Reflections Away from Home

A Swiss Christmas

2012-01-06T23:33:00.002+01:00

We arrived in Switzerland to light snow. We had a ground cover for one or two days and then the rains came in and washed away our white Christmas. Anna and Steffen provided us with the perfect Swiss Christmas complete with cutting our own tree and having lighted candles on it. Here is a little video highlight.

plaques de muselet

2012-01-01T15:39:00.005+01:00

In the category of what I learned on my European vacation, I want to introduce the collection of those metal caps that sit on the top of a champagne cork underneath the wire. Who knew these were collectables? They are apparently traded with great fervor in Champagne country. Many of these plaques de muselet are much more colorful and artistic than the one I pulled off my New Year's Eve bottle of Champagne last night. But I've gotta start somewhere.

Moving on to Switzerland

2011-12-19T08:29:00.000+01:00

The Paris phase of the trip is over and we are on our way to Switzerland via train.

Our last full day in Paris

2011-12-18T07:42:00.000+01:00

We began our day by hopping the Metro over to St. Sulpice to catch the organ prelude at 10:15. It is a marvelous instrument and the ethereal music was sublime ... probably a Faure.

Then we made a last walk through the Sunday Bastille market. It was like visiting an aquarium.

Signs of Christmas

2011-12-17T07:49:00.000+01:00

More delicious French food

2011-12-17T07:47:00.000+01:00

We were treated to a lovely afternoon in the western suburbs of Paris. Isabelle is from Bordeaux and these little morsels are a specialty of the region called cannele.
The cheese plate was divine. Starting with the blue cheese and moving counter clockwise around the plate their names are Saint Agur, Lou Perac brebis, Comte, Camembert, Chevre frois and Saint Felician. Each one just sang with flavor.

And I did not even photograph the first course of duck foie gras salad or the main of duck breast.
And on the RER ride back to Paris, Genevieve taught me the secret to the Parisian scarf tie.

...right down Santa Claus Lane ...

2011-12-16T20:44:00.010+01:00

Now let me be clear from the outset ... I am not terribly proud of what the US has done to the image of Santa Claus. He is used crassly to sell toys to children in department store settings. But I do think that we can all hold on to the Clement Moore image with pride. The Dutch show a certain reverence to their Sinterklass, a bishop, riding a white horse and carrying a big accounting book of children's behavior over the past year. And he also has the intriguing behavior of disappearing back to Spain long before Christmas Day itself which saves him from having to join in the crass commercialism of Christmas.There is the problem of the Zwart Piets, but I won't go there.

But the French don't seem to have the same image of Santa. For example, I was at Galerie Lafayette and saw this sad site. Somewhere near the toy department they had pulled out a naugahyde chair for Santa to sit in. He was wearing thick black glasses and seemed genuinely uncomfortable holding this baby.Miracle on 34th Street this was notAnd in more than one place I caught this version of an inflatable Santa hanging off a balcony

And then painted on the side of a building in the 11th was this

The new word for today is "bette"

2011-12-16T19:09:00.008+01:00

I was wanting to make a panade with my left over stale baguettes, but I could not remember seeing any Swiss chard in the market. Hunter said it translates as bette but when I saw it I did not think it LOOKED like Swiss chard.

But is DOES taste like Swiss chard and it added a nice sweet flavor to the panade.

razor clams

and even with a falling Euro, lobster at $40 a pound is no bargain

Yesterday we wandered along the banks of the canal ...

Later in the afternoon we walked along the Promenade des Plantee, Paris's version of the NYC High Line. It gave a new feel to the city being up near the rooftops.

click picture to enlarge

Sur la Seine

2011-12-14T17:18:00.003+01:00

Monday we headed off to the 6th to see a Cezanne exhibit about his time in Paris. Much of the exhibit focused on work he had done on the tributaries of the Seine, the Oise and the Marne. Paris did not fit his temperment ... Provence is where he bloomed. But is was here in Paris where he had to sell.

We cooked in on Tuesday, and I took on that massive frisée I had purchased at market on Saturday. Remember that?

The recipe called for bacon, but all I could find was lardons ...

The recipe was titled Warm Chicken and Frisée Salad with Bacon Vinaigrette

http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/9869/2000/03/05/Warm-Chicken-and-Frisee-Salad-With-Bacon-Vinaigrette/recipe.html

Using the remains of the poulet roti from Sunday's market, I went to work in the kitchen.

I had Isabelle Boulay playing on the iPad, and a glass of vin blanc. Life is good

Sunday in Paris

2011-12-12T08:20:00.006+01:00

Sunday morning we were out bright and early to catch the action at the marche Richard Lenoir that is practically at our doorstep. We bought some flowers for our Sunday dinner hostess and some fresh pate.
While standing in line to get our poulet roti, a gentleman rolled up with a kind of player piano organ grinder. Into one end he inserted a cardboard player card which played music as he turned the handle on the box. He used it as his accompaniment .

We then took the RER out to Saint Maur des Fosses for a lovely afternoon with friends. It was my first journey onto the Parisian suburbs, and I think I started at th top of th list. Here is a welcoming bottle of Champagne and nibbles.

After a splendid meal we all took a walk along the Marne.

Markets and morsels

2011-12-10T18:56:00.001+01:00

I got a little carried away with the frisée at market this morning. That is a LOT of frisée. We wandered up to Blvd Charrone for their Saturday morning market. In addition to the greens we picked up some Reblochon and some Brie de Meaux. The first smear of it on a Parisian baguette and I felt fully arrived.

I was a little more subdued at Gerard Mulot. I only bought nine macaroons.

Plat du premiere jour

2011-12-10T18:28:00.003+01:00

So our first meal in Paris was at Cafe des Anges. It was a buzzing crowd, most of whom it seemed ordered the famous burger. I chose the hanger steak with a tasty scoop of gratin potatoes that was perfection. That's horseradish sauce there on the side.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Take off

2011-12-08T00:47:00.001+01:00

This was one big bird and we were on the top tier. First time I walked UP hill on a jetway. This is Air France's premiere voyageur class btw business and coach. There is a real difference in comfort and space.

No sleep on the plane ... A much too early flight for sleep, but we were in our Paris apartment by 10 Paris time and slept well into the afternoon. Headed out for dinner and a night time exploration of our Bastille neighborhood with the time lag at our back pushing us bright eyed into the Paris night.

Preparing for Paris

2011-12-07T14:59:00.004+01:00

I am hoping to leave my laptop at home and to blog from the flight deck of my iPad. This is easier said than done. It is the thorny question of how to upload photos. As promised in the reviews BlogPress is a bust (*note to self BELIEVE THE REVIEWS in the app store) , but if it DID work it would be sleek and wonderful. So now I am thinking about emailing my posts.

I'll be leaving the "books" behind for iphone maps of the Metro. I've even loaded a movie for the flight since my recollection of Air France's inflight screens is less than stellar.

I remember on my very first trip to Paris, Genevieve loaned me her hard cover Plan de Paris par Arrondissement.

Now I will be staring into a small screen as a venture forth.

Libros Para Pueblos

2011-02-25T14:22:00.011+01:00

The Oaxaca Lending Library (OLL) was established in 1966 and is the oldest English language library in Mexico. Ten years ago members of this library began a program called Libros Para Pueblos in an effort to bring the joy of reading to children in primary grades in the remote villages surrounding Oaxaca. Today there are 41 libraries in remote villages. We went to visit two of them yesterday.

Our group of eight gathered at the OLL at 9 where we were met by three volunteers and a van. Our first destination was the library at San Lucas Tlanichico. The small village is outside of the market town of Zaachila. Emblazened over the door in both Spanish and Zapotec is the motto of their library .... Casa del Saber ... and yuu nan ... house of knowledge.I was unprepared for what happened upon our arrival. The local school emptied out and and each child came and shook our hands and went into the library and chose a book to read to us. We spent the next forty minutes listening to these young readers read to us. I let the pictures speak.About a 15 minute drive from San Lucas is the school that serves children living in more remote parts of the foothills. The school is named Margarita Maza de Juarez and even this short distance we could see the difference the added remoteness made in the opportunities for these children. If a child who attends this school wants to attend secondaria, there would be a 2 hour bus trip that costs $2 each way. That cost is prohibitive.

We were greeted by the principal and the children and the women who are the officers of the PTA. Again the children were eager to read us their favorite books, and before we left asked us to send them more. We have decided to sponsor a library located in San Pedro El Alto. Like this school we visited, San Pedro El Alto serves remote mountain villages. Interested in how Libros Para Pueblos works? Click here.

The Montezuma Cypress Tree at Tule

2011-02-23T16:44:00.004+01:00

Two Thousand Years Old. 1500 feet wide. Over 635,ooo Tons.

This tree outside of Oaxaca is quite the specimen. Apparently it tapped into an underground spring which accounts for its mass and longevity. When arborists realized a few years ago that it had tapped out its water source, they began feeding it.

Music in Oaxaca

2011-02-21T17:06:00.004+01:00

Yesterday afternoon we attended a jazz concert in the courtyard of the Casa Colonial. It was in the outdoor courtyard and the quartet shared the stage with drop in vocalists as well as doing Miles Davis and Charlie Parker numbers. It was delightful to sit in the late afternoon sun amid the buoganvilla draped courtyard listening to good music. On Saturday night we dropped in to Amarantos on the Zocolo and listened to the trio Tierra Sol y Luna. If you want musical accompaniment to go with the picture below click HERE. Pour yourself a margarita and close your eyes ...

The Woodcarvers of San Martin Tilcajete

2011-02-20T19:23:00.006+01:00

On the road home from Octolan we stopped in the village of San Martin Tilcajete at the studio of Jacobo and Maria Angeles. Jacobo took us through his studio and explained to us what goes into making a collector's quality carving.He started with the tree, the copal tree to be exact, giving us each a year old seedling to hold in our hands. Then he took us to the woodpile and showed us the difference between male and female tree wood. The female is softer and easier to carve. The male wood has a reddish color in its bark that is used as part of the natural coloring.The carver begins with a machete, chunking the wood into the form that he wants. The finer work is done with chisels and knives. The wood is left to dry for 6 months, and about half way through the drying process is dipped in gasoline to kill any termites.

The traditional ways of making pigment were explained to us. Using his hands as his palette, he began with traditional plant and animal pigments ... the powdered sap of the copal tree when mixed with honey becomes a rich brown. But if you add a little limestone to it, it becomes a rich black ... add baking soda and lime juice to to that and you have a rich yellow. There is a yellow ochre that comes from the fermented corn mold called huitlacoche ... and the reds, from the now familiar cochinella. It was quite the magic show.
Thoroughly dazzled we moved to the area where the painters were at work. There were some painters working on commercial pieces in acrylic. But there were also artists working with the natural paints on the collector pieces. Here is an example of a finished collector's quality piece from their gallery. You can see the intricate detail, and while this picture does not showcase the rich earth tones that I think make these pieces so attractive, it does highlight the intricate detail of the work.

The Traditions of Oaxaca

2011-02-20T14:55:00.004+01:00

Friday night after a long day on the road from Ocatlan we attended a dinner and dance performance in the great hall of the old Dominican convent. I will let the pictures speak.The final dance was the traditional dance of the region with the large feathered head dresses

On the road home from Ocotlan

2011-02-20T01:11:00.006+01:00

A short way out of town we stopped to visit the workshops of of the Aguilar sisters. These potters work in fanciful pottery images. While there I spied a pottery painter and asked if someone might paint something typical from the region on the side of my Tilley hat. The last time I did that was at a parasol festival outside of Chiang Mai. I was delighted with the result.

Ocatlan Market

2011-02-19T17:34:00.014+01:00

Today Ernesto, our driver here at the Casa Ollin, drove a group of us to the South to visit the Friday Market at Ocotlan. We arrived around 10 in the morning and the place was jumping. It is first and foremost a regional agricultural market. Blocks of the town are occupied by vendors selling produce from around the region.

dried fish

tomatillos and garlic and chicharron before and after

and, of course, the turkeys

Ocotlan is the home of the Oaxacan artist Rodolfo Morales. One of his murals of Oaxacan life fills the front entry of the municipal building

and there is a museum of his work in a restored convent adjacent to the town square.

Teotitlan and the En Via Microfinance Project

2011-02-18T05:21:00.039+01:00

Today may be the best thing we'll do while we are here. We signed up for a tour of the weavers in Teotitlan who are participating in a micro finance project sponsored by En Via. Actually it was not only weavers, but also a dress maker, a restaurant owner and a poultry vendor. The cost of the day is $50 US and all of the funds go directly into loans to be given out to entrepreneurial women in the village with whom we visited. Part of the agreement to participate in this program is that the women be willing to give two presentations to the En Via tourists about their work and what their loan will be used for. They receive their loan the following Tuesday and the Tuesday after that must begin to pay it back. The interest rate is zero percent.

Our first stop was at a restaurant in Teotitlan. The woman who made our lunch, Conception, explained that the money form her loan would be used to fix the leaky roof on her restaurant. This will be her third loan from En Via. Most of us ordered a local specialty called a tlayuda ... in this instance a sort of folded Mexican pizza. We pronounced Conception's tlyaudas the best in all of Oaxaca.After lunch we headed for the church in the center of the village. The Spaniards built the church on top of an old Zapotec pilgrimage site. Stones from the old Zapotec temple were used to build the church and are revealed in openings in the white stucco. The Zapotec design patterns of the rugs have their origin in these carvings.

It was here at the church that we met our next host, Eulalia, who guided our van up to her very small home in the hills above Teotitlan. Here in this small room this weaver lives and works. The huge wooden loom and spinning wheel take up most of the room in her home, but she made us feel cozy and welcome as she explained her craft to our group of 8. The dyes are all natural ... the brownish yellows from the skins of pomegranates, the brilliant reds from the cochinilla a parasitic worm of the prickly pear cactus. Eulalia explained to us that this was her third loan from En Via and that she would be using part of it to purchase chochinilla which is very expensive and part of it to purchase a water tank for her roof. Until recently she would have to carry her water up from the river, but now there is town water that runs in pipes along the street next to her house, but she must have a water tank to make it accessible to her home.All in all we visited the home of 6 women all in various stages of growing their businesses. We appreciated their hospitality and their warmth in welcoming us into their homes. Because of this extra margin of money, some women are able to pay for the uniforms to send their children to school, an option not open to them before. The money to fund these women comes directly from the money we paid for our tour.

Oaxaca Mexico

2011-02-18T04:59:00.004+01:00

We have settled in to the Casa Ollin and wasted no time in commencing the gustatorial part of the trip with a visit to Los Pacos where we tried 5 different kinds of mole that Oaxaca is famous for.
We then toured the Museo attached to the Santo Domingo Church. It is rich in regional history and filled with striking architectural arches.

A Perfect Ski Dayt

2010-03-13T16:16:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the perfect ending to this two week odyssey. After several days of skiing in treacherous foggy conditions, the high pressure moved in and we were rewarded with perfect conditions. We rewarded ourselves with a late lunch mid-mountain. There is nothing quite so the essence of western skiing than the smell of hamburgers being grilled fresh on the outdoor porch in the bright sun. I don't think it got out of the teens up there, but the sun made everything OK.

Is that Billy Kidd I See?

2010-03-11T16:52:00.001+01:00

Strawberry Park

2010-03-10T15:07:00.004+01:00

Yesterday we went to soak in the hot springs at Strawberry Park. It sits about a half hour outside of Steamboat next to a wild mountain stream. Even saw a caribou on the way in. I give the developers an A+ for building a place that fits so naturally into the environment. And developers is hardly the word to use here ... more like caretakers. It was in the low 30's when we arrived and we entered the sandy bottomed pools of 106 degree water. It was great to alternate between that and the 46 degree stream, and then to just lie in the bright sun and relax and take in nature.

Mountain Magic happened

2010-03-04T01:46:00.005+01:00

I'll admit it ... I am a sunny day skier. Flat light bums me out. Since I cannot see the terrain, I tense up and the skiing is a lot less fun. Second run of the day today was that kind of run and I was ready to throw in the towel and head back to rest my legs.

Then as we started down Buddy's Run, mountain magic happened. Somehow the gray cloud over us that was pouring down snow, gave way to sunshine and we were skiing in a magical sunlit snow shower. Suddenly all was in relief again ... I could see where I was going. My mood lifted and my skiing shot up a notch, and I was one with the mountain. My new skis ... now officially mine ... made turning effortless as I took in the wonder of gliding amid sunlit snowflakes.

Lovely

2010-03-03T17:00:00.004+01:00

Lovely, sunny day yesterday. It is hard to imagine WHAT the locals are talking about when they say "It's been a TERRIBLE year for snow." I cannot imagine anything more lovely than this.

Such a deal

2010-03-03T16:43:00.003+01:00

For two days I have been chewing up the mountain with a a demo pair of K2 Burnin' luvs. Hunter has been encouraging me to try others, but herein lies the essential difference between us. I KNOW when I like something. I do not need to try all the other skis on the rack if I already LIKE something. But this ski, new, lists for over $1,100. I may LIKE it, but not that much.

So when I read on the internet that a women was able to negotiate a price of $450 for a pair of year old demos I thought, why not try and buy these skis from the guy I am renting it from. I decided I would not pay more than $500.

So I marched down the hill to the ski rental place and approached the guy from whom we had rented them armed with my negotiation face.

"If you're willing to deal in cash, I'll sell them to you for $100." Whoo!! Whoo!! Such a deal !

And the new word for today is ... Lemurian

2010-03-02T15:40:00.006+01:00

During our first Gondola ride up yesterday I spied a Mom with her future Olympian on her back. She says the German built backpack is secure enough that it is easy to ski with her as part of you. The other man in the Gondola with us shared he was from Mt. Shasta and that got the Mom talking about a hike she had taken there a few years earlier. "hoped we might see some Lemurians!" she said with what I THOUGHT was a twinkle in her eye. Then the Californian went on at length about an encounter he had with a Lemurian when hiking there one summer.

By now Hunter and I are making eye contact ... Finally I interjected, "Is this how you Westerners play with unsuspecting Easterners before their first run of the day?" "Oh no!" the Mom protested earnestly. "You have heard of Atlantis, right?" I nodded. "Well these people were on a different land form in the Pacific and when it was submerged they went to live under Mt. Shasta."

We are not in Kansas any more, Toto.

Great day skiing. I tried out a pair of K2 "Burnin' Luvs". Great ski.

We came around the corner yesterday and found this group picnicking with a great view out over the valley floor.

Skiing Steamboat Springs

2010-03-01T16:33:00.002+01:00

As we awaited our connection in Dallas/ Ft. Worth yesterday I couldn't help but notice the pile of wheelchairs and disability service vehicles that were amassed at our gate. When the connector arrived from Steamboat Springs, all manner of disabled former skiers straggled out and sought the assistance of airport personnel.

Hate to see that.

But now we are here looking out on a snow covered mountain, and about ready to take advantage of our very first ski in ski out experience.

About ski in/ski out .... All of my adult life my ski lodging has been away from the mountain. Sometimes very far away from the mountain, like the many years we commuted in the early morning from Hanover, NH to Killington, VT with a bag full of sandwiches that we kept "under the clock" in the base lodge. Sometimes it meant hopping a bus in a ski town like Aspen or walking to the lifts from a condo in Telluride.

But today a new era is about to begin. As I type this I can see the famous Steamboat Gondola gliding past my window. All I have to do is walk across my driveway and hop on my skis ... no thundering boot noise in the lodge, no long walks from the parking lot, and perhaps most importantly, no more long waits in the lodge with a book while I wait for others to finish their day of skiing.

From Boulder to Birmingham

2010-01-02T02:02:00.006+01:00

Wynell and Ed took us on an excursion into the northern part of St. Clair County, Alabama today to a place called "Horse Pens 40" atop Chandler Mountain It is a collection of sandstone rock outcroppings that was used in ancient times by Native Americans to corral their horses. Back in the 60's it became a folk and bluegrass music venue that utilized the natural acoustics of the outdoor rock amphitheater to house weekend music festivals. It was here that a barefoot 16 year old Emmy Lou Harris mounted a stage made from an old door and made her music debut.As we started into the entrance to the "park" we spied what we thought were campers bearing overnight sleep cushions on their backs. What we learned is that they were boulderers, a subset of climbers who undertake short difficult climbs over "crash pad" so they can avoid serious injury. They were camped atop Chandler Mountain and had come from Michigan, New York, Connecticut and lots of other places to "boulder."

The Blue Danube

2009-12-27T13:32:00.002+01:00

Here is a compilation of video and stills from our recent trip to Central Europe.

The Infant of Prague

2009-11-18T23:05:00.004+01:00

Prague is a city flooded with Saints old and new. The walk across Charles Bridge is a Saint lovers paradise. Old friends like St. Anthony (still carrying my gradebook) and St. Christopher (still recognizable after years on my dashboard) are there as are new ones like St. John of Nepomuk. Now there's an interesting story. Apparently St. John was confessor to the Queen and when the King (Wencelaus ... apparently not the "good" one ...) ordered St. John to tell him what the Queen had confessed, he refused and was tossed into the river to drown. There is a little relief underneath his statue in brass that shows him being heaved over the bridge, and everyone touches it for good luck as they pass by. But the real homecoming for me, was when I saw my first Infant of Prague in a store window. I was flooded with memories from my childhood of receiving my first statue as a girl for my birthday. Never had a Barbie. Didn't need one when I had my Infant of Prague to dress up in its vestments.

Seriously I had not thought about this Infant of Prague for 50 years. I had never actually put Prague the city together with Prague of the Infant. So I decided to read up on it. And that is when I found "Ask Sister Mary Martha" the blog. What a blessed oasis she is.

And you can imagine my surprise when I looked up the going price for a set of vestments for the infant. Check it out.

Some Panoramics

2009-11-18T22:23:00.002+01:00

Old Town Square in Prague
Chesky Krumlov from the Castle

click to enlarge

The Dark Side of Velvet

2009-11-18T14:02:00.006+01:00

This statue of Franz Kafka in a hidden corner of Prague's Stare Mesto always collects a few puzzled tourists. It is a reminder that the Central European mindset is much more comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. Life is not as it seems. Shifting ground ... not certainty ... is what we stand on. So as an American in Prague on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, I was happy to have the opportunity to have some oral histories made available to me to help me see below the surface of the current mood of celebrating the triumph of liberty over totalitarianism. The Memory of a Nation http://www.pametnaroda.cz is an extensive collection of memories of individuals who lived through and were buffeted by the totalitarianism and fascism of the 20th century. Many of these stories have been mounted on huge poster boards throughout Prague. I found myself sucked into these narratives trying to understand better the complicated business of what it meant to be Czech in the 20th century. For example, the story of this man, A Jewish professor of history in Prague, who passed as a Gentile during the war, shows many layers of Czech life in the last century. He moved boldly among German soldiers during the war saying "It is always darkest just beneath the candle's flame," but was betrayed in the late days of the War and survived several concentration camps. In the post war years he supported the dissidents in 1968 and had his teaching job taken from him. He was reinstated to that post after 1989. Or the story of this man, Olbram Zoubek, the sculptor, who made the death mask of Jan Palach before he died in the hospital following his self immolation Wencheslas Square in 1969. This death mask was only put on display AFTER the 1989 Velvet Revolution. There were also stories of those on the other side ... the members of the Czech Army who enforced the Soviet takeover of their country. Often their stories began in the disputed regions of Czechoslovakia, Carpathian Ruthenia, that were given over to the Hungarians in the early days of WW II. Thinking that retreat in the USSR would allow them more safety, they migrated to Ukraine only to find themselves thrown into Soviet work camps. When they were offered freedom by joining the Czech Army on the Allied side in the middle of the war, they accepted and found themsleves part of the Soviet apparatus after the war.

And even with all of these stories laid out to read, there is no way as an outsider to know what the Czechs themselves carry within them of those conflicted times. Many of the MOST idealistic are now the most disheartened and disilluioned. Life is not what it seems.

As we walk across the Charles Bridge later in the week I see a sign "Kafka Museum Open" Perhaps it is closed.

Budapest

2009-11-12T17:23:00.004+01:00

We arrived in the Hungarian Capital last Saturday morning. Our first stop was the Covered Market. I was struck by the diminutive size of their garlic and by the presence of tete de veau in the meat counters. But generally speaking food is food. I did pick up an important tip for cooking with paprika. The paprika must be melded with the oil you are cooking with ... you cannot add it as a simple seasoning at the end.

Pest is best seen from the hills of Buda and Buda best seen from the shores of Pest. The Parliament building is simply stunning especially at night. Most of our time in the city it rained, but the rain could not dampen the impression of this Baroque wonder of a city. After spending so much time in cities with medieval street patterns I was not prepared for the wide avenues and generous squares. I was particularly taken by the baroque interiors of the churches. This is the Church of St. Stephen the Hungarian king (St. Istvan) who brought the country to Christianity at the turn of the last millenium ... 1038 was it? The interior pictures I have are on my flip video unfortunately, so I will include them later. But I must say the thrill of finding a new saint was outdone by the thrill of encountering a new highpoint in Catholic reliquary.

Normally if a church is lucky enough to have a relic from a saint, it is the mere splinter of the saint's bone. Not so with St. Istvan. For him we have an ENTIRE RIGHT HAND. (The Holy Right as it is referred to) You think I'm kidding?

Seeing to remember

2009-11-07T07:35:00.006+01:00

I am a little frustrated in these postings because the pictures are not as easy to post as they should be. So I will post pictures a little later when things are not so slow. For now let me just say a few words about my impressions. Each town we have stopped at has an almost iconic look to it. The round towers of the castle at Nurmberg ... the Old Stone Bridge spanning the Danube at Regensburg with the spires of St. Peter's in the background ...the onion hats on the steeples in Cesky Krumlov ... a cup of Viennese coffee. And as I had wanted to paint a watercolor of each of these stops, I have been looking carefully each day for that perfect sketch ... the one that says "This is Vienna !!!" "This is Regensberg !!!"

So the looking with an eye to remembering on paper has been an added dimension to this trip. And now that we are leaving the river Danube and moving into the cities of Budapest and then Prague, I think my eye will turn to smaller things to capture. It is hard to imagine that in the past if one wanted to remember where they had been, the paint set was all they had. I have watched many travelers ont his trip using video cameras ALL THE TIME and talking into them to name the things they are seeing.

It reminds me of the practice of a woman in a book I am reading, who sends herself postcards from places she has visited. Only on these postcards she writes about the feeling she is having in the excitement of the new place .... about the way the place renews her. I like that.

Nuremberg

2009-11-03T13:50:00.018+01:00

90% destroyed by Allied forces in WWII, the old part of Nuremburg was faithfully restored to its medieval footprint in the years following the war. The town feels old even if it technically is not. We learned very early in our stay in Nurmeberg that these people, though technically Bavarian, consider themselves Franconian. Red and white Frankische colors, not the blue and white of Bavaria, dominate the landscape. We tasted some of the local cuisine … round potato dumplings and the walkaway wurst bun of three sausages.

The skyline is dominated by the spires of Saint Sebaldus church. Always in the market for a new Saint, I found it hard to get the straight skinny on St. Sebaldus. Some legends have him as a hermit in the nearby Reichswald, others as a student in Paris who married a French princess only to abandon her on their wedding night to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Moreover his DOB varies by centuries ... how can this be, I wonder.

I think this is a back shelf saint.

[note: it has been 2 days trying to post this while shipboard ... the pictures may have to wait for a broader band of internet.]

Soon to follow Regensberg ... Passau ... Chesky Krumlov ... Linz ... Melk and tonight Vienna.

Vienna - Budapest - Prague

2009-10-30T23:47:00.003+01:00

I do not know whether I will be able to post or not ... but here is a picture of our travel plans. We depart tonight for Nuremburg, Germany where we will board a river boat to cruise down the Danube. We arrive in Budapest the following SUnday and then take a train to Prague mid-week. I am sure there will be tales to tell.

A Wrap Up

2009-03-11T13:35:00.006+01:00

click to enlarge

Our last day of skiing at Breckenridge was more than a week ago. It was a WARM sunny day ... truly a perfect send off that left us wanting more. As you can see from the final tally below, we did NOT ski as relentlessly as we might have over the month. I tried to time my days off with the weather, choosing warm sunny days over cold snowy ones. Hunter went out in all conditions and made the most of it in conditions I would have abandoned after one run.

The other experiment in this journey was our equipment package. We both have our own boots. Hunter had an old pair of bright pink Lange's refitted two seasons ago up in Stowe and I graduated that same season from a pair of vice grip Saloman's (the ones that buckle from behind?) to a sweet pair of Nordicas that after a week start to feel like bedroom slippers. But we do not have new skis. So we arrranged for a season;s rental arrangement. Hunter bought a "performance demo" package and I a "sport" package. This meant that we could try as many different kinds of skis the shop had within the package we had bought. In the end Hunter settled on a pair of Voekl AC 30's and I was very happy with my Saloman X-wings. Hunter was so happy, in fact, that he came home and bought a pair.

What I loved about this package was that you could try different skis in different conditions at different lengths and learn some thing about what suited you best. While I am not THAT sensitive to different skis, Hunter learned enough to be able to decide what to buy. AND because of the package, we did not have to worry about returning the skis on days we chose to rest.

So here are the final stats

Column1	DAYS	RUNS	Cost per day	Cost per run
Hunter	22	152	$ 26.32	$ 3.81
Leslie	18	86	$ 32.17	$ 6.73

Had we purchased the tickets full price each day, my cost perday would have been $90 perday and Hunter's $80.50 perday.

And as for the ski rental ... my price with the pass was $13 per day and Hunter's $16.50.

What he skied

2009-03-01T05:14:00.004+01:00

Nearing the End

2009-03-01T04:59:00.006+01:00

So today, our next to last day, Hunter ventured over to Imperial Lift and landed at the top of the highest lift in North America.

Having learned that this was the highest lift in North America, I HAD to know where THE highest lift was. Who would have thought BOLIVIA? For a list, check here.

And SOME want to go even higher !!!

New Terrain

2009-02-25T04:39:00.001+01:00

Mardi Gras on the Mountain

2009-02-25T02:01:00.000+01:00

Epic Proportions Update

2009-02-25T01:55:00.002+01:00

So at the end of week three, here are the stats

Column1	DAYS	RUNS	Cost per day	Cost per run
Hunter	16	118	$ 36.19	$ 4.91
Leslie	14	69	$ 41.36	$ 8.39

Had we been purchasing at the window each day out cost per day would be

Leslie: $89.57
Hunter: $79.88

And the longer we ski the reater the difference will become.

Panoramic to the South

2009-02-23T17:57:00.003+01:00

click to enlarge

Panoramic to the North

2009-02-23T17:44:00.003+01:00

click to enlarge

Returning to a theme

2009-02-23T16:04:00.005+01:00

It seems that the chatter in my head has stilled. At the beginning of the trip it was ... "Oh I can barely breathe up here, HOW am I supposed to ski?" OR "My thighs are burning, my boots are too tight (too lose)" AND "Maybe later in the trip this will feel better and I will be able to enjoy it more."

Well that day is officially here. Skiing is a natural form of locomotion for me now. My boots feel like bedroom slippers. I love moving around the world this way in all this breathtaking scenery. So I am "in the moment" more now than I was when I started. It is a wonderful way to be. I suppose the real challenge is to be able to be in the moment even when I am not enjoying the moment. But for now I am happy to be at the place that allows for maximum ease out thereon the slopes.

Sunshine in China Bowl

2009-02-21T02:48:00.002+01:00

click to enlarge

Doing what comes naturally

2009-02-21T02:03:00.008+01:00

I don't know what it is a about skiing at Vail, but I always get a high from skiing there. Several factors could come into play. One is I usually rest a day before I go there. Second, we choose a day we know will be bright and sunny. And maybe, just maybe the lower altitude makes a difference. But there is some thing else ... and I think it has to do with Vail's size. When I am at Vail I feel as though I am skiing TO somewhere. "Let's ski over to mid Vail for lunch" ... "Let's ski over to China bowl and enjoy the sunshine." On other mountains I feel as though I am just skiing runs. Moreover, Vail is well designed enough that the moving across the mountain does not always involve the boring catwalks that other mountains employ.

So we arrived early this morning ... me with fresh legs, and the sun was shining ... It was just spectacular ... AGAIN. We were in China Bowl in bright sun ... and on our second run went into the trees and did some glade skiing. It was all pretty wonderful ... until ...

... the clouds came in and the wind blew up ... but the first part was really pretty wonderful. And I noticed something new out there today. This is going to be a little hard to describe, so bear with me. But I had this feeling on my skis today that I wasn't so much skiing as I was engaging in a natural form of locomotion. I am no longer working at skiing ... I am simply moving around on skis. Does that make sense? It is maybe like the way a bird feels when it naturally turns its body to take advantage of the wind circling at high levels ... only instead of the wind I am turning my body to take advantage of gravity in a natural way without really thinking about it.

So maybe this feeling is what I came here for?

Midway

2009-02-17T14:44:00.006+01:00

So we have passed the midway point in this odyssey ... a few observations. First there are the rhythms of daily life. We have been pretty lazy in our mornings. We are usually skiing between 11 and 12. It is nice to spend at least part of each day in the out of doors looking at some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. My day on the slopes usually though not always ends before Hunter's, and I either go home and he takes the bus or I wait at the bottom for him to get those last few runs out of his system. Whenever it ends for me, I get home and immediately hop in a hot shower and take a nap while Hunter does his work. The time between 4 & 6 has been very productive for him. Then it's dinner by 7 and in bed before 9. We have been sleeping 9 -10 hours a night.

Then there is our skiing. We took a lesson mid-week last week and have another one scheduled tomorrow. The sticker price on these lessons was pretty much shock and awe. We mentioned this to a waitress in Dillon one night and she grinned and said she was a ski instructor at A-Basin and would happily take us on. A-Basin chargers a quarter the price for a private lesson than the other areas. So we had an excellent two hour lesson together last week on fundamentals. We then worked out that we would meet her privately at a different mountain on her day off and each work with her privately for 2 hours.

I must say this work on fundamentals has done me tremendous good. Much of the work I needed to do was in upper body work ... all about staying pointed downhill. She gave us a few simple images that really made a difference. We even did a little work in the bumps and the translation of the fundamentals into the bumps made a real difference ... but by then my legs were rubber bands.

Here is a short clip of Hunter.

Epic Proportions Update

2009-02-14T18:18:00.002+01:00

Here is an update on the ever increasing value of our Epic Pass.

Column1	DAYS	RUNS	Cost per day	Cost per run
Hunter	9	71	$ 64.33	$ 8.15
Leslie	9	43	$ 64.33	$ 13.47

Downtown Frisco

2009-02-14T15:18:00.006+01:00

Main Street Frisco, CO today

Main Street Frisco 1890

We took a day off from skiing last Saturday and puttered around the town of Frisco. There is a little historical park off Main Street that has become a collection site for some of the town's historic properties. First thing that strikes a New Englander is how YOUNG this town is. Folks were showing up here just about the time the Civil War was heating up. Here are some pictures of the old town Jail.But I was intrigued by this little cottage built in 1931 by the Niemoth family from Denver. It seems that as the area began losing population in post WWI era, the local dairy farmer out at Bill's Ranch came up with a scheme to lure population back to Frisco from the big cities like Denver. He offered families free land on which to build their summer cottages if they would in turn buy milk from his dairy cows. Apparently his plan to bring the market to the milk instead of the milk to the market worked ... for awhile anyway.And I do not wish to be a history geek here, but I was really taken with this ballot from 1896. It seems EVERY party wanted a piece of William Jennings Bryan that year. I guess if you wanted to know the power of free silver in the politics of the day, Frisco, CO was as good a perch as any to view it from.(Note: 6 of the parties on this ballot claimed William Jennings Bryan as their candidate in 1896.)

Spectacular Day Skiing

2009-02-13T15:45:00.007+01:00

Yesterday was simply majestic. We started out a little after 8:30 under a bright sunny sky. The views along Vail Pass were in themselves breathtaking.

We had a little trouble negotiating the free parking at Vail. Instead of being one big lot on the outskirts of town it is a warren of little 6 or 18 space spots sprinkled along the frontage road very vaguely marked. So after wasting 30 minutes trying to find one that had space we surrendered to the pay parking ($25/day OUCH!) at Lionshead.

But it is the best $25 for a day of entertainment that I have ever spent. Vail takes alot of grief out here (especially in Summit County) for being too big too crowded just too too. But all that said, it is still ... on a sunny day ... the most fun place to ski I can imagine. With 5,000+ acres of skiable terrain and 193 runs there is little reason to spend any time complaining.

I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice it to say it was a PERFECT day of skiing.

looking up Showboat from the bottom of Game Creek BowlAnd some panoramic pics too!!Mid Vail at lunch time (click to enlarge)

Top of Wildwood looking over BluSky Basin

A little hint about panoramics. If you have not tried it yet, go to Autostitch and download their free tool. It is amazing.

Snow Dance

2009-02-12T15:09:00.004+01:00

Statement as of 4:30 AM MST on February 12, 2009

... Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
noon MST Friday...

The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has issued a
Winter Weather Advisory for snow... which is in effect from 6 PM
this evening to noon MST Friday.

A strong... fast moving Pacific storm will sweep across the region
tonight bringing widespread snow. Moisture wrapped around the
systems center will continue to bring snowfall into Friday. Total
accumulations from this storm are expected to range from 5 to 10
inches by midday Friday... with locally higher amounts on exposed
west and northwest facing slopes.

So with this in mind we are making a quick dash over Vail Pass this morning to get some skiing in before they close the pass. Whooo Whooo.

Skier's Stew

2009-02-09T01:28:00.004+01:00

I owe this recipe to my friend Wynell from whose cookbook I copied it one morning. I am renaming it Skier's Stew because it is a slow cooking stew that can be popped in the oven as you go out the door and will slow cook for as long as six hours (even longer I suspect) without drying out.Now I know a crockpot might also seem like a good alternative, but I have to tell you, it is just not the same in flavor or texture. Sadly our condo has neither a crockpot nor a heavy duty casserole suitable for the task. So we found this nice oval cast iron pot at a nearby Walmart.There are three unusual ingredients in this dish that I did not want to have to buy while I was here. So I packed a little bag of tapioca and bottled some of my own Worcestershire and brought it with me. The sugar I purloined form a nearby Starbucks.Next I prepared the vegetables and set them aside.

Then to the bottom of the cast iron casserole I added 2 1/2 pounds of stew beef. No flouring, no browning ... just the raw stew meat, and I tossed it with generous amounts of salt and pepper. Over that I placed the veggies. Over that I poured the canned chopped tomatoes. Then I filled the can with water and added some of that water to the sugar, tapioca and Worcestershire mixture and mixed it up. I added this slurry to the sides of the casserole so that it would mingle with the juices deeper in the stew (as opposed to just pouring it on top).Next I covered it with a piece of aluminum foil and then secured the lid tightly over the seal.

Put it in the oven and set the oven for 275 degrees. It will be done in 5 hours but can stay in longer. If you think your day on the slopes is going to be longer than six hours you might add an extra 1/2 can of water and set the oven to 250 or 225.

The BEST part is coming in the door and smelling this divine creation filling your nostrils.

SKIER'S STEW

2 ½ lbs stew beef
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups carrots
2 onions chopped
4 medium potatoes
1 14 oz can seasoned tomatoes + 1 can of water
1 TBS Worcestershire
1 TBS sugar
2 TBS Tapioca

Meat in bottom of Creuset or similar cast iron pot. Salt and Pepper toss. Cover with vegetables. Make a paste of W, S, and T with water and drip along the edges. Add the water. Cover tightly with foil then put on lid. Bake at 275 for 5+ hours. Do not lift lid.

The morning commute

2009-02-08T14:37:00.002+01:00

Schoolbus

2009-02-08T14:35:00.001+01:00

What you see when you look down

2009-02-08T14:33:00.002+01:00

East vs. West

2009-02-08T14:23:00.005+01:00

My experience as a New England skier is filled with memories that are mostly Spartan in nature. It was not a question of IF it was icy ... the question was HOW icy was it? And even what color is the ice ... is it blue yet? The cold was a wet cold that would permeate every layer of clothing you owned, and on days when it was clear and dry it was also guaranteed to be windy ... seriously windy.

But here in the West ...well it is another story. When you hear people talk about ice what they MEAN is crust. And the weather? "seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day" about sums it up. In fact most of your day is conducted out of doors. You put your boots on outside ... you eat lunch outside ... and at the end of the day, you take your boots off outside. When you take a break in New England, you are headed INside. You move your frostbitten self, a bit like a slow moving robot, toward WARMTH.

And so that brings me to the question, why does all the snow STAY here? I mean really ... in New England it is MISERABLE all the time and still the snow melts. But not here ... it has not snowed an inch since we arrived and still I see no degradation on the slopes. How can this be?

And I guess the answer is altitude. They don't call this Summit County for nothing. Daily life is conducted at 9,000 feet (2,740 m) and the skiing happens as high as 12,000 feet. (3,657 m)

But before I dump totally on my homeland, there is a custom we have in New England that does not exist here and I miss it. It is the custom of changing your boots in the lodge before you go out skiing for the day. A typical New England ski lodge has a series of wooden pegs on the walls on which you hang your backpack full of sandwiches and little wooden cubbies into which you put your footwear while you ski. Not so here. Everyone arrives in their boots ... there is no base lodge ... there ARE some pay lockers which nobody uses ...it is all a bit strange.

So we were pleasantly surprised yesterday when we went to Arapaho Basin for the first time to find a little A-framed base lodge and to see wooden pegs on the walls and many folks putting on their boots in the lodge. I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that A-Basin is the Mad River of the West. It relies on a loyal local clientele who wouldn't be caught dead in those boutique ski areas to the west. Nestled up against the wall of the continental divide, A- Basin sits in a cirque of mountains and is generously supplied with snow by virtue of her altitude. We took 2 runs off the top 12, 472 feet ( 3, 801 m) amid some serious wind.More to come on Arapaho Basin ... we return there Tuesday for a lesson.

Epic Proportions

2009-02-08T02:30:00.005+01:00

Now THIS entry is not at all about being in the moment ... not at all about enjoying each moment for what it has to offer. Instead, THIS entry is about the crass economics of skiing.

Let me say that skiing is an expensive sport. It is especially expensive when you do it as most of us do, one week at a time. But this month's residence in Colorado has given us the chance to take advantage of the coveted Epic Ski Pass (which we purchased before 11/15/08). This pass gives you unlimited access to 5 nearby ski areas. Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Arapaho Basin and Keystone.

So we have been keeping a little tally of our daily skiing and dividing it into the price of our Epic Pass. The more we ski, the more value we gain from our little ski pass.

Here is our total at the end of week #1

	DAYS	RUNS	Cost per day	Cost per run
Hunter	5	36	$ 115.80	$ 16.08
Leslie	5	22	$ 115.80	$ 26.32

Belly Button - Breathe

2009-02-05T15:40:00.004+01:00

The weather here has been brilliant ...warm enough to sit outdoors and eat a picnic lunch at the base and cool enough to want to zip up your down parka at the top of the lift. The altitude is a factor in these early days. Summit County is high even in your HOUSE. Frisco, where we arer staying is at 9,000 feet. And at the top of the mountain you are at 10,000 feet plus. So Hunter has come up with a new skiing mantra. Those of you who remember the book "The Inner Game of Tennis" from the 70's will recall the mantra "bounce hit" designed to take you out of an analytical mode about your game and put you in a "flow" mode. Well we have one called "belly button-breathe." You imagine a little cord from your belly button to the tip of your skis. You stay focused on THAT while you make your turns and in between you breathe deeply. Belly button - breathe .... belly button - breathe.

And you need all the oxygen you can muster to feed these screaming thigh muscles. First run is always a nice one. Second run is hard ... muscles tighten up ... breathing is harder. Then third run is a charm. Make it to the third run and you are enjoying things. Then it is just a matter of how long your legs will last. Today promises to be another warm and sunny one. Then the clouds and snow will visit for a stretch.

Lost and Found

2009-02-05T15:36:00.002+01:00

All over the mountain there are hospitality people here to answer your every question. It is almost a little invasive sometimes. Such was the case when Hunter was walking by the Lost and Found Hut the other day and wondered "Have I lost anything?" At that moment a uniformed gentleman asked "May I help you sir?" And Hunter replied, "Yeah, I think I lost my Mojo."

Frisco

2009-02-03T18:49:00.007+01:00

You know how you have a dream in your thirties … a dream about having more freedom to do the things you love … well one of OUR dreams has always been to live in ski country for a season. We would be free to only go out on sunny days .. rest when we were tired ... and really get GOOD as a skier.

Well IF that dream is to be fulfilled, then it better begin this season. So that is why I am writing this from Summit County Colorado. We have rented a condo in Frisco for the month of February and are in the beginning stages of the 2009 ski-a-thon.

In trying to think of an angle for this journal I realized that one thing that I do LOTS in life and maybe even more on ski trips is look ahead to the NEXT day … the NEXT run … instead of being in the moment . So I thought it might be good to take as my focus the Zen of such an experience. Perhaps this will be as boring as slush. But I think by reflecting on the times when it is easy and the times when it is hard to be in the moment, I might … well do just that reflect on that and what it teaches. William Least Heat Moon on skis?

So let’s place us in time and space … we are in a little one bedroom condo about 8 blocks from Main Street in Frisco. We have a season’s pass to 5 areas Breckenridge, A-Basin, Keystone, Vail and Beaver Creek. We started out yesterday at Breck which has a reputation as an intermediate mountain … good place to warm up on. It was on the way to the parking lot that I first caught myself thinking “God, we have been on the move since 7:45 yesterday morning and I STILL haven’t taken a run … can’t we hurry up and get there?”

Then I looked out at the peaks that make the Breckenridge ridge and realized THAT was something I should be savoring. It was then that I came up with this way of thinking about the trip. And since I am only a beginner at such things … since not EVERY moment is one I live in fully… here is a rundown of the few things I really did savor as they were happening yesterday.

#1 the first run … it was sunny ... the snow was perfect … the pitch of the slope allowed me to get right into my rhythm … and my K2 Apache demo skis … were making me look LOTS better than I am.

#2 the conversation on the lift with a woman from Annapolis who was a gardener and a painter … my age … and only 4 months out of knee replacement surgery.

#3 taking a hot shower when I got home and just feeling the HOT seep into my bones

#4 my first sip of “medicinal” scotch before dinner

Sadly the rest of the day was about tired legs, losing my breath because of the altitude and thinking NOT about this moment but rather about how much better this will all feel in 2 weeks.

Random photos from the trip

2008-05-15T16:43:00.003+01:00

Haarlem

Zuiderzee Museum

Delft

Bruges

Lille

Biggleswad

2008-04-26T14:14:00.002+01:00

So we are driving through the Belgian countryside from Brussels to Bruges when I start vocalizing a litany of New England town names I can see on the map of England. Peterborough, Boston, Scituate, Ipswitch, Yarmouth, Bourne, Middleborough and Mansfield ... when I stumble over the town of Biggleswad.

Boy, did we luck out onTHAT one. Who would want to play for the Biggleswad Bruins I ask you?

Munstertal

2008-04-07T19:28:00.001+01:00

They tell us (they being the locals) that this area im Breisgau is the warmest part of Germany, but today’s weather did not convince us. We snow was falling as we headed up the Munstertal toward the mountains of the Schwartzwald. Just outside of the town of Munstertal we saw the glorious former Benedictine Abbey built on the site of the grave of Saint Trudpert.

SAINT TRUDPERT … now that one had me scratching my head. Not since my encounter with St. Charles Borommee in Paris last year had I been stumped by a Saint’s name. Well it turns out Trudpert’s story is a little foggy, but it seems he was a Celtic monk who ran a mission here in near Munstertal in the seventh century. But we are not sure WHEN he lived here, or WHAT his mission was or IF it was successful. We do know that he died on April 26 and that date is commemorated in a local celebration.

“Der Freidhof musst erweitert warden.”

2008-04-07T14:01:00.003+01:00

The coffee in Germany is REALLY good. After drinking at least 5 cups of it this morning we were ready to explore our new village. Lots of history here in Staufen. Apparently it was here, in our very hotel actually, that Dr. Faustus had come in the Middle Ages to apply his “knowledge” of alchemy on behalf of the citizens of Staufen who had fallen into debt. This “deal with the devil” went on to appear at least 25 times in German literature, the most famous of which was the Goethe tale.

As we strolled around the village, we came upon historic markers with photographs from WWII. Here is a picture from around the corner of where we are staying.

February 8, 1945

April 6, 2008

It felt a bit like making the Stations of the Cross as we read story after story of the dark days in early February 1945 as the Allies rained bombs on this town. The living would emerge in the night time and gather in the cemeteries to bury the dead. Soon the cemeteries had to be enlarged.

But all was festive this afternoon during the afternoon street fair. There was a full band set up in front of the Rathaus.

Hunter treated me to my first Curry Wurst which he remembers fondly from years ago. (Quite frankly, it is basically a hot dog in ketchup with curry sprinkled on top … a little strange, but I played along) The fountains in town had not been turned on for the summer season yet, so they set up bars in the middle of the fountains and you would just belly up to the edge of the fountain for your taste of local wine. (Now this IS a good idea …)

The Hotel That Was Not There.

2008-04-07T13:54:00.004+01:00

Several things put us off or schedule yesterday afternoon. We had hoped to make the drive from Charles de Gaulle to Freiburg im Breisgau in about 4 hours arriving no later than 5. BUT, but, but … we had to learn how to use the GPS ( a total mystery ) …. How to start our keyless entry rental car (unexpected total mystery) … AND we had to leave the A4 in Rheims to do a drive by of the cathedral (which was unexpectedly HUGE) und so weiter, und so weiter, und so weiter. So that when we arrived in Freiburg, it was pitch dark and raining steadily. BUT we had our trusty GPS and once we entered the address “8 Rathausgasse” we landed in our location in the pedestrian zone of the Altstadt. But WHERE was the hotel? Not there.

I had only slept two hours on the flight over and by the time we arrived in front of the hotel that was not there, I had been up for 34 hours straight. Many thanks to the German woman who looked at our paper work and informed us that in fact we were at the right address, but in the wrong town. We had a hotel in the town of Staufen im Breisgau NOT Freiburg im Breisgau. I was only getting the loose gist of this conversation between her and Hunter most of which was being communicated to me by the deep disappointment on Hunter’s face. He knew he had a sleepless time bomb on his hands. I could not wait for his translation. In desperation I heard myself say to the woman, “wieviel kilometer, bitte?”

So back into the dark and stormy night we went, and a half hour later landed in the charming village of Staufen im Breisgau. We found our way into the hotel restaurant hungry and exhausted at 10 pm and found the crowd was just warming up to the evening. I lifted a dry Reisling to Hunter’s local draft Furstenberg and we settled in to a delicious meal . After dinner, as the clock approached midnight we wandered out into the square to sounds of a private party singing “Wundabar” through the open window of the restaurant. Alles gemutlich !!

Headed Home

2008-01-30T19:32:00.001+01:00

The longtail boat was waiting for us to take us to the taxi. The sun shone brightly on the karsts surrounding the beach at Railai. It was the beginning of the journey home.

Typical Thai Meal

2008-01-30T13:20:00.000+01:00

One of the highlights of our stay in Railai Beach was the meal cooked for us by the local cook. Noy negotiated a veritable FEAST of southern Thai dishes with her the day before. By noon the next day she had returned by boat with the fresh, fresh fish and veggies. From noon until 2:30 she was busy getting things all set up for our 7:30 PM meal.

First there was the soup Tom Yam Talay that was chock full of tasty shrimp and squid. I had eaten a Tom Yam with pork in it in Luang Prabang ... but Jim told me it was a pale imitation of the Tom Yam I would find in Southern Thailand. He was right. The cook did hold off on the spices for my sake. We each had little bowls and ceramic spoons and Noy served us out of the communal bowl. It was a very traditional serving.

Also at the table was a Pak Bung Fai Daeng. It is a stir fried version of the fresh water morning glory blossoms that I have come to love. This one was made particularly special by the addition of fermented soy beans. Outstanding!

There was also an "experiemental" dish for western tastes: Gaeng Tai Pla. It is curried fish innards and I have to admit it was tasty ! Very rich but very tasty. I think that like sausage, Gaeng Tai Pla isn't something you should watch being prepared.

And finally Cow Phad Poo was the crab fried rice. The cook said the secret was to have a very very hot wok into which to toss the fresh crabmeat and that our stove was not up to the task.

Thank-you Jim, Fah, Chow and Noy for arranging this wonderfully authentic taste of Thailand.

A Tribute to Street Food

2008-01-28T02:49:00.000+01:00

Knock on wood I have not had one bad encounter with street food here in Thailand or in Laos. While I haven't tried everything pictured below, I have sampled many wonderful soups and tibits.

a northern Thai sort of dim sum

Chiang Mai Sausages

some kind of green food drying in Luang Prabang a soup stand in Chiang Mai
ANOTHER soup stand in Luang Prabang
and its menu
banana and chocolate roti

green lipped mussels
fried bananas
coconut
soup stand

at first I though they were drumsticks ... ummm try a little lower onthe birddon't ask ... don't tell

Southern Thailand

2008-01-26T09:01:00.000+01:00

It is my first morning in Krabi. A gentle sea breeze is lifting from the water. Our little cove in Railai is dwarfed by sheer mountain cliffs. We arrived by boat well after 10 pm last night and the beach was awash in the light of the full moon and these cliffs had the feel of romantic sentinels. Now in the light of day I am wondering what do you do when the tsunami hits here. I find a little plastic covered set of instructions hanging from a peg in the kitchen on how to find the way to higher ground. Semper paratus

a different kind of Zen

No monks in THIS village. This is all about tourism. Our home here is a three bedroom house open to the elements. There is a center living and eating area and then each bedroom is off in its own separate wing each with its own wrap around deck. We only have electricity from 6 at night to 6 in the morning.

The long tail boat in which we arrived was an experience. There was no dock and you had to wade out into the water and hoist yourself over the gunnels. It was a wonderful start to this beach adventure.

Turning toward the morning

2008-01-25T10:30:00.000+01:00

The morning fog and the chill off the water created a mood of contemplation. We were headed up river on the Mekong, and I was thinking about how each step of this trip has been a journey deeper and deeper into strange territory. From the familiarity of Sydney, to the outback and then the rain forest and the Great Barrier Reef … then to the rural world of New Zealand … then to the bustle and strangeness of Bangkok … the northern Thai feel of Chiang Mai … the time warp that is Luang Prabang … and now a journey on the Mekong into rural Laos. After today will be a denouement of sorts. This is as deep as it goes.

The three of us have hired a low slung river boat for the morning. There are high water markers on rock formations in the river, and I find it hard to imagine the sweep of this river in the rainy season. The crops are planted in this rich alluvial soil once the river has receded. I see beans and corn that look like early to mid July by MY agricultural calendar. There are bamboo fences up around some of the plots … perhaps the water buffalo are the deer of the Mekong?

There ARE rough dirt roads to these villages … many of them along the river have electricity (sad to report that TV is front and center in the Lao living room.) WE are dropped in a village said to be known for its textiles. I go off in search of a craftsman … a loom … some evidence that these lovely silks are made here. Finally in the back of the village I find a woman with a silk loom. She, however, is working on embroidery on a black background which she says will take her 2 months to complete.

This issue about where the silk comes from is hard to unravel. There is a shop called Ock Pop Tok in Luang Prabang where the owners focus on Laotian silk and return a fair price to the weavers. We bought several pieces there. But here in this village up the river I see the same sad tale of sales. Little girls who SHOULD be in school are greeting the boats with little key rings made in China. It is hard to walk past them. I found one little girl in the corner of the village Wat and I exchanged the dollar for her little key chain. Since I know that a government bureaucrat in Vientiane makes $40 dollars a month, I wonder what this “day’s pay” will mean to this little girl and her family. I would love to put a homing device on my greenback and see in whose hands it ends up. Next it is off to the cave of the Buddhas called Pak Ou. Steep concrete stairs have been built in to the side of the cliff. At the very top we see thousands of statues of the Buddha. Exactly why they are stored here is not clear … but once it started, thousands more came. There are seven poses that a Buddha figure can take. All of these are represented here in the cave. We descend the stairs and board our boat again. The swift downstream current delivers us back to Luang Prabang in no time. The journey back to the familiar has begun.

Temple Beauty Luang Prabang

2008-01-24T11:07:00.000+01:00

Luang Prabang

2008-01-23T03:56:00.000+01:00

Look to the left
Look to the right

This is a town that is changing rapidly. Simple village housing is being replaced by hotels and guest houses. Dirt alley ways are being paved with bricks. Street food is being replaced by tourist food (spaghetti bolognaise is always a bad sign). Come and see it now before it changes anymore.

Silk is everywhere. Very little of it is made in Laos. Most of it is from China. Nonetheless, it is lovely and it is very, very cheap. The night market is filled with acres of sameness. If you ask who made it, she will say “I did” … but she didn’t.

But this is not to suggest that the town lacks charm. It is a three street town. The main street runs down the middle of town. The other two run along one of two rivers : the Mekong or the Nahm. It is these side streets that capture the charm of life in Luang Prabang. Tonight we ate at a Lao restaurant along the Mekong … everything came to $16. It was basically a street place, but it was a romantic setting along the river with a wide selection of menu items. Earlier today we wandered along another side street and saw rack after rack of tortilla like items out to dry. We bought a bag and it turns out it is a kind of banana flat bread … lightly sweet and delicious.

Early this morning I awoke to witness one of the morning rituals of this town … the offering of food to the monks. On the whole I would say that the practice is still pretty pure. The faithful gather with fruits or vegetables or rice and when the monks approach with their bowls, they place the food into the bowl. There is a fair collection of tourists who come to watch and for the most part they are respectful. There was also a busload of tourists who came to make offerings to the monks. They were pretty loud as they were waiting, but when the time came, they were respectful of the moment.

I had done the same thing when I was in Chiang Mai. There the practice is more practical and less touristic. The monks carry their bowls mostly as a symbol, but basically they move among the market stalls well before sunrise and return to the Wat with plastic shopping bags filled with yesterday’s produce that has been offered by the market people. I did see one interaction where two women had brought food they had made at home, and they were kneeling in front of the monks as they made their offerings. Offering food to a monk is a way to “make merit.” When done in the proper spirit, it is an act of humility.

Khao soy

2008-01-23T01:57:00.000+01:00

Our last night in Chiang Mai we tasted THE typical dish of the north called khao soy. It is a noodle dish with a chicken stock base to which vegetables and spices are added. You make a choice from among various meat combinations, whether you want round or flat noodles and whether you prefer the thicker coconut milk curry broth (quite spicy) or the thinner Yunnanese style broth. It CAN be sloppy to eat, so as a precaution you are outfitted with a bib.

Thai Massage

2008-01-21T23:38:00.000+01:00

Our final day in Chiang Mai I had my first Thai massage. The name of the Spa was not some mysterious Asian name … no, it was called Let’s Relax. The woman who massaged me was very well trained, and I got to experience the “real thing.”

I changed into a pair of loose fitting pajamas and was asked to lie on my back. I learned fast that this was NOT about relaxation but about therapeutic pressure. The more you needed the therapy, the more uncomfortable it was. At the same time I did feel my ligaments and tendons becoming more supple and the pressure points were releasing SOMETHING because it hurt less as she applied pressure over time in the same spot.

In my mind’s eye I recalled the teaching panels at Wat Po in Bangkok and trusted that this was eastern wisdom tested over the ages.Despite the fact that you are fully clothed, this is the most intimate massage I have ever had. I felt as though she had crawled into bed with me as she used her body … the scissor pressure of her legs on mine … the weight of her body on my back … to address the pressure points on my body. There was one point when I was lying face down when she laid on top of me like a 100 pound praying mantis with her elbows planted deeply in my lower back and her ankles entwined with mine and just rested her weight there. Then the praying mantis started to move her elbows up my back.

This kind of massage, done by a well trained therapist, is not for the faint of heart. It hurt. It still hurts today. BUT I feel a sense of deep groundedness and release. I would do it again.

The King and I

2008-01-21T02:06:00.001+01:00

I don’t know exactly when it started. Maybe I found myself lingering over a 20 Baht note a little too lovingly. But suddenly I realized it … I have a crush on the King. There is something so vulnerable about him with his glasses and his shyness. And the reverse side of the 1,000 baht note where he is wearing the camera … it just makes me swoon.

But then I realized that I am not alone. Everyone loves the King. And, of course his image is everywhere. Every shop has a calendar with his picture. And if you ask people if you can take a picture of THEIR picture of the king they are THRILLED. SO I got all sorts of pictures.

The king when he was a monk

...and shall you be my new romance ... On the clear understanding that this kind of thing can happen ....

Still composing ...

2008-01-20T02:31:00.001+01:00

Some Pictoral Highlights from Saturday in Chiang Mai

2008-01-20T02:04:00.001+01:00

We went to the parasol festival outside of town yesterday.

A "parasol painter" asked if I would like a butterfly on my "Tilley" hat.

Chiang Mai

2008-01-20T01:49:00.000+01:00

Is that a chill I feel in the air this morning? Why yes it is! It is Saturday morning and I am looking out over the courtyard here at Baan Orapin and listening to a cacophony of exotic bird sounds. Baan Orapin is a quiet oasis amid the bustle of life here in Chiang Mai.

We arrived mid-afternoon yesterday and wandered along our street looking for some street food. We stumbled into a little outdoor shop ( a kweh teaoy)and had a beef noodle soup and a chicken specialty of the north with rice called cow mann gai There is a ritual as to how you eat this dish. First you clear your palate with a spoonful of broth that comes in a separate shallow bowl. Then you take another spoon and spread some of this special green salsa over the chicken. Then be sure you have the right amount of the rice nearby (it has been cooked for you in a special broth of chicken fat) and scoop the chicken, the rice AND the salsa into your mouth. YUM..

our lunch spot in Chiang Mai

A combination of allergies and weariness sent me and Jim back to the room to rest while Hunter went exploring. I settled in under the canopy bed with the fan whirring overhead and fell into a deep sleep that was hard to rouse myself from. But by 8:00pm we were hailing a tuk-tuk and headed for the “acceptable” portion of the Chiang Mai night market at Anusarn. All the while we were racing through the night traffic in our little “death wagon,” I worried at each turn … each acceleration if the collective weight of the three of us would send the vehicle into a tip over. Not the case and we were deposited into a lighted wonderland of sounds and smells. Hunter bought some nice shirts and Jim and I both bought a pair of “fisherman’s pants.”

Then we found ourselves in a large open air beer garden arrangement. Traditional dancers were on the stage. I had my first Pad Thai in Thailand … Hunter had a pork satay with peanut sauce and Jim had another traditional northern chicken dish called khao soy. It is a broth with chicken and egg noodles and coconut milk. When it arrives at your place you dump in a little dish of picked cabbage and then squeeze lime over it and spice it to taste.

We had hoped to end our evening’s meal at a mango sticky rice stand, but when we got there at 10 she was all sold out. So we went to a roti stand where a vendor made a yeasty crepe with bananas in the middle and then squirted some chocolate sauce on the top.

But the BEST part of the whole day was the ½ hour foot massage we had for 80 baht. OMG !! What a treat to lie outside under the stars with the sounds and smells of the market all around you and feel the tension in your feet and legs just melt away under the skillful hands of the masseur.

Scenes from the Flower Market at night

2008-01-18T00:34:00.000+01:00

After dinner last night we headed for the Flower Market ... no time to reflect, but enjoy the pictures.

garlic and onionsgarlic and chilis

just chilis

"I want all this bok choy cleaned before dawn !"

making temple ornaments
more temple ornaments

orchids as far as the eye can see

Lotus blossoms before they blossom

the flowers in hotel corridor

Bangkok

2008-01-17T14:07:00.000+01:00

I wanted exotic … I got exotic. We arrived in Bangkok right on time and were greeted by Jim no later than 9:30. He negotiated with a cab driver and off we were into the Bangkok night. We are staying at the Hilton on “the other side” of the Chao Phraya River. Our room has a spectacularly romantic view of the city. The river is used as a commuting highway and takes you from your hotel to the Skyway (the above ground public transport). At night the lights that outline the shapes of the traditional boats look like little floats gracing the surface of the water. Since there was a six hour time difference from Auckland, we were feeling a little jet-lagged and fell into bed at midnight.

Next morning, after a splendid breakfast in the executive lounge ( I had smoked salmon and sushi as a first followed by my all time favorite, egg over medium on toast with bacon) we headed off to get our Visas for Laos. We took water transport down to the Skyway and found ourselves well treated by a vendor who had the passports back in our hotel room by mid-afternoon. (Anytime I am asked to surrender my passport, I am thrown into the character of Natalie Jastrow in Winds of War – “Don’t let them take your American passport, Natalie …” I pleaded with her as I read the book - )

Next we were off to see the amazing traditional Thai house of silk entrepreneur, Jim Thompson. I am learning fast that everything in Thailand comes with a story … and this story ends tragically when Thompson disappears mysteriously while on a trip to Malaysia. The dark wooden walls and windows open to the outside made me wonder what it would be like to be hunkered down in such a house during the long rainy season. We ate lunch at the café there and it was a taste delight. I had what are called Morning Glory blossoms that were fried in a tempura batter and then you spooned a pork and shrimp sauce over it … O boy it was good!

Then last evening we dined at a marvelous place called Face. (the food theme will be front and center here in Thailand) After we exited the Skyway at the Thong Lo stop we passed through a tiny street of street food vendors. I was too distracted by the food variety hanging from the stalls to notice the elephant wandering through the streets. (Yes, an elephant). When we made our way into the courtyard of Face, the transition from busy street food vendors to peaceful, Thai courtyard was breathtaking. All the candles and wood carvings had me feeling like I was headed to Tribal Council again.

yes, an elephant

Our plan today was to visit the Grand Palace, but the recent death and funeral proceedings for the late princess got in the way and instead we visited Wat Po, home of the reclining golden Buddha. The colors are breathtaking. It is also the home of the best known school for Thai massage. There are slate engravings on the walls outlining the various pressure points on the body. These were used for teaching. Even today, the gold standard for studying Thai massage is the school at Wat Po.

Then we wandered idly toward the amulet market. As we strolled we tasted coconut milk from a coconut, fried banana, and grilled pork all served up by street vendors.

Coconut milk on the street

I think I saw a billion amulets today. I kept thinking Miraculous Medal, and it all made sense … sort of. One of the rules of amulets is you cannot but one for yourself, so if you see one you like, you urge a friend to buy it for you. Nothing really grabbed me, but Jim found just the right thing for Mary Beth.

you can get your palm read on the street

Then it was off to Chote Chitr for lunch. This five table restaurant is a real gem. The proprietor and cook is named Tim Krachoichuli and since there is not a word of English posted anywhere, she tells you what you ought to order if this is your first visit. There is this wonderful sticky noodle concoction called mee krob. Then there is banana flower salad. And the simple looking kaotang nahtang is deceivingly complex and delicious rice cake with Thai salsa. But the dish that really had our eyes rolling in our heads was the salad with salmon. The salmon was a steak and it was crispy and perfectly done on a bed of salad vegetables that were seasoned with a contrasting piquant sauce.

Return to Auckland

2008-01-16T02:47:00.000+01:00

On our last day in Russell the sun came out in earnest in the afternoon. It was good to be able to see the Bay of Islands with the sparkle of blue and green contrast that it deserves and not just varying hues of gray. These shots were taken from the top of Flagstaff Hill.

The kiwis have a way of putting obvious names to their provinces. The west coast of the island is the province of West Coast ... the north part of the North Island is called Northland. As we made our way north to Russell out of Auckland last week just after we had entered Northland, we came up over a rise and STOPPED conversation. There in front of us was the most amazing view of this huge bay that encompasses the Northland town of Whangarei. There was no chance to capture a picture on the way north, but on the way south we did. This shot does not do it justice.
We had a lovely lunch alongside the port in Whangarei called Town Cove and ate an excellent meal at a place called Reva's. Then we headed south and side tripped to the little beach called Waipu Cove. At 5:00 pm it still felt like high noon. Hunter took a long exercise walk on the beach while I gathered ocean treasures. (some people call them seashells.)

Some random reflections about New Zealand

2008-01-15T02:21:00.000+01:00

As we are awaiting our flight to Bangkok here at Auckland International, I am thinking back on surprises about New Zealand. Here in no particular order of importance... crocosmia grows wild on the side of the road ... the beaches are flat and hard like Daytona ... American food come in one of three varieties: Mc Donald's, KFC and Pizza Hut ... there are no Italian restaurants ... they put lanb and barbeque sauce on their pizzas ... kiwi birds are nocturnal and very hard to find ... almost all the roads are two lane ... It is lots cooler during the day than I thought it would be ... everyone is friendly.

The Bay of Islands

2008-01-13T02:21:00.000+01:00

We got a great view of many of the 144 islands located in the bay of Islands this morning. We had HOPED to swim with dolphins ... but such was not our luck.

But WHERE are the dolphins ?

Russell, NZ

2008-01-13T02:03:00.000+01:00

out the front door of the Duke of Marlborough
the fig tree next door

Somehow the choices of what to see in the South Island are a little clearer than what to see in the North. The guidebooks sing the praises of Cormandel and Rotorua. But a chance encounter with a Kiwi on our flight from LA to Sydney got us thinking about the Bay of Islands. He has a house here and spoke very highly of it.

We chose Russell over Paihia because it advertised itself as the non touristy town.

the dining veranda

It was one of the first permanent European settlements in NZ settled in 1827. Whaling ships ported here during the height of the whaling days causein gthe missionaries to nickname Russell "the Hellhole of the Pacific." The hotel where we are staying is called the Duke of Marlborough. It has wide open air verandas that flank either side of the entrance and it is a charming spot from which to watch the ferries come and go at the pier. The absence of traffic between the hotel’s veranda and the water, plus the lush trees that line the shoreline lend a quiet, laid back and timeless feel to this town.

The oldest church in New Zealand is also located here. It is called Christ Church. The graveyard is filled with English AND Maori names. Inside the church are pew cushions that have been needle pointed over the years by the women of the parish.

If you travel over the crest of this peninsula you come to Long Beach. It is a classic sandy beach with beautiful views to the ocean. Once you get here by car and ferry, travel FROM here is best done by boat. We have decided to stay on a few extra days and take a boat trip to see and MAYBE swim with some dolphins.

I don't know where to begin ...

2008-01-10T23:45:00.000+01:00

Perhaps I should begin at the end. Imagine a small room at Auckland International Airport around noon today. There are several disgruntled people sitting about and they are trading stories of how THEIR bag has been lost since MONDAY !!! I realize that we are in a class by ourselves … we are beyond angry … we are beyond hope. These dear creatures still think it is possible that THEY could be reunited with their bag. We say nothing. Despite the fact that Sydney phoned us last evening to tell us that the bag was on a 6:30 PM Air New Zealand flight, we are not at all sure that reunification is imminent. After all they told us the same thing on Saturday the 5th and yet somehow the bag had been routed back to Sydney instead of to our hotel.

I cannot begin to outline the HOURS we have spent on retrieving this bag and replenishing its contents. The medications alone required a full day in Christchurch seeing a doctor and then going to two pharmacies for medications that cost an arm and a leg. And then there were the phone calls … to Sydney … to Chicago and a hopelessly ineffective United baggage claim office where no one seemed to be able to do anything but “wait for the bag to show up in our system.”

We know that the bag was delayed in LA, but not why. We know that on 12/20 they forwarded it to us in Ayers Rock. We spoke repeatedly with baggage people in Ayers Rock who swore they never saw the bag. Apparently it sat in Ayers Rock until the 30th of December when it was returned to Sydney. By the time we heard that it had been found, they were planning to ship it back to Virginia. Then the Sydney to Auckland and back to Sydney snafu happened. So when the Air New Zealand baggage agent wheeled our little green bag out the door, we turned to the assembled crowd and said simply “Twenty-three days … Twenty-three days we have been waiting for this bag.” A hush came over the room … a respect for our combat status by those new recruits in the baggage wars who had yet to know the true test of battle … and we headed off to START our vacation.

another satisfied United customer ... (NOT)

Auckland

2008-01-10T23:26:00.000+01:00

We can’t tell you much about Auckland. Hunter was tied up with the ICSEI Conference. His session went well and the sessions he attended were worthwhile. I found that the comfort of the hotel and the two days of rain that we had combined to lull me into “rest mode.” One exception was the say we joined friends from home for a lunch on top of the Sky Tower.

Our first day in Auckland we were returning to our hotel when we heard this blood curdling scream … a scream as though she were about to be killed. I looked in the direction of the noise and saw a person hurdling through the air from the top of the Tower. It was, of course, a form of Kiwi entertainment akin to the bungy jump. I was not prepared for this. So when our elevator opened at the restaurant level of the rotating tower and a person flew by the window, I was not phased.

Some of the heroes in the baggage nightmare are our friends Chuck and Susan who with the help of Donald from Foer’s Pharmacy (another hero) hand delivered us an important medication that was prohibitively expensive here in New Zealand.. It was they and their traveling companions whom we joined for lunch. We were able to stretch lunch out to almost two full rotations of the restaurant and got to appreciate this city that has coastline to the east and to the west. About ¼ of New Zealand’s population lives in Auckland, which goes a long way toward answering the earlier question posed here: Where are all the people? They are in Auckland.

This may also explain my reluctance to engage Auckland. I have enjoyed the rural feel of this trip so far. I didn’t WANT to put on my “city armor” and do battle with the world. But the smells of really good Asian food wafted my way, and I did eat a few fine meals one of them at the Green Grasshopper .

Now it is time to head on to the Bay of Islands and back to tranquility.

A very livable city

2008-01-08T02:34:00.000+01:00

We spent a total of three days and four nights in Christchurch. What a lovely town. First off it is small. Second, there is this lovely little river, a stream really, meandering through the heart of it called the Avon. Huge weeping willows drape over it and you can get a boatman (a punter) to take you on a half hour ride downstream. Third, there is this glorious Botanical Gardens in town that you could visit everyday and never tire of. We just hit some of the highlights. For example, there is this tree planted by Queen Victoria’s second son Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, in 1869. He was the first member of the Royal family to ever visit

new Zealand

and you can almost imagine the ceremony there in the Botanic Gardens. This tree is now gargantuan, it is a kind of cedar. I rather think I should like for people to plant trees in my name than wage wars in my name after seeing this amazing specimen.

Here are some other views of the gardens.

Food Notes

2008-01-07T20:25:00.000+01:00

rack of lamb
steak frites
Pavlova

So I told the hotel desk in Christchurch I was in search of a good rack of lamb. They sent us to Hay’s Restaurant and we were not disappointed. Not only did they serve mouth watering lamb that could be cut with a fork. They are one of the few places I know that can serve a plate of shoestring fries to perfection. Le Steak in Georgetown used to be able to, the Le Relais de l'Entrecote in Paris, and perhaps the best I have ever eaten the nightly fare of steak frites at Hotel Etoile in Saas Fee. Then I decided that since we were still within the 12 days of Christmas, I should order that great down under Christmas dessert the Pavlova. Oh my, it was good.

A Side Trip

2008-01-07T20:20:00.000+01:00

Our last day in the South Island we decided to visit the small village of Akaroa. It is NOT easy to get to due to the dramatic landscape, but it makes for excellent views.

And this just in ...

2008-01-06T05:14:00.000+01:00

From the front page of the Otago Daily Times on January 30, 2007.

“A naked man’s exploits with the merino ram statue at Omarama will result in a court appearance.

Senior Constable Bruce Dow said he saw a young man drop his trousers and straddle the statue about 12:20am on Saturday. The man later reappeared “absolutely starkers” to repeat the act.

The 18-year-old man from Omakau will be summonsed to appear in the Omararu District Court on a charge of offensive behavior.”

Road Signs

2008-01-06T05:11:00.000+01:00

When we checked out our car last week we were given a set of rules of the road for New Zealand. Countrywide the speed limit is listed as 100 km/ hour. I thought it would be something honored in name only … until I saw the roads. 100 is very generous really. And in all our time here we have only seen one accident despite its being the busiest time of the year.

The road warning safety signs don’t mince words. Try these on for size.

The faster you drive, the bigger the mess

Drink and DrIvE

One is simply a picture of an unbuckled seat belt and the caption reads

You don’t use it? Maybe you are already brain dead.

Wine Tasting Down Under

2008-01-04T01:37:00.000+01:00

There is a wine tasting bar in Queenstown on the order of the one at Whole Foods in Chantilly. Only this one is all New Zealand and Australian wines. There is even a Penfold’s Grange up for tasting. $30 NZ to taste 25 ml of the legend.I also stumbled onto a quirky little bottle called Haan. The label gives away nothing … “estate wine” is all it says. When I commented to the staff of the wine bar how much I liked it I was rewarded with the news that it has been a favorite of Robert Parker’s for many years and he has given it a 98. Here are two Pinot Noirs I liked.

And apropos of nothing except that Pinot goes with lamb … I am bewildered by the scarcity of lamb offerings on the menus here … particularly rack of lamb. You can get lamb rump for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I have only seen rack of lamb once. Maybe all the legs and chops are excised for export?

The 45th Parallel

2008-01-04T01:36:00.000+01:00

I got my first glimpse of the Southern Cross the other night … early morning on January 2nd I think it was. I wandered out onto the balcony of our room in Queenstown and there it was as unmistakable as the Big Dipper. The night sky … it is a comfort to look up into a familiar set of stars … a dominant Orion in fall and winter … a dominant Dipper in spring and summer. There was nothing familiar about these heavens. I am a stranger here.

On the road between Wanaka and Queenstown there is a marker carved in stone telling you that you are crossing the 45^th parallel. It FEELS like I am at the bottom of the earth down here with penguin colonies a mere days drive away. So I looked at a globe to see where the 45^th goes in the Northern hemisphere. I was surprised to see Augusta, Maine and Lyon, France riding the line.

The drive from Queenstown to Tiramu was through what we might call in the States “Big Sky Country.” Sometimes it looked like California … sometimes like Montana. It called for big music. We had picked up a two CD set of Pavorati and we let him fill the wide open spaces with arias as we drove along in this wide open place.

We are now back down to sea level and out of the high country. A few days rest in Christchurch and then on to the North Island.

Spectacular Scenery

2008-01-02T23:18:00.001+01:00

The road form Queenstown to Glenorchy ranks up there with some of the lovliest I have ever driven … the Banff – Jasper Highway … the road from Como to Bellagio. … the Going to the Sun Highway in Glacier.

We started the morning taking a nature walk on the shore of Lake Wakatipu near Bob’s Cove. We learned about the local flora from little signposts on a nature trail.

For example we learned that the Australian brush tailed possum, introduced to New Zealand in 1837 cause sever damage to certain trees like the Fuschia Tree by tripping its bark and leaves. There are some 70 million of them now in New Zealand and they have no predator ... no natural control. Their fur is the only politically correct fur one can own. So when I found this shop in Glenorchy that sold goods made from their fur, I bought this little neck warmer. There IS something magic about fur ...

Then we headed north along the lake and that is when we were just blown away by the beauty at every turn.

This is the time of year that a Scotch Broom like flower is all over the mountain sides it is called Kowhi which is pronounced "Koe - fee" (like Kofi Annan's first name)

You CAN traverse the lake by boat if you prefer, but the road was pretty spectacular.

Wanaka ... the lake ... and on to Queenstown

2008-01-02T22:58:00.000+01:00

We spent New Year's Eve in Wanaka. We dined on local lamb and beef and washed it down with a local Pinot Noir.

Fireworks exploded on cue at midnight and we could see them out the back door of our room and welcomed in the New Year a good 18 hours before the rest of you.

On our way to Queenstown we stopped at Puzzling World. Very enjoyable and mind bending world of illusions.
Even the bathrooms are a little "puzzling," but Hunter fit right in !
The cherries are in season and we stopped at a fruits stand and got a bag of "rain damaged" cherries for $7 NZ. Also bought some golden kiwi fruit ... much sweet than the green variety.We arrived in Queenstown and found we had a lovely view of the lake and the mountains.