Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Elle's First Look for Fall 2015

Elle May 2015
Hopefully, I haven't attributed this page wrong. I pulled it out a couple of months ago and kept it in a pile of looks to share.

Many pages in the spring editions showed black/white and lace. This is one of the better looks of it. I'm so sure that I could pull off a thigh high, mile high heeled boot, but a white lace dress and a leather jacket? Certainly.

On my recent trip with family, my niece wore an outfit very similar to this one. She dragged her leather jacket out of the suitcase and put it over her white lace dress on the evening that we went to see Mozart being played. Personally, I would have died of heat stroke from wearing leather, but she is a warm climed  girl who isn't afraid of a little hot. Good thing because she was smoking.

Friday, July 24, 2015

Traveling: In a Van from Prague to Vienna for a 5 Hour Tour


Everyone decided that we needed to spend more time in Prague. We wound round the city along the cobbled streets. We were all still high from the performance of Don Giovanni the night before at a local opera house. We sat in the second row for an intimate performance of the players and orchestra. In the old square, we saw our old friends, the medieval bohemian band, and we found a new one to follow: Circus Problem. They were parrt oompa band, marching  band, and very punk. We bought their CD. Reluctantly, we left as we had a drive to get back to Vienna for our flight. The traffic was horrendous. Accidents on the expressway tied up the roads for miles. We switched direction and cut through  Slavakia, which was smoother, but turned what was to be a quick 3 hours into 5. Tired from all of the galavamting and then car travel, the back of the Ford mini-bus got a little rowdy. At one point, I played the teacher and used my teacher voice and took the water away.  But the games continued and our merry group  found its way to thecheap hotel   at the airport for our return bome. 

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Traveling: Leather on Prague's Old Town Square

As the sun blazed across the morning square, these guys were geared up in leather to put on quite a show. The square was a circus: one man blew bubbles in swirls, an African in a white tutu twirled, and food stalls started their slow roasts. It was hard to leave the show to follow our planned day.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Traveling: Toy Soldier in Prague


On a very hot day in Prague, we took the number 22 tram up the hill to Prague Castle. My sister insisted that I carry an umbrella to shade my freckles from the scorching sun. They were hot, but can you imagine this guy? From a distance, it was hard to tell if they were real or not. As we walked closer, they were very real indeed. This one was quite distinguished. I told my family that I wouldn't mind him under the Christmas tree to play with.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Traveling: Prague at Night


I haven't been in Prague for 20 years. It was the summer of 1995 when my hometown scorched as did all of the places that I traveled to in Europe that summer. Of course here, air conditioning was served to those at the Ritz and fans hadn' t made their way to the markets. It was hot. Strange is that here I am now, and it is as warm. My bed is high atop an old building on the square with the scene that you see out of my window. We escaped the crowds of the streets that were filled with people after a nice dinner, still tired from the drive here.  I don't remember as many people as before, but I remember the streets as they wound and weaved around, always getting me back to the square.

Traveling: Meeting up with the Camino de Santiago


I fhink that it was eight summers ago that I walked the Pilgram's Walk, the last one hundred miles across northern Spain. Along the seashelled route, the markers that show the way for pilgrims through countryside and town alike, I carried a Camino passport to have stamped at the churches along the way to verify that I was trecking the miles. There aremany starting   points for the walk and some begin in France, Italy, and Germany, which I had forgotten until we walked up the stairs of St. Jakobskirche, one of the seven churches atop the seven hills of Bamberg. St. Jakobskirche is one ofthe pilgrim's   churches along the route that goes through Germany. I would have never thought to bring my passport, but the stamp marked well enough on my hand. The church itself, over a thousand years old, would have seen many souls pass by on their way to Santiago de Compestela, including me.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Traveling: Bamberg Smoked Beer



Breweries abound in the small, picturesque town of Bamberg. After the climb up the hills to visit the many churches (7 hills\7 churches), though we only visited one before going back down to have lunch at a beer house for another rich Bavarian meal and beer. Three of us decided to try the Rauchbier or smoked beer. It came to the table dark and with a distinct smoky flavor. The first couple of sips were interesting as I inhaled the smoky flavor. As I drank the beer, it grew on me. It was rich with flavor, but wasn't so heavy that it competed with the meat and potatoes. I enjoyed it so much so through several glasses that the walk back up the hill was harder than I remembered just an hour or so before. 

Traveling: Best Brat Ever at Neuschwanstein


My niece MK is displaying what we found to be the best brat ever. We had stopped for a coffee before visiting the castle and smelled the deliciousness wafting from the hot dog stand adjacent. Caroline, little niece, went over and bought two for only 8 Euro. MK and I were thr first, soon to be followed by the rest. What made them so good? The beef brat was perfectly roasted on the outside and tender inside. The bun was was warm and like all European bead, crusty on the outside and soft in the middle.  We enjoyed every bite.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Traveling: Cow Speed on the Luge

I wasn't so sure about the luge run at what looked to be an Alpine play park in Fussen, but I gave it a try nonetheless. I was happy to know that my joystick was in fact a break. As I putzed up the hill, I captured this photo of the cows lounging in the field next to the luge. Once I got to the top and had a small panic attack as I considered the course and the height of the turns, I immediately pulled back on the brake. I lost my friends ahead of me, but  I rather enjoyed what I felt was a swift ride down. Apparently, I moved like the cows and kept not one, but several boys from shooting down the steel chutes like bullets. Next time I go, whenever that is, I am going to go full throttle. I can always crash and land on a cow. They look friendly enough.

Traveling: Sunset on a Bavarian Lake

The sun set behind the mountain which made for a glow rather than a red and orange display. The lake was clear, cold water. After a day of hiking and stairs, the water  called my name. I stripped to skivvies and carefully managed many rocks to jumped in. I shivered, but it was delightful.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Traveling: Street Music in Salzburg


Around every corner is another performance. After dinner, the squares fill with music. These three were in the middle of the main street playing for their suppers. And when I flipped a couple of Euros into the violin case, it looked like they would eat well.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Traveling:Music on the Square in Vienna


On our way for a late dinner, we passed through the square and found music. We chose a cafe close by and enjoyed the inpromtu concert during our supper.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Traveling: Kunst History Museum Original Hipster

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This dude caught my eye in one of the many rooms of beautiful oil paintings at the Kunts Museum of History. He looks like a 16th Century version of the hipster   that roams around my hamlet.

We arrived to the museum with little time left to roam through the many rooms of some known, some not, works of art. They were all very accessible. Some, one could reach out and touch. Others not so much. My niece leaned against a wall to see better and sounded the alarms. It took minutes for security to arrive, so she and my sister were able to escape unnoticed.

We left unsated, which I convinced my family was better than being exhausted and overwhelmed.

Traveling: Mozart


The theatre was beautiful, the musicians wore costumes, and the lights stayed on for what was an evening of Mozart's greatest hits. As the pace slowed, my nephew's head hit my shoulder as he got in quick naps, always waking for the explosive clapping at the end of each piece. I found myself tapping my foot and moving my body as if I were at, oh, an REO Speedwagon reunion concert. Strange, perhaps, but the orchestra played the songs with the unrestrained enthusiasm that I have witnessed reunion tour bands play who are so grateful to still have an audience for their greatest hit songs. It was great fun. Don Giovanni was not on the set list, so it was light and easy.

Traveling: Trying to Take Selfie with a Selfie Stick

I was sitting at the big foutain at Schoenbrunn watching these two take a selfie with the omni-present selfie stick and thought, hmm, I should take a selfie with them taking a selfie with their selfie stick behind me. Jump into the game. Sadly, the idea of it did not translate too well. They thought that I only wanted to take a selfie with them. 

We are so connected to the world in the age of WIFI, yet we don't talk to each other: those that we know or strangers in front of a fountain.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Traveling: Cafe Society


Slow to rise, we were out of the door late. A few days earlier, in the night, we passed a traditional Viennese bakery that was worth us going to for lunch. The day met us with heavy rain, but it didn't stop us from venturing forth. We sat outside and though a little wet, we had a wonderful lunch. The kids loaded the table with delicate pastries from what turned out to be a must visit bakery.

At the rear of the cafe, bakers worked on a whimsical cake sporting marzipan soldiers.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Traveling: Seeing a City by Carriage

After the heat of the afternoon, we took a carriage ride through the streets on a lovely Sunday afternoon. The marble city, and Vienna is one, glows in lowering light.




Traveling: Card Tricks

Stopped for an afternoon beer on a warm afternoon in Vienna and taught my nephew a new trick:




Sunday, July 12, 2015

Traveling: Crumbs

We are hanging out on a sunny square on a Sunday morning in Vienna. Hector just ordered two more sweets and an ice cream confection. This is the life! The parents are at mass, and we will move, rather roll, over once we finish the last crumb.
A motorcade passed ... John Kerry thought to go to mass as well. Ah well, we were good with crumbs.

Traveling

For the first time, I am traveling with my sister and her family in Europe. Her husband has a meeting in Vienna so that is our starting point. We are 3 adults and 4 kids (ages 11-18). We have spent a lot of time together over the years, but this the farthest away from home when we have all been together. Papi left his credit card at the airport, so as he and my sister ventured off to the airport, we waited in the apartment that he had rented for our time in Vienna. As we lazed around trying to fight off jet lag, I said, 'it's just like grandma's house, except we are in Vienna.' We do make home wherever we go. And as we waited for their return, the youngest kittens couldn't hold on any more.

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Patagonian Wedding

Vogue March 2015
The lace on this dress is beautiful and the he color of it is interesting. I wonder if it wouldn't look wonderful in a sepia toned photograph. I've seen other photographs of this wedding, and it looks to be out in the middle of nowhere with a painterly background of sweeping field and dark mountains nestled under blue skies and fluffy clouds.