Month: April 2015

An Inspiring Week in Berlin

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The humorous work of one Señor Albert Pinyas. I only remember his last name because he made a joke in one of his pieces about his girlfriend’s name (Ana) and the Spanish word for pineapple (anana or in some cases, piña). Ok, I’ll move on from being so punny… Lemme tell you straight up: Berlin is the real deal. Not so expensive (shhh, don’t everyone go there at once because then the opposite will be true), oozing creativity, vegans, a little bit of grunginess, galleries and coffee shops all over the place, big (I mean really big) sidewalks…  FYI: I was there for a week-long study trip (read: I didn’t have control over the agenda) with a focus on meeting food communicators, activists and artists and we spent most of our time bumbling around in Mitte, Kreuzberg and Friedrichschain. Below are some highlights. I don’t know if these guys actually accept visits to their brewery and even if you did want to go, you have to walk down an abandoned road and hope you’re not …

36 Hours in Munich

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Surfers in an urban park. That’s a new one. Leave it to the Germans to find a way. So I’m back from a week in Germany. I had previously only spent a few (yet very comfortable) hours at the Frankfurt Airport, so I was looking forward to getting up close and personal with Deutschland. And lemme tell you, I loved it. Some of the reasons were quite silly but just so refreshing after living in a small town in Italy. These include: individuals who speak perfect English, clean buses and trains that are easy to navigate and muesli. Did I mention efficiency? After somewhat of a tumultuous departure (hooray for airlines that charge 30 euro for tickets, boo for how rude they are and how much the plane reminds you of being an animal in a feedlot), my travel companion Urmila and I made it to Munich. I am a firm believer in the NYT 36 Hours column, but this was our chance to design and execute our own version. At the suggestion of a friend, we booked an …

Andalucia Part 2: Granada

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Gorgeous doors and mosaics abound in Palacio Nazaries within the Alhambra.  Granada is only about a 3 hour drive from Sevilla (together with Cordoba they form a little triangle) so we cruised on over there for a few more days of Mudejar style buildings and tapas. The most interesting thing to me about the Alcazar in Sevilla, the Mezquita/Catedral in Cordoba and also the Alhambra in Granada is how much the Christian rulers kept of the Moorish style architecture when they rose to power. We saw several rooms inside the Alhambra where Arabic script reading “there is no God besides Allah” still lined the walls…and where Christians held regular masses. Either they didn’t know what was going on or they were just exceptionally tolerant. Regardless, they left beautiful rooms and courtyards like this one intact for visitors like me to see today. How nice of them. Granada is an interesting city in the sense that the Alhambra is up on a hill (it was a palace/fortress, after all), the “downtown” is one big boulevard and then …

Semana Santa in Sevilla

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First bullfight of 2015. Apparently the hashtag was #tardedetoros. More below. Gotta love predominantly Catholic countries for giving you a week off from school. When I was in Argentina, I also enjoyed a week off for Semana Santa, or Holy Week. In that case, it was also a non-spring “Spring Break” given that I was living in the Southern Hemisphere. But I digress. I have been itching to get over to Andalucía ever especially since visiting Morocco back in November. From mosaics to the doors to the Arabic script to the courtyards to the overall Mudejar style…something just fascinates me. Mostly the geometry and the colors more than anything. My parents and I arrived in Sevilla on Friday evening–just in time to catch one of the evening processions. Over the course of the week, more than 60 floats organized by local brotherhoods pass through the streets. Some weigh more than a couple of tons and they are carried by teams of guys who train for several months late at night. I didn’t remember enough from my Sunday school days to …

Blue Skies in Barolo and Barbaresco

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Soaking up some rays. Looking out at some vineyards. Trying to figure out where France is. My parents are in town! This means lots of adventures and that I have access to an automobile. Most of the time, cruising around by foot and by bicycle does the trick, but with four wheels you can unlock the secrets of the Langhe, the world-famous wine region right next door to my school ,but a little bit out of reach otherwise. Yesterday I skipped out on a Wine Technology class (how ironic is that?) to go roam around Barolo and Barbaresco. Practical knowledge trumps theory in this case, I would say. We began with a lovely lunch at Osteria La Cantinella in Barolo. It is a little bit difficult to find, but just look for a large parking lot and be patient, because the wild boar and raspberry paparadelle is worth it. It sounds like a crazy combination, but somehow it works. Sadly no photos to convince you of its deliciousness, but take my word for it. While …