Happy Holidays!

Greetings! I hope that you all had a wonderful, warm, and merry Christmas and a happy Hanukkah. We have been having a lovely time here, although we have definitely missed our friends and family back home.

DC has been an absolute ghost town these past few days. The office was open but deserted, parking was plentiful, traffic was tolerable, lines were short, lunches were long, the blackberry was not buzzing... in other words, it has been entirely pleasant! When everyone clears out to go home for the holidays, it becomes even more apparent that no one is actually *from* DC, and that home is somewhere else entirely.

In a strange fit of ambition and nostalgia, I cooked my first ever holiday feast--turkey, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, grandmother's secret macaroni and cheese recipe, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, and pumpkin pie (with healthy doses of cool whip of course). In a small Christmas miracle, everything actually turned out properly. Rachel and Oz and Jeanne, you can stop snickering now.

Other than eating far more than I thought was humanly possible, we have been enjoying spending time with Ankur's sister, who is up visiting for 10 days. Ankur has been showing her around DC, and on Saturday we all took a day trip back in time to Williamsburg, VA.



May your days be merry and bright!

It's started...

For those of you who are concerned about my complete lack of posting since Thanksgiving, I have only one word to say to you:

Crackberry.

It's been busy. I have decided that no matter how sexy the work you are doing is, it is still work, and too much of it is still too much.

But I had to take a break from my self-imposed exile to comment on the latest bizarre news out of Washington.

Rick Warren will give the inaugural prayer.

Rick Warren? Seriously? The guy who compares abortion to the Holocaust (not that I'm defending abortion, but the Holocaust is not even close to the range of appropriate comparisons here), who thinks that my entire family of Jews and Catholics and Hindus are going to burn in hell (and seems somewhat gleeful about it), who thinks that gay marriage is on par with beastiality, who thinks that women should submit to their husbands--that Rick Warren?

I'm all for Democrats separating themselves from the image that we are the party of godless commies. I thought that Obama's election was a step in the right direction there. But this seems like a slap in the face to all of those people who believe that religion does not have to be a code word for bigotry and close-mindedness.

Maybe there's another Rick Warren out there.

Oklahoma Part Deux

We're back! It's amazing--we generally get to come to Oklahoma about once a year, and this time we're here twice in one month! This long break between jobs was the best thing we ever did.

It has been a fantastic trip thus far. We arrived on Friday night, just in time to catch some shut-eye before heading down to Norman for the game of the year--OU vs. Texas Tech. We stole my brother's tickets (don't worry, he did not miss his first game in 20 years for us--he was able to procure some more) and I got to show Ankur what a REAL football game is like. The crowd was electric, it was cold but not too cold, and the score of course was much to our liking, so it was a great day. (By the way--everyone should wear red tomorrow. Or at least not orange.)





At the game, we also had a classic Oklahoma moment: taking a picture in front of a stretch limo pickup truck. Awesome.

Sunday we went up to Tulsa to visit our old and wonderful friends, Zac and Julie. We got to see their beautiful new house (they are such real people!), and they gave us the VIP tour of the city. Despite the fact that both of my parents grew up Tulsa, we never spent a whole lot of time there as kids--at least, not outside of the grandparents' houses and the Coney Islander. So it really was a new experience for both of us. We saw the Giant Praying Hands, Riverside, Brookside (?), Utica Square, Harolds, the dive shop, the park where I took prom pictures that one time, and other Tulsa landmarks. We also ate coneys (no one in my family can go to Tulsa without eating coneys) and a scrumptious dinner at Lucky's, Z&J's favorite restaurant. (Oddly enough, while stopping at Starbucks to fuel Zac's caffeine addiction, we also ran into a guy we met in Rome!) It was great to spend time with two of my best friends, and great to add a city to the (very short) list of potential future homes.



Monday we went to another OKC Thunder game. It was a very exciting game--unfortunately, they gave up a 20 point lead and lost by one in the last seconds. Oh well. We'll get better. And we saw Shaq. In a suit. I wonder where he buys his suits.

Tuesday and Wednesday were largely spent preparing for Thursday, Turkey Day. Mom and I both came down with the death cold at the same time. As we were the ones preparing Thanksgiving dinner for 20, that was an unfortunate turn of events. I hope that nobody suffers ill effects from the bacteria pie.

Thursday we all medicated up and prepared for the onslaught of the W family. As always, Thanksgiving with the Ws was loud, rambunctious, drama-filled, and fantastic. We continued the tradition of Grandmother's standard low-calorie Thanksgiving meal for 25: turkey slow-cooked in cream-of-mushroom soup, stuffing, green bean casserole, rice, secret-recipe macaroni and cheese, brown and serve rolls, some needless filler vegetables, and gravy on top of everything. Then pumpkin pie with loads of whipped cream. And alcohol. Much alcohol. Then we started a fire. Then Aunt Liz walked into a door. And a good time was had by all.

We also had a few visitors for Thanksgiving. Karen, who is basically one of the family, and Michelle, a girl who lived in the house behind my grandmother and grew up with the W clan, came by, but they are used to us. We also had Ankur's sister, who came down from Kansas to experience her first real turkey day. I hope she doesn't convince Ankur to leave me. Finally, we had my potential future in-laws--if yesterday doesn't change their mind.




Today is Recovery Friday. We'll need it!

I hope you all had a warm, happy, and wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a few things I am thankful for this year:

-My wonderful husband, and a wonderful first year of marriage
-My colorful (and wonderful) family--and getting to spend Thanksgiving with most of them
-My Savta
-My BFF Rachel, now only 2.5 hours away
-All my fantastic friends, near and far (Lincoln, here's your shoutout--you are included here)
-My Godson
-My new job, starting on Monday
-My old job--the best job I'll ever have
-Memories of the trip of a lifetime
-The Constitution
-Living in the land of opportunity, and being able to take advantage of it
-Change! =)
-And of course, turkey and macaroni and cheese and pumpkin pie...

New Plan

In case the economy keeps going on this trajectory, we have a new plan:

Urban Chicken Farming

It was actually Pat and Elisa's idea. Anyone else want to join?

First Celebrity Sighting

We waved. He waved back.

Making an effort

Recently, I had a g-chat conversation about the election with a good friend of mine. The conversation caused me much consternation, but not for the reasons you might think. After discussing the historic nature of the election, the potential SCOTUS nominees, and the fantastic acceptance speech, the following exchange took place:

me: I wish you were in DC
it's pretty cool here right now
the energy is amazing
Him: WHOA
I'M PRINTING THIS OUT
AND DISTRIBUTING IT TO ALL
I believe that was a (partially) positive assessment of DC from Melanie

Well, that got me thinking.

Have I really said nothing positive about DC? Ever?

And what does that say more about--my own attitude, or the city?

Sure, this is not my favorite place in the world--it's no Gimmelwald. Sure, I still do not really understand these "city folk"--I am still very much a country mouse at heart. Sure, I miss my family, my friends, and my quiet, convenient, friendly, comfortable, familiar, chicken-fried kind of home.

But nobody put a gun to my head and forced me to move to DC. (Indeed, we're ponying up a pretty penny to live here.) We came here for a reason, and there is a reason we didn't pack up and go home after the first week. So I think it's about time that I put in writing--for public distribution--some of the good things about living here. In no particular order, here are 10 positive things about DC:

1) It's an exciting place to be right now. This is where everything is happening--the turnover in government, the Supreme Court, the home of the new 700 billion dollar hedge fund, the G-20 meetings, the protests, the parades--and the energy is high.

2) There are tons of people our age, everywhere. For the most part, they are excited about life, and they are doing something with it.

3) People come to visit. We already have a full slate of houseguests planned, despite the fact that they have to sleep on the couch or an air mattress.

4) No matter what kind of food you're in the mood for, you can find it within walking distance. Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Peruvian, Malaysian, Italian, Mexican, Steakhouses... anything.

5) There are actually some decent country radio stations here.

6) There is real diversity--ethnic diversity, religious diversity, political diversity, financial diversity, sexual diversity, etc. Along with that diversity comes acceptance--we don't have to worry about being an interracial couple, we don't worry about having a funny name, we don't have to defend our religious or political choices, and we get to learn a lot about other people.

7) I never have to drive. My feet or the metro can take me anywhere I want to go.

8) I don't have to plan meals in advance--I can just walk across the street to the grocery store and get what I need that evening.

9) You never have to worry about places being closed at 9pm.

10) I may not have my own little piece of land or my own garden, but I do have a pretty neat backyard: My trees are the Japanese cherry trees, my pond is the reflecting pool and the tidal basin, and my statuary are the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

There. I feel better already.

Oooooooklahoma!

As the slogan goes, Oklahoma is OK. Better than OK, actually. In my opinion, Oklahoma needs to get over its massive inferiority complex and admit that it is actually a better than mediocre place to live. Oklahoma is Great! (Except for the unfortunate fact that it is the only state that did not have a single county go blue in this year's presidential election--a fact about which my father constantly reminded us during our visit.)



Our trip home was action-packed. We arrived on Wednesday, the day after the election, just in time to go to an Oklahoma City Thunder game. (Sorry Adam.) I still can't get over the fact that Oklahoma, which bleeds football from its red clay pores, now has a professional basketball team. But the city has taken to it beautifully. The stands were packed, the people were excited, and the guys behind us actually knew all the players and their strengths and weaknesses, only five games into the season. Yet more proof that OKC is on the rise!

(PS: If you look closely at the picture above, you'll see two former Jayhawk standouts!)

Also during the time that we were home, we hung out with the family, went on a walk around Arcadia Lake, played a lot of Rock Band, attended Jay and Ellen's beautiful wedding, went shopping, caught up with old and wonderful friends, and ate a TON of mom's homemade macaroni and cheese. And Braums peppermint ice cream. Oh how I love Braums peppermint ice cream. And macaroni and cheese. Two things you can't get anywhere else. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Oklahoma?

Another random tidbit-- on both our way to and from Oklahoma, we noticed a parade of giant--and I do mean giant--windmill parts travelling north on I-35. We're talking tons and tons of gigantic windmill parts. I don't know where they're coming from or where they are going, but I must say that it was quite heartening to see real progress being made on the wind energy front. I happen to think that the Oklahoma and Kansas landscape is beautiful as it is, but for those detractors who think that it is just a bunch of wasted empty space, it's now no longer being wasted!



We are now back in DC, doing our best to get settled before one last trip home for Thanksgiving and then starting work! It's hard to believe that our adventures are almost over. At least, these adventures--I'm sure there are many more ahead! Hope all is well.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Chicago, Illinois

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

Election Day

Celebrate America: Go vote!

Long time no see

Boy have I missed Kansas! The land of the waving wheat, Jayhawks, wide open spaces, old friends, smiling strangers, basketball, easy parking, family, salt-of-the-earth people, Mass Street, and more. It has been wonderful to be back.

In addition to our Indian festivities and family visits, we have been busy catching up with old friends. On Wednesday, we drove to Lawrence, home of our alma maters. It was great to troll Mass Street, have lunch at La Parilla (my absolute favorite cheap restaurant), walk the KU campus, and visit old professors and debate coaches. That evening we met Cassy--my brilliant, thoughtful, quirky, delightful roommate of four years--at our favorite sushi place in Lawrence. I almost didn't recognize her, as she had cut off all of her trademark long hair; but other than that, she has remained true to the wonderful Cassy I've always known and loved. She even brought me a Macaroni and Cheese cookbook--awesome! =) Dinner was followed by a delicious home-made ice cream cone at Silas and Maddy's, and then the three of us retired to the delightfully hippy, unique, Lawrence-esque Java Break to round out the evening. It was great to see her.

Yesterday, we met Justin--Ankur's roommate of four years--at Boston Market. It may sound like a weird place to meet for lunch, but I was very excited about bland food. He regaled us with stories about medical school while doing a relatively good job of keeping it lunch-table appropriate, which was much appreciated. It was great to see him as well.

In the evening, we finished our tour of KU roommates by going to McLouth, Kansas--a tiny town of about 800--to visit the mayor and his wife. Yep, my former roommate Jennifer is now the wife of the mayor and the mother of three beautiful girls (see the pictures above), not to mention a pharmacist herself. I got to hold the baby much of the evening, which was heaven! =) Jennifer made us a lovely dinner, and the wine fueled a spirited political conversation. When you get me in the same room with someone who regularly listens to Rush Limbaugh, you might expect sparks to fly--however, it remained remarkably civil and fun. A great evening.

That's all the excitement for now. Hope all is well with you!

Happy Diwali!

It is the biggest holiday of the year for Indians--Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. This festival is like Chanukkah (also the Festival of Lights), Christmas (the big, relatively secularized national holiday where families get together and eat a lot of sweets), New Year's Eve (tomorrow actually is the New Year in the Hindu calendar), the 4th of July (Diwali is usually celebrated with Fireworks, but the city of Topeka won't allow fireworks outside of the 4th of July), and everyone's anniversary (most businesses, new relationships, etc. are begun on a special day in the Diwali season, considered an auspicious day to buy gold and start new things--my engagement ring was purchased on this day)--all rolled into one big multi-day celebration. We are fortunate enough to be able to be in Kansas with the Indian half of our family this year, so we can join in the festivities!

We arrived on Saturday, just in time to change into our Indian finery and go to a Diwali show. The show was basically a talent show by the Indian community here, with singing, dancing, and skits. My mother-in-law sang a beautiful song--I was quite impressed with her skill and composure! There were also a number of traditional dances performed by small children who were learning to dance, which was incredibly cute. Afterwards, as at every other Indian event that I have attended, we had a big meal.

The next night we began the cycle of visiting families for Diwali. We actually have a dinner scheduled every night this week. I am always keenly aware of my status as the mzungu wife at these events, being the only non-Indian, non-Gujarati-speaking, non-chili-eating, etc., etc., person in the room. Everyone is more than kind to me, however, and I am sure that it will become easier with time. I am definitely getting an appreciation of how it feels to be a minority, however, and what my husband went through when he first came to America. Which is unquestionably good for me.

And with that, I must go join in the fun! Happy Diwali!

Off to see the wizard

We're going home! Hooray!

As we haven't seen either set of parents in a year, we figured it was time to head home for a longer visit (before I start work and am never heard from again). So we're off to Kansas tomorrow, and then to Oklahoma on Nov. 5. Our original plan was to head to Oklahoma on the 4th, but my father kindly informed us that we were not welcome in his home while the election results were coming in. I thought he was kidding. My mother informs me that he wasn't.

So ... speaking of election results ... if any of you who don't have an elephant shrine set up in your living room would like some company on November 4, please let us know!

In other news, we are basically unpacked from the move now, which is quite a relief. The boxes are gone, we have hung pictures, and our canned goods are nicely placed in their kitchen drawer (you read that right). We even had our very first houseguest, Pat, over for dinner yesterday. (Having learned our lesson from our first dinner party in South Bend, when I forgot to include the chicken in the "chicken pasta," Ankur cooked the salmon and I stuck to the salad and couscous.) I think this means we are officially DC residents now, even if we are not DC domiciliaries.

Parking

As some of you know, as we were finishing up our time in South Bend, we sold one of our cars. We were very lucky--we sold it for a good price, just before the credit market and the stock market collapsed. And we were able to use that money for a trip to Europe, which was amazing.

Now, in addition to being thankful that we were able to sell the car for a good price when we did, we are also very thankful that we do not have a second car in DC. Not only is a second car completely unnecessary in the city (particularly when one member of the family absolutely refuses to drive in this mess)--it is also exceedingly inconvenient.

I must go on record saying: Parking in this city is ridiculous. First, there isn't any. Second, if you are lucky enough to find a spot on the street within a mile of your apartment into which you can squeeze your car, you must have DC tags in order to park there for more than two hours. So if you don't yet have DC tags, like us, you must move your car to another block every two hours, all day, between the hours of 7:30am and 8:30pm. Third, in order to obtain DC tags, you must a) have your car inspected, b) obtain DC insurance, c) pay a hefty fee, and d) get a DC driver's license--which involves taking both a written and a driving skills exam (and, in my case, learning how to parallel park). All of which is a major hassle in the city, particularly when you have to move your car every two hours in the process.

Our solution: rent an off-street parking space.

Easier said than done, apparently. The 10 or so spots behind our building are already rented, and the parking garages in the area are either absurdly expensive or out of spaces. So we went on craigslist, a very convenient internet market for city dwellers. There we found parking spaces for sale--for a mere $40,000. Yes, that's right, people here actually take out a mortgage to purchase a parking space. We're not taking about a garage, or a covered parking space--we're talking about $40K for a little five-foot by 7 foot sliver of asphalt in an alleyway.

Fortunately, with the help of http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/prk/, we found someone living in a rowhouse about half a mile from our apartment who was renting the space behind his home. For a mere $200. Per month. And that was cheap for the area. So yes, for the near future, we are paying $200/month to park half a mile from home. To a nice midwestern girl like me, this is just unfathomable. But, such is the city.

For all of you at home, take a moment to enjoy your free, bountiful parking and think of us! =)

DC

Well, we're here.

It has been a busy and draining week. We completed our absentee ballots in Indiana, said goodbye to most of the wonderful people we were privileged to meet in South Bend, shed quite a few tears (well, I did), started and finished packing our first marital home into boxes, and then were on our way. We just missed meeting Baby Schacht, but we are hoping that they come visit us soon!

The movers initially gave us a five day window in which they would get our stuff to DC, which made planning somewhat difficult. But we were lucky--when they finished loading, they told us that our furniture was last on the truck and therefore first off. So rather than linger in South Bend as we had planned, we left right away on Wednesday. That evening, we stopped at a random hotel in some random town in Ohio at 8:45 so that we could watch the presidential debate. We figured that if we were going to get up at 3am in Venice to watch the debate, we had no excuse not to watch it when we were in the States. It actually was a lovely evening, reminiscent of my college experience--sitting in a hotel room watching politics and eating pizza from the box.

Thursday we drove to Charlottesville to see Rachel and Blake. It was a surprisingly beautiful drive--the leaves were changing, and the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia were quite striking. I had no idea that West Virginia was such a pretty place! We stayed in the O'Brien's lovely "hotel" and ate at our two favorite places in C'ville--the Indian restaurant and Sticks. It was wonderful to see them (happy first anniversary, by the way!). That is one of the things that I am most excited about with our move--we're only two and a half hours away from my childhood best friend. And, of course, Sticks.

Friday we got the keys to our new apartment. As it was empty and we had nothing to do after we blew up the air mattress, we walked around our new neighborhood, trying to get our bearings. Our neighborhood is quite convenient--we are a block away from a (vastly overpriced) Safeway, a Subway (the restaurant, not the metro), a hardware store, an Italian restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a homemade ice cream shop, a gay bar, another gay bar, and more. We are also about seven blocks (or a 10 minute walk) from the metro. That is the plus of city living.

We spent Saturday waiting for our furniture and discovering the negatives of city living. I woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window, only to see a guy going through the dumpster below. It was the saddest thing I've ever seen. It really got to me.

Not to dwell on that, Saturday our things arrived. It was an adventure getting them here. The moving truck would not fit anywhere near our apartment, so the movers first had to transfer everything from their moving truck to a U-haul truck and then bring it in. The U-haul, however, almost didn't make it. It fit into the alley behind our apartment building with about 2 inches to spare. Then they discovered that they had to turn the truck around inside the alley, because the other end of the alley was not passable and they needed to be facing the other direction. After about an hour of inching forward and back, blocking all traffic, and getting stuck between two inclines so that the wheels were spinning on the pavement and the transmission was going out, they finally got the truck turned around with only minor damage--I think by sheer force of will. They then proceeded to carry our furniture (which had already been carried down two flights of stairs in South Bend) inside--one even moving the couch single-handedly.

When the movers left, we immediately got busy unpacking. It is amazing how much stuff we accumulated over the year in South Bend. Nothing fits in our new apartment--we actually have our canned food in a kitchen drawer, and all of our condiments are in the fridge, whether they need to be refrigerated or not. Currently the office is entirely piled with stuff we don't have a home for. I can't complain--we are very fortunate to have a place to live, and stuff to put in it. But we really need to downsize some more.

We met our next-door neighbor, who also was moving in when we were moving in--although his move was just from across dupont circle. A fellow lawyer, as I think most people in this building are. He seems nice enough.

On Sunday, my friend Lincoln came down from Baltimore to visit, which was incredibly nice of him. We took a long walk up to Woodley Park for some excellent diner food and got to catch up. I'm very mad at him for leaving DC and moving to Baltimore just as we got here =) but it will be good to be relatively close by.

It's been an exciting week. It's also been a hard week, though. This city is kind of overwhelming for someone who hasn't done city living before. Despite the five million residents of the DC metro area, it still feels pretty isolated and lonely when there are no familiar faces and nobody looks you in the eye--much less smiles. It's also a very difficult job market right now, particularly with the finance industry in chaos. (If you know of anyone in finance--or anything else interesting--hiring in DC, please let us know!) There has been quite a bit of soul searching done this week (really this entire year) in that regard. So at the moment, we often find ourselves feeling rather lonely and directionless in DC.

But, we are in our nation's capitol, two weeks away from a transformative election, and we have a roof over our heads and at least one job awaiting us. And, of course, we have each other. So we are incredibly lucky. We just need to keep reminding ourselves of that sometimes!

I hope you are all well. Come visit us in DC!

Pictures

Europe 2008

Click on the above link to view our pictures from our trip.

Sorry for the delay. It has been a hectic time, saying goodbye to people in South Bend, planning the details of the rest of our trip, and packing. But all is well. Boomer Sooner!

Home Sweet Home

Howdy! After a very long trip yesterday, we are HOME! It was a great trip, but we are pretty thrilled to be back.

Just because we're back, though, doesn't mean we won't be continuing this blog. After a month of paying by the minute for internet access, we have unlimited use of the internet. So we will be able to post a few more things that we were thinking about during our trip. Look for posts on:

-The European view of the American elections
-Things we missed about America
-Things we can learn from the Europeans
-And, of course, a link to all of our pictures once I get them uploaded and captioned.

We also have quite a bit more activity lined up before getting back to work, including moving, a trip to Kansas, Diwali, a trip to Oklahoma, a wedding, and Thanksgiving.

So we're looking forward to catching up with all of you soon! In the meantime, keep checking back!

Ready to come home...

... to experience the financial debacle and get Obama elected!

We have had a trip of a lifetime. From London to the Swiss Alps to Tuscany and Umbria, and back again to London. It's been absolutely amazingly incredible to see the families, visit the sites, experience the cultures, satiate our appetites, and learn about the world that we often ignore. To all of you whom we met during our trip for the first time (Richie & Co!), our families, and our friends, *thank you!* To our frequent readers and--especially-- to those of you who wrote back, *grazie mille!*

We are currently at London's Heathrow airport (terminal 3 for any stalkers out there) getting ready to take off, and very eager to return home.

We'll see y'all soon!

London, continued

The past few days we have had a wonderful time visiting family and seeing London. Before we left Sophie and Shirin's, we got to see darling little Keira in her school uniform--so cute. She is such a sweet and fun and sociable little girl!

We then went back to Milap's home. Girishada graciously showed us around "Little India" in London. We first went to the Shri Swaminarayan temple in central London. It is definitely on the list of the most amazing buildings that I have ever seen. The temple was entirely hand-carved in marble and wood, with incredibly ornate designs. The building was pristine, and the people were reverent. We also got to see an aarti ceremony, which was a new and very interesting experience for me. After visiting the temple, we went to Ealing Road, the Indian district of London. I got to try new Indian foods: dosa, pani puri, mumra, idlee, and behr. I particularly liked the dosa. We also got to see all the beautiful shops with clothes, jewelry, housewares, statues, and, of course, lots and lots of food. The highlight of Ankur's day was getting to eat pan (a bunch of spices and sweets and sundry items wrapped in a leaf that you chew) and madaf (coconut milk drunk with a straw straight out of the coconut). I enjoyed getting to experience these things that he had talked about for years, although I can't say that I enjoyed eating the pan!

We spent the rest of our time in London visiting family and family friends. I must say, when I married Ankur, my family size grew by about ten times! It is a lively, vibrant, and very welcoming family, so I am quite lucky.

That's it for now--we'll see you soon!

Hello from London

We are having a lovely (brilliant!) time in London. Before we arrived, cousin Milap kindly made a million arrangements for us. On Friday he took the day off work to come pick us up from the airport, get us settled in, and then take us on a lovely walk around the London countryside and to a proper English pub. We had a wonderful dinner at their home, and then we met up with another cousin at a bar and experienced a bit of the British drinking culture. We were extremely exhausted from the time change and our 3 AM wakeup for the debates, though, so we mostly observed.

Yesterday Milap showed us around central London. We saw Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben (we thought of you, Ben), 10 Downing Street, the changing of the cavalry guard, Trafalgar Square, and a bunch of other sights. We also went up in the London Eye, which was amazing! We then met the other cousins for lunch at wagamamas, per Jessica's suggestion, which we thoroughly enjoyed. So it was a great mix of experiencing London and getting to hang out with the family.

Last night we went to Seema and Aarif's, who kindly cooked us a lovely dinner, and we got to play with the kids. It was amazing how rambunctious two three year olds and a six month old were! It was a lot of fun, but it definitely made us appreciate how difficult parenthood is. It was also great to sit around after dinner and talk about the state of the world with some really great people. Then we went to stay at Sophie and Shirin's lovely home.

Today we mostly took it easy. Ankur and Shirin went to a football game (soccer, for all of you at home), and the girls stayed in. We went grocery shopping, and I picked up some British-only foods (Weetabix with chocolate, Malteesers, and "proper" baked beans) for Ankur. He talks all the time about these things that we just can't get in America, so hopefully he will be pleased. And I have found myself talking a bit like a Brit--I love their accent and quaint way of putting things. Ankur finds it hilarious as well.

This evening we had a wonderful dinner at Sophie and Shirin's. It was a lively group, with Rameshada (always full of energy and smiles), Sophie's mother- and father-in-law (her mom made the best prawns ever), Sophie and Shirin, Seema and Aarif, us, and the kids. Keira was so excited to be having a party, and she was so proud to help set the table. They even took out the fancy and beautiful dishes for the occasion! I got to hold Carys (the baby) for quite a bit, which was wonderful--I didn't even mind when she threw up all over my lap. =)

That's all for now--hope all is well!

Venice

Hi! We're currently at Marco Polo Airport in Venice trying to use up our last few Euros. Unbelievably and sadly, most of the shops here are the likes of Versace and Prada, so our few Euros are rather useless. But not at the internet point!

Venice was a mess. A zoo, even. People everywhere. Every corner, every alley, every square was filled with hundreds of people. So, we did not like it as much as we did last time, but we did meet a very interesting artist who amazed us with his knowledge of the US political scene and implored for an Obama vote. As we have remarked previously, we have been surprised at how knowledgeable the general public is about the US.

On a different note, we got up last night at 3:00 AM local time to watch the Biden-Palin debate. It was great to finally feel connected to American politics, and to prepare ourselves for reentry into the life awaiting us back home.

We did not get a chance to tell you about our Lucca escapades. Our last full day in Lucca we began by renting a tandem bike, or a "bicycle built for two." We rode it around the ramparts, a remarkably large and smooth road built on top of an ancient wall built to keep out the Pisans. We who had not ridden a bicycle in many many years, if ever, were quite sore afterwards. But it was a lovely and romantic experience.

We then spent about three hours speaking with our new friends Vicky and Chris, two ex-Brits who packed up and moved to Lucca five years ago. Their house had tripled in value in the UK, and they both had lost their jobs, so they decided that this was a good time to make a life change. So two insurance industry workers (one with a law degree) are now running a gelateria in Lucca, Italy. Perhaps we ought to take a similar cue, given our own situation!

After our gelato, we returned to the Puccini festival and saw another concert of opera music. Our friend Francesco was there again, and he informed us that this time Mattia, the remarkable 23 year old we saw the day before, was singing this time with his "love," another remarkably talented young singer named (we think) Emily Buscemi. It was unbelievable, again, and we absolutely loved it. I think there will be more opera in our future.

And that brings the Italy portion of our trip to a close. We have had a fantastic time here, and hope to return one day. We are, however, looking forward to many things about returning home--friends and family, of course, and food too!

Ciao!

Puccini!

Hello from Lucca! It has been a fascinating, spontaneous trip thus far. We arrived in the afternoon, changed clothes and went immediately into the city to scavenge for food. We are very glad that we did, because on our way we happened upon the home where the famous composer, Giacomo Puccini, grew up! Outside the square, which now has a statue of his likeness, there was a five-string orchestra with two opera singers, performing some songs from his operas! What a lovely, accidental concert!

It lasted about an hour, and Ankur fell in love. It was his first exposure to opera, and he was so excited (as was I) that we went and got tickets to a Mozart/Puccini concert for tonight.

It did not disappoint. We had FANTASTIC seats -- front row, right in front of the piano so we could see his fingers, and maybe five feet from the singers (I think we got spit on). The seats also came with our own personal Puccini tour guide. As it happened, the man sitting next to us was an opera singer himself. He has been all over the world singing, including DC, NY, Philly, Austria, etc. He was quite excited to see two young people there for the opera, and to have a chance to practice his English. Before the concert began, he took us behind the scenes and introduced us to the performers of the evening, Soprano Chiara Panacci (very good), Baritone Mattia Campetti (a mere 23 years old, and a star), and Massimo Morelli on the piano. Then the concert began, and we were blown away. It was a number of highlights from Mozart and Puccini operas, including The Marriage of Figaro, La Boheme, Don Giovanni, and Madame Butterfly (all in Italian, of course, with no subtitles). One of our favorites was actually the intermezzo from Manon Lescaut, but we loved the singing, too. We left singing "Cinque ... Dieci...!" We had such a fantastic time that we are very much considering returning for another performance tomorrow. We wished that Savta was here with us!

In other news, we wandered into a gelateria on the way to the concert, which is owned by an expatriate from the UK. He was quite friendly, and it was a joy to talk to him until he informed us that the US financial markets had dropped 800 points yesterday. We gasped. Then we reconsidered buying gelato. But hey, we will worry about that when we get back.

We initially had planned to be here for two nights, but our room is so lovely and we are so excited about the opera around here that we decided to extend our stay another night. That gives us only one night in Venice, but we have been there before so it's fine. Tomorrow we will walk the ramparts and seek out some more beautiful music.

That's all for now. We miss you all!

Assisi pictures

Assisi was one of our favorite places. Here are a few pictures to show why:

First is the view from our hotel at sunset. I know, breathtaking. I feel like I have used that word a lot on this blog, but there is really no other way to describe a lot of these views.

Next is the basilica of San Francesco, where numerous world religious leaders met in a forum on world peace, and which houses numerous beautiful works of art as well as the tomb of St. Francis.

Finally, the view of Assisi from Rocca Maggiore, the castle at the top of the hill.

Assisi and beyond

Hello from Assisi! Sorry it has been so long since our last real post. We have been tired. Yup, tired. Yesterday we calculated walking (half uphill) about 9 miles (conservative estimate). Assisi is set on a "hill" called Mt. Subasio. The old city is about a quarter of the way up the mountain, with the newer parts in the valley below. There are olive trees everywhere, and numerous churches dedicated to its hometown heroes, St. Francis and St. Clare, peppered between the old city and the new city. Assisi is capped off by two castles dating back at least a thousand years.

Over the previous two days, we covered pretty much the entirety of Assisi proper, visiting an ancient Roman castle, an ancient Roman forum, numerous churches with amazing frescoes from the Giotto period, numerous historical Franciscan sites, and a lot of simply beautiful medieval streets. We also discovered the joys of antipasto. We are now in love with bruschetta of all kinds, as well as paté. (Yes, believe it or not, it is Melanie who is writing this.)

Today we hiked to near the top of Mt. Subasio to Eremo Carceri, a beautiful and peaceful retreat in the woods on the top of a mountain. The views and the peace were both breathtaking, particularly after so many days with so many tourists. The >2.5 mile hike up was also breathtaking--in the sense that it stole all of our breath. It was STEEP! We climbed more than 2000 feet in the process. Add that to our treks from the previous days, and we are two tired tourists! We were even too tired to walk the few feet up the hill to get a gelato on our way back to the hotel. =) But we have thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and we will miss the place. It is a very special place, and we encourage you to visit some day.

Tomorrow we are off to Lucca, another small Tuscan town. Sorry we weren't able to take any of your suggestions for this leg of the trip, but train schedules did not permit it. We did follow the advice of some locals though, and we have high hopes for the place. We will spend two nights there, and will hopefully let you know how it is.

Now we are off to guzzle some aqua frizzante. (We disagree with paying for water, but we are quite happy that the fizzy water costs the same as regular water, so we can be fancy every meal!) Hope all is well with you! Keep us in the loop!

PS. Happy late birthday to Marko!

Breaking News!

We are pleased to inform you all that...

Ankur's dad has had his dissertation approved!

Congratulations! We are so happy and proud of him.

Assisi

Hi all!

We are safely in Assisi, and loving it. It's a beautiful small well kept medieval town with lots of history. Will post more later. Hope that the economic news isn't getting you all too down back home. If it is, feel free to join us over here. Also, does anyone know if the debates are taking place? If so, please feel free to post a summary for us out of the loopers!

Gastronomia

Italian food is my favorite food in the world. Which is why it is shocking to me that I am starting to crave something other than pizza, pasta and gelato! We have been eating our way through Italy in force. Every morning we have the typical Italian breakfast of cappucino (or tea, in our case) and a hard roll or chocolate croissant, standing at the bar (it costs more to sit down here). For lunch we get pizza at our favorite pizza place (they have even started throwing in free upgrades as we are their best customers) and either eat it at the bar or sitting on the steps outside. For dinner we have some sort of pasta. And of course there is a gelato or two thrown in throughout the day. We are particularly fond of Fragola (strawberry) and Stracciatella (chocolate chip).

As you can see, however, while definitely tasty, our diet has been rather devoid of vegetables, fruits, and fiber. We went in search of fruits the other day, and paid 7 euros (11 dollars approximately) for three bananas, one peach, and one apple.

Believe it or not, we even sought out the one McDonalds in Siena two nights ago in order to get some healthy food. Who would have thought--McDonalds = health food?! But they have protein and salads, both of which are sorely lacking in Italy proper. While we were there scarfing down our familiar food, we ran into our new American friend, Richie, who was also procuring health food for his lovely wife and daughter!

Last night we had more adventures in food. We met two real Italian girls who are staying at our bed and breakfast (minus breakfast). Their enthusiasm and friendliness more than made up for their broken English, and our uselessness in Italian, and we quickly bonded. They invited us out to dinner with them to a trattoria, where with their help we experienced more traditional Tuscan food. For the appetizer we had carciofi and something, which turned out to be artichokes in oil and some form of meat. For the main course, Ankur had some form of chicken, pollo arrosto. We still aren't clear about what "arrosto" means. Perhaps "in need of arrest," as it was pretty bad. I had spaghetti ala ragu--spaghetti with meat sauce. For dessert, they ordered us cantucci vin santo (pardon my spelling). We should have recognized the last part from our experience in Tuscany, but we did not. Turns out it was six rock hard biscuits to be dipped in vin santo sweet wine. We tried our best, but I ended up walking out of the restaurant with a pocket full of biscuits so as not to offend our hosts. It was definitely a unique experience, and we were happy to learn all about life for real people in Italy.

As an aside, some other things we learned from Frederica and Georgia, our Italian friends: they are not at all fond of their current government, but they are quite excited about Obama! They know a lot about the US, including about Fannie, Freddie, etc (although they were under the impression, reasonably, that the government was nationalizing all of the banks since Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch, and Bank of America sounds like the national bank). We learned about their university system (5 years usually, with opportunities for further study), that they enjoy reading Nietzsche and Marx, that they are vehemently atheist despite living in a Catholic country, that they live in a medieval town and it is no big deal, and how to say good luck in Italian (in bocco al lupo, which much be followed by creppi lupo or it becomes bad luck).

Ciao for now!

Piazza del Campo

Here are two pictures from Siena.
This one's of us on the Piazza del Campo. Eating gelato, sun-bathing, and people-watching are favorite pastimes of ours while here!

This one of the city hall in Siena, which is on one side of the square.

Picture Catch-up & Tuscany

Here are a few pictures from the past few days.


This one is from Vernazza - one of the five little villages in the Cinque Terre region. As you may be able to tell, it's built on a cliff on one end and has a harbor on the other. Population, if you're wondering, is 500! One of the little villages, Corniglia, is completely on a cliff so no boats can stop by.

As promised, here's a picture of the prawns! Mmmmm, it was SOOOO good... (for Rachel)!



Yesterday, we took a day trip to the surrounding area of Chianti, famous for its Chianti Classico red wine. We had it at our wedding. Our tour consisted of visiting two tiny towns - Radda in Chianti and Vertine (pop. 30, but built in the 12 century, but still in perfect shape and very well maintained.) We also visited one of the largest wineries in Tuscany - Castello D'Albola. They have 9 wineries here, and one in... you won't believe it... Charlottesville, VA! We got to see the wine-making process in depth, and then taste the fruit of the vine, including a rare and unique wine to Tuscany called Vin Santo. I also had Grappa, which is made from the left overs. It is extremely strong - 45 - 65% alcohol. Above is a picture of the rolling lush green hills of Tuscany.

Ciao Siena!

Yesterday, we arrived in Siena... finally! As many of you may know, we loved Siena the first time we were here and could not wait to return. Well, we're here now and it's just as lovely as we remembered it.

We met a couple and their cute daughter from Seattle in Vernazza. It turned out that they were on our train to Siena, so it was great to travel with companions and play with a 20-month old. It also gave us hope that trips like this can be done with children. We spent the evening entertaining her in the main square--Piazza del Campo. Unfortunately, it's a little chillier than we had expected, but such is the Italian way of life.

Piazza del Campo is a delightful square (not really shaped like one, though) in the middle of Siena. It's all brick and surrounded by the city hall on one end, and shops and restaurants on the other sides. Twice a year, there's a very popular horse race that takes place there called the 'Palio.' We have not experienced the Palio as it is akin to sheer chaos. The rest of the year the square is filled with students (there's a university here), couples, children, and people in general who are having a great time sun-bathing, reading, or simply enjoying the views. We intend to join the masses relaxing on the square over the next several days.

Sorry for the lack of pictures for now, but they will come soon!

C'est la vie... Ciao!

Day 2 in Vernazza

We have fallen into the pace of Vernazza. Today was a lovely, lazy day. It was rainy in the morning, so we slept in. We are now in a cozy loft apartment, which has a fantastic balcony that overlooks the sea and the village. We spent some time up on top of the world just gazing out. Then we had lunch at a restaurant called Gianni Franzi. For all of you considering travelling to Vernazza, this is the best meal we have had in any of our travels in Europe. I had penne con scampi, which came out quite authentic--the "prawns" still had their full bodies attached. I will post a picture later.

We then walked our laps through the village (it takes about 10 minutes from the water to the end of the town, so we can do many laps), and we met a number of interesting people. We ran into some folks we met in Gimmelwald, and marvelled at the little world of Rick Steves travelers. We also talked with a chiropractor from Canada and an Indian/caucasian couple from Seattle, with their beautiful daughter in tow. We also had our obligatory pizza and gelato to top off the day. If we come back 25 pounds heavier, you know why.

We have enjoyed our stay in Cinque Terre, and we are looking forward to beautiful Siena tomorrow! Ciao for now.

Cinque Terre

Hello from Vernazza, the "jewel" of Cinque Terre, according to our buddy Rick Steves. We had a bit of a culture shock on our way from Switzerland to here. We traded the chocolate for gelato, the German for the Italian, and the cold for the hot, which were all good changes. But we also traded the precision for the lackadaisical, the brilliant engineering for the haphazard towns in hills, the pristine for the dirty, the swiss franc for the euro, the real flowers for the tissue paper flowers, and did we mention the clean for the dirty?

After we got over the culture shock, we have started to enjoy ourselves. It helps that we moved from a room in an old Italian lady's home (a mixup in bookings) to a decent place today. She was sweet, but I don't think she had cleaned in a few centuries.

We did the hike through the five towns today--Vernazza to Monterosso (the hardest), then the train back to Vernazza (our home base). We moved, then continued the hike to Corneglia, then Montarola, and finally Riomaggiore. It was excellent exercise, and lovely seaside views. Each town is teeny tiny, but has lots of character. These homes were built in the 13th century and some even before that, so it's quite different from anything we have seen before.

We hope that all is well with you. Thanks for your wonderful comments--they keep us connected to you! Please keep them coming--we are having a great time, but we very much miss you all at home.

We will post pictures in the next few days.

As Wall Street crashes, Gimmelwald shines

The weather has been improving steadily. We had a dual plan today depending on the weather. As it turned out, we managed to accomplish both goals, thanks largely due to the sunny blue skies.

After cooking a most traditionally English breakfast, we set off for Lauterbrunnen. We took the gondola down to Stechelberg and then walked about 3 miles on mostly flat ground to Lauterbrunnen alongside a river. Once again, the views were spectacular as we marvelled at amazing waterfalls crashing down from hundreds of feet above. Of course, the valley views were breathtaking and there are really no words to describe the scenery except to encourage you to visit at some point.

As the day continued, the skies got even clearer. We thus decided to visit Schilthorn, which is one of the highest peaks and tourist attractions in the area. Previously, we went up it's cousin, Jungfraujoch, which is slightly higher, but had terrible weather and saw nothing but clouds. Today, after much deliberation, we decided to try it again. And, as you see below, it was well worth it. There's a revolving restaurant at the top where we had a decent meal with heavenly views.

I must clarify that when we go up these peaks, it's either by cable car (Schilthorn) or train. The fact that the Swiss can engineer infrastructure in these conditions, considering the altitude, topography, and weather, is simply mind-boggling and amazing in and of itself.

Shock and Awe

156-year old Lehman Brothers gone? Merrill Lynch gone? This is why they say don't check the news on your vacation! Needless to say, I am shocked - mainly because it happened during the same weekend - but not completely surprised.

At this rate we may really have to consider becoming farmers here. Keep us updated on the state of affairs in the homeland!

--A

PS: The 'awe' is from the surroundings here.

Switzerland tidbits

A few random thoughts about Switzerland:

--Nationalism. The Swiss seem to have much more national pride than many other Europeans. The Swiss flag is displayed everywhere. They refuse to join the EU, and they have maintained their own currency, electrical plugs, and ability to make things run exactly on time. However, I find it odd that they do not speak their own language throughout the country. Switzerland is divided into French-speaking and German-speaking territories, with some other dialects thrown in.

--Very nice people. Things here often work on the honor system. For example, in our guesthouse, you use the internet and pay by marking talley marks on a piece of paper, with no monitoring. You can purchase food from the little store by leaving money on the counter.

--Very clean. Everything, even buildings from the 16th century, appear brand new. There is no litter. They are also very particular about their toilets--each have some sort of witty sign asking you to sit down. E.g., our hostel in Interlaken had one that said "Stand up for your rights, but sit down to piddle."

--Very resource-conscious. The lights are often automatic, and there are water conservation systems. We are supposed to shower for no more than 3 minutes.

--Ingenious engineering. Trains and cable cars can take you up the tallest and steepest mountains in a jiffy. The construction on the sheerest cliffs is simply amazing.

--Beauty. Of course the nature is fantastic. But the cute little wooden houses, with flowers in all the window boxes and colorful shutters, gardens with flowers, vegetables and garden gnomes, and painted fire hydrants really make the towns charming as well.

Gimmelwald

We have truly discovered why people say "If heaven isn´t all it is cracked up to be, send me back to Gimmelwald." After spending the morning hibernating, we emerged from our lovely little log cabin attic room and saw a peek of sunshine. We scampered up the mountain with the goats to Mürren, a town slightly further up the mountain. It was a magnificent hike, and we were able to marvel at the beautiful views of the mountains above and the valley far below. We passed goats, waterfalls, streams, and a few farmers making hay (literally). This is truly Switzerland at its finest.

It is quite cold here -- 5-7° C. We were not quite prepared for that, but we have followed the Wilson tradition of purchasing useful souvenirs--umbrellas, ponchos, long underwear, a hat with a swiss flag, and socks with a swiss flag. Now we are able to enjoy the walks.

We have also decided that this is the perfect vacation for those with adventurous hearts but not so adventurous bodies (if you come a bit earlier in the summer). There is an incredibly well developed cable car system that can take zou up the mountains. And the "trails" between the towns, although certainly low-traffic and rustic, are actually paved--no need for hiking sticks and no risk of mud or slipping here. And the views and the air throughout are breathtaking (also literally).

As there are no restaurants in Gimmelwald, we made the hike up to Mürren to purchase provisions. We had a lovely lunch of bread (sort of like challa but not egg-based), swiss cheese, and chocolate, with hot tea to wash it down, while watching the clouds roll over the mountains. Truly wonderful! We are enjoying the swiss pace of life. Slow and simple. We are also keeping an eye out for real estate and are pondering possible career changes...

We are now in Gimmelwald, a tiny village above the Lauterbrunnen valley in Switzerland, population less than 200. In order to get here, we took a train from Interlaken, we took the postal bus up to Schlechelberg (or something like that), and then a cable car up to Gimmelwald. It was so foggy that we could not even see where the cable car was going. We are literally inside a cloud right now. It is pretty neat, even if not the views we had hoped for. It is supposed to clear out tomorrow, so hopefully we will have some spectacular pictures to share with you then.

We have also met some interesting people at our hostel during our travels. Many Australians, and some Koreans, Japanese, British and Canadians. Some have been travelling for 6 months on round the world tickets. Amazing. Almost everyone speaks great English which is nice, though it has made us somewhat lazy travellers.

It is very difficult to type here because the z and y are switched and I do not know where the apostrophe is on the German kezboard. I apologiye for the shorter posts as a result. But here are a few pictures from the last couple of days.

Rain, rain... go away!

...Come back after we're gone!

It been raining, raining, and raining some more here. And we thought we escaped Ike! How about yIKEs! Other than the wet nuisance, it's been absolutely wonderful to wander about the mountainside Swiss villages. You know those postcards with cute little wooden/log homes with colorful shutters, flowers on the window sill, situated in a lush and rolling green pasture with a giantantic mountain in the background? Yeah - it really exists!

We'll write more later!

Geneva/Interlaken

Edit= pictures that go along with this post (I will figure out how to properly place them next time)

Last night we arrived in Geneva, Switzerland. What a beautiful city! It's situated on a huge lake, and it is largely very modern and international. Women are dressed to the nines, and the men aren't too shabby either. We had a great time walking around.

We also met our fellow compatriot, Oz, in Geneva. It was great to hook up with a fellow American and talk politics walking through the streets of Geneva. I think Oz was pretty excited to speak English, period--he's been travelling in Switzerland on his own for a while, and he hadn't run into many English speakers. It's great for us to have a friend to share these beautiful places with!

We spent one night in Geneva, and today we took the train to Interlaken (the city between the lakes). It's a breathtakingly beautiful area, with the surprisingly blue lakes, the river, and the Swiss Alps rising dramatically all around us. All of the (very old and well preserved) houses have flower boxes in the windows, and the delicate little tea houses provide a welcome haven from the rather cold weather.

Ankur speaks decent French, so we were able to order food and get directions in Geneva, but Interlaken, where we are now, is a somewhat different story. Interlaken is in the Germanic part of the country, and we are relying quite a bit on the Rick Steves survival phrases and hand gestures!

Internet is about to run out, but will post later! With love, M&A

London

Hi all! I apologize for the delay in posting. We've been on a whirlwind trip so far. We left DC at 8pm and arrived in London Wednesday morning at 10am -- but of course, it was only a seven hour trip. So we were a bit exhausted! But we were welcomed with unbelievable hospitality by Harishada and Kirtikaki and Richa and Angel (the rabbit). They had scrumptious food on the table, a warm bed, and wonderful conversation. We got to see Richa's new school uniform, and we got to experience London living. We also went visiting many family members. It was wonderful to get to see (and often, in my case, meet) them. Richa and Kirtikaki also had recently returned from India, with wonderful gifts for everyone (they are sooo thoughtful!). We also got to hear all about the wedding plans for Kayur and Claire, which are in full swing. It should be a great time.

We mostly visited with family on this leg of the London trip, but we did take a few hours to tour London in style. Rameshada graciously loaned us a company car and driver, and we drove around like very special and posh people. We got to see Buckingham Palace (we even saw the changing of the guard! That was awesome), the Parliament and Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Regent's Park and gardens, Trafalgar Square, and numerous other sites. London is a great city--a unique mix of the ancient and the modern. The people are quite well-dressed and sophisticated. You hear numerous languages spoken all over. However, the streets are incredibly narow and windy, the buildings are small, detailed and unique, and the people have a sense of history that Americans have to admire. We mentioned that our new apartment building in DC was very old--built in 1905. Then Claire, the soon-to-be other mzungu in the family, informed us that she used to have piano lessons in a house that was built in the sixteenth century!

(Also, for those who were wondering, we flew from London to Geneva, so we were not affected by the chunnel fire. But thanks for your concern!)

We hope that all is well with you. Thanks for all of your comments and emails!

This one's for Henry

Found one

We found a place to live while we're in DC. It's not the cute row-house we had in mind, but it's the next best thing--and in a neighborhood of cute rowhouses. Above is the outside entrance -- an old building completely refurbished on a "tree" lined street. I use "tree" in quotes because I am still of the opinion that trees should not be segregated by blocks of concrete. But it is lovely nevertheless. See below.

Not an auspicious start

Anyone have a cute place to rent in DC? We're having trouble finding one ourselves... Might have to commute from Oklahoma or St. Louis.

Suggestion Box

Thus far, we have taken the "come what may" approach to our European adventure. In that spirit, we have a basic itinerary, with lodging reservations in (almost) every location, but we do not have a single entry on our list of things to do once we get there, other than "explore ___." (If you know us well, you know which one of us was NOT very involved in trip-planning.) This approach has its definite perks--we get the thrill of discovery, the flexibility to deal with sleep and weather, and the freedom to change our minds. However, we would hate to spend a month in some of the most beautiful and historic places on earth and miss the highlights. Therefore, we're taking last-minute suggestions from all you veteran travelers of things to do while we're there.

Our basic itinerary:

Sept. 8-11: London, England
Sept. 12-13: Interlaken, Switzerland
Sept. 14-15: Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Sept. 16: Completely open - Somewhere nearby in Switzerland or Italy
Sept. 17-20: Cinque Terra, Italy
Sept. 21-24: Siena, Italy
Sept. 25-28: Assisi, Italy
Sept. 29-30: Completely open - Somewhere near Assisi or Venice
Oct. 1-3: Venice, Italy
Oct. 4-8: London, England

We'd greatly appreciate any suggestions in the comments!

Ready

Can you believe we fit five weeks worth of stuff in here?

Goodbye CA7

There are many things about my job that I will miss--the constant challenges, the diversity of problems, the spirited conversations with some of the smartest people I know, the wisdom and mentorship of a fantastic legal mind and public servant, Le Peeps, and of course the paycheck. However, I am pretty excited to spend some quality time with my husband before we begin our new jobs. I am also thrilled to regain the freedom to use em-dashes and serial commas.

First Post

It's been a little over a year since we officially bonded ourselves together for the journey. After a Kansas sanji, an Oklahoma wedding and an accidental Colorado honeymoon, we spent our first year together hibernating in South Bend, Indiana--aka 9/12 Frozen Tundra, 3/12 Most Beautiful Place on Earth. Now we're packing for another move--this time to our Nation's capitol. But before we resign ourselves to the concrete hampster wheel, we're taking an extended vacation to England, Switzerland, and Italy. Come along with us!