Duncan Hines cake mix for 8 euro, a can of Diet Dr. Pepper for 4 euro, and even a Whatchamacallit for 3 euro. Crazy.

After a bit more wandering we decided it was time to find the chocolate stores. The Ritter Sport store was cool because they had a place where you could create your own chocolate bar. They had all these mix-ins like nuts, candies, etc. that you selected and they mixed it into chocolate and then created your bar. Genius as far as I'm concerned!

Then we finally made it back to The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and I have to say that this is one of the most impressive memorials I have ever seen. It is a huge plot in the middle of the city consisting of 2,711 concrete blocks in rows but that are different heights while the ground is also rolling up and down. (sorry this is hard to explain) The thing I liked about it is that there is no symbolism here. The artist just created this space and I found that it just sort of allowed you to walk through it and think. It didn't tell you what to think, it just gave you the space and opportunity.

At this point we headed to dinner where we sat just across the street from the Deutscher Dom which provided the perfect view. Plus it took our food so long to come that our waiter brought us free ice cream. My kind of appetizer.

Day two started with the Reichstag again where the line was shorter, but still crazy for 9 am. After waiting for over an hour (during which 5 people cut in front of us in line which still amazes me) we made it in the building and through security. Then you go up an elevator and to the huge glass dome with a ramp spiraling up and then back down the inside of the dome. Not only is it free to go in, but they even have this great free audio guide which tells you what you're looking at! Worth the wait.

Then to a late breakfast at Einstein's where I had the greatest cafe au lait ever. This declaration isn't based on the taste, but merely on the fact that it come in two small pitchers, one of the coffee and one of steamed milk, so that you can combine them to the proportions you like. Loved it! Plus the meal was fantastic and I don't think it is only because I was so hungry from waiting in line for so long.

Later we made it to Checkpoint Charlie (disappointment, aside from the guy in the currywurst costume) and to the brand new Topography des Terrors.

Finally we ended up at the Ritz for a well earned afternoon tea. We spent over 3 hours eating and drinking tea in the Ritz and it was wonderful. We even had a fresh batch of scones baked for us right before we had to leave. I am still full.

Berlin was great and while Munich wins for cleanliness and efficiency, I think Berlin is just as livable, if not more so. Definitely lived up to the hype. Nice work Berlin.

I Climbed a Real Mountain!

Today I joined a group of colleagues from the broader Allianz family for a hike up to the top (and I mean the real top for once) of Wendelstein. It was the first and last day of summer today so it was necessary to be outside and the day was beyond enjoyable.

We rode a packed train for an hour to the base of the mountain and started right up. Then we went up and more up and more. I think we walked on ground with less than a 1 degree angle for 1% of the day. I can't remember when that happened, but I'm sure it happened at some point. Otherwise it was like a stair case the whole way up.

The view the entire way was great and the higher up we went the more of the Alps we could see. From the very top (over 1800 meters) we could see Austria and the whole of the Alps on the horizon. The view was as amazing as the weather. Once we finished a late lunch at the restaurant near the summit we headed down, but this time in the gondola. Much faster and less painful. From the bottom it was amazing to see just how high we hiked. Amazing!

Germany's Venice (I'm not buying it Hamburg, but I guess every country wants one)

Not only did I finally make it to a German city outside of Bavaria, but I also made it to my new furtherest north point in continental Europe: Hamburg!

I took the train there Friday after work and discovered that first class in the ICE is really the way to travel, especially when for most of the 6 hour ride I was one of 2 people in the entire car. Now even though I had been warned, it was still a bit surprising to step off the train and realize that I was definitely not in Munich anymore. I've never walked as fast and looked as angry as I did trying to get out of there without any encounters. Seemed to work, no one even offered me drugs.

The first day we (another ex-pat and myself) headed out to catch a harbor cruise (actually we just took one of the public transportation boats to save some money because they all go to the same places) but on the way to the docks we saw a few of the churches, including the St. Nicholas church which was mostly destroyed during the wars and what remains of the structure is now a memorial. Plus it was the world's tallest building for a while in the 1870's!

There were so many interesting boats and things in the harbor. For one, there was a "Mississippi Queen" (old paddle steamer boat) which inevitably means that "Mississippi Queen" was then stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Anyway, from the harbor boat ride we saw the super rich area of the city where the houses on the water look like small hotels, scratch that, they looked like large hotels containing people with too much money. I guess it makes sense since Hamburg is Germany's richest city, but still.

Next we hit up HafenCity which is a new area of Hamburg that is and will be Europe's Largest inner city development and it is right on the river. Could be a fun place to live. Especially since one of the many new buildings is a huge Philharmonic Hall designed by Herzog & de Meuron (designers of the Tate Modern, the de Young, the Allianz Arena, & tons more). I know I could live in this area because not only were the Stand-Up Paddling World Championships going on in the harbor that weekend, but there is this coffee roastery which is huge and not only has about 10 different types of coffee brewed at all times, but the espresso based drinks come in either organic, strong, or mild! AND they had muffins (or according to the receipt, kuchlein = "little cake"). We also went to Spicy's spice museum which I had expected to have lots of cool spices to buy and what not. Nope, it was a warehouse room full of old dried spices, panels on the walls with information about different spices, and some spice props. That was it. I guess the little bag of black peppercorns that we got "free" with our entrance fee is now the most expensive pepper I have ever purchased.

We had planned to go into St. Michaelis church next, but couldn't because there was a wedding starting. After that, since it was still daylight, we decided it was time to walk through the Reeperbahn district. This is the infamous red light district of Hamburg, but it isn't just "shows" in the area, there are also all the shops and theaters that you could ever dream up. Let's just say it was a pretty quick walk through.

Then a nice little fresh fish dinner and off to catch the ferry to The Lion King. Yep, Hamburg loves The Lion King musical so much that they have built a theater especially for it and you have to ride a ferry across the river to get to it. It was fantastic! Oh and all those hours I spent as a child watching The Lion King have finally paid off: I was actually able to follow the dialogue in German! I knew those weren't wasted hours.

Second day we got up early and headed for the fish market. Every Sunday morning at the Fischmarkt they have a huge farmer's (well, more like importer's) market. We missed most of the yelling and fish throwing since that happens before 7 am, but we got in on some of the great deals. For example (don't roll your eyes at me, these were amazing deals!) I bought 5 big bananas for 1 euro, about a pound of blueberries for 2 euro, and 10 red & yellow bell peppers for 1 euro! The only crappy part was that I had to carry it all around for the rest of the day. Totally worth it though.

Then we walked around the Binnenalster and the Aussenalster lakes which were very pretty, had another great meal, and then I caught the train back home to clean and less drug-prevalent Munich.

Heat and Humidity in Hungary

I spent 5 insanely hot and humid days in Budapest, but only managed to see 5% of the sites. I did however become very familiar with the Margits island, especially the swimming pools.

Now for the part where I unconfuse you. I was accepted as a volunteer (Helping Hand) for the Allianz Sports competition held in Budapest. Every 4 years employees from all over the Allianz world come together and compete in several different sports. There's swimming, track & field, tennis, basketball, volleyball, badminton, soccer, chess, and a few more.

My responsibility was the catering at the swim location so I got to stand there in the over 100 degree heat from 7 to 6 one day and 7 to 4 the next and watch people swim. The fun part was watching the Hungarians in the other pools practicing diving and synchronized swimming. It was so much fun to watch and now I totally believe them when they say their national sport is swimming.

One extra fun part was that my colleague and I got to ride to Budapest in one of the board member's car. Needless to say he wasn't in there too, but they had to get it to Budapest to pick him up at the airport and drive him around the whole time so they figured they'd save 2 plane tickets and send us with the car. No surprise, it was a large, powerful Mercedes and had built in massage in the back seats. My kind of travel.

The first night we headed to the city center for dinner. Lit up at night, it is a gorgeous city and I only wish I had had time to see it again in the daylight too. Then only for about 3 hours on the first full day were we able to explore the city, so we headed to Castle Hill where there is the Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias church (with the best roof in the world), the castle itself, and the most spectacular views of the city. You could see the amazing Parliament building across the river in Pest perfectly from up there. What I really liked about the adventure to get there was that as we sat in the tram we realized we didn't know which stop we needed or where exactly we were going. So we asked the nice girl next to us who then not only explained it to us, but said she didn't have to be at her next appointment for a bit and could take us. So she went with us on another subway and then walked us to the bus stop. This is where we learned that during her summer breaks from school she is a model and I could totally believe it! What can I say, taken to Budapest by a car and driver and then escorted around the city by models. Nice city!

The first night of the games the only event was the half marathon and amazingly only 5 of the over 100 participants had to be taken to the hospital! But one of my colleagues from FFIC won the half marathon for the 18-29 year old male division. But he didn't even know until the medal was announced. The rest of the opening ceremony was spent catching up with other FFIC colleagues. Such fun.

The second and third days were very much the same with lots of standing, filling of fridges with water & powerade, sweating, and running back and forth between the pool and the restaurant to make sure things were running smoothly. The evening of the third day was the closing ceremony which was lots of fun. Dinner was delicious except for the part where I missed dessert because I went to the bathroom and ran into Jessie there and we talked right through the course. But the bathroom was discussion worthy. It was like a space ship or something. The stalls were like (tiny) little space portals, and the water in the sink just flowed to the floor behind a big glass panel. Just weird. Any way, later we all stood around drinking and talking and meeting more new people. Then I was finally convinced to go in to the room with the bands and dancing. We danced all night and it was fun except for the part where I had a big cut in the bottom of my foot from all the broken glass on the floor. (When I got home I used tweezers to pull out 7 large pieces of glass from my flip flops. Scary.)

All in all I loved Budapest and need to find a time to go back and see the rest of the city. Plus I didn't even get a chance to buy any paprika which is not only what Hungary is known for but is also very tasty and useful! Next time.

FirmenLauf (aka The Ultimate Patience Test)

Tonight I took part in the Firmenlauf which is basically the Corporate Challenge in Munich. There were over 30,000 people taking part and everyone of them was there to make me crazy!! Basically I hate crowds in general and this was a crowd of Germans so they drove me extra crazy. They are pushy and completely unaware of themselves on the path. Instead of a 6 km run I am certain that I did at least 9km with all the back and forth I had to do. There were so many times tonight that I was standing in a huge crowd with no one moving and then them just pushing. I got to the point where I would actually retaliate (ok, so really I would just purposefully kick the back of people's feet who were being especially rude. Sounds dumb I know, but made me feel a tiny bit better.)

It took place at the Olympic park with the finish line just inside the stadium. It was cool to run in through the tunnel into the stadium, except for the part where there was a thunderstorm going on and it was pouring down rain at that point! When running and seeing lightening strikes around me I calmed myself with the statistics of me being the one hit and not one of the other 29,999 people. The odds were in my favor. But the worst part was that the rain made the salty sweat on my forehead run into my eyes and it burned!

But in the end it was pretty fun (albeit a bit wet, cold, and frustrating). Oh and I'll never understand the desire to grab a cold beer directly after a run. Give it a few minutes people, but no, I am in Germany so your post-run options are water, some sort of pop, and beer. I think I was the only one who didn't have one, but I don't regret that one bit!

Ulm . . . Check

Spent a beautiful day (the first in a long time) in Ulm:

World's tallest church steeple . . . check

Leaning tower . . . check

University of Ulm and botanical garden . . . check

Awesome sour cream-nut cake . . . check

Salad spinner . . . check

A Wedding in Rome

I had the honor of attending the wedding of a friend from college in where else but Rome! I spent 4 days in the Eternal City and had a fabulous time.

After arriving at my hotel late the first night I took a little stroll around the area to, well I'll admit it, find some gelato. Luckily I was successful and found great gelato right next to the Trevi Fountain. Lit up at night it is very pretty and all of the people hanging around make it fun.

The next morning I met the families of the bride and groom for a tour of the Vatican. (Another country to cross off the list!) After the hotel's traditional Italian breakfast (and I mean very traditional, only white toast, croissants, and espresso in a big coffee thermos) I decided to walk from the hotel to the Vatican and luckily I gave myself what I thought was way too much time to get there, because I ended up being only right on time. The tour was definitely the way to go for the Vatican. I would have had no idea what all I was looking at and would have probably walked right through the Sistine Chapel without realizing. (Plus with the tour you get to skip ahead in line!) The only bad part was that there was an old man in our tour group and we lost him! About half way through, the guide noticed he wasn't there and even with all of us looking we never did find him. Well I guess now he has an unique souvenir from his tour of the Vatican, the little device that allows you to hear the guide through an earpiece.

After that we all needed a break and headed toward Piazza Navona for lunch where we braved the cars and scooters and went ahead and sat nearly in the narrow street. But we did get some entertainment when a van driving past us coincided with a large crunching noise. Once we decided that it didn't sounds like a person being hit we saw that a guy had just opened his car door as the van passed and well, you get the idea. I felt really bad when we had to watch him try to force the door shut of his tiny car.

Anyway then I headed back with my friend to the apartment they had rented so he could pick up his fiance and meet the priest. The unfortunate part here is that she had been hanging out at the apartment in order to wait for their lost luggage to be delivered. (Don't worry, they are smart people and carried on all the wedding clothes.) So while they went to the meeting with the priest I hung out with one of her friends in the apartment and relaxed, talked, walked to the Spanish Steps (right around the corner), and then had some heavenly Italian coffee. It was a fantastic afternoon hanging out in Rome. Then that night all the friends of the couple went out for dinner together, followed of course by gelato. It was such fun!

The next morning (day of the wedding) I met my friend and his family for a tour of the Forum, Colosseum, and a bit of Palatine Hill. I am really glad we had the tour because otherwise I fear the Forum would be just a bunch of [presumably] really old stones to me. Understanding the history made it much more interesting and impressive. Seeing the Colosseum was really an unique experience and I didn't know what to expect because it is one of those iconic places that you hear and talk about all of the time. I didn't know how I would react to finally seeing it and making this intangible place tangible.

Well, next adventure for the day was the wedding! On my way to the church (in Vatican City!) I was told to take the metro and just as I was taking out my map to verify the stop I heard my name and turned to see my friend, his family, and her family!! Praise the merciful Lord! I would never have made it on my own. Then on the subway he asked if I would do a reading during the ceremony and once I verified it wasn't in Italian or Latin or anything I said of course! The church was just inside the Vatican walls and was beautiful, no flowers needed. The ceremony was very nice (in English thankfully) aside from the random woman in the back digging through her plastic bag collection and the other random woman who was first up for communion during the service. My other favorite part was the photographers who took so many pictures (from the same spot) that they will be able to make a flip book of the ceremony in lieu of a video. Then we followed them around St. Peter's Square taking pictures and you would be amazed how many strangers took their picture too. Why would you want wedding pictures of people you don't know?

Then to the most wonderful reception at the Spanish Steps. We were too early for the restaurant so we hung around the steps and had pre-dinner drinks (mostly beer) from a portable snack stand. Then into the restaurant for dinner on the patio. It was perfect. The food was heavenly (risotto, duck, and brownies with gelato) and the wine never stopped flowing. I had one glass the whole night (ok so really it was just a magic glass that was constantly full). It was such a fun night that when they finally kicked us out at midnight they walked me the long way back to my hotel so we could see the city at night and not let the evening end.

My plan was to sleep in the next morning, but the smell of the Italian espresso got me out of bed by 8. So off to explore the rest of the city. I saw the Pantheon (suggestion: go at 9am because it was just me and about 8 other people there at that point and I have heard that normally you can barely fit in there with all the people), walked through the food stalls at Campo de Flori, had some amazing Italian cookies, went to the Villa Borghese (where I attempted to do some note taking but was so annoyed by the guys trying to give me roses that I left in a huff), and had tartufo at the Tre Scalini Cafe (just a scoop of very good chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks on the outside and whipped cream). Then I accidently found a few more sites while trying to find the Repubblica. Then time for a short siesta. That night I met some of the others in town for the wedding for dinner. Had a great meal (surprise, surprise) and wine.

Next day was spent finishing off the sites. I had more cookies, some pizza bianca, gnocchi, and anything else I could justify. When in Rome . . .

At one point I crossed the river to check out the other side, but decided I must have walked onto a Hollywood sound stage. It was way too stereotypical, so much so that I couldn't bring myself to even take a picture.

Oddly enough one of the highlights of the trip was that the museum directly across the street from my hotel had an Edward Hopper exhibit going on for another week! I was so excited. The exhibit was absolutely amazing. I am not an art (especially painting) person, but his art is something else. I spent a long time in that museum just marveling! It was perfect aside from the little girl crying the whole time and whining for her "mama." Honestly, it was beyond the point of ridiculous, teetering on rude. Which reminds me, I had some run-ins with several rude, or maybe just inconsiderate and oblivious, Italians in Rome. Interesting because this has not been my experience in other Italian cities. I guess Rome is just Rome.

Bavaria's Yosemite

Berchtesgaden and Konigsee are what I would deem the Yosemite of Bavaria, or maybe even Germany for that matter. They are located in the southern most tip of Germany, nestled into Austria.

I visited the area over a long holiday weekend and lucked out that the only 2 days of nice weather we have had during the past month and a half happened to be the 2 days we were there. I can't describe the area in words very well, but the pictures have been posted so you can go and see what I mean. The lake is one of the clearest in Germany and is located right at the base of one of the highest mountains in the country (Watzmann). This is also where the Eagle's Nest is located.

We did some hiking and found some amazing waterfalls and smaller lakes. Then we stopped for a small snack at the farm on the far coast of the lake where they advertised fresh milk and buttermilk and when they say fresh then mean fresh. To get to the little farm house we had to walk through the pasture with the grazing cows. So much fun. Then when we ordered our mug of fresh milk the woman took two mugs and dipped them into a huge bucket of milk in the back. Nothing like lukewarm milk straight from the cow.

Chocolate, Waffle, Chocolate, Beer, Chocolate, Chocolate, Waffle, Frites, Chocolate . . .

That pretty much sums up my 4 day trip in Belgium. Unfortunately at the last minute I had to go alone, but it was still a great trip.

I left Thursday morning as we had it off for Ascension Day. In my research on Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels I discovered that in Bruges there is a basilica called the Heilig-Bloedbasiliek (or Basilica of the Holy Blood) which has a phial that supposedly contains a few drops of Jesus Christ's blood. Every year they hold this huge parade with the Holy Blood as the centerpiece and it just so happens that this parade is on Ascension Day. That decided my trip for me. I went directly to Bruges the first day to see the parade. To be honest I was very pleasantly surprised. I am pretty certain that most of the town participates in the parade where different stories from the Bible are acted out. There were hundreds of people in the parade. My favorite part was the attention to detail from the painful but authentic sandals to the real baby as baby Jesus to all of the live animals. There were camels, donkeys, chickens, a flock of sheep, falcons, and more. Amazing. It was like a parade, play, petting zoo, concert, and church sermon all in one! It lasted about an hour and I was glad I had spent the time waiting farther down the route so I had a good view of it.

After that I explored the beautiful city that is Bruges. I think it might actually be my favorite city now. It has the picturesque canals, great medieval architecture, and chocolate on every corner (not to mention the Belgian waffle stands). Plus there was a carnival going on there too so I checked all of that out. That first day I tried lots of chocolates and traditional cookies. (I'll summarize all of my chocolate discoveries at the end.)

The next morning I got up early and managed to leave the hotel on schedule and thankfully so. (Oh and I love that at breakfast in Belgium you actually get fresh Belgian waffles. Heaven!) I went to the Belfry first (the big tower in the city center) and since only 70 people are allowed up there at a time I had to wait about 15 minutes. But by the time I came down the line was out the door. Anyway it is a really tight, spiral staircase all the way up, so much so that I might have had a little claustrophobic freak-out moment on the way up. But I worked through it and made it up the 366 steps for the great view.

Then I headed to the Choco-Story museum. I learned a bit about the chocolate production process and a lot about the history of chocolate consumption. Then we watched a little demonstration on how they make pralines (and of course got a sample). Oh and in the chocolate art area they had a life-sized chocolate Barack Obama (and there were only about 6 pieces of chocolate art and none of the others were of people, just Obama).

Before heading onto Ghent I went to the Halve Maan Brewery tour. It was fun and there were even good views of the city involved. Plus at the end you get a free beer. No complaints.

Then the 20 minute train ride to Ghent, where I tried to plan my time in Ghent. Unfortunately I was so tired at this point (and maybe at a sugar low) that I couldn't find the motivation to really seek out everything there. It was surprisingly beautiful (again, what a difference a canal makes) and since I didn't see most of it now I have an excuse to go back to Belgium.

Then on to Brussels for my last 2 days. Word of warning here: have a map of Brussels with you before arriving at the train station, because you can't find a city map in the Central station. This especially becomes a problem when you only have your hotel address and the memory of the sentence "near the central train station." Luck was one my side though and the 3rd building of the first street I tried was my hotel! Then the concierge who checked me in offered to take me around the city the next day after he got off work in the morning at 11. It was a nice offer, but as soon as he mentioned going to Salsa too, I figured this was not the best idea. Needless to say I had to sneak out of the hotel the next morning so that I didn't have to tell him I didn't want a personal tour by a stranger who knew where I was sleeping that night.

I confess, in Brussels I did one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours. I know, I know; but there were lots of things to see and some were outside the city center, plus it gets boring walking around all day alone, so this way I got someone to tell me all about the city. I wont list all the sites, that's for you to see when you go visit.

I did seek out the Manneken-Pis fountain and was a bit disappointed because his outfit that day was just a straw hat. Plus the fountain was much smaller than I had imagined. In fact most of the chocolate replicas around the city were larger than the real thing.

Oh I almost forgot, Saturday was Gay Pride Day in Brussels and they had their huge parade that day too. It was just like San Francisco's, except slightly more mellow (but not much). The hardest part is trying to cross the parade route and not get covered in confetti.

I had a late lunch/early dinner so as not to have to sit alone surrounded by groups of people staring at the girl eating alone. I had the mussels and they were wonderful. Another tick in my list of must-do.

The highlight of the last day was a chocolate demonstration at La Maison des Maitres Chocolatiers. If you are ever in Brussels you MUST do this. It is sort of a chocolate co-op in the Grand Place and everyday at 4 they offer the workshop/demonstration. There were only 3 of us and we went up into this workshop room and he talked all about history (which only slightly involved chocolate) and kept quizzing us on all of these historic events. Regardless it was very interesting and he was very friendly. Then we made some pralines. The best part is once it is over you go back downstairs and get a hot chocolate and samples of some pralines. The price for the whole thing was something like 8.50 euros and it lasted over an hour, we got a 5 euro hot chocolate, and probably another 3 euro worth of praline samples. Best deal of the trip. Oh and the best praline there was the rosemary-orange praline.

So now for the chocolate experience. I had all sorts of different chocolates from about 10 different shops. I easily ate 10 pralines/chocolates each day, in addition to the frites, waffles, and cookies. I tried every interesting praline I could find including banana, mint, coffee, tiramisu, lime-chili, peanut, creme brulee, rosemary-hazelnut, and more. My favorite places were Depla, Chocolate Line, and Laurent Gerbaud.

Definitely one of the top 3 trips of the past 14 months!

How Did I Miss You in HIstory Class, Prague?

My first thought on the way into the Czech Republic was that they were still using some sort of medieval communication system involving fires. From the plane I could see these small fires in each little city and also along the horizon. They almost appeared to be in back yards and then in town centers. I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into. Do they not use phones yet, or are they still worried about being invaded? Luckily the owner of our hotel explained later that night that is was Witch's Day and that all over people have bonfires that day. In fact on a late night stroll through Prague that first night we saw not only bonfires but also people dressed as witches and whatnot. Pretty fun.

Oh I should mention, I went to Prague with another ex-pat from FFIC, Brigitte. She is only in Munich for 4 months, but might actually manage to make more trips than I will in 2 years!

So anyway, the first night was quite fun because we checked into our hotel. Not normally a particularly "fun" experience, but this time it was. So about 2 blocks from our hotel the cab pulls to a quick stop and 2 police officers approach the car and shine flashlights into the back and then the driver pops and hood and the trunk. Then they walk around the car with one of those giant dentist mirrors to check underneath. After a couple seconds of worry, then a few seconds of just strong curiosity I notice the American flag a few meters ahead. We are about to pass the US Embassy. Then right after the Embassy is the police station and then upon parking in front of the hotel I notice the building across the small street is the German Embassy. This is just about the safest area of town! At this point the hotel owner greets us at the door, invites us to sit in the small lobby/entry way, gives us some water, and tells us everything we want to know (and more). It was fantastic. He gave us maps and recommendations and general city advice (taxis, pickpocketers, and money changing) and then the history of the house. It is 500 years old. Then to our great room right off the entry way. It was enchanting.

The next day we met the owner's (Jan) son, Jakob. After out great breakfast we got the "Jakob" version of what to do/see/skip for Prague. He basically told us all of his father's restaurant options were ok, but we should instead listen to him. Then he gave us more information than we could have ever dreamed of. It was all great though (which is not usually the case for hotels!) One of the first stops was for a trdelnik which is a fantastic Czech sweet treat. It is dough wrapped around a cylinder and cooked over a fire and then covered with sugar, cinnamon, and almonds. It was as good as you are imagining!

Then we headed up the big hill for the castle, monastery, and cathedral. Here is where we joined the other 5 million tourists! I still can't believe how many other tourists were in this city. I believe it is actually one of, if not the top tourist destination in Europe! Now that I've been there I can agree with this statement and also understand why. It is so beautiful and so diverse. I don't understand why we don't learn more about this city in history class. It has so much history. More than many other cities I've visited lately.

Anyway at about 2pm we decided to stop for lunch and went to one of Jakob's recommendations. The restaurant is called Palffy and is a very high-end, elegant place that offers an inexpensive lunch menu to encourage business at lunch. Since it was a perfect day we sat out on their beautiful veranda (although the dining room was so relaxing and charming I wouldn't have minded eating there either). The food was fantastic! Ostrich carpaccio, cod with beautiful veggies, and ice cream profiteroles for dessert even thought they weren't actually on the menu. A perfect relaxing and delicious lunch.

Lots of other great little stories from this afternoon, but I don't want this post to go on too long and this way you'll have to ask me about them and show you've actually read this post! They're really some of the funniest stories, so ask me.

Anyway, that night we had a super rushed dinner in order to get to the orchestra concert we had tickets for. At the traditional Czech restaurant we ordered a pork knee and let me tell you it was a once in a lifetime experience, because I will never do it again. Once I finally got a bite that wasn't pure fat it tasted rather good, but that took so long and was way too much work. It was funny though, because it came out on this hanging device and was thus suspended for us to eat off of. Oh and also, the Czech beer was good, but I am not understanding why the big to do.

It required a mad dash through the city, but we made it to the concert and it was worth it. It was in the Municipal House concert hall and was Czech composers: Smetana and Dvořák. Very beautiful both musically and with regards to the venue.

Sunday was the Jewish Quarter day (since of course everything is closed on Saturday). It was a very educational and moving day. From the Jewish cemetery with stones upon stones, to the old synagogues turned into museums on the history of the people and the faith for the past couple thousand years, to the Old New Synagogue which is the oldest in Europe, and finally to the Spanish Synagogue which was the most beautiful. Oh one of the best parts was at the entrance to one of the museums the old man checking the tickets invited me to join him in his booth. I might have considered it had he been about 60 years younger, but he was adorable.

Then to the third of Jakob's suggestions, Cafe de Paris, for lunch. And with that one Jakob was three for three on recommendations! Then we followed it up by sharing 2 cookies, and a slice of chocolate cake at a nearby bakery which cost a grand total of 31 crowns (which amazingly is only $1.50! You just have to love that conversion.)

What The Earth?!

So I just went to the dentist in Germany and um, what was that?! As a fellow "highly developed" country I expected the experience to be similar to that in the states. A scrape here, some pain there, and then the spinning buffer thing, but no. I spent 10 minutes on paperwork, 5 minutes waiting, and then 5 minutes in the chair. I didn't even see the actual dentist. The dental assistant looked at each tooth while blowing high pressured air at them and then poked at my gums with that super poky thing. Then he said "great teeth, everything looks good, and come back in 6 months." For what? I don't think you'll be seeing me again, even if you are across the hall from my apartment.

While Your Insanity Amazes Me, Your Vision Astounds Me

Well King Ludwig, I finally saw the last of your palaces (another unfinished project) and I must say that I am impressed. The palace (part of which is a replica of Versailles) on Herreninsel is gorgeous. The gardens and fountains and the views all make me want to be royalty from the 1800's regardless of all the lack of modern medicine, suppressive treatment of women, and general non-existence of gelato stands.

My opinion of the islands may have a bit to do with the fact that the day was beautiful (until the storm appeared out of no where) but I don't think my opinion would have changed much if we had been there on a less sunny day. Unfortunately because of the un-forecasted and quick moving storm we had to cut our time on the Fraueninsel short, but I hope to go back sometime to check out all of the ceramics which are made on the island.

The most random part of the trip was the woman who we started talking to on the boat ride back who offered us a ride to the train station since it was raining. We actually took her up on her and her boyfriend's offer. The ride was so funny though. She had lived in New York for a while and is quite well travelled so we talk a lot about what we all missed from the states. The top of her list: beef jerky, KFC, and Dunkin' Donuts! Wow, really?! Most of those are the things I am glad to be far away from!

Real France This Time

I finally made it to a real French city, none of that half-French/half-German Strasbourg stuff this time. And Lyon was just what I had hoped for. I spent 2 days in Lyon and 2 days in Geneva with my friend Fabienne over Easter. While it is true that the French don't like to speak English, I found that if you tried to speak French and were cute about it, then they found you entertaining and were nice. Or if need be just keep talking in English because chances are that they actually do speak English and will eventually answer you in English. Nice system they've got there.

We left from Zurich and were in Lyon within 4 hours. The hotel was right in the heart of the old city amongst the beautiful architecture, delicious bakeries, and tempting shops. That night for dinner we headed to rue des Marronniers which is a one block street with nothing but restaurants. Dinner was great. (Although it took 20 minutes of staring at the menu before we decided, and the menu was even in English!) Here is where I realized that while French desserts are my absolute favorites and impossible for me to resist, the French savory dishes scare me. How can they be so good with desserts and so weird with the rest? Anyway I found a non-scary scallop risotto which was heaven, and so far Lyon held up to it's reputation for being a food capital of the world.

The next morning I had a chocolat au pain and a cappuccino for breakfast (except the cappuccino was an espresso topped with whipped cream, not technically correct, but actually really good). We then went to the top of the hill to see the Fourviere. It was beautiful. Then we walked to the Roman ruins. It was so amazing. These structures were built in 15 B.C. and they are still around! The rest of the day was spent walking in and out of bakeries, patisseries, and chocolate shops. And if that wasn't enough we walked to the Halles de Lyon which is a massive indoor food hall. All the meats, cheeses, seafood, baked goods, and desserts you could dream of. Basically this was my heaven.

That night we went to dinner at the restaurant that my colleague, who is from Lyon, recommended. I got the Lyon speciality: quenelle de brochet, which is a pike dumpling. It was one of the best dinners I have ever had. It was a small dish but I was full half way through. Amazing. Plus the atmosphere in the restaurant was perfect. A small room with wood beamed ceiling and low lighting. (Aside from the worst behaved French child I have seen who had useless parents, it was a great experience. The 3 or 4 year old kid was sitting by himself on one side of the table with both parents sitting on the other. He was off his chair and all over the place, bumping into everyone the whole time. The parents never said a thing or corrected him once. In fact at one point the waitress came over, picked him up off the floor, sat him in his chair, and scooted it to the table. Even after this the parents made no effort to keep him in line. I'll stop there, but it goes on.)

The net day we went to Geneva. We hadn't booked a hotel but lucked out on a nice one which wasn't too expensive. Then was walked around the city. It was beautiful. Although I have noticed that almost any city is beautiful when it is on a lake or river. Dinner that night was fantastic. (I promise I have had a bad meal, just not on this trip!) I tried beef tartar for the first time. Oh and the local wine (a pinot blanc) was perfect.

The next day on the train ride home was the most beautiful train ride I have ever been on. The snow capped mountains, the lakes, the hills covered in wineries. Why is it that when you are in France and you see a building which is old, run down, in need of paint, and an eye-sore you think of it as rustic, beautiful, and picture worthy? France is just magic like that I guess.

5 Months, 3 Cities, and 3 Apartments

So within the past 5 months I am able to say I have had apartments in 3 different European cities. Munich, Dublin, and how Zurich. I spent the past 2 weeks working from our Zurich office and will spend at least the next 2 weeks down there again. (All that's left is working from our Singapore office) It has been fun to spend that much time in Zurich. Unfortunately work is very busy so I don't get to see a lot of the city in the daylight, but the bit I've seen/done has been great.

The first weekend there I went to Bern (the capital of Switzerland) on Saturday and on Sunday got to meet a cousin I haven't seen since before the age at which you are able to remember things without being just told that you were there or did something.

Bern was nice. It wasn't the best weather, but I got to see the apartment where Einstein developed his Special Theory of Relativity. I have to admit it was pretty cool. Then I walked around a bit and saw the bear pits (the namesake of the city, Bern=bear). It is a city known for a lot of fountains and it was quite interesting.

On Sunday we drove around the area near Zurich and saw several of the smaller cities. We also stopped at a huge monastery in Einsiedeln which was actually quite beautiful and unique, and for once was not just another church to add to the list. Then we had lunch/dinner in Rapperswil which is on the south side of Lake Zurich and beautiful. Very nice views and a great garden/castle for walking.

Zurich is beautiful, but my heavens is it expensive. I find myself doing the exchange into euros instead of thinking about the fact that the Swiss Franc is equivalent to the dollar, because if I thought about the cost of things in dollars I would have lost my mind already. I just try to soften the blow by thinking about the amount in euros which makes the number smaller, but doesn't actually lower the price. I guess it is so insanely expensive there because the taxes are so low, but as someone not getting those kinds of tax benefits, it is a bit of a strain on the bank account. (Oh funny side story, I spent the last 2 weeks trying to survive in a foreign city with absolutely no cash. My EC card wouldn't work so I quickly had to learn which places accept credit cards. Dresdner bank has now officially joined the sh** list.)

I realize this post is a bit sporadic and random, but it is hard to summarize these past two weeks into anything I think someone might potentially be interested in. My apologies.

The Alps, A Snowstorm, And Kaiserschmarrn

Last weekend I went with a group of friends from work to Innsbruck for a skiing/snowboarding weekend in the Alps. Innsbruck is where parts of the 1964 and 1976 Olympics took place. It is a beautiful city (well at least the little bit of it that I actually saw was nice). The first day 2 friends and I took snowboarding lessons since we were the only ones who didn't already ski or snowboard. We met our instructor at the rental shop and, my hand to God, he was perfect. I thought it was just a myth that snowboarding instructors are attractive, but (at least in Innsbruck) it is true.

We headed up the mountain directly from the center of the city. There is an extensive gondola system that goes from city center to about 2000 meters up the mountain. When we got to the top we discovered ourselves in the midst of a snowstorm which lasted the entire day. Within minutes my hair had frozen into a giant icicle, but there was no consideration of turning back. By lunchtime we were pretty well soaked through. We went to the hut and had lunch in an almost empty restaurant. Just us and 3 other people.

After lunch it was back out to practice edging on the half pipe. That's right in the first day we were on the half pipe. (Ok, so we were just using the middle part, but that is just a minor detail.) Because of all the snow there were about 15 other people on the mountain that day. In fact I could tell you what every other person out there that day was wearing! At one point one of the snowboarders who was coming down the half pipe almost ran over me and had to take a fall to stop. He came to a snow spraying stop about 1 meter from me and left me completely covered in snow (which I preferred to being run over).

That night I had kaiserschmarrn for dinner because I discovered that it is actually Austrian and I figured that justified it. Man is that stuff good!

The second day we headed back to the same hill (by ourselves this time, unfortunately) to try to figure this whole snowboarding thing out. Plus I didn't really ever fall on Saturday, so I needed to get some bruises at some point (and boy did I!). Well, once we got to the top of the mountain we discovered just how lucky we had been on Saturday. The entire city and surrounding areas were all out for the day. There were people everywhere. There were even kids on skis who were under the age of 3. Likely they had taken their first steps that week so the parents decided it was time to strap on the skis. All these people made it harder to practice since I worry less about hurting myself than I do about hurting someone else. By the end of the day the guy from Venezuela ended up as the super star, showing up a girl from Slovakia and myself (I've lived near enough to snow most of my life that I shouldn't have done so poorly.) But aside from sore muscles no one was hurt by the end of the weekend and I can now officially say I've been snowboarding in the Alps!

Fasching = Halloween + Donuts

Last Tuesday was Fasching (aka carnival aka Fat Tuesday . . . ) and I got to celebrate Munich style. While the best place to be for Fasching is actually Koln, Munich was fun too. There is a big celebration in the Marienplatz where everyone is dressed up in costumes and walks around drinking, eating, and throwing massive amounts of confetti, but mostly they are drinking. There are portable bars set up all over and not just beer but wine, Gluhwein, hard alcohol, and pretty much any other kind you'd want.

My favorite part is that the traditional food for Fasching is krapfen aka Berliner aka filled donuts. It is so nice to have an excuse to eat donuts all the time, and even though the US is the country known for loving donuts I have to say that Germany in general has nearly perfected the filled donut.

The costumes are great and let me just say that there are no holds barred. Everything goes. There were fruits, witches, Hello Kittys, tigers, police officers, and then people dressed as Mexicans, Arabs, Gypsies, and more. I found that a bit surprising and realized that in the US we don't typically dress in the traditional (or stereotypical) dress of major cultures. I don't know if it is good or bad. Anyway, Fasching was a great day and not just because we only had to work a half day!

Baby Steps into France

I finally had my first trip to France, even if it was only a couple of feet into the country. I'm almost kidding. I went with 2 other American ex-pats to Strasbourg, France. It is a very interesting town with lots of history. It has been French and then German and then French, etc. but the key is that in 2010 it is France and to tell the truth I could tell.

Once we arrived Friday night we headed across town to the hotel, but because of me it took about 3 times longer than it should have because I had to stop at every bakery and chocolate shop (which were all closed) and drool over the display. I mean they had macaroons the width of baseballs for heavens sake! The first morning breakfast sort of turned into brunch after searching for a place for a while. But it worked out well because I had basically a bruschetta with tomato spread, eggplant, and chicken and it was amazing. I think the best savory dish of the trip.

Then to the cathedral to watch the astronomical clock at 12:30. It was interesting and impressive that something built that long ago still functions as it should. Plus the cathedral was beautiful inside (aside from the part where they charged money for everything). I think I ate a salad for lunch, but all I really remember was the chocolate tart from heaven at the end of the meal at Paul.

That night we were trying to find a particular restaurant and when we asked this nice couple for directions they ended up just walking us there. They were so nice which is great because we would have never found it! Another point for France.

The next morning we woke to a beautiful snow covered Strasbourg and headed to the Tomi Ungerer Museum - International Center of Illustration which featured Tomi Ungerer (illustrator of tons of book including Crictor) and Saul Steinberg (known best for his work for the New Yorker). I think it may be one of my favorite museums of all time except for the basement, which I sort of regret encouraging us to explore. I should have let the mystery stay a mystery. Eventually we headed back to Petit France to explore again and take more pictures.

Luckily on the way to the train that night I was able to find one bakery open so I could get my long awaited macaroon. I proceeded to carry it all the way back to my apartment in my breast pocket (6 hours) without smashing it and man was all that work worth it! AMAZING!!

The worst part of the trip was the ride home on the train when a group of (drunk of course) soccer hooligans got on the train and made a game of who can get Beth to hit them first. Basically the one guy kept opening the door to the car and singing and talking to the group around us (of course we were all women so an obvious target). I did enjoy the part where since I was ignoring him while he asked what book I was reading he ended up calling me French. Awesome, but just goes to show how oblivious he really was as I was reading an English book called Independence Day with a big American flag on the cover. Oh well, I kind of like being called French, who'd have known.

First Trip of 2010!

Have you ever had a swig of beer and then thought "this is good but it is missing something . . . hey, I know what it needs, a big dose of smoky bacon"? Probably not, right, because you're sane. Well there is a small city in Germany who makes it's name via this Rauchbier (smoke beer) and it tastes exactly like a side of smoky bacon was dropped into your dark beer. Bamberg, Germany is a small city in Northern Bavaria which is an Unesco World Heritage Site as it actually survived the war without being destroyed. It also has the Rathaus which is one of the most photographed locations in Germany.

We left early yesterday morning and arrived in Bamberg and began the tour/battle to not freeze. The Dom there is one of my favorite churches now. It might have had something to do with the Christmas decorations, but too bad. I love the big trees lit up with candles and the nativity scenes. Plus it was a nice understated, massive stone building. I know that seems like an oxymoron, but it isn't this time.

Later we went up the hill to the Kirche St. Michael which was a bit overstated inside, but was somewhat redeemed by it's Christmas decorations. Oh, but it had the most interesting ceiling I have ever seen. The ceiling had herbs and plants painted on it. Odd. Then we walked around to the back where there were views of the city and about 1000 empty champagne bottles and firework trash everywhere. Apparently the entire city went up there on New Year's Eve and each had a bottle of champagne, a box of fireworks, and no trash cans. Anyway, the walk down was fun as it was snowing the whole day we were there and the stair were covered in ice. I imagine we were very entertaining to watch although I didn't particularly enjoy envisioning myself sprawled out in the muddy ice. Don't worry we made it back in one piece.