Aix-en-Provence

Aix is home to the biggest Bastille day celebration in the area, so we drove down to see how people celebrate. It's nice to visit a place during local holidays, especially when there's a patriotic twist.

It was a rather warm evening, as proven by this adorable French bulldog who was cooling off in the fountain. Random fact of the day: did you know they have to be born through a caesarean section?

We wandered the streets and enjoyed the ambiance. I was happy to visit area landmarks: the Place des Quatre Dauphins and Cours Mirabeau. Along the way there were picturesque movie theaters and people enjoying a quiet evening with friends and family.

Once again we were charmed by the city and the food. We stopped for an early geriatric timed dinner and stumbled upon La Tomate Vert, which proved to be an excellent choice. Even though it was fully booked for the evening sometimes it pays to eat like old people.

We both opted for the menu, which is a 3 course prix fixe. Stefan ordered a steak that came with the very best French fries I've ever had in my life.

 My favorite dish of the evening were tomatoes filled with shrimp. While at the restaurant we picked up the Carnet Gourmand. It profiles other restaurants with similar standards and I'm looking forward to putting it to use again. They also have an app, if you're on the way to France and would like a copy.

We drove back to Apt just in time to catch the fireworks, because in the morning we had several stops to Bonnieux, Cucuron, and Valensole to finally see some serious lavender fields.

[Side note: there's a really incredible app called iFontMaker, which allows you to make your own font with your handwriting, like I did here. Hands down one of my favorites.] 

Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt

As luck would have it there was a Saturday flea market in nearby Saint-Saturnin-lès-Apt, which took up the entire city.

While strolling through the streets I debated on getting several of the large classroom maps - one even had Munich on it, but with no specific place to put them I decided to leave them behind.

I would have also wanted to take the adorable Bernese Mountain pup back home, but he already had a family. We're really looking forward to the day when we can get a dog and we have a short list of names, but the frontrunner is Isar (the river that flows through Munich). 

San Francisco

We opted to avoid the holiday travel chaos, which meant a delayed trip to the US.

This was the best option after having several airline mishaps in the years past - driving from Washington DC to Ohio on Christmas Eve three years ago, and nearly getting stranded in El Paso two years ago.

Thankfully this year the weather decided to also cooperate with us.

Before our biannual Ohio visit, we stopped in San Francisco for 5 days to visit our dear friends, Emily & Jeremy, and their new pup - Banjo.

Having visited San Francisco twice before, it was so nice to see the city from our friends' view points and to simply catch up more on life after Germany. We sure miss them.

San Francisco is a great city;  fog swept rolling hills, inventive restaurants, creative people, and a lot of high tech industries. The only downsides are the amount of homeless people and dog poo littered sidewalks.

There are also many public parks speckled around and warm weather year round to make it incredibly livable.

Oh, how we missed the variety of American food. The portions may be larger than in many places, but it's the best way to enjoy a meal - by sharing great company and delicious foods. We did a lot of eating and this is certainly the city for that.

A few of the restaurants we visited included:

Tartine ... this is the legendary pastry shop with long lines that are worth the wait.
Nopa ... for a great New Year's eve dinner
Umami Burger ... waygu burgers
Tacolicious ... I will dream about these tacos and margaritas for a long long time. They are perfection. The tuna tostadas were my favorite, but I don't think you can go wrong.
Mosto... the tequila bar right next to tacolicious, making waiting time that much better.
Beach Chalet ... as close to a California beachside biergarten as it gets - with a veggie hops burger.
Tornado Pub ... an endless array of beers from around the world.
Mission Chinese ... this pop up restaurant has caused quite a stir and is now here to stay - don't miss it! The food is crazy good and the rap music is a hilarious blast from the past. The salt cod fried rice and the thrice cooked bacon were probably my favorites.

Bi-Rite Creamery ... delicious ice cream, which is extra sweet to enjoy in Delores Park with great weather in the middle of Winter. They also have an ice cream cook book coming out later this year! 

Chantal Guillon macarons... a touch of France in California. 

Ici ... (Berkeley) I'm not sure what the deal is, but sadly it was better the last time we went

Saigon Sandwiches .... Banh Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches

If you are planning a trip check out the following:
Jamie Oliver's San Francisco tips... We visited many of his recommendations, although the magazine came out a month after our trip.
7x7 Big Eat List of 2012... plenty more restaurants to try
7x7 Big To-Do List... 100 quintessential San Francisco experiences

Not all of our time was spent eating... we also did a lot of walking. I always seem to forget - or mentally block out - how impossibly slow and archaic the public transport is even in the biggest US cities.

With the California sun shining brightly and only needing to wear a jacket I wasn't sure if I was in some sort of alternate reality. A heavy dose of sunshine in the middle of the Winter is really is amazing and was the perfect way to start the new year. Those year-round beaches are such a luxury, too.

Fort Funston ... this beach is so unique. Dogs and their owners stroll along, splash in the waves, and find little treasures washed ashore. I'd go to take it all in even if I didn't have a dog, but I really can't wait to get one.

Tilden Park... for incredible Bay area views and a nice nature stroll.

Street art... lots of self expression around town 

St. Mary's Cathedral... home of the "two o'clock titty", at two o'clock the sun's channels its own Mary Katherine Gallagher to give the church it's own perky bust. 

What a great place to start the new year. Even the fog couldn't hold those fireworks back this year. 

Jet Lag

We just got back from the United States.

It's funny to notice little things after being away, even though it's only been about 6 months since our previous visit.

Some things feel foreign, sometimes I feel a little foreign, and other times I love the familiarity. It's like an old friend who you can pick up with without skipping a beat.

The variety always amazes me, too... the complexions, subcultures, styles, foods - those are things I desperately miss after all of these years away (not to mention friends, family, and my parents' dogs).

Mieka and Josh were happy to see us. Mieka was eager to celebrate my birthday in hopes of stealing a bit of cake (she was unsuccessful). Since she has Addison's disease, she is constantly hungry and will do anything for the smallest kibble. It's sad and sweet all at the same time.

Joshua was so delighted to run in the first snow of the season. I always seem to forget he is such a behemoth and looks like he belongs in a zoo. What a sweet boy he is.

We miss everyone already.

I hope to catch up a bit this week and write about our trips to San Francisco and Ohio. It was such a great visit and so nice to have some sun!

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik, Croatia is one of the jewels of the Adriatic. It's quaint and charming nature made us always want to visit, so that's just what we did over the holiday.

As my Italian friend Andrea said, he thought of it as 'a daughter of Venice'. That may be true if the canals are replaced with steps, because this is clearly a city of stairways. We kept discussing how difficult it would be to navigate the city with heavy luggage, children, wheelchairs, or injuries.

We rented an apartment through Airbnb, which was really nice. It always makes traveling feel less touristy and they have an extensive list of incredible properties. People can even list their own homes or spare rooms, too. If you'd like a $25 discount towards an Airbnb stay just leave your email in the comments or click the envelope on the right and I will send you one.

The good news is after trekking up and down the stairs all day there was an extra excuse to eat gelato - as if we needed one. We loved the gelato at Poklisar right near the harbor. They had one called Extra Black, which I think Stefan may have eaten every single day.

The old town is very simple to navigate and where we spent most of our time. At the harbor we'd watch the fish in the crystal clear water and fishermen would come in with their catches, occasionally even selling them to people waiting nearby.

Since it was Easter time the markets were bustling and there were Catholic processions through the city. My favorite details were the tiny candles that were lit all around the Old Town and the gorgeously decorated Easter eggs. On our flight over I read they give them their shiny luster with bacon grease.

The biggest tourist site is probably walking to the walls of the Old Town, which was made even more incredible by thick fog that swept through and added a bit of mysteriousness.

From above it's easier to see the marks of damage from both war and the earthquake that ravaged the city. At one of the gates there was even a sign showing where the city had been hit.

There is remaining damage along the Stradun. Pits and pock marks litter the marble ground.

It really made it clear at how Serbo-Montenegrian Army forces were relentless. There is a disheartening first hand account and video of the attacks here.

Many of the bright red terra cotta roof tops are rather new due to the attacks.

Fortunately the city was able to repair itself and rebuild rather quickly. Local lore challenges young men to stand on this owl spout facing the wall on one foot and take off their shirt for luck in love.

The city is romantic enough without the comical challenges. The light shines over the historical streets and Adriatic in such a magical way.

Italian influence can also be seen in the Baroque architecture, such as in the St. Blaise church where Pope John Paul II once celebrated Mass.

Dubrovnik is also a hot spot for cruise ship stop offs, although once the throngs of people leave for the evening it's very mellow and a great time to walk the wall or shop in peace.

This cute little pup had just come in from a day on the boat with his Dad. Another sweet one in town was Uje, a beautiful shop with local products. I especially liked their lemon olive oil in simple olive shaped bottles.

Doviđenja, Dubrovnik - until next time!

Essaouira

We wanted to get a grasp on seeing two completely different areas of Morocco, so we set out for the coast using the Supratours coach bus for a scenic and comfortable 3 hour journey through the desert.

- Along the way we even saw goats in a tree - no joke. I really wish I could have taken a photo, but I had just enough time to wake Stefan and say, 'Look, goats in a tree!'

We also stopped at a rest area in the middle of the Argan fields. I wasn't aware that Argan oil is made from nuts that goats eat and the pits they are unable to digest. Sort of like that super expensive kopi luwak coffee from Sumatra. Isn't nature grand? The Argan pits then get pressed into the oil, which is edible and also used in beauty products.

- Although unsuccessful at photographing the goats in a tree, I do have some photos of the rest stop dogs, which differ from the Saouirian dogs, who were clearly a mix of dachshund and chihuahua.

- Once we arrived in Essaouira we instantly noticed the sea side feeling of the town - blue and white buildings with many boats and fishermen wandering through the bustling streets.

- Place Moulay el Hassan is where the port and Medina collide.

- The port was packed with boats. Beautiful blue boats everywhere.

- Sometimes it seems so incredible to me to consider how differently people grow up all around the world. We saw some boys playing in the port and on the boats. The feeling of community is omnipresent in Morocco. We encountered that in different ways several times. It's interesting to see children roaming about on their own and being so independent at such a young age.

- Small markets and shops under arched doorways at virtually every turn.

- The Moorish influence was evident with little tiles similar to those in Portugal.

- The blue color was also splashed throughout the city in various tints and tones.

- The monochromatic colors of the city provided a beautiful backdrop for the pops of color.

- The alley ways wove through around the Medina and we were happy that our host had picked us up, because finding this riad would have never happened.

- Something I loved about Morocco is you really have to be in the know. Hiding behind seemingly simple façades are elaborate homes, restaurants, and markets. It's so much fun to wander about and get lost amidst the striking scenery.

- Other times the façade is merely that... like on those pyramids of spices. So picturesque, but really just spice painted on a figure underneath.

- Every meal was served with bread and olives. I think I need to incorporate more lemon herb olives into my diet. Best of all a small bag could be purchased from the street vendors for 30¢ and bread was just 10¢.

- It was a little startling to see entire slabs of animals dangling from meat hooks. One evening we saw 3 cats begging in front of a stand.

- Whenever we travel I love to look at the details and analyze how they should fit into the greater world, because every place I go has something incredible to offer. In Essaouira, one of my favorite things was the lack of chain stores - everything was local. Being on the coast the fish were plentiful. They had two fish markets, one near the coast that catered more to tourists and this 'souk au poisson' for the locals, although both were willing to cook up whatever you'd like right on the spot.

- Locals seemed to enjoy the slow pace of life. When the call to prayer would happen we noticed shop keepers would turn a stool upside down and leave their stall trusting things would be OK. It was nice to see that kind of honesty.

- Wandering through the markets surprised us, because the items for sale were different than those in Marrakech. The small woodworks, bright babouche shoes, Fatima's hand silver jewelry, and tiny tagine spice trays were more prevalent.

- I always love the lanterns and was surprised that many shops didn't have brightly painted ones that I would expect.

- We enjoyed many traditional pastries. I need to learn how to make them!

- We caught a couple of the legendary sunsets from the ramparts. Despite January normally being their wet month, we had spectacular weather the entire time. This time of year the sun has the most brilliant glow over the narrow streets.

- Near the ramparts it was very interesting to watch the stray animals compete for attention. A woman, who we later realized was a local painter, was excitedly greeted by a few dogs. It was really a great exchange. She knelt down and gave them attention, which surprised me, because as I've been told in the Islamic faith Mohammed liked cats and therefore dogs are seen as unclean. One scampered after her as she walked on and we later spotted him sunbathing close to her. At another point a dog and cat fought for attention from some French tourists.

-After a few days in Essaouira we were heading back to really delve into Marrakech's hustle, bustle, and dusty red Medina.

- As our bus drove towards the main road out of town I noticed a witty spray painted doorway that said, "I'm Muslim, don't panic." With that we went into the warm light that grazed the landscape and made everything seem to glow on the way back to Marrakech.