High on a hill was a lonely goatherd ~ Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd ~ Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo
Folks in a town that was quite remote heard ~ Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Lusty and clear from the goatherd’s [...]
We visited our friends Klaus and Sabine and their two sons in their vacation cabin for a night. It was heaven, and very much needed! We stayed near Chur, in the Medieval village of Parpan–a magical place that looks exactly like what everyone imagines when you say “I live in Switzerland!” Very Von Trapp.
Parpan [...]
The comparison was already floating through my mind, of Amsterdam with San Francisco. The cafes, the bohos, the acceptance of people as they are–and a certain air of self-acceptance that comes from living in a Mecca of so-called tolerance.
And, so I had read, Amsterdam even has it’s own refurbished Deco movie house, Pathé Tuschinski.
Then [...]
Before we moved to Europe last January, we considered several locations based on Ali’s business headquarters and such. A big possibility was Beijing, which I vetoed for a lot of reasons, oppressive architecture being the least on a list that included terrorist threats, a quasi-police state, apocalyptic air quality, and the 2008 Olympics. I lived [...]
WE LOVE AMSTERDAM.
Perhaps that’s all I really need to say. We love it, we’d move there, it’s fantastic.
And we didn’t even go to a hash bar or the Walletjes (Rosse Buurt, red light district). Which might be why we liked it–everywhere we went there were friendly, nattily dressed, bicycling Netherlanders, handing us snacks, charming our [...]
Ali flâneur-ing outside Gunter’s atelier.
Beyond the general city-dwelling and snacking, we also enjoyed days delving into the world of European haberdashery. The quest? An ensemble for Monseigneur Rutigliano to marry in. He’s no Beau Brummell, but my man is quiet the dandy in his own way, which made this task a real–though delightful–challenge.
Part of the [...]
Apfelstrudel, still warm, Café Einstein.
Over the five days we were in Berlin (Buurlin or Belleene as spoken by the locals) I had Lou Reed’s Berlin in my head.
We were in a small cafe, you could hear the guitar play.
Can-dle-light and Du-bon-net on ice…it was very nice.
Oh Honey, it was paradise…
It was so grand to pass [...]