Happy Nawruz!

(photo credit: Brian Neely for U.S. Embassy Kabul)

Gee, I never thought I'd be around for the year 1390 and yet...here I am, celebrating the Afghan ( year. Round these parts, our local colleagues had a day off today but we all celebrated with lunch and some kite-flying (mostly watching, us Americans) yesterday. A vendor came and sold paper kites complete with the spools of string that manage to be so sharp, you could cut yourself. If you've read 'The Kite-Runner', you'll know that it's actually supposed to cut your opponent's kite string. I just bought a pretty yellow one to hang on my wall (I hope to frame it so that it can return to the States with me).

No fights yesterday though - we had beautiful weather and a nice break to celebrate the new year (1390 in the Jalili calendar!) with our Afghan colleagues!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A couple of (stolen from friends) photos that basically sum up Thanksgiving in Kabul. 17 people, two tables (thank you, GSO, for loaning us a table and chairs), two turkeys, and too much food to fit on the tables!

If you were wondering, the label on our (tiny) turkeys say "slaughtered by sharp knife in accordance with Islamic ritual". Awesome.


The photo that's missing right now is one of all the empty bottles of wine and countertops of dirty dishes.

Independence Day

Spending Independence Day in the good ole USA is really a treat. It's not just the fireworks and BBQs, it's also the fact that we don't have to work and entertain at official celebratory events. Those events really aren't so bad but it's nice to kick back and have a real American treat every couple of years. With family in town, we headed to the Mall to watch the DC fireworks.

Now, I normally HATE the Mall during the 4th and, in years past, have avoided it at all costs. This year was different. We live downtown and in easy walking distance so the dreaded packed metro was skipped. Rather than deal with the crowds, we strolled down to the Lincoln Memorial around 7.30pm (fireworks were scheduled for a little after 9) and actually managed to find a nice spot to fit the five of us on the steps.


We chatted for awhile but the time passed pretty quickly and before we knew it, the fireworks were starting. EVERYONE had cameras out, obviously I did too. However, what I wasn't doing was taking photos of the fireworks and then showing them to my companions as the fireworks were still going off. Why would you do that? Anyhow, the musical selection was odd but the show was fantastic, even though the smoke over the reflecting pool kept growing.


I've seen fireworks over lots of international monuments but there's something special about being in my nation's capitol, listening to patriotic music and surrounded by red, white, and blue. It's been 234 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress.

Happy New Year!

Happy 10th anniversary of Y2K! Hard to believe that 10 whole years have passed since the orange Gatorade kegger (no really, there was just Gatorade) dance party in Pouy's parent's basement! Hopefully I'll nab a better fireworks picture sometime in 2010.

Pisa

On our list of places to see in Italy before we leave, Pisa manages to be both at the top and at the bottom. At the top due to my desire to take the cheesy famous "pushing tower" photo (like the guy in the photo above) but bottom because...well there's not really anything else I'm interested in seeing in Pisa.

I know, I know. It's a big city with 20+ churches and lots of other famous sites. However, this was a pretty easy one to hit as we road-tripped from Tuscany back to Milan. We pushed through the crowds of tourists and dozens of vendors to make our way to the Piazza dei Miracoli, aka Piazza del Duomo.

The piazza is justifiably famous and a UNESCO World Heritage site. At the center is the Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral (above), a medieval church influenced by Byzantine and Muslim architecture. The Baptistery (below) is dedicated to St. John the Baptist and is the largest of its kind in Italy but surprisingly humble on the interior.

As for the Tower itself, my guidebook assures me that it leans far less than it used to. Prior to the restoration work done throughout the 1990s, the tower leaned at a 5.5 degree angle. Now "fixed" to the best of the architect's abilities, it leans a mere 3.99 degrees. In practical turns, it means that the top of the tower is about 13 feet over from where it should usually stand. After taking the requisite cheesy photo ourselves (even Cooper had one), we hit the road to head home.

4th of July!

Flying solo this July 4th, I attended the J4Milano fete at the Triennale museum near the Parco Sempione. Hosted by the expat newsletter group EasyMilano, it was a pretty good overseas approximation of the US holiday.

La Triennale di Milano is the modern design museum. In the back, they have a big sculpture garden. When we walked into the back, the grass was set with red, white, and blue blankets. Big tents hosted food and beverages while a big Dixieland band played in the background. A representative from the US Consulate read President Obama's 4th of July address and the expat community mixed and mingled.


This was a big family event but I spent the time with colleagues, friends, and their families. The kids mugged for the camera in-between their facepainting sessions and magic shows.

Towards the end of the afternoon, the wind picked up pretty significantly and caused the party to break up more quickly. We've been having some rough weather in Milan lately with lots of torrential downpours coming up quickly, accompanied by lots of thunder and lightening. If you don't believe me, you can come over to see the stack of pots in pans I had to set out near my kitchen wall to catch the gigantic leak that was created by yesterday's 530am storm.


Before leaving, I took a bit of time to check out some of the sculptures and decor that was available for viewing. The Triennale really pulled out all the stops, managing to come up with modern furniture that had an American spin. Definitely worth another visit.

Cologne: Aalaf!

Karneval is not an official holiday in Germany but if the cities in the Rhineland didn't shut public offices and schools down, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to get around! Koln, or Cologne, is noted for the biggest parade and celebration of Rosenmontag, or Rose Monday, in the Rhineland. Just a short distance from Dusseldorf, we were lucky enough that our friend had received tickets for a party at Cologne's rathaus and seats on bleachers for the parade route. While "helau" is the traditional greeting in Dusseldorf, you'd be laughed at for saying anything other than "aalaf" in Cologne.


At the rathaus, or town hall, we joined in the celebration being hosted by the city mayor. Red and white were the colors of the day with balloons and streamers in those colors all over the room. Traditional German dancers (wearing red and white, of course) performed with a live band for the cheering and dancing crowds. Though early (about 10.45 am), the local pilsner beer was flowing freely and the lunch buffet was fully stocked.



Everyone was in costume at the party. Everyone. The most traditional sort of costume is the old Prussian military uniform, sported mostly by older men (and some women) but all sorts of costumes were in play. Some of the less creative (including myself) used hats or wigs to constitute 99% of the costume but, hey, at least we were all in the spirit. Use of feathers was widespread and I thought that the hat pictured above showed them off quite nicely.


A little after noon, we headed out of the rathaus, stuffed and maybe just a little tipsy from all the tiny glasses of beer. Claiming our seats on the bleachers, we expected German punctuality for the quarter-to-one start time. While the parade did start then, it was quite a slow beginning. A float or marching group/band would pass by every 5 minutes or so. We thought "this is it?" Luckily, after about a half hour the pace picked up a bit and the floats really started to come by.

The celebration of Karneval is nearly as old as the city itself since the Christians adopted pagan springtime rites to incorporate them into Lenten rituals. However, the organized celebration that we were able to witness dates back less than 200 years. In 1823, the Festordnende Komitee was founded and began to organize the celebrate and the parade that continues today. Like the social clubs that create and sponsor the New Orleans Mardi Gras floats, the Festordnende Komitee operates in a similar fashion.


Instead of beads, chocolates and candies are thrown from the floats to the crowds. Since this is a family affair, creative costumes attract attention from the floats - not nudity. The Komitee members on each float (and their friends and family, I suppose) have chocolate bars that are often wrapped in personalized paper to indicate what Komitee they're from. The crowds along the streets and bleachers come prepared - we were probably the only group WITHOUT a canvas bag to throw all our candy in. In fact, we had a hard time collecting in the beginning. It just didn't seem like much candy was coming our way and wasn't until a box (yes, a freaking box) bounced off my hands onto the bleachers to be stolen by a woman in a bumblebee costume that we realized we had to be more aggressive. So we dove within bleacher seats and Mark tried to attract attention with his large afro. We didn't get nearly as much as our seatmates (or the bumblebee) but we collected a large enough portion that our host (with whom we left the chocolates) probably won't have to buy sweets for another few months.


The parade and floats themselves were a mixture of bands, dancers, and political humor. We saw a float that depicted German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a string bikini, one representing the economic meltdown, a cowboy cartoon of G.W. Bush, and of course - President Obama. Costumes from the stands ranged from bumblebees to Winnie the Pooh to a broke investment banker (probably my favorite). The Cologne Karneval ended up providing the perfect atmosphere to let loose before Lent's message of abstinence began.

Dusseldorf: Helau!

After having gone nearly a month without any air travel, we began to feel the itch for invasive pat-downs, tiny bottles of shampoo, and taking off our shoes in public places. Luckily, this coincided nicely with our planned trip to Dusseldorf for the German Karneval. We headed back to Bergamo to catch our RyanAir flight from "Milan" to "Dusseldorf". Both airports were a good 90 minutes from the actual city. We knew we were in for a good time when we saw the Spartans lining up at our gate for boarding. Now, the Spartan was my high school mascot but these guys were no alumni. Two tall Italian men were dressed in full Spartan warrior attire for Karneval and had apparently decided to start the party early (or maybe they just wanted to save room in their carry-on luggage - maximum 10 kilos allowed!)

Arriving on Saturday afternoon, we'd missed the interesting festivities of Altweiber, or, "Woman's Day" that prior Thursday. The friend we were visiting with explained that on Altweiber, women run around town cutting off men's ties and kissing whomever they'd like. While our friend's tie survived, his boss's was cut right off. The traditional Karneval greeting in the Dusseldorf area is "Helau" and we practiced it that night. Heading to downtown Dusseldorf, practically everyone was in costume and we felt a bit out of place. Even the metro station was filled with tons of people, including a costumed marching band. Seriously.


The streets were packed and I seemed to be a magnet for drunk strangers. Within minutes of taking out my camera, I was accosted by a group of drunk teenage girls who wanted to take a picture with me. At least, that's what my translating friend told me - I couldn't understand a word they said. After a few pictures, the girls and our group parted ways but we all were pulled into dancing and swaying during various points in the night. Most of the German traditional songs started to sound the same after awhile so it was easy to figure out the parts where we all linked arms and swayed.


One particular street seemed to be the focal point of Karneval activity. DJs were blaring out of speakers and the pubs, street, and alleys were packed. Stands were selling bratwurst and the region's famous Altbier in small glasses that seemed to just send people back for seconds (and thirds, and fifteenths) sooner. We soon got into the spirit ourselves, purchasing wigs (a neon bob for me, afros for the boys) and shaking it to both the traditional songs and the German techno. Since this weekend was the culmination of the weeks of Karneval (it starts on November 11 at 11.11 am in the Rhineland), we shared in celebration of the days leading up to Lent - celebrating just long enough to make us oversleep for the next day's scheduled plans.

Pairing Wine and Chocolate

A confession: I like wine but seem to be somewhat learning disabled on the subject. I've attended several wine-tastings since I've been here in Italy and can recognize "legs" and sometimes remember what the bubbles in a prosecco mean but I have to just murmur when somebody starts talking about "oakiness" and "tannins". After dozens of efforts, I still have no idea what I'm supposed to be tasting so I just pretend to agree and move on.

This past Friday, we attended a wine tasting event in honor of Valentine's Day that was right up my alley - a wine and chocolate pairing. While they might seem like natural partners due to their high scores of "awesome" on the taste buds, we were disappointed to learn that this wasn't always true.

Our sommeliers, Rachel and Mario, were challenged to come up with good pairing for our group. We sat down to place mats with seven different types of chocolate laid across them: Papua, Madagascar, Amazonas, Ecuador, Ghana, Arriba Superior, and white chocolate. With each of the six wines, we were asked to taste 1-2 different types of chocolate (suggested by Rachel) to note the difference in complementary flavors. Most of the wines were dessert wines (one was a grappa) but the differences were extraordinary. A fortified wine like the Recioto della Vapolicella has an alcohol content of 19% and paired well with darker, stronger chocolates that could hold their own, like the Ecuadorean and Ghanaian versions, and compliment it with a bit of spiciness. Pairing this wine with a milkier chocolate resulted in a bitter aftertaste that ruined both the wine and the chocolate.

I ended up have two favorite wines for the night. The Brachetto d'Acqui Passito is a sweet dessert wine that smelled of elderflower, rose, and dried cherries so distinctly that even my untrained nose could take notice. While this wine typically pairs with green cheese like Gorgonzola and Roquefort, we tried it with white chocolate and Papua milk chocolate. To note the full taste, we learned that you should let the chocolate melt in your mouth a little bit and roll it all over your tongue and roof of your mouth, sipping the wine when it's nearly completely melted. Personally, I thought the white chocolate made the pairing overwhelmingly sweet while the Papua blended perfectly.

My second favorite was "L'Eremita" Recioto della Valpolicella, another dessert wine to pair with green and blue cheeses. Again, a deep garnet color that smelled very sweetly of dried cherries, raisins, and vanilla. In my notes, I wrote "good tannins" so you can take somebody else's word for that. It was paired with the Amazonas and Madagascar chocolates which have the respective cacao/sugar proportions of 60% and 46% (that means Amazonas is the darker chocolate). While the group's assessment was split, I was on the half that preferred the pairing with the darker Amazonas. I thought that the Madagascar chocolate resulted in a bitter taste to this otherwise sweet wine.

Our least favorite? We both HATED the Barolo Chinato a DOCG from Piedmont. Fortified with distilled alcohol left from wine and a mixture of 20 herbs, the "secret" ingredient of quinine pretty much ruined it for us. Quinine is a tree bark that is used as a malarial prophylaxis. My notes say "smells like mosquito spray but tastes like cinnamon and basil". This is not a good thing. The taste mildly improved when paired with the Madagascar and Ecuadorian chocolates but nothing fixed the smell of DEET.

I was also not a fan of the Grappa Vendemmia Tardina, a very strong "wine" made out of the pits, skins, and stems of grapes used for other wines - the "hot dog of Italy" as one of my colleagues noted. You can compare this to Greek Ouzo, French Pastis, or Sambuca as an aperitif. My notes were punctuated by a frowny face.

While not all the wines were winners, we certainly enjoyed the presentations and hosting by our sommeliers Mario and Rachel. While Mario is an English-speaking Italian, Rachel is an American married to him and certified by the same sommelier organization. They run a company called Italia by Design and organize food and wine tastings for tourists throughout Italy. We have an eye on their prosecco tour for our second wedding anniversary!

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

On MLK Jr weekend last year, we spent the long weekend in Las Vegas. We saw some shows, hiked through the Red Rocks, and drove out to the Hoover Dam. It was warm and sunny, beautiful weather. While this holiday's weather was pretty much the opposite of "warm and sunny", we were lucky to have a wonderful weekend spent with good friends in Brussels.

On our first full day in Brussels, we hopped on a train to get out of the city. The Duchy of Luxembourg is located about 3 hours from Brussels and is probably the only European country that nobody (aside from our host who lives in Brussels) in our group had ever traveled to. Well, maybe none of us have been to Andorra but really, who has?

Less than 1000 square miles large, Luxembourg is the 175th (out of 231) smallest country in the world. It used to be double this size though, until the late 1800s when half of the original territory was turned over to the Belgians. I've been to both of the smallest countries in the world (Monaco and Vatican City) and I have to say, this one didn't feel all that bigger!

When we arrived in Luxembourg City, the sky was grey and drizzly. Crossing the Petrusse River on the Viaduc bridge, we soon came across the Monument to National Unity. During WWII, Luxembourg was the only country to stage a strike against their Nazi occupiers. This monument commemorates the patriotism of those who fought with an Eternal Flame.


Moving forward, we eventually hit the Cathedral of Notre Dame (pictured along the top and below). The work on this Roman Catholic church originally began in 1613. While the bulk of the structure is heavy on the late Gothic architectural influences of the time, many of the smaller detail added later contain elements of the Renaissance movement. For a long time, this church was simply a church. However, Pope Pius IX elevated it to a cathedral in 1870. The stained glass windows inside were beautiful even in our rainy weather - I wish I'd had a chance to see them with light shining through.

By the time we hit the town square, we were ready for lunch. Though we'd purposely travelled on a Saturday to have a wide choice of shops and restaurants, we were dismayed to see that quite a bit of the city was closed. But you can always count on the American chains to be open!

While we didn't actually end up at Chi-Chi's, I think we got roped into something worse. Our lunch restaurants served burgers called '"THE" Whazzzuuuppp' and in their 'classique brassiere', they had a 'Filet Barak O.' My 'Whazzzuuuppp' chicken sandwich was ok.


After lunch, we stopped by the Luxembourg Museum of History and Art and waited out some of the rain. We headed back outdoors to the Duke's palace.


Guarded by a Luxembourgian soldier, the Ducal Palace is still the official residence of the Duke though it's also served as the Department of Forests and the Luxembourg Town Hall. During the Nazi occupation, a significant amount of damage was done to the interior but, unfortunately, nobody invited us in to see.


With a two and three-quarter hours ride back (we caught a tail wind), we soon had to return to the train station.

Running of the Santas

Right before Christmas, Mark and I headed downtown with a couple of our friends to see a most unusual sight. By "unusual", I mean "something you don't see very often here". In actuality, it appears that a crowd of Santas dressed up and running down major streets is an event that occurs around Christmas in many cities throughout the U.S. and Europe.

We hung out by the Duomo, waiting to see where this merry band of Clauses would come from. Since the streets were PACKED with pre-holiday shoppers, we were puzzled about which direction they'd come in from.


In true Italian fashion, we heard the sirens before we saw anything. Suddenly, the crowds parted and we saw many a Santa. However, despite the advertised "Running of the Santas" in a 5k race, they all appeared to be WALKING. So next year, we know better than to be intimidated. Send me a Santa hat cause I'll be running!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

On Saturday night, Mark and I headed downtown to check out the Christmas decorations at night and to see a free concert that was being held at the Piazza Duomo. A mere 25 minute walk from our apartment, we decided to take Cooper. Coop picked up a stick along the way and we found ourselves waylaid by many passers-by who wanted to coo at our adorable dog and ask us where he's from (answer: America but he's an English Lab, breedwise).


Along the way, we noticed an unusual sight at the Piazza Cavour - a tram decked out in holiday lights! Blindingly bright, I managed to whip out my camera quickly enough to grab a photo. While we see trams all the time, this is the first decorated one we've seen and it definitely set the tone for an evening filled with the Christmas spirit, thanks ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi)!


I recently had a meeting for work near the Piazza Duomo so it was no surprise to see the Christmas decor set-up. However, seeing the tree lit up in front of the Duomo was stunning at night. There was a decent crowd gathered around the stage to hear Natalie Cole sing a mixture of her own songs and Christmas traditionals. While I'm not wild about Cole, I know enough to enjoy her music in the background and though a little slow, it was an enjoyable show. Apparently, the commune of Milan books an artist for a holiday show each year. Our friends informed us that, last year, Michael Bolton had done the honors. Hearing this, I was particularly glad to be seeing Natalie Cole!


We arrived after the show had already started and claimed a comfortably uncrowded standing spot in the back (with a good view of the broadcast screen). I wasn't familiar with the first couple of song we heard but when she busted out "Unforgettable", the crowd was clearly pleased! She sang the song as a duet with her late father, Nat King Cole, and the screen showed footage of him singing the male portion. It was a nice and memorable song and the audiance ate it up. She followed with Jingle Bells and, later, the Christmas Song (you know, "chestnuts roasting" and all that).


On our way back home, we passed through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. Instead of peering into the windows of Louis Vuitton and Prada, our eyes were focused above on the magical Christmas decorations. The great glass dome is currently covered in thousands (maybe millions?) of blue lights. In the center of the dome is the crest of the city of Milan. Though close to midnight, plenty of tourists and locals still crowded through the shopping galleria, either to take in the lights or head to another destination...or possibly both.

Bolzano, Trentino Alto-Aldige

On Sunday, I took a day trip to Bolzano, Trentino Alto-Adige, with a group of co-workers and friends. We left in the dark (only 8am but it's still dark!) and returned in the dark - a long trip that was worth it for the fabulous Christmas market. Trentino Alto-Adige is a region of Italy very close to the Austrian border. While our drive from Milan was about 3.5 hours each way, Bolzano is only about an hour and a half from Innsbruck, Austria. As a result of the Austrian influence, this region has road signs in Italian and German AND is known for having some of the best Christmas markets in Italy.


I napped for the first 2/3 of our ride, waking up to an autostrada surrounded by mountains and fog - stunningly beautiful. When we arrived in Bolzano, it was just before noon and the market was packed with Christmas shoppers. Since we only had about an hour before we were scheduled to meet up and visit Utzi the Ice Man (a 5000 year old mummy found in the Italian-Austrian Alps in 1991), I focused on completing a circuit of the market and prioritizing my shopping goals. Given the crowds, this was a challenge.


The Bolzano Christmas market did not disappoint. Hundreds of stands were in place, selling Gluhwein (hot mulled wine), raclette and speck paninis, gloves & hats, crafts, and even CDs.


These beautiful Weihnachtspyramids were made by hand. If you've never seen them before, the lit candles make the fan spin around. The fan spinning makes the interior twirl, a beautiful sight in the candlelight.

Naturally, there were thousands of ornaments. Not all of them were beautiful, some were clearly mass produced and imported from China, but many of them were unique and lovely.


A combination of glass balls, pine cones, and woven twine hang in the candle stand pictured above. Below and to the left, hand-painted glass ornaments and bells with winter scenes. On the bottom right, there are some hand-carved wooden ornaments. As you might have noticed from the pictures, vendors chose to hang some of there nicest (or at least, most eye-catching) ornaments along the exterior of their booths, making it easy to see how they hang and get a 360 view of the product.

I bought a couple but can't show them off - I bought duplicates of the prettiest to give away next Christmas! My shipping deadline has passed so none would make it in time for this Christmas.


Aside from ornaments, there was a wide selection of creches or nativity scenes, ranging from 25 euro for a small set to 600 euro for a hand-carved large set! I also witnessed the work of several resourceful woodcarvers who had perhaps grown tired of the typical Christmas decorations. Witness the below Santas, carved on pieces of branch. Does Martha have this on her website for a DIY gift in this tough economy?


The below elves were far more intricitely designed though perhaps a little more on the odd side. I'd first thought that they were Santa's helpers but now I'm not so sure....


For lunch, our organizer had made us reservations at a restaurant serving typical cuisine of the region. Given the proximity to Austria, there were no big surprises in the menu. The primo piatto was a spinich spatzle in a cream sauce. Spatzle are noodles shaped into tiny dumpling. Made with egg, flour, milk, and (in this case) spinich, the spatzle's origins are primarily in the Bavaria region of Germany. For a second course, they served what seemed to be boiled ham with sauerkraut and a little meatball of sorts that is made out of speck (a dried pork product typical of the region and usually very good) and bread crumbs. I wasn't the biggest fan and ended up being very glad that the spatzle had been so filling!

On the way back from the restaurant to the Christmas market, we ran across Bolzano's typical food market and the most gloriously displays red chili peppers I've ever seen. Hung with garlic, the colors were so vivid on a gloomy winter day that I was tempted to buy up several strings!


After a little more shopping time, darkness fell and it was time to head back to Milan. With some Gluhwein warm in my belly, I bid auf wiedersehen to Bolzano, vowing to return for next year's festivities.