You might have heard of this video, I had, but I just watched it for the first time today when a blog I just subscribed to mentioned they found themselves strangely moved by it. This was a theater and dance blog, not a travel blog! So I decided to see what it was all about. The editing is great, the set up is perfect: handing the camera to someone else, we're not sure if it's a stranger or a friend (if I read up a bit I bet I would find out but I'm going with gut reactions here). The dancing is goofy, yes, but a moment later when the setting changes I pretty much stopped even thinking about the goofiness. The transition is great, Matt stays in pretty much the same spot but he's gone from India to Bhutan. You think you've pretty much got the video all figured out at this point? Just keep watching. There's so much more. Plus, I notice something new every time I watch it. Like just now I noticed the dog dancing with him in Kuwait! Matt gets some company just before the one minute mark and there are flashes of several recognizable locations (San Francisco! Paris! Chicago! These were the easy ones for me.) that are given their front and center moment throughout the rest of the video but it gives the viewer a little jolt. I told you there's more to it. Now is when a few themes start to present themselves: Happy huge crowds, jubilant children, a few strangers that may have just been in the right place at the right time. Dublin! I bet that's Saint Stephen's Green... see the little ankle height "fence" to keep you off the grass? I love the kids in the Solomon Islands, who out-dance Matt. Hey, Munich! I'm going there! Cool. My absolute favorite moment is when Matt joins the choreography of the scene around the 2:35 mark. This is when I started to get chills. I love the transition from Bethesda Terrace in NYC to a very similar yet oh-so different structure in Tokyo. Lemur Island, hilarious!!! Remind me to look up where that was in Amsterdam, it looks like the bridge on the Singel canal near our apartment, but who knows? Brussels into San Francisco... I am such a goober, I started to tear up. The world is such a huge and small place. I love how you get see a vibe from a place from the way the people there danced. Cologne in front of the Dom into one of the few sights I got to see in Singapore... *sigh* totally starting to cry and it's so silly. Space-Monkey--you better make it to the 3:52 mark!
I've watched this video a couple of times this morning and the effect is the same every time. I don't know what it all means but I've been looking for meaning in what I'm about to set off into the world to do... and I can tell this relates.
I just wanted to share... I hope you enjoy it. (If you go to the actual YouTube page there is higher quality viewing available with a click at the lower right corner of the picture.)
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Monday, November 19, 2007
Beers and Kirs... and New York Gypsy Punk!
Paris was such a whirlwind... between having way to much to see (and having to walk there thanks to the metro strike) and sharing the computer I have fallen far behind on my travel rambling. Currently I am resting up in Barcelona, but let me finish telling you about our week in the city of lights.
The first day of the metro strike we decided to pretty much stick close to home. We walked to the Marais and wandered around a bit. We met back up and went to the Musée Carnavalet. It's a free museum about the history of Paris. Not a stop on everyone's list of top things to do in Paris. But for me it was a must. You see, I have a really special place in my heart for the design work of Alphonse Mucha, he mostly designed gorgeous posters, but I happened to know that Carnavalet is the place to find the actual jewelry store interior that he designed in 1901. I didn't really mean to bring the whole group with me but we all pretty much stuck together. It was a little bit bittersweet to not be able to let it sink is quietly and slowly alone. But oh my god, what a moment. It was almost unreal being there. I was inside the photos I had looked at so many times! Mucha's work is so beautiful, and some people might find it too much so, in fact, I myself can't stand overly fussy and frou-frou things. But his swirly lines and beautiful women, I don't know, they just never seem to be trying so hard, they're just natural and wonderful.
For lunch we got take-away falafel sandwiches made by a man with the fastest hands I have ever seen. He expertly tossed the ingredients into the pocket of pita breads in about 10 seconds flat! We ate in a park and then walked to a new gelato place. Apparently it was started by an Italian who couldn't find ice cream in Paris that fit his taste so he started importing the ingredients and making his own. Afterwards we walked through the Louvre courtyard and through the gardens. The sun was setting and the sky was just beautiful. My happy camera snapped away. Our intended destination was Musée de l'Orangerie, the home of Monet's huge waterlily paintings, but because of the strike and transportation problems for everyone involved, they were closing early. So there we were, 5pm and stranded far from home. We went downstairs to check out the metro situation. The train pulled up and the sight of it basically made me want to cry. It was so packed and there were a ton of people trying to get on. I turned to CF and said, "I can't do it!" And he said, "I don't want to anyway." So we decided to walk all the way home. We parted ways with the rest of the group and climbed back up to ground level.
Chaos, mass chaos! Traffic was terrible, a taxi never once crossed our minds. We just headed in the direction of home and figured we'd finally get to really see the city and do it while working off some of the glorious food we'd been partaking of for weeks now. Something a little unexpected happened then, we were suddenly having a fantastic time. We were just another couple trying to get home on a crazy evening in the city. I loved seeing all the people, trekking in so many different ways. Taxis, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, rollerblades, and of course... us pedestrians. Eventually we got a text message from the group. They had given up and decided to walk as well, but they were now a ways behind us and we had no keys. So we stopped by a coffee shop (No, not a coffeeshop, we're not in Amsterdam) and bought some more coffee grounds. The poor salesgirl asked CF for a tip on speaking English, "Should I ask 'Anything else?' or is it 'Something else?'" He rattled off more advice than she could possibly have needed, at a rate faster than she could possibly understand. I tried to step in and help out. But the moment was absolutely charming. We stopped by a cheese shop and picked up some more fromage for the apartment. Next up was a cafe where we had a beer and a kir royal (champagne and cassis). Then we picked up some more eggs and yogurt for our breakfast feasts. I was getting a bit hungry so we swung by the crepe stand near home. She made the pancake fresh for me right then, I was so happy! I had it topped with Nutella. Heavenly! We were home but hadn't heard from the group. So we went into the bar just downstairs where we had gone for dinner two nights before and had another beer and kir. It was after 7 by then, and we had the bar to ourselves. We sat in comfy arm chairs and enjoyed the music they had playing.
And then, whoops, the text message finally came through. The gang had actually been home since about the time I got the crepe down the street! Oh well, I was so content with our little adventure and experience shopping and drinking our way home, I wouldn't change a thing.
D's mom was totally wiped out from the journey and stayed home for the night. So the five friends wandered out to a nearby recommended restaurant. Before dinner Ms. D gave a wonderful toast. "Here's to good friends. We're lucky to have each other." And we all agreed as we clinked glasses.
The next morning we all woke up a little tired and cranky. The city (and strike) were taking the oomph out of us. And this was the morning I wrote that bit about “Why do you travel?” The strike was still on, but more drivers were giving in and going to work. We managed to get a pretty good ride on the metro to Musée d'Orsay. D had been to the museum several times before, and CF was feeling a bit museum overloaded. But the rest of us went in. I enjoyed my visit, but maybe I was tired and/or distracted, nothing really grabbed me or moved me. There was a great little exhibit on the Paris Opera, the building itself was very interesting, and really, even if you've already seen more than your share of Monet and van Gogh they are incredible. Afterwards we grabbed some lunch at a cafe named after Mucha and made our way back to the other museum to see those Monet waterlilies finally. They are huge and they are very impressive. The rooms are large ovals and you sit there in the middle and just let them surround you.
The Z's, CF and I had to trek home so we could get prepped and make out way out (somehow) to the concert we had bought tickets for months ago. We managed to get metro part of the way, there was one leg of the ride that got just crowded enough that I started to feel every so slightly panicked, but just then the crowded thinned out and pretty soon it was time to walk the rest of the way home. Certain trains were running more than others, so sometimes you just cut your losses and used your feet.
We decided to try metro first to get to the show, and then check out bus and taxi options, the temperature was dropping so walking had become our last resort (plus it was a couple miles each way). Metro was a no-go. There were more people waiting downstairs then could possibly fit into a metro train if it pulled up empty. These were all people trying to get home in the further reaches of the city. I felt really bad for them and even if it were a real possibility I wouldn't have wanted to take one spot away from them. So we gave up on that. It was a bit of a hassle but we did manage to get a taxi. The drivers were all crazed from the extra business and demand. We lucked out and got a really nice driver who put up with the traffic and took us all the way up to the concert venue, even if his chances of finding a return fare weren't great. He wished us good luck as he dropped us off. Boy, this strike is really getting to the city!
We got an extremely fast sit down meal of schwarma sandwiches, frites and beer and made our way to the concert venue. We fell in with the crowd, but found ourselves facing a building labeled with the wrong name. PZ checked out what the scalpers were offering and we found out we were at the venue where Vanessa Paradis would be appearing! I made jokes about wanting to see "Johnny Depp's baby mama" sing. But we did have tickets for the other show so we asked a bouncer where to find the other venue. Up some stairs and over a little pedestrian bridge was the answer. This was such a weird adventure! CF was loving it, of course.
We found our concert, went inside and got set up standing in a great spot on an upper level along a rail. We had a great view and weren't far away from the stage at all, but we'd be out of the craziness if the down-front crowd got wild. There was a DJ playing some great tunes, a very amusing French punk band opened the show, and then finally, Gogol Bordello took the stage.
A few months ago PZ was spending the night at our house, which he sometimes does when working back to back days in the Bay area, and asked if I had heard of a band called Gogol Bordello. I said I had not but my laptop was, well, in my lap, so I looked them up on iTunes and as soon as I saw the track listing I remembered that I had indeed heard of them. The lead singer actually played a large role in the movie Everything is Illuminated, the rest of the band made a small appearance in the movie, and their song "Start Wearing Purple" played over the closing credits. I remembered the song because I remembered thinking that PZ would like it, and so he did, ha! They were playing in San Francisco and he wanted to go see them. I had to work but CF was going to go instead, but then it turned out the darn show was sold out. But somehow I managed to find info online about their European appearances in the fall, and that's how I found out they were in Paris at the same time as us. And that's how this crazy night came to be.
I don't even know where to begin, how do I describe this band? Well, a souvineer t-shirt read, "NYGP -- New York Gypsy Punk" and that's a pretty good way to describe everything that goes into their sound, look and stage presence. There's the tall, skinny lead singer. One of the most authentic gypsy looks in the band comes from the violinist with a large beard and busted bow strings flying. I also liked the accordionist and slick looking guitar player. Adding to the mayhem were two back up singing girls, who at times carried fans and at others wielded tambourines, and ultimately one ended up with a marching base drum and the other with cymbals. I suggest looking them up on YouTube so you can get a better sense of what I'm talking about. The show was incredible. I am not usually one to dance during a concert but I basically didn't stop moving. The show ended with the mosh pit crowd on stage, holding the singer up above their heads. Wild!
We somehow managed to catch a metro most of the way home pretty quickly after the show. The four of us were flying high from the concert. My poor tired feet could barely carry me home from the metro stop. CF stopped for a midnight snack at another doner kebab place, they're everywhere in Europe, and we got home around midnight. We had left around 5:30pm! The metro strike wasn't totally ruining anything, but it was sure sucking a lot of time out of our day! We headed to bed quickly. The week was getting away from us and so was our amount of sleep!
The first day of the metro strike we decided to pretty much stick close to home. We walked to the Marais and wandered around a bit. We met back up and went to the Musée Carnavalet. It's a free museum about the history of Paris. Not a stop on everyone's list of top things to do in Paris. But for me it was a must. You see, I have a really special place in my heart for the design work of Alphonse Mucha, he mostly designed gorgeous posters, but I happened to know that Carnavalet is the place to find the actual jewelry store interior that he designed in 1901. I didn't really mean to bring the whole group with me but we all pretty much stuck together. It was a little bit bittersweet to not be able to let it sink is quietly and slowly alone. But oh my god, what a moment. It was almost unreal being there. I was inside the photos I had looked at so many times! Mucha's work is so beautiful, and some people might find it too much so, in fact, I myself can't stand overly fussy and frou-frou things. But his swirly lines and beautiful women, I don't know, they just never seem to be trying so hard, they're just natural and wonderful.
For lunch we got take-away falafel sandwiches made by a man with the fastest hands I have ever seen. He expertly tossed the ingredients into the pocket of pita breads in about 10 seconds flat! We ate in a park and then walked to a new gelato place. Apparently it was started by an Italian who couldn't find ice cream in Paris that fit his taste so he started importing the ingredients and making his own. Afterwards we walked through the Louvre courtyard and through the gardens. The sun was setting and the sky was just beautiful. My happy camera snapped away. Our intended destination was Musée de l'Orangerie, the home of Monet's huge waterlily paintings, but because of the strike and transportation problems for everyone involved, they were closing early. So there we were, 5pm and stranded far from home. We went downstairs to check out the metro situation. The train pulled up and the sight of it basically made me want to cry. It was so packed and there were a ton of people trying to get on. I turned to CF and said, "I can't do it!" And he said, "I don't want to anyway." So we decided to walk all the way home. We parted ways with the rest of the group and climbed back up to ground level.
Chaos, mass chaos! Traffic was terrible, a taxi never once crossed our minds. We just headed in the direction of home and figured we'd finally get to really see the city and do it while working off some of the glorious food we'd been partaking of for weeks now. Something a little unexpected happened then, we were suddenly having a fantastic time. We were just another couple trying to get home on a crazy evening in the city. I loved seeing all the people, trekking in so many different ways. Taxis, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, rollerblades, and of course... us pedestrians. Eventually we got a text message from the group. They had given up and decided to walk as well, but they were now a ways behind us and we had no keys. So we stopped by a coffee shop (No, not a coffeeshop, we're not in Amsterdam) and bought some more coffee grounds. The poor salesgirl asked CF for a tip on speaking English, "Should I ask 'Anything else?' or is it 'Something else?'" He rattled off more advice than she could possibly have needed, at a rate faster than she could possibly understand. I tried to step in and help out. But the moment was absolutely charming. We stopped by a cheese shop and picked up some more fromage for the apartment. Next up was a cafe where we had a beer and a kir royal (champagne and cassis). Then we picked up some more eggs and yogurt for our breakfast feasts. I was getting a bit hungry so we swung by the crepe stand near home. She made the pancake fresh for me right then, I was so happy! I had it topped with Nutella. Heavenly! We were home but hadn't heard from the group. So we went into the bar just downstairs where we had gone for dinner two nights before and had another beer and kir. It was after 7 by then, and we had the bar to ourselves. We sat in comfy arm chairs and enjoyed the music they had playing.
And then, whoops, the text message finally came through. The gang had actually been home since about the time I got the crepe down the street! Oh well, I was so content with our little adventure and experience shopping and drinking our way home, I wouldn't change a thing.
D's mom was totally wiped out from the journey and stayed home for the night. So the five friends wandered out to a nearby recommended restaurant. Before dinner Ms. D gave a wonderful toast. "Here's to good friends. We're lucky to have each other." And we all agreed as we clinked glasses.
The next morning we all woke up a little tired and cranky. The city (and strike) were taking the oomph out of us. And this was the morning I wrote that bit about “Why do you travel?” The strike was still on, but more drivers were giving in and going to work. We managed to get a pretty good ride on the metro to Musée d'Orsay. D had been to the museum several times before, and CF was feeling a bit museum overloaded. But the rest of us went in. I enjoyed my visit, but maybe I was tired and/or distracted, nothing really grabbed me or moved me. There was a great little exhibit on the Paris Opera, the building itself was very interesting, and really, even if you've already seen more than your share of Monet and van Gogh they are incredible. Afterwards we grabbed some lunch at a cafe named after Mucha and made our way back to the other museum to see those Monet waterlilies finally. They are huge and they are very impressive. The rooms are large ovals and you sit there in the middle and just let them surround you.
The Z's, CF and I had to trek home so we could get prepped and make out way out (somehow) to the concert we had bought tickets for months ago. We managed to get metro part of the way, there was one leg of the ride that got just crowded enough that I started to feel every so slightly panicked, but just then the crowded thinned out and pretty soon it was time to walk the rest of the way home. Certain trains were running more than others, so sometimes you just cut your losses and used your feet.
We decided to try metro first to get to the show, and then check out bus and taxi options, the temperature was dropping so walking had become our last resort (plus it was a couple miles each way). Metro was a no-go. There were more people waiting downstairs then could possibly fit into a metro train if it pulled up empty. These were all people trying to get home in the further reaches of the city. I felt really bad for them and even if it were a real possibility I wouldn't have wanted to take one spot away from them. So we gave up on that. It was a bit of a hassle but we did manage to get a taxi. The drivers were all crazed from the extra business and demand. We lucked out and got a really nice driver who put up with the traffic and took us all the way up to the concert venue, even if his chances of finding a return fare weren't great. He wished us good luck as he dropped us off. Boy, this strike is really getting to the city!
We got an extremely fast sit down meal of schwarma sandwiches, frites and beer and made our way to the concert venue. We fell in with the crowd, but found ourselves facing a building labeled with the wrong name. PZ checked out what the scalpers were offering and we found out we were at the venue where Vanessa Paradis would be appearing! I made jokes about wanting to see "Johnny Depp's baby mama" sing. But we did have tickets for the other show so we asked a bouncer where to find the other venue. Up some stairs and over a little pedestrian bridge was the answer. This was such a weird adventure! CF was loving it, of course.
We found our concert, went inside and got set up standing in a great spot on an upper level along a rail. We had a great view and weren't far away from the stage at all, but we'd be out of the craziness if the down-front crowd got wild. There was a DJ playing some great tunes, a very amusing French punk band opened the show, and then finally, Gogol Bordello took the stage.
A few months ago PZ was spending the night at our house, which he sometimes does when working back to back days in the Bay area, and asked if I had heard of a band called Gogol Bordello. I said I had not but my laptop was, well, in my lap, so I looked them up on iTunes and as soon as I saw the track listing I remembered that I had indeed heard of them. The lead singer actually played a large role in the movie Everything is Illuminated, the rest of the band made a small appearance in the movie, and their song "Start Wearing Purple" played over the closing credits. I remembered the song because I remembered thinking that PZ would like it, and so he did, ha! They were playing in San Francisco and he wanted to go see them. I had to work but CF was going to go instead, but then it turned out the darn show was sold out. But somehow I managed to find info online about their European appearances in the fall, and that's how I found out they were in Paris at the same time as us. And that's how this crazy night came to be.
I don't even know where to begin, how do I describe this band? Well, a souvineer t-shirt read, "NYGP -- New York Gypsy Punk" and that's a pretty good way to describe everything that goes into their sound, look and stage presence. There's the tall, skinny lead singer. One of the most authentic gypsy looks in the band comes from the violinist with a large beard and busted bow strings flying. I also liked the accordionist and slick looking guitar player. Adding to the mayhem were two back up singing girls, who at times carried fans and at others wielded tambourines, and ultimately one ended up with a marching base drum and the other with cymbals. I suggest looking them up on YouTube so you can get a better sense of what I'm talking about. The show was incredible. I am not usually one to dance during a concert but I basically didn't stop moving. The show ended with the mosh pit crowd on stage, holding the singer up above their heads. Wild!
We somehow managed to catch a metro most of the way home pretty quickly after the show. The four of us were flying high from the concert. My poor tired feet could barely carry me home from the metro stop. CF stopped for a midnight snack at another doner kebab place, they're everywhere in Europe, and we got home around midnight. We had left around 5:30pm! The metro strike wasn't totally ruining anything, but it was sure sucking a lot of time out of our day! We headed to bed quickly. The week was getting away from us and so was our amount of sleep!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
A city that starts with "The."
Wednesday morning in Amsterdam and I considered calling it a good day for resting, but I knew Thursday (today as I am writing this) is Armistice day and there was potential holiday closures. So we decided to push ourselves a little bit and planned a day trip to Den Haag, aka The Hague. This idea started a number of weeks ago when a new employee was talking to CF and he suggested the Escher museum in The Hague if we'd be in the area already. I asked CF, "Is that really the name of a city? It sounds like a neighborhood, like The Village." But our guidebook said it was also known for its "stately atmosphere." And I wanted to see more of the surrounding area so a train ride sounded good.
We left a little later than we should have, struggled a bit to figure out how to buy our tickets and ran up the stairs to track 13a just as the 10:45 train rolled away. It was sort of like a movie. CF says missing a train feels kind of cool, "like you're somebody who has to be somewhere." Which right now is anything but true! I decided to see if we could get a mid-morning snack... and unfortunately I wandered us a little further away from the train station than I should have. We ended up at Unlimited Delicious, a wonderful chocolate shop, but they didn't really have the pastries we were craving right then. We bought some chocolates for later (including tomato-basil and rosemary with sea salt!) but had to hurry a little, not cool in Amsterdam. I felt like a jackass. We ended up running to our second train, we caught this one but the whole experience wasn't exactly pleasant. CF had to straddle some guy's suitcase as we squished into the crowded second class train car, but luckily the airport turned out to be a close stop and nearly everyone exited, their journeys continuing elsewhere. After a short 45 minute train ride we arrived in Den Haag and were ready for a bit of an adventure.
We walked for a bit, only barely looking at the map. I realized quickly the area of interest was quite small and wandering really would get us everywhere. We found a market and stopped for a bite to eat. A timid cook made us a crepe while the boss ate one of her own. She cooked bacon right there on the griddle, grated the cheese... and whoops, ran out of tomato. The boss stood up and walked over to a nearby stand, and she came back with another tomato or two. So awesome. She put out the pesto jar for us, I paid her 5euros, we had basically ordered our crepe with the works. We sat on little stools along the front of their table and shared our delicious meal. Afterwards we looked for dessert, and ended up getting a little raspberry pie from a very well branded, pink booth. The night before I had walked around eating baked potato with sour cream, and now raspberry pie was street food as well!
We saw the Binnenhof, an old parliament building, and the pond on one side of it. We took a walk down a posh shopping street that felt very much like Grafton street in Dublin. The city really is stately, and we had a very nice stroll as colorful leaves fell all over the streets and squares. A strong reminder that it really is autumn, and not winter like I kept thinking in Zurich. We tried to decide on a museum to visit. I almost sent CF to see Escher in het Paleis alone. But considering all the fine art paintings I've seen already and will also see in Paris, I decided to stick with him. I hope my sister will forgive me for not taking the opportunity to visit the Girl with a Pearl Earring at Mauritshuis! In the end I am very happy with my choice, the Escher museum was so much fun. The historic building is an old palace, and was once the home to Queen Beatrix's great grandmother. They've painted the walls vivid red and deep purple, and included a contemporary artist's fantastical chandeliers (Hey! We've already seen one of them in Amsterdam!). Escher's early work is not seen as often but it's all amazing. He lived in Italy for a time and I had never realized how much of his work includes influence from this. There were mirrors in almost every room and the reflections bounced around, colors and illusions. It was all so appropriate for where we were. Very well done! The upper level of the building was a more interactive Escher exhibit. This was more aimed at school children, but we played around for a while. I reminded CF that there was a scene in one of my favorite childhood movies that was inspired by Escher's work. And a couple rooms later there it was, the "Within You" scene from Labyrinth was playing on a small monitor. The other museum guests were mostly younger guys, and they didn't quite know what to think about this strange David Bowie music video, and I stood there trying to contain my delight. We retrieved our belongings from the fantastic locker room down below (furniture on all six sides of the room) and rejoined the more serious world of The Hague.
We stopped for a beer and then walked back to the train station. Our train was waiting and we were back in Amsterdam around 5pm. It was very nice to arrive in the city and actually know where we were going. It was wonderful but intimidating and overwhelming the first night.
We paid a second visit to De Bierkoning, collected more groceries from Albert Heijn (is this name somehow related to Albertsons?) and settled in for the night. I'm not sure if anything wild went down here for Halloween. But we were sure tired and could use a break. So we had another great CF cooked dinner and more Belgian beer sampling (what we first saw as small glasses kept here in the apartment are actually perfect for splitting a bottle between the two of us). I read up on Belgium and Paris while CF tried to finally finish his great beer manifesto (this would finally happen around 1:3am). Even though we were only out for about 7, maybe 8, hours, I was so glad to rest my "weary bones."
We're planning on taking it easy today. It's been a slow morning but breakfast was fantastic. We bought pre-made crepes at the store and just crisped them up and ate them with banana, Nutella and cream. Heavenly! I think we'll go out to see a market or two, probably have some fries for lunch, there's a shop I'd like to go back to because I've admired their fun, print, fabric bags from the window twice now, and we're going to look for some place to make a dinner reservation for tonight. Sounds like the perfect day to me!
We left a little later than we should have, struggled a bit to figure out how to buy our tickets and ran up the stairs to track 13a just as the 10:45 train rolled away. It was sort of like a movie. CF says missing a train feels kind of cool, "like you're somebody who has to be somewhere." Which right now is anything but true! I decided to see if we could get a mid-morning snack... and unfortunately I wandered us a little further away from the train station than I should have. We ended up at Unlimited Delicious, a wonderful chocolate shop, but they didn't really have the pastries we were craving right then. We bought some chocolates for later (including tomato-basil and rosemary with sea salt!) but had to hurry a little, not cool in Amsterdam. I felt like a jackass. We ended up running to our second train, we caught this one but the whole experience wasn't exactly pleasant. CF had to straddle some guy's suitcase as we squished into the crowded second class train car, but luckily the airport turned out to be a close stop and nearly everyone exited, their journeys continuing elsewhere. After a short 45 minute train ride we arrived in Den Haag and were ready for a bit of an adventure.
We walked for a bit, only barely looking at the map. I realized quickly the area of interest was quite small and wandering really would get us everywhere. We found a market and stopped for a bite to eat. A timid cook made us a crepe while the boss ate one of her own. She cooked bacon right there on the griddle, grated the cheese... and whoops, ran out of tomato. The boss stood up and walked over to a nearby stand, and she came back with another tomato or two. So awesome. She put out the pesto jar for us, I paid her 5euros, we had basically ordered our crepe with the works. We sat on little stools along the front of their table and shared our delicious meal. Afterwards we looked for dessert, and ended up getting a little raspberry pie from a very well branded, pink booth. The night before I had walked around eating baked potato with sour cream, and now raspberry pie was street food as well!
We saw the Binnenhof, an old parliament building, and the pond on one side of it. We took a walk down a posh shopping street that felt very much like Grafton street in Dublin. The city really is stately, and we had a very nice stroll as colorful leaves fell all over the streets and squares. A strong reminder that it really is autumn, and not winter like I kept thinking in Zurich. We tried to decide on a museum to visit. I almost sent CF to see Escher in het Paleis alone. But considering all the fine art paintings I've seen already and will also see in Paris, I decided to stick with him. I hope my sister will forgive me for not taking the opportunity to visit the Girl with a Pearl Earring at Mauritshuis! In the end I am very happy with my choice, the Escher museum was so much fun. The historic building is an old palace, and was once the home to Queen Beatrix's great grandmother. They've painted the walls vivid red and deep purple, and included a contemporary artist's fantastical chandeliers (Hey! We've already seen one of them in Amsterdam!). Escher's early work is not seen as often but it's all amazing. He lived in Italy for a time and I had never realized how much of his work includes influence from this. There were mirrors in almost every room and the reflections bounced around, colors and illusions. It was all so appropriate for where we were. Very well done! The upper level of the building was a more interactive Escher exhibit. This was more aimed at school children, but we played around for a while. I reminded CF that there was a scene in one of my favorite childhood movies that was inspired by Escher's work. And a couple rooms later there it was, the "Within You" scene from Labyrinth was playing on a small monitor. The other museum guests were mostly younger guys, and they didn't quite know what to think about this strange David Bowie music video, and I stood there trying to contain my delight. We retrieved our belongings from the fantastic locker room down below (furniture on all six sides of the room) and rejoined the more serious world of The Hague.
We stopped for a beer and then walked back to the train station. Our train was waiting and we were back in Amsterdam around 5pm. It was very nice to arrive in the city and actually know where we were going. It was wonderful but intimidating and overwhelming the first night.
We paid a second visit to De Bierkoning, collected more groceries from Albert Heijn (is this name somehow related to Albertsons?) and settled in for the night. I'm not sure if anything wild went down here for Halloween. But we were sure tired and could use a break. So we had another great CF cooked dinner and more Belgian beer sampling (what we first saw as small glasses kept here in the apartment are actually perfect for splitting a bottle between the two of us). I read up on Belgium and Paris while CF tried to finally finish his great beer manifesto (this would finally happen around 1:3am). Even though we were only out for about 7, maybe 8, hours, I was so glad to rest my "weary bones."
We're planning on taking it easy today. It's been a slow morning but breakfast was fantastic. We bought pre-made crepes at the store and just crisped them up and ate them with banana, Nutella and cream. Heavenly! I think we'll go out to see a market or two, probably have some fries for lunch, there's a shop I'd like to go back to because I've admired their fun, print, fabric bags from the window twice now, and we're going to look for some place to make a dinner reservation for tonight. Sounds like the perfect day to me!
Gezelligheid
Gezellig is something we've read about and witnessed, and now I think we're getting the hang of. It's basically the cozy, laid back, comfortable, no hurry way of being for the people of Amsterdam. Everyone in a shop or cafe gets good attention when they need it, but there's no need to rush, just chill out and wait your turn... enjoy some good conversation with the one you're with or soak in the atmosphere more if you're flying solo and have a good time. Based on this I am very glad that we are here for the week and haven't had to hurry much. I've noticed we tend to sit down to a meal and sometimes will be done before anyone else in the place, and they were all there before us! I think we're better and being relaxed at home, CF's made some delicious dinners. Oh and of course there's the street food. Love it!
Let's see, the last time I posted was Tuesday morning (so practice your gezellig, it's going to be a long post). We had our breakfast and watched the clouds break and a beautiful blue sky appeared. Up here in the rafters I can only see the sky (there's a little ladder and I can see the Singel canal below us from the second step up) but I really can tell what kind of day it's going to be from that sky. And I knew it was going to be lovely on Tuesday. So even though the Museum Quarter is a ways south from us we decided to walk. I had meant to be at the van Gogh Museum right when they opened but getting there a good hour later didn't seem to make too much of a difference. We made it there getting mildly lost only once, which in this city is pretty good. There was no line so the fact that we didn't print out tickets last week in Zurich didn't manage to come back and haunt us. I got the audio tour, CF took the printed material and we started with the exhibit, Barcelona 1900! We really enjoyed this exhibit, even if we were already entering Museum-Brain-Overload by the time we saw anything painted by van Gogh himself. The exhibit was about Barcelona's transformation around the turn of the century, and how some artists wanted to be associated more with Europe (more specifically, Paris) than the rest of Spain. Lots of great art nouveau pieces which got me excited to see Paris, and lots of Gaudi's work, which got me excited to see Barcelona. The van Gogh collection was amazing, but didn't actually contain many pieces with the great thick swirling texture that I really love. There was a large black and white photo blown up to cover one wall, an explanation was given that there are only three photos of van Gogh and this is the only one taken during his time as an artist. There were three men in the photo, one to the left and two off to the right in conversation. Turns out, Vincent was the man with his back to the camera. I turned to CF and we both smiled a little knowing smile. I like that we were both amused by this. Later CF said it was like the elusive Lemony Snickett. Ha! This is a very cool museum, I'm very glad we went.
We sat down for a meal out for the first time in Amsterdam, a light lunch at a cafe surrounded by museums. It was still a beautiful day out and I wished I could run outside and take photos instead of waiting for my sandwich. Then I noticed the big water feature suddenly went matte instead of reflective and I saw two people running... it was raining! It stopped as quickly as it started and before we were back outside it was lovely again. Before we left this cafe I went downstairs to use the restroom, paid .50euro to get in and noticed all the stall doors were glass. At least I was alone but this seemed a little odd. Then I noticed a light flashing in the last stall, demonstrating that once you went in and locked the door the glass turned frosted and a light went on inside, which gives the occupant complete privacy. How silly! What fun.
We decided on a path to walk home, up the west side of Amsterdam to go through the Jordaan district a bit more, this is supposed to be rather hip and bohemian. We hit a little snag along the way, my back is not being such a good sport about all this walking (I'm sure the large camera doesn't help). I must admit, yours truly got a bit cranky. Which angered CF who decided I was mad at him for the route we had picked which didn't seem all that entertaining. Oh well, you can't get along perfectly all the time. Once we really got into the heart of Jordaan we found the neighborhood so pleasing we forgot to finish our quarrel and just had a good time. One stop we made was at a shop with a wall of candy jars. The Dutch, they love their licorice! I had already found this off when I went to select some in the grocery store and got overwhelmed with the options so CF thought I was lost. We decided to try some with anis and some of the double salted (they love it salty or sweet, but mostly salty... mom, you'd fit in perfectly here).
We wandered all the way up and around till we were practically back at the train station, decided to go out for a drink and a snack and then head home for a little while. There's a couple of great looking little cafes near our place, we chose one and had a seat. I decided I needed both a drink and a little pepper-upper so I had an Irish Coffee. By the way, apparently it was the Dutch who introduced coffee to Europe, they make it GOOD here. I followed that up with the trendy fresh mint tea that many of the girls were having, which isn't alcoholic, it's just fresh mint in hot water and even comes with a personal little muddler. The fellow across the table from me had two Belgian beers, naturally. It was great sitting back in that cafe, not in a hurry to be anywhere. We might have achieved just a bit of that gezellig feeling.
I'll take this opportunity to point out that we're staying just a few blocks from the Ann Frank house, and it does seem interesting that we're many flights up, in the top of the building, which I sort of think of as our little hideaway. Of course I can look out the window, and even open the window and stick my head out, one of my favorite things to do up here. And I can't imagine not being able to look out at this beautiful city. They stayed up there for two years . I don't think we plan on visiting the house, I'm not really one to collect tourist attractions, though I hear visiting the house is very moving. I think I'm satisfied to pay my respects from here, appreciating the fact that here we are, so physically close and yet our happy little dwelling is so far away. This fact is far from lost on me.
So, back to Tuesday, we had a little rest and then hit the town as the evening started. I considered a popular looking little frites place but decided I'd like to try to sit down to dinner finally and didn't want to spoil my appetite. We wandered a bit through what many call the prettiest part of town, but this is also where the "coffeeshops" are, and this area is also crawling with what should be called the "munchieshops," tons of not-so-fresh looking pizzas and doughnuts abound. And of course this is the Redlight district, which we didn't walk the main canal of but there are actually girls standing around in windows all over town. It's sort of odd, but this city has done all right for itself with its strong commitment to tolerance and they get some control over the vices by allowing them.
We wandered in a bit of the more eastern side of the city and I noticed a sign for a Chinese restaurant that I remembered from my guide book. We decided to try it out. We had some Singapore style noodles and managed to guess which sesame chicken dish the couple at the table next to us had ordered and got one for ourselves. Very good! We wandered a while longer, I think I could walk around this city all day and all night... it's just marvelous. And eventually we came back to where we started, and finally gave in to the frites booth. CF ordered curry sauce, which proved to be not such a good idea, he said it was gross British style fake curry (he ended up throwing away the top layer, saving as much of the pommes below as possible). I decided to go with one of several kinds of mayo, I don't really know what the difference is, but the kind I got was amazing. I realized it was like eating a baked potato with the best sour cream possible, while walking down the street... and up the mile high climb of stairs... and back to this computer... and this was just a "small."
We had considered going back out for a drink but even we can't help but notice when the euros start disappearing a little too quickly for comfort, so we called it a night. And I think I'll give your eyes a break and start a new post for the new day.
Let's see, the last time I posted was Tuesday morning (so practice your gezellig, it's going to be a long post). We had our breakfast and watched the clouds break and a beautiful blue sky appeared. Up here in the rafters I can only see the sky (there's a little ladder and I can see the Singel canal below us from the second step up) but I really can tell what kind of day it's going to be from that sky. And I knew it was going to be lovely on Tuesday. So even though the Museum Quarter is a ways south from us we decided to walk. I had meant to be at the van Gogh Museum right when they opened but getting there a good hour later didn't seem to make too much of a difference. We made it there getting mildly lost only once, which in this city is pretty good. There was no line so the fact that we didn't print out tickets last week in Zurich didn't manage to come back and haunt us. I got the audio tour, CF took the printed material and we started with the exhibit, Barcelona 1900! We really enjoyed this exhibit, even if we were already entering Museum-Brain-Overload by the time we saw anything painted by van Gogh himself. The exhibit was about Barcelona's transformation around the turn of the century, and how some artists wanted to be associated more with Europe (more specifically, Paris) than the rest of Spain. Lots of great art nouveau pieces which got me excited to see Paris, and lots of Gaudi's work, which got me excited to see Barcelona. The van Gogh collection was amazing, but didn't actually contain many pieces with the great thick swirling texture that I really love. There was a large black and white photo blown up to cover one wall, an explanation was given that there are only three photos of van Gogh and this is the only one taken during his time as an artist. There were three men in the photo, one to the left and two off to the right in conversation. Turns out, Vincent was the man with his back to the camera. I turned to CF and we both smiled a little knowing smile. I like that we were both amused by this. Later CF said it was like the elusive Lemony Snickett. Ha! This is a very cool museum, I'm very glad we went.
We sat down for a meal out for the first time in Amsterdam, a light lunch at a cafe surrounded by museums. It was still a beautiful day out and I wished I could run outside and take photos instead of waiting for my sandwich. Then I noticed the big water feature suddenly went matte instead of reflective and I saw two people running... it was raining! It stopped as quickly as it started and before we were back outside it was lovely again. Before we left this cafe I went downstairs to use the restroom, paid .50euro to get in and noticed all the stall doors were glass. At least I was alone but this seemed a little odd. Then I noticed a light flashing in the last stall, demonstrating that once you went in and locked the door the glass turned frosted and a light went on inside, which gives the occupant complete privacy. How silly! What fun.
We decided on a path to walk home, up the west side of Amsterdam to go through the Jordaan district a bit more, this is supposed to be rather hip and bohemian. We hit a little snag along the way, my back is not being such a good sport about all this walking (I'm sure the large camera doesn't help). I must admit, yours truly got a bit cranky. Which angered CF who decided I was mad at him for the route we had picked which didn't seem all that entertaining. Oh well, you can't get along perfectly all the time. Once we really got into the heart of Jordaan we found the neighborhood so pleasing we forgot to finish our quarrel and just had a good time. One stop we made was at a shop with a wall of candy jars. The Dutch, they love their licorice! I had already found this off when I went to select some in the grocery store and got overwhelmed with the options so CF thought I was lost. We decided to try some with anis and some of the double salted (they love it salty or sweet, but mostly salty... mom, you'd fit in perfectly here).
We wandered all the way up and around till we were practically back at the train station, decided to go out for a drink and a snack and then head home for a little while. There's a couple of great looking little cafes near our place, we chose one and had a seat. I decided I needed both a drink and a little pepper-upper so I had an Irish Coffee. By the way, apparently it was the Dutch who introduced coffee to Europe, they make it GOOD here. I followed that up with the trendy fresh mint tea that many of the girls were having, which isn't alcoholic, it's just fresh mint in hot water and even comes with a personal little muddler. The fellow across the table from me had two Belgian beers, naturally. It was great sitting back in that cafe, not in a hurry to be anywhere. We might have achieved just a bit of that gezellig feeling.
I'll take this opportunity to point out that we're staying just a few blocks from the Ann Frank house, and it does seem interesting that we're many flights up, in the top of the building, which I sort of think of as our little hideaway. Of course I can look out the window, and even open the window and stick my head out, one of my favorite things to do up here. And I can't imagine not being able to look out at this beautiful city. They stayed up there for two years . I don't think we plan on visiting the house, I'm not really one to collect tourist attractions, though I hear visiting the house is very moving. I think I'm satisfied to pay my respects from here, appreciating the fact that here we are, so physically close and yet our happy little dwelling is so far away. This fact is far from lost on me.
So, back to Tuesday, we had a little rest and then hit the town as the evening started. I considered a popular looking little frites place but decided I'd like to try to sit down to dinner finally and didn't want to spoil my appetite. We wandered a bit through what many call the prettiest part of town, but this is also where the "coffeeshops" are, and this area is also crawling with what should be called the "munchieshops," tons of not-so-fresh looking pizzas and doughnuts abound. And of course this is the Redlight district, which we didn't walk the main canal of but there are actually girls standing around in windows all over town. It's sort of odd, but this city has done all right for itself with its strong commitment to tolerance and they get some control over the vices by allowing them.
We wandered in a bit of the more eastern side of the city and I noticed a sign for a Chinese restaurant that I remembered from my guide book. We decided to try it out. We had some Singapore style noodles and managed to guess which sesame chicken dish the couple at the table next to us had ordered and got one for ourselves. Very good! We wandered a while longer, I think I could walk around this city all day and all night... it's just marvelous. And eventually we came back to where we started, and finally gave in to the frites booth. CF ordered curry sauce, which proved to be not such a good idea, he said it was gross British style fake curry (he ended up throwing away the top layer, saving as much of the pommes below as possible). I decided to go with one of several kinds of mayo, I don't really know what the difference is, but the kind I got was amazing. I realized it was like eating a baked potato with the best sour cream possible, while walking down the street... and up the mile high climb of stairs... and back to this computer... and this was just a "small."
We had considered going back out for a drink but even we can't help but notice when the euros start disappearing a little too quickly for comfort, so we called it a night. And I think I'll give your eyes a break and start a new post for the new day.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Into the lake!
Yesterday I went to Kunsthaus, the art museum. At first I thought it was extremely empty, but it turns out they have an admission price for just the changing exhibit and that's where all the locals were headed. Plus I was there a bit early in the day. Normally I don't get the audio tour when I go to a museum, I prefer to just soak in my own impressions. But because I could read nothing but the name of the pieces I decided to go for it this time. It was actually very interesting, I liked hearing about the artist, the subject and sometimes even the relevance of the piece to Kunsthaus Zurich. The museum seemed sadly quiet and just full of staffers. Seems they are not hurting for patrons though, there was a story on the audio tour about a patron and a museum official traveling to France, and the patron fell through a bridge and into the waters of Monet's waterlilies. He took this as a sign, bought 3 of the paintings, and donated 2 of them to the museum. Nice! I love seeing van Gogh's works in person. I've seen Starry Night at the MoMA in NYC twice now, but my favorite is hanging right next to it. The Olive Trees has even more texture, and depth in the brush strokes. Here in Zurich I picked out the panel with the most texture and sat down to soak it in a bit. I love looking at his work from off to the side, so much of the variation in tone is actually shadow and light sneaking into the supposed two-dimensional piece. Really many of his paintings are practically sculpture! I finally encountered the crowd at the more temporary exhibit. Nice that people don't have to pay to see the whole museum every time they visit. The current exhibit was the works of Felix Vallotton, which was very interesting. I got the audio guide here as well and listened in on the artist's work progressing through his life. Very cool.
At breakfast before going out I picked up the Zurich guide that is offered for free in the lobby. Apparently Hooters is open in Zurich, oh the horror! I didn't know where to go for lunch and ended up at a place that my guidebook said had good lunch specials. I must have been too late again for lunch, so I just got the regular menu. Fondue and raclette were offered here, but I knew I'd be having fondue for dinner... plus the music and decor were cheesy enough on their own! Ooooo! I had the pumpkin soup that I've seen offered many places, which was very good, but rich with cream. And a small salad that was drenched in a dressing most similar to ranch, and none of the greens were all that... well, green. But hey, soup and salad seemed like the right effort to make when you know you'll be eating cheese and bread for dinner!
In the afternoon I wandered out to the park behind the main train station. The Swiss National Museum is back there too. There wasn't too much to see out there. Whenever I visit a new city it usually seems so big, spread out and hard to comprehend. And then as I wander around in circles for a few days I see how all the pieces make up the whole, and it ends up seeming smaller, more easy to swallow. Funny thing about Zurich is it is so compact that I am still surprised by just how close everything is, and just how quickly you can see something new. My walk in the park was about 10 minutes. Oh well.
I took myself out for hot chocolate at the Sprüngli cafe. Two men and a woman sat down next to me, they seemed to be speaking English as a common language though it was not the first for any of them. I asked them to keep an eye on my seat (and my chocolate!) when I got up to see if I wanted to order anything to eat, on my way back one of the fellows was headed over to the counter and he said, "Actually, I had a little sip, but it's okay." HA! I laughed. Very funny guy. The hot chocolate was very good, made with melted chocolate but I didn't know to stir it so the top seemed watery and the bottom was extra super chocolaty. Still, it was very good.
Afterwards I went to the cute flower shop I had noticed a couple days ago and bought a little bunch of roses to take to CF's coworker's house as a little gift for having us over. I still had extra time on my hand so I went back up the Lindenhof and just soaked in the view for a little while. A teenage boy started reading something out loud to the girl he was with, he was sort of laughing. I don't know if it was funny or if he just felt awkward. He noticed me paying attention and laughed some more. I wonder if he'd feel better if he knew I didn't know what he was saying. She answered back. I think maybe they were saying lines from a play and she knew the part. I'm not sure. I got out the camera and took a few more pictures. There were actually a number of people up there with me, unlike Monday morning. I offered to take a picture of an Asian couple who were going to try to do a delayed timer shot. They turned out to be American! Kind of a surprise. And the guy took two photos of me in return, so I finally have some proof that I am actually here! I decided to head back to the hotel, to upload photos and maybe, just maybe have a little nap since I knew we'd be out late. I encounter yet another American on the way, she was lost and trying to ask for directions from a local, I bought her along with me since I was headed across the water myself. Maybe there's more Americans here than it seems, and they're just keeping quiet, like me.
CF met up with me at the hotel, just when I was thinking I could get away with having a short nap and we scurried off to get the tram. His coworker's apartment was very large! I've never seen one like that in any city. His little boy is about two, I had met him (the coworker) a few years back when he was visiting Mountain View and the little boy had just been born. I gave them the flowers and they seemed to go over well. The little boy nodded his head at me as he said, "Dannn-ke!". His mother translated for me, it was all very cute. They poured some white wine (proper for a fondue dinner), we clinked our glasses (you must make eye contact while clinking, or it's very rude). I almost forgot to toast CF at all, so his eye contact with me was more of a sneer. There were some antipasti type nibbley things out and we sat down on their enormous Italian leather couch, the depth of the seat was as long as my legs. Now that's a good couch! We were joined by three other coworkers, and one of their wives. What a fun week they must be having at the office. The American, the Swiss, the Frenchman, The Spaniard, and the Portuguese (although he wasn't at dinner).
The little boy went to bed and we started in on the fondue. The hostess brought out some shots of a cherry brandy which you should dip your bread in and then into the cheese, it's supposed to help you digest so you don't end up with a stone of cheese in the bottom of your stomach. It was very strong though, so I just dipped a corner in. And of course jokes were made about what happens if you lose your bread in the cheese. "Into the lake!" was the judgment passed several times. But no, it never really happened. Dessert was a cake from Sprüngli and one of the local coworkers that was there (though he is currently on paternity leave and the 6-week old newborn joined us from time to time during the night) had brought my favorite luxemburgerli cookie. What a night! We caught a tram right around midnight once we were told the frequency slows down dramatically as the hour turns over to 0:00. Though I'm sure the walk home would have done us good, and wouldn't have taken long at all. I had a great night of sleep, even though it started a little later than it probably should have considered CF had to get up for one last day of work.
Today I'm headed out to maybe find a boat ride to take on the Lake (but not IN), maybe I'll head up the mountain to Uetliberg if the transportation day pass will get me there twice, we're planning on having dinner up there too. And mostly I am just going to take it easy, pack up and decide if I need a souvenir other than my photos and chocolate.
Tomorrow morning we get on the train to Cologne. As I am writing this I am getting Grey's Anatomy updates from Thursday night in the US. I am missing quite the shakedown! I'm happy that after today CF will be on vacation with me... even though it will probably be rainy in Amsterdam next week. I have enjoyed my time here but I'm just about ready to move on.
At breakfast before going out I picked up the Zurich guide that is offered for free in the lobby. Apparently Hooters is open in Zurich, oh the horror! I didn't know where to go for lunch and ended up at a place that my guidebook said had good lunch specials. I must have been too late again for lunch, so I just got the regular menu. Fondue and raclette were offered here, but I knew I'd be having fondue for dinner... plus the music and decor were cheesy enough on their own! Ooooo! I had the pumpkin soup that I've seen offered many places, which was very good, but rich with cream. And a small salad that was drenched in a dressing most similar to ranch, and none of the greens were all that... well, green. But hey, soup and salad seemed like the right effort to make when you know you'll be eating cheese and bread for dinner!
In the afternoon I wandered out to the park behind the main train station. The Swiss National Museum is back there too. There wasn't too much to see out there. Whenever I visit a new city it usually seems so big, spread out and hard to comprehend. And then as I wander around in circles for a few days I see how all the pieces make up the whole, and it ends up seeming smaller, more easy to swallow. Funny thing about Zurich is it is so compact that I am still surprised by just how close everything is, and just how quickly you can see something new. My walk in the park was about 10 minutes. Oh well.
I took myself out for hot chocolate at the Sprüngli cafe. Two men and a woman sat down next to me, they seemed to be speaking English as a common language though it was not the first for any of them. I asked them to keep an eye on my seat (and my chocolate!) when I got up to see if I wanted to order anything to eat, on my way back one of the fellows was headed over to the counter and he said, "Actually, I had a little sip, but it's okay." HA! I laughed. Very funny guy. The hot chocolate was very good, made with melted chocolate but I didn't know to stir it so the top seemed watery and the bottom was extra super chocolaty. Still, it was very good.
Afterwards I went to the cute flower shop I had noticed a couple days ago and bought a little bunch of roses to take to CF's coworker's house as a little gift for having us over. I still had extra time on my hand so I went back up the Lindenhof and just soaked in the view for a little while. A teenage boy started reading something out loud to the girl he was with, he was sort of laughing. I don't know if it was funny or if he just felt awkward. He noticed me paying attention and laughed some more. I wonder if he'd feel better if he knew I didn't know what he was saying. She answered back. I think maybe they were saying lines from a play and she knew the part. I'm not sure. I got out the camera and took a few more pictures. There were actually a number of people up there with me, unlike Monday morning. I offered to take a picture of an Asian couple who were going to try to do a delayed timer shot. They turned out to be American! Kind of a surprise. And the guy took two photos of me in return, so I finally have some proof that I am actually here! I decided to head back to the hotel, to upload photos and maybe, just maybe have a little nap since I knew we'd be out late. I encounter yet another American on the way, she was lost and trying to ask for directions from a local, I bought her along with me since I was headed across the water myself. Maybe there's more Americans here than it seems, and they're just keeping quiet, like me.
CF met up with me at the hotel, just when I was thinking I could get away with having a short nap and we scurried off to get the tram. His coworker's apartment was very large! I've never seen one like that in any city. His little boy is about two, I had met him (the coworker) a few years back when he was visiting Mountain View and the little boy had just been born. I gave them the flowers and they seemed to go over well. The little boy nodded his head at me as he said, "Dannn-ke!". His mother translated for me, it was all very cute. They poured some white wine (proper for a fondue dinner), we clinked our glasses (you must make eye contact while clinking, or it's very rude). I almost forgot to toast CF at all, so his eye contact with me was more of a sneer. There were some antipasti type nibbley things out and we sat down on their enormous Italian leather couch, the depth of the seat was as long as my legs. Now that's a good couch! We were joined by three other coworkers, and one of their wives. What a fun week they must be having at the office. The American, the Swiss, the Frenchman, The Spaniard, and the Portuguese (although he wasn't at dinner).
The little boy went to bed and we started in on the fondue. The hostess brought out some shots of a cherry brandy which you should dip your bread in and then into the cheese, it's supposed to help you digest so you don't end up with a stone of cheese in the bottom of your stomach. It was very strong though, so I just dipped a corner in. And of course jokes were made about what happens if you lose your bread in the cheese. "Into the lake!" was the judgment passed several times. But no, it never really happened. Dessert was a cake from Sprüngli and one of the local coworkers that was there (though he is currently on paternity leave and the 6-week old newborn joined us from time to time during the night) had brought my favorite luxemburgerli cookie. What a night! We caught a tram right around midnight once we were told the frequency slows down dramatically as the hour turns over to 0:00. Though I'm sure the walk home would have done us good, and wouldn't have taken long at all. I had a great night of sleep, even though it started a little later than it probably should have considered CF had to get up for one last day of work.
Today I'm headed out to maybe find a boat ride to take on the Lake (but not IN), maybe I'll head up the mountain to Uetliberg if the transportation day pass will get me there twice, we're planning on having dinner up there too. And mostly I am just going to take it easy, pack up and decide if I need a souvenir other than my photos and chocolate.
Tomorrow morning we get on the train to Cologne. As I am writing this I am getting Grey's Anatomy updates from Thursday night in the US. I am missing quite the shakedown! I'm happy that after today CF will be on vacation with me... even though it will probably be rainy in Amsterdam next week. I have enjoyed my time here but I'm just about ready to move on.
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