30 April 2015

Climb the mountain ... see the mountain range.

While it may seem silly to add the Travel label to this post, considering the fact that I'm reflecting on my completed PhD, it seemed apt on a couple of levels. First, it was a freaking huge journey. Second, my whole focus is about empowering individuals to be predisposed to a journey towards self-actualization. So there we are. Travel is an intrinsic part!

Boiling everything down from the past six years, and my post title, "climb the mountain ... see the mountain range" is the most appropriately concise way to reflect my current mindset. I thought that when I would finish, I'd be so checked out. Well, checked out is a common emotion, but now I'm just excited for my next steps in my own research as well as giving back to the community with more intentionality, and likely more effectiveness.

Before all that though, let's hone in on the actual celebration. When my defense was successfully achieved and I felt like it Alexander the Great's accomplishments were ant-like compared to mine, it seemed only appropriate to start off with a celebratory lunch.

...and no flimsy lunch either.


Oh, it started innocently enough. But when it was a wonderful Nebbiolo from a freshly opened bottle, it was surprisingly easy to say, "oh, just leave the bottle." After all, how many times does one defend dissertation?

Then there were the food selections. And with each selection, the sweet little reminder that anything I did was perfectly fine because, after all, how many times does one defend a dissertation?

So ... onward with the ... um.... 3.5 hour lunch.

You see, there was the house pate with balsamic reduction. This, my friend, was no pate squeezed out of a wrapper. Freshly made in-house, it was seriously one of the best pates I've had, which is saying something.

Then....wellllll, I never can resist a caprese salad with freshly made mozzarella. We'll just ignore that indulgence for the moment.

Now, onward to the primi. Do I go with the Sicilian meatballs or cioppino? However, before this became an actual problem, any sort of meat felt too heavy possibly because I was eating (and drinking) plenty. The veggie spring primavera won....

...and here is where the 3.5 hour lunch must end because, despite great effort, I just could not figure out how to eat a secondi. I really really really tried though.

After several hours of comatose behavior, I did manage to rally nicely with a bottle of champagne, a hand painted chocolate shell, and, of course, a few precious sugar crystalized rose petals from Paris.



I am taking two days off of celebrating to recover, and will resume on Saturday :)

25 April 2015

Basic Needs

Hypothetically....let's say the topic of living in Europe came up....let's say for 2-3 years for a particular gig.... hypothetically.

Now, with that context, Eric asked me to consider impediments, what I would want to take, etc.

Well, furniture was right out because no place over could hold the type of large pieces our AVL home has...besides, I couldn't think of anything more fun than piecing a flat together through antique shoppes.

Hrm, clothes? Sure, a suitcase for each person probably, because who needs more with the most amazing charity and vintage shoppes ever at my finger tips?

Eric briefly considered his Scotch, but why risk transporting those bottles to a place flooded with such commodities?

Baby grand right out; what about the cello? Maybe. Have to think about that given the size.

Books, oh my yes. Especially given that this hypothetical location would not be English based, there's only so much Amazon.uk can do for that particular itch. Yes, a box of books would be required.

So, here is my list.

  • 3/4 size guitar
  • painting easel and any any paints/brushes expensive to replace
  • my steamer trunk with favourite clothes
  • box of books
  • minature triptych mum painted me
  • my two Gothic angel carvings
  • small 1560 pen and ink 

Eric added to that list his own suitcase of clothes + Kindle.

Ellie might have some challenges pairing things down, but all in all, she's usually pretty good about narrowing the scope when she's asked.

Is that right? Could we really pick up and go with so little? Apparently so, but just to check, we walked around the house. Several things were considered and then left behind, but we did add to the list:

  • teapot
  • my 3 English tea tins
  • Eric's large Shiva stone

Of course the trick wouldn't be taking too much over, in reality. It would be figuring out how to haul back our the treasures we collected throughout that time :) Still, I would call us gypsies at heart!

18 April 2015

Parenting through Gaming

Parents have to take advantage of the weird moods that kids go through ... in this case, a mixture of Ellie's Wonder Woman costume (including sword that she found on Amazon) and her fascination with all things fantasy gaming.

Setting: Saturday morning, having been denied an immediate start to her Minecraft bonanza, she dons said costume and demands to serve.

Parents, this what I'm talking about. These moments are rare. Take them in any way they come ... BUT it requires a wee bit of roleplaying to maintain it ...

Eric: Kneel before your king and queen.

Ellie: *kneels*

Eric: I have two quests. First, descend to the dungeon below the castle to the great beast. Release the great beast of Buddy-dom and take him forth into the yard, allowing him explore. Mark the great piles of filth he leaves then return him. Next, I need you to remove the debris and rubbish that has invaded our home. The townspeople have collected it in receptacles of evil in each room. I need you to go forth with the great white bag of holding and collect these signs of decay wherever they may be found. If you succeed, I will give to you three green coins.

Please note that the tables can turn as time passes and we hear the trash bag being popped open.

Ellie: This quest requires minions!

Eric: How may I serve?

Me: I will not serve.

Ellie: *opens jewelry box and blows gently on it onto me*

Me: *fine whatever* How may I serve?

Ellie: Minion #1 must hold the bag and Minion #2 must empty decay.

Eric and me: *wow .... points for creatively, and uhhhhh, no.* 

Eric: This minion is empowered to train you, but can only serve for this decay.

Me: *brilliant!*

Time passes.

Ellie: The quests are completed my lord. What quest may I perform next?

Eric: We are beset by swarms in our home. We need a valiant princess to fight the swarms of dust. Go forth and find the scoop of doom and clear the swarms found across all the steps in the castle.

Break scene

Daddy, I was wanting zombies.

You're not ready for zombies. The next quest. 

OK.

Scene Reset

No go forth!

Yes master. I am ready.

....thus continue for a couple of hours of awesome labour....


12 April 2015

Cynicism or Practicality? Perhaps just absurd expectations :)

It is within my nature to take creative description to a new level of imagination, so you can guess how carefully I have to approach spa experiences. Names for facials like lavender and honey sends my brain into overdrive.

Options floating in my brain include being in a sunny room with French windows open to a garden full of lavender with a glass of chilled champagne sitting on a quaint wooden table while somebody rubs my scalp and and somebody else walks me through a three country honey tasting .... OR perhaps it's a darker room with dried lavender everywhere with a blueberry and lavender martini paired with toast and honey that I enjoy with a hot stone treatment ....

...so when I read a description of such a facial to be ..... "this soothing facial features a locally produced lavender milk masque mixed with local honey...."

....I think, "they are just taking some sticky stuff and putting it on my face."

No champagne. No amazing flower garden aromas. No honey tastings. Just some stuff wiped on my face. Granted, that is what you are supposed to do with facial, but maybe I'm just overly the holistic type.

Moving over to the holistic section.

When I see the title of Chocolate Treatment, my imagination puts the lavender and honey settings to shame. But let's skip their description and go straight to the reality.

"We make you smell chocolate during some wimpy massage and seal your body in some stuff, then send you home with a piece of chocolate."

The animal thing really got me though, where you are given a guided visualization to uncover your own power animal for future support. 

Is this a LARP (live action role playing) for Ranger characters? No, I think they are serious. 

I shouldn't be rude because I know there are cultures that do believe in power animals for inspiration, but after 10 practical interpretations of moon promising massage experiences, I nearly broke.

I yell at myself ... "MARIAN! This is about self-care! Love yourself!"

And I do love myself! I can do my own honey tasting thanks to an awesome honey store in Asheville. I'll buy a bottle of much finer champagne and drop my sugar crystallized rose petals from Paris in it. I'll go to a waterfall and read a book while eating Dahi Sev Papdi.

To be fair, what I selected WILL be awesome and I'll be so happy once I get my facial, wrap, deep tissue massage, and scalp treatment. I still feel that it is dangerous for them to promise things like "a renewed sense of serenity and calm" because they may get clients like me :)

11 April 2015

Bucket Lists

It's easy to say, "oh, I need to put that on my bucket list" ... but we don't usually keep such lists articulated. It's almost a catch-all term for really wanting to do something. However, after doing a four country road trip in Europe, and realising how many years I wanted to do it, I realise the value of seeing something I really want to do in a more articulated manner. As I consider how many times I go to UK/Europe, and yet never really investigated via car (Ireland, Malta, and Iceland being the exception), it's absurd that I have not done this before. As you can see from my bucket list, driving is a major part of my life. It's a part of the American culture that I embrace with every fiber of my being: the vehicle is a symbol of freedom. As frustrated as I get with the seeming inability for the USA to embrace public transportation and railway options to the extent I see in other parts of the world, I do understand. Why would I get on a train for 12 hours to NYC when I can drive there ... and be in charge! I can stop at my favourite places, and develop rituals in all my travel paths, picking and choose those special places based on the path I happen to be travelling.

The infrastructure in Europe is so good for train travel, but as we wandered through village after village, I was on awareness-overload experiencing the unique cultures of each country, city, and village. In one sense, they were all the same. In another sense, everything was utterly unique, opening new doors in my brain that I had not known previously.

Thus, the bucket list. It's not something ever in stone - just a reminder of things I'd like to do the next time I accidentally do a default holiday. Even if I don't do a bucket list item, my choices will be much more intentional.

Flesh and Blood (book review)

Flesh and Blood (Kay Scarpetta, #22)Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

09 April 2015

European Food Analysis

After a four country tour (France, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland), and reflecting on other countries visited in the past decade, the prize (that no country cares about) of "Marian's favourite breakfast" is.....

*drum roll*

LUXEMBOURG!!!!

They may have cheated by pouring me a champagne for breakfast as if it were orange juice. Unlike Americans, who completely destroy the wonderful bubbly stuff by mixing it with orange juice and then calling it something cool (as if that makes up for the fact that they destroyed champagne), the Lux folks serve a myriad of juices on the side, with a dedicated appreciation of champagne on its own.

Frankly, any country who has fair (a flea market with very cool stuff) food of champagne and frites with a side of mayo is awesome. I noticed that it was only sausages at a fair in Basel, Switzerland, and the fairs I visited in Malta, Rome, and London never sold alcohol. Even more unique, the people working the champagne stand were passing out glass champagne flutes. I know the country is wealthy, but good grief! They seemed grateful to have it returned, but obviously were willing to take that chance.


Now, the winners of cool spreads is ....

*drum roll*

GERMANY!!!

OK, I promise that I'm not going to give a prize to each country to make sure each feels better. Switzerland, for example, had a dip or spread that was positively not to my liking. Think sour cream only watered down to trick you into thinking its butter until you dip your knife in it, and then you realise that it's simply "stuff" that floated to the top. I tried it though. Once.

Back to the good stuff! Not being a fan of apple butter in any way, despite so many people's efforts to share their "but this is DIFFERENT" apple butter in my life, I was curious 1) to see that apple butter could look so different in three ways, and 2) to see if German recipes were different.

They are most certainly different in a delicious way! The one of the left is more of a chunky marmalade type approach, but very subtle in all ways. The one in the middle is rather caramel for colour and texture that was the closest to American-style apple butter, but smoother with a tendency towards savoury rather than sweet. The third (farthest to right) was a very dark rich flavour of sweet and tart at the same time, and clearly the house favourite (and mine) as I had to scrape mercilessly to get what remained.



German food, though, on the whole is a wee bit terrifying for me. One major discovery about Eric and myself on this trip is that I am VERY French and Eric is VERY German. He looks at a German menu and sees a couple he might not want. I look at a German menu and consider my almonds and chocolate in the car. 

I once almost made the dangerous decision to order based on how pretty the German words looked. Finding out shortly after that it was "strong Limberger cheese in vinegar dressing" ... was enough to send me packing back to France in a hurry. While I do like bologna sausage and pate, they eat such food like I would eat oysters and champagne, causing my emergency rations to dwindle further. Also, their desserts are quite heavy, unlike the light, airy foodstuffs of the French. I will say though, the freshly caught and fried fish at one of our hotels was incredible. I am just saying that the natural tendencies of the German palate leave me ... not touring Germany for its food :) Eric, on the other hand, seems to be strongly of the Germanic tribe guzzling beer from breweries of the 1300s and 1400s and eating meat in many disconcerting forms. 


However, if Eric and I ever had a home in the region, the perfect location would be the border between France and Germany right in the middle of the Alsace wine region (French) and the Baden wine region (German). Gorgeous villages, vineyards on mountainsides, drinking beautiful light wines on top of castles built in the 11th century .... I could, if pressed, handle that lifestyle :)

06 April 2015

Driving Tips in Germany

There are several important facts to share for anyone who has the driving wanderlust for Germany.

  1. The autobahn rules completely rock.
  2. Refer to #1; double the awesomeness.
  3. Refer to #1 and #2, trip the awesomeness.
  4. Refer....ok. This could get tedious. 
BUT, you get my point! 

My introduction was a "HOLY SHIT" exclamation as a BMW streaked by, going what I had to estimate 200 km/hr. Seriously? These people are nuts!

Then Eric gently reminded me ... Germany has the Autobahn. 

This filtered slowly in my brain, not quite sure if it was safe to grasp such delicious truth. Never have I pumped a car over 100 mph .... and now that was about to change.

We belted across Germany is what I would define as quite good time, pushing our little Renault rental to it's death, while cursing the reality that all the Audi's, BMW's, and Mercedes' yawning their way up to 150 mph. Not only are Germans insanely loyal to those three brands of vehicles, they are really excellent machines. 

Stupid Renault.

Meanwhile, Germany makes up for it's speedy cross country efforts once you get off the highway. If anybody suggests "let's take the scenic route" ... add some serious time to your journey.

Eric: Let's just pop off here and wander through the villages. I see a castle over there.

Marian: As long we as we get to drive through the Black Forest.

*envision happy couple dancing towards the impossible and invisible maze of doom*

Firstly, chasing castles based on site is not the wisest use of one's time. Secondly, the Black Forest had no orcs, no witches, no fairy godmothers, and NO lost princesses. I feel betrayed by years of fairie tales lying to me. This was supposed to a deep, dark, scary forest full of magic. What it actually is at this point is a cute minature version of Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina (without the mountains). 

Brokenhearted and trying to think of reasons that the Black Forest wasn't as imposing as I had wanted it to be, we start finding the villages. In fact, there's a handy footpath and exactly two fields between each one - scarily engineering like. All named impossible pronunciations, the random turns start occuring, until finally, a few ... moments?.... maybe longer ... later, we discover a town name we recognize. Based on the number of kilometers to that town from where we got off the highway and where we were at that moment was ....

...wait for it!

...no no, wait for it....

...two kilometers.

At least it was two kilometers closer to that town, and frankly, we took that as a victory.

Off highway adventures are now much more heavily planned.

05 April 2015

Luxembourg...

...is a grand duchy (now a country) that seems to be a wee melting pot, somewhat unable to even define the preferred language as German, French, English and a Lux dialect of German is somewhat scattered across signs, shoppes, and reading material.

That being said, I was completely excited to actually visit a country that I had never thought would be visited  ... for example, who says, "oh, I'm going to fly over to Luxembourg...."?

Whether simply overshadowed be the great neighbors of Germany, Belgium, and France, or too tiny to remember when holiday planning, I never expected to go.

But when planning road trips, funny things happen.

"Oh, let's drive over to Germany - it's literally only five hours to the Black Forest!"

"Hrmmmm....did you know that Luxembourg is right there? We could pop north first and then head east."

*five day castle and beer foray is cut into slightly for a Luxembourgh detour*

"And look! Our favourite white wine regions are literally sitting next two each other!"

*reality of the time and research it takes to experience true wine touring is primarly ignored*

"Also, we're already hitting the Boden and Alsace regions for wine (two long strips parallel across the French/German border), so we could slip into Basel, Switzerland for a night..."

*any length of time anywhere is straight out the window as we decide to keep moving at a leisurely pace instead of roosting in one spot*

"Wow, Belgium is the western border of Luxembourg, we could start a little more easterly and just chug right across Luxembourg."

"Well, I don't know, we should try and stick to the plan."

Right.

I'm not sure how adding Luxembourg, two wine regions, and Switzerland was all right with the non-existent plan and Belgium was simply crazy, but it was amusing to fully realise that leaving Paris and arriving in Luxembourg City was exactly the same navigational shape and road time as the trip between Indianapolis IN (when we lived there) and Mansfield OH (where we'd visit Eric's parents).

 Albeit, I felt like a little fanfare was in order as we crossed into another country ... perhaps a "Welcome to Luxembourg" sign, or even a "Thank you for visiting France" sign, but clearly the EU has not picked up on the little welcomes and goodbyes that the States give us.

However, and this is very very important ... they have excellent chocolate and cake shoppes!

My absolutely favourite insight into the Lux culture is that their perception of fair food was frites with mayo and a flute (glass, not plastic) of champagne. Yeah, I'd go to fairs if THIS is what is served!



04 April 2015

Eleven o'clock Dinner

One of the great joys of large cities is the fact that they never sleep. However, Paris is especially amazing in that you can get a full dinner very very late. In fact, many high-end restaurants are empty at the "absurdly" early hour of 7p ... simply nobody is ready to eat yet!

Being typically an early dinner "loser" by starting around 9p, we got to put the theory of a truly late dinner to the test last night. There was a hiccup with my dissertation approval that required my chair and I to be on Skype rather late for an hour that was easily cleared up but with horrendous timing. Why? Because it was Friday night in Paris, and if this had happened just about anywhere else, I'd have given up the evening for lost. 

Not in Paris! 

Eric had his eye on a restaurant near us, and we dashed over at 11p, hoping, seeing that other places were quite packed, that the kitchen would still be open.

Sure enough .... we explained that we wanted actual food from the kitchen, and mercy was given. He promised to keep it open for a few more minutes if we hurry. I was ecstatic! 

The waiter bustled over for the wine order where he is sweet with his impatience as he suggests that he just picks one for us ....

"and what kind do we prefer? Flowery? Robust? Thin? Heavy?"

I finally realise that we are no longer in charge (and possibly never were) and explain that we would like a big bold spicy red. 

He considers, smiles, pulls the wine menu from Eric's hands because, after all, he's already decided for us! He returns with a wine from the Basque region on the French side that made me realise where my next holiday will be....


... and the dinner was divine where we realised that we have a "raw" problem, and not in the healthy raw diet way. Lightly smoked salmon, bacon barely cooked for Eric, and steak tartare for me .... and we were SO happy!





Also, I am not a dessert person except in Paris ... where five tiny desserts only seemed incredibly appropriate.



What I especially loved though, was that the picture of us in the restaurant is at 1130p; and past midnight people were still coming in for their late night snack of fromage and champagne. 


I will return to the States to determine what late night joyous options are available to me, thanks to this experience!

02 April 2015

Eating in Paris ... and Asheville!

Possibly the most special activity in Paris (besides shopping and drinking wine) is food browsing at open air markets. Meats, honey, bread, whole fish, rabbits, quail, chicken, salami, pate, candied fruit; absolutely endless options that leaves one comfortable with a completely bare kitchen at night because you know there's plenty of freshness awaiting the 10a run to the market. The only things required in the kitchen at all times are bread, eggs, and tea (in my world) for breakfast.

This, of course, doesn't even include the little niceties that the French do so well. Fresh flowers literally on every corner, shoppes alternating between chocolate and wine on each block. It's a style of living that I will always cherish in the cities, as similar memories come to mind for Rome, Malta, London, and New York City.

However, my gratitude for Asheville, despite the small size, has increased quite a bit. The access to fantastic music in Asheville really is amazing, and the restaurants, well. I need to stop taking them for granted.

For example, a proud Parisian explains that his restaurant smokes their own meat and handcraft their ginger ale in-house. 

Eric and I look at each other, mentally counting the number of Asheville restaurants that do the same.  I feel a bit of shame for my recent ingratitude in Asheville that tends to come with living in a place for awhile.

Then we discover some "cool" places that are incredibly difficult to get into, and no matter when we went, the bar was simply packed to overflowing .... but I had to smile with renewed appreciation that the famous chef there had the same global ratings as our own chef for Nightbell and Curate ....

We don't have the castles, ancient history, and amazing wineries that we get to explore next week on the road trip through France, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland (recently added Basil to our road trip), but I was reminded that we did pick a fine place to live in the States for our ever increasingly obnoxious palates :)

Meanwhile, it's time for the evening snack of bread and honey!