Work Week

The weekend is over. We spent our time at a BBQ, Andy's sister Barbara's nursing school graduation with subsequent killer breakfast at Gravy and a nice sleep in on Sunday. We also helped our friend Dan move into a new double studio apartment just a block away. Moving his cats was tricky business but we are both really excited to have Dan closer than his old place up above Washington Park. I started reading his copy of Good Food, Great Medicine and I am really interested in continuing my education on food and nutrition. The more I read, the more I realize how clueless I have been on what is nourishing and healthy. Fascinating really. The summit library system through PSU will probably help my research since I've already checked out Michael Pollen's In Defense of Food. First reading Things Fall Apart. Andy is reading Maze Runner and The Forest of Hands and Teeth per my recommendation. I think he's enjoying following my reading list.

Quilt Inspiration

Quilt Made from Muji Map Handkerchiefs Hi + Low

from ohdeedoh by Tammy Everts

4 people liked this - you, and 3 more

Abby, of the site Hi + Low, took four of Muji's city map kerchiefs – representing Paris, New York, London and Tokyo – and stitched them together to create this beautiful quilt for her baby boy.

I am growing more and more interested in quilt designs that are generated from found items.

Daily Inspiration

Thanks to design sponge for this great re-do!

Stormy Weather

Today it was rainy and cold. I was very glad to be working inside. Inspired by the weather, I made a big pot of split pea when I got home. This time I made it without using a recipe. I went with the standard base of onions, carrots and celery. I honestly haven't ever disliked this combo of ingredients in a soup (save a few like french onion). I added a heavy dash of rosemary. Instead of using potatoes, which I don't really like, I used a cup and a half of lentils which I added at the same time as the split peas. Simmered for an hour and a half and then served with parmesan and crunched up cheddar crackers on top. Really turned out well. I'm glad I've gotten to the point where I feel pretty comfortable creating my own dishes. The internet has been crucial in guiding me to outstanding recipes and showing me images of how the food is supposed to turn out, but it feels pretty great to plan and execute on my own.

Home Again

I've been living in Portland now since August. I found a job after only a few weeks at the Department of Music at Portland State. I've been blessed with terrific coworkers who make working in an office a fantastic experience. Even after seven months, I know office work is not really where I want to be. However, working for the state has provided me with great benefits that I've in turn been able to share with Andy. We are officially "domestic partners." Thank goodness for the benefits too because he's been in the hospital twice with ulcerative colitis flare-ups ever since we moved back. I'm happy to report that he's back on track now. He was working at a doggie day care in a bad situation because the pay was horrible and he had a pretty tremendous case of a mico-managing boss. Now he's training as a universal banker at US Bank and gearing up to start a Masters of Education at PSU using my awesome 70% discount on tuition. I've been spending a lot of my time reading and hanging out in Portland. We have repeatedly been surprised at the fun things Portland has to offer and I feel very glad we made the decision to move here. It's springtime now and I'm really looking forward to the warm summer months. Last weekend we hosted a fun little get-together with some close friends to celebrate our five years together. Our apartment has really gotten comfy although both Andy and I would like to get a cat so we keep our eyes open.

Istanbul

To begın our three week adventure tour of Istanbul, Croatıa and Italy, we had to start wıth a connectıon ın London. We flew to London Gatwıck on the 2nd at almost mıdnıght and rested up on the tıle floor untıl we were able to go through securıty at 5 am for our 7 am flıght. It was a bıt of a rough nıght but we slept for a whıle on the fıght to Istanbul. We arrıved on the Asıan sıde of the cıty and took a bus, ferry and tram to fınally make ıt to the neıgborhood where our hostel was. The ferry was a pleasantly breezy trıp along the water and ıt gave us some great vıews of the cıty as we approached the European sıde. We got lost tryıng to fınd the tram but eventually made ıt to our lovely hostel where we promptly met up wıth Rach and then ımmedıately showered. We were pretty tuckered out from the travels so we wandered the cıty a bıt and found some food to eat before callıng ıt a nıght.

The next day we woke up to a sımple breakfast served on the hostel terrace and then struck out to explore the blue mosque and the hagıa sophıa whıch are both vısıble from our terrace. After that ınterestıng bıt of sıghtseeıng, we had some boıled corn from a street vendor and then some lentıl soup for lunch. We came back to the hostel for more terrace hang out tıme and then we went to a dınner at a restaurant wıth an even hıgher terrace vıew that ended up beıng a really terrıble ıdea. All of us ate salad and all of us got sooooooo sıck durıng the nıght. Gross. We are currently takıng ın some fresh aır and recoverıng on the terrace but there ıs certaınly not goıng to be any more salad consumptıon ın Turkey. Andy ıs stıll feelıng pretty terrıble although Rach and I are on the upswıng. We all woke up durıng the nıght feelıng awful and so the lack of sleep ıs takıng ıts toll as well. I thınk we wıll have a chıll day today and keep a close proxımıty to the toılets! Sınce we are on a pretty tıght budget, there ıs probably goıng to be more lentıl soup ın our future. At least ıt ıs tasty. We are plannıng on catchıng a bus to Greece on Sunday and updates wıll follow.

Birthday, Finishing Up and Packing

An End of May List

1. My birthday was a wonderful surprise party that all my roommates and Andy planned out. They whisked me away to a friend's house in the countryside with fantastic views and a gorgeous pool and we swam and bbq'ed all day. It was magnificent.


2. I finished my last days of work with a bit of fanfare. Angel at Miquel Porcel threw me a surprise party with both 5th grade classes I worked with all year. There was a bunch of yummy food and quite a bit of surprise on my end. It was a good time. And Laurence at Joan Miro got every one of my students that I taught to sign a big thank you card that was very sweet.

3. We began packing today for our three week adventure that we are leaving for tomorrow. We'll be flying to Istanbul where we'll meet my friend Rachael and then we'll all be traveling through Greece, Croatia and Italy together. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time now and it definitely helped me get through some of the sadness I was occupied from at the thought of never seeing my students again.

4. I applied for an AmeriCorps community outreach program in a low-income school in Portland that begins in August. I have no idea what kind of chance I have given that I will only be available for an online or phone interview but I decided to apply anyway. I'll hear more about the process in the upcoming weeks and I will keep you updated.

Barcelona Pictures

Andy tired from walking up the hill to Park Güell

Photo near the Roman wall

Playing with baby bunnies on the Ramblas

Gaudi Apartments

La Sagrada Familia

I was dubbed!

I was on the Catalan news channel IB 3 a couple of days ago and my interview in English was dubbed into Catalan! Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=You4jTzb9MM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fprofile.php%3Fid%3D11514411%26ref%3Dnf&feature=player_embedded

A May List

1. Barcelona was incredible. We stayed in an adorable (by that I mean cute and tiny) apartment right next to the super busy ramblas.

2. We watched the most exciting soccer match-up at a recommended bar and Barça creamed Madrid 6-2! We also watched as all of the drunk bar goers flooded the streets and celebrated.

3. We successfully navigated the Barcelona bus and metro system to get to the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and the airport.

4. We fit in some beach time on the Barcelona coast which mostly consisted of people watching and listening to chants of "Cerveza Cold Beer, Cerveza Cold Beer" from the guys carrying coolers.

5. We started planning for our whopper of a trip in June which mostly consists of trying to navigate the complexities of a badly translated ferry system and saving up as much money as possible.

6. I made two spreadsheets in excel. One to keep track of jobs I have applied for or am interested in and one to keep track of apartments we look at in Portland. They are named Job Hunter and Apartment Hunter. Andy says that when you pronounce them, you must whisper.

7. The sun has finally come to stay in Palma and it's supposed to reach 80 degrees this weekend so I am gearing up for some major beach time!

Barcelona!

We are packing to leave in a few hours for Barcelona until Monday. It's raining now but it should clear up by tomorrow. I found a cute little apartment online that we will be sharing with our roommates Nikki and Joseph and I am hoping everything works out. I am pretty excited to see Barcelona since it will be my first time.

And on another note: Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Hope it's a great one.

Semana Santa 2009

On the morning on April 9th, Andy, our roommate Stephen and I fly to Madrid and then to Rome to begin our epic adventure to Italy. We started in Rome, moved up to Florence and then over to the coastal villages Cinque Terre before flying back home again. Two things before I get started that apply to the following tales. Number One - I hate, hate pigeons. I think they are really gross and I get mad at them on a consistent basis. There were tons of them all over the place in Italy. Number Two - I had never been to Italy before and never really knew what to expect but the stereotypes proved themselves true. The food is divine and the men can be major creepers.

Day 1. Flying Madrid Flying
Our discount flights on both ends forced us to pack very light and deal with a six hour layover in Madrid. What a blessing both of these factors was for our trip. When we landed in Madrid, we hauled ourselves across the airport and onto the metro as quickly as possible to get into the city. And although Madrid can be extremely cold and miserable during the winter, we hit prime springtime sunshine. We wandered around the city and finally stopped at a cafe for tapas. I had fried eggs with carmelized onions and bread topped with sauteed mushrooms. The food was different from Mallorca just as the atmosphere seemed to be. So much more Spanish. We ordered gelato at a street side gelateria and then laid down in the park to soak up as much sun as possible before we headed back to the airport. We already agreed to get cab to get to our hostel in Rome because we were arriving pretty darn close to the closing of the public transportation system. So we paid the 50 euros and arrived at Plus Camping Fabulous outside of Rome at about 11:30ish. The room we had was very much like a trailer but it fit the bill and it was quiet.

Day 2. Life without a Map
We hit the streets of Rome about as quickly as we could after taking a bus and two metro lines. And since we had not purchased a guide book or a map for our trip, we walked. And Rome is a very walkable place but there is just so much to see that we were exhausted by mid-day. Every street had at least one gorgeous church that you could walk into. And we saw the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We also discovered a hybrid cafe/candy shop that had cherry marmalade croissants and fantastic espresso. It was a pleasant break from the walking. The end of our day got a bit disappointing because the metro stop we trudged to was closed by the time we got there because the pope was about the arrive. Craziness. So we kept on trudging and finally ended up at home where we promptly drank a liter of Limoncello.

Day 3. Seeing the Old Stuff
We navigated our way to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman forums for a major overdose of really old, very impressive stuff. Inside the Roman forums, Stephen called me a pigeon and I pushed him in response which started a terrible series of events. At first he was in control and laughing but he continued flailing and then he slowly spiraled out of control as his shins hit a low guard rail and he ended up falling onto the forums! Luckily, he didn't hit anything besides grass and a piece of gum and wasn't really injured. I felt terrible about the whole thing but it made for a very humorous twist to our Roman Forum experience. We made our way to the Vatican but unfortunately tickets were required for the Easter vigil service. We did sit on the steps of the square and debate some points about Catholicism with Stephen which was an interesting way to spend our time. On the way back to camping fabulous I got stuck in the doors of the metro as they were closing and my shoe flew off. Andy pried the doors open and I made it on but I still have bruises on my legs from being struck by the damn thing.

Day 4. Easter
We woke up extra early to attend mass at the Anglican chuch "Saint Paul's within-the-walls" partly because the service was in English and then we did a bit more walking. I suggested we check out the Vatican again since the mass with the pope was about over and then we could actually get inside St. Peters. And we did! We were walking against the crowds leaving and thus ended up in a somewhat short line to get into St. Peters. And it really does live up to its reputation. The church is the largest in the world filled with monumental artwork and a triumphant altar by Bernini. One of the wild things about seeing all the artwork in every place we went was that I had studied quite a lot of it in high school and there is a distinctly surreal feeling when you see something you've learned about from a textbook in person.

Day 5. Police Run-in and Florence in the Evening
So, the highlight of our trip. Haha. Just kidding. But in all honesty, we were pulled off of a train in Italy by the police. And here's how it went down:

We bought our train tickets a couple days before leaving from the automated machine and apparently, the tickets are good for a couple months even though when we bought the ticket we selected the date and time of departure. So, for the train ticket checker man (ttcm) to know that you are using the ticket properly, you are supposed to validate the ticket before you get on the train. We had no idea. So when the ttcm came to check our tickets, he looked at the ticket, looked at us and told us we had to pay 50 euros each in fines for the mistake. We refused, obviously. It was totally ridiculous and everyone else on the train told us so. The ttcm clearly was on a corruption power trip and was trying to take advantage of us. The back of the ticket had small print about validation but it didn't specify that you had to do it before getting on the train and we really had no clue that it would be a problem. Sitting across from us was a very loud and out spoken guy from New Jersey who also forgot to validate his ticket. And the ttcm requested to see his passport and he refused. So I think the ttcm called the police at the next stop and told the police we were all traveling without passports! Meanwhile, the ttcm starts changing his demands and tells us that we should just pay 50 euros between the four of us. And then he said we could pay 50 euros between another group that didn't validate. It was crazy crazy.

So we ended up off the train in a police office and once we handed over the passports and the crazy ttcm left the office, everything got a lot easier. One of the police officers spoke some spanish and Andy clarified that we were not traveling with the loud and obnoxious New Jerseyite who was being particularly difficult. Then we were on much more solid ground. The police copied our passports and checked that we weren't terrorists (which, funny story, apparently someone named Andy Holmes with a very similar birth date to Andy is a wanted person!!) So in the end, the police got us onto a later train and we didn't have to pay anything. It was a bit crazy but we have had a great time in Florence. It is a truly beautiful city and it feels a whole bunch more manageable than the largeness of Rome.

Day 6. Florence
For our first full day in Florence we met Stephen outside his friend Kathy's apartment where he was staying and headed to a cafe for some ultra-smooth cappucinos and lemon croissants. Then we took off and walked through the city. We stopped by the Uffizi gallery to check on the line and decided to make a reservation for the next day instead of deal with the wait. Since the gallery has a limit of 600 people at a time inside, the line can take hours to get through. So we wandered and met up with Kathy to eat at Mario's, a trattoria that is a pillar of trendy Florence cuisine at the moment. We only waited about 15 minutes before we were seated in a crowded room stuffed with waitstaff and customers. The menu was posted on the glass separating the kitchen and included such things as a "steak" that was actually a giant slice of beef enough to feed at least four people. I got a traditional tuscan bean and cabbage soup and Andy got a beef stew. The dishes were hearty, simple and absolute divinity. After that, we strolled around a bit more before heading back to Kathy's and passing out. We were tired. We bought some food and made a tasty meal of spinach, ravioli, salad, pototoe and lamb stew and cheesecake. It was a relief to have a kitchen to cook in and a great money saver.

Day 7. Uffizi Gallery of Everything important from the Italian Renaissance
We had a 12:15 appointment at the Uffizi Gallery so we decided to check out Michelangelo's statue before hand. And I am glad we did. The statue was amazing. And although Kathy suggested we sneak pictures, a photo wouldn't translate the beauty and perfection of David. So we grabbed some food on the way back to the Uffizi and spent the next several hours being blown away by the rooms filled with Italian Renaissance artwork. The musuem has the largest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings and it was sensory overload. We had to take breaks in the hallways as we made our way through. It was exhausting. So when we finally made it out, we went back to Kathy's to re-group and rest. That evening, we went to Kathy's school's restaurant for apertivo - a series of unlimited snacks available with the cost of a cocktail. We had a great time snacking and drinking and generally relaxing after a busy day.

Day 8. Cinque Terre
We made our way by train to Cinqu Terre, a series of five villages carved into the hillsides above the ocean. We stayed in the 5th in a tiny apartment that was accessible by five sets of stairs that wound into the hill. We were all in awe of the natural beauty and tranquility of Cinque Terre. It was overcast and raining but that didn't really make a difference. And, Cinqu Terre is in the Ligure region of Italy known for pesto and foccacia. So we meandered about the little town devouring foccacia.

Day 9. Via D'elle Amore
All five of the Cinque Terre villages are united by a path that follows the ocean so we set out early in the morning to walk the paths and explore the villages. This day is best expressed in photos but we were very lucky to miss the one torrential downpour of the day inside of a church next to the ocean. We spent most of the day walking and taking the train when we got tired and when we got home, we took a little nap and then walked to the next town over for dinner. I had spaghetti and Andy had a lobster pasta dish.

Day 10. Back in Rome
We reluctantly made our way back to Rome on a four hour train ride that dragged on and on. We booked a hostel very close to the train station anticipating our early morning flight. Unfortunately, after we went to bed, I had to get up three separate times to try and force the receptionist to intervene in a very intense drinking/yelling session going on outside of our room. It didn't do too much good. So, I was awake for several hours listening to belligerent Australians and Americans with terrible manners. But oh well. We made it through the night and finally the receptionist kicked them out of the hostel so I got some sleep.

Day 11. Delayed Flight, Madrid, Delayed Flight
Both of our flights we delayed for an hour which was a strange coincidence but we still managed to head into Madrid for a unique meal with another one of Stephen's friends. Andy had spicy shrimp pasta and I had mushroom croquettes and asparagus risotto. After that, we went to an old chocolateria and ate chocolate and churros for dessert. The meal was the highlight of our long day of travel and finally we made it back home.