28 November 2005

the family business

it's all well and good to enjoy waffles and chocolate in belgium, but no trip to brussels could be complete without spending some quality time with kwak beer! it tastes much better drunk from its trademark glass, a work of true marketing genius. and what a trip to see 'kwak' on signs outside restaurants and bars. i've decided that some part of me must be descended from dutch-speaking tribes. after all, the name is there, and there's the mysetrious allure of dutch to my ears...

22 November 2005

interlude

i will catch up on blogging some day. in the meantime, here's an update from the present! the tyranny of eurail has ended (i.e., my pass expired) and i finally had the freedom to spend a weekend doing nothing in zurich. except for laundry and su doku puzzles. people often think i'm kidding when i say i have ocd issues, but i don't think many could match my feat of 16+ hours of su doku in two days, including one 9-hour stretch with no breaks! sigh.

i'm not much of a turkey eater, but i'm feeling sad this week about missing thanksgiving at home. it snowed today, the first snow with big fluffy snowflakes, and i loved it. coat, scarf, hat, and mittens have all come out for the winter, and i'm surprised that i'm kind of enjoying the cold. (maybe because it's not that cold.) but i have LA weather on my google home page, and i wouldn't mind being in 82ยบ LA right now either, puttering around at home and being fed in unhealthy quantities by mom.

cinque terre

i was ready for a break after over a week of work travel, so i headed off for a beach weekend in cinque terre. there's something about italy -- it's grungy, the buildings are run-down, trains are late, and i can just barely understand the language -- but i keep going back. obviously, it's the food! for someone who never really liked italian food, i've become quite the pasta lover. and you know how i feel about gelato. so i ate well and enjoyed the stunning coastal beauty of the five towns in the wonderfully uncrowded off-season. the place is probably too small for the hordes that swarm in during the summer, but i would highly recommend it in the spring or fall, and hope to return for a longer stay sometime soon.

10 November 2005

bed bugs!!!

warning: extremely gross stuff ahead!!! i've stayed in all sorts of places on my weekend adventures, both nice and not so nice. i didn't expect that a 4-star hotel would be the one that introduced me to the terror of BED BUGS!!!!! i can't even begin to describe how absolutely disgusted i was for days and days. parts of my body looked diseased (e.g., >50 bites on the lower left arm alone) and i had to carefully wear concealing clothing for a while. YUCK!!!!! everyone: take a moment tonight to appreciate the peaceful sleep you'll be able to get in a clean bed.

so i will always remember granada as the city of bed bugs. okay, fine, the alhambra was beautifully intricate and i was blessed with blue skies. but the good parts are hard to pick out of the memories of panic and horror left in my head...

09 November 2005

amsterdam is lovely

i lucked out and had a second weekend in a row loving my weekend destination. i spent a beautiful fall weekend in amsterdam, taking in lots of museums and biking all over the city. i liked it quite a lot, especially the language! there's something about dutch that catches my ear and i will have to learn it one of these days.