Alaaf! This year’s WEBMU (Whiny Expat Blogger Meet-Up) took place in Cologne. Our hosts Resident Evil on Earth, Cheap as Chips, and Futile Diatribes did an excellent job of putting together a fun-filled agenda for all of us.
travel
Dom, dom dom dom… Köln!
We just returned from a weekend of cavorting with other expat bloggers in Cologne. More about WEBMU is coming up in a future post; right now I want to show you a ridiculous number of photos from our rooftop tour of the cathedral, one of the highlights of the weekend.
Cologne’s cathedral (Dom in German) is the city’s big recognizable landmark. It is Gothic and old, and definitely worth exploring from as many angles as possible.
The tour started with a walk along a narrow balcony that snaked its way around the interior of the church from about half-way up.
Interview: Creative Tourism with Elena
On our recent trip to Innsbruck I had the pleasure of meeting Elena Paschinger of Kreativ Reisen Österreich (Creative Tourism Austria). As an artist and avid traveler, i was excited to learn more about creative tourism. I thought several of my readers would, too, so I asked Elena to answer some questions for us.
Oktoberfest 2011: same procedure as every year
This is our fourth Oktoberfest as locals. Since leaving my parents’ house at 18, I’ve never lived anywhere else for more than three years, so this is kind of weird for me. I’m not used to doing things for a fourth time.
But here I am, getting out the dirndl (paired with sensible shoes for dancing on wooden benches) for Oktoberfest number four. Conversations with friends all include an exchange of details about which tents we will be in on which nights. The guest room is booked for almost a month straight with various configurations of friends and family.
Austria: spa-ing it up in Sölden
Our first stop in the Ötztal was the recently-rebuilt Hotel Bergland in the mountain town of Sölden. Situated as it is in the Alps, it’s the kind of place that is full of skiers in the winter and hikers and bikers in the summer. After being welcomed with lunch in their dining room, we went on a tour of the hotel and then ended up at the top-floor spa for an afternoon of deep relaxation.
Austria: into the Ötz Valley
After Innsbruck, Scott and I split up to try out two different blogger trips that were offered to the conference attendees. How can you not love a conference that comes with free travel at the end?
I went for the Relaxation in the Ötz Valley (Ötztal) trip. We’ve been to this part of Austria before, but always in winter to ski. The Alps feel like a different world in summer.
Getting charmed by Innsbruck
Last week we headed to Innsbruck to attend a travel blogging conference. This little city nestled in the mountains absolutely oozes Austrian charm, so it was nice to have an excuse to go back. The old city center is full of pedestrian streets lined with shops and cafes, perfect for wandering around aimlessly.
New York food porn: the vegetarian restaurants
Welcome to part two of my 2011 New York food porn. I got too hungry working on the first post, so I had to divide it up. Here are the vegetarian restaurants we sampled in the city in May, with my favorites marked with asterisks.
*Dirt Candy is a tiny little restaurant celebrating vegetables in all their glory. Each dish features variations on a single vegetable (even the desserts), and so many of them sounded good that we had trouble choosing.
New York food porn 2011
Scott and I get back to New York to visit friends and family about once a year. Well, we pretend we’re there to visit, but mostly we are there to eat. Here are some of the culinary highlights from our most recent visit (those marked * were my absolute favorites from this trip).
London notes: food
With the exception of, well, pretty much anyplace in Italy, London is my favorite food city in Europe. Long gone are the days of tittering about the blandness of English cuisine; London restaurants are creative, varied, and plentiful. Here are some of the notable eateries from my last visit.