Venice photos

I know we've let our dedicated readers down this week with no posts. I'll aim to remedy that this week, even if I have to post pictures of my washing machine (I'm serious -- it's a True Curiosity) or headlines from the paper (I bet you a nickel I can find "yob" in a headline this week).

Meanwhile, though, I have managed to upload some pictures from Venice here. We had a lovely time, and it is a magical place.

More soon!

All Packed

That? Is my luggage for three days in Venice. We're both chronic overpackers, but not this time. See, the discount airlines now charge for everything, up to and including oxygen. (Well, I'm sure one of those taxes covers oxygen.) They charge me to check in. How do you avoid the charge? Check in online. Except I can't -- because you have to have a European passport to do so. So, to avoid giving them one more cent than I have to, I'm avoiding the checked baggage fee by taking one small item - that's it. No purse, no other bag, certainly no computer (yay!).

So perhaps John is already there. Perhaps he also has a suitcase with him. And it's possible the suitcase contains a pair of my shoes. But I've got all I really need here. At least, I think I do ...

Bye for a few days!

What Up?

My pottery class got canceled tonight due to what my teacher called an "administrative cock-up." So, I have some found time to write about some new vocabulary words.

This week's word is dongle. This isn't a new word, or apparently uniquely British. In fact, my in-depth Wikipedia research suggests I HAVE been under a rock for 10 years or so. But I first heard "dongle" last week when I went over to help a work colleague set up her home wireless network. Please, don't all call me to set up your home wireless networks. Such activities usually lead to frustration which can, if I am involved, result in broken objects. I was successful with the colleague's network because I performed the highly technical maneuver of Plugging Everything In In The Right Order.

Anyway, we got the main router working, then I asked if we needed to set up the USB wireless gizmo on her computer upstairs. She says, "No, that's OK -- I think I can handle setting up the dongle." I just assumed she meant the gizmo, whatchamacallit, thingamabob, etc. Then, the very next day, I was having my 500th conversation with a friend about computers and cell phones (or, since we're talking vocab words, mobiles (that's pronounced moh-bile)), and he says he can connect to the internet using his mobile -- he doesn't need the dongle.

So, has "dongle" suddenly been thrust into common usage in the U.S.? And does everyone use it with caution because it might have another meaning, like cock up?

Another word I've recently learned is moreish. I heard it first at the butchers, when I went to get our favorite minty lamb chops. "How many?" he asks. "Four," I say. "Yeah, they are a bit Moorish, aren't they?" he asks in the rhetorically British way. Luckily for me, the proper response to rhetorical British questions is a flat, "Mmmm."

Meanwhile, though, I was trying to figure out what he meant. Of or relating to the Moors? Perhaps particularly spicy? I suppose mint is used in Moroccan cooking, but I'm not sure I'd call it Moorish.

Sure enough, within days, I was reading a food review in our local paper, which JT will probably write about someday because he can't believe the rubbish they publish. Like book club members who don't read the book, the Cambridge Evening News proves that you can review restaurants without actually eating (much of) the food. Anyway, I think this particular review involved going to a restaurant for a glass of wine and dessert (why bother with entrees?), and the cheesecake was described as "moreish." Sure enough, a quick Google definition will tell you it describes something that's so good, you guessed it, you want more.

I'm sure you find this post moreish, but I'll stop for now. Somewhere, perhaps buried on my desk, is a list of uniquely British words we started a long time ago. I'll spread those out in future posts, to delay as long as possible having to find blog fodder in eating weird food such as hot dogs from a can and oxtail lunchmeat. But really, you only read this for the food, right? :)

The Day London Shook in Fear!

Ok, so the title is a bit extreme, but I'm guessing what the UK tabloids will be blaring on their front page tomorrow--England, including the London and Cambridge area, did suffer a modest earthquake around 1am last night, but most people slept through it. We did.

On to more important news. My favorite story today is this one about an English aristocrat named Benjamin Slade who is using DNA testing to find an heir for his fortune, which includes a rather large mansion. Here's an outrageous excerpt outlining some of his concerns about who can be his heir:

"I have said that drug-takers are out, which upset the people of Amsterdam where the entire population seems to be on drugs," he explained. "I have also said that I don't want a communist, because they would give it all away and because I don't think Stalin was any good, or Castro.

"I don't want homosexuals, because they don't breed. I don't want Guardian readers, because this is a Guardian-free household. Independent readers are marginal.

"I had an email from Papua New Guinea and sent them a reply. I'd rather like to go there, although there aren't any Slades in Papua New Guinea, but I do worry about getting eaten or speared. So I sent them an email saying, 'Do your women have bones in their noses and if they have them how then can I give them a bit of tonguey? "

Oh my! Is it April Fool's Day already? The funniest part. This story was in the Independent, whose readers, according to Slade, are "marginal".--jt

Brussels redux

Here's our Brussels' photoalbum

KT gave you a rundown of her brave sampling of street stall snails and other fair food in Brussels but we haven't told you much more about our 4 day vacation there right after Christmas. The Christmas market was indeed the highlight of the trip. It snaked through much of the city center and included a huge Ferris wheel and large outside skating rink (with a beer garden next to it to make one even more unsteady on skates). I think our favorite part, however, was watching the two amazing carousels. They were both so much more creative than anything I've seen in the U.S. Balloons and rocket ships went up and down, insects flapped their wings, etc. Check out the video--don't you wish you were a little kid again (hmm, check back again later--video not loading properly).

Brussels carousel from dceditors on Vimeo.

We also enjoyed jazz twice in Brussels. Once, after a dinner at a great Italian restaurant next door (La Boule Rouge), we went to the Music Village club for some traditional jazz from a group covering Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald songs. The other show was a 5pm concert at L'Archiduc, an art deco jazz club that dates back to 1937. An unusual round space with a 2nd balcony level encircling the club, the venue had a very retro feel, highlighted by the outside buzzer that visitors had to use to be granted access. The jazz couldn't have been more different from the previou snight--a trio of what looked like university students played jazz versions of various pop and rock songs (including a Nirvana song!). Still very cool.

One day we ventured outside the city center to the Basilica Koekelberg, the sixth largest church in the world. Built to celebrate Belgian Independence, the church (right) was hosting an exhibit on the life, art and science of Leonardo Da Vinci. Since it's an active church, the place wasn't designed to host such an event and the exhibit rooms were a bit claustrophobic at time. Still, one could not but be impressed by Da Vinci's amazing life. The English audio guide was nice but we wish we could have read all the exhibit signs, which were in Flemish and French.

Another unusual stop on this trip was Brussel's famous Musical Instruments Museum--housed in a beautiful 1877 building that used to be a department store--that displays thousands of, uh, musical instruments. The most innovative aspect of the museum is that visitors wear infrared headphones and when they walk near many of the instruments, music played on them is heard. A highly recommend stop for anyone visiting Brussels--and the penthouse restaurant has glorious views as well.

MIM (left) and one of its many odd musical instruments.

The MIM wasn't the oddest stop on our vacation. We also went to the Atomium, whose website labels it "the most astonishing building in the world". Celebrating its 50th anniversary, this 10 story-high structure mimics an iron crystal and was built for the 1958 World Exposition. It's recently been cleaned up and one can travel through its tubes and sphere via stairs or escalators. School classes can even spend the night in one of the spheres. If you haven't guessed yet, it's the picture at the top of this post.

Since we expect we'll visit Brussels again, it was nice not to rush to do ever thing. We sampled the great Belgian beers and chocolates, scrutinized the beautiful buildings around the Grand Place, strolled a neighborhood looking at Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings (with the European Parliament's modern glass buildings in the background). Just a 3 hour train ride away, Brussels will see us soon.--JT

Aix marks the spot

Now that our travels--KT to Texas and Boston and myself to Michigan--are over and we can catch our breath, it's time to catch up on a few posts. We never did finish off our Provence trip from January (posts here, here and here). We decided Wednesday would be a slow day, so we didn't do much more than read and relax--I ended up reading all of Peter Mayles books--A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence, and Encore Provence . We did head over to explore the nearby village of Callas--more closed shops and restaurants--and visit their local olive oil mill where KT stocked up on gifts.

But we were saving energy for our big adventure Thursday to Aix-en-Provence (pronounced X-in-Provence), which all the guidebooks hail as the perfect Provencal city. It was about a 2 hour drive away and, after paying quite a few euros in tolls on the French highway system, we made it there around 11am.

Aix-en-Provence is big enough that it has markets everyday but Thursday is one of the Provencal market days, which means food stalls everywhere. We eagerly and quickly strolled through them--the markets close not long after noon--buying cheese, dried sausage sticks (mmm), cookies and more. Given the bright sunny day, we sat down on the steps of a nearby building and, like many others around us, basked in the warmth while we nibbled on some of the food. Aix-en-Provence is a university town of around the same size as Cambridge and given how closed rural Provence had been, we were ecstatic to see open stores, bakeries, and restaurants everywhere. And fashionably dressed people flooded the city--to my mind, Aix was a perfect Paris-lite (most of the good stuff of Paris without the density, traffic, etc).

After wandering around a bit, and having lunch at one of the many OPEN restaurants, KT played guide and took us on a walking tour that included ruins of the city's original hot springs (now the site of a fancy spa that uses the warm waters), a mansion used by some local official's mistress (picture of me at top is at the front door), and a Catholic cathedral dating back to Roman times. The church has had many additions since then--and now houses a beautiful organ (right). Afterwards, as the sun was setting and a cold wind began blowing, we stopped and had some hot chocolate and coffee in one of the many outdoor cafes dotting the city. Rather than rushing home to uncertain dinner we thought it sensible to stay in a place where restaurants actually were OPEN. After looking at menus throughout the city--French restaurants by law have to post their menus--we settled on a lovely restaurant called Le Bistrot Latin, where we dined on a spectacular and beautifully presented 3-course meal for about half the price of what it would cost in Washington DC. We had spotted the menu on our own and then noticed the NYTimes and another guidebook had recommended the place. This blog writer also had a equally delightful experience and you can see some of the food's presentation at her write-up. The profiteroles I had were an amazing dessert.

We made it back to Claviers late, which already put our Friday plans to visit Gorges du Verdon, France's Grand Canyon, at risk, but KT woke up feeling sick (I suspect the mushroom pizza slice from the street stall she got in Aix!). So another day of rest and reading in our stone house. I explored Claviers a bit more and found the local cemetery and its memorial to those who had died in World World I (left) and also a monument to those who fought in the resistance (right).

When you think how small the village was then and how many people they lost, it's humbling. KT learned after our trip that the father of one of her uncles had parachuted during World War II into the area where we were staying (This ambitious plan to win back souther France from Germany was called Operation Dragoon).

Saturday morning, we glanced at Claviers weekly market (only about 5 stalls--meat, fruits & vegetables, fish, eggs, etc) and the sped off for the airport. We arrived in Toulon with extra time so we pulled off into the rocky beach just outside the airport and basked in the sun one last time as we looked out over the Mediterranean sea.

Things I'll remember about Provence: the distinctive iron lattice bell towers on churches, the great meals when we could find them, excellent rose wine, mountain switchback roads, beautiful stone houses (such as ours), the mad dog that chased out of a village, food markets.

--JT



Here's a short video KT took of the mountain village we stayed in:


Claviers house and village from dceditors on Vimeo.

Go Green

Jesus Green, photo from the Cambridge2000 photolibrary

(I figured I should do my own one year anniversary post. I started this entry back in November after a bike ride on a warm, sunny fall day. I decided to finish it Saturday after another great bike ride, albeit on a 38 degree, sunny day. Despite the frigid weather, college crews were racing on the river as I rolled by and owners were throwing sticks into the river for their dogs to fetch. This first bike ride of 2008 reminded me of a key fact about Cambridge and its surroundings--it's so green, even in winter.--JT)

I'm a city boy who likes small towns. I won't go so far as to say I love small towns because I haven't really lived in one--Detroit, Boston/Cambridge (the Massachusetts one), and Washington DC have been my homes. I know I have an overly romantic view of small towns. They have their flaws--hey, we've all seen Footlose. How you can ban dancing?

But I digress. My point is that Cambridge (UK) is about the closest I've come to living in a small town and it agrees with me. The city isn't tiny--for those who keep asking, the city proper has about 110,000 residents, including about 25,000 students--but it is comfortable. I walk most everywhere, see the same people in the neighborhood, and generally feel a sense of community that I have not felt before, despite being an American outsider. Maybe it's all the fairs and festivals that bring the town together so often.

I also told KT the other day it's tough not to grin when you see so many small kids in a place, especially when they're zooming around on small bikes or are dressed in their color-coordinated school uniforms, sometimes with proper hats. Cambridge is full of college students but it's also very much a family town, with a lot of big private and public schools in between our home and where I work. To me that brings life to the city--the condo buildings where I lived in DC had few kids, and DC is hurting for young families who tend to flee to the suburbs once their kids reach schoolage. The same was true in Detroit and in Boston.

So, this all a really long-winded intro to get to my final point: I just had a nice bike ride through meadows and green grass and I can thank some far-sighted urban planners for it.

Most of you reading this blog probably haven't paid attention to the satellite image map in the right column. It's from wikimapia, the same folks who brough you wikipedia, the online encylopedia. Basically, it's a stunningly clear satellite image on which people can mark objects and attach descriptions of comments. I like zooming in and out, looking at the aerial view of things I normally see from ground level normally. For example, when I looked at our house, I noticed the image was taken right when they were starting to build 3 flats--they are almost done (we hope!)

Here's a link to the map that you can open up in a new window (a more zoomed in version focused on Parker's Piece, the lawn a few minutes walk from our house is here)

A quick glance at the large-scale map will show how quickly the city gives way to rural land--parks, grazing areas, and even farms. This is deliberate as Cambridge is one of the UK's Greenbelt cities, an effort to limit urban sprawl by surrounding city centers with area in which no development can occur. London was the first such Greenbelt city, according to a wiki entry, although it's hard to imagine that given how London now spreads out for mile after mile. Greenbelts now cover about 13% of England, notes a BBC explainer.

Greenbelts are controversial to a certain extent. As in Washington DC, there's a desperate need for affordbale housing near city centers and many here argue greenbelts prevent that. Sometimes, after a tortuous process, local planning official will create a new village tucked away in a greenbelt but that has not kept pace with the demand for housing. So, every once in awhile, some government official makes headlines by "threatening" to overturn Greenbelt policies. But call me selfish. That's a politican I'd be motivated to vote against.
-- JT