StringGrrl sees the World

marked on tree "HUMAN CHARGER"

Not satisfied to let Carnival end with Ash Wednesday, the swiss still carry on with Carnival activity well into Lent. So you can still get your Berliner (pazcki), fatty foods, chocolate, candy, and beer well into LENT. one of the bands (they are zooming about with Segway under their robes)

Dusseldorf airport is a fairly well organized and reasonably appointed airport. Two hotels on campus-The Maritim and Sheraton. The long terminal building offers many restaurants and shops in the public area outside security. Where you may want to eat before you go in. Once in you will find fewer dining choices and generally poor options and the typical blackmail prices of those who know there are no other choices. Once inside the secure area you will be assaulted by the usual Duty Free offerings and highly priced shops and discomforted travellers. As a Delta Medallion Elite member one can retire up to the Air France Lounge up a level from the B terminal departures level. The most disappointing thing once you are in the lounge is the discovery that the lounge does not offer free WiFi. Get used to it it is common in Europe to have only Pay-as-you-go WiFi offerings. The shortcut around this is to have a phone that lets you tether to your global Data connection. Motorola DROID 2 Glob...

Went for the Soto Betawi. A very nice meal in a bowl. Really tasty and nicely presented. The photo above does not do it justice (the lighting with the phone is always tricky). The Soto Betawi is a curried coconut milk soup with fried potatoes, vegetables, tomato, and lime. I ordered it with a side of rice (since at home Mom always served EVERYTHING with rice). I lamented the fact that in order to keep in line with Swiss tastes beef had to substitute for the a more robust goat meat (a sentiment shared by the chef). But the lack of goat did not take away from the richness or nor home-care level cooking that clearly went into the soup. Dayan hand grinds the chilis for her sauces and takes care to see if people would like it mild (like her european clientele) or  hot (like the natives). Unfortunately, I did not ask her to "kick it up" to my mom's levels; Next time I surely will. Größere Kartenansicht Definitely due another visit. Terima kasih makan

Out to try something new. One of my swiss colleagues recommended a new restaurant. The new restaurant dapur-indonesia.ch opened recently and I just could not resist. Only a few weeks after  having indonesian in the Nederlands i thoought to splurge a bit and try this place out. Located in Oerlikon near the Bahnhoff it is very conveniently located only a short train ride from work, or a longer tram ride. Just a few steps off the platform and you find yourself there. A few familiar decorations like at home (leather and wooden shadow puppets) and some handcarved figures in the window. The restaurant is smallish and cozy. There will be garden seating in the spring once the weather makes it nicer to sit outside. Looking forward to Indonesian food! Ordered the Soto. Let's see. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Big boulders resting in downtown Zurich near the kinderspielplatz that we visited this summer with the Kam family. First earthcache (not hidden boxes or such. Merely point of geologic or historical interest). Goto geocaching.com and learn more. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Once again in zurich where the apparently Mardi Gras (Karnival) can stretch into Lent. Matbe it's the exchange rate which makes 40 American days only by a few less. The streets still have revellers and musical Kreuwe roaming about. The group above who all seem to have Segways under their elaborate costumes. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Geocaching takes you to some unexpected places. Just next to the Bahn tracks in this post industrial city is a cemetary that time forgot the lillies of the valley have bloomed. Some of the markers are recently visited others are covered with the debris of many seasons of neglect. Kids clamour down the embankment to play on the tracks and families picnic among the re-forested cemetary. Another unexpected and pleasant walk facilitated by geocaching.com Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Laswt time i could not spot the secret and hints were not helping. No grman skills. But this time went during day light. Geocaching.com for more fun with you gps or smartphone Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

StringGirl and the Self-proclaimed-die-expert finally left work at 10:00 pm local time (only 4 at home) to finally find and log a cache we scouted out earlier this week. Apparently this should have been an easier find but "Ich spreche nicht zehr gut Deutsch" so i had trouble even knowing seeing how the name of the cache was a hint for locatong it. With some groping about in the dark the "spanner" (bolt or screw) in the cache name "drei spanner" makes itself clear. Visit geocaching.com to learn more. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location (actually not. The cache coordinates make that known)

it must be Karnival season. Drunk germans dressed as pirates, hobos, cats, clowns, and everything else were on the train drinking this morning. Then i find a paczki (ein berliner- the pastry not a person from Berlin Mr President). Lent is almost here; most notable for Karnival, mardi gras, and fish and chips on special. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Another visit to Schipol on the way to Germany. Funny thing about this connection is that by adding the Dusseldorf flight leg it reduced the cost of the ticket some $200 from just flying into Amsterdam. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

StrinGirl and my latest obsessiin is geocaching. In case you don't not what that is it is a global high tech scavenger hunt where using your gps you track down "caches" hidden by other participants in the game. To date i have logged finds on 3 continents. Nearly every city you may visit will have some caches to find. In the picture above StrinGirl found this one just outside the Rurhgebeit in germany. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location

Here is a shot from Engelberg-Titlis high above Switzerland. Very amateurish stitching job, but put it together fast just to make sure I had some new content up here.