StringGrrl sees the World

Between work assignments in Stuttgart Germany and Paris (Rungis) France, had again the chance to catch back up with our friends in Switzerland. Rather than running up the exorbitant cost of flying back to the USA for the weekend in between, our intrepid travelers opted to couch surf again at the Casa Paffhausen in Zurich. While there, why not get in a day of skiing? From the Zurich HB (main station) you can reach great ski areas in about 1-1.5 hours Pizol Talstation Gaffia Trail map Pizol Skiing in Switzerland is a frequent post topic here. StringDad learned how to ski in Michigan. Namely at Michigan Technological University, Mt Ripley, with a grand total of 440 ft Vertical (134m for the Metric-heads who follow the adventures of StringGirl). Every ski area in this area boasts vert unknown to the university version of StringDad and not experienced until one trip to Crested Butte, CO. (Vertical 2700 ft or 825 meters or so). Initial conditions were not too promising... ...

nicely marked and well maintained bike route   While visiting StringGirl's aunt and uncle in Traverse City the offer to go on a bike ride and get some coffee and pastries was met with enthusiasm. As we started on our way, it casually arrived in conversation that the ride would be 17 miles, to which Rey responded with more than a little bit of despair; "17 miles round trip?". Our more fit family from TC then responded without irony, "No, each way". Donors and supporters of the Trail The route is part of an extensive cycling route that extends a total of 500 miles connecting Sault Ste. Marie to New Buffalo. Our leg connected Traverse City to Suttons Bay . It was not a grueling ride and the grade is pretty gentle throughout. However, our lack of general fitness and sporting ability did make the trip a little bit taxing first thing in the morning. Lovely little community garden at the Suttons Bay end of the trail  Over the course of the 34 mile round...

In a Thriving city center area, we found Noodle 1 Food Blogger Vikram Bapat enjoying his side hustle, eating fine food from around the world The challenge with finding any new location of a favorite genre of food, is deciding which dishes t try. After all, holding a new site up to your crutch dishes from a perennial favorite is a little unfair. Looking at the starters, I generally twist between whether or not a Goi-Cuon or Cha Gio, and Satay or Mon an goi lettuce wraps is the best measure of a restaurants appeal to my taste buds. Fortunately Noodle 1 offered a very straight forward choice with a special platter for 2 that let us try their complete selection of appetizers. Satay Chicken, Goi-Cuón, Cha Giò, Wan Tan, butterfly-shrimps with dips  http://www.noodle1.de/ The special platter for two  In a break from the typical Vietnamese restaurants is the lack of Pho on the menu. So that relieved us from any predisposition to only have Pho and jud...

Fourteen teens set forth from Detroit North Terminal for Germany (yes, there are two kids hiding from view) StringGirl and her Maker IssaK On the Bus tour of Munich Ludwig II "Hunting Lodge" similar in scale to Versailles StringGirl snaps the picture for a change letting IssaK and Dad to have this selfie moment The Hunting Grounds at the royal hunting lodge BMW World StringGirl takes her spot at the grinders for Americas Cup Challenge Oracle Team USA Careful StringGirl if they tack while you are standing up you might go overboard StringGirl 3.0 holds the StringGirl1.0 picture from the Marienplatz The class with Frau at the Marienplatz StringGirl crossing the Eisbach

Pop-up Haiku Shop  I've been representing companies at technical conferences and tradeshows for sometime, and had started to think that all of them are fundamentally the same. Hollow out the inside of the convention hall, fill it with booths, vendors, rolls of disposable carpeting, bad padding, and it's another show. I guess I have not been going to the correct conferences, or have just been in the wrong field all this time., The Dell EMC World conference in Austin gave me a whole new perspective on what trade shows could be like, if you joined an industry not only run by engineers and shop rats. Queue for poetry requests During the Dell EMC World conference in Austin they filled the convention center, not only with booths and vendors, but also had live music throughout the day. Local Austin bands filling the convention hall with everything from Roots rock and Country, to Bluegrass and the Blues. For the gala premiere party dinner the rolled in Food Trucks that se...