Ten months and one week after setting sail for Europe, Claire returned home all grown, worldly, and internationally cultured. We look forward to demonstrations of her newest pastry chef skills and knowledge before she flits off to college.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
2 n 3
Two squirrels nabbed in a single trap. Call me Jeremiah Johnson. These rascally tree rodents were relocated off-site for repeated violations of eating the chickens' sunflower seeds.
Three Northern Cardinal chicks are quickly out-growing their nest, which is hidden in the bittersweet vines on the garden fence.
Three Northern Cardinal chicks are quickly out-growing their nest, which is hidden in the bittersweet vines on the garden fence.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Amsterdam
We spent the last couple days of our Europe Expedition in Amsterdam. Take a common idea like a city. Replace a third of the roads with curving canals. Make most roads one way. None going east. Add bicycle lanes to all roads and sidewalks. Minimize all pedestrian routes to 10 inches wide or less. Populate the city with 25% more bicycles than people. Allow parking everywhere, including sidewalks, but charge five Euros an hour. Add tram and bus routes rooming bye. Mix in a bazillion scooters zig zagging here and there on roads, walks and lanes between tables at outdoor cafes. Legalize the sale and public consumption of hashish, marijuana and mushrooms. Fill the center of the city with a world famous red light district. Allow street vendors to sell beer to anyone old enough to count change. Rent bicycles to wandering, intoxicated tourists. And you have one challenging city for getting about, if you ask me.
This is the waitress that prepared authentic Dutch cuisine at our table side. She was great. The food was great.
Pat with Jan van Driel. Jan lives about 30 kilometers from Amsterdam in Gouda. Pat and Jan have been writing a research paper this past year, so Jan bopped over to Amsterdam to give us a guided tour. The next time you visit Amsterdam, I highly recommend a guided tour by Jan.
The canals in Amsterdam are busy all day long with boats going this way and that.
Claire is in seventh heaven shopping for cheese.
We were in Amsterdam during a holiday. The town did not start waking up until noon.
Like his personae, Rembrandt, himself, was bigger than life and quite shiny.
Of course, we said "cheese." We were in Amsterdam.
This is the illusive Hotel Nes, where we stayed in Amsterdam. It took a half tank of gas, a stack of Google maps, four locals, a circumnavigation of the city and a car load of police to help us find this hotel. I guess that's why the rooms were so expensive. Still, if you can get there, it is worth a stay.
After we wore out our welcome in Amsterdam, Claire took a train back to Belgium, and Pat and I got a flat tire. I put on the spare tire. We drove to the airport and flew home. The end.
Below, Claire is keeping cautious distance from a local "consumer," while standing in front of Rembrandt's house.
Claire with Mr. Bubbles in front of Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, which is the national museum. Most of the museum was closed for renovation. Thirteen rooms, however, were open, and they showcased the greatest national treasurers, including a bunch of Rembrandts, and about a third of Vermeer's paintings. Vermeer only produced 34 paintings in his lifetime, and of the 32 surviving, all are world class. Amazing, eh?!? And Rembrandt? Well, he's the only painter I have seen paint like Rembrandt. Belly up to "Night Watch" and you will know what that means. Claire and I also visited the Van Gogh Museum, which was fantabulistic. If you do nothing else in Amsterdam, visit the Van Gogh Museum. Twice, if you have time.
Claire with Mr. Bubbles in front of Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, which is the national museum. Most of the museum was closed for renovation. Thirteen rooms, however, were open, and they showcased the greatest national treasurers, including a bunch of Rembrandts, and about a third of Vermeer's paintings. Vermeer only produced 34 paintings in his lifetime, and of the 32 surviving, all are world class. Amazing, eh?!? And Rembrandt? Well, he's the only painter I have seen paint like Rembrandt. Belly up to "Night Watch" and you will know what that means. Claire and I also visited the Van Gogh Museum, which was fantabulistic. If you do nothing else in Amsterdam, visit the Van Gogh Museum. Twice, if you have time.
This is the waitress that prepared authentic Dutch cuisine at our table side. She was great. The food was great.
Pat with Jan van Driel. Jan lives about 30 kilometers from Amsterdam in Gouda. Pat and Jan have been writing a research paper this past year, so Jan bopped over to Amsterdam to give us a guided tour. The next time you visit Amsterdam, I highly recommend a guided tour by Jan.
The canals in Amsterdam are busy all day long with boats going this way and that.
Claire is in seventh heaven shopping for cheese.
We were in Amsterdam during a holiday. The town did not start waking up until noon.
Like his personae, Rembrandt, himself, was bigger than life and quite shiny.
Of course, we said "cheese." We were in Amsterdam.
This is the illusive Hotel Nes, where we stayed in Amsterdam. It took a half tank of gas, a stack of Google maps, four locals, a circumnavigation of the city and a car load of police to help us find this hotel. I guess that's why the rooms were so expensive. Still, if you can get there, it is worth a stay.
After we wore out our welcome in Amsterdam, Claire took a train back to Belgium, and Pat and I got a flat tire. I put on the spare tire. We drove to the airport and flew home. The end.Friday, June 12, 2009
Ghent
Ghent in English. Gent in Dutch. Gand or Gant in French. Formerly Gaunt in English (before spell check technology). All the same town. An old bugger of a Belgium city, founded on the confluence of the Lys and Scheldt rivers as a grain trading and mercantile center. It quickly became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. Today, it is a shipping port and university town. It is a great town to see old, Flemish-style business buildings.
This is the historic post office. At this time, it is under renovation. Half of Europe is under renovation at this time.
This is the Gravensteen Castle, which is the only surviving one of a bunch of castles built by the counts of Flanders for maintaining law and order. It's pretty durn old.
Town square. Well, one side of it.
Saint Bavo Cathedral, which houses the famous alter painting Lamb of God. Wow! You gotta see that!
River Lys, Flemish-style buildings and blue sky.
Colmar
We spent an evening exploring and dining in Colmar, France. It is an old trade town and capital of the Alsace region of France. It is the home of Frederic Bartholdi, the artist that designed and built the statue of liberty. Colmar is known for it's beautiful old churches, well preserved city center and trade canals. It's an awesome town.
Eguisheim
We spent a day and a night in Eguisheim, France, which is a cute little town in the Alsace region. Eguisheim is known as the town too cute to be real. Really! It's like living inside a made for television Disney special. The poster town for cute. The dimple of cute. Alsace is known for great wine, awesome cherries, excellent snow skiing, cute little towns and huge servings of ham. Conquered back and forth a bunch of times between Germany and France, I am glad it's France's now. French is cuter.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wallenburg
Below, Claire and her lady bug spring into action.
Using the timer functionality while the camera is propped precariously on a fence post, we spent the evening trying to take a family photo below the FriedrichstraBe street sign. It was no surprise that our street is one way only.
Innsbrook
We had a great lunch at this restaurant in Innsbrook, Austria. No one spoke English or French, so we just guessed at the menu.
The meal was a fun adventure.
The meal was a fun adventure.
Trento
The fountain of Triton in the Trento, Italy town square.
The town square in Trento is ringed with very old buildings adorned with elaborate frescos.
We stayed in a B & B in the middle of a vineyard.
This is the winery that supplied the "breakfast juice" for the B & B. I discovered the best part of waking up is not Folgers in a cup ;-)
The view from our B & B in Trento.
We dined at Al Volt, purportedly the best restaurant for authentic Trento food, which is kind of a fusion of German and Italian. I ordered the barbecued pork shank. The little chef gave me the largest pork shank he could find, and came out of the kitchen to laugh at me three times, each time saying, "You eat little" in Italian. The waiter translated for us. He was an absurdly passionate Star Trek fan, and a former language student. His English was the best of all the people we met in Germany, Austria, Italy and France. The only time he has ever left Italy, he traveled to Los Angeles to attend a Star Trek convention.
The town square in Trento is ringed with very old buildings adorned with elaborate frescos.
We stayed in a B & B in the middle of a vineyard.
This is the winery that supplied the "breakfast juice" for the B & B. I discovered the best part of waking up is not Folgers in a cup ;-)
The view from our B & B in Trento.
We dined at Al Volt, purportedly the best restaurant for authentic Trento food, which is kind of a fusion of German and Italian. I ordered the barbecued pork shank. The little chef gave me the largest pork shank he could find, and came out of the kitchen to laugh at me three times, each time saying, "You eat little" in Italian. The waiter translated for us. He was an absurdly passionate Star Trek fan, and a former language student. His English was the best of all the people we met in Germany, Austria, Italy and France. The only time he has ever left Italy, he traveled to Los Angeles to attend a Star Trek convention.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)