TravelStream™ news feed for member cdryden on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/cdryden en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:03:43 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/6/1236708000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/6/1236708000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/6/1236708000/tpod.html Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:03:43 -0400 Europe: Paris

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Paris, Île-de-France, France

I arrived from Brussels on the TGV into Gare du Nord station early in the afternoon. The first order of business was to get a transit pass for the Metro. I had pre-paid for an all zone, 5 day pass but still had to get to the store to pick it up. This tourist trap was located on Rue de Rivoli right across the street from the Tuileries gardens where the Louvre is located. I wisely used the time spent waiting for them to process my information from Travelocity to purchase postcards. Unfortunately I still had to get to my hotel and check in and I really wanted to ditch my suitcase and backpack before sightseeing. I got my pass, jumped back on the Metro at the Tuileries station and headed to the 16th arrondissement to 44 Rue de l'Amiral Hamelin and Hotel Elysees Union. Designated a three star hotel by the travel board, it was clean and unassuming. It was close to the Eiffel Tower and between it and the Arc de Triomphe off of Avenue Kleber near the Kleber Metro stop. Check in was uneventful. The trip to my room on the 6th floor was in the very small, very slow elevator. Lights in the narrow hallways are on motion sensors and click on when the elevator doors open or you exit your room.

It was now 4 o'clock and I hadn't eaten all day so a short walk around the block brought me into Savenay Caffe which, unlike most of the cafes which close between 2 pm and 7 pm, was open continuously. The country pate with fresh bread, rotisserie chicken with pommes frites, dense chocolate cake with anglaise, glass of wine and cup of French cafe was heavenly. And just the constitutional fortification I needed to blaze through a little sightseeing. Since I could see the Eiffel Tower from the door of my hotel, I decided to make it my first real stop. Walking toward the Seine, I passed by the Palais de Chaillot or Trocadero which faces the tower across the river. These beautiful buildings and esplanade have a magnificent view of the Tower and house 3 museums and a theatre, none of which I visited. I crossed the bridge and queued up for a ticket to ride up which took about 30 minutes in a biting wind. This turned out to be a good thing. I got up to the observation area just before sunset and was able to take pictures in daylight, at twilight, and at night all in one visit! I crossed back over the Seine and into the Metro station to go to the Louvre. It was closed when I got there but the night pictures of the glass pyramid with the moon was worth it. Then, I called it a night.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696300/tpod.html Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:50:31 -0400 Europe: Brussels

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Brussels, Belgium

Before getting back on the train to Paris we tagged some more of the sites. The palace, the Cinquantenaire triumphal arch, and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium with it's extensive collection of Flemish artists, All in all Brussels was a good start to exploring Belgium. I'd love to go back.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236605280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236605280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236605280/tpod.html Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:41:10 -0400 Europe: Brussels

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Brussels, Belgium

With kids in school and AG at work, Catherine drove me to some other sites. The Atomium was designed by engineer Andre Waterkeyn to represent Belgium at the 1958 Universal Exposition. It symbolizes an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times which rises 102 meters above the Heysel plateau on which it sits. It houses scientific exhibits, a restaurant, and children's teaching areas. Each of the 9 spheres is 18 meters in diameter and overlook mini-Europe where you can take pictures of yourself in all the major spots of Europe without all the trouble of actually going there.

I took a tour of the Medecins Sans Frontieres office in Brussels where AG and Catherine work. They go to all the worst places on earth and provide medical care without regard to political affiliation. These folks do some great work under extremely difficult circumstances and without the best funding. Hey they won a Nobel Prize for it too.

Lunch with AG had to be at Lyon's for mussels, french fries, and cafe. So it was. The food was great and I learned to eat like a native by using one mussel shell as pincers to pick out the meat of all the rest.

The European Union Parliament is located in Brussels and is an impressive collection of buildings. The whole city is filthy with embassies and motorcades.

I treated the family to a night out...at Pizza Hut!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236528180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236528180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236528180/tpod.html Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:27:37 -0400 Europe: Brussels

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Brussels, Belgium

My friend AG (and son Caelan) was to meet me on the platform at Brussels-Midi to guide me through the metro to his house. Upon arrival, no AG. So I headed for the exits and met him herding Caelan onto the escalator up to the platform. A poorly timed need for the toilette on Caelan's part necessitated the delay. No harm done, I hadn't gotten horribly and irrevocably lost yet. Caelan, at age 5, was a savvy metro traveler and navigated the doors and stops like a seasoned pro, under the watchful eye of dad, of course. And I only had to sit next to one paper-bag-wrapped-beer-can holding, stale-beer-smelling, fellow passenger. What a bonus.

AG, Catherine, Caelan and the twins Zara and Lydie live in Southeast Brussels in an efficient, recently remodeled walkup, 5 minutes walk from the Hermann Debroux station across from a park with a lake and ducks. Very nice.

AG and Caelan took me to THE most famous attraction in Brussels, Le Grande Place. This medieval square has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. Originally built in the 1400's, destroyed by French bombardment in 1695 and then rebuilt, it contains the Town Hall, with a gothic tower and statue of Brussels patron St. Michael, the guild halls, and Bread House (Broodhuis or Maison du Roi). This brings up another point. The official language is French and Dutch with all signs in both. That makes for really long street signs.

Near Le Grande Place, the famous Belgian waffle is easily found and consumed as well as french fries, which were a Belgian invention. The potatoes were 'frenched' and fried. An understandable mistake on the rest of the world's part, but a sore spot for Belgians. Two blocks away is Manneken Pis the easily recognized symbol of French and Dutch collaboration in Brussels. This little nude boy statue piddles with abandon into the fountain and gets dressed in various costumes sent by ambassadors and emissaries from around the world. There is a little card showing the time and date of the costumes and where they are from for the week. There is always a little crowd there, grinning and taking pictures.

We explored the area, taking snaps in front of the Coffin Bar, and going in for one of the 40+ varieties of Belgian beer at Toone. Each beer in Belgian is served in it's own special glass. That becomes more impressive when you know there are over 500 regularly produced beers and 8700 special and one-off beers. I'm not much of a beer drinker but that Belgian beer is pretty good. I had a nice Mort Subite lambic and some cheese. The Belgian chocolate was on the list to bring back, so I picked Neuhaus chocolate and bought a few boxes. There are several great chocolate houses scattered around Le Grande Place and I picked this one at random. A good choice it seems.

My hosts treated me to a traditional Belgian home cooked dish of Belgian endives wrapped with ham and baked in a Béchamel sauce. Yummy!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/5/1236696060/tpod.html Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:24:00 -0400 Europe: Brussels

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Paris, Île-de-France, France

After arriving at Charles De Gaulle Airport Terminal 2A on a direct flight from Dallas, I sped through the terminal to the rail station to catch the TGV to Brussels.  When we left Dallas, the pilot told us we would probably arrive 20 minutes early.  That would be great since I only had a 20 minute window to catch the train to Brussels or wait another hour and a half.  Well, we arrived only 5 minutes early but I still made the train with 5 minutes to spare.  


I tend to get one word first impressions of places and CDG airport struck me as 'dingy.'  It is old and colorless with shades of grey, has vast arching spaces and tons of bewildered looking people.


My first experience in Europe and on a high speed train was fabulous.  It was quiet, smooth, relatively comfortable, fairly economical, fast and efficient.  We need some of that in the US.  How great would it be to link up some of the cities like Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio with high speed trains?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226183400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226183400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226183400/tpod.html Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:58:52 -0500 Chicago-what a wonderful town

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Since we were coming to Chicago for Lisa to see Wicked, I wanted to eat at MOTO.  It is a well known molecular gastronomy restaurant with wild and wacky ingredients prepared and served in wild and wacky ways. Executive chef Homaro Cantu and pastry chef Ben Roche know how to shake it up.  It is located in the meat-packing warehouse district, so as we exited the cab, the first smell we got was not exactly pleasant.  The 5 hour meal of 20 courses with wine pairings was one of the most interesting, engaging, and fun dining experiences I've had.  Halfway through we met the couple who arrived and were seated next to us from Montreal.  The Marinelli's are in the pasta sauce business and we hit it off right away.  They were going to eat at Tru the next night.  We wound up back at Sax and slipped into the Crimson Lounge there.  It is apparently THE place for visiting celebrity DJ's.  So we shook our thangs and acted like we were half our age.  It was dark, it was loud, it was crowded, and it was fun.  But I'm glad it was a quick elevator ride to bed.  And once again, no House of Blues or Chicago blues clubs.Moto Menu:  gtmCHIPS & salsa, LIQUID center scallop, KALAMATA & feta, GREEK salad/liquefied, NITRO sushi roll, POMPANO beach, BISCUIT creme brulee, ANTS on a log with foie gras, SEARED buffalo hot wings, CUBAN pork sandwich, FRESH from the garden, SMOKED brisket & cornbread, ROADKILL of fowl, CHICAGO'S smallest steak dinner, COCONUT & ginger milk, WHITE chocolate & peanut, GALA apple & cinnamon, EGGNOG & graham cracker, PRETZEL covered chocolate, CAFE con lecheWine progression for gtmPazo senorans, albarino, rias baixas 2006; tupari, sauvignon blanc, marlborough 2007; meinklang, PROSA ROSE, pinot noir, burgenland 2007; balthasar ress, OESTRICHER DOOSBERG SPATLESE, riesling, rheingau 1995; calera, viognier, mt. harlan 2006; kracher, BEERENAUSLESE CUVEE, burgenland 2006; la sirena, MOSCATO AZUL, muscat, napa valley 2005; domaine schoffit, CUVEE CAROLINE, gewurtztraminer, alsace 2006; terre rouge, LES COTES DE L'OUEST, syrah, california 2007; august kesseler, spatburgunder, rheingau 2003; muga, RESERVA, rioja 2004; ramey, CLARET, napa valley 2005; santa julia, TARDIO, torrentes, mendoza 2007; the rare wine company, NEW YORK MALMSEY, maderia, nv
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/1/1219422600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/1/1219422600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/1/1219422600/tpod.html Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:59:27 -0500 Texas-it's like a whole other country...

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Dallas, Texas, United States

The Blue Fish is my favorite and quite frequently visited sushi spot.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/3/1224338220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/3/1224338220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/3/1224338220/tpod.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:03:58 -0500 On the lecture trail...

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Shelby, North Carolina, United States

I thought it was a nursing home by the way it looked when we drove up.  But I KNEW it was a nursing home by the way it smelled.  Even though Anne tried to deny it, the CEO finally admitted it:  a long term care facility.  That is corporate speak for nursing home.  A small turnout of overweight, cynical nurses who seemed like they would much rather be somewhere else.  Like sleeping.  Or more likely, eating.  The only thing that kept them in control was the CEO sitting in on the Leadership talk too.  The talk started out strong and was interesting but quickly deteriorated the second or third hour in.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226241780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226241780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226241780/tpod.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:48:24 -0500 Chicago-what a wonderful town

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Breakfast?  Ronny's.  Tea? Argo.  Hotel? Sax.  Airline?  American.  Off to home, mission accomplished.  We came.  We saw.  We shopped.  We ate.  Missed going to House of Blues but maybe next time.  Missed going to Tru.  Maybe next time.  Missed going to Buddy Guy's Club or ANY Chicago blues clubs but hopefully it won't be ten years before we go to Chicago again.  But then there are a lot of other places to see...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226155080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226155080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/cdryden/4/1226155080/tpod.html Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:59:49 -0500 Chicago-what a wonderful town

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

So breakfast at Ronny's again.  It has become our 'spot' for breakfast.  Since it was colder and rainy we decided a day indoors was warranted.  The Field Museum won the honor and off we went.  We circumvented the line by buying a membership which was cheaper than the day ticket since we were from out of town, plus it had free coat check, and a discount at the store.  What a bargain!  We saw Sue, the T. Rex and got pictures with her.  We went to one of the special exhibits about the fury of nature and spent a lot of time looking at information about hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, etc.  Some of the demonstrations were great.  The 360 degree filming of a tornado passing through one spot was fascinating.  I also liked the explanation of how hurricanes form in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa.  We roamed around a bit more and then went back to Michigan Ave. for more shopping and a pre-dinner snack.  Rusty bought the boots and matching bag Joyclyn wanted at Burberry and I took a picture of the bag Lisa wanted at Louis Vuitton.
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