Memorial Day Weekend at Whistler

Memorial Day weekend!  I've always thought of this weekend as the first weekend of summer, when the days are warm and long, and you have an extra day to get out and enjoy the weather before it gets hot.  Memorial Day is not quite so summery here in the Pacific Northwest (that won't really come until July), but with all the natural beauty of the region, it's hard to complain. 

Justin and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend to drive up to Whistler, the resort town about an hour and a half north of Vancouver, British Columbia, where the 2010 Winter Olympics were held.  Although Whistler is famous for its skiing, it's summer season rocks:  the hiking, mountain biking, zip-lining, whitewater rafting, and scenic gondolas are all terrific, and in town there's enough yoga, restaurants, bakeries, shops and a movie theater to keep the "down time" fun. 

Obviously a weekend (even a long weekend) is not enough time to do everything (especially when you stop in Vancouver along the way to meet up for lunch with other Seattle friends who are vacationing there), so we focused on the hiking, yoga, restaurants and movies.  We had a great time, and I'd love to go back and explore some more.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Border crossing! 
The lines to get through border patrol were infuriatingly long.  We waited 80 minutes.

We stayed at the Cascade Lodge near the heart of Whistler Village.

We may have brought more than we needed for a weekend...

View from the condo

Proof that the 2010 Winter Olympics happened here

Sunday was the best weather day, so we prioritized hiking.  Local guides recommended a 6-mile hike to Logger's Lake.  The first part of the loop was steep up a mountainside with nice views and a wonderfully mossy forest.  Then we dropped down to a lake, where we had lunch and watched the fishermen.  The last part of the trail followed the snow-swollen river back down to the trailhead.

When I posted to Facebook that I was in Canada, approximately everyone I know
recommended that I eat a Wunderbar.  I tried one but didn't love it -- give me a Twix any day.

When in Canadia, eat maple things!

Suspension bridge over the river

Traffic rules on the bridge.  Probably a good idea.

View from the bridge.  There were no bears.

Mr Keyes thought it seemed like a good idea to freeze his feet off
when we were still a couple miles from the car...

Knowing that we'd be ready for dinner after our hike, Justin had the good sense to make a reservation at Araxi.  Everyone said Araxi was the best restaurant in Whistler, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was -- we got a five-course dinner and everything was really excellent.

Gaspacho

Seared tuna tataki and spicy tuna tartare on sushi rice
with shiso leaf ponzu pearls and chopped egg crepe

Sweet pea ravioli

Rack of lamb with parmesan polenta, green beans and mushrooms

Fresh raspberries with sour cream ice cream and macaroons

We drove home on Monday under cloudy skies.  It's too bad, because the "Seat to Sky" highway is spectacularly scenic, and the clouds obscured the view. 

Next time we'll stop and take pictures while it's sunny. 
The views from the highway are amazing.

 

Amsterdam

After finishing meetings in Berlin on Wednesday, my colleague and I flew to Amsterdam for another series of meetings there.  These meetings could not have been more different!  The Berlin meetings were formal (in a conference room), highly contentious and underscored by deep distrust between the two parties, but the Amsterdam meetings were casual (in coffee shops), friendly and very collaborative.

The Amsterdam meetings were also blessedly short.  When we scheduled them, our Dutch counterpart had forgotten that it was a holiday.  He was gracious enough not to cancel the meeting, given that we'd made the effort to fly to Amsterdam specifically to see him, but he also recognized that all of us might be interested in having a free afternoon.  So we covered the key points that would benefit the most from in-person discussions, and then we split.  

I began by dragging my colleague to the Van Gogh museum.  He's from Texas and this was his first time in Europe.  Before the trip he had told me that he had no interest in exploring the towns, eating delicious food, or seeing art (one hour in a museum is all he could handle).  Obviously my job was to bring this benighted soul into the fold, and I figured that Van Gogh would be a good way to do that:  It's a small museum and focuses on telling the story of Van Gogh.  You really can see a range of the artist's work and evolution over time.  The exhibitions do a good job situating Van Gogh in art history, and I was able to add more commentary to help Steven connect.  And the great thing is that he got it!  He paid attention and started noticing things ("That harvest scene looks like where I went to school in Kansas"), then started having opinions ("I don't really like that outlining as much as when there's no outlining"), then asking questions ("But why is this important as art?"), and then finally making his own interpretations ("These paintings from late in life seem to show lots of sunsets, as if he knew he was on his way out").  When we left the museum he turned to me and thanked me for taking him; he said he had no idea art could be so interesting and cool.  Warmed the cockles of my heart.

After that we parted ways.  He wanted to find a windmill and some tulip fields; I wanted more art and food and city exploration.

This is the street where our Dutch publisher lived. We met him at his house and then
went around the corner to a coffee shop to talk.

Amsterdam's Museumplein -- a giant lawn surrounded by terrific museums

We started with the Van Gogh museum.
We had to wait in line for about an hour before we could get in.

The Rijksmuseum is next to the Van Gogh.
Here is were all the really great traditional Dutch art lives: Rembrandt, still life, etc.

The Concertgebouw, where the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra plays.
Sadly, they didn't perform on the one night I was in town.

Next best thing to a concert?  Why, lunch in the concert hall's restaurant.
I had a quiche.

One of the many canals lined with adorable, narrow canal houses.

Frites!  Because wandering through a foreign city is hard work.
(It's been so long since I had good Belgian frites --
I'd forgotten just how good they are!)

Panoramic street view.  From here I accidentally walked into the red light district...  It was awkward.

Amsterdam is easily the most bike-friendly city I've seen in Europe or North America.
They have dedicated bike lanes, where the traffic is heavier than in the car lanes.
And the bicycle parking lots are massive.

Hidden garden glimpsed through an ivy-covered iron gate.
I love that they take this much care to make a beautiful garden.

After what felt like miles of walking, I needed a break but didn't want to go back to the hotel yet.  My first instinct was to find a performance, but none of the orchestras, opera or ballet had a performance that night.  So next best thing:  Movies!  I found a cinema downtown that was showing Pitch Perfect 2.  I bought a ticket and had a great time watching that silly show with a bunch of chuckling Dutch fans.

Next morning it was time to come home.  One quick flight from Amsterdam to Seattle, nonstop.  We left at 10am and after 10 hours of flight landed at 10:50am.  I love time travel like that!

Meetings in Berlin (Day 2)

The downside of being in Berlin for business meetings is that I have to spend all day sitting in those meetings instead of running around experiencing the city.  But the upside is that after those meetings, the counterparty takes us out for dinner at a fancy rooftop restaurant with terrific views . . . .

. . . and then on the walk back to the hotel we pass Checkpoint Charlie.

Tomorrow we finish meetings here and fly out to Amsterdam for another round of meetings.  Our hotel isn't going to be nearly so well situated, but hopefully I'll be able to get out and see some of the city anyway.  Fun fun!

Meetings in Berlin (Day 1)

I'm in Berlin for work this week.  It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!  I got in yesterday and discovered that my hotel (which was booked by my colleague) is located right in the heart of the old historical center.  That meant I could go on an evening walk after dinner and hit many of the key sights in this part of town. 

Strange to think that last time I was here, I was 23 and it was freezing cold in February.  So much has changed!  So much is still the same.

Brandenburg Gate

Soviet prestige tower

Tons of construction everywhere

There are brightly colored tubes everywhere.  The cabbie explained that they're meant to
pump water out of the construction sites for a new subway line.  They look like art.

This is what happens when I need a snack
but can't find a Belgian waffle shop.

Reichstag

Super ornate church

 

So the Kaiser had a palace in the olden days across the street from the crazy ornate church.
Then WWII and the Cold War, and the palace was replaced by a hideous glass
Soviet building that made everyone want to poke their eyeballs out (at least, that's how
I felt when I saw it in 2003).  Then 1989 and no more Wall, and now they've
 torn town the Soviet monstrosity and are replacing it with a new palace.
Yay!

Amsterdam does airports right

For example, they've got lovely outdoor seating areas that are perfect on a warm spring day after you've sat on a plane for nine hours and your connecting flight has been delayed.

Also, not only do they sell Spa water (a delicious Belgian spring water), they sell Spa Marie-Henriette, which is only "lightly bubbly" and, in my humble opinion, is the best water ever.

I should fly from Canada more often

Vancouver is a fun and pretty city (more on that later), and it's airport now ranks near the top in term of painless/efficient security experience.  See you in Berlin!

Gritti in SEA

It has been so much fun having Grit stay with me this week. During the days I've gone to work while she explored the city.  At night we'd meet up back at the house to make dinner and talk and talk and talk.  

As Friday approached, and with it the end of Grit's stay, I thought about how to make her last night in Seattle something special. Why not throw a little raclette dinner party? 

Thanks to Amazon's Prime shipping for the grill and a last minute discovery of a shop that sold raclette cheese, we had everything we needed for the dinner. I invited a fun group of friends who I thought were well traveled and interesting enough to make for fun conversation. Everyone brought their food assignments, we fired up the grill, and spent the rest of the night eating deliciousness veggies and meats and, best if all, bubbly melted cheese. Fun,fun! 

Next up? Road trip to Vancouver!

The House: Not boring (part 2)

My new blue walls are done!  Here's how the room looks without the plastic and drop cloths.



Now I need to figure out lamps and artwork . . . .