A place for things.

Do you like my new dresser? I do. I found it a few months ago on a trip to Austin when Anne was in town. The sticker in the South Congress thrift store said it is Tiger Mahogany, and the dresser drawer is stamped with "Northern Furniture Company, Sheboygan." I guess it was made up in Wisconsin sometime in the 30's-1950s. It's a sturdy piece with a lovely mirror, and we bought it for $260. Now, I don't know if you have shopped dressers anywhere lately, but a plywood piece-o-nothing will cost you almost $250 at Target. So I feel like we got a deal.

It looks so pretty in the dining room that I bought a bunch of pretty pink peonies to decorate. And thanks to the mirror its almost like I bought TWO bunches of peonies. Do you see our big brass peacock too? We found that in Austin a few months ago, also on South Congress. That street matches my sense of decor!

I was actually really surprise when Sam agreed to purchase the dresser, but I think he was inspired by a little furniture opportunity we fumbled recently. You see, Sam and I walked to the gym on a Saturday afternoon, and in the parking lot was a rummage sale. There was a beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL, mid century china cabinet for sale. It had golden wood, old glass, and turquoise colored inlay handles. It wasn't too big, maybe five feet high by four feet wide, but still it was too big to put into our overfilled apartment. Logically I knew we shouldn't take it home. But I loved it and kept staring.

"Make me an offer." the rummage director said. She wanted rid of the piece. I looked stumped, thinking to myself "Should I offer $200? Would she accept that little?" She said "How about $35, and we'll drive it to your place right now." I wavered. I wanted that piece. I knew in my heart of hearts it was worth more, and I also could see myself putting it in my future house someday. Darn it, I wanted that furniture.

Sam, ruled by logic and good sense, did not. There was no logical way to fit it into our house. So we walked away. Me begrudgingly. Well, I Googled that piece of furniture a few days later found an exact match of the cabinet, sold in Colorado for $380! I wish we would have purchased the cabinet, if only to resell it for a small profit. But mostly I wish it was in my future house holding pretty things.

But you know what they say. Alls well that ends well, because now we have a new dresser. And we even rearranged the apartment for the better to make it fit. I think Sam was feeling some guilt for being so logical that we passed up a steal of a mid century piece, and it led him to be extra accommodating in the rearrange process.

I am happy, with only a twinge of longing for the lost china cabinet. I think our new dresser is a pretty piece, completely solid and sturdy, and now I have a place to stash all of my sewing fabric and supplies. It's a win win for everyone.

Prague.

They final city our our most recent European tour was Prague, a city much hyped and vastly popular with European travelers theses days. It's popular for a few reasons, one being its stunning old world beauty. Prague was not bombed in WWII, one of the only great European cities to escape being leveled in rubble, so it's street grid, buildings, and history is all originally preserved. Second, Prague sat behind the Iron Curtain of the Soviets for a long time, so it was largely undiscovered except for the last 20 years. Apparently that makes it feel more like an "authentic" European destination in our ever-globalizing world. (I for one think the city seems to have been "found" as it was so crowded with throngs of tourists.) The last thing that makes Prague a delight is that it is low on sights and high on ambiance, so it basically begs for strolls, and lingering lattes at cafes and a general sense of meandering.

After Berlin we shifted gears and took a train to the city of Prague in the Czech Republic with Will and Carmen, while John and Lauren made their way to Italy. Prague was in stark contrast to Berlin, as it is one of the only cities to escape any bombing in WWII. Thus the city retains the charm of an old European city with winding medieval roads, loads of ornate and varied architecture from different eras of fashion, plus intact cathedrals and a castle, all flanked by a lovely rive - the Vltava.

Many people describe Prague as magical. I have heard it called a Fairy Tale city and a like-a-postcard. And by many accounts they are right. Prague is lovely. Also, it is crowded. So, so crowded. We were surrounded most times with other French, British, Spanish, and American tourists. Prague seemed eager to handle the tourist flood. In fact, thanks to the throng of tourists, Prague almost felt a bit confused in its identity. On one hand, the visuals of the city are so refined and elegant and stately. On the other hand, the tourist industry in Prague is almost shameless in their blatant effort to sell the city - with kiosks blasting rock music and Abba and postcard shops on every corner. I know it's not my place to judge an entire city and culture, but I will say that it gave me a sense of sadness for the Czechs, as it seems like their modern culture never was given a chance to form a proper and lasting identity - they went from crushing Soviet tyranny to tourist capitalism so quickly that they have not necessarily defined any of their native culture as sacred yet.

I will say that one thing that makes Prague a delight is that it is low on sights and high on ambiance, so it basically begs for strolls, and lingering lattes at cafes and a general sense of meandering. We obliged gratefully as we escaped the crowds.

Above Prague sits one of the larges castles in Europe. It has been there in various states of construction since the 13th century and still functions as the seat of Czech government. Above the castle is a monastery, and the walk from the monastery to castle offers sweeping and stunning views of the charming city below. The monastery is also where an old Czech lady tried to rip Sam out of 300 crowns by giving him the wrong change. Turns out, the guidebooks are a bit right about Prague being full of swindlers!

We took the tram system up the big hill to the castle in a tram almost entirely to ourselves. That was nice, because my favorite Rick Steves suggested this tram line is ripe with pickpockets. Since we were green tourists, we were highly nervous of the pickpockets (some of us more than others, Will was cool and trusting).

We saw two Taiwanese brides getting wedding portraits taken under the astronomical clock. It was just too funny to see one in the picture and the other with a camcorder, all in the great old square FULL of tourists, looking totally out of place.




On our last day Sam and I took a paddle boat out on the Vlatava for a relaxing hour long float. The river is really calm, so it was easy to navigate under bridges full of pedestrians with views of the Castle and the Charles Bridge. As we pedaled under one bridge that led out to a river island, we saw a woman squatting under the bridge, surrounded by ducks. "Fun," we thought, she must be feeding ducks. Then we got closer and saw her trousers were slipping down around her ankles. "Oh my," we thought "maybe she is peeing." Then, as we paddled within about 15 yards of her, we saw her belt unwrapped from her arm and we realized "Holy sh*t, she was shooting up." It was quite a contrast to our tourist bliss. But don't let drug addicts scare you away from the joys of paddling the river. Otherwise, it was very lovely and relaxing.

The Jewish Quarter in Prague is amazing because it holds history from centuries and centuries of European Jews. The circumstances that created this cultural richness are tragic and unfair, as the Jews of Prague had been quarantined to this small area of the city since the 1500s through the Nazi expulsion in the Holocaust. Through the 400 years of their time in this quarter, there was only one cemetery to bury their dead, so the graves stacked upon each other over the years. With time the headstones shifted, leaving a crowded, chaotic, yet peaceful cemetery representing a long history of a people. We toured the cemetery along with several synagogues and museums that shared the history and heritage of the Jewish faith and people. Additionally, the Jewish Quarter of Prague is one of the most beautifully preserved Art Nouveau neighborhoods in all of Europe.

We rented an beautiful apartment with Will and Carmen that came with two showers, two queen sized beds, a fully stocked kitchen, How I Met Your Mother dubbed in Czech on TV, a bidet, and this tiny elevator that was supposed to comfortable carry three. In reality, it barely carried Sam and one suitcase.

Prague castle is one of the biggest in all of Europe, and included a lovely cathedral built in several phases in different centuries and featuring lovely stain glass, plus a giant hall where nobles used to conduct horse jousting in bad weather. We hiked a long hill down to the castle where we tried to take nice photos, but the sun was so bright (finally) I could barely open my eyes.

Berlin, part II.

In Berlin, we visited a bunch of museums. Classical art museums, modern art museums, antiquities museums, German History museums, a natural science museum, and even a museum on The Wall barely worthy of the title museum.



Museum für Gegenwart - or the modern art museum - is in the old Hamburger Bahnhof train station, much like the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, only more modern. We saw a bunch of Warhols and some other famous art, plus some crazy cool art made out of stone and mud. I enjoy looking at modern art, even if I don't find it aesthetically pleasing or don't totally "get" it. But this museum had a healthy dose of lovely art that I could understand, as well as some truly crazy sh*t that can barely qualify as art. Definitely worth the visit.


We stopped for afternoon dessert and lattes before Museum Island one afternoon. We each choose our treats from the longest dessert bar in Europe (so my guidebook claimed). I had a blaubeere tart, there was a busker on the corner of the cafe playing classical music, and after we got up hoards of tiny birds attacked our leftovers.


Because it was raining, and because we had a museum pass that let us into all state-run museums for free, we went into the Natural History Museum. It was an old-school place, with dioramas, some big dinosaur skeletons, and a room floor to ceiling with old sea creatures saved in formaldehyde. It was like a twisted scientist's lab, totally memorizing, and nice because it was one of the few air conditioned places in the city.

Berlin, part I.

After our damp train trip from Much, Sam and I headed Northeast to met our friends John, Lauren, Will and Carmen in Berlin for a week in the city. The entire European vacation came together based on one inebriated and spontaneous evening with these four last October.

We were at a charity event in town, eating and drinking and gawking at all of the socialites with the means to attend galas like this on their own dime (each of us had scored complimentary tickets in one way or another). Well, a few glasses of wine later we were feeling like socialites and started bidding on the silent auction. Seriously, when you bid in a silent auction, you are about 98% certain you will never win. And the wine and the foie gras from the evening had a feeling a little bit daring, so for a cheap thrill, down went our name to bid on a one week stay in Berlin, followed by a drunken pinkie swear we would all be in if we won. An hour later, much to our disbelief, we won. And that, my friends, is how we ended up in Berlin together in a lovely apartment overlooking the Berlin Zoo and the Tiergarten.

The city was incredibly interesting, if a bit more cosmopolitan and urban that one imagines when they think of old Europe. It only makes sense. After all, Berlin was basically leveled after the war, and built back up in two competing movements - a Western capitalist effort and a Communist socialist effort. The history of the city captivated throughout our visit, from it's days as an old European power, to the Nazi rise and occupation, through the Cold War and The Wall, to today.

That photo that led off the post is the group of us jumping in front of the Reichstag, Germany's Parliament building. Of course, since the photo is minus the photographer, me, I took a lone version too. We wanted to climb the glass dome to the top, but we saved this for our last day only to learn (unmentioned in all of our guidebooks) that we needed to make an appointment 3 days in advance. Blast. So instead we took silly photos outside.

The glass addition to the German History Museum was designed by I.M. Pei, the same architect that designed the glass pyramid in Paris' Louvre. The museum was full of historical artifacts and the story of Germany from the Germanic tribes through today.

Have you ever had a Kinder chocolate. I am sure in German Kinder is some sort of low-brow candy, but to our American palates it tasted like heaven. The many varieties of candy use hazelnut and chocolate and crispies and yogurt and sugar to make addicting treats. Plus, these Kinder Joy eggs came with a prize. I brought home an appalling amount of Kinder treats as souvenirs for friends and coworkers.


The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe sits in the center of Berlin. It is a very modern and conceptual large-scale sculpture that visitors can walk through and interact with. There are multi-height coffin shaped stones that lead into a maze of stone, and it is designed in a way so that any direction you walk, it always looks as if the exit is uphill. Attached to the memorial is a very moving museum with photos and correspondences tracking the stories of holocaust victims alongside the history.

I am pretty sure we were not using German correctly, but we started calling sitting "platzing", and we took every opportunity possible to platz - on the lawn, on a bench, in the U-Bahn (subway) - basically anywhere that would rest our weary feet. It turns out that in addition to regular exercise, a European vacation requires an aggressive regime of standing practice in advance of the trip. Our tired feet required more platzing than expected.

The apartment we stayed in was lovely, like an Ikea poster child. We were on the eighths floor with floor to ceiling windows in the living area, and two terraces with sweeping views of West Berlin. Plus, we overlooked the Therman Day Spa, full of naked people swimming all day and all night. It's true, we drank cocktails and ogled the nudists. We even saw an old man do naked calisthenics on the lawn. After all, we are American prudes and it was a cultural experience.

Munich.

Sam and I spent three lovely days in Munich from 7/17 - 7/19 2011. If it looks like all we did is eat, that's pretty accurate. We ate, and we walked, then we would eat, then we would walk around some more. Munich is a lovely city full of beer halls and crowded pedestrian malls and parks. The entire city was leveled during WWII, so much of Munich is new construction designed to replicate the older city before the war. It gives the place a crazy feel of old world Europe with newer plumbing and niceties. The beer was delicious, and it was pleasant to be in a place dominated by outdoor socializing as opposed to tons of museums and formal sightseeing.

The Marienplatz, or old town square, has a life sized glockenspiel that tells a story in motion at the top of some hours. I imagine in the days before electricity, this would have been an utter marvel.

After a long nap on our first day in town, we hit the Hofbräuhaus for an introduction into beer hall culture. Complete with an Oom-pah band and locals in lederhosen, we drank away several liters of beer and ate some sausage with sauerkraut.

We visited the BMW Welt Museum and showroom to admire the modern innovations of luxury car manufacturer, as well as a bunch of art cars painted by famous artists, such as this Andy Warhol BMW.

Pretzels and beer in the Chinese Garden in Munich English Garden.

A snack of bratwurst and beer, mid afternoon. I don't know how those German's stay on there feet with all that beer. They pack in those liters like they're nothing but water.

The view from the top of the glockenspiel. It's hard to believe that just 65 years ago the entire city was in rubble after the bombings. Today it is a mix of new designed to follow the grid and architecture of the old.

On our last night we dined in the Augustine Beer Garden with about 1,200 happy locals. I enjoyed potato salad, pork knuckle, and roasted chicken along with a pretzel with cheese spread and a huge beer. This place pours their beer from wooden kegs, and you can hear them tapping a new one every 10 minutes or so. Shortly after finishing our beers, we were caught in the most torrential downpour I have ever experienced, soaking us from head to toe (along with the other 1,200 jovial beer garden patrons) just in time for our 10 hour train trip to Berlin!

We took an overnight train from Munich to Berlin, paying a hefty price for the private coach. We anticipated traveling in luxury. While it was very comfortable, the entire space was about 17 square feet total, including the bed, which meant for cramped quarters in our sopping wet clothes. It was a funny experience. Plus, they served us potted liver mousse for breakfast!