Aug 30

First Impressions of Venice

We landed in Venice yesterday afternoon. We bid our rental car farewell at the airport. Although it was the priciest option, we took a water taxi from the airport to St. Mark’s Square. The lagoon was full of other water taxis and craft kicking up wakes. I was having a blast bouncing up and down as we made it into town. We immediately ran into the first impression:

Claustrophobic. St. Mark’s Square is tourist central. A large wedding party blocked our way off the dock when we landed. We had to repeat, “Scusi, scusi…” to get through the crowd onto dry land. Then we had to negotiate the throngs in the square to reach our rental apartment. We got to the apartment earlier than our greeter could, so we cooled our heels at a bar nearby. When the greeter brought us upstairs to the apartment and opened the door, I had my second first impression:

Clammy. This is to be expected, as Venice is an island cross-hatched by canals. I noticed the oppressive humidity when we first landed in Venice last week. Fortunately, the rains of the last few days have moderated the temperature. I was running out of socks, so I hand-washed three pairs last night. Two pairs are still wet. If you work up a sweat walking around, it will not evaporate and cool you off.

More impressions of Venice to come.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/30/first-impressions-of-venice/

Aug 29

Misery in Misurina

We left Santa Cristina on Saturday and negotiated more hairpin turns in Guido Carducci. I wasn’t feeling well. We stopped in Cortina, a relatively large town in the Dolomites favored by the moneyed gentry. Cortina hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and will do so in 2026 with Milan. The downtown area is full of designer shops and high-end sporting goods stores. We split pizza and salad at an open-air pizzeria while an oompah band played next door. I was barely able to eat half of my portion. The drive from Cortina to Misurina was still twisty, but mercifully short.

On the way to Misurina, I suggested that we might want to do Covid tests on ourselves once we arrived at the hotel. Results: Positive and positive. I didn’t have to wait the 15 minutes to read my test – it was positive at three. Julian’s took a bit longer to develop. I was wiped out and was asleep by 7 after an earlier nap. Julian ordered a room service dinner. I didn’t stir until 7:30 the next morning.

In contrast to Cortina, Misurina is puny. It has no pharmacy. The grocery store sells homeopathic nostrums, but no effective decongestants or analgesics. This negated the opportunity to get any Paxlovid to beat back the virus.

I took a nap after breakfast, then Julian rousted me to take a bus ride up to Tre Cime, a popular site for climbers and hikers. It took most of my energy to walk to the bus stop. I stayed at the Rifugio (cafeteria/visitor center) while Julian took a short hike. I didn’t know until I attempted to read an information plaque that the Dolomites were a key battleground during World War I, when Italy was on the side of the allies against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Julian’s panorama shot near Tre Cime.

I felt well enough on Monday to do some walking near the lake across the street from our hotel. It had rained overnight and was still raining off and on that day. Ducks were attempting to mooch food off human passersby to mixed effects.

Misurina. We had lunch at the little restaurant on the right of the photo.

Other than being ill, we had great luck in the Dolomites. The staffs at both hotels were friendly, and the weather was mostly cooperative. Now we’ll see what Venice has in store for us.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/29/misery-in-misurina/

Aug 28

Ciao d’Italia

Our next stop on the Canals and Cannolis Tour is Italy. We caught an early flight from Amsterdam to Venice on Tuesday. We rented a car so we could get to the Dolomite Mountains. Here’s this year’s model, an Abarth 595 (souped-up Fiat 500). Miraculously, we fit in all of our luggage with the back seats down. Julian thought about calling it Fredo, after the middle brother in the Godfather saga. I protested. I didn’t want the car whacked in a lake before we returned it to Venice. He finally settled on Guido Carducci, a take-off on the Don Novello character on the original Saturday Night Live.

The person at the rental car counter kept asking Julian, “Are you sure you don’t want an SUV?” He assumed that all Americans would want to drive an SUV. We’ve been though this before in Europe. Large cars aren’t easy to negotiate on narrow roads. Our logic was spot on. The roads to the Dolomites have hairpin turns, crazy motorcyclists, and tour buses. Little Guido was a champ, even though my knuckles were very white by the time we got to the hotel. It’s a good thing I outgrew carsickness years ago.

Our rental car, with some Dolomite Mountains in the background.

The Dolomite Mountains are in northeastern Italy, near the border with Austria. The mountains are made of the same rock that give them their name, a form of limestone. The United Nations declared it a World Heritage Site. The area is popular with skiers and hikers. In fact, a world skiing competition was held in the Dolomites earlier in the year.

Our first stop in the Dolomites was Santa Cristina. Our hotel was on the outskirts of town, which meant dinner options were limited unless you took a bus downtown or to Ortisei, a couple of kilometers down the road.

Downtown Santa Cristina. We had lunch and dinner here.

We took the bus to Ortisei twice to do day hikes. This is a view of Seceda.

We did NOT climb that mountain. Signs warned that only climbers should do so, but that didn’t stop some testosterone-poisoned youth.

This is the view from an alpine meadow, Alpe di Siusi, we hiked on the second day. The hiking was a bit easier, plus we saw plenty of cattle, sheep, and goats.

A panorama that Julian took at the Alps di Siusi.

The next temporary home in the Dolomites was Misurina.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/28/ciao-ditalia/

Aug 27

Dutch Treats

Zaanse Schans is the Dutch equivalent of Colonial Williamsburg. It showcases Dutch heritage and craft from the 16th to 19th centuries. The houses are well maintained. Some people live in these old houses, although some have moved because of tourists invading their privacy. Some of the other buildings showcase crafts such as wooden shoe making and the Dutch heritage of clock making. We were going to watch the shoe-making demonstration, but the sawdust was getting into my contact lenses. Several museums require admission fees. And several buildings were devoted to selling food and souvenirs.

Downtown Zaanse Schans.
And what would a Dutch heritage park be without windmills?

Each windmill serves (or served) a specific purpose. One ground mustard seeds, another grains, a third was a sawmill.

Farm animals also inhabit Zaanse Schans, mostly sheep. We also saw a few goats and cattle. The critters keep the grass trimmed and simultaneously fertilize the lawn.

Sheep may safely graze.

I smelled chocolate as we approached the park. This is a very familiar smell to me, as the hospital where I was born was one block away from the Nestle chocolate plant where my father worked. Kitty said there were two chocolate factories in the area. A little something familiar in a strange place.

We highly recommend Zaanse Schans for a good walk, architecture, and history.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/27/dutch-treats/

Aug 23

More Cute Shoes

My friends in the Cult of Cute Shoes anxiously await this post every time I travel. Today’s entries are from the Wooden Shoe Museum and factory at the Zaansche Schans park in the Netherlands. I’m sure we’ll find more beauties in Venice. Hiking boots are considered cute in the Dolomites.

Some of these shoes WEREN”T made for walking. Photo courtesy of Julian.
Good thing these have toe stops; otherwise the fronts of the clogs would get eroded.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/23/more-cute-shoes/

Aug 22

The Canals and Cannolis Tour

Julian and I are back on vacation in Europe. This time our itinerary included visiting his cousins outside Amsterdam. Later we flew to Italy for a week in the Dolomite Mountains and a week in Venice. We have the experience of canals in both the Netherlands and Venice and cannolis (we hope) in Italy.

Our host in the Netherlands was Kitty, who is a cousin on Julian’s paternal grandmother’s side of the family. She’s visited us a few times over the years, most recently in 2017. The highlight of our visit with her was a family reunion with Kitty’s daughters, two of her grandchildren, her sister, and one of her nieces. The dinner was held at a buffet restaurant at a hotel near Schiphol (Amsterdam) Airport. Surprisingly, it was the best restaurant meal we’d had so far. The variety of offerings was amazing, including sushi, Turkish food, and dessert tables to die for. We hadn’t seen most of these relatives since the family birthday party in Delft years ago. Julian created a Seattle-oriented trivia contest that was easy enough so everyone could win a prize. (Sample question: Which animals are not seen in the Sammamish River behind Julian and Cindy’s condo? The choices included eagles, otters, ducks, and crocodiles.)

Great time with Julian’s cousins. (He’s behind the camera.)

We went to Rotterdam yesterday for the first time. Rotterdam was bombed to smithereens by the Nazis during World War II and was nearly entirely rebuilt. Many of the new buildings are of the architect’s dream and engineer’s nightmare genre. For example, the Cube Building. This building resembles a child’s block structure at a 54.7° angle, which results in very weird apartments with wasted space due to angled ceilings. Fortunately, the Hostel underneath the cube apartments is a bit more conventional. We also roamed around the waterfront and saw some vintage sailboats and barges.

Stay tuned for more adventures as we explore Italy.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/08/22/the-canals-and-cannolis-tour/

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/05/23/the-flag-lady/

Apr 05

Dudley is One Now

Dudley turned one year old on April 3. He’s a devious dude. His latest obsession is the laser printer. (to the left in the picture below). If he hears it turn on, he runs to see what comes out. He’ll sit next to it, even if it’s off, and hope something appears. Here he is attempting to stay warm on my work laptop. Luckily, I had the keyboard locked at the time. He also dives behind the stereo cabinet despite our best efforts to block it off. Fortunately, he can get out without our trying to move those heavy bookcases.

His relationship with our elder states cat, Neli, is still a work in progress. Sometimes they can sleep very close to one another. Then one or the other wakes up and chaos ensues. He mooches her food, she mooches his. It hasn’t occurred to either of them that they’re getting the exact same thing.

Despite his craziness, he’s a very sweet fellow. He likes to sit on a lap while we’re working or watching TV. He’s got a loud purr and chats with us. Unlike Neli, he’s not shy about meeting new people. He’s a keeper.

Trying to edit my work.

(Yes, it’s been a while since I last posted. Expect new content in the near future.)

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/04/05/dudley-is-one-now/

Jan 29

There Oughta Be a Law

There are several food faux pas that I don’t get riled about. Want to drink red wine with fish? Okay by me. Want to pre-boil your ribs before grilling them? It’s your life. However, there is one thing that should never be done: putting mayonnaise on a pastrami sandwich.

I’ve made my opinion on mayonnaise known in this blog post. The only appropriate spread for a pastrami sandwich is mustard. Pastrami is well-marbled to begin with. Adding mayonnaise to a pastrami sandwich just adds more greasiness. The acidity of mustard cuts through the richness of the meat.

We thought about going to a relatively new deli in Seattle yesterday. While we were driving there, I looked at the menu on my phone. One of the sandwich items had pastrami with mayonnaise. The horror… We opted not to go there because it didn’t have indoor seating. We went to a Colombian restaurant two doors down instead.

I’m not alone in this aversion to mayo on deli sandwiches. The Metropolitan Diary feature in the New York Times had a scene in a Manhattan deli. A tourist came in and ordered a pastrami on rye with mayo. The man behind the counter had to put the mayonnaise in a cup on the side. He couldn’t bear to put it on the bread himself.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/01/29/there-oughta-be-a-law/

Jan 07

Twenty Years in the Northwest

On January 7, 2003, Julian, our two cats, and I caught a flight from Greensboro to Seattle so Julian could start his job at the University of Washington. I don’t remember much about the flight, but I sure remember going through security with Jasper glommed onto me. I still have the divots from his claws in my shoulder. We were met at Sea-Tac by my former roommate Jennifer, who took us to the moving company parking lot to pick up my car. We’d had it shipped west in advance so we didn’t have to rent a car. Jennifer and Zach graciously hosted us until we moved into our rental house. Even more important, they took care of the cats while we flew back to North Carolina to finish packing.

Move-in day was, shall we say, interesting. There was no room in the van for the futon or box spring, so the movers shrink-wrapped them in plastic and tied them to the back of the van. In January, when most of the country has some form of precipitation. As you can imagine, they were both a sodden mess when the van arrived. Julian’s espresso machine was somehow trashed in the van. The worst was Julian’s car. In the rush to secure it in the van, the movers managed to puncture the aluminum oil pan. We weren’t aware of it until we drove across town for lunch and noticed a puddle of oil underneath the car after we ate. Needless to say, there was a hefty damage claim with the movers that was settled without going to court.

The last 20 years have been full of ups and downs. We found ourselves in a neighborhood of great people close to the University and the largest Unitarian Universalist congregation in town. Having an instant network was a great perk, which gave lie to the “Seattle freeze” stereotype of standoffishness. I managed to cobble together freelance writing assignments and part-time teaching at community colleges before I started working at Swedish Medical Center. We moved Julian’s mother to Seattle when it became obvious that she was no longer able to live independently. My mother was able to visit us twice and my sister once, along with several friends from our past lives.

Is the Northwest perfect? No place is. There are days when I regret the nasty traffic, high cost of living, and the bland sameness that’s afflicting the city and suburbs. However, the sight of Mount Rainier on a sunny day never gets old. Nor does watching the traffic on the Sammamish River behind our condo. I think we’re here for the long haul.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/01/07/twenty-years-in-the-northwest/

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