All Around Europe – Love is in the Air!
I’d first like to give a special shout-out to the loyal readers of le blog who made it though that rough, but well-rewarded transition to Windows Live Spaces technology last month. Your enthusiastic emails and comments told us that you believe in the magic of Microsoft technology, but on the other hand, you may not exactly believe in my future as a rock-star with a primary specialty of headlining Corporate events. Points well taken, just don’t expect me to throw in the towel just yet…
But here at le blog we’re not just about re-living the glory days of Janvier ’08 (ages ago) – especially since there has been so much going on both inside and outside of the "the romance capital of the world" since then. Yes my friends – it was the month of Fevrier, a time for Saint Valentin to remind us that the love in our life is something worth proactive, dedicated and undivided celebration. In our family, we took this theme seriously, following the time-tested tradition of studying "expressions of love" in at least three different European cities. Okay – so maybe that isn’t really a tradition, but after seeing this concept in action, all you lovebirds out there may consider it for yourselves in 2009…But why talk when we can show (note: for reference in this blog, our uncovered cultural expressions of love will be shown by underlined text – for example, making out in public)…
Expressions of Love, Observatory Field Visit #1 – London
There were a variety of reasons why London was the obvious choice for the first field visit: 1) An important social-psychologist once concluded that "familiarity breeds content" – and this town is getting to be quite the familiar destination for us these days 2) as luck would have it, I was already London-bound for official work business that week and 3) with the implementation of the new "High-Speed 1" rail lines between Paris and London, one can make this little trek in a cool 2 hours 15 minutes (for comparison purposes, I’ve had Seattle / Redmond commutes that have lasted longer). One could ask, what’s not to love about these trips?
And so, just like that – it was goodbye to Paris’ Gare du Nord….
And before Shannon could so much as finish her cup of tea- it was hello to St Pancras International, the brand-spanking new home of the Eurostar in London….
And as we embraced at the train station, it didn’t take us long to look up and discover a tell-tale sign that we were on the right track (no pun intended) for our first journey. The artistic centerpiece of the new station is a 30 foot, 20 ton bronze statue called “The Meeting Place” depicting…well, I think you get the picture…(note: Shannon’s heels were much taller than those…)
A few tube stops and a short walk later, we found ourselves among good company – dinner with good friend / co-worker / life mentor Luke Thomas at a self-described "American-Brasserie" called Automat – which was great because American and French are two cuisines that we rarely get our hands on…kidding of course, the food and atmosphere were right on target, as reflected by the smiles all-around…
Which bring us to our next unprecedented "small world moment!" – and one that teaches a simple life lesson: When you are invited to a work dinner in a foreign country – hang in there and tough it out, because you never know who you might meet. In this case, the night before I was genuinely exhausted (yes, sometimes it happens), and almost declined the after-work dinner with several colleagues. Even though it was hours away from my hotel, and bound to be late – I stuck with it due to some relentless prodding from my co-workers. Minutes later I found myself sitting next to Amy Retsema, a Seattle-based Microsoftee – who, in addition to being delightful in general…just happened to mention that she was married in this "little church on top of Queen Anne"…well for anyone that knows my love of 1) Queen Anne but more importantly 2) Bethany, which is that same place where Shannon and I were married…well, you can imagine how long that conversation continued. And, of course, she knew Luke and the small-world-ness continued (I’ll spare you), and so we hooked her into joining us later. Now this small world moment is officially documented:
But the next day we re-focused on the primary objective at hand- which was discovering Londoners’ true expressions of love, and blatantly following in their ways. It didn’t take us long to uncover the one failsafe practice – a stroll along the river Thames at sunset, in this case seen from the Golden Jubilee Bridge with the London eye and Big Ben in the background…
And after that stroll, what says a romantic night out in London like dinner and a show? That is an expression I could get easily get used to (well, addicted to), but alas neither Paris nor Seattle support such a rich tradition of ongoing, top-notch musical theater talent (Roosevelt High School’s annual production, while up-there, only comes once a year…). So off we went see the ABBA-inspired, crowd-pleaser known to the whole world as Mama Mia at the Prince of Wales Theater…
It was…a major crowd-pleaser. And if you won’t be heading to London (or Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas) anytime soon, I suggest you wait alongside the rest of the Mamma Mia disciples in anticipation of the big-screen version, due out this summer. It is by the power of our newly-found embedded video capability that I bring you the preview:
And while this next expression certainly belongs more to Paris than London, the illuminated highlights of the river certainly do make for a nice post-show promenade. These sites in particular are not exactly "hidden gems" – but still blogworthy…
Sunday mornings in London have become nothing short of bliss – it’s a relaxed and fulfilling routine that you just can’t argue with, especially on a sunny February weekend. It starts with a tube ride to South Kensington to attend church with the absolutely amazing community at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB for short), followed shortly thereafter with sharing a corner table and a traditional English breakfast at the Brompton Quarter Café…
And since we had the time, there was no reason not to enjoy a “spring-preview” with a walk through St James Park on Sunday afternoon…
And although we had no idea in advance, London happened to be very busy celebrating Chinese New Year in what is apparently the biggest Chinese New Year festivities outside of China. As you can see, in some parts of town this was hard to ignore. Here we find Shannon on Gerrard Street in Chinatown…
And a short walk later, we (along with every other person in the city) witnessed dragons, fireworks, and in general shared the love amongst the masses in Trafalgar Square…
All in all – an impressive and successful field visit to collect and recreate London expressions of love, recapped by the following:
-train station embrace
-sunset Thames stroll
-dinner and musical theatre
-riverside illuminated highlights
-corner table with traditional English breakfast
-St. James park on a Sunday
-sharing the love with the masses at Trafalgar
In case you are interested in the mileage that accompanies such feats, the following interactive map shows the gory details (gratuitous shout-out for Microsoft Virtual Earth….)….
Expressions of Love, Observatory Field Visit #2 – Paris
Back in Paris the city was preparing for Valentine’s Day, and expressions of love were all around. The most-notable signs, of course, were found in the seductive store-fronts that pull in shoppers from the street into everything from les grandes magasins of the right-bank to the chic-boutiques of our very own Saint Germain – offering the world’s finest chocolat, lingerie, champagne, and….well whatever this store on the right is selling, you can bet it’s très bien…..
But the local public sector wanted a piece of the romance as well – and timed the unveiling of the fully-restored, shimmering Saint Sulpice fountain for none other than February 14th – allowing lovebirds on their way to and from dinner to stroll by yet another public work of unparalleled beauty, practically calling out for smooches while brightly shining it’s reflective layers in the night….
But for the v-day dinner itself, no restaurant in my mind, could recreate that certain "je ne sais quoi" ambience that is found on the fifth floor of an unnamed rue cassette apartment – and I personally thought that Parisians would agree that home-inspired, home-prepared, home-consumed gourmet paired with wine (from grapes that are seemingly born for greatness) is the ultimate symbol and expression of love in this romance capital. Such was the intention of our provençal flank with roquefort new potatoes and haricots verts, pictured below…
Not that there isn’t a place for dueling restaurant romance in the swank capital of the world…which we chose as an appropriate Valentine’s follow-up with our friends Ryan and Isolina at La Cantine du Faubourg. This is the type of place that, if you don’t think the atmosphere is suiting your mood, you kindly ask them to close the curtains and change the type of flowers that are being projected on the wall (nope, that’s not a joke)….
But sadly – Saint Valentin was not the only theme of the night out, we had to give many Bon Voyage! toasts as well because Ryan and Isolina are just now moving to Stockholm, Sweden where they will both continue as globe-trotting Microsoftees in a new foreign land…Look for these two again in the future (estimated somewhere between Blog 20 – 30) when we get a Sweden visit on the agenda…
In summary, our findings from our "home field" studies of Paris expressions of love:
-seductive storefronts
-public works of unparalleled beauty, practically calling out for smooches
-home-inspired, home-prepared, home-consumed gourmet
-wine (from grapes that are seemingly born for greatness)
-restaurant romance in the swank capital of the world
Expressions of Love, Observatory Field Visit #3 – Budapest
But for this to be a true pan-European study, we couldn’t stick to the protected, well-known (and well-treaded) towns of Western Europe. If love was all around us, it was bound to be east….way east….and so with visions of beef stew and Socialism in mind, we boarded the lesser-known, lesser-comfortable Malev Hungarian airlines for "the capital of Eastern Europe" – Budapest. Here we are in Buda, looking across the magnificent Chain Bridge to….you guessed it, Pest…
Budapest was a town that exceeded expectations, almost across the board. I brag about the Paris metro all the time (and my corresponding reduced dependence on fossil fuels, etc.) – but who would have thought that the Budapest subway would have me rethinking how cool public transport can be? I say this for two primary wow factors: 1) the fact that the doors open and close and a given stop for what seems like a total of about….4 seconds (GET OUT, GET IN), making it absolutely zip to its destination and 2) the names or the stops are just generally more exotic – and make people smile….
But we all know that expressions of love on the metro are something to be avoided (as a general rule). In contrast, there is a much more fundamental, unavoidable tradition practiced by Hungarians, that we took very seriously while in Budapest – which is the bath-tastic spa experience – a grueling circuit of steam room, sauna (there is a difference), lap pool, hot tub, multi-sensory shower….and repeat:
This particular bath formation at the Corinthia Grand Hotel was ideal – two stories, with connecting caverns all surrounding a central pool…"Hey you in the hot tub….nice bubbles…"
But while the expectations were already high for the bathing experience…one expression of love that caught us completely off guard was the vibrant old-school yet-so-contemporary-cool Hungarian dining – witnessed in it’s prime at our newly-crowned fav restaurant in Budapest – Menza. You just have to give credit to a restaurant that can make green, orange, and brown as theme colors actually work..and bring in the city’s chic-iest clientele while doing it…
And it’s not only easy on the eyes…That is good stick-to-your-ribs eatin’ and quality complimentary beverage being served (Apologies for the "babe..let’s just EAT!" look that my lovely wife captured)…
And the dining hits kept coming! This next one at Spoon, a permanently moored boat on the Danube River, provided not only great views of illuminated Castle Hill as you are eating – but great views of the fellow-river boats while peeing! I’m telling you, if the woman’s bathroom at the top floor of the Columbia tower thinks it has the market cornered on great "in the act" views, it’s going to get a run for its money from the Eastern Europe crowd…(and sorry I didn’t capture that one on film, in retrospect it would have made a very innovative video feature)…
"Now that’s what I call Relief"…
And then there was, overall – the surprisingly snazzy city monuments, sprinkled all around Budapest, good to ponder and enjoy with loved ones during day or night. Here again we find the fierce-lion-protected Chain Bridge that connects the two sides of the city “Buda” and “Pest”…
Add on to that the "un-avoidables" in any tour book – St. István’s Basilica (left) and the walk-able ramparts on Castle Hill (right)…
which, if you peak through the pillars, get a great view of the Parliament Building (with its controversial Gothic dome) on the other side of the river…
But saving the best for last, we waited until the final day to explore one of Eastern Europe’s most profound expression of love – uncovered in Budapest’s most famous landmarks, the public Széchenyi Baths in the middle of City Park….which as you can see, is not your average soap-bucket from the outside…
And looked a little bit closer to Versailles than our tub at Rue Cassette…
Of course, complete with heavenly-themed mosaic ceiling…
And there was something special about this place – something so naturally intoxicating…that encouraged each person, in public (and, in the middle of February), to find themselves in the most simple yet fundamental expression of love. It’s the wisdom that the people of Budapest taught us – how to relax, put on a horrendously awful swimsuit, show your belly with pride, and yes…just be yourself.
And so I did…
And so Shannon did…
Okay, okay – so we had body doubles…but you can imagine! In summary, our findings from the somewhat counter-intuitive study of Budapest’s expressions of love:
-bath-tastic spa experience
-old-school yet-so-contemporary-cool Hungarian dining
-views while going
-relaxing…etc….being yourself
And after all of those extensive yet conclusive field studies, we still made it back to Paris in time to celebrate a special someone’s birthday on the second to last day of February (thanks to leap year). And here she is in front of the selected lunch spot – Bouillon Racine, a belle-époque classic in home turf of Saint Germain (Can anyone tell which expression of love she prefers?)…
Here’s hoping that all of your Februarys were filled with romance, and that you will give us plenty of your expressions of love with your comments below…and of course return for next month’s version of le blog! Vive l’amour!
This blog is off the hizzle. I just pooped my pants. Seriously, let\’s get a d-change up in here.