Across the Pond and Back

London Tower Bridge. The most tourist-y thing we did.







Yo! Sushi. What's not to love about food delivered via conveyor belt?







Airport or Turbine Hall @ Tate Modern?








In the Tube.

Mailing giant royal head postcards to our favorite people.

Tate Britain: Everything Is Going To Be Alricht.

London Calling

This year I can't seem to stay put for more than a month--Alyce and I are heading over to London for a few days.

I've been to London a handful of times, but it has been years since my last visit. It will always be damp and chilly (and expensive) in my memories--I think the last time I went I came down with a bad cold too. Other than that, I remember being scared of the giant ravens at the Tower of London, the Tate Gallery, 221B Baker Street and Marks & Spencer. Now they have that big ferris wheel!

On the list of things to do/see: TopShop, Marks & Spencer, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert Museum, finding a red Brio train for Elliott, eating good Indian food and fish & chips. Oh, and maybe a little Christmas shopping. While not spending our entire life savings.

I may also try to acquire a taste for beer.

Bean Town, you weren't as scary as I thought you'd be

I had the chance to go to Boston for a conference for a few days. I mentioned in a previous post my fear of this (unknown) city and getting around its potentially dangerous streets.

Well, it turns out the Cradle of Liberty isn't so bad.

I arrived on a sunny Sunday afternoon. My hotel room (which turned out to be quite luxe) wasn't ready and I had a few hours to kill, so map in hand, I decided to explore a little. I went to the Seaport district and checked out the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The new building is only three years old and has a great location on the waterfront. The collection itself was better than expected, but like most museums, not a lot of bang for your buck. A few blocks away, a distant cousin of mine owns a bakery, Flour. She won a Bobby Flay Throwdown for her stickybuns. Even though I bought one, I have to confess I am not a huge fan of the stickybun--I'd much rather have a cinnamon one. But I am no less proud of her. The cookie and slice of Boston Cream Pie I also got from there were fantastic.

Boston is a nice city. It's clean, it's manageable, it's historic, and it's chock full of 7-Elevens so you can always get a Slurpee fix. Maybe I'm too much of a New Yorker, but I found it to be a little boring and the areas I went to were not particularly diverse. I realize there is more to this city and it would probably be more fun if I knew more locals to show me around. Or I really liked American history. Maybe.

Highlights of my trip:

• I got to see my friend Urvi, who had moved to Boston from New York earlier this year.


• I managed to de-magnetize my hotel key multiple times in one day. At some point, the guy at reception stopped asking me to show ID.


• I found a $20 bill on the ground.

• I ate some really good Taiwanese food in Chinatown--my people really know how to make a scallion pancake.

• I attempted to get out of Dodge early, but the airlines said it would cost me $150 to change my reservation. That's how much my ticket cost. I got to the airport early and at check-in they offered me an earlier flight for free!


• Oh yes, and I learned a thing or two about clinical research training at my conference.

Syracuse: We're not entirely sure how we ended up here

We somehow ended up spending the second night outside of Syracuse. Apparently, the Finger Lakes region is a popular destination and hotels were booked months in advance. We managed to find a place outside of Syracuse, so we figured we might as well check out the town and learn a little bit about the Erie Canal.

The Erie Canal is a man-made waterway that runs about 360 miles from the Hudson River (near Albany) to Lake Erie (Buffalo), creating a completely navigable water route from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes. It officially opened in 1825. They say that because of the Erie Canal, and the wealth and commerce it brought, New York became the Empire State. A new canal was built in 1918, but now the canals are really only used for recreation.

Syracuse old weigh lock station.

On the way home, we stopped by the orchard to pick up some of our favorite cider donuts. We ate them hot out of the bag. It was a perfect way to end the trip.

Drinking it up at the Finger Lakes

There are 11 Finger Lakes in upstate New York, formed about 2 million years ago by the movement of glaciers. According to Native American lore, the lakes are the finger prints of the Great Spirit. The area is also the largest wine-making region in the eastern U.S. The white wines here are better than the reds. We didn't taste anything that blew us away, and I think my favorite wasn't even wine--we stopped by a cidery along the wine trail.

The highlight of the trip was seeing my very. first. mini-donk. It was very exciting. Doobie wasn't the cutest or mini-est donk, but he was very sweet and friendly. He chewed his grass and slowly moved closer and closer to us until we could pet him.

mini-Roadtrip 2009: Ithaca is Gorges!

We took a mini-roadtrip up to the Finger Lakes region this weekend. It's been Vickie's dream to eat at the vegetarian mecca, Moosewood, and to hit up the wineries around the lakes. The least we could do was help her make that dream come true.

















Requisite Dairy Queen visit.






















Gorges!






















Christina pretending to jump off a bridge at Cornell. This was not Suicide Bridge...


...THIS is Suicide Bridge:























Moosewood. We were disappointed.

Daytripping: Breakneck Ridge

It was a beautiful fall day and we took a day trip up to the Hudson Highlands State Park for a hike. I'll admit I had some trepidation about going to a place called Breakneck Ridge, which is considered a somewhat advanced hike with steep rocks that had to be scrambled over (and yes, some people have fallen and died from the hike.) After packing more snacks than two people could eat in a week, it turned out to be just my kind of hike--rigorous and even difficult and scary at times, but really, really fun.

For the record, we did get lost briefly when the trail markers suddenly disappeared, and I did experience momentary panic. But then the two orthodox Jewish girls who we kept running into during the hike also got lost and wandered our way and we figured out where we needed to go. Whew.

10K Lakes Nice: Must. Stop. Eating.

I'm sure I've said this before, but I really love going home to MN. It's a combination of fond memories and the fact that I don't live there anymore, as well as the fantastic summer weather. There's something about driving with the windows down, cheesy Top 40 radio station blasting, on my way to eat something tasty and see some old friends that just makes me so blissfully happy.

This particular trip I saw a lot of people in a short period of time and I ate more food than I should have.


Here was my original food wish list from before I left and what I actually ate (in blue):

• Hot mini-donuts from the MN State Fair CHECK. 1 bag.
  
• French fries from the MN State Fair CHECK
• Cheese curds from the MN State Fair CHECK
• Something breaded and deep fried on a stick from the MN State Fair Not enough stomach space for this. I heard the bacon on a stick was good. The bucket of chocolate chip cookies was tempting also.

• Baker's Square french silk pie CHECK. I almost had to skip this one, I was so full. But it just wasn't right for me to not have some.
  

• Dairy Queen Girl Scout Thin Mint Blizzard CHECK. First night. Had a 2nd Blizzard on our last day.
  

• Hot Fudge malt from Snuffy's (or Annie's or Malt Shop) I had a malt from the State Fair Dairy Goodness Building. Not nearly as good as Snuffy's or Annie's.

• Torte slices from Wuollet bakery CHECK.
  

• Vietnamese food in Frogtown CHECK. Although at a fancier than expected spot.
  

• Arby's roast beef sandwich Sadly, no time for this--ended up having lunch with my friend Jon (from NY) who happened to be in town for work. I didn't think it was proper to take him to Arby's his first time in MSP.
• Eclairs from a big chain grocery store Too full. I went into a grocery store to get one, but just couldn't do it. However, I did get a slice of grocery store sheet cake. Fabulous.
  
• I've also been thinking of the cheese bread at Carbone's. I was never fond of their pizza, but that bread is good. No time for this.

One place I did go to that wasn't on the list is the Uptowner Cafe on Grand Avenue, in my old neighborhood. They make some great hash browns. And the bacon is thick cut--much better than anything you'd get in a New York diner.



















I also didn't mention the best sweet corn ever at the State Fair. So sweet and juicy! Rumor has it that the family that owns that corn stand only works the 12 days out of the year for the Fair and that's all, they turn such a huge profit.

I am currently on a deep-fried food detox. I am also in dire need of a nap.

MN State Fair: You Betcha!

I don't think there is any way to make it clearer: Minnesotans do not mess around when it comes to the State Fair. It's been around since 1859. The 320 acre fair grounds are located in the Twin Cities, and well over 110,000 attend each of the 12 days. Rumor has it we are one of the largest state fairs in existence, second only to Texas.

Also, I should mention we like our deep fried foods. Even better if on a stick.

We had the most delicious of treats: super sweet corn on the cob, cheese curds, fresh lemonade, french fries, malts from the Dairy Building and the best of the best, fresh hot mini-donuts.