Il fait froid au Québec!

It's cold in Québec!

Despite my rather lax approach to learning French since I was last in Quebec City, I am certainly enjoying my time here. It's like a grown up version of Erasmus, a gathering of people from all over the world for a common purpose with lots of eating, drinking, learning, and laughter along the way. Last night I finally got a chance to take a walkabout around this beautiful town. With temperatures around -14*c (~5*F), none of my co-workers were interested in joining me!

November Sun

I love the wintry weather of the Pacific Northwest. Last week we had a Northerly wind that brought clear skies and icy temperatures. My new desk looks east to the Cascade Mountains and the sunrise lures me into my office very morning.

Cascade Sunrise

Poäng Chair Makeover

The Ikea Poäng chair is a classic piece of design that I have coveted for years. A high school friend had one in her living room that I claimed every time I was at her house. So as soon as I walked into my new apartment, I saw a perfect spot by the window for a perfect Poäng chair. I wasn't stoked about spending $150+ on a new chair with footstool, so my first stop was Craigslist. There it was: a brown laminated birch chair with  a footrest. A quick trip to Seattle, some dissassembly (it wouldn't fit in my Golf otherwise), a quick re-assembly, and it was mine. Well, sorta. The cusions, though in great condition, were a little... plain.

Okay, it's a rendering... I forgot to take before pictures!

Enter my creative, brilliant, can-do mother. Who is also master of the sewing machine. A bit of canvas, a few late nights, and here's what we came up with:

I'm looking forward to many weekend mornings curled up here with a good book :)

Catchup with Friends in Suburbia

I don't much care for Suburbia, specifically Midwestern suburbia. Novi, Michigan was not my first choice for a training location. It is basically a mass of shopping centers and chain stores off I-96, 30 minutes West of Detroit. To me, though, it has one endearing trait. It is close to several of my Calvin friends!

Morning Run, Québec City

Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French
in the French and Indian War

Saturday morning in Québec City dawned clear and sunny over the St Lawrence. I slept in, then put my running shoes on and headed up the hill, into the old city. I would have had better luck with my run had the weather not been so beautiful, as I spent a good chunk of time taking pictures!

Une Soirée au Québec - An Evening in Quebec

Fall is a double edged sword. On one hand, the hills of Quebec are on fire with autumn colour that glows as the sun breaks through the clouds. I woke up to that colour outside my 13th floor hotel room Tuesday morning. On the other hand, it gets dark early. Fortunately, I'm staying at the edge of the tourist district, which means that sundown is not an end to the day!

On the Road Again - à Québec!

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A week after getting home from Europe, I was underway again heading East. For those who don't know, while I was in Europe I got a job offer from Innovmetric. They build a software that interprets laser scan or probe data and generates geometry for either verification (checking that your part is within tolerance) or reverse engineering (making a digital version of a 3D object). To get trained on the software, I had to take a trip to Canada. Quebec City, to be precise. 

Auf Wiedersehen

I hate saying goodbye. It seems so final. So instead I say auf wiedersehen, "until next time."  It wasn't easy to leave Germany on Wednesday afternoon. As the plane taxied, a squall blew in and gave me a wonderful image to remember Stuttgart by. I didn't have to cry. The clouds were tearing up for me.

Mercedes Benz

Having already been in Stuttgart a week, there was one thing I had to do before I left Stuttgart. I was in the motor capital of the world and had not visited the shrine of one of the original car makers.

Rittersport and Wein, our last day with Erin and John

Baden-Wurttemburg didn't offer its best weather as we left Stuttgart Sunday morning. That didn't matter much though, because we were going to a chocolate factory and a vineyard! Anne usually brings several kilos of chocolate with her when she comes to the States, and Rittersport is one of our favorites.

München - Oktoberfest

Prost!

One of John's requests when he and Erin started planning their trip to Germany was a visit to the legendary Oktoberfest in München. Thunder, lightning, and downpour the night before lifted as we woke up Saturday morning to breakfast in Siegertsbrunn before joining the thousands of trachten-clad people headed to the Wies'n.

München - Arriving

Really, we are excited to be here. Just a little tired.

 After a 6 hour drive full of traffic, "Rude" on the radio, and occasional tickle fights, we finally found our little hotel in Siegertsbrunn on the outskirts of München. So did nearly a million other people, and as we rode the S-bahn into downtown there was an unusual busyness in the city. There were also  black thunderheads rolling our way.

Goslar and the Hartz Mountains

The arrival of Erin and John in Germany kicked off a new round of touring with Anne as our host, guide, and driver. We started with a massive breakfast at the Stein house in the Harz mountains of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony).

Berlin Blitz

I have blitz-visited Berlin once before, as part of a class trip during my 2008 study in Bremen. We were there only a evening and a day, but I was impressed by its size, its freshly minted sparkle, and the rawness of the story it has to tell. It's changed since then, but only a little. Cranes still fly high over the skyline, but there are fewer of them in the city center. The wall is still crowded by tourists, but the people I met who are my own age don't remember a divided nation.

Graz

Graz Landhaus

After a great morning visit to TrainBlue OG (CrossFit), I spent my afternoon in Graz visiting my old haunts.

Aufsteirern

From the second I boarded the train at Wien Meidling, it was so familiar. Buy a ticket with my ÖBB youth card, stop in Wiener Neustadt, over Semmering, downhill to Brück an der Mur, then home...

of Cottages and Mountains

Petra has told me often about the "cottage" in the mountains that her group of friends spends every New Year's Eve at. Their parents are about 300m away at Mat'y's parents'cabin, and the two generations gather at midnight for toasts and songs in the yard. In the summer, the cottage is a favorite retreat. So when Petra suggested we spend a day or two there, I was all for it!

Vitkovice Iron Works

A few years ago, while visiting Ostrava for the first time, we drove by an old steel mill. Petra pointed it out with a frown, like it was a scab on the city. Tall brown stacks and a mad maze of pipes and conduits around 19th century brick workshops. It is a short streetcar ride from the city center and visible from nearly everywhere.
Since that first visit, the site has begun to be transformed.

a Walk through Prague

I'm back in the Czech Republic! This place fascinates me. The food, the people, the national identity, the language... It is so similar to the other places I love, but has it's own distinctly Czech twist. You can see the impression of Austrian, Prussian, and Russian occupations in the architecture. Concurrently there is a national pride for contributions to art and industry in which they see themselves not as underdogs, but leaders in the international community. Did you know that "robot" is a Czech word?

Gothic towers galore!

the Wreck and Rebuilding of the San Juan

Jone asked me what I wanted to do monday afternoon, and I thought we would just hang around Tolosa. Then she suggested going to see the construction of the San Juan in Pasaia. Why not?

Pasaia San Juan from San Pedro. Photo by Jone

Tolosa Hike

My voice was back Monday morning, and I felt completely recovered from the festivities of the day before. Jone and I had a hike planned, so after a light breakfast we headed for the hills.

Donostia Regatta

Jone walked me to the train station Sunday morning to make sure I got my ticket, then I jumped on a train with hundreds of colorfully dressed enthusiasts headed to Donostia. It was regatta weekend!

Flysch

Gurutze had arranged on Saturday for us to go to Zumaia to see a unique geological phenomenon, flysch. Layers of roc sediment and organic matter were laid down at the bottom of an ancient lake or bay and were them lifted up at a crazy angle to make the amazingly rugged coastline of the Basque Country.

Adventures with Kike, Liere, Jone, and Gurutze

Euskal Herria

People ask me why I keep going back to the same places (Basque Country, Germany, Europe in general), our for that matter, why travel? I think my reasoning breakdown looks like this: 40% friends (old and new!), 40% food, 20% culture, history, and all that good stuff.

Stuttgart Preview and Quiet History

I am realizing throughout this trip just how amazing my friends are. It isn't really news (they've always been great), but every once in a while it hits me even harder. I spent a few days in Stuttgart this week, and it was one of those moments.

Myself, Anne, and Bea in Heilbronn

Anne, Bea, and I hung out Thursday evening in Heilbronn for pasta, ice cream, and swapping stories an a mash up of English and German (I think Anne is the only person who got 100% of it!)

Lower Austria (Niederösterreich)

After a drizzley but historically rich weekend in Innsbruck (castles! armor! art!), I took the early train across Austria to see Ulli, my former tandem (language partner from UniGraz) in Lower Austria.

Darmstädter Hütte

After a late night at the mountain film festival, we weren't in a rush to get out the door Friday morning. At 11 Andreas (Herr Birkl) came home from work, picked up Christoph and I, and pointed the car up the Moosthal towards Darmstädter Hütte.

The sun breaking through

Komstanzer Hütte Hike

I have heard about the amazing hiking in the alps, but want really prepared for the past two days. Based from the Birkl's house in St Anton am Arlberg, we have hiked both days to the south side of the valley for some wunderschön views.

Buckley the Wandering Bison visits the Alps

Into the Alps

I'm currently camped out at Gästehaus Kolp in the Dorf (village) of St Jakob, at the edge of the ski town St Anton. My friend Christoph from Graz invited me to come stay, and it is his parents who have the house. I woke up in my own apartment with rugged mountain peaks scraping the tips of the window frames.
Despite wet weather yesterday, I couldn't wait to go out hiking. The closest trail was literally out the front door and so well signed I didn't even need a map.

Coming out of the forest and onto the Alm

Getting Lost, Tomatoes, andTwirling Ladies in Dirndl

*I think I fixed the problem with commenting, so go ahead and give it a try! Thanks to Cait for pointing it out to me!*

I arranged to go to a crossfit gym Sunday evening and get my first workout in since Göteborg, but for the second time I found myself of the edge of the map and unable to find my desired destination. I was off the U-bahn with 20 minutes to get to class and two missed lefts and an hour later I was on a bus back to the Ostbahnhof (train station), defeated.

And then I noticed the festivities happening across the street. 

All Things Technical

Knowing that Sundays are rather quiet in the German speaking world, I planned ahead to spend today in the Deutsches museum. It was amazing. Airplane and engines and boats and U-1 and mines and metal and printing, glass, instruments, ceramics... It took me nearly 5 hours to do a quick walkthrough. Here are just a few pictures...

The approach: crossing the Isar to the museum island

zu Fuss (pt 2)

After my great show success in the morning, I decided to do something I should have done the day before and go on a guided walking tour of the city. I have a pretty good map in my head by now for orienting myself geographically, but a tour is a way to orient oneself historically.

zu Fuss (pt 1)

I destroyed my Reebok Nanos in the washing machine yesterday (the internet said machine washing them was a good idea!), which meant one of my first priorities this morning was shoes. I've had my eye on some Merrell Bare Access Arc 3s for weeks, but amazon delivered them a few hours too late before I left Seattle, then Sweden only had them up to size 40 (I'm a 41... how do those tall girls have such small feet?).
Desperate for shoes, I was ready to but the bright yellow shoes at Karstadt Sport when I walked past Schuster and decided to give them a look. It's a Bavarian REI! and they had my shoes, in multiple colors, in my size. Boom.
I tried on all variations on the Merrell shelf, from the ones I looked to the trail model (Gore Tex!), and did a little ruin through the bottom level of the store in each. All the while stumbling through a conversation with the store's show guy in broken German.
I finally picked out my pair and went to the Kassa to pay. The guy who helped me was laughing telling his coworkers about the girl who insisted on jogging in all the shoes.
That's me, the crazy girl. At least my feet are happy!

Wieder in Deutschland

It felt a little word getting off the plane in München. I was sad to leave Sweden and unsure whether I'd feel at home in Germany after being away for 3 years. There was culture and language, reflexes that I don't use in the states.
I walked from the train station to my hostel at Göteplatz and checked in for the night. My roommates were two pairs of Australian girls on extended travel. I got organized and wandered to eis and Theresienwiesen, which I will revisit with a few million other people in a few weeks.

They're getting ready for us, Anne, John, and Erin!

west coast, best coast

One of the things I like best about traveling is seeing where and how my friends live. Over the past several days I have had the privilege of staying with Maria in Göteborg, Sweden's second city. It's home to Volvo and Ericsson, a center for trade and industry in a 18th century wrapper. The city itself is beautiful and I would recommend a visit to anyone to enjoy art, hiking, sailing, history, manufacturing... Just about anyone can find something to do here! But what had made the city come alive to me is the people.

Post-swim, the wind blown look. It was actually warmer than the sea at home!

Stockholm

Stockholm, my first experience of Scandinavia. I don't know what it is exactly, but there is something wonderful about this country. There seems to be a sort of warmth and kindness in every person I've met here.  Maybe it started when I went to the airport to get into town. The bespectacled man behind the information desk confirmed that I was "youth" (25-), suggested that I save a few SEK and take the bus with a youth fare, and directed me to the bus stop.

I woke up on a 747.

Leaving Amsterdam after such a short visit was a little strange, but I don't think the city took it personally.

I knew I'd be getting in late to ARN (Stockholm airport), so I booked the closest hostel I could find ahead of time. Just a quick jump on the free shuttle bus and i was there. It also happened to be the most unique hostel I've ever stayed in.

Rijksmuseum

I was going to call this "Amsterdam blitz," but have to be honest. Really I went into town to see the museum that was being renovated last time I was here. Dutch masters +history + a boats and arm collections, I was sold. 

This beautiful building was completely covered in scaffolding last time!

Hiking in the Gorge

This last weekend I got a course in "Back Country Backpacking 101" from my sister, who's been on 4 "Walkabouts" as part of her student life training at George Fox. It was storming in Sisters (our original target), so we headed up the Columbia River Gorge to Eagle Creek instead.

http://www.oregon.com/recreation/hike-eagle-creek

Olympic Weekend, Day 2

We woke up on Sunday morning to a world entirely different from the one we fell asleep in. Our sunny beach was gone, socked in completely with fog. We cooked sausage over the Coleman grill, then packed up and turned our wheels back to Highway 112, turning onto 113 to take 101 back to Port Angeles. Our one stop on the way was at Lake Crescent. We decided that we're coming back some day to hike in this area!

Surveying Lake Crescent

Olympic Weekend, Day 1

Washington is an amazing state. We have deserts, rugged mountains, active volcanoes, sunny archipelagos, rainforests, canyons, rolling wheat fields… This weekend, M and I boarded the first ferry of the day bound for adventure on the Olympic Peninsula. (Thanks for giving us a head start, Opa and Oma!)

Whidbey in our wake

Quiet OD hike

 I had never been on OD without sharing it with anywhere from an handful to a crowd of other people. Last week, I got to share it with just one person. 

The discussion as we wogged down was how fast we could do it if we were going for speed. I think 1:45 (previous record: 1:58). He thinks he can do it in an hour! 

Multnomah Falls

There are several typical Bridgetown things that I’ve never done: beer tasting at Deschutes Brewery, riding the cable car, downing a Voodoo doughnut… I got to cross two things off my “do in Portland” list this weekend. First was the Rose Festival/Parade on Saturday. Second, a trip to Multonomah Falls on Sunday.

My hosts, Matt and Nia, knew that we would need to be adequately fueled for our grueling hike up to the top of the hill, so we began our morning with a cup of the best coffee I’d had in weeks (thanks to Matt and his beans from Oblique Coffee Roasters) . Next was a short walk to the neighborhood Kolache bakery. That’s right, Sunnyside has stellar Czech pastries at the Happy Sparrow Cafe. On a warm Portland morning, it’s hard to beat a poppy or apricot kolache at a sunny cafe table! I have to admit that I am more than a little envious of my friends’ neighborhood, a quiet spot on Belmont street sandwiched between the hipster wonderfulness that is Hawthorne and Burnside.

well rested, adequately caffeinated, and carbed up, we headed up the gorge to Multnomah falls. It’s the typical oregon image: a curtain of water plunges dramatically almost 600 ft into a pool, flows under an elegantly arched bridge, and drops another 60 ft into another pool. The parking was packed with tourist busses and cars clung to the edges of the roads. We were lucky to spot a couple heading to their X3 and waited for the only free parking spot in the lot.

Buckley the Wandering Bison visits Multonomah Falls

Champoeg and Portland

It’s been too long since I’ve driven South instead of East, so this trip was long overdue.

My sister and I were on I-5 by 12:55 on Friday and hit the worst traffic we’ve ever seen through Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia. 6 hours and two Starbucks stops later we finally pulled into Newberg. Emily split to spend the weekend with Josh’s clan, and Buckley the Wandering Bison and I turned towards Champoeg State Park.

Buckley prepares to set up camp

Tickets: bought!

I just bought the cheapest round trip tickets of my life. SEA-AMS, AMS-SEA for $70. 41 days of life in a backpack, coming right up!

the Oyster Dome "Death March"

I think before yesterday I'd already been up Oyster Dome 2 or 3 times this year, but it never really gets old… especially when you get to add more people!

M, me, Kelsey, Melissa, and Jim.

We did the first death march* of the year under sunny 70* skies yesterday. It really doesn’t get better than on a warm day and with a great crew!

*The hike was named the "death march" by a co-worker last year who suggested that we were trying to kill him with the pace we set up the 2000ft hill.

Palouse visit!

This post is loooong overdue... as was the road trip to Pullman that M and I took 3 weeks ago!It was my first time back in my old college town in nearly 2 years, and we had a blast!
We took Highway 2 over the Cascades because a) we missed Seattle traffic, and b) because it was an excuse to stop in Leavenworth! We had to swing by the cheesemonger's shop for Wurst, Rotkohl, and Emmenthaler cheese to go with the Käsespätzle dinner planned for Saturday night.

Buckly the Wandering Bison visits Leavenworth

We rolled into Pullman around 9 and went directly to Wendy’s cute little apartment. She and Phoebe (the greatest fuzzball of a pom-cross you’ve ever met!) let us have their living room to unroll our sleeping bags, and we were all out like light bulbs.

Saturday was cool but sunny, and after omelettes we rendezvoused with Sharon for a hike up Kamiak Butte. It was perfect! We took a trail down the back side fo the hill that was practically empty, leaving us to walk with our own conversation. The one downside to visiting Pullman on Mom’s weekend was the number of moms who were touring the area with their students!

Hiking on the Palouse!

To beat the crowd, we got coffee (Buccer’s!) and lunch (the Co-Op!) in Moscow. M had never been there before, so we dinked around town and introduced him to Hyperspud and TriState. Back in Pullman, we headed over to catch up with the Aasen clan (the girls are so big!) and then home to collaborate on a German dinner. Marcus roasted the brats he’d picked out in Leavenworth under the broiler while Whendy and I improvised Spätzle grater by cutting the corner off of a plastic bag. I squeezed dough out of the bag while Wendy cut the noodles with scissors. It actually turned out pretty well, and with the Emmenthaler under the broiler for a few minutes… With a bottle of Riesling, dinner was not to be rushed!

We weren’t exactly hungry when we went back to Moscow in the morning to visit the Breakfast Club. It was worth it, though! Can you say huckleberry zucchini bread?

Sign outside of the Breakfast Club

The trip home went faster than it ever did in college, helped both by good company in the car and by a stop to see cousin J1 in  Ellensburg.