The Graham Norton Show

Last Tuesday we went to see a taping of The Graham Norton Show. Great fun! I'm a big fan of Graham's great acerbic wit and rarely miss a show, thanks to the BBC iPlayer. There weren't any clips from the show we saw online...it aired this week, but you can see what I mean about Graham's wit in this YouTube clip...



The guest for our show was Dame Edna Everage - normally he has two guests, but I guess, given Dame Edna's larger than life persona, Graham thought it best if she didn't share the stage. As it was, the bandying at the end of the taping between Dame Edna and musical guest Alanis Morissette got pretty intense, especially when Dame Edna mistook her for an American.

Dame Edna kept us rolling with laughter for more than an hour and Alanis performed an acoustic version of "Underneath" from her soon to be released new work Flavors of Entanglement. There was a technical problem so we got to see her sing it twice...the second time was much better.

Tickets are free, you apply on line and wait to be notified. We did learn that you need to get in line and queue early - I'd say by at least 45 minutes as not everyone gets to go into the actual theater, about half the people who were in line didn't make it into the show...we've no idea where they went. We were among the last people who actually got to be in the live show audience.

A Journey In Ladakh

I finished A Journey In Ladakh by Andrew Harvey this morning. It took me a while to get through this 242 page book, I think in large part because it inspires the reader to a self-reflective journey. As with most books about Buddhism, the read itself is a journey. It was interesting to follow Harvey on this particular Journey and see the experience from his perspective.

If you decide to read this I recommend skipping the Afterwards. After this lovely spiritual journey Harvey cannot resist sharing his negative political perspective that, while a part of the journey, sours the palate.

München

After Mittenwald we rode the train to Paunzhausen to visit Christine, her husband Andreas and their kids who hosted us for our tour of Munich. Sunday night we had a great time drinking wine and having adult career, global issues, etc. conversation.

On Monday, we headed to Munich. Since it was a Monday and a holiday museums, etc. were closed. We didn’t care, the weather was amazing, so wandering around town, taking in the architecture made for a perfect day. Thanks to Andreas’ recommendation we wended our way to the Englisher Garten, essentially the Central Park of Munich.

At the park we watched guys boogie boarding on the same river we had seen in Mittenwald – the Isar – and a sea of people out enjoying the great weather. From the entrance to the park we made our way to the center marked by a Chinese Turm (tower) where there was a Bavarian folk band, a biergarten and tons of locals just having a great time. We had lunch and just watched the people go by and listened to the band. The Horse Chestnuts were in full bloom and it seemed like they were everywhere.

After the Englisher Garten we headed over to the 1972 Olympic Village and Tower. Somehow Olympic touring seems appropriate this year given all there is to think about on the topic. The German venues seemed especially thoughtful given what happened at the 1936 and 1972 Olympics, including, as Joe and I discussed, Mark Sptiz’s seven gold medals. It was interesting to look at people swimming in the pool and think about the records that were made there. The best view we had of the Munich Olympic Village was from the Tower, despite the viewpoint, I found it very moving.

Innsbrook was 1976 and as I recall, basically tame, except for the bad haircut craze it spurred in America.

Our last day in Munich we visited the Pinakothek Der Moderne (Modern Art Museum) which was really great. They were running a Dan Flavin exhibit we had seen at the National Gallery in Washington a few years ago. There were some great Miros, Picassos and Klees. We also got to see plenty of 20^th Century art by Germans and other artists from the central and eastern parts of Europe that were not known to me. Running out of time, we wandered around and enjoyed the architecture, had a last beer and pretzel and headed to the airport.

In general I was struck by Bavaria’s balance between its historic agrarian roots and contemporary society. Munich is considered the silicon valley of Germany, yet Christine and her family can get organic milk by walking to the local dairyman. In Mittenwald there are literally hundreds of small plots that support a couple of livestock and are used to grow feed. While I’m sure there are plenty of challenges too, it was interesting to see and be inspired by. Bavaria also was full of Rapeseed fields in bloom, just beautiful. I also thought that there were quite a few mullet's and learned that it is actually a global style.

marvelous mittenwald

Last weekend, we went to Bavaria. It was an amazing place. Our trip actually started in Garmisch-Partenkirchen where Joe's friend Mike met us as we got off the train. He needed to finish up work, so we had some time to tour the town and stare up at the Alps, which are amazing.

On the way over to Mike's house in Mittenwald, a few towns over from Garmisch, we stopped on the outskirts of Garmisch to see the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics Alpine ski jump. This was the first Olympics to include Alpine skiing. They are in the process of installing a new jump, but the original stadium is still there and it was very cool to see.

Friday evening we took an amazing – slightly fear of heights inducing – hike on a metal walkway suspended about 150 feet above the water and about 100 feet below the top of the gorge. I didn’t measure it, but it seemed to run about 2 miles in length. It was a way to start the vacation.

Before our hike, Mike’s mom had us for coffee and cake. Real Black Forest cake in Bavaria, really great! We had dinner at a fun Italian restaurant that night with Mike and his mom. Mike’s friend Andy joined us for dessert.

Saturday we took the tram to the top of Karwendel, which is the tallest mountain in Mittenwald, about 7,000 feet. It was almost 80 degrees at the base of the mountain, but deeply snow covered at the top. Many of our hikes, including this one, took us into and out of Austria, which just added to the fun. Later in the day we took a single chair lift up a beautiful mountain, covered in edelweiss, eissen and buttercups. From there we stopped at a “hut” (in the States you’d call it a lodge) where we had lunch. The best potato pancakes ever with beer, of course. Joe had this giant bread dumpling served in a soup bowl and covered with a ton of wild mushrooms in cream sauce.

From there we took our longest hike, down the side of the mountain to a beautiful lake and then out to the south end of Mittenwald before heading home to rest our feet. That night we had dinner at the biergarten where Mike’s Mom works. I had a traditional Bavarian dish called Kasespaetzle, which is spaetzle tossed with a farmer’s cheese – cottage cheese like – and topped with lightly breaded and fried onions, kind of a Bavarian version of mac & cheese.

On our last day in Mittenwald we started with a very short hike through the gorge we had hiked on our first day. This time, it was on a shorter suspended path about 10 feet above the water. This allowed us to see the waterfall we had walked above a few days before. From there we jumped in the car and headed over to Innsbrook for lunch. Along the way we drove country roads up and down the Alps.

Mittenwald is quintessentially Bavarian, picturesque charming, full of great restaurants as well as skiing in the winter and hiking in the spring, summer and fall. We’re really looking forward to going back and doing much more hiking. It’s also fairly easy to get to Northern Italy from there as well.

laurie@barbican

This weekend we went to see Laurie Anderson's Homeland tour at the Barbican Centre. The show was excellent. I miss the way in her earlier years she used visuals as part of the performance, nonetheless it was an excellent show and great fun. She was really loved by the audience. The concert hall at the Barbican Centre had great acoustics and some of the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in, in a theatre.

We also checked out the Barbican's Art Gallery which is showing an exhibition entitled The Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art. The show of late 20th century art is structured as if it's an exhibition for Martians on their home planet who are seeing artifacts from the residents of Earth. Not necessarily my "taste" in art, but thought provoking in an enjoyable way. We also checked out an installation space at the Barbrican called The Curve. The current installation is by Hans Schabus called Next Time I'm Here, I'll be There.

We had dinner at a great vegetarian restaurant near the Barbican called Carnevale at 135 Whitecross Street, London EC1Y 8JL. The restaurant was recommended by a friend. I only wish the neighborhood was closer -- we'd go more often. I had a wonderful beet salad followed by a ravioli and asparagus dish that was creative and light.

touringjeff

Rounding out the non-stop month of April was a visit from my friend Jeff from the States. It was his first visit to -- as opposed to through -- London. We walked lots. Highlights of the weekend included Borough Market where Jeff said give him a corner and a cot and he'd move in.

We also covered the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain. At the Modern, we cruised through almost the entire museum including the DuChamp, ManRay, Picabia exhibit, the Juan Munoz exhibit and the Rothko Material Gestures (also known as the Seagram's paintings) which I had really wanted to share with him. It was great to catch the Munoz as it was the last weekend and I hadn't gotten there yet. At the Britain we focused on the Turner paintings. I'm looking forward to going back and spending some time getting know his works better.

Arrivederci Roma

It was hard to say goodbye to Rome. After a week we had left so many places untouched. We knew we would want to come back, but before we left, we were ready to cram some more key moments in and they proved to be some of the best.

Our first stop was San Francesco a Ripa. We went to see Bernini's Ecstasy of Beata Ludovica Albertonia, which I personally thought was just as incredible as the Ecstasy of St. Teresa. But, as Rome will do, it surprised us. We were invited to join another couple for a private tour of the "cell" of St. Francis of Assisi. Here was this amazing room, where in the 13th century St. Francis stayed when he came to Rome to visit the pope. It included this incredible wooden altar sculpted by Bernini as well as St. Francis' stone pillow and the altar was full of relics of St. Francis. You couldn't help but be moved by being in such proximity to the places and life of such a devout man.

Having seen Bernini's sculptures in marble and bronze to see him work in wood just added to the experience of "getting" his oeuvre. No pictures allowed. One of those magical moments you know you'll remember for the rest of your life.

From there we went to Santa Maria in Trastevere. Most likely the first Christian church in Rome. It's mosaics are renowned worldwide. It was a great "last site" to visit as we began to close out our first visit to Rome.

From there we returned to Trattoria da Luigi for lunch. All the guys that Fernando had said to try and say hi to on his behalf were working lunch. We had a great final meal in Italy that was a two hour lunch. Pizza, pasta and wine, my favorite.

After lunch we has a few minutes to spend at our hotel before the car arrived to take us to the airport. Daniel, our host and owner, spent a few minutes talking with us. Turns out his sister works at the Tate Britain, about a five minute walk from our house. He was also able to solve a week long mystery about the fancy guarded palazzo at end of the hotel's street. Turns out it's a high end "condo" complex where one of Italy's princesses lives.

Our hotel, Relais Palazzo Taverna was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Rome, but would caution that if it's your first visit it's slightly off the tourist transport path. But it's location in the heart of the ancient city makes up for having to hoof it to a bus to get to things outside the immediate area. It's worth noting that the "immediate area" includes Piazza Navona, Castel del Sant'Angelo, the Vatican and the Pantheon.

If it's your second or more trip to Rome, why would you want to stay anywhere else? After scoping about 100 hotels in Rome we picked this one based on customer reviews on some travel web site. The recommendations did noy fail to disappoint...even the ones that complained -- those were the ones that really reinforced the idea that this hotel was for us. We were in a real Italian hotel, in a building that was several hundred years old. No breakfast room so breakfast was room service at the time you chose every day. The heart of Rome and roman life out our front door.

In the square by the hotel is a wonderful church. Even more interesting is that their's a fountain on that church that is hundreds if not a thousand plus years old. As you can see by the photo, the face of the line is gone...the history says from wear and not from anything else. It just added to the overall romance.

We can't wait to go back to Rome and we'll stay at Daniel's hotel without question.