Europe, and the preservation thereof.
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008My, my… but April has been a busy month! Two weeks of spending most every waking moment either teaching or preparing for vacation, followed by two weeks of vacation, has left me with not very much time for blogging, I guess.
I thought I should probably write something really quick to let all those curious know that Amanda and I both survived our trip to Europe with dozens of stories, hundreds of photos, innumerable memories and no new scars. In short, it was a rousing success (but not necessarily an arousing success, which is what I accidentally typed the first time (unless you’re really turned on by success stories)).
Paris was beautiful. We spent hours wandering the Louvre and the Musee D’Orsay. We wandered the streets during the afternoons and evenings, stopping at little cafés and browsing outdoor markets. We drank wine by the pitcher full (because it was cheaper than the bottle full) and ate some really stinkin’ good food. We saw the Eiffel Tower at night, twice, and took a boat ride down the Seine River. We spent a couple of hours just staring in awe at the majesty of Notre Dame.
Amsterdam was differently, but equally, cool. I’m in love with the city and have decided I’ll have to live there someday. Everyone was extremely friendly, and most everyone spoke English (which was a good thing, because our Dutch wasn’t exactly top notch). Most people ride bicycles everywhere, which has inspired me to start riding a bike again for the first time in well over a decade. It was early spring in The Netherlands, so we took a day trip to the Keukenhoff gardens to see the tens of thousands of bulbs in bloom. We also spent a long afternoon wandering the Rijksmuseum, which had a fantastic collection of Dutch art – I had no idea that the Dutch masters were so fantastic! We spent the evenings hanging out with our friends Anne and Luke at various drinking establishments. I discovered that I like fries doused in mayonnaise and peanut sauce (satay), which they call “fries at war.”
Munich was a beerily wonderful city. We stayed in a great location, just off a huge walking plaza that covered the entire center of the city. We spent a good portion of our time in Munich walking around, enjoying the sites, and then stopping in at various beer halls to take in the real local fare and scenery. We had a great time one night at the city’s biggest beer hall – the Hofbrauhaus. We sat at a traditional German long table (where you just sit down next to perfect strangers and make friends) and met a great group from South Africa, a couple from Ireland, and a couple of guys from Chicago.
And now, we’re back home. However, we’re trying to preserve the best of what we learned from our Europe trip. We brought back a few bottles of French wine to enjoy over the next month or so, and Monday night, I tried my hand at making traditional French baguette-style bread: success! Delicious, delicious success. My grandpa has loaned me his bike (an awesome-looking, old-school single speed Schwinn) so I can ease my way back into riding. Sunday morning, Amanda and I rode our bikes to the grocery store to do some shopping instead of driving. It was about five hilly miles round trip, and half of that with a bag full of groceries strapped to our backs, but we made it. I think it would have been easier had we not woken up early and taken the pooch on a two-mile jog that morning. :)
I know this was a brief update, but it will have to do for now. We have to take the cats to a vet appointment momentarily, and then we’re meeting friends out for drinks. It’s a hard life. I’ll try to get pictures up at some point this week.
