Baguette

Peter and I spent the long weekend at his parents' lake house--I managed to get up (but not stay up) on water skis! On the drive back we heard an episode of The Current on CBC about how baguette consumption has declined in France. Though 98% of the French eat baguette, they're only consuming about half as much bread as they did a generation ago. The worry seems to be about the threat to cultural identity.

L'Observatoire du pain, France's bread lobby, has launched a Got Milk?-style campaign asking: Coucou! Tu as pris le pain?

My favourite part of the baguette is the crusty pointed ends. Costing only about 80 centimes in France, it was one of the biggest shocks coming back to Canada where a baguette costs about four times the price. The other thing I noticed when living in France is that people would carry the baguette simply tucked under their arm. Here cashiers will try to awkwardly stuff the long shaft of bread into a grocery bag. I always pull it out and do as I saw in France.

(photo by Carl Monus)

PDX

I'm basking in the second day of afterglow from our weekend getaway to Portland.

Shortly after Peter planned a brewery tour bachelor party in Portland for his friend Josh (who eloped in Positano!),  a group of us started planning a weekend trip to Portland for the beer fest.

With six of us going, I looked up rentals on Airbnb and found this lovely yellow heritage house located in the historic Ladd Addition neighbourhood--check out the aerial view of the neighbourhood's cool diagonal pattern.

The home was lovely, spacious, and beautifully decorated. I especially loved the vintage map of Stockholm at the top of the stairs (undoubtedly a nod to the owners' Swedish roots) and prints of Ladd and Portland bridges. The best part about staying in a house together rather than in four separate hotel rooms was the group feel. In the mornings Peter made us his delicious egg breakfast sandwiches and we ate them at the table on the porch.

I would definitely rent a house for a group vacation again. We even talked about doing Portland again next summer.

Saturday afternoon we headed to the Portland Beerfest. We sampled at least a dozen brews (fortunately they were only 4-ounce pours). I had fun learning how to identify the tasting notes and diagramming them in a beer tasting book I bought for the trip.

I have to say I was really impressed with the festival. Initially I had thought it would be a brewery pub crawl, so when I found out it was in a park I was a bit worried that it would have a beer garden vibe. It was so much better than I had expected. There wasn't beer garden vibe at all. Craft beer lovers (some in clever beer t-shirt or costumes) came together to enjoy 4-ounce samples. The organizers also deserve props for the eco-friendly glass tumblers we got with our admission--I'm sure we diverted thousands of disposable cups away from landfills.

Otherwise, we just scratched the surface of Portland. We browsed Powell's Books, ate at food carts, and Anna, Patrick, and Dan braved the 45-minute line so we could sample Voodoo Doughnuts.

I hope to go back again soon.

(top photo mine; Instagram via Anna)

Portland

Tomorrow we're driving to Portland with four of our friends for an extended weekend getaway. Peter and I stayed in Portland in 2009 when we roadtripped down the Oregon Coast to San Francisco, but we were only there for a night so we didn't see much of the city.

We rented a super cute house with a hot tub on Airbnb. I haven't really planned anything otherwise. We'll be checking out the beerfest and I want to browse Powell's Books. I'm also armed with my friends' Josh and Colene's google map of what they consider Portland's best.

Have you been to Portland? What are your recommendations? We haven't yet made any plans for dinner Friday, Saturday, or Sunday nights.

(photo via Design*Sponge)

On the Road

There's another three weeks left until the solstice and the official start of summer. But I've been ready for summer ever since the weather started taking a turn for the nicer in May.

A few weeks back I was telling some friends about how I was listening to this episode of This American Life about a guy who decided to walk across America. Though I haven't been on a cross-country road trip, I remarked that whenever summer rolls around I feel compelled to read "wander literature."

I was given a copy of Kerouac's On the Road seven years ago by a now-estranged friend who wrote a lovely inscription in the front cover. I remember not really getting into the book until the third part and disliking the portrayal of the female characters. I'd love to re-read it and see if I still feel the same way. You can check out a variety of editions of On the Road front covers here.

This summer I think I might read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, the original Route 66 story.

What's on your reading list this summer? Do you find the seasons affect what you're in the mood to read?

(Photo from the film On the Road via Art Info)

The Plane or Train in Spain?

Exactly two months from today, I will board a plane for Europe.  I'm crossing the pond much sooner than I had anticipated.  An opportunity presented itself and I am taking it; the band Peter plays in is going back on tour this spring and I am meeting him in Spain once it ends.  We are taking the trip we would have taken had he been able to return to Europe at the end of my teaching contract. 

I am flying from Vancouver to Amsterdam.  I have a few-hours-long layover in Schiphol before boarding a plane to Madrid.  Now that we are two months away from our trip, it's getting near time to solidify how long we want to be in each Madrid, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.  We both fly back to North America from Amsterdam, and Peter really liked the Netherlands when he's been on tour there, so we would like to spend time there too.  Our trip is 10 days, so I'm inclined to allot three days to each city.  If you've been to any or all of these cities, what do you think?

My next planning dilemma is how we will get from Madrid to Barcelona.  It seems we have three options:

1. Easy Jet does not fly from Madrid to Barcelona, yet Ryan Air does.  I have never flown with Ryan Air, but the reviews I've read and heard have not been great.  Ryan Air also typically tends to fly to airports on the outskirts.  Ryan Air flies to Barcelona-Girona which is 98km away from Barcelona; the city can be reached by either bus or train.  The flight takes 1 hour 30, and airfare starts at €20,51 each.
2. There is a high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona that takes 2 hours 30.  From what I've been able to discern on the Renfe website, fares start at €118,50 each.  There is also an overnight option for €44,60 that departs just before 11:00pm and arrives just after 7:30am.  Despite the savings, I'd be less inclined to opt for this as I am not sure of how restful the train would be.  I have also been told that the Spanish countryside, and especially the coast, are worth seeing, which we wouldn't get a view of at night.
3. Driving.  This option is very expensive and likely out of our budget.  According to Google Maps (which has failed me before when planning road trips), the drive from Madrid to Barcelona via Valencia takes 7 hours 21.  The benefit is that we could take a day to do the trip at our own cost and stop in Valencia for lunch.  

Have you been to Spain?  How would you recommend we divide our time between each city?  What mode of transportation would you recommend we take?  Any other tips?  I'd love to hear!

(Map photograph: My own of Atlas Général Bordas, publication year unknown)

Gauguin & Polynesia

As I said, it was a poster for Gauguin at the SAM that caught my eye and prompted our trip to Seattle.

Our trip to Seattle happened to coincide with the SAM's Community Day.  When we entered the museum, there was a band playing French café music, a nice touch that transported us to late nineteenth-century France--Gauguin's time. 

Gauguin & Polynesia: An Elusive Paradise surveyed the artists' art inspired by and created during his travels the islands.  The exhibit was organized coherently, beginning with some biography about Gauguin and his visit to the 1896 Paris World's Fair that in part inspired his later travels to Polynesia, and continuing on to his works.  This was not simply a retrospective of Gauguin's Polynesian works, the show gave equal attention to traditional Polynesian art objects.  The free audio-guide was also very well done; apparently narrated by Stanley Tucci (or a vocal doppelgänger), it featured experts in the field of Polynesian art and culture as well as Seattle residents of Polynesian descent.

I found Gauguin & Polynesia thoroughly thought-provoking:

• Gauguin's Woman with a Flower reminded me of the Arlésiennes he and Van Gogh painted;
• I considered the missionary dresses the Polynesian women wore as an element and symbol of colonial oppression;
• I wondered about Polynesia life and economy prior to imperial contact;
• Gauguin's Faaturuma (Melancholic) reminded me of Picasso's Blue period (which I had the opportunity to see in Amsterdam);
• As Gauguin's first trip to Polynesia was funded in part by the French government to produce reportorial paintings, I thought of the potential problems in relying on such paintings and the advent of photography and photojournalism;
• I found that some of the tikis' facial features (particularly the large eyes and mouths) resembled the facial features in Haida art.

The show was beautiful and made me eager to learn more about Polynesian art and culture.  The SAM is the only North American stop for Gauguin & Polynesia.  If you happen to be planning a trip to Seattle, you should definitely go.

(Exhibit image in collage via the SAM)

Relaxed & Well-Rested in Seattle

Is it that Vancouverites underestimate our fellow port city, or has Seattle recently undergone a renaissance and become cool (again)?  A little over a month ago a SAM poster for Gauguin caught my eye and spurred a trip.

I totally bought into the 2 Days in Seattle campaign run by Seattle's Convention and Visitors Bureau.  It's such a cool way to harness social media to promote a city.  The recommendations I received via Twitter totally made the trip.  Communicating with residents of the city--even just through tweets--made me feel as though I was being welcomed to the city.  I hope the 2 Days website is maintained beyond this off-season and I have some ideas for improvements.*

While I would have gone to the SAM to see the Gauguin exhibit regardless, the 2 Days campaign convince me to make a weekend of it, especially as my 5(!) year anniversary with Peter fell within the exposition dates.  We hotwired a hotel (we scored the Marriott Renaissance downtown for $100+tax) and drafted a loose itinerary based on suggestions of friends and Seattle tweeps and off we went.

We rolled into Seattle at about 11 o'clock on Saturday morning and were able to check into our hotel immediately.  We dropped our suitcase in our room and consulted the concierge for walking directions to the SAM.  I'm so glad we asked, not because we couldn't have figured it out, but because our concierge offered us a pass we could use to get into the SAM for free!  On our way to the SAM we browsed a cute and well-curated shop where I picked up these gourmet lollipops (watermelon basil--yum!), and stopped for lunch at a café where I had a delicious feta and basil sandwich.  Gauguin at the SAM was amazing (but that's another post that's coming up).  

After visiting the SAM we wandered over to Pike Place Market and did a wine tasting at the Tasting Room, where the lovely ladies there introduced me to a delicious Washington Riesling.  On our way out of the Tasting Room and back to our hotel, we passed Beecher's and I promptly bought a cheddar and a lavender-anise cheese.  

For our anniversary dinner we went to Ray's Boathouse in Ballard, a recommendation tweeted to me by Seattle Maven.  I could probably write a blog post dedicated solely to this restaurant; it was simply fabulous.  Our waitress and sommelier (a delicious Austrian Riesling!) were friendly and knowledgeable, my cocktail--a rosemary grapefruit drop--was different and delicious, and the food was delicious.  The service was impeccable and even above and beyond our expectations (they even had us meet one of the chefs!).  I even joked that maybe they thought Peter was going to propose so he better get down on one knee and pop the question.  

Before turning in for the night, we had a final drink that night at Quinn's Pub, which upon entering Peter thanked the friend who recommended it to us out loud (not sure if you heard, Josh:)).  

After a comfortable night's sleep, we woke up well-rested but confused about what time it was because of the time change (daylight savings).  (Side note: our hotel had a king-size bed; any other short people love king sizes because you can sleep length and width-wise?)  We leisurely got ready and packed and headed out for brunch at Oddfellows in Capitol Hill.  We walked around the neighbourhood (Seattle is so much hillier than I would have thought--it rivals San Francisco!), and had a fourth and final coffee at Victrola on 15th.

I could certainly say more but I don't want to belabour the point: I had a wonderful weekend in Seattle; it was the perfect mid-winter pick-me-up.  Vancouverites should not overlook the Emerald City when taking a road trip down the I-5.