To iPhone or not to iPhone? That is the question.

Lately, I have been considering whether to get an iPhone. To be perfectly honest, I already have an iPhone; it just isn't hooked into a phone system, so it is functionally an iPod Touch. I have 3 other iPods, and I love them. I know if I dive into the smartphone world, it will be with an iPhone. So I guess the real question is should I upgrade to a smartphone?

So far I have resisted for a number of reasons.

Reason #1: I am really, really hard on phones. My current cell phone has been accidentally submerged at least 6 times, twice in the toilet, once in a mug of coffee, and in multiple mud puddles. It has survived every submersion by my quickly ejecting the battery and completely drying the phone. Somehow, I don't think an  iPhone would fare so well.

Reason #2: I already pay a lot for my cell phone, and I don't want to pay for a data plan on top of that.

Reason #3: My current cell phone works great (except the camera is broken), and I am used to how it works. If I get a new phone, I have to relearn all the features and re-program all the phone numbers.

Reason #4: If I get an iPhone now, Apple will release a new version next month, and I will have wished I had waited.

Reason #5: I am a bit afraid of how much I might like having the internet at my fingertips most of the time. And that is probably the biggest reason of all.  What if I become one of those people who becomes so attached to technology and the internet, I have a tough time leaving my phone behind?

So I think I will resist upgrading for now. But who knows how long I will last?

An adventure in French macarons

While we were in Paris, Greg bought a wonderful sampler of French macarons (although I don't think he meant to...but that is another story).  These cookies, not to be confused with coconut macaroons, are these little, melt-in-your-mouth wonder cookies made of meringue.  I had never had or seen cookies like them, but they were oh so tasty. Last weekend, I decided that I was going to try making them myself.

I consulted the Fount of Knowledge (a.k.a The Internet), and found a recipe by David Lebovitz on his blog. I decided to use his recipe for chocolate macarons, and vary it to try a couple of other flavors (plain and matcha green tea). The recipe is very simple: powdered sugar, cocoa, almond meal, and meringue.  However, I discovered that while the ingredients are simple, the execution to ideal macaron is not.

My green tea and chocolate cookies waiting for the oven. You are supposed to let the cookies sit for a bit before they cook.

The first batch I baked was the chocolate cookies. I thought I had beaten the meringue too much, and I was worried that they wouldn't turn out.  Although the tops aren't as smooth as the cookies we had in Paris, the cookies rose like they were supposed to, and developed a foot.  Woohoo! Mostly success on the first try!

It was then time for the matcha green tea cookies.  I was trying to match the pictures on the different recipes I saw where the cookie dough was smoother than what I had for the chocolate cookies. So   I didn't beat the eggs nearly as hard as I did for the chocolate cookies.  Halfway through the baking, I knew something was wrong. These cookies did not rise and develop a foot. They just kinda flattened out. Drat! Maybe I really needed to beat the meringue a lot more, just like I did for the chocolate ones. These maca-wrongs still smelled delicious though.

While the last batch of plain macarons was baking, I prepared the ganache for the cookie filling.  I sure miss Trader Joe's! (Good thing I have several of these chocolate bars stashed away).

I checked on the last batch of cookies, and egads! Maca-very very wrongs! I don't know what the heck happened here.  I guess that is what happens when I get cocky with success. These cookies didn't rise, they just sorta oozed together (although I did get really nice smooth tops).

I took the ganache and sandwiched cookies together.  The chocolate cookies look like French macarons are supposed to look--like little cookie hamburgers, and they melted in my mouth like the Paris cookies did. The matcha maca-wrongs don't look right, but they tasted wonderful and also melted in my mouth.  The maca-very very wrongs tasted very very good and were broken into pieces to be enjoyed (and dipped in the still warm ganache).

I read on one of the recipe blogs that the filling in macarons is never supposed to spill out the sides, but I just couldn't resist putting in extra ganache, so I got spillage.

It was a lot of fun to try to make something in my kitchen that I first tasted half a world away, even if it wasn't a complete success. I guess I will just have to try it again. And again. And again, until I get it right. Somehow perfecting cookies doesn't seem like the chore perfecting other things can be.

The value of travel: reflections on the flight home

The flight home was ten hours.  I had the computer under the seat, ready for my grand plan of blogging during the flight, but I was exhausted and the words would just not come.

But at the end of the flight, as we descended towards Los Angeles, I saw the man in front of me pull out a guidebook to California.  I could see his excitement as he eagerly awaited the plane to touch down, so he could start his travel adventure. It reminded me of my excitement nearly three weeks earlier, as the plane descended towards Heathrow and the start of my first trip out of America. Seeing this man with his guidebook on my home state, which I love and know intimately, made me think.

The value of travel is that it allows you to see with new eyes the wonders of where you live every day.

I read yesterday how the State of California, for the first time, is shutting down 70 state parks. I have spent time at many of those parks. Two of them are ones I always meant to visit, but I never took the time to see even though I was living right next to them.  I just figured there would be plenty of time to see them later, but now I may never get to see them.  This serves as yet another reminder to take the time to see where I am now, because I never know if I will get another chance.

This is the real lesson of my trip--to take time enjoy and savor every moment wherever I am and see with new eyes those things I take for granted.

Last day in London, British Museum

April 16, 2011

We had one full day in London before we flew home, so I agonized on how to spend it, since there was so much left to see.  I decided that I really wanted to go to the British Museum.  Just a couple of tube stops past the stop for the British Museum is King's Cross Station.  Greg decided we should go see it, since I enjoyed the Harry Potter books and wanted to see Platform 9 3/4.

King's Cross is undergoing a massive restoration, including Platforms 9 and 10:

Try as I might, I couldn't make it to the Hogwart's Express:

I just loved this giant Underground sign at King's Cross.

After all our fooling around, we made it to the British Museum. The first thing I wanted to see was the Rosetta Stone.

After that, I wanted to see the Elgin Marbles.  The Elgin Marbles, the controversy surrounding them, and my reaction to the both the beauty of the sculptures and the context of their display could fill pages, so I think I will post my thoughts on them in another post.  

I was fascinated by the fact that even the marble steps in the museum are filled with fossils. Most people don't even notice they are there, and were no doubt wondering why I kept exclaiming in delight and pointing at the floor.

The Gayer-Anderson Cat:

Fly fishing in ancient times:

Mummified fish and other animals:

There was so much to see here. I wish we would have had days rather than hours.

If I ever become a millionaire, I am going to have a library that looks like this:

I wanted to pick up some more tea from Harrod's, but visiting Harrod's on a Saturday is like visiting a Walmart on the day after Thanksgiving.  Instead, we enjoyed this view of Harrod's from an outdoor cafe where we had dinner.

It was time to go back to the hotel and pack. Our flight was the next day and the trip was at an end. I was ready to go home, but there is so much more that I want to see and do. 

Street signs in Madrid

Street signs in old Madrid are made of tiles and the pictures depict what the street was for or what the street name means. For instance, the street below is "Street of Embroiders".

I never thought about street sign placement before I went to Europe.  I am used to how we do it here, and never thought about how it might be different elsewhere.  I had to get used to looking up at the buildings on the corners to find the street signs, rather than looking for a signpost on the corner.

I enjoyed looking at the street signs in Madrid and puzzling over what they meant. I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of them as well.

Our last day in Madrid: churros, Cerveceria Alemana, and relaxing on Plaza de Oriente

April 14, 2011

Our last full day in Madrid, we started at the Mercado de San Miguel.  The Mercado is an old covered market, which has recently been refurbished, and is full of food shops, bars, and even a bookstore.

We decided on churros con chocolate for breakfast.  Churros in Madrid are not sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar like they are here, and they are usually not in straight lines. They are freshly fried, about a million calories, and oh, so good. They come with a rich, thick hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is so thick, it is more pudding-like than drink-like.  The consistency allows the chocolate to cling to the churro when you dip them.

Before we left the Mercado, we purchased a tapas recipe book from the bookstore. I am anxious to try several of the tapas we enjoyed here at home.

Madrid is full of wonderful alleys that invite you to stroll down and discover a new place to explore.

Cerveceria Alemana is another Hemingway haunt on Plaza Santa Ana. Hemingway's table is at the window to the right of Greg.  Alemana was closed when we did out tour with Stephen Drake-Jones.  This was Stephen's day off, and we had so much fun on our tour, he had offered to meet us again for quick drinks here. He knew what a big Hemingway fan I was, and he wanted me to see this place. 

Hemingway's table. Unfortunately, the flash did not go off because of the bright light from the window, so I had to fiddle with the photo electronically so our faces show.  I think that it makes the photo seem more Hemingway-esque with the sepia tones (as long as you don't look too close).

Here is what it should have looked like if I had had the camera set up right. Greg and Stephen enjoying some Manchego cheese with their drinks.

After our drinks, Greg and I walked around the city revisiting some of the places we had seen previously.  Greg in front of a fragment of the old city wall of Madrid.  This is something we saw on our tour with Stephen, but I didn't get a picture of it during the tour.  

We walked towards the Royal Palace, heading towards Plaza de Oriente to find a cool place to sit, relax, and do some people-watching.

Royal Palace:

Greg enjoying a Cuban cigar in the Plaza de Oriente:

It was a relaxing day spent strolling around the city. By this time in our trip, we were nearing exhaustion, so a day filled with lazy strolling was perfect (even if it was also difficult, because there was so much more we wanted to see and do).

It was time to start winding the trip down and head back to Britain for our flight home.

Museo del Prado and more, our third day in Madrid

April 13, 2011

I think of all the art museums I visited on this trip, Museo del Prado was my favorite.  What I really loved about it, besides all the wonderful Spanish masterpieces, was that in nearly every gallery, there were artists painting their versions of the masters on canvases of all sizes.  The smell of linseed oil, turpentine, and oils wafted around the galleries, and to me, that helped bring all the paintings alive, as if they were just being painted and the canvases were still wet.  I could spend days in the Prado. I dragged Greg through all the Spanish masters, searching every gallery of all three floors until I saw every Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco that I have always wanted to view in person. Well, not every one, since some were out on loan, but nearly every one. There are no photos allowed in the Prado, but you can search their Online Gallery to review works by title or author.

After the museum, we wandered around a bit. The Prado is surrounded by beautiful parks and fountains.

After a light lunch, we headed back to our room for a siesta.  At this point in the trip, a daily nap was a must, especially with the late nights typical of Madrid (dinner doesn't really start until after 9pm).  After resting a bit, we decided to walk around and revisit some places we had already been.

Plaza Mayor:

You know any place called the "Museum of Ham" has got to be tasty (and it was).

More Plaza Mayor:

I love the alley ways of Madrid:

We stopped at La Torre del Oro Bar Andalu for some gazpacho, cañas, and to admire the bulls and photos of bullfighting decorating the walls.

Greg with a caña.

Barbera, the bull

Mmmmm, jamon!  I wish I could get ham this way at home!

I didn't catch this bull's name, but he is missing an ear, so the matador fought well.

Our tapas--gazpacho and beets.

This bull has both his ears, so the matador must not have fought as well. To the right of the bull is a photo of Franco waving.

Greg enjoying the ambiance. We were there really, really early, so the bar was empty.  We came here specifically for the gazpacho. The bar serves Andalusian cuisine, and so they have gazpacho year round. We were feeling the need for some vegetables (that weren't potatoes) after all the ham and chorizo we had been consuming.

On the way back to the hotel, we followed this protest to Puerta del Sol.  Every evening, there was a protest of some sort on Puerta del Sol. Some were very large (like the one pictured below), and some were only a handful of people.  But even though it was sometimes loud, it was always interesting to see what people were protesting.  The protests rarely went beyond sunset, and afterwards everyone wandered off to the bars and restaurants for dinner.  

Whatever differences there are in cultures, there are also similarities; in this case, the desire of people to improve their government by making their wishes known publicly through peaceful protest. May the day come soon where all cultures can have this right.