Friendly Neighborhood

Is there really something soooooo out of the ordinary about having a guillotine in your garden? I mean, maybe it comes in handy. "Oh, you don't wanna help with the laundry? Well then, why don't we take a little walk outside..."

Charming Garden Guillotine spotted on a recent trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia

Quick! Follow that Gondola!

Tail that guy over there.. but don't be too ovious about it. Paddle! Faster!

Venice is less an island than a labrynth. Veer off the main "route" thru the island, and you're likely to find a nestled cafe or another arm of a minor canal - a Venitian's version of off-street gondolas parking. You'll find more doll-house bridges than imaginable pizza toppings (so, a lot). Adventure incarnate, with plenty of paths leading to gondola piers, empty squares, or church realty. This is my idea of a Spaghetti Island, the various alleys and roads criss-crossing and just about as thick as a noodle. And to boot, Gelato at every intersection. [Thanks to the large population of Italian immigrants in Germany, B's blessed with the possibility of Gelato almost everywhere in Stuttgart, too.] What, never heard of Spaghetti Ice Cream? Life doesn't get any better.

Bridge Number 77a. Notice its symmetric arch and 15th century wrought iron made from the shackles of various Guiseppis.

Most of our adventures are lightly vailed fronts for splurging on great food. This trip cost us a whopping 44 euro round trip (total; taxes incl.), which left a welcome remainder in our budget for incidentals. B does a great job of locating friendly and waaaaaaaay helpful places to stay each place we visit. Combined with online reviews and a general consideration of guide books, we've a killer Trifecta for sniffing out the right places to go. One of high esteem is a restaurant named BANCOGIRO, located on Piaza San Marco. We grabbed a few plates of Ciccheti (Italy's version of Tapas), a glass of local vino, and relaxed at a quiet table along the major Canal. It was awesome.

No Wireless, No Blackberry, No One Nearby (Literally), No Problem

If it's not on Piaza San Marco, your guidebook probably won't help you much here, which gives you the green for poking about at your own pace. Don't follow the crowds (there weren't any for us), and take the time to walk the spaghetti trail of Venice to sights like Rialto Bridge and the ecclectic area of Accademia. It's imperative that you carve out time to tour the Doge's Palace and certainly Basilica San Marco. Seeing the gold ceiling mosaic of Judas hanging from the tree brought me one step closer to God, even if I was motivated out of fear. Since moving to Europe I thought my palace cum museum quotient was about to explode, but both of these were oustanding. Print out RS' self-tour for a surprisingly interesting history lesson.

Cameras exist to take pictures of people taking pictures of themselves.

By roaming around we discovered a tiny church displaying an artist's small-scale reproduction of 30 or so of Leonardo da Vinci mechanical and wartime inventions. A bicycle with a wooden "chain", an automatron suit of armor, and an integrated mechanical system for pushing offensive ladders from the walls of cities / castles. I'm a huge fan of s'odraneoL imagination and creations, so it was surprising when B was essentially dragging *me* into the church. For the record I didn't want to pay the 12 euro entrance fee for something I'm already an expert on.. having a wild imagination and a knack for natural systems. heh, heh. We couldn't get enough of the attack ship with mammoth scythe mounted on the front, btw. Just classic. It deserves both captions.

Whether it's a Steamboat or a Schooner, adding a Scythe makes everything nice.
It's all fun and games until someone pulls out a Scythe. And cuts a hole into your ship.

Warning: south park reference. Awesom-O never had a chance.

Break from the big sights and use any remaining energy to dip into the many local shops. We visited just after the close of Carnival, and mask shops were still packed with warez galore. In typical fashion I picked out the most under-rated item in the shop, a sexy circa-20's veiled ladyface framed by feathers, which B quickly decided was her best find ever. :) After an artful bargain with the maker it found its way back to our home. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge that this mask will scare the living hell out of any child, which is either the real reason I bought it or a very solid plus. I'm looking forward to mounting it in my future quiet place.

Elegance + Moderate Creepiness = Monster Under My Bed

Last but not least, we were lucky to spend one night around town with our friends Marilee and Adam, soon to be Legislative Masters of the Universe. The fact that we both found ourselves in Venice at the same time completely by chance just proves how small this rock really is. Until next time.....

I Heart German Design

Surely you are all aware that Germany prides itself in creating beautiful design. One look at a Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, or BMW should tell you that. The really great thing, for me, is that this design is not just limited to big companies and industrial applications. No, this design overflows into the public sector, infusing kitchen gadgets, office supplies, and home furnishings with fun features and cool colors. Furnishing a home in Germany (or really anywhere in Europe) is fulfilling a childhood dream of surrounding yourself with "gadgets".

I thought I would show you some of my recent purchases, to inspire you in your quest for fun things. A lot of these items were found at local shops or online at design3000.de, my new favorite site for internet browsing. I'm not sure if they ship to the US, but for those of you that know me well, I can always be persuaded to "import" something for you on my next visit home. :)

The Clarktoberfest Gallery of Fun Design, Volume 1

"Lucky" Monitor Cleaner by Koziol

I gave this monitor cleaner, aptly called "Lucky", to my cousin for Christmas. Isn't it so fun? First of all, monitor cleaners are useful because your monitor always gets dusty, and no one ever cleans them because it's boring to do, right? Well, this little guy lovingly licks your monitor clean with his microfiber tongue. Plus, his tongue is shaped such that it can "hook" onto the top of a flap panel or laptop monitor. Genius.

"Emma" Orange Peeler by Koziol

This is another Koziol product that is adorable (I really like Koziol stuff). It's an orange peeler shaped like a snail. You loop your finger through its "shell", use the little triangular piece to pierce the rind of the orange, and then glide it across the fruit until you've got it ready for easy peelin'. In addition to the advantage of avoiding turning your fingernails yellow, you get the added bonus of feeling like a kid when using it.

Bandit Letter Opener by Indigo Design Group

This was also a Christmas gift to one of my cousins. Sure to amuse your clients and brighten up your work space. Everyone should have a lawless rebel slashing open their bank statements. The world would be a better place.

Kitchen Scale by Tchibo

Maybe not everyone will appreciate this, because the US uses mostly volume for measurements in cooking, but here in Deutschland everything is by weight. Having a kitchen scale is very important. And if it's not cute, is it really worth buying? This one I love, because it's cute and red, and because of the well-designed bowl...right-side-up it's a bowl, upside-down it fits over the scale to minimize space. Looooove it.

And finally, our most recent and prized purchase, the "Ray!" nutcracker (as in HooRay!):

Ray! Nutcracker by Troika

How great is this? You place a nut inside, pull it back inside the balloon, let go...the nut flies into a steel plate with such impact that it explodes the shell (with a satisfying bang!, I might add) and leaves you with a ready-to-eat nut. When has eating nuts ever been this much fun?

Happy New Year!

I trust you all had a nice, relaxing, fun-filled holiday as we did. :)

In the spirit of the new year, I am going to help you all with what I'm sure is a new year's resolution: improving your geography skills. I must admit, my prowess in this area is nonexistent. In the past, I've been known to require three guesses to pinpoint Connecticut on a map. It's not my fault! Those wooden puzzles of the states always just lumped the NE into one puzzle piece!

Anyway, all of that will soon be behind me, now that I've found the most addictive, infuriating, self-deprecating geography quiz out there. Did I mention addictive? We play it all the time! Just to have it show us over and over again how little we really know about the world. Ah, but each time I'm learning and am convinced that someday I'll be able to get through all 12 levels, instead of just the first 7.

You've got to try it. It's my gift to you. Enjoy!

O Night Divine

Just a little greeting to wish you all Happy Holidays. As our little present to you, here's a clip of the greatest "O Holy Night" recording of all time. Even if you've heard this before, I promise it'll make you laugh again. For those curious Georges out there, here's an article about the true identity of the singer. I hope this song raises everyone's self-confidence in their singing ability! Enjoy!

O Holy Night (off-key)

Those French people know how to cook!

As you may know, we took at trip to the Alsace region of France back in August. We were completely charmed by the cities we visited, so when we found out that they all have Christmas markets in December, we knew we had to go. So, last weekend we took a day trip to the region, along with our friends Rebecca & Victor, and set off to visit the markets in Riquewihr, Kaysersberg, and Colmar.

Wrapped into our Alsatian Christmas market visit, was a dining experience never to be forgotten. We had lunch in Zellenberg at Le Maximilien, a one-star rated Michelin restaurant. Not to spoil the suspense, but---it was amazing. Delicious food, local wine, rustic breads, fresh ingredients, and impeccable presentation. I was too embarrassed to take pictures of each course, so I'm relying on descriptive prose to relay our fancy schmancy French meal.

The restaurant is set on the slope of a vineyard, with lovely views of nearby grape vines and the town of Riquewihr off in the distance. We took our time pondering the menu, which required some translation from Rebecca since none of the rest of us speak French. :)

During this time of pondering, we were served miniature Tarte Flambée. For those who aren't familiar with it, it's similar in idea to a pizza. They consist of a paper thin crust topped with seasoned cream, sliced onion, and chunks of ham. Mmmmm. We finally decided to go with the set 4-course "Gourmand" menu, as it seemed to be the best way to taste their specialties without spending a fortune. We ordered a bottle of Riesling called "Prestige" from a local vineyard and awaited the never-ending flow of food that was soon to follow.

It was a little awkward being a regular Joe in a restaurant like this. I couldn't help but wonder if they somehow knew that we'd all changed in the car from jeans & sneakers to slacks & dress shoes just before walking the steps up to the restaurant. I think we always feel a little bit like small children when we go to nice restaurants. Like we wanna be loud and silly and giggly, just because it's so unbelievably quiet in those places. It's hard to act grown-up sometimes, ya know?

Anyway, after ordering they brought out a tray with choice of three bread rolls (white, tomato and olive, or a rustic farm bread) to go along with our second mini-course: a salmon sushi roll (tasted French, not Japanese, even though it looked like normal sushi), and a dish with crab meat, celery, tomato gel, and a whipped foam on top. As Rebecca commented, and as we've noticed before, nice French restaurants have some strange fascination with foam. It was good though. The crab part was very nice.

After all the "starters", it was on the main event. The first course was undoubtedly my favorite. It consisted of three layers: the bottom was chopped lobster tail with cream and red onions, the middle was slices of fresh sea mussels, and the top was caviar. This was then garnished with a curly pile of fried mashed potato strings. Beautiful and wonderfully tasty.

We then moved on to the second course, which was Andy's favorite. This was a Parmesan risotto, with two each of large sea scallops and jumbo shrimp, garnished with flash-fried spinach and more grated Parmesan. I have to say that those scallops were the best I've ever tasted, and that Parmesan cheese was amazing. Wish we knew where to buy more of that!

Next up was roasted pigeon (yes, pigeon...it's a specialty in the region), served with sautéed truffle mushrooms, steamed asparagus, and a pumpkin/sweet potato-pistachio sauce. Although it seemed a bit strange to be eating something that most people associate with dirtiness and disease, the pigeon was actually tasty. It was like a cross between chicken and duck; darker than chicken, but not too oily. And the sauce that went with it was verrrry nice.

While feeling a bit full and wondering how we were going to be able to finish our last course, we were served a surprise pre-dessert (apparently this is normal, but it was a surprise for us since we don't usually eat at fancy places!). Arranged on a silver tray were 4 mini-desserts for each of us: a small glass of passion fruit mousse, a small fried doughnut coated in caramelized sugar, a macaroon cookie, and a light cake soaked in schnapps and topped with a dollop of fresh cream. They were all good, but the passion fruit mousse was the hands down winner. Incredible.

Renewed by the sweet goodies, were eagerly awaited our real dessert: a mixture of fresh berries, vanilla sauce, and cubed pieces of gingerbread, topped with a spiced ice cream that tasted like ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Very nice. However, as good as it was, I have to say that Rebecca's dessert put ours to shame. She's vegetarian, and so ordered a la carte, and had selected a warm, chocolaty, lava cake for dessert, served with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce. I could eat one of those every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was that good! :)

Finally, after all that delicious food, we decided to have a cup of cappuccino as the finale to our meal. Those were excellent too! I guess when you're paying big bucks for a meal they go all out on everything. We even got home-made, melon flavored marshmallows to go with the coffees. Reminded me of the time I got gourmet cotton candy with fresh blueberries for dessert at a fancy restaurant in Houston. I guess it just goes to show that even rich people crave the food found at girl scout sleepovers and state fairs from time to time. :)

Bears on a Mission

Better than Tickle Me Elmo anyday...

I was just going through the pics on my computer and ran across this forgotten gem. It was taken in a Build-a-Bear store in Salt Lake City. You know, the ones with dozens of kids running around, gleefully constructing their next best friend teddy bear? Kind of like a Frankenstein laboratory, but with cuter outfits. Anyway, in Salt Lake City there is a special outfit for those bears with a higher calling: the missionary outfit. Gotta have a good bear role model for the Mormon kiddies, right?

Sending a shout out to the Stormin' Mormon! Miss ya!