Since Europe…

26. August 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been holding my friend Michelle’s camera hostage since my trip and have been taking advantage of it like crazy over the past week before I give it back to her.  Since I’m back to using my old computer and don’t have Steve’s super duper nice Mac, I don’t have much editing capability.  BUT!  I don’t pride myself on keeping a photo blog, so I have an excuse ;)

Here are some pics of the things I’ve done, people I’ve seen, and food I’ve made since I returned from Europe…

Mom and Dad came down for the weekend for the annual Anne Amie Wine Club BBQ.  Before heading down to wine country, I took them to the food carts on 43rd and Belmont.  We’re all about sharing/family style dining so we all got something different and sampled each others.  I got vegan sweet potato/lentil/spinach balls atop polenta, topped with coconut curry sauce.  DELISH!  Dad got a mole burrito.  Typical for him but still very good.  And mom got Korean BBQ, which I hear is all the rage.  Hit and miss on hers. Overall, great local experience though.

My beautiful mother and the beautiful sunset and from the vineyards at Anne Amie.

Steph and I worked at Pottery Barn together and have become great friends through our love of wine tasting.  She joined the  club a couple months back and we have had so much fun clubbin’ it together.

This is all of us.  Clockwise from L: Steph, my dad, my mom, Allison, Shirley, Agnes (she joined the club too!) and me.

The sunset has been so beautiful every year.  Not a bad way to end the evening.

On Sunday night, Anthony’s mom, LaDonna called to tell me they found his remains on the Reid Glacier.  I dealt with it pretty well until Tuesday when the news started hitting the headlines again and I started getting emails and texts asking if I was okay.  After having a min-meltdown in the stairwell at work, I asked my boss if I could leave early and decided to take a self-care day and go to Cannon Beach on Wednesday.  I grabbed my friend Cheryl and her dog Sadey and had a lovely day full of sunshine, sandy beach, and a picnic.

Loved these sand blasted chairs outside the Sleepy Monk in Cannon Beach.

Today, I had a hankering to make raw zucchini pasta.  With the help of my friend Lindsay (who has a great food blog: Rosemarried) and some other recipes I found, I pulled together what I had left from my multiple trips to the farmers markets last week and made this…

Raw Zucchini noodles with vegan pesto, walnuts, heirloom tomatoes, and andouille sausage served with my favorite Pinot Blanc.  Man, it was SO good!  So healthy, and filling, and flavorful, and amazing.  I could eat this everyday.  Michelle came over and we enjoyed this meal outside together.  I can’t wait for the grass to turn green again!

My best friend Zoe is coming down this weekend and I’m certain I’ll have more photos and more thoughts to share.

One last (but certainly, definitely not least…actually, maybe even the greatest) photo to share…

I stumbled across this pic of me and Anthony from our trip to Montana in 2007.  4 wheelin’, shooting at little critters, and getting eaten alive by the feisty Montana mosquitoes. Holy crap we had fun.  MISS YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW ANTH!

Wine with Swine

17. August 2010 · Write a comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I just love her!  This makes me so happy…

It’s Good to Enjoy Wine with Swine by Clare Carver at Big Table Farm

Day 12: Wine Tasting along to Mosel–Bernkastel-Kues

17. August 2010 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Finally!  I got to go wine tasting!  I knew German’s were known for their Rieslings, but I had no idea just how much Riesling was coming out of Germany.  TONS!  I looked online and found some pretty great reviews of Bernkastel-Kues, a town along the Mosel River.  One fifth of all German wine is sold in this town so I thought it would boast many tasting rooms, which it certainly did.  Since I get back on a plane to Portland tomorrow and Steve is working today, this was our last day trip and my last chance to see a part of Germany I haven’t seen yet.  It was a nice mellow day that I enjoyed thoroughly.

Bernkastel was on one side of the Mosel River, and Kues was on the other.  This is the main street in Bernkastel.  On the left of the street is the first tasting room we visited…

Rieslings and more Rieslings.  This is Dr. Pauly Bergweiler.  German Rieslings range from dry to very sweet.  The classification is called the Pradikat System.  We tasted everything from dry or Trocken, to semi-sweet or Spatlese, to the sweetest wines of our lives or Trockenbeerenauslese!  We also tried Grappa here, which is fermented grape skins, seeds, and stems.  In my humble opinion, it tastes like straight alcohol and isn’t at all appetizing.  But the Rieslings were great!

Town Square in Bernkastel

This was the Vinotek, or wine museum.  It was self-serve (that would NEVER happen in Oregon) and there were  145 different wines to try.  135 of them were Rieslings and the remaining 10 were Dornfelders, some Roses, and a couple sparking Rieslings.  Since all the tech sheets were in German, we had no idea what were tasting other than the Pradikat Designation.  I was surprised at my liking of the off-dry or semi-sweet Rieslings far above the dry ones.  I’ll be packing some in my suitcase to bring back to Portland.

All the hillsides surrounding the Mosel River are covered in vineyards!  And they are SO steep.  I love that the rows go in every direction.

This is Bernkastel, from the bridge going into Kues.

So glad I was able to see the Mosel region and expand my wine knowledge and experience.  I have a new found appreciation from Rieslings and got to feed my soul a bit.

Well friends, this might be my last photo blog from my Europe trip, but I’ll do a wrap up blog soon once I come back down from the experience and debrief a bit.  Thanks for taking time to read!

Day 9-11: Switzerland

17. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

You know that feeling of finally getting somewhere you want to be and the all the weight that has been on your shoulders just melts off and you feel light again?  That’s the feeling I had when we arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland on Friday.  A nurse at Steve’s hospital matched us up with her husband, Scott and their friend Bryan for a weekend hiking trip in the Swiss Alps.  Steve checked the weather and told me to pack for rain, but I packed for August sun and was very ill-prepared.  Luckily, Scott’s wife, Shelley had enough gear for me to sport on our hike.  (Thanks Shelley! You are a life saver)  The only glitch: my feet are bigger than Shelley’s so I resorted to wearing my somewhat new, hardly broken in Chacos.  They were champs though with a little help from some big band-aids.  The hike was easily the hardest hike of my life, and could easily stay that way.  We’re talking seriously quick elevation gain, rough terrain for part of it, and a lot of rain at the beginning and end.  I don’t mind cloudy with a little chill in the air, but a straight up downpour can put a damper on the day real quick.  The bulk of the middle, however, was beautiful!  There’s no feeling like the feeling you get at the end of a arse-kicking hike when you can finally sit and have a beer.  Man, that felt good.

Aside from the hike, Interlaken is a charming little town with mountains towering on every side, a jade colored river running through the middle, tons of hostels, and swarms of paragliders overhead.  15 minutes away (by car) is the town of Grindelwald, which is where most of the hiking starts.  It’s nestled into the Alps and is your typical Swiss village with red and white flags, Swiss Chalets, and green hillsides everywhere.  Loved everything about it.

This trip was exactly the breath of life I needed and will remain the highlight of my time in Europe.

Balmer’s!  This is the hostel we stayed at while we were in Interlaken.  What a cool culture and feel.

Scott and Shelley are big wine drinkers so he packed a couple bottles for us to enjoy.  After we got settled in at Balmer’s, we walked into town, grabbed some Swiss truffles, and opened a bottle of Cote du Rhone at the park in the middle of Interlaken.  Loooovely.

This is pretty typical of us: poking fun at each other.

Swarms of paragliders all over the sky in Interlaken!  They start from a mountain top on the other side of the river, glide down, and land in this park right in front of us.  Next time in Interlaken, I’m doing it!

Grindelwald is where we started out hike.  You’ll see some aerial photos of it from our hike…

Scott, me, Bryan, and Steve at square one.  We’re heading up into those mountains behind us.  I have no idea what lies ahead of me…

Where are we going?!  Ask these Magellan’s.

There were so many of these chalets on the way up.  This one marks the start of our ascent up the Eiger Trail.

We enjoyed a beer way up on the mountain after a tough elevation climb.  Rugen Brau is a local brewery in Interlaken.

The rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal this amazing mountain peak!  We’ve only just begun. Grindelwald is in the background.  Scott, Bryan, me, and Steve.

Eiger Trail…

Up we go…thaddaway.

I couldn’t help but think that God is a pretty creative creator.  Majestic!

We weren’t sure what these pilings were for, but they were all over one part of our hike.

Tons of waterfalls along the Eiger Trail from all the glacial run-off.  Crystal clear and freezing cold.

I’ve always wanted to do this!  Easily the best drinking water on the planet.  Bryan kept on calling it “giardia water” and wouldn’t drink it, but he missed out!

We spotted this waterfall down where we had a beer and were so glad to finally be there!  Objects on the mountain are closer than they appear.

I love the ruggedness of this shot.

I had to do it!  But by the time I remembered my jersey was in my pack, we were pretty socked in from the fog so the shot of the rock was all I could get.  Who knows, maybe it’ll get me on the big screen at a game!

It’s getting foggier…which means rain is a comin’.

More cowbell!  There were so many cows with bells around their necks towards the end of our hike.  Such a sweet sound.

TThe trail down to Kleine Scheidegg took us through some cow pastures and many a cow-pie.

After 7 hours, 3,500 feet (gestimate), rain, sun, clouds, tight calves, and a couple stops to treat some low blood sugars and to eat lunch, we made it to the train station at Kleine Scheidegg.  We had a celebratory drink while we waited for the train to take us back down into Grindelwald.  It felt SO good to warm up and sit down.  We were all beat, but happy that we made it to the top.  Steve said that with a little training, I could easily summit Mt. Hood!  I would love to summit with him and his dad to see what Anthony was so in love with.  What an experience that would be.  Next year :)

Day 6-8: Landstuhl and Trier

12. August 2010 · 5 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , , ,

I’ve been an independent woman the last couple of days getting around this chunk of Germany all by myself since Steve has been working nights and sleeping during the day.  I’ve made a couple mistakes but I’m here writing this post so I did something right.  I have to say that I’m glad tonight is Steve’s last night because I’m ready to do something fun again.  Tomorrow, we heading down to Interlaken and Grindlewald, Switzerland to do some hiking and climbing.  If you get a sec, check the weather for Grindlewald.  And we think Portland’s summer weather is bad.  I’m gonna be freezing my arse off! (The usage of arse is an ode to all the crossword puzzle’s I’ve been doing.  Lots of “British behind” clues.)  But I’m excited none-the-less.

I haven’t been totally filled with excitement though.  I’ve actually had some really sad moments in the last couple of days.  The saddest of moments come when Steve leaves for work at 7pm and I’m alone in a foreign village in a foreign country feeling like I’m not doing everything that I want to do while I’m here.  The biggest let down and by far the biggest source of tears on this trip was the realization that I wouldn’t be able to make it to Beaune, France in the heart of Burgundy.  That was my biggest dream coming into this trip and I thought that would be what brought the biggest breath of life to me.  I was anticipating sitting at a sunlight table on a cobblestone street with a glass of the best Burgundy and vineyards in the background.  I thought for sure that was how the Lord would awaken my heart and bless me.  This trip isn’t really looking like I thought it would and that’s really hard because it feels like He is withholding something from me, something that I want so so bad and it’s so close but I can’t get there.I’ve been asking the Lord to awaken my heart for so long and I guess I’ve put God in a box in how I think He will do that.  So I guess I need to pray that I would see outside the box and be satisfied with how He is awakening and speaking to my heart now.  I was talking to my friend Debbie yesterday via gmail chat and she pointed me to Deuteronomy 8 where God is speaking to the Israelites who have been wandering through the desert for 40 years.  His intent for us while we are in the wilderness, in the seasons of pure longing, being humbled, tested, and hungry is so that we may inherit his blessings, know what is in our heart–whether we will be faithful, to show us that we cannot live without him, and to show us his love for us as sons through his discipline.  That is SO packed and I still need to chew on that more.  But I need to stop putting God in my box and anticipating that he will show up in a specific way.  He may have me in this wilderness for 40 more years for all I know.  But I will continue to pray that he would keep me faithful and close to him when I feel like taking matters into my own hands and strive for the blessing that I want, instead of what he is trying to bless me with.

Ok, now onto the photos….

The nearest town to Steve’s villiage is called Landstuhl.  It’s not super cute but it has a couple streets to walk up and down and some cafes to sit and read and write at.  Behind me is a small castle and to the left is a cool little pub with a great patio overlooking the town.

Once an hour, a bus comes through Steve’s village and goes into Landstuhl.  I hopped on the bus a yesterday and bopped around Landstuhl for the day.  Not much to see, but at least I wasn’t stranded in the little village.

Today, I decided to take a bigger outing and head to Trier.  I took the bus into Landstuhl then caught the train there.  It was about a 2 1/2 hr (one way) trip to Trier but very cool…other than the rain that was a comin’ down this morning when I left Steve’s.  Wet feet=no fun.

Standing under the umbrella waiting for the bus to come.  I’m pretty wet already :(

The train ride to Trier was mostly boring except the last 20 minutes or so once we reached the Mosel Valley.  Vineyards everywhere!  And the train took us right along the Mosel River, which was unfortunately on the other side of the train so I didn’t get a photo.  But here’s a picture I found online:

There was some very cool architecture in Trier, which is right on the border of Luxembourg.

This is Market Square.  Very lively and colorful!  The pink building with the H&M used to be the palace of the Archbishop.

Love the fruit stands right in the middle of the square.  The nectarine I bought was the best piece of fruit I have ever had.  I seriously tasted like a Peachy-O!

My new friend Miguel.  He just struck up a conversation with me when I was sitting down people-watching.  Funky guy with a lot of dreams and very good English.  From the 20 minutes we chatted, I think he would fit in well in Portland. He kept on talking about wanting to live in Hamburg because of the buzz and mentality.

When  I got back to Landstuhl from Trier, none of the busses were running anymore so I took a taxi half-way to Steves.  Only half-way?  Yes, it was 11 Euro (about $15.00) for a 5 minute taxi ride!  I decided a I could walk the 4 km back home.  It actually might have been my favorite part of the day.

I finally made it back to Steve’s village, Obernheim-Kirchenarnbach.

Alright ya’ll.  I’m wiped out and need to catch some zzz’s before heading off to Switzerland in the morning.  I’ll be gone for a couple of days but I’ll write and post pictures when I get back.

Ciao!

Day 3-5: Roma!

10. August 2010 · 3 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Oh boy, Rome was quite a whirlwind!  We got up at 3am after having only slept 2 hrs to catch our Ryanair flight and hit the ground running once we landed.  When we finally checked into our hotel, we all feel asleep for almost 3 hours without stirring!  But then it was go go go from then on.  Rome in 3 days is tricky but I think we hit nearly all of the main attractions.  ”When in Rome?” and “Rome if we want to!” were common catch phrases during our time there.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I really needed to pray my way through the trip.  Lots of insecurities came to the surface for me being in a high-fashion country where the words “practical footwear” don’t not exist.  I was all about my Chacos while I was there, which put a big “American” stamp on me.  All the women were wearing the cutest sandals and high waisted skirts.  And ALL of the girls my age were super skinny and super tan.  Neither of which would be good descriptors of me.  So I prayed by butt off that I would stop comparing myself to these girls and just be content with the body I have and confident with my health and progress.  Not sure I would have enjoyed Rome at all had I been insecure and comparing myself the whole time.  That would have been AWFUL!  But, I did okay for the whole trip and got some good fashion tips out of it :)

My travel buddies for the trip were Steve (of course) and his friend Frank.  Frank is an Army nurse at the same hospital as Steve and he’s been wanting to head to Rome for a while.  Three was a great number and I definitely felt safe with two Military guys.  We all traveled really well together and I can say confidently that I didn’t get sick of either of them.  Hopefully they can say the same about me!

Alright, take a looksey at some of the highlights.  Some of these are from my camera and some are from Steve’s much nicer camera.  You can probably tell which is which.  And I’m not an expect photographer but you’ll get the picture (punny!!):

We’re in Rome!  We’ve been up since 3am with only 2 hours of sleep, but we’re in Rome and eating breakfast!

A lovely view of St. Peter’s Basillica and Vatican City from the top of Castel del San Angelo

Not a terrible view from our hotel room (yes hotel!  no hostel for us)

Mar and Steve in front of the Fountain at the Piazza Navona

I love the street cafe scene in Rome!

Team Jacob?!  Anyone? Anyone?

LOOOVE this place!  Red checkered table cloth, a lovely Dolcetto d’Alba, Bruschetta, Meatballs, deliciousness…

Piazza Navona at night.

Opera singer at the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain at night!  SO many people here and SOOOO much Gelato!

I’m at the Colosseum!  This was actually a really cool sight to see.

Tired kids at the Forum.

Trevi Fountain by day.

Like I said, TONS of people!  Our tour guide for the Vatican said they collect 80,000 Euro of coin each month out of this fountain.  That’s almost $105,000 USD!

Swiss Guard at the Vatican.  So cute ;)

Our fabulous tour guides for the Sistine  Chapel and Vatican City, Allie (far L) and Susan (middle R).  We paid a little extra but didn’t have to stand in line for 4 hrs!

Inside St. Peter’s Basillica

Favorite part of Rome: The bustling cobblestone alleys.

I ate it…and loooved it!  What’s Rome without Pizza and Chianti?

This is the most insane Gelateria I saw in all of Italy.  I think they probably had 50+ flavors.

Piazza del Popolo at night!

Day Two: German Wine Road, Obernheim-Kirchenarnbach

10. August 2010 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , , ,

Here a just a couple of photos to commemorate the day:

I went into Kaiserslautern for the morning and found a great little cafe.  Sat here and read, wrote, and people watched for quite a while.

This is part of the German Wine Road!  We drove up to Landau and Godsramstein for a wine festival that wasn’t actually happen.  Props to Steve for the effort!  The drive was beautiful though so it made it all okay.

This is the little village of Landau where the wine festival was supposed to be.  I could have easily stayed here for a looooooong time.

During the drive, Steve randomly pulled over to make a phone call and we just so happened to pull up to this fruit stand.  This was my favorite thing that happened all day.  The day was feeling very crisp and fall-like anyway, the this stand was selling fresh crop apples that were the best I’ve ever tasted.  We also bought cherries, nectarines, a bottle of Riesling for 3 Euro (about $3.50) and a bottle of local red wine made from the Dornfelder grape.  Less than impressed but then again, it was only 3 Euro.

Ok, really?  We’re cruising around Germany in a Mini Cooper, eating delicious fruit from a local fruit stand and it feels like fall outside.  I had to rock the head scarf!

This is Steve’s village called Obernheim-Kirchenarnbach.  It is SO charming!  It’s in a little valley and probably only has 150 houses.  There are cows and sheep and grassy fields all around it.  Very picturesque.

I’ll post photos from Rome very soon!

Day 1: Heidelberg, Germany

05. August 2010 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Lesson from yesterday: it’s easier to fight hard for something when you want what the fighting will get you.  Anyone who knows me, knows that late nights and lack of sleep does not equal pleasant, friendly, enjoyable-to-be-around Mari.  And considering that I had only slept maybe 4 hours (curled up on a plane) in the last 36 hours or so could have easily been a recipe for disaster.  But I figured that fighting really hard against jet lag for one day would make for better days to follow.

But surprisingly, it wasn’t too hard to make it through yesterday.  Steve wasn’t able to pick me up from Frankfurt International so he send his friend Juliana to come collect me at the airport.  She was a great tour guide and took me to Heidelberg, which is considered a “city” to Germans.  I’d say it’s more like a cute, big villiage.  But it was so picturesque and wonderful.  I took lots of pictures but haven’t uploaded them yet so I’ll just use some I found on Google.  All the streets in Heidelberg are paved with cobblestones (swoon!) and the main street was pretty much pedestrian only  lined with cafes, shops, H&M, students from the local university, girls wearing scarves (I couldn’t resist going to H&M and buying a couple), alleyways, everything perfect and pristine.  I loved everything about this town.  And for lunch: Schnitzel  of course!

Today I’m on my own until Steve gets off work later in the afternoon.  I slept like a rock last night and have been up since 5:40 local time.  All I want to do is find a open-air cafe, grab a cup of coffee (always espresso here), and journal, read, people watch, think, pray, and take it all in.  And from what I saw yesterday, I don’t think that will be hard to find.

Stay tuned!

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