StringGrrl sees the World

Franhkfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main Station)  When in Frankfurt I rarely think to my myself, "Great place to find Great Food!". While I am sure like any major metropolitan city one can find good and even great cooking. Certainly with the core of certain financial sectors here and a strong economy with a variety of industries feeding it, Frankfurt certainly must have some nice places to eat. But as a street wanderer and not a "foodie"; this enthusiastic eater seeks out great taste and not big ticket food snobbish spots. I must say that my hopes were not high as I got off the train in Frankfurt with hopes of something tasty to eat before sacking it in for the night back at the airport. At best I have seen in this area some German cooking in the Hessian and Frankische-art (translate that as Schnitzel in creative delivery, whether it is smothered in mushrooms and gravy, Jaeger-art, or maybe in a super spicy sauce, Teufel-Schnitzel).  Even bratwursts in Frankfurt is not ...

As a frequent traveler overseas I am faced often with the dilemma of roaming data fees for my smart phone and limited ability to get data to my Android Table t and/or laptop. My home carrier is Verizon which does allow my smartphone to access data from global partners. However, this possibility is pretty expensive with the data coming in 100MB bundles for $25/per unit. While this does allow some flexibility to access my email and do a little bit of data (for browsing or mapping) it does add up very quick.  After a previous one week trip created overages in the sum of 400 MB at a cost of additional $125 on top of my typical monthly fixed costs. The boss was not too happy about this development and I sought alternatives to this arrangement. We had used in the past a rental data roaming unit by XComGlobal which allowed for "unlimited data" at a cost of $15/day rental. I used it for a two week trip to Germany and Switzerland recently for a total of $280 in costs (...

Night train The Phrase "NIGHT TRAIN" will likely bring up (no pun intended) some really horrid memories or lack-thereof for some. However, in the context intended it is to open up the post about the City Night Line trip we most recently made from Zurich to the Ruhrgebiet (the Ruhr River valley in Northern Germany). Bahn.de Nighttrain in the Zurich Hauptbahnhof The City Night Line is a network of International trains connecting much of Europe. To date I have take the Night Line From Dortmund to Berlin, Zurich to Amsterdam, Graz to Zurich and now Zurich to Duisberg (though honestly it is the same line as the one to Amsterdam). Taking night trains gets two birds with one stone. Transport from one European city to the next and a place to sleep on the first night. In my case as I eliminated one airfare from Zurich to Dusseldorf, as well as one night in a hotel in Dortmund it was super cost effective and convenient to buy a ticker for a single sleeper cabin and still se...

When this air travel gateway to and from Europe comes to mind, the last thing that comes to mind is Japanese cuisine. However,  I learned from my German colleague that Düsseldorf has a vibrant Japanese community;a fact that i had to humbly recognize I had overlooked in the presence of a large street sign near the Hauptbahnhof clearly indicating the distance of a "Japanese Quarter". In the Japanese quarter is the recently renovated Na Ni  Wa Noodles and Soups. Arriving later in the evening on three first warm Friday night of this soggy German summer, we find a line seated on the bench wrapping to the side of the restaurant. A line for ramen? Good sign : promising. not my picture (source NA Ni Wa  http://www.naniwa.de/n_uebernaniwa.php ) but yes there is a line when they are open Werner and I had attempted to come here once before; finding it shuttered with paper on the windows indicating some construction. That time we had to opt for a ramen approximating at R...

Thomas Stoughton of GM R&D presents at IDDRG2013 Dinner cruise on the Zurichsee StringGirl and Amber with the "Self-Proclaimed-Die-Expert" There's a lot of rain the hills Sigma master "Stippy" photobombed by Amber

StringGirl and Amber in Social Birmingham Michigan is a suburb of Detroit just off of Woodward Avenue (M1) , honestly we rarely eat there. But as our colleague and his wife are spending their year in the US slumming in B-ham we thought we should have a few of our team meals closer to his home to introduce them more to their long-short term home. View Larger Map The dining room Social is kind of new (I had a hard time knowing where it was as this used to be "Tokyo Sushi" for quite some time, and is still listed as the restaurant at this address (and mapped with Streetview). View Larger Map "four seasons patio" dining area used to be the Alley between this building and it's neighbor Mixology at Social is good, with better than average selection of top shelf liquor  I was pleased to arrive early and find that the rest of our group decided that we should have some cocktails. The bar at Social is well stocked with good and gr...

With the upcoming Champions League Cup game between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, many people will be wondering,"Just where the heck is Dortmund ?"   "Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund"  Hails from the city of Dortmund. Dortmund is one of the cities that make up what in much of Germany is known as the "Ruhrpott" (a slightly pejorative term for the Ruhrgebiet, or Ruhr Valley). Dortmund is a town that StringGirl and Amber know well having spent many a trip to Europe there while Eric works at  AutoForm . Dortmund is also the home of Hoevels Hausbrauerei Head downtown to the City Center of Dortmund and you find a not too new not too old, and not too posh German city. It is moderately clean, fairly busy but for the most part all I know of Dortmund is the area just south of the Hauptbahnhof which is pretty much a mall. An area that prides itself for having the largest Christmas Market Tree (that's right just the tree is the largest)...