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We just returned from a post-Christmas, pre-New Year's getaway to Franconia, just two states over from Rhineland-Pfalz, where we live. Though Nuremberg is famous for their Christmas Markets, hotel prices drop dramatically after the markets close, and the weather is still lovely enough for long walks around the town. And really, you can drink gluhwein anywhere in Germany during the Advent days, right? We hopped on an ICE from Mainz for the 2.5 hour ride to Nuremberg, and went straight to our hotel, the quaint Garni Probst . The very friendly staff and great breakfast the next morning made us feel right at home, though I had some trouble sleeping thanks to street noise and lights. Darker curtains would have helped... and a note for those with kids, there are some unsavory businesses across the street. Using my Lonely Planet Germany as our guide, we headed out for a 2.5 km meander around town, starting with a giant bowl of soup at Souptopia (a bit bland, but hearty soups in a co...

Even though I work in Darmstadt, it's taken some time to pull together the elements of one great day there. But after sampling lots of lunch spots, exploring the town and a bit of the outskirts, here it is - everything you need for a great day. Getting around Darmstadt by car or transit is easy - we took a Deutsche Bahn train and arrived at Darmstadt central station about 30 minutes later. The station's a bit out of town, so you'll have to tram or bus into the central square, Luisenplatz. If you exit the train station on the main side, you'll see where the trams pick and up and can hop on any one. Luisenplatz is shopping central, and also the beginning of the Techniker University (TU) campus. Turn south on the first road you see, and head to the Darmstadt Dom. It's a much smaller church than in Mainz, but was designed after the Pantheon, and has a beautiful blue ceiling with nice, simple decor. Head back to the Luisenplatz and walk west down Rhinestrasse and as...

I just returned from a perfect Saturday afternoon spent in Baden-Baden, a well-heeled town nestled in the Black Forest, in the state of Baden-Wurttemburg. B-B is an easy 1.5 hour train ride from Frankfurt, and if you book in advance, can cost around 50 euros per person (you can also take 4 friends along via the budget/scenic route - 3 hours - on the Happy Weekend ticket, only 40 euros total). The B-B train station is just outside of town. The 201 bus runs into town every 10 minutes, and it's a 13 minute ride to the main square, Leopoldsplatz. From there, catch either the 204 or 205 to Merkurwald , a good starting point for a Black Forest hike. As you head up the hill, take note of the homes - or rather villas - that pepper the side of the road, and the forest in the background! At the end of the line, you'll reach the foot of Merkur Mountain. You can pay 4 euros for a roundtrip ticket up the funicular railway ( bergbahn ), or hike up and train down, as we did (2 euros), so as...

Well, we did it. I think that I've already gone through two of the seven stages of massive adjustment to change. "This is the best place I've ever been!!" followed quickly by "Did we really just do this?" I will wonder for a long time, what would have happened if... I said no, let's not do this I said you go, and I'll work as a lawyer in the US I said yes right away and came with S when he moved, in the dead of winter But none of that matters, because 7.5 months after he moved, with most of our life (though not our cat), to that other country in the Western world with a strong economy, I followed. Luckily enough, with a job that  I'm very excited about and to start a new life together (with our cat) that we talked about often, but I don't think I fully expected to happen - not this soon, anyway. Much of my time here has been spent setting up -- bus trips to the German equivalents of Wal-Mart and Home Depot, putting together Ikea stu...

Ok folks, here it is. Your guide to a perfect weekend in the nation's capital. With all of the free fun that DC has to offer, along with burgeoning neighborhoods, two days is enough to get a good feel for the city. Day 1: Check into your hotel. I recommend the Palomar in trendy Dupont Circle but if you're feeling spendy, go for something fancy and historic like the Hay-Adams (where many a President have stayed) or even the Mayflower . Whichever you choose, start the day with a breakfast waffle at Tynan . But you're going to have to earn that waffle via a morning neighborhood walk! Follow the map below for a tour that will probably take you 2 hours if you're walking fast, but 4-5 if you're wandering through and taking in each of the points of interest. By the time you get to Adams Morgan, you may feel like a more complete meal. In that case, try traditional Oaxacan food at Casa Oaxaca . Don't forget to get a margarita. View DC Wandering in a larger map ...

The number one thing I learned from this bar exam experience is that there is not enough information available about the "exam experience". Why law schools don't offer pertinent information on what to expect is beyond me... but I thought I'd document the few lessons I learned over the past couple of days. I took the NY Bar in Manhattan, at the Jacob Javits Center. It's a good 20-minute walk from Penn Station, so plan travel accordingly. The two days can be exhausting, even though it's broken up into 4, 3-hour segments of exams. Some random notes to know: There is a coat check. It costs $3 per item. It is horrendously inefficient, so if you can avoid using it, your life will be greatly improved. Note, you can access your bags at no cost (how generous!) during the lunch break, but if you take your bag out, you will have to pay again. Ah, nickel and diming. There is a Starbucks in the Javits Center. One. The line gets long, the prices are jacked up, but it'...

Before my next travel-specific posts go up, a few lessons learned. May they help you, and remind me what (not) to do... 1. If you're going to show up at your destination and have a place to stay, knowing exactly how you'll get there is worth the effort. Pay attention to the transit schedules, if you're relying on a bus or a train, or you could be in for a very expensive taxi ride. 2. Learn key phrases, or be confident with your nonverbal gestures for the following: "delay"; "on-time"; "excuse me, you are in my seat!"; "is this seat taken?"; and the favorite, "do you speak English / I don't speak (insert language here)" 3. Though a website may claim the staff speaks fluent English, be prepared for them not to! Just in case. 4. Cash is king. 5. Build in time to wander. 6. Always carry a map, extra snacks, a bit of water, and some patience. 7. There is almost too much information out there on the "best...

Short post today... I wanted to make a note of 2 wonderful discoveries made while traveling recently, and desperate for both wifi and maps. 1. Starbucks has free wifi everywhere! Based on googling, I'd thought this was US-only. Not the case, and thank goodness, they are easy to find. 2. CityMaps2go offers fantastic downloadable maps! For $1.99, you can download very detailed maps, including points of interest, for over 7,000 places (and growing). On an iPhone (note: not iPad), it can even detect where you are, whether you are 'online' or not. Amazing. ...That is all.

If I ever leave this town, I'll really miss some of my favorite things. Here, a list: Driving (or running, or biking) up Reno Rd in Northwest on a crisp, sunny fall morning. The piles of leaves on the ground and colorful leaves swirling in the wind can't really be captured in a photo but it's stunning.  People-watching during a thunderstorm at Tryst or Big Bear, hot chocolate in hand. On ice if it's a summer storm.  Wandering up 14th Street and browsing the home furnishings and decorations for inspiration & bargains.  Going for a run through the National Zoo. Or on the National Mall. Touring the monuments via run = the best way to see them.  Speaking of the zoo: Zoolights in the winter. It's so festive! Jazz in the Garden. It gets way too crowded, but early in the summer - before it gets terribly humid and hot - there really is nothing like a picnic, with live jazz, in "America's backyard".  Happy hour at Poste. I really love their giant ou...

I've recently learned about (and been on the receiving end of tickets for) city parking rules that I deem to be excessively, for lack of a better word, dumb. Mostly because they are counter-intuitive, but generally because the sole purpose of most seem to be to extract (more) money from the visiting or short-term-resident District of Columbia population. I also learned recently that when contesting such tickets, physical evidence is required. (I add this because in many cities - ahem, San Francisco - you can just bring in a camera, show the photos and zoom in on the relevant portions, and have the ticket dismissed then and there). //insert sigh of annoyance// . Contesting a ticket in DC via the walk-in hearing also means at least a 4-hour time commitment and tour through three separate waiting lines. Efficiency, thy name is not synonymous with DC government.  Anyway, some rules I haven't seen anywhere else, and was not made aware of until recently. DC websites aren't ...

All you really need is a pumpkin beer to accompany this perfect fall (or winter? or spring?) dish. It was largely an experiment, and although I cringe at Sandra Lee's semi-homemade/mostly store-bought recipes (and that she spends half her time on each episode creating the "perfect tablescape" when, who really has the time, Sandra.), I really liked this one. What I learned while making this dish, is that no matter what you do to flavor tofu, even when you're deep-frying it in lots of tasty spices, the only thing that really flavors it is the curry / external sauce. And a lot of salt. Anyway. The recipe! It involves two of my favorite things - (1 can) coconut milk and (1/3 cup, creamy/salted) peanut butter. You can use any veggies for this dish, as long as they are cut to about the same size so they cook evenly, although I added the heartier ones first, to give them some time in the pan. I stir-fried the following vegetables in about 2 tsp olive oil on medium heat ...

At a bar the other night, the topic of taxicab scams around the world came up - how there are a number of region-specific taxi or transport-related scams that guidebooks often warn travelers about but still catch some victims off guard. I thought it was interesting how these scams have evolved, and thought it was worth cataloguing the ones we'd heard of.  How timely then, that only a day later we encountered a DC-specific taxi scam after a late train ride home from New York. I always doubt the honesty of DC cabbies (and happily for New York, have found almost every single one to abide by their regulations - DC, what are you doing wrong here?) and this experience absolutely confirmed why that doubt should continue. Indeed, despite the perception that taxi scams only exist in developing countries, or target foreigners who don't speak the language in the country they're traveling in, cabbies often try their "luck" within the heavily regulated taxi commissions acros...

I recently returned from a whirlwind trip to Delhi and Amritsar, mostly to see family but also to do some shopping and touristing. A summary of 2 days / 1 night in Amritsar: Low-cost flights are available on Jetlite and IndiGo - we flew in and went straight to our hotel, the Golden Tulip . The location is excellent - about 15 minutes to the Golden Temple. I'm told that they'll offer shuttle service to the temple by 2012, but until then it's easy to hire a taxi (the hotel can arrange one) or hop in a three-wheeler. For the price, you can't beat the location - and included breakfast - but we found the walls a bit thin, the shoeshine machine down the hall a bit loud, and the staff - although friendly - a bit forgetful. For a higher end experience, the Ista is pure luxury but if you're on a budget, the Tulip is a good option. Before heading to the temple though, we hit the shops. Amritsar is a great place for juttis and beautiful hand-embroidered fabrics, and we st...

Every once in a while, you have a meal that you just have to blog about. I'm a week late on my delicious dinner at Estadio (must-try: corn, chicken. slushitos. end happy.) but I am still basking in the glow of a new recipe for yellow squash. Raise your hand if you're bored with grilling squash in salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. It's simple, reliable, and works, but quite boring, Enter the squash pancake. I'll credit my cousin for sharing the recipe - slightly tweaked: Extra garlic (2-3 more cloves) Dubliner cheddar cheese instead of parm Threw in an eggplant for good measure (I had a lot of them lying around, plus 2 giant / overgrown yellow squash) Chopped white onions Pinch of cayenne pepper and double the salt This is my new favorite way to eat squash, and it didn't take too long to prepare once the squash were cooked & pureed (you could easily do this in advance). To top it, I sliced up mushrooms, red bell pepper, and yellow onions and sti...