Valentine's Day in a Castle

Ah Groupon - you tease! Just when I think you'll be as awesome in Europe as you were in San Francisco, you prove me wrong - again and again!

A few months back, we bought a Groupon deal for a two night stay in a castle in Germany. We decided to cash it in for Valentine's Day - ooh-la-la. *wiggle those eyebrows* So, we packed up the car and made the two hour drive to Kronenburg, Germany. Let's just say it was cute and charming but it didn't quite live up to my ideas of a castle!

Anyhoo, our castle that was not quite a castle (CTWNQC) was situated on top of a hill surrounded by a very old - and admitted cute - little German town. I love how tiny and narrow the roads are - like you're really only meant to walk them, not drive them. We checked in to our CTWNQC and hefted our bags up two flights of stairs. Turns out even CTWNQCs are not handicap friendly. But our room was lovely - and enormous! It was a lovely two level suite with room for three more people - not that we wanted three more people joining us for Valentine's Day. There were exposed wooden beams everywhere and a single tiny window making it feel a bit more protected castle like. The bed was crap but I'll overlook that given the shower had four massage jets for my back - heaven!

The idea had been to getaway to Germany and relax for a few days. These days it really seems that the only time I see or really talk to the hubs is when we leave Brussels for more than 24 hours. So, we were leaving Brussels for 43 hours. And the time away was great. But the real highlight was Dr. Loosen Winery! Herb was able to arrange a tasting at Dr. Loosen in Mosel. Now, let me just say this has been my favorite winery since my Chicago days and Bin 36! Some wine classes in San Francisco reaffirmed my love affair with Dr. Loosen. And for Valentine's Day, I got a private wine tasting with their sommelier!! I also got 11 bottles of wine, which will make any fan super duper happy.

Driving into the Mosel Valley was pretty, but similar to driving through the Eastern edge of Luxembourg for wine tasting. BUT given the recent cold weather that's been pummeling Europe, it was a treat to see the Rhine River almost completely frozen over. (The sommelier at Dr. Loosen said he'd never seen it frozen like that.) It's views like that that make me super happy someone finally invented the heated seat for the automobile.

Tapas, Wine and Gaudi oh my!

The hubs wanted to go to Barcelona for his birthday. Now I realize this is a bit (read: incredibly) selfish, but I've already been to Barcelona. And you see, I'm working on this goal of going to 100 countries by the time I'm 50 years old. And well, I'm thinking I have a decent chance of making 50 (countries, not years) by the end of this year. And as I've already got Spain marked off my list, it'd be really great for hubs to pick a new country for his birthday trip. But alas. It was his birthday and he wanted to see Barcelona (his first time - I made my solo trip the Christmas before we met) so to Spain we went.

The biggest up side to this Barcelona trip is that I absolutely love tapas. I mean - I LOVE it. We stuffed ourselves with tapas, and then had a little bit more for good measure. It was pretty fantastic. And the Spanish wines, oh the Spanish wines! You can't find easy, smooth reds like that for next to nothing in Brussels, that's for sure! Of course, we aren't nearly as hungover every morning in Brussels either.

Herb wanted to see all the touristy things on his birthday trip. It sorta took me by surprise, as he isn't usually a full-on tourist attraction kinda guy. But again - it's his party and he can sightsee if he wants to, sightsee if he wants to, ohhhh.... Yeah, you get the point. I'm not big on paying to get into things, but it was his birthday so not only did I pay to see things - I paid for both of us to see things. I'm pretty sure he was appropriately stoked. So it's all good. And on a definite positive note, who knew the inside of Sagrada Familia is so beautiful!?

Given my previous confession that I don't generally pay to see the inside of anything, I'd only ever stood outside. (And in a moment of full disclosure - I thought Sagrada Familia was ridiculously ugly. I mean - really couldn't understand what all these people go on and on about - it is freaking ugly!) But the inside is so bright and spacious, full of light and graceful archways and colorful splashes dancing on the walls thanks to the stained glass.

So maybe I didn't get to add yet another country to my list. But now I can join all those well-heeled folk in speaking haughtily about the glory that is the Sagrada Familia. Or maybe not. But whatevs - at least I could if I wanted to. :p

New Year's Eve and Salted Chocolate

Right, this blog is mostly about my inability to stay put. And while I do travel a lot (too much depending on who you ask), I actually do other things too. Like bake and use my slow cooker and read and get sorta crafty and other random stuff. So, today - as I waste away an hour before I head to the airport (yay - another trip!) - I'm going to tell you about my obsession with cupcakes.

Yes indeed. Oh cupcakes. I had my first truly awesome cupcake in Chicago several years ago at a little cupcake shop off Clark. I honestly had no idea that a little cupcake (and they were little compared to many of the mammoth cupcakes you find for sale these days) could have so much flavor. And be so moist. And frankly make both my mouth and tummy so very, very happy.

Now that I've got my very own KitchenAid stand mixer, I make way too many cupcakes. Unfortunately, the hubs doesn't really like my non-Chinese cakes. So, I wait for opportunities to feed them to friends. New Year's Eve ended up being just perfect for my most recent craving - salted chocolate cupcakes. After much surfing and recipe reading, I decided not to do the more traditional salted caramel and chocolate but instead go with salted chocolate with homemade butterscotch topping. Yum and yum.

Let's be honest - sometimes I bake from scratch. But I'm lazy so I don't often bake completely from scratch. My pies are always in a store bought pie crust. I rarely make homemade frosting - why bother, it hardly ever tastes better. *shrug* My husband actually prefers Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip Cookie mix to any 'from scratch' recipe I've ever tried. And my biggest secret of all - nearly all of my cupcakes start with a good old cake mix. Gasp!

(Despite that disclaimer - I'd love to know where to get my hands on Dutch-processed cocoa powder, for baking, in Belgium. So, if you know, please please let me know!)


Salted Chocolate Cupcakes

• One dark chocolate cake mix
• 50 grams of super dark, high quality chocolate shaved super fine
  
• Medium grain sea salt (I used a lovely pink sea salt we picked up in Slovenia this fall)

Make your cake mix according to the directions and ideally in a stand mixer.

Once done mixing, gently fold in the chocolate shavings.

Fill your cupcakes like you normally would and then sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of each cupcake.

Bake for the time specified on your mix and then cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Frosting

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Extra medium grain sea salt

Combine all the ingredients, except medium sea salt, in a small pot and heat over medium low, stirring until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved, 3-5 minutes.

Turn the heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until thickened.

Remove from heat and let cool completely to thicken further. A cool window ledge or even the fridge will greatly help this along.

After frosting the cupcakes, sprinkle a little more medium grain sea salt on top of each one.

So, what should be next? I've got a red velvet cake mix I need to do something interesting with - suggestions?

Christmas in Switzerland

So, turns out I'm total crap about keeping this up-to-date. Since I've last posted, I've hit up Ireland with my girlfriends, Croatia and Slovenia with my hubby, Amsterdam with my parents and made repeat visits to Paris, London and Italy. Yeah.... I totally should have told you about all those trips. Bah. BUT I'm thinking I might make my 2012 New Years Resolution to be better about blogging on a regular basis. We'll see. :p

Anyway, we just got back from spending Christmas break in Switzerland. How cool is that?! We stayed at a studio rental in Bonegin just at the base of the Jungfrau mountain region. The views were awesome. I sent the hubs up the mountain for some snowboarding one day. He seemed to enjoy it enough that he's already planning future snowboarding trips back!

We did a day up at Jungfraujoch - the Top of Europe and highest train station in the world. It's spendy for sure but since I don't snowboard or ski I figure it's my best "top of fabulous mountain" experience. The ice cave is pretty cool - carved out in a slow moving glacier. When was the last time you walked through a slow moving glacier?! That's what I thought. *nod, nod* The look out point was certainly spectacular but for 160 Euros and over 12,000 feet high it should be.

Now let's get to the important part - fondue! We arrived in Switzerland Monday evening and left Friday morning. That means I ate cheese fondue Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! Yes indeed - I was a champion. Now I will admit to being physically ill after finishing my 4th meal in as many days of just cheese fondue. But it was awesome - especially for someone like me who loves fondue outside of Switzerland just as much as I love it in Switzerland!

Did you know that no two fondues are a like? I certainly didn't. But I had four fondues in and around Interlaken and not a single one tasted like any of the others. For the most part, the significant difference was the alcohol content. The fondue up at Jungfraujoch tasted the most like white wine (though the taste of alcohol did burn off some towards the end) and was surprisingly the hub's favorite. The last night we went to a great little local specialties restaurant and they included loads of sliced garlic in their fondue. Now, I love me some garlic so I loved slices of garlic covered in fondue! But the winner for me was Bebbi's. It seems like a total tourist trap (right down to being the only place we found that serves chocolate fondue) but it was really really solid. Cheesy with just the right amount of white wine flavor. Yum and yum. Nuts - now I want fondue again!

the happiest place on earth

I had to move to Belgium to finally make it to Disneyland. (Full disclosure - I did go to Disney World when I worked as a nanny back in college.)

The hubs got sent on yet another business trip back to the States. I'd officially hit the point of being homesick - wanting to be able to order anything I wanted in a restaurant, buy clothes off the rack and watch TV in English any time of day. So, I sorta invited myself to crash in his hotel room while he was in LA/Anaheim for the BUILD event.

How are things so so cheap in the US?! I mean seriously, we are so incredibly spoiled. We have no idea how affordable nearly everything is. This is my way of saying not only did I make it to Disneyland but I also went shopping - and then shopped some more!

At Disneyland I picked up two t-shirts - a faded baseball style Mickey shirt and an awesome Star Wars shirt. The hubs totally didn't understand the Star Wars shirt but whatevs. I love it! But then I loved the Indiana Jones ride and he really didn't get that either. Guess we've still got some stuff to learn about each other, huh?

And then there was the food. Who am I kidding - when the trip involves me and Herb, there's always lots of good food. We had proper American breakfast. Awwwwesome! American style bacon, Dutch apple pancake, corned beef hash and bottomless coffee aw yeah. Then I had Mexican at least three times while I was there. Let's not forget that I convinced H to find Dairy Queen not once but twice for chocolate chip cookie dough blizzards. And obviously what trip to the land of Disney wouldn't be complete without Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast?!

I was really looking forward to hitting the beach while we were there but we brought the temperamental Belgium weather with us to LA. We went out to Huntington Beach but only made it about an hour (fully clothed) before we called it too cold for good beaching.

It was definitely a good trip. I enjoyed a lot of things that I've missed being in Europe. But it also reminded me that the US doesn't have it all figured out. I mean, no matter how many times I told the guy at the front desk that I wasn't planning to drive every one of his recommendations required driving. He even recommended that I drive the two blocks to the post office and was really thrown when I asked if it was possible to walk "well, uhm... I guess probably."

It's always interesting when a new place starts to feel like home. You know, when you've been away and you think "boy, I can't wait to get home, sleep in my own bed." Yeah, this trip almost did that for Belgium.

An empty camp

We wrapped up our short week in Berlin by heading out to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp before heading home.

Sachsenhausen was a model camp. SS officers trained here and then often went on to oversee other concentration camps. This model camp started out significantly less sinister than it finished. Initially it was more focused on proper criminals and prisoners of war.

It was a warm, sunny day. We stopped by the front desk. The museum is free but we bought a map for a nominal fee. And off on our self guided tour we went. First past the (now closed) SS section - quarters, mess hall, administrative headquarters. Then we walked through the main gate into the concentration camp. In the open roll call area, the expansiveness of the camp becomes more apparent.

Once through the gate, looking at the space that was hell on earth for 200,000 Nazi prisoners the air feels heavy. Somehow the open space is incredibly oppressive. The lack of breeze adds to the oppressive air, making it challenging to breath. Is it possible the weight of misery still hangs in the air of this space?

When it opened in 1936, they trucked their dead prisoners into Berlin to be cremated. After an auto accident involved one of their trucks and dead bodies on the road, they decided to build their own small crematory. For several years, family members could request the ashes of their deceased relatives - so long as the deceased inmate had been a Germany citizen. (The chances of it actually being said relative was slim, but I'm sure it helped many a family.)
In 1943 Sachsenhausen really embraced the role of mass extermination. It wasn't until seven years after opening its gates that camp officials built the gas chamber showers and larger ovens that Hitler and the SS are so famous for. The remains are still there. A sculpture of remembrance stands near the entrance, surrounded by candles and flowers of all shapes and sizes. Is it possible that the air here is even more thick, more difficult to breath? Perhaps it is the weight of loss, the wrong still hanging in the air.

What a horrible way for the world to learn such a devastating lesson. And yet, somehow so many of us have already forgotten much of it.

So this is Berlin....

I'm in Berlin for the rest of the week. The hubby is here for IFA and I got to tag along. Let's just say the drive here (hello way too fast on the autobahn) was his dream come true and my car sickness hell. Indeed.

My Berlin adventures started with lunch at Fischers Fritz. It is the only restaurant in Berlin proper with 2 Michelin stars. Yup, yup. Lunch is surprisingly affordable, assuming you go with the business lunch menu. I started with the Aspic of Chanterelle, Fava Beans and Radish Cream; Mr. Herb started with a soft boiled egg over some sort of sour greens with lobster jus (clearly their title was fancier than my description). The main courses were confit codfish (mine) and calf liver (his). Those also were much more involved and spiffy than I've just lead you to believe. Mr. Herb finished off his lunch with bread and butter pudding, which was pretty good - gold flakes and all. The food was just as good as should be expected - you know - that Michelin star creativity and inventiveness that should be expected. And the small portions - that is pretty consistent too when it comes to Michelin stars. This brings me to 6 Michelin stars for 2011. Wonder if I'll get any more in this year. Sure hope so. *wiggling eyebrows*

After lunch Herb headed off to work and I headed out to see what there is to see. I'll admit that I've been fairly excited to come to Berlin (really the only city in Germany I'm excited to see). I've been looking forward to seeing the wall, heading out to the nearby concentration camp museum, etc. I always feel bad when I say I'm looking forward to seeing these things. I'm afraid people don't really understand what I mean. For some reason, I'm quite fascinated with WWII and Communist Berlin. I feel a bit bad; I know Berlin wants you to see the new Berlin. And if I lived here, I'd feel like I shouldn't have to keep going over the good and (very) bad of my ancestors. But I'm fair more interested in the old Berlin than the new. And so, with my handy dandy map in my back pocket I'm off!

I headed out towards Check Point Charlie. Seemed as good a place as any to start to my self-guided tour. But first I stumbled across Anhalter Bahnhof - or rather the remains of Anhalter Bahnhof. I should have guessed the elderly were some of the first to receive "transports", but I hadn't. The fact that this piece of history isn't in my guide book or on my tourist map makes me confused and just a little bit queasy.


A few wrong turns later and I'm walking up the street to Check Point Charlie. The sign saying you are leaving the American Sector is still there. The museum seems a bit overkill and dated. The place is crawling with tourists. And still I found myself standing on the curb crying. I knew I had so wanted to see this part of Europe, but I honestly didn't realize that the feelings would be so deep and so strong.

I did my best to blink back the tears, snap my photo and head into a souvenir shop for postcards. (I try to always send them home to my parents and my grandma. This time, for the first time, I also picked one of for the in-laws - craziness.) In the shop, they were selling pieces of the wall. I'm not sure why, but I need one of these pieces of the wall. Standing there looking at the pieces of concrete affixed to acrylic bases, I'm thinking about watching the TV with my mom when I was 9 years old. The wall is coming down; my mom is crying.


Righty-o, so I head on over to the Topografie des Terrors where a large section of the wall has been preserved. The wall is old and faded. It is surrounded by modern exhibits full of history. And still I only walk along the wall, again crying. I'm thankful I've got sunglasses so no one can see the crazy young (ok - fine - young-ish) American girl walking along crying. I don't personally know anyone who died here. I don't know anyone who lived the divided Germany. But still I cry. The enormity of it, the gravity of it i's just too much to not cry. I'm still not sure exactly what emotions caused all those tears. But I'm glad I've been here. And I'm glad I have more to see. I'm also glad the hubs wasn't with me because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have understood. And you don't hear me say it often, but I am proud to be a citizen of WWII's sleeping giant.

And of course it isn't all Debby Downer times around here. Mr. Herbert had a work dinner which left me to fend for myself. I headed down to the restaurant here in the Scandic Berlin hotel and ordered up some tapas. Though this wasn't just any tapas - no sir. I had curryworst of moose and reindeer involtini, as well as some slightly more normal goat cheese in pistachio/sesame seed coating with wasabi apple confit. While interesting, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I won't be having reindeer involtini again any time soon. The moose curryworst pretty much rocked my socks though.

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