Travel For Two

Paris…

Posted on July 17th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Every good holiday starts with a nap :). After staying out a bit too late with Friends in London on Friday and rising to take Saturday morning’s first train from London to Paris, we were exhausted. First things first, a nap…

Upon waking, we walked about town to get our bearings — staying in Le Marais, we ventured to Place de Vosges — a scenic square nearby, toured the shops and boutiques in Le Marais’s backstreets, had heavenly gelato (you pick two flavors and they use small tools to make the scoops into a flower shape. Gorgeous! And Delicious!), walked to Notre Dame and the island towns — and then back to the hotel before heading up for a beautiful view upon Montmartre (a chapel atop a hill in Paris) for a little wine and cheese and people watching at sunset.

After crepes for dinner, we headed to the nearby Cabaret district to take a look at the Moulin Rouge exterior and ended the night with a late call to the Arc de Triomphe. What an amazing sunset (at nearly 10:15!). It was a long, but relaxed day in Paris and primed us well for the fun to come. Those who traveled with us years ago will be surprised that our morning routine’s a bit more leisurely these days No more dawn to dusk tourist ventures followed by dinner and games until the early hours. These days, we travel as if we’ll return many times. This way, you don’t feel you have to pack too much in… you just go, get a feel for the place and enjoy being a local for a few days (well almost… a local who likes nice dinners, galleries and hops from cafe to cafe for lattes :))

This was especially true of this trip. On Sunday (13th), we grabbed pastries and headed to the nearby square again (Le Marais). No one does pastries like the French… so delicate and rich. My French colleague once brought in a homemade pastry that was just like a huge almond croissant for the office to share. How they make these things, I haven’t a clue. But I am SO glad they do!

Next up, we headed to the Orangerie and Tuilleries Gardens (both recommendations from my client who lived in France for a couple years). Great recommendations. Monet’s waterlillies live in the Orangerie and it would seem that the place was specially fitted for the works. The huge canvases are stretched into the ovular walls. They’re huge. But, it’s easy to see why the works were so controversial for the day…just as some debate the merits of modern art these days, Monet’s waterlillies don’t look like much when placed next to the old classics from Rembrandt. They’re so different!

At the Tuilleries Gardens, we watched as kids raced tiny toy sail boats on a reflecting pool… such a cool idea. There’s no remote. They’re kid and wind powered. Brilliant! And next to the Musee d’Orsay for G’s favorite — Van Gogh. Starry Night… the hay stacks… a crazy haunted house… at least two self portraits… incredible collection. We were pleased — and we’re still struck by his style. The patterns help bring you into the painting. If only he had lived longer — imagine how his work would have moved and changed had he lived another 50 years.

And, my favorite part. Frosty drinks on a boat docked on the Seine before heading to an amazing dinner with the BEST butter we’ve EVER had. We took the label and nearly stole the spare butter. Seriously good butter. Not to mention the actual meal. Writing this, I want some now… hmmm… and after dinner we headed out to the local concert and to the Pompiers (local parties put on by the firehouses as a fundraiser the night before Bastille Day — they’re like huge frat parties). And wow do they come with a line. have to admit that I felt a bit old standing in line as the 20 somethings ran for the cheap Chinese noodle shop for a quick fix of starch before heading into the Pompiers… they kept asking us to save their spot in line. At this moment 30 felt old :).

Bastille Day is the French equivalent of 4th July in the States. Parades… fireworks… picnics… lounging in the park. With this in mind, we planned to wake up and see the military parade along the city’s main promenade. But, luckily for us, each course of the parade visited us outside our hotel window instead… first the brass band at 7:30am. Followed by the horse guard (there were SO many). We had no idea that would happen and were a bit surprised… I think the band’s tunes wove themselves into my dreams somehow… the perfect alarm clock. If only we hadn’t gotten up to take photos and then rolled back over. We woke again just in time to watch the parade on TV and then see the air brigade fly by our window with colored smoke tails.

This time, more pastries, but off to the Park by Notre Dame — and, as luck would have it the end of the military parade flew overhead as we were enjoying our tarts — helicopters. Then, for a visit to the Cathedral (everyone else was at the Parade). While it’s stunning, we’ve been to so many churches these days that it was a bit (dare I say) underwhelming. Back to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. And to the park for more sailboat watching before heading to the local Carnival. We had amazing views of Paris from the sky high ferris wheel.

How fun! G planned an amazing birthday weekend, but the highlight was definitely the 5 course dinner on a boat along the Seine at sunset. Followed by fireworks viewed from inside our glass-roofed boat (30-40 minutes!), a bit of dancing (they even played our song), and finally a bit of revelry with the locals below the Eiffel Tower as the games came to an end. The bongo players and wine made for a beautiful end to an amazing 30 years.

See additional photos from our weekend in Paris.

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Babysteps…

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Living Abroad - Life in London, Travel.

Yesterday, a teaser. Today, photos. Tomorrow, a post. I promise! Where has the night gone? To see photos from our weekend in Paris, click here.

On an unrelated topic, I’ve now discovered the problem with working out. I love the cute clothes and have fun when I’m working out. But, as I watched others sweat it out with their trainers tonight, I discovered the crux of the problem. People who have trainers are drippy and sweaty and have non-cute, functional workout clothes. So, I have a new workout goal. To look like I don’t need a trainer :). That should keep me going for at least a few weeks…

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Beloved Bastille

Posted on July 15th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

We’ve just returned from a few magical days in Paris. We did as the locals do, ate as much French cuisine as we could handle (even the butter is divine)… had wine with the locals below the towering Eiffel Tower, took in the Bastille Day fireworks from a Glass roof river cruiser along the Seine (complete with white tablecloths and a 5 course meal and TWO champagne toasts…not to mention the 4 piece string band that happened to play our song) and had an overall amazing getaway.

30’s not so bad afterall
Now, we’ll settle back in to life in London.But, not before we share some photos and a more complete post about the weekend away. Look back later this week for more.

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Wine and cheese await…

Posted on July 11th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

On Bastille Day nearly 30 years ago, I was born in Roanoke, VA. Half way (or nearly so) around the world, a country celebrated its national birthday with fine wine, cheese, champagne and fireworks (my favorite of all). As this is a landmark vintage in my cellar (or so to speak), we decided to combine the two. I will have fireworks in France on MY birthday. It’s difficult to find two things that go more perfectly together (fireworks and a birthday)….I can’t wait!

Look for photos and updates following the trip next week. We’ll return on Tuesday.

And…no worries. I had my mid-life crisis at 26

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Bustling Berlin

Posted on June 11th, 2008 by g.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Last week I meet up with a good friend of mine from college in Berlin. He was in Germany for a conference and I was able to pop over for a couple days. We had a great time catching up and seeing a bit of the city.

Berlin is a modem European city — and it is rapidly changing. There are cranes and construction everywhere. Rick Steves jokes that if your guidebook is a couple years old it is describing a different city. Indeed the Hauptbahnhof — or main train station — had moved between my 2006 edition and his 2008 edition. Good thing that wasn’t where we agreed to meet!Perhaps it is due to all of the construction, but my first impressions of Berlin weren’t the most appealing. It doesn’t have the old world charm and charisma of a lot of European cities. It grew on me though and I found it was more attractive when lit up at night.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was seeing Checkpoint Charlie — border crossing between East and West Berlin. The nearby museum chronicles the history of the wall and the separation of Germany and Berlin. It was amazing to see the ingenuity and dedication that people invested on trying to get out of the East. They hid in cars suitcases and surfboards. It reminded me of a documentary that I saw recently about the Gaza strip and the Palestinians struggle tunneling under the wall to reach Egypt so they can get food for their families. The risks were great, but so were the rewards.

From Checkpoint Charlie we followed the double cobble stones embedded in the ground marking the former location of the wall until we got to the east gallery where a piece of the wall remains. It is covered with artwork from around the world echoing the sentiments of freedom and peace. Along the way, we passed houses that were right on the border. It’s hard to imagine living there with only a few feet separating you from freedom and perhaps perhaps family and friends.I was a child when the wall fell. I remember it was a major event, but I didn’t appreciate its magnitude. Being there I was really able to gain a much stronger appreciation.

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A Little R&R on Lake Como

Posted on May 26th, 2008 by g.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

The combination of two of K’s favorite things — water and mountains — provided the perfect backdrop for a relaxing holiday weekend getaway. In contrast to our travels over the last month, the primary objective this weekend was rest and relaxation. We soaked up bits of sun at lakeside cafés as it peeked out between the clouds. And the scattered showers kept our energetic hiking ambitions in check to help us achieve our relaxation goal.

We skipped the resort laden “big city” of Como and headed for the quaint villages in the middle of the lake. Settling in the little town of Varenna we explored the neighboring Bellaggio and Menaggio with quick ferry rides across the lake. While less touristy than the larger Como, these towns are still popular holiday spots for Europe and focused on hospitality. We strolled along the water’s edge watching fish dart about in the crystal blue water. We frequented the shops admiring the murano glass and artisan works. And renewed our taste for café lattes and authentic gelato.

The food and wine is always a highlight of Italy (though not quite as good as Tuscany and Cinque Terre). We enjoyed fresh pasta and the light refreshing red chianti wine as well other fresh wines from the region. Being on a lake, the food featured a lot of trout and reminded us of Hallstatt and the Austrian Lake District in many ways.

There were other familiar elements of this trip as well. Arriving by train along the lake edge beneath the towering mountains reminded us of the Berner-Oberland in Switzerland. The brightly colored shore perched villages lined with boats reminded us of the Cinque Terre and The Amalfi Coast. We were able to enjoy elements of and reminisce about many of our favorite trips.

As on our other trips to Italy, we found a lot of art galleries and exhibits — more than other places in Europe. Maybe it is because Italy is more beautiful. Or perhaps Italians are more artistically inclined. Or we just got lucky while in Italy. None the less we enjoyed many the quality works in several galleries and exhibits.

A unique shop in Bellaggio featured fused glass renderings of Van Gogh’s famous works. The fused glass technique and bright colors mixed well with Van Gogh’s style and made the works really light up. We were particularly impressed by a rendition of Starry Night and decided its new home should be in our London flat.

It was a good weekend all around and mission accomplished. Check out our pictures from around the lake.

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Hitch Hiker’s Guide to Moscow

Posted on May 17th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Imagine my surprise on Monday as we stood outside a popular Moscow restaurant and I learned from my colleague that we would hitch a ride back to the hotel. With three people in our group, we stood on the curb doing our best to grab passing drivers’ attention. Within two minutes, four cars had stopped. Question 1: are you going near our hotel. Question 2: how much will it cost. With the location and price agreed and a car to fit three passengers (amongst sippy cups, baby seats and discarded magazines), we were on our way.

So, taxis. A valuable window into the Moscow economy. In most markets (like London and NY), there are two safe options. Option one is preferred, but comes at a premium—the company car. A person waits for you and personally delivers you to your destination (generally in a luxury car). The second option is the Yellow Cab. You just walk out and grab one—they’re accredited and licensed and generally safe and fair.

In Moscow, however, I was treated to paradigm shift. Here, private cars are commonplace but private vehicles take the place of the yellow cab. If you haven’t pre-booked a company car, you must stand on the side of the road and flag down a ride. It’s similar to hitch hiking in the US, but way more folks stop to help. When folks stop you discuss where you’re going and if it’s on their way and payment. So long as they’re going your way (generally), the cost of the lift is generally a quarter or half of the cost of a private pre-booked car. And for the locals, it’s a great way for them to fund their car payment and fuel costs. And, to the passenger’s benefit hitching costs a half to quarter of what pre-booked cars may.

Not generally to go along with the flow on potentially life-threatening arrangements, I initially questioned the safety of this option. Apparently it’s mainstream and the only way to get home if not convenient to public transport.
Welcome to Moscow where the upper and lower ranges are covered, but the middle has yet to be activated.
The appears to be true of local hotels. When booking through our corporate agent, there’s a conference in town and so every available option was in the neighbourhood of 16,000 rubles (ie ~£320 or $640). Not wanting to spend so much on accommodation, I asked that they keep looking. FINALLY, they found an acceptable hotel with a room rate of £150 ($300 per night). Anything less expensive would have been scarily inadequate…a la Bates Motel. The Mid-market hasn’t yet been activated. There’s a huge market opportunity for motivated entrepreneurs.

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