Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Renaissance Fair?

Thankfully my sister again has some notes from their last weekend here in Germany so this blog entry is courtesy of Stacy.

We arrived in Rothenburg on Saturday only to realize we didn’t get the memo that costumes were required for entry into the walled city. We literally had to fight crowds of merry men and women gathering on street corners singing songs, playing medieval flutes and drums or walking carts loaded up with animals, carpets and dirty-looking children. We eventually found our hotel (Hotel Spitzweg) and it was impossibly cute, just like the town. Our room was a suite with two bedrooms and a huge bathroom. Jim thought that perhaps he stayed here as a child with his parents (although after reading Alison’s blog entries, it seems Jim has a lot of these moments that don’t turn out to be accurate).

We unpacked the car and took off to investigate the cute town. After mere moments the sun came out and Alison and Jim went back to the hotel to grab sunglasses only for the sun to disappear once again. We walked around exploring the nooks and crannies and happened upon a little medieval market with people selling clothing (that you would only want to wear if you were attending the renaissance festival) jewelry and beer in vessels. We decided to have a snack called a Flammkuchen which a flatbread with bacon, cheese and green onions.

That evening we gathered in the main square for the much recommended and very entertaining walking tour led by Rothenburg's medieval "Night Watchman." A thousand years of history is packed between the cobbles. I made Alison take a picture with him, but alas her eyes were closed. He told a number of interesting historic ancetodotes including one of the town’s survival during WWI. In March 1945 in World War II, Nazi soldiers were stationed in Rothenburg to defend it. On March 31, allied bombs were dropped over Rothenburg by 16 planes, killing 39 people and destroying 306 houses, six public buildings, nine watchtowers, and over 2,000 feet (610 m) of the wall. The U.S Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg from his mother’s visit many years prior, so he ordered US Army Generals not use artillery in taking Rothenburg. The local military commander ignored the order of Adolf Hitler for all towns to fight to the end and gave up the town, thereby saving it from total destruction by artillery. McCloy was named Honorable Protectorate of Rothenburg. After the war, the residents of the city quickly repaired the bombing damage. Donations for the rebuilding were received from all over the world. The rebuilt walls feature commemorative bricks with donor’s names.

After the tour the town was really quiet and peaceful. We stopped into an Italian restaurant and enjoyed some okay Italian food and some fine Franconian wine.

The next morning we packed up the car and after breakfast drove to park outside the city walls. Our host had warned us that the city was going to be closed to car traffic that day until 6. Sunday was a big celebration day with parades and music and (somewhat disturbing) canon firings. The town filled up to capacity within hours and we were glad we got an early start to walk the wall without too much of a crowd. Along the way we stopped at the Medieval Torture museum which had great English descriptions and an amazing collection of historical legal documents, and grisly torture instruments.

For lunch we decided to let mom try her precious currywurst, the one sausage to rule them all. After looking for a few restaurants that had moved or were closed we settled on a popular sausage stand that had a line going out the door. Unfortunately, the famed currywurst did not live up to the hype for our mother.

After our sausage filled lunch, we went to tour the Christmas museum which was oddly empty except for us. Walking through the museum, I was surprised to discover how many of our Christmas traditions come from Germany. The tradition of bringing in a fir tree and decorating it with ornaments originated in Germany. The museum had a great collection of old ornaments, Christmas Cards, advent calendars and nativity scenes. Being crazy about Christmas, my mom, sister and I loved it, but Jim didn’t share our enthusiasm. The description of the exhibit talked about some Nazi era ornaments and care packages sent to soldiers during WWII. I think he was expecting more war related items.

After the museum, Mom and Stacy did some marathon ornament shopping, while Jim and I waited outside at a café.

We decided to climb the city hall tower for some great views of the city before filling up on some more Flammkuchen and heading to Frankfurt. We decided to take the scenic route to Frankfurt along the Romantic Road which weaved through picturesque German villages and countryside. We got lost a few times due to construction and finally stopped at a gas station so that we (we being Stacy and me because Jim is vehemently opposed to asking for directions) could ask for directions.

Headed in the right direction, we stopped in Wurzburg for a tasting of Franconian wine and a late snack. I’d like to go back to the city for a longer visit because it looked really charming. Unfortunately, it was already late so the palace which is considered the Franconian Versailles was already closed for the day along with most of the other sites.

We ended our 2 week tour of Northern Europe in a Ibis Hotel about 5 minutes from the airport and across from a strip mall. Scenic it was not but it was very convenient for an early flight the next day.

Getting Back to Our Roots - Copenhagen

After rejuvenating in Bonn for a few days doing laundry and visiting some of the local sights – Köln cathedral, Burg Eltz, and the Mosel Valley we were off again, flying to Copenhagen.

Stacy had already been to Copenhagen on her Scandinavia trip a few years ago so I passed the travel guide torch over to her for the 3 days we were there.
Our hotel was conveniently located only two blocks from the train station. However, like most cities you find a slightly unsavory element near the train station so our hotel was situated amid numerous porn shops, prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers. During the day this added a bit of color to our trip but quickly became annoying at night when we were trying to sleep with the window open. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we went to grab lunch at Le Le which was a great Vietnamese restaurant. We were able to get something light and flavorful to fill our bellies before setting off on Rick Steves’ walking tour through the main shopping district along Stroget Street.
We ended the tour near Ny Haven, a boat lined canal with colorful three story flats on either side. Since we had just walked for a few hours, we decided to give our feet a rest and sit along the canal with some ice cream cones.

After a rest in the sun, we continued our walk along the windy harbor to Amalienborg Palace where the royal family currently resides. The buildings were actually built by wealthy families so didn’t look very palatial. We walked to the Marble located just down the street but it was already closed for the day.

Since we were all a little tired from being on our feet all day and getting up at the butt crack of dawn for our flight, we went back to the room for a little rest before heading out to dinner. We were too tired to go very far so ended up at a little Thai place down the street called Spicylicious. It was listed as the best cheap meal in town so we were unprepared for how nice the restaurant was. It had half timbered bamboo walls, white tablecloths and flowers everywhere (even the water had flowers in it). We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals which were made even more enjoyable by our adorable waiter.

On our first full day in town, I went out for a run in the morning and found some beautiful and tranquil parks. After breakfast, we set out for the Rosenborg Slot (castle) and gardens. The castle had recently been renovated so was closed the last time Stacy was there. The castle was well decorated and the rooms were set up so that the décor was of progressively later periods as you moved through the castle.

The royal jewels, crowns and other valuables were located in the treasury below the castle and were the highlight for me. One of the pieces was a 61 carat pendant. Apparently the Queen still wears some of the jewelry on special occasions.

We decided to have a picnic in the castle gardens and soak up some sun before heading back to Ny Haven to take a boat tour. Unfortunately, as we arrived so did a busload of very loud kids. We decided to wait for the next bus and go check out the Marble Church and do a little shopping along the way.

The Marble Church was aptly named as it was constructed of mostly marble. It is home to one of Europe’s largest dome ceilings so it felt a bit more like a capital or judicial building rather than a church. However, it was a Protestant church rather than a Catholic one so that explains some of it.

The boat tour we took wasn’t as good as the one in Amsterdam but that might have been due in part to the cold wind in the main harbor or maybe it was due to the fact that the college age tour guide was incredibly bored with his job. He kept forgetting some of the information and had to consult with the driver who was a little more seasoned.

Off the cold water, we decided to go to Christiana (Freetown) for some dinner. Christiana is a hippie settlement originated in the 60s. It was a military base and is still owned by the Department of Defense which is hilarious to think about as you walk through it and people openly offer to sell you pot and hash. There are about 1,000 adult residents in the small area. They even have their own government and police force. I would think being a cop in Christiana would be a cushy job since nothing there seems to be illegal.

Walking through the town you really do get a feel for their alternative lifestyle. I honestly found it a little dirty and depressing but I’m definitely not a hippie. Yuppie, yes.

We decided on a vegetarian restaurant which had a pleasant garden. The portions were huge so we only ordered 2 things which actually came on 3 plates. The food was so great that even the wildlife tried to get in on the action. The birds were particularly brazen in their quest for food. They hopped right up on the picnic table and would try to start pecking from the plate as we were eating.

It was still early so after dinner we thought a trip to the oldest amusement park, Tivoli, would be a good evening of entertainment. The park is in the center of town on 20 acres and has been the most visited site in Copenhagen since it opened 160 years ago. First we watched a pantomime performance which was an experience, not a good one but an experience. Stacy insisted that pantomime can be good and mistakenly had higher hopes for the performance.

Next up were the rides. My mom and I love the teacups back in the States so were looking for something similar. We found something that was a combination of the scrambler and the teacups and it was great. Since Stacy suffers from motion sickness in just a plain old car, she passed on the ride but got just as nauseous just watching us.

The park was full of fountains, gardens and lanterns and not at all like the 6 flag variety amusement parks in the States. At first I wasn’t excited to go to a theme park, but after walking around the grounds I was so glad that we did. The best part was that since it was dinner time there were absolutely no lines for anything.

Before leaving the park, Stacy and I wanted to do one roller coaster. We got ready to get in line but there was a restriction for pregnant women so I couldn’t go on. We decided on a smaller roller coaster that didn’t go upside down and didn’t have a restriction for pregnant women.

On the way out we grabbed an ice cream cone and it ended up being the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Thankfully, the ice cream cone held us up just enough that when it started pouring rain, we were only across from the train station so had a dry place (or semi dry place) to wait out the rain. It was raining so hard that in a few areas, it was actually raining inside the train station. After the rain subsided a bit, we headed back to the hotel.

On Wednesday morning, we headed out of town up to the small village of Roskilde to visit the Viking Ship museum and a 12th century Cathedral. It was a really windy day so Stacy got a free peep show when a prostitute’s skirt blew up, letting us know she must have forgotten to put her underwear on; it must have been a laundry day.
Roskilde was a quiet little town about 30 minutes from Stockholm. We checked out the Cathedral and then headed to the Viking Ship Museum. In the 1960s, they excavated remains from 5 Viking ships which had sunk in the Fjord. They meticulously preserved each piece and reconstructed the ships with the salvageable wood. Using the information they gained from those fragments of the original Viking ships, they constructed another Viking ship using the same methods the Vikings would have used and then sailed the ship to Ireland. The trip took a few months and from the documentary looked like a grueling voyage, not to mention very, very wet and cold.
They also had a model boat and some dress up Viking clothes so Stacy and I couldn't resist getting back to our Viking roots. Back in Copenhagen, we went to grab a very late lunch at Riz Raz. It was a Mediterranean buffet and did nothing to improve my opinion of buffets. I am of the opinion that life is way too short to eat bad food so I didn’t eat all that much. I was already planning to go back to Le Le for some Vietnamese noodles.

My mom was too tired to venture out again so Stacy and I went to Le Le on our own. Stacy ordered the mussels in coconut milk and lemon grass while I went for the Vietnamese noodle salad. Both were excellent. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on getting a fruity non alcoholic drink, and Stacy hadn’t planned on getting anything to eat so we found ourselves scrounging through the bottom of our purses for money. We briefly panicked and each starting strategizing on how to get the other person to go back to the hotel for more money. In the end we found some hidden money and ended up with 10 cents to spare.

Our final day in Copenhagen was spent at the free National Museum. It was a good collection of modern art as well as impressionist. However, we really didn’t have much time so it was a quick visit and was then overshadowed by another lost camera incident.
Although we don’t know any of our distant relatives in Denmark or Sweden, it was nice to go to the country where my mother’s grandparents were born and to share it with my mom and sister.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Is there a Lionel Richie comeback that I am unaware of? In the last week I have heard more Lionel Richie songs than I have since the 80s.

It all started last week. We heard the song "Easy Like Sunday Morning" on the radio station driving home from Italy. We both laughed at the eclectic mix of music this radio station was playing. However at the end of the song, Jim decided that "easy like Sunday morning" was going to be his new catch phase. So the rest of the trip and the following week whenever I'd ask him something, his response would invariably be, "Hey, I'm easy, easy like Sunday morning."

Then on Wednesday night when we met some friends from Munich up in Cologne for drinks / dinner at a swanky spot, we heard the song again. This time it was a band singing it live. We both cracked up and started singing the chorus which only encouraged the lead singer who came over to us and made us sing with him.

On Saturday we drove up to Maastricht, Netherlands for some shopping and dinner and heard the extended version (the original is already like 5 minutes long). I was able to pick out some maternity clothes, try them on and put them back on the rack and the song was still playing when we left.

If any of you have listened to European radio, you know that the European's love cheesey music (Germans especially- just look to Hasselhof's popularity here for confirmation). So I understand that Lionel was very popular here in the 80s and maybe even the 90s, but today? If you walk into any H&M store here, it is obvious that fashion is taking a turn for the 80s, but is 80s music making a comeback?

In Bruges

I apologize for my lax blogging to the 1 or 2 people who actually read this on a regular basis. Jim and I just returned from Tuscany, but before I tell you about that trip I need to go back to late May when my mom and sister were here for 2 weeks. Thankfully my sister, Stacy, has some notes from her journal. So once again I have a ghost writer for the blog and my laziness continues.

In Amsterdam, we awoke to another nice day. Alison and I walked in Vogel Park again while mom did some yoga. Since we would be spending 4 hours on the train we decided to stock up on some snacks for the ride. We stopped at a market near the park for some fruit, hummus, crackers and veggies. Around 11 we headed downtown to the train station to catch our train to Bruges. After changing trains in Brussels, we got to Bruges around 4. The bus to get to our B&B was crowded so we were given the evil eye from a number of the locals when our luggage blocked the isle and we pretended not to notice. Alison's mad navigational skills got us the rest of the way.

The B&B was very conveniently located to the center of town and our hostess Annemarie was very accommodating. Our room however was on the third floor up two flights of precarious steps difficult to navigate with our heavy bags.

The sun was shining so we headed out to explore the city and check out our dinner options. The city is small compared to Amsterdam and a welcome respite from the masses. We walked along the lovely canals and decided to try a place for dinner that Alison had not been to before--Rock Fort. It was pricy but good, the bartender made Alison the most amazing non alcoholic drink while mom and I had Spanish champagne. After dinner we stopped into a cozy bar to try some of the Belgium beer Bruges offers-Yum! I think there might be more pictures of us drinking beer on this trip than any other activity.

Breakfast the next morning was offered in a nice dining room with the other guests. There were two American couples and an English one. Everyone was really friendly and of course had found the B&B through trusty Mr. Rick Steve.

We headed out to the main square to do a walking tour of the city. I climbed the bell tower alone since Alison had done it and Mom was too cheap for the 8 euro price tag. The climb was tough but the views were fantastic.
This Thursday was a Holiday (Ascension Day) so there were bleachers set up in the main square to watch the religious parades that were going to be weaving through the city.

Since, we were in Belgium we had to get some frites. We opted for one of the stands in the main square which had a line every time we passed it.

We next made our way to the Groeninge Museum which Alison had already visited, however, instead of their usual Flemish art collection; they had a special exhibit on Charles the Bold. After seeing mom read every little placard in the museum, we named her Mom the Slow. If you’ve ever witnessed my mother’s 2 hour morning routine to get out the door, you’ll understand how perfect that title is.

After wandering around the rest of Bruges for the morning, we decided to take a lunch break and ate at a great little restaurant called the Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant.

After refueling, we decided to rent bikes and ride to Damme. It was nice to get out into the country a little bit and was so peaceful riding along a tree lined canal with the wind in our hair. We passed a number of old fashioned wind mills along the way.

The town of Damme wasn’t much more than a few cafes, restaurants and a church. We wandered around a bit and then got back on the bikes for the trip back through a gorgeous section of woods on a dirt trail. We all agreed that our little bike adventure was our favorite experience in Bruges.

After returning our bikes, we passed the pita restaurant pictured below. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to eat somewhere that can't even say they are the best. Are they really worried that the pita police will come by and say, "I'm sorry this isn't the best pita in town you are going to have to change your sign." We decided to reward our biking efforts with some beverages as we were all a little parched. We stopped for a few beers in a small square just behind the row of touristy restaurants in the main square. The sun was out and it was a great spot to enjoy some good Belgian beer and some crappy non alcoholic beer.
For dinner that night we decided to go cheap and it was. We ate at a local restaurant that served up some basic Italian food. It was cheap and how can you go wrong with lasagna? You put enough cheese on anything and it tastes good.

We were leaving the next day but not until 2:00. We were a little worried that with the holiday everything would be closed and we’d have nothing to do. Although the museums were closed, we needn’t have worried; the chance to make a few Euros off of the throngs of tourists in Bruges kept a lot of the shops open. So we took the opportunity to buy some chocolates at one of the many chocolate shops in Bruges and a few other treasures we found at a little jewelry/ accessories shop.

Due to the parades, the buses were not running through the city so we had to walk to the train station. It was a bit of a hike but it was a beautiful day so we didn’t mind getting a little exercise before sitting on a train for 4 hours.

Amsterdam with the Fam

My mom and sister came for a two week visit. The day after they arrived, we headed to Amsterdam. Thankfully, my sister kept a journal during our trip so I am merely plagiarizing her notes here.

We got on the road a little after 10 and the sun was out in full force. The highways in Germany have variable speed limits, and in certain spots lack of limits. Jim took liberty to get us to Amsterdam in record time. I was too nervous to look at the speedometer most of the way, but did see it reach 220km/h at one point.

We had a little trouble finding the B&B (if u can call it that--it was an apartment with two guest rooms). After securing parking we took off on the tram to museumplein, a large green space with museums flanking it on all sides. Our first stop was the Rijksmuseum, the Netherlands treasure house of old masters. Much of the museum was under construction but the main collection was concentrated in a few galleries that remained open. We followed the Rick Steves tour and saw an amazing collection of Dutch masters. Jim commented that there wasn't a painting in the museum that showed a right blue sky. Some things (like the weather) haven't changed in a hundred years.

After the museum we headed west to the Jordaan neighborhood to try an Indonesian restaurant recommended by our host at the B&B. It was delish. After dinner Mom and I headed to the Anne Frank house while Alison and Jim chilled at a bar. The house/museum was terrific and really resonated with me as I just recently finished reading the diary and the details were fresh. By the time we left the weather had taken a turn and it was pouring. Fortunately Alison has an amazing sense of direction and found the tram stop we needed in no time. Amazingly we slept until 8 am and awoke to a hard rain. Jim decided not to head back to Germany right away and to join us for the morning. Heading back to museumplein, our first stop was the Van Gogh museum. Fortunately the B&B provided us with museum passes so we got to skip the long lines and only had to pay for the audio tour. The current special exhibit was intiltled, Colors of the Night and dove into Van Gogh's fasination with darkness and the night sky. The collection culminated with Starry Night, not usually housed at this museum. Much of the audio tour described in his own words, through correspondence with his brother Theo (his supporter), his thoughts about his illness and work. One of my favorite works, The Wheatfields with Crows, was the last painting he finished--a work of restless energy. I decided to buy a mug with its likeness to remember the sad and tragic record of intense beauty he left behind.

Jim took off back to Bonn and the three of us went to check out Rick's recommended pancake shop. We got 2 savory and one sweet of the crepe-like treats. The cheese and apple was my favorite. From there we walked throuhg the much quieter Jordaan neighborhood. Just two blocks off the main canals and things got quiet and calm. Again the rain came and interrupted our walking tour momentatiry. When it cleared somewhat we left the Jordaan and headed to the red light district. Late Sunday afternoon things were sleepy except for all the tourists.

We were all starving after our walking tour of the Red Light District so we headed back to the Jordaan neighborhood for some vegetarian food. Beth and Alison had gone to this same restaurant (De Bolhoed) when they were in Amsterdam the last time. Unfortunately, the waitstaff moved at a glacial pace so after waiting 15 long minutes we decided to find another restaurant before we got carnivourous and started eating some of the guests at the next table.

We went to another one of Rick's recommendations, Toscana Italian Restaurant, and they had exactly what we needed - cheap, fast Italian fare with friendly service.

The next day we had initially planned to go to Keukenhof to see the tullips but our hostess let us know that most of the tullips were already cut down. She said that some of her guests last weekend were really disappointed when they went. So we decided to scrap the tullips and check out Haarlem which was only a 20 minute train ride from Amsterdam.

Haarlem is like a mini Amsterdam with canals and a large square. We toured the Grote Kerk (a 15th century Protestant Church) which has one of the largest pipe organs. There are 5,000 pipes and some of which are up to 20 ft. tall. Both Handel and Mozart came to play this impressive organ.

We decided to get some lunch and some protection from the bitter wind. We ended up at the V&S department store which has a cafeteria styled restaurant called La Place up on the 5th floor. The view from the restaurant was great.

Back in Amsterdam, we took a canal boat tour to give our feet a rest. The boat ride was really peaceful. So peaceful in fact that Alison had a hard time staying awake. It had been windy and chilly all day so the sun beating down on us through the windows felt especially good. Although the moving boat probably didn't help either as Alison seems to fall asleep on trains or any moving vehicle. We only need to be moving for about 15 minutes before she has her head back and her mouth open, snoring away.

We had dinner that night at a middle eastern restaurant / bar that was recommended by Rick and was close to the Vondelpark area. It wasn't spectacular but was filling and reasonably cheap.

I will have to update the blog to include the rest of the visit when I return from Tuscany. Jim and I are heading there tomorrow morning. I can't wait for 80 degree weather and sunshine! The ravioli and gelatto won't be too bad either.

Gay TV

I've recently found a new channel on our T.V. which occasionally has shows in English. It is an all Gay TV channel called Timm. It caters to gay men rather than gay women. It is now my favorite channel. Now I can add Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and The Next Top Male Model to my TV repetoir. Considering that my only other options are CNN and the mind numbing programming on MTV, this new Gay Channel has really improved my TV viewing options. If you have watched MTV lately, I'm sure you can sympathize. I think I actually loose brain cells while watching shows like Parental Control, Next or Flavor Flav's version of The Bachelor, but it is like a car accident. It is so bad that you continue to watch more out of disbelief that people like this exist and that some producer thought it was a good idea to broadcast it.

Coffee Smuggling?

Last Saturday, Jim and I decided to go for a hike in the Eifel National Forest. After searching the Eifel website, Jim picked out a trail which was actually a smuggling route. After the Second World War the town of Schmidt was completely destroyed. In order to rebuild their town the Germans began smuggling coffee in from Belgium. Seeing the prosperity of the smugglers, the Church decided it wanted to get a part of the action. They began preaching that the church should be entitled to 10% of the smuggling profits and is now approapriately named St. Mokka.

As we pulled into the parking lot of the church to start the hike, we saw three car loads of senior citizens getting ready to start their hike. They were all equipped with their walking sticks and hiking boats even through the terrain on these hikes isn't particularly uneven or technical. I am always amazed to see how active older people are here. They are always out hiking and biking.


The Schmugglerweg trail was a really nice 17k loop through forest, meadows and farmland. It was the perfect day for a hike as it was probably the nicest day of the year so far. When the weather is nice in Germany, it is a really beautiful place.

May Day German-style

May 1st in Germany is a public holiday. It is Germany's Labor day to celebrate workers' rights so there are some protests throughout the country. Bonn, however, was really quiet.

The first weekend in May is also a celebration of spring and a reason to drink beer, have barbecues, and fireworks. This past weekend felt a lot like Memorial Day weekend with a bit of 4th of July mixed in.
In the Rheinland, young men profess their love by putting up a maypole next to their loved one's house. They strap these ribbon ladden birch trees to drainage gutters or lampposts or anything they can find in front of the house. Some of these trees are so tall that this can't be an easy task. Of course, the trees also have a heart with the girl's name on it so the guy gets credit for it and it isn't confusing when you are dealing with an apartment complex rather than a house. Where they get these tall birth trees, I have no idea. I didn't see anyone selling them, but we saw tons of boys lugging them around on the evening of April 30th. The first weekend in May is also when Bonn sets off a huge firework display. Throughout the summer, there are firework displays along the Rhein which they call "Rhein in Flammen" (Rhein in flames). Saturday was Bonn's Rhein in Flammen. Along with the fireworks was a huge fair in the Rhinaue Park south of Bonn. I have never seen so many people in Bonn. Apparently about 270,000 people come to the festival and watch the fireworks. I had envisioned setting up a blanket and watching the fireworks in the park. However, after a bunch confusion as to where to watch the fireworks, we ended up on the bridge with traffic between us and the fireworks. Although it was not an idyllic spot, it still gave us a pretty good view of the fireworks.

French Advertising

On a few of our trips through France I've seen these Agip brand gas stations and have wondered how this gas company came up with this logo. I imagine a bunch of advertising peeps sitting around a table saying, "Let's have our logo be a dog. Yeah, everyone likes dogs. Oh, and we should give him six legs. A dog with six legs goes faster than a dog with four, right?" But my question is, who was the ad genius who decided that it should be a fire breathing dog. Yea, gasoline and fire go well together, that's a perfect match.

Provence

We rented a gite near Avignon in the Provence region of France along with some friends, Ben and Melissa, for a week of cycling and sightseeing.

The gite, Blanche Fleur (http://www.blanchefleur.com/) was much nicer than most of the other gites we’ve stayed in. In France an apartment or home rental with a kitchen is called a gite. Usually you have to bring your own sheets and towels and it is a relatively cheap way to travel. At Blanche Fleur, it was a bit of a step up as they provided linens and even had soap and shampoo which is unusual even for B&Bs in Europe.

For dinner the first night, we went into Avignon for dinner to a place that was recommended by the NY times. It was decent but didn’t compare to the meals we had in Burgundy and not one I’d recommend.

That night we watched some cycling videos. Ben brought a bunch of what I like to call cycling porn. I think his purpose was to get us excited about the riding we were about to do, but it had the reverse effect on me. The next day the plan was to ride to the top of Mont Ventoux so we watched a stage of the Tour de France with that climb. After hearing Lance Armstrong say that Mont Ventoux was one of the hardest climbs in the tour, I decided that I definitely wasn’t going to climb it. The fact that there was snow on the top of the mountain wasn’t exactly a selling point either.

The next day after breakfast we set out for our ride. After an hour and a half, we stopped for lunch at the base of Mont Ventoux in Bedoin and had some tasty sandwiches in the sun. While there, we met a fellow cyclist who happened to be an Olympic Swiss cross country skier and knew some of the same people as Ben.

I turned back after lunch and rode home in the sun to end up with a nice 50 mile ride. The others, however, braved Mont Ventoux. Unfortunately for them, they ended up getting caught in a hail / sleet storm and got separated due to the inclement conditions, while I went to Isle sur La Sorgue and wander along the narrow cobbled streets to scope out a restaurant for dinner.

We ate in Isle sur La Sorgue at Café Deco for dinner. It had a pretty terrace along a canal with flowing curtains which gave it a very romantic feel. Melissa and I had some gigantic scallops for dinner while the boys got their raw meat fix with some Beef Tar tare.

Ben was definitely a more adventurous eater than the rest of us. He couldn’t get enough of the blood sausage, beef tongue and knunkle stuffed tripe. I generally opted for the safe fish options at a lot of these country French restaurants.

The next day Jim’s knee was bothering him so we skipped the ride and went to the market in St. Remy. The market had tons of clothing, bags, jewelry, linens, soaps, pottery, specialty food and even antiques. I was in heaven. One of my all time favorite things to do is wander around markets. In all of our travels so far, I haven’t really purchased any suveniors but Provence was just the place to change that.

We had a great typical French lunch at La Fontaine (19, Boulevard Mirabeau) of a cheve chaud salad (melted goat cheese on toasts) with an open faced sandwich of lardons (bacon) and cheese.

Our next stop was The Pont du Gard. The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct which delivered water 30 miles to Nimes by dropping one inch every 350 feet. I’m so amazed by what the Romans were able to accomplish.

On Thursday, Jim, Melissa and I went to Palais des Papes (The Palace of the Popes) and also the Pont Saint-Benezet which was the basis for the French nursery rhyme which none of us knew. The Palace of the Popes replaced the Vatican in the 1300s. A French pope was elected and due to the instability in Italy, the Pope moved to Avignon and bought the entire city. The palace was huge (Popes apparently had quite an entourage) but disappointingly empty so it was hard to imagine the lavish decorations and furnishings.

In the afternoon, Jim went to ride with Ben and Melissa and I went to Beaucaire first and then Les Baux de Provence. In Chardonnay, one of the guys at the bar was talking about a town near Avignon that was beautiful and a must-see in Provence. I thought he said the town was Beaucaire but after arriving in Beaucaire, I realized my mistake. As we were driving in, both Melissa and I thought the other person has some gas. Once we parked the car to walk around the town, we realized that it was the town that smelled. After wandering around the smelling, charmless town for a few minutes, we decided to cut our losses and drive to Les Baux de Provence instead. On our way out of town, Melissa quipped, “Well, we’ve seen Beaucaire and we don’t care”.

Driving up to Les Baux de Provence, I realized immediately that this was the right town. The town was perched on top of a hill with beautiful rock formations in the surrounding hills. It was definitely a touristy town but we realized that sometimes there is a reason something is touristy – It’s pretty. We did some shopping and then headed down some very curvy, fun roads back to the gite.

We decided that we’d eat in that night since we didn’t know when the boys would be home. Melissa had the great idea to make a gigantic batch of mussels. It was the best meal we had in Provence. The mussels were delicious but sauce from the mussels was just as good with tons of garlic and basil; great with some crusty bread to dip.

Our last full day in Provence, we did a long, all day ride. Ben had scoped out some great roads on his solo rides that he wanted to show us. The ride was one of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever done. Some of the terrain actually reminded me of Moab, Utah. We rode 80 miles but stopped for lunch, coffee and bakeries often so I was able to survive.

The next day we drove back up to Chardonnay after dropping Melissa and Ben off at the TGV. We made reservations at a newly Michelin starred restaurant near the B&B (Le Relais d’Ozenay – http://www.le-relais-dozenay.com/) . It was one of the best meals I’ve had. Jim loved it more for the fact that there was a pre-dessert, desert and post-desert. The best part was the price. I think our bill only came to 110 euro.

We each got the 6 course gourmet menu which started with Tuna Tartar and puréed avocado with a black sesame sorbet (this was the best thing of the night even though it sounds odd). Then we had the fish dish course of red snapper with pistachio oil and a roasted red pepper cone with goat cheese risotto inside. The meat course was a bit of a surprise as Jim’s translation wasn’t quite right. It was sweetbreads (veal liver) with linguine, morel mushrooms and asparagus. I gave Jim my sweetbreads but the linguine was still delicious. Next up was the cheese course and then of course the three desert courses – Pistachio flan with pineapple puree and a chocolate covered cookie stick, chocolate molten cake, vanilla custard with a red fruit coulis and meringue cookies. I was ready to be rolled out the door, but it was the perfect end to our vacation.

Chardonnay, France

We kicked off our week in Provence with a stop over in Chardonnay. Chardonnay is located in the Burgundy region of France between Dijon and Lyon. We initially planned to head down to Aix-en-Provence the next day, but we had trouble finding a place to stay in Aix so decided to spend the weekend in Chardonnay.

I found a great place to stay, Le Chardon, on Trip Advisor (http://www.lechardon-chardonnay.com/). The reviews were great and it seemed like a perfect small town to have as a base for riding and wine tasting. Le Chardon was even better than I expected. I would rate it as the best bed and breakfast so far, mainly due to the owners who were such friendly, helpful and warm people. You can tell that this B & B is a labor of love for them. They truly enjoy people. It felt more like we were visiting long time family friends than staying with people we’d never met. We liked it so much that on our way home from Avignon, we stopped for the night again.

The town of Chardonnay is incredibly tiny, probably not even a population of 50. Le Chardon is the only restaurant / bar in town so a lot of people congregate there. Because we had no agenda for our time here, it was very relaxing. After only a day, we both felt like we had been on vacation for a lot longer.

Our first full day in Chardonnay, we went for a bike ride in the morning through tiny French towns, vineyards, and farms. We then went into the nearest large town, Tournus, to visit the abbey, have a relaxing lunch in the sun and do a little shopping.

Back in Chardonnay, we went to the Cave de Chardonnay to do a little wine tasting and purchasing. On the way home we stopped at Brancion which was a recently restored old walled city with a castle. The most interesting part about this area was that people actually live within the walls and it isn’t just a tourist location.
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At our host’s recommendation, we had a fantastic dinner at Le Auberge du Gourmet. The chef of the restaurant has been able to hold on to a Michelin star since the 60s. It was a great meal.

The next day we went for a ride and then headed to Beaune for the afternoon. Beaune is the capital of the Burgundy region so is a larger town than Tournus. We visited the Hospices de Beaune which was a hospital / charitable almshouse of the 15th century. The design of the building was so beautiful that I’m not sure I would have minded going to the hospital back then. However, the bloodletting might not have been too pleasant.

That evening we ate at Nick and Rebecca’s and had a relaxing night chatting with them and drinking some nice Chardonnays.

Ronde Van Vlaanderen

A few weekends ago, we joined 700,000 beer drinking, sausage eating Flemish Belgians to watch professional cyclists ride up a cobble stoned climb of 20% grade (Helligen).

Although I was dubious about the prospect of driving 300 km each way to watch the spectacle with Jim and his fellow cycling obsessed friend, Ben, I was glad to have witnessed one of the cornerstones of Belgian culture. In Belgium, cycling is the only sport that counts. I would compare it to America’s obsession with football. I found it really interesting to see a bunch of smoking, beer guzzling fans who look like they might never have ridden a bike in their lives, get so excited for a bike race. In the U.S., bike races are generally watched only by other cyclists. Since cyclists generally are white men from upper-middle class backgrounds, the crowd is pretty homogeneous. In Belgium though, cycling is really a blue collar sport. The spectators looked more like a European version of NASCAR fans.

Ton Boonen is a Belgian cyclist and has rock star status in his homeland. Belgians affectionately call him Tommeke so Jim and Ben began a relentless campaign of adding eke to everyone’s names. I had to hear them call each other Jimeke and Beneke nonstop for two days.

For those of you not married to a cycling fanatic who revels in his knowledge of obscure cycling trivia (aside from the occasional Team Discovery blunder), professional cycling has a series of races in the spring called the “Classics”. The Classics take place in March and April in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. These races are one day races in extremely difficult conditions. The weather is usually cold, gray and rainy which makes the cobblestones incredibly slippery and dangerous. Thankfully, the weather cooperated or I would probably have spent the day in a café rather than watching the race. We left early in the morning for the race so that we would be able to stake out a good spot on the climb. As we passed through sleepy Belgian towns, approaching Flanders, older people came out of their houses to watch the traffic going by. I’m guessing not a lot happens in some of these towns so a traffic jam counts as a special event.

Once we secured our rock star but illegal parking and calmed Jim’s fears of getting towed, we walked the course to get a sense of what the riders would endure and to scout out a spot from which to watch the race.

We decided to camp out in front of a huge screen T.V. so we could watch the finish of the race and also know when the riders were approaching. Since the riders were by in a flash, I’m glad to have been able to watch the race on the big screen or it would have been a bit anti-climactic to have driven 4 ½ hours for a couple of minutes of a bike race.

I couldn’t help but be swept up by the excitement of the race by the thousands of cheering fans around me. Unfortunately, I was rooting for Tom Boonen (completely based on his looks rather than any cycling statistics or ability) along with the rest of the Belgians around us, but it was his teammate, Stein, who actually won the race.

I’ve added a video down below so that you can get a sense of the excitement of the event. However, you may not be able to hear much else besides Ben screaming like a teenage girl at a Beatles concert. I was worried he was going to pass out with excitement, and I didn’t have any smelling salts on me.

Not to be outdone by some professional cyclists, a testosterone fueled Jim who I think may be doped to the gills (another expression I heard all day), had to make sure to drive home at high speeds on the autobahn.

It was a successful day, but I don’t see myself traipsing around Europe to watch bike races; no matter how cute their little butts are.

German Scoldings

I started this blog a couple of weeks ago after getting yelled at about 3 times in one week. Up until this point, I had somehow evaded reprimand. My friends had all complained about being yelled at for not following the rules, but my Teutonic blood must have caused me to be a rule abider until a few weeks ago. Germans feel that when someone breaks a rule, it is their duty to point it out. My three indiscretions were that: I didn't wear a swim cap in the pool; I crossed the street when it said don't walk in the presence of a child; and while biking, I stopped ahead of the line at a light, and I was wearing headphones.

I came across this article this morning in the Herald Tribune and was motivated to finish this blog posting. This article captures the German psyche so incredibly well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/weekinreview/05KULISH.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=financial%20rules%20germany&st=cse