homeward bound!!!

Just a quick entry before I'm homeward bound tomorrow morning. It's been raining here a lot. In the breaks between the drops I've been riding a bike around town, shopping and getting supplies for Burning Man. Found some great boots and playa wear yesterday.
Spent Thursday and Friday in Belgium, in the most beautiful Medeival town called Bruge. It was a toss-up as to which town was the best to visit, and I am so glad we went there. It was touristy, but so amazing it didn't matter. It was like a mini Venice. Little canals and old (like 500 years) stone/brick buildings. It was small enough to walk around in about an hour. Thursday night there was an opera performed in a square in the middle of town, which I didn't see because it was blocked off, but the sound permeated the whole center of the town. The canals are beautifully lit and it was easy to imagine it being two or three hundred years earlier. Except no garbage in the streets. It was definitely on the top 3 list of places I've been. Had some Flemish stew for dinner. Awesome.
So I'm waking up before the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow and I arrive in Oakland around 11pm. Then off to the Burn. I'm crazy. I know.
Oh yeah, had my hair done today, among other things. I'll post the rest of my pics when I'm back from BM.

I'm back for real, for a couple of weeks, September 4th. By then I should have a phone again.

See you soon!

dorking out...

Here's a little snippet of my visit with my sister. We had a great dinner that night at a tapas place we've been to together before.

pictures!!

I finally got my camera hooked up and added some pics to most of my previous entries. I'm home fighting off a cold and watching movies today. My sister was here and has gone. I've got a photo of us, but I have to check with her before I post it. It might be called incriminating to us both...
Here's pics of the living room and kitchen of the flat, and a shot out the front window across the canal to buildings similar to the one I'm in.

mud, trash and music

First off let me say, that I am getting old. Went to the Lowlands Music Festival this weekend and discovered that I just don't like the big festival thing anymore. I had a great time, don't get me wrong, but if I had to dodge one more drunk 17 year old, or eat one more overpriced bread and cheese gut-bomb I was going to hurt someone.
I take that back, the food was really good. There were Asian food tents with Indian curries and fried rice, but it was all overpriced and small. They did this weird thing where you change Euro for these little tokens so it's harder for you to grasp how much money you're actually spendng, especially the non-Euro users. I allowed myself 20E a day, which I think was pretty reasonable and that worked out well.

We got a ride over to the festival with some British friends of Sera and Mike's (who I'm housesitting for) and that was a blessing. They were very sweet and gung-ho about meeting up at different points during the weekend. The unfortunate thing was that I didn't get up in time to do a good shopping trip and pack a cooler of food. But such is life abroad. We pitched tents in one of several camping areas. I don't know how we got so lucky, but our camping was as close as you could get to the music site without hearing it, so I was happy about that. Mike and Sera had gotten out their camping gear for us - bless them. It didn't include sleeping pads, but the ground was soft from the light rains that have been going on here in the last few weeks. So Friday, ate some hash cookies for the first time in about 15 years. It really isn't my thing. They kicked in after about an hour, and all it really did was make me feel spatially disoriented. I suppose it just isn't my thing. That day I saw Zero Seven, whom I highly recommend you get on iTunes and listen to. They were great. Also that night, Fun Lovin Criminals, (they were okay) Finnish emo-rockers HIM - who had some formulaic but good songs, The Veils were great, I wish I'd been able to hear more of them, Snow Patrol and Hard-Fi were both disappointing. Watched the film Factotum (Matt Dillon in a semi-autobiographic fil about the author Bukowski) and then danced my ass off until 4 in the morning at one of the 24hr DJ tents. It was pretty out of control. It was also packed and very, very dirty. By the time we arrived Friday around 2pm the entire road in and the camping areas were literally trashed. I guess that because the festival has people that clean up the trash every night, everyone just feels free to drop their trash wherever. It got pretty gross. Some of the food tents sold chicken wings and ribs, and people dropped their plates full of bones to the ground as they finished eating. It got to the point on Saturday that one couldn't even sit on the ground anywhere without sitting on trash, and the picnic tables were few and far between for the amount of people there.
Saturday, woke at 10am to a fairly quiet camp (I suppose hangovers were partially responsible, as everyone drank 27/7). Decided to skip tai chi (in the trash) and take my time getting cleaned up and ready for another day. The sun was shining brightly, so I put my slightly damp shoes out to dry. Headed into the festival grounds and spent the morning checking out the extra-musicular activities. There was a truck (most of these things were ala Burning Man installations) where they had this place that you stuck your head into (Josh did this) and it videotapes you screaming your head off for 30 seconds. Supposedly these people are building a database of screams. So in a week, they send each participant an email with a URL and they can go to the site and see/hear their scream. Hopefully you can see other peoples. That would be really amusing.
Also there was a little internet dome, but it was clear plastic with no windows and right out in the sun, so it was about 100 degrees in there. Not even interested. There were these two characters traipsing around in these really amazing costumes. They were saxaphone aliens. I'll post a pic once I figure out how to do that here. Give me a day or two. They were cool. I heard about a randon clown cafe that set up in the middle of one concourse, but I didn't see it. Apparently, there were about 10 cafe tables spead out in a line down the middle of the wide walkway from one stage to another, and at each table sat a clown. But none of the clowns were happy. It was the sad clown cafe, I guess. And they didn't interact directly with people, but if you put a lit cigarette in their ashtry, they'd pick it up and smoke it. I think maybe the fun was seeing what you could get a clown to do. I wish I'd seen it.
Music on Saturday: Urban Dance Squad, who were either past their prime, or I just don't like their music, a really fantastic dancehall-reggae artist named Ziggi, a bit of Ministry, but damn if Ministry live is just not all that interesting to me. Perhaps I'm nt their biggest fan. It was what you would expect, all noise and distortion, but I must be getting old, I wasn't into it. On to Michael Franti and Spearhead. This set was worth the entire cost of the weekend. They were fantastic. Musically, emotionally, politically. They have such a strong message and an amazing vibe of love and oneness. It sounds cheesy but it wasn't. It was powerful It was one of those shows you come out of with tears in your eyes, feeling inspired and all of the possibilities. I love Michael Franti. And talk about hot.
Leaving hot and on to The Raconteurs, Jack White's side project. As you might imagine, the brilliant songwriting of Jack White, as interpreted through another, more complete band, it was awesome. With rain starting to fall, we went and broke down the tent, for a quick getaway after Scissor Sisters (who were not as glam as I'd hoped but good) and Massive Attack, who were brilliant according to the ig fans we met on the train on the way back to Amsterdam, but I thoguht they were (sorry!) kinda boring. Again, I'm not the biggest downtempo fan.
Getting back to Amsterdam was a huge pain in the ass. Fortunately we had this Dutch couple translating signs and instructions for us. Missed the last shuttle to the train station by ten minutes,(11:20pm) took a taxi, caught the last train towards the City. Had an hour wait at some random train station, got into Amsterdam at 3am. Once we said where we were going, none of the taxi drivers would take us because it was so close. So we walked the 10 minutes, but damn if a ten-minute walk doesn't feel like forever after walking most of the last 4 weeks and carrying camping gear.
So, yes, I'm feeling old. There are more aspects to the physical exhaustion that are TMI, but suffice to say, I'm staying in the flat all day watching movies and updating the blog. I woke at 2pm today, to find that it had been raining since about the time I got back. Feeling very happy that I put myself through the return trip last night, as I would have woken to mud city this morning, and I did that too many years at Ren Faire. Thank you, not again.
So let's see, Ash asked what the rest of the itinerary contains. Let's see, I think lots of little trips into Holland. The Dutch couple from last night offered to show us around their town, which is on the list already. There will be at least one day trip to Belgium, maybe two. Once my sister is here, I'm not sure. She and I may rent a car and head off to explore...
I'm seriously trying to get to Burning Man. We'll see if that comes together, but I want to. I'm flying back into Boston on the 28th, so I'm going to try to make it work.
If anyone reading this blog is driving to Burning Man between the 28th and 30th, and doesn't mind stopping near Reno to pick me up, that might help!
Love to you all!

added photos: the Lowlands Crew, first day. And one half of the festival grounds from the karaoke lounge, the only place to sit that wasn't trashed and drink free bottled water. I didn't want to leave it.

Hooray for Holland!!

Now I know that Not all of the Netherlands is Holland, but I'm in Holland right now and yaaaaaaaaay for me. I can ask for fried rice at the counter of the "wok to walk" and they know what I'm saying! Yes, Amsterdamers all speak English. Mostly like it's their first language, well, almost.
And I hate to say it, but I'm back in the land of beautiful people. I don't know why Berlin attracts or perhaps retains the funky-looking, but they are all there. I know, it unkind. I've already had karma hit me for thinking it. See below.

I left my phone at the Berlin train station yesterday. Yes, the Universe, or "Utrecht, the German god of Schadenfruede" exacted revenge for my ungenerous thoughts on German endowments. I called the station this morning, but no luck yet. Someone just shoot me now, before I lose something irreplac... oh wait, that's already happened. Sigh.

I'm getting over it fast. I figure, this will be a way to start over and just have the numbers of the people that are actually in my life. But this will only last until I remember whose numbers I had that I won't be able to get again. At least I have my old sim card, so there's a bunch of work saved right there. Just don't get me near any small electronic devices. I'm death.

So I turned my phone number off until I get back, so the bastard who took it at least won't be able to make calls on my number. Can you tell I've lost some faith in the human race? Strangely, in my experience, Americans have been very likely to turn stuff into lost and found. I've lost a few things in my time, and they've mostly been returned in the Bay Area. I would have thought that it might have been moreso here. Not a chance - as the lady at the front desk of the hotel said this morning. She said I shouldn't even bother to call.

The bright side is I've eaten a bunch today and I think I'm on the mend. Amsterdam is teeming with tourists - well, at least this neighborhood. Okay, ended up staying in the red light district. It was so close to the train station and well, the hotels are cheap. No it's not one of "those hotels." I don't need money that badly. It's France Hotel and true to its name, breakfast was extremely good. Tonight Mike and Sera (those whom I'm house/cat-sitting for) will be a bit less frantic in their preparations to get out of here and we get to stay there tonight.

Fab news - my sister will be joining me on Sunday! Shari jumped a last-minute plane to London the other day, and I convinced her to jump a last-minute plane here for a few. It will be great to have her. Hopefully we can run into the hills and sing "Sound of Music" or something geeky like that. The weather is beautiful, the food is good and the possibilities are endless.

Oh, got tickets to the Lowlands Music Festival this weekend. Artic Monkeys, Massive Attack, Belle and Sebastien, Michael Franti and Spearhead, and a whole bunch of others are playing. I know I left out some big names, but I can't think of them just now. My brain is still consumed with self-flaggelation over the phone-loss.
The festival should be fun, in addition to the music, there's a movie theater, and a bunch of other stuff, dancing, I imagine tattooing and such. That's Friday thru Sunday, and meanwhile, there's another free theater/performance festival happening in town. Not sure what I'll see of that, but I hope to take advantage.

Did I say that Amsterdam is beautiful? The architecture. Ah!!!! The shopping mall looks like a palace. I'm not kidding. I'll get pics of it. Canals down every street, and the street cleaner comes by each day to clean up the remnants of the previous night's debauchery. Speaking of which, in the hotel pamphlet for tourists, there is actually a section from the police force of the city, asking people not to pee in the streets, or buy drugs from anyone not selling out of a cafe. It's like they're helpful older siblings instead of "The Man." Apparently, (I know I use that word a lot) there are a bunch of scam artists who try to sell tourists fake heroin, acid and the like. It warns about that too.

So, just the first day. I'll have lots to report by the weekend.
A shout-out to the peops who leave comments, they make my days. What-up yo!
Love to all!

I finally bought some shoes!!!!! Yes, I have new-shodden feet. I hope to shortly have some newly pedicured feet as well. They don't even blink at the shoe store when I ask for size 41 (European, thank you). Yeah, ummm, three pairs. Call it retail therapy.

it's all funky

All of it. From the quiet strains of Indian music that someone across the couryard keeps playing in the late mornings to the way people look here. I swear, grunge had to originate here. It's thick. People here are funky-looking too. Their beauty is so unique. (read-the nice way to say that there are not nearly as many hotties of either gender here as in France by far...) I ended up in the Castro of Berlin today on my way to see a very nice lady doctor who gave me some drops for my persistant tummy trouble. I had thought it was getting better yesterday, but it was only until I ate. Imagine - me not eating for several days. Yes, I'm getting grumpy. I'm trying out the drops in an hour or so. Please for the love of Pete, I hope they work. Otherwise it's the ol' Cipro cocktail 2 times a day. Ugh.

Anyhoo. The Berlin Castro, yes. Off the Wittendorfstasse stop on the Metro. Lots of hot gay men in the cafes and lots of hair salons. If I were not feeling so crappy I might have hung out a bit longer.

Yesterday it was steadily raining the whole day, but I got out despite that and saw a bunch of museums. Not the inside, mind you. Just walked around the Platz where most of them are. By the time I got down there, my shoes and feet were soaked and being that it was Sunday, none of the stores were open. I had hoped to finally find some shoes. Being that I could not, I took some pics of the gorgeous buildings and the weird dead clown street fair that was happening and headed back to the flat. Yes, there was a street fair, one you had to pay admission to, and on the signs at all of the entrances was this drawing of a clown with Xs for eyes. I guess lots of you would agree that the only good clown is a dead clown, but it was a little creepy.

I realized the other day that I am plowing through this blogwriting with so little finesse. I wish I had time to be more descriptive. Ah well.

added photos: weird dead clown street fair sign, as promised, and the scary clown collection I forgot to mention was in the doctor's office. I guess Berlin was all about the clowns.

Wilkommen, bienvenue...

Ah, Berln. Home of Nollendorfplatz and cheap groceries. So, let's see. Josh (my travel partner) pointed out that there were some things I had not yet gotten down in here. So I'll go back for a minute...

I didn't say, did I, that I left my new ipod on the plane at the London airport? Yeah. I was waiting to see if it got recovered (yeah right) and finally gave up on that last week. On the way from there to Paris we got up ridiculously early to take a cab to Heathrow, and had the coolest cab driver. He was originally from Eritrea, and we had a great conversation about what is going on there, and in East Africa. It reinforced my feeling that I have to go there someday, and perhaps focus some of my professional energies there.

Going back to Paris, there was a really nice dinner at a restaurant in the Marais District called Le Dome du Marais, from the Eating Out in Paris book that my fabulous neighbor, Olivia, lent to me for the trip. So fantastic. Let's see if I can recall what we got: amuse bouche- tiny phyllo cheese things, first course- cold lobster bisque, second- wild boar with potato tournelles and tiny carmelized onions, then a cheese plate, of course, and dessert was mint chocolate crepe with carbonated cream. It was the coolest thing ever. Like whipped cream but with seltzer folded in. It was amazing. I'm sorry I can't remember more detail. Funny thing was, I didn't realize that in Paris, no one ever takes food home from a restaurant. So when I asked for the stuff to be wrapped to go, the server brought it back to the table heated and re-plated. When I communicated that I wanted to take it home with me, he brought it back in tupperware. They don't even have to go containers. I am sure that they were all laughing at me in the kitchen. But I don't care, that boar was good the next day, and the tupperware has come in really handy.

I did get to the Eiffel Tower, but again, did not go up. I did fall asleep in the grass in the park beneath and got a couple of good pictures. There were tourists all over Paris, so it was a much different experience from when I was there with Mom and Shari a few years ago. The weather was nicer this time, but I prefer the winter when the Parisian are there and the tourists aren't.

My aforementioned fantastic shopping experience happened accidentally. I was roaming Paris with an all-day Metro pass, and ended up in the city center. Got some great pictures of a water fountain and statue there - Parisians have really preserved their heritage - architecture included. As I was winding my way to a Metro station (they're everywhere) I looked into this store and there was a room full of this designers work. Beautiful, unsual clothing. Different textures and fabrics. I am glad that I could not find more that fit me - some of the clothes were made for the smaller French from what I could tell - because I would have spent too much there. As it was, I bought a one-of-a-kind sweater that Shari is going to die over, a couple of sweet soft shirts and a matching skirt and sleeveless top. It's the first time in a long time that I have spent that kind of money and felt so good about it. I am still within the budget that I gave myself, so I feel pretty good. Now if I can just find some shoes. Two of the three pair that I brought here are not as comfortable as I had thought. I sent one of them home in a box of stuff yesterday as a matter of fact. So I've been wearing one pair of shoes every day and it's getting old. Not that it really matters, but you know, I'm a girl...we need our shoes.

Alright, on to Provence. Had to get up early to catch that train so I ended up sleeping two of the three hours on the way there. So, Trey, if it takes about 9 hours by car, as google maps says, then my train had to be going pretty freaking fast. It's just under 700 kilometers, so you do the math..
A quick busride to a small family-run hotel in Avignon and all was well. Josh suggested renting a motorcycle for a day, and after checking for the much cheaper car rentals, finding that there were no cars available to rent in all of Provence, we went down to the moto rental place and met Sylvain, the adorable shop-keeper. He gave us an extra few hours by letting us take the bike that night, which was great, as it ended up being the most amazing night of riding. We got a recommendation to eat in Chateauneuf du Papes, a beautiful town on a hill about 20km from Avignon. There are almost no modern buildings anywhere in Provence, at least not near the city centers. And out in the countryside, they don't build with modern materials that I can tell. Chateauneuf du Papes was quaint and had a cool ruin at the top of the hill the town was perched on. Dinner there at La Garbure was delicious. The best cold soup I've ever had - scallops in a clear seafood stock with herbs and pureed zucchini. The other first course was tiny herb cheese ravioli with langostine sauce. The main courses were slow-cooked lamb with gravy (the French they know how to do it) and this light white fish sliced thin, marinated in citrus and herbs, cold, with the French version of Spanish tortilla and ratatouille. I can't even tell you how fantastic it all was. And the chef came out at one point to talk to a couple at a table nearby, and it turned out that the guy he was talking to was a gourmand/wine expert/food writer Graham Edwards. So we had a conversation with them about the wine of the region, the food in France etc. The chef, Jean Louie, recommended a restaurant in the area we were traveling to the next day.
The next day was a tour on the bike to a bunch of the quintessential Provincial towns and the lavendar fields, which had just been harvested, sadly. Although it did still smell fantastic. It was a long day, we ended up meeting other motorcylclists (from Milan) and having a good time. The restaurant was a total disappointment, surprisingly. The location was perfect but the food, not so much.

I'm not sure if it was bad food, or an allergic reaction to something, but I woke up later that night with the "D" and some stomach cramping that hasn't entirely gone away. I slept on the train to Paris, got on the train to Berlin and went back to sleep (thank god for couchettes). Now I'm in East Berlin, and hoping that any minute now, the tummy will calm down so I can get out and see stuff.

added photos and note: so many photos from Provence, but these must suffice for now, downloading these takes forever!
First, Dinner at Chateauneuf du Papes, where (note) I forgot to tell you, a teeny, tiny hummingbird came right over and was buzzing the flowers right next to me. I kid you not, it was the size of a moth. So beautiful. Too slow on the camera-draw to get a pic, but here's the restaurant on the right ide of the street on the hilltop town.
Second photo is of the first little town we stopped in on the day we rented the motorcycle. Can't remember the name right now.
Third: The farmer's market in said little town. I am in freaking French heaven. Had for lunch: Two kinds of salami, olives, little quiche lorraines, grapes and the best frais du bois (wild strawberries) I've ever had in my life. You can't get them in the U.S.

last gasp

Of Paris. I have some time to kill before bedtime so I'll write about my fabulous day before I snooze. Besides, I may not have access to the ney for awhile in Provence. I don't know how "provincial" it's going to be. A hahaha. Sorry.

Wore my new grey hat today and apparently I look more French wearing it. All day I was treated differently and stopped by French people and asked directions. It was great. After I left the internet placec thhis morning, I was hijacked into coffee with a couple of French-Egyptian guys, joined shortly by a Scottish woman. Had the hardest time extricating myself. There was insistence that I stay and have apertifs, and then wine. But I was determined to actually get to the Louvre today. Of course, when I got there it was closed. Yeah, I didn't make it yesterday. Haven't been up in the Eiffel Tower either. I suppose I'll do them both later. How is it that I've been here twice without doing these things?
I did, however spend quite a bit of money on some clothes today, but I'll have to write about that in the next installment.
Ciao!

added photo: a Cathedral down in the Marais District on a balmy night. Lots of outdoor cafes underneath and they were packed. On the way to dinner at Le Dome du Marais, the best dinner in Paris.

heading out

Met a sweet Spanish family in the Hostel lounge last night. My brain is now thoroughly trashed between the French I'm attempting, the Spanish I heard all of last evening and the usual confusion with additional travel overload. If only I could download language into my brain like in the Matrix.
So I've encountered a major problem.
Apparently, no one in France has feel larger than size 9. The one cty where I had dedicated some time and money for shopping, and I can't buy shoes!
I'm a bit downtrodden, haha, about it. Oh, stop me someone.
On to Provence tomorrow. Got TGV reservations and all!

a little more

Oh, could I eat more bread and cheese? Not sure. Met a couple of great folks last night at the fondue place, and will be meeting them for drinks and dancing tonight. Harold is a dj and Emilie works for Dolce & Gabbana. I've gotten the shopping down-low from her. That's my plan today: shop, eat, drink, shop, eat, drink, dance, sleep.
One of my favorite djs - Cheb i Sabbah wrote back to an email I sent him with some clubbing suggestions. He'll be here on the 13th, so I plan to see his show that night. So much to do!

Croissants et Musique

I am in heaven!

Montmartre is the best place ever! So, here I am in the Northern part of Paris, having already eaten my beignet AND my chocolate croissant, I am content.
The Globe (Antony and Cleopatra) was fantastic! I got choked up just standing there in the theatre, knowing what had come there before. I literally cried. I'm a geek. The actress playing Cleopatra was perfect. She was one hot 50-something woman. The whole cast was great. Not super-thrilled with Marc Antony, but he wasn't bad either.

I am in a little hotel on the Rue Tholoze. I can see the Eiffel Tower from my balcony. The shower will allow me to shave my legs, a blessing here in the land of frommage. I have yet to raid the charcuterie and frommagerie. I have to pace myself. Thanks for the blog comments my loved ones. I wish you could be here with me. Yes, I'm talking to you.

So, from here on out, I am freewheeling! No more schedules or airplanes until I leave. I have my Eurail pass for France, Germany and the Benelux countries, and no other agenda. My friend, Adam, (bless him) has a flat in Berlin and has kindly invited me. I will be taking him up on that offer after I hit Provence. My only regret is that I may not make it to Prague this time through. We'll see.

What else.. London is freaking expensive!!! I would love to have spent more time there, but I couldn't have. Too bad. It's fantastic and rich with interesting people and neat things to see and do. Oh, yes, Avenue Q had been altered a tiny bit, but it was great! And I saw Sunday in the Park with George ( for those of you who don't know, Sondheim is one of my faves and that show in particular) and it was stellar. Beautifully sung, and acted, I am very pleased. Nice to go to a few shows and have no complaints (can you believe it Corrie? Lianne?). Seriously.

More to come. I love Paris. Just had to say it again. I'm off to my favorite little fondue place with the wine in the baby bottles. I'll tell you more later.

C

added photos: In front of the Sacre Coeur carousel and a lovely evening in Montmartre. You can see the shiny gold top of the Notre Dame to the right in photo two.