rhymes with "ants in the pants."

Nancy, France, Nancy France, ants in the pants, Nancy, France. Mike had two days off over Easter weekend, so finally made our way there, and to Strasbourg, too. We'd been wanting to go to Strasbourg, 'cause it comes highly recommended as a foodie destination and just a cool town in general, and Nancy 'cause it's an Art Nouveau Mecca for geeks like myself. Strasbourg absolutely lived up to its reputation, and thankfully, Mike is patient with my obsessing (and even has a little interest in the artsy stuff himself) so Nancy was a delight to visit. Plus, we even got to meet up with our friend Jess, who popped over from Paris for a couple of nights.

Strasbourg's Place Kleber, with the cathedral in the background.

Strasbourg cathedral! Built over 300 years, starting in 1176, and the sixth tallest church in existence, and one of the best examples of high Gothic architecture in the world. Pretty spectacular.

Gargoyles! Soooo many on this cathedral, and I did not see two that were the same.

The western facade: decorated with actual thousands of figures.

14th-century stained glass windows. Amazing.

The Pillar of Angels and the giant astronomical clock (19th C.) inside the cathedral. This thing tells the time, the day of the week, month, year, zodiac sign, phase of the moon, positions of the planets, leap years, equinoxes, eclipses, etc., etc. 

Suspended pipe organ from the 14th century.

Here's how you can tell that this particular geographical area has changed hands a few times: everything is in French and German. (And just about everyone here speaks both languages, too.)

Adorable little platz near the cathedral.

Turns out, Alsatian cheese is really good.

The Petit France area of Strasbourg. (The entire historical center is an island in the Ill River.)

Pont Couverts medieval bridge.

The old-towns in these cities in eastern France are just disgustingly charming. 

In Strasbourg we met up with one of Mike's ex-co-workers from back in his Bentley days, a nice man named Bill who married a Strasbourg native and moved to France four years ago. We had a lovely half-day getting a tour of the city center from him, and then we met up with his wife Isabelle for dinner at their local haunt Scala. Highlights of the meal: the bacon, onion, and cheese flammkuchen (Alsace's thin, smoky, crisp-crust, wood-oven-baked, pizza-like tart) that we all split, and my cordon bleu stuffed with goat cheese and tomatoes. YUMMM. Mike and I spent the next morning/afternoon roaming the city and eating delicious little biscuity cookies, then had lunch at Au Tonnelet, right on a canal in Petit France, where we split a delicious slice of quiche Lorraine (which originated in this area, naturally), a slice of an amazing onion tart, and another bacon/green onion/cheese flammkuchen. Those things are fantastic.

Then, off to Nancy to meet up with Jess and hunt down some Art Nouveau. Turns out that Nancy had its own "school" of fairly prolific Art Nouveau architects, artists, glass makers, printers, furniture makers, etc., etc., many of whose products can be seen in the amazing Ecole de Nancy museum...which we, of course, had to go see, despite its being located far, far away from everything else. But first we traipsed around for a while.

Nancy's cathedral...which adjoined our hotel, incidentally.

The biggest carnival I have ever seen. Just like American ones, only slightly less tacky and everything's in French and the fair food is on a whole different level. They serve crepes, for crying out loud.

Pigs on spits. At the fair. This is their carnival food. (There was even a stand with entire hocks of prosciutto hanging along it...)

The "biker" food booth, painted with Harleys and biker chicks and this. 

Rue Here, just off of Place Stanislas, Nancy's main square.

On Place de la Carriere: one of Nancy's three squares that comprise a Unesco World Heritage site.

Craffe Gate used to be part of the city walls (built in the 14th-15th centuries).

This is what I picture when I think "France."

Mmmm...Art Nouveau...

Villa Majorelle, built in 1901-1902 for eminent French Art Nouveau furniture maker and artist Louis Majorelle. The interior is supposed to be stunning, but it's only open by appointment. So very sad.

Big tall door. Jess is enthusiastic.

Ecole de Nancy museum: the Masson dining room, 1904. Completely, utterly, insanely, over-the-top gorgeous and ornate.

Unbelievable stained glass by Jacques Gruber.

Dawn and Twilight bed by Emile Galle.

I want this. In every place I live from now on.

The glassware in this museum is stunning. Chrysanthemum vase by the Daum brothers, 1897.

The Death of the Swan piano, Louis Majorelle, 1905.

Random pretty building near the museum.

Doesn't this just make you want to eat crepes and wear a beret and spout things like, "Bonjour! Ça va? Souhaitez-vous une baguette de pain?"*

Away from the museum: the doorway of the Biet building at 22 Rue de la Commanderie. WANT.

On a totally different subject: tile graffiti. We've seen it in Paris, too, but usually it's something Space Invader-y or Pac-man related. This one is Charlie Chaplin. 

Gargoyles on the ducal palace.

Basilique St. Epvre.

Despite the fact that we (sadly!!) did not partake of any of the pork at the carnival, we did manage to squeeze in a few good meals. Our first night we went to Les Petits Gobelins (...the little goblins!) for a snootier-than-expected, but still delightful (and comparably affordable) dinner. The standouts: amuse bouches of red pepper mouse and cauliflower soup with a little breaded bite of beef; langoustines (wee lobsters/crawfish) in a citrus ginger broth; sea bass over rutabaga and turnips; and the petit fours of house-ade marshmallows, gummy candies, and caramelized sunflower seeds. The next evening we had utterly delicious meat-and-cheese plates at this fantastic little wine bar (L'Echanson) that we had noticed the night before, due to the gigantic crowd spilling out from its doors. Our waiter was extremely friendly and recommended a restaurant for dinner (Le Comptoir St. Michel, just so I remember it for next time...!), but it was fully booked, so he managed to sneak us in at a place just around the corner--Chez Henri. The highlights: my nems (essentially, something fried in an egg roll wrapper) stuffed with lamb and goat cheese, and the richest, fluffiest couscous ever; a wee bite of zucchini stuffed with some kind of mild cheese; Mike's shrimp in beet sauce, and lamb tagine with pea/carrot quinoa; my fondant au chocolat (like chocolate lava cake, but so much richer and awesome-er); and the cafe gourmand, which both Jess and Mike got, and which turned out to be an espresso on a plate with like six tiny desserts. Seriously genius. How can you not love the French??

The next day was Easter, and we attended mass (in French, naturally) at the Cathedral de Nancy (Notre Dame de Bonne Nouvelle), which was a lovely experience. The priest greeted us enthusiastically and personably as soon as we walked in, and then specifically welcomed all visitors (by country!) during the service. We all know that I don't speak a lick of French, but it was neat to still be able to recognize pieces of the traditional Easter story...some things just seem to translate. Also, no matter the language, it was clearly a joyous occasion, and it made me glad to be there with Mike.

Before catching our trains back to our respective destinations, the three of us had brunch at Suzette, which was immediately off of Place Stanislas. Despite its tiny size and the sheer numbers of people roaming the streets in clear need of lunch, the place was rather uncrowded and the service fantastic. Once again, we had a delightful waiter who spoke to us in a fun mix of French and English (thankfully, Jess speaks French!), and yet more fantastic food. In several courses. We opened with incredibly fresh and fluffy croissants with jam and wee vanilla pancakes and coffee; then came a giant plate with A) a slice of bacon over a fried egg, B) a green salad with vinegar and cheese, C) a barley salad, and D) a bowl of lamb tagine with apricots and almonds (holy yum). By the end of this, none of us were really hungry enough for the dessert, but Mike got one for us to split, thank goodness: caramel-toffee-peanut panna cotta is no joke. 

All right already, I take back all the mean things I've ever said about France. My first experience there was not a pleasant one, but now that we've been back a couple of times, I like it more and more. The Parisians, not so bad; Paris itself, amazing; the Alsatians/Lorraine-ians, quite lovely...and the bits of the country that I've seen, with its charming little alleys and amazing architecture and delicious food, all stellar. I'm finding more and more that I like about living in Europe...it's just too bad that most of it involves leaving Zürich for places slightly more "real" (i.e., people stay out late! you can find food at midnight! shops are open past 6:00 PM! mass hysteria!) and more affordable (i.e., anywhere).

But anyway. What I'm reading: finished A History of the World in 6 Glasses, which was an interesting premise, but fairly dry reading...and this coming from a history major. The best part is the appendix at the end, which tells you where you can find the most true-to-their-origins versions of various drinks, and describes how different some of them are from their contemporary forms. Pretty interesting stuff. Now I've started something completely different: Let's Pretend this Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson (the Bloggess). It's a her hilarious and horrifying and filthy-languaged memoir, and I would suggest skipping it if you are offended by anything. Anything at all. I, personally, happen to love her extremely twisted (and, yes, expletive-laden) sense of humor, and I really respect the way she's completely laid bare her personal struggle with extreme depression and has started a fairly inspiring women's project.  I can't help it: I like her and I've been waiting for this book for months. There, I said it.

Next up: a quick--but productive--trip to Munich. 

*This is as close as Google Translate can get me to, "Would you like a baguette?"

seafood. and a few other things.

WARNING: many, many photos approaching. Like, a lot of pictures.

Back in mid-March, Mike and I were fortunate enough to head south to Rome and the Amalfi coast to take an actual vacation--as in, one without a laptop, television, programming, and even minimal e-mail checking!!--and to meet up with our friend Nancy and her daughter Sadie (friends from Boulder). Mike and I spent the first couple of nights in Rome, then rented a motorcycle and rode south to the coast, which was undoubtedly the best way to get around the insanely narrow and twisty roads down there, but was also maybe just a touch out of season. (As in, I WAS FREEZING COLD MOST OF THE TIME AND ONE EVENING WE HAD NO HOT WATER WITH WHICH TO RETURN THE FEELING TO MY HANDS, LEGS, AND FEET. But I survived somehow.) We spent one day in Amalfi with Nancy and Sadie, then spent the rest of the time taking day trips on the bike, followed by rendezvous-ing with Nancy and Sadie for dinner each night. We had some ridiculously amazing seafood (definitely lacking in lovely, but landlocked, Zürich) and got to see some outrageously gorgeous scenery. I'm going to do my best to let the photos do the talking. It probably won't work.

Forum area at sunset.

Oh, this old thing?

Trevi Fountain: only not crowded after midnight.

The Pantheon outside...

...and in.

An invisible man (?) busking outside the Pantheon. There had to have been a very tiny person in there. (Note: Rome is swarming with buskers, and this one was the most inventive. And my favorite.)

Piazza Navona, stuffed with "artists" (mainly selling prints) and tourists. Even in March.

Castello Sant'Angelo and its bridge.

View from the castle towards St. Peter's Basilica.

Fragment from Hadrian's mausoleum. 2nd century AD.

Frescoes in the castle.

This is what is so intriguing to me about Rome: you can be walking down a perfectly "modern" street (you know, one with buildings dating only back to the 1700s or so), and then there's this. (I think it's the Teatro Argentina ruins...the name's hard to pin down.)

The Vittorio Emanuele II monument, dedicated to Italy's first king after its modern unification (1861). This thing is SO vast.

My favorite sight in Rome: the Forum.

Arch of Constantine. Dates to the 4th century...!

A place we'd never been before: the baths of Caracalla. Also vast, and built in the early 3rd century. Apparently, they could host 6,000 bathers at one time.

I had no idea going in, but the baths had lots of mosaic floors still in place, and just about every room still containing mosaics had a different pattern.

Yeah...this ruin is huge.

These are chunks of the ceiling over the first floor, which had a giant marine-themed mosaic with sea monsters and gods and tridents and whatnot.

The arches here inspired the design of Penn Station in New York City.

Even with the wide-angle lens, we had to walk as far away from the walls as possible in order to get a photo of just this one side.

After Rome, it was south to Atrani, a tiny little town on the Amalfi coast, almost entirely devoid of tourists at this time of year. I had no idea, but apparently the coast is an exceptional place to grow lemons, so there were lemon-tree-filed terraces, along with lemon-related products (soaps, candles, limoncello, ceramics, clothing, etc., etc., etc.) everywhere. (No exaggeration. Lemons. Everywhere.) This is some seriously dramatic, gorgeous, fairy-tale scenery, dotted with little towns built up the sides of mountains--some up to 4,000 feet high--that end at the Mediterranean. There are random little buildings and Roman and medieval ruins tucked everywhere, and all the towns are accessible from only one extremely narrow and twisty coastal highway. The craziest thing about the road, other than how insane you have to be to drive it in anything other than a two-wheeled vehicle, is that it's got all these gates (and the occasional cantilevered parking spot) that look like they open into empty space, but in actuality lead to some seriously precipitous driveways and paths down the cliff face to houses, hotels, and lemon terraces that can't be seen at all from the road. 

Our fair town of Atrani: this is the view from our B&B room. 

Atrani's main (and only) square. You can walk across it in less than a minute...it's wee. And charming.

Just look at the color of this water.

Atrani: this church was originally built in 940. It was closed for repairs, so we didn't get to go in. Note how the road goes underneath it: all of the towns along the coast are honeycombed with stairs and tunnels running through and around and under the buildings and hills. It's crazy and fascinating.

Atrani, looking the other direction. Our B&B is the white building at the far left, in the foreground.

The main runs over these arches, and this little restaurant under the arch (Le Palme) is quite good.

Not the best photo or example, but this is taken from a tunnel under one building (although the floor is at street level), up a staircase leading to other buildings further up the hillside.

Atrani is a ten-minute walk from Amalfi...

...which has this amazing and old cathedral dating to the 9th century.

Fresco inside.

St. Andrew's crypt. The frescoes date to around 1660, and the altar (under the giant statue on the left) supposedly holds the bones of Andrew the apostle, brought here in 1208.

A little half-day trip on the bike: up the hill a few kilometers to Ravello. Here's their cathedral, on the main square.

It has a small but fairly amazing museum in its basement, with a lot of these medieval mosaics which were originally in the church.

13th-century marble bust of the wife of the guy who donated the church pulpit...

...which is this thing. It's covered in crazy-ornate mosaics and dates to 1272.

Here's what the streets of Ravello look like, in the historic center: narrow, walled, and utterly car-free.

Also in Ravello is Villa Cimbrone, founded in the 11th century, expanded and remodeled in the early 20th century, and famed for its gardens.

A view inside the "cloisters."

Villa Cimbrone's Avenue of Immensity.

These little guys were all over the place.

The Terrace of Infinity.

Not my best photo, but you can see the lemon terraces all the way up the hill on the right, and all of the black and green fabric on the hillside is covering lemon trees. The whole coast looks like this.

Ceramics in Ravello: these, too, were ubiquitous.

Next, over to Villa Rufolo, dating to the 13th and 19th centuries. 

A little detail.

Villa Rufolo's "cloisters."

After Ravello, we took a ride up the coast to Positano, which is billed as Italy's most vertical town. There is a single main road into and out of town, but it's only one lane wide (and barely that), so it's a one-way loop through. Super picturesque.

Here's a glimpse of the coastal road--about a lane and a half wide--and one of the many miniature towns built along the cliffs. It's just weird.

All along the coast, along every respectably-sized promontory, are these medieval (and sometimes older) watch towers. It's almost too picturesque.

Yup...here's another. I have lots more pictures of the towers, but I'm particularly proud of this one, as it was taken from the back of a moving motorcycle. That's not easy, what I just did.

Srsly...lemons everywhere. The small ones in this box are normally-sized.

My favorite thing about Amalfi: we got into the habit of stopping there in the evening to pick up some snackies (sliced meats, cheeses, breadsticks, and/or some local wine) to have before dinner, since dinner in Italy starts no earlier than 8:00 in the PM. Check out this log of mortadella. That is what happiness looks like. (Also: salami napoli is pretty fantastic, too.)

Next, after a beautiful and interesting ride through the coastal mountains and slightly inland, we went to a place I've wanted to visit for most of my life: Pompeii. Unfortunately for us, it seems that they do most of their repairs/maintenance/whatnot in the off-season, so I'd guess that about a third of the more famous and/or interesting parts of the city were closed to the public. Sigh. I guess that means we'll have to go back someday...perhaps on a trip to Naples proper, which we skipped in its entirety on this trip. (It's just too big and full of too many interesting things to make a good day trip.) Whatever the case, we certainly weren't hurting for things to see in Pompeii, which, it turns out, is huge.

Entering the House of the Menander.

What's amazing to me is how vibrant the colors still are.

More vibrant colors, and no, it's not a basement: it's the older house over which the House of the Menander was built. (Apparently, this was just what they did.)

The laundromat. This was the basin where the delicates were washed. Not kidding. 

Mosaic of a guard dog for protection. 

Amphitheater.

The House of Venus.

Here's why it's called the House of Venus.

Pompeii's cemetery.

One of the city roads, with Vesuvius in the background.

Floor mosaic of Alexander the Great in the House of the Faun. This thing is huge and the mosaic pieces are unbelievably tiny.

Cold-water room ("frigidarium") in Pompeii's Forum baths.

Sculpted plaster in the baths.

Cubbies in the changing room/tepidarium in the baths. Bathers could leave their clothes in the spaces between the statues.

The Garden of the Fugitives, which is where they found the largest number of people together, was closed during our visit. We were afraid we wouldn't get to see any of the figures, which, I think, change Pompeii from an empty archaeological site--wherein it's easy to be detached as you walk through the buildings--into a place where real people lived and died. We found this figure (and a few others) in a large covered area next to the Forum. What was striking to me was how small the people were...they all looked almost child-sized. 

Amphorae in the storage area.

The Forum.

More Forum, with the Temple of Jupiter on the left and Vesuvius in the back.

One of the stray dogs of Pompeii...actually, the only one we saw, I think. There are signs cordially inviting visitors not to pet the dogs, but they also have a program for adopting them. Go figure.

Pompeii was certainly fascinating, and well worth that return visit, I think. I'd like to go see Herculaneum, too.

Next up, ruins of a different type. In my research to figure out what we should do while we were bumming around the Amalfi coast, I stumbled across the word "Paestum." Turns out, it's a few hours' ride south of Atrani, and it claims to be the home of the world's best-preserved Greek temples. Having never seen Greek ruins, Mike and I got all excited and decided to give it a shot. The ride there was long and weird and cut right through what we believe to be the recruiting territory of the Neapolitan mob. Envision the longest, straightest stretch of highway you've ever seen, bordered on one side by an endless man-made strip of forest concealing the coastline, and on the other side, a flat, smog-filled expanse of land dotted with way, way more giant, locked and boarded-up, and utterly empty restaurants/bars/campgrounds/event halls than this out-of-the-way stretch of highway could ever support, even in high tourist season. It was strange and uncomfortable and completely devoid of people (except for a handful of daytime ladies-of-the-evening, however that works), and it seemed endless. We think maybe it's all "thriving businesses" that serve as money laundering fronts...but that's just our sneaking suspicion. Anyway. Paestum. Considerably smaller than Pompeii, but pretty amazing, despite the bizarre and long ride there. (Seriously, that place was 6 km away, on every sign we passed, for at least an hour.) After some icy cold Fanta and a couple of decent prosciutto and salami pizzas, we got to explorin'.

The smallest of the three temples, the Temple of Athena.

There were some mosaic floors scattered throughout the remaining walled areas.

The view across the complex towards the larger temples. The Forum is the grassy area with the columns in the center-left.

Temple of Hera.

Temple of Hera.

Temple of Neptune.

Temple of Neptune.

Wee amphitheater (ok, Ekklesiasterion, ca. 480 BC) covered in flowers.

The place has a pretty interesting history: it was founded around 600 B.C. by the Greeks, who named it Poseidonia, and when it was conquered by a local Italian population, it was renamed Paestum ('cause their official language was changed to Latin). It was later claimed by the Romans, which is why the temples (and a few other remaining structures) are Greek in origin, but the town layout is Roman (hence, the forum). They also have a killer museum full of incredibly preserved urns, sculpture and carvings from in and around the temples, artifacts found at the site, and painted slabs from the walls of tombs found in a nearby necropolis. I didn't take any photos in the museum because I didn't know whether we were allowed, but there are plenty of photos out there. (Um...so apparently we were allowed.)

On our way back through Rome to fly home, it turned out there was a rugby match between Italy and Scotland, so the city was packed with dudes in kilts. Scottish accents were everywhere. It was fairly delightful.

I was trying to be surreptitious.

We also must have booked the last room in our hotel, because we ended up with a giant room...bed and bathroom up on a platform, reading room at the back, a giant outdoor terrace, and an elevator in the back of the room. (Down only, though: there was no button for going up to our floor.) It was kinda fun to finish off the trip in the junior high-roller suite.

Naturally, this being Italy, we had some absolutely phenomenal food. I clearly don't need to recount a full week's worth of meals, and frankly, I've already forgotten the meals that were merely good (you know, not quite phenomenal...). Here are the highlights.

• Cappuccinos and a prosciutto/mozzarella piadina (basically, an Italian quesadilla) in front of the Temple of Saturn in Rome.
• More cappuccinos and speck/brie and stracchino/arugula piadinas near our first hotel in Rome.
• The plate-o-meats (...always a good idea, anywhere in Italy!!), pastas all'arrabbiata (spicy tomato sauce) and black truffle, and a lovely veal chop at Ristorante Nino in Rome.
• More meats-n-cheeses, a creamy vegetarian lasagna, and plum-stuffed pork with fantastic roast potatoes at L'Angolo Divino in Rome.
• The seafood sampler (two plates! 9 different items including teeny fish with lemon and a ridiculously good octopus salad!), grilled shrimp in a crispy parmesan bowl, shrimp-tomato-arugula pasta, garlic bread, and pezzogna fish (sea bream...?) at Le Palme in Atrani. A huge and really good meal, all seafoods caught locally. YUM.
• Probably my favorite meal of the trip: dinner at A'Paranza in Atrani. We ended up here because we were all too tired to walk over to Amalfi, and this was the only open restaurant in our little town. Thank goodness, 'cause it was AMAZING. Fish rolls with broccoli rabe and scamorza (...smoked mozzarella!); fish-filled ravioli with olive oil, shrimp, and tomato sauce (HOLY COW, SO TASTY); butterflied, gratinated prawns; and pear ricotta cheesecake. (You can see the seafood-y theme here, at least for me.)
• Pasta e fagioli, seafood risotto, and whole grilled prawns at Zaccaria in Atrani. (Terrible service, decent food. Another desperation choice 'cause we were all too tired to find anything else, and this place was approximately 50 feet from our B&B.)
• Fresh lemon/orange juice, a salami and mozzarella sandwich, and a giant prosciutto-mozarella-arugula sandwich on seriously fresh focaccia at some random little cafe outside the entrance of Pompeii.
• Pasta with beef and onions and a plate of grilled eggplant, zucchini, and peppers with sun-dried tomato sauce and scamorza at Piazza Duomo in Amalfi. 
• Various additional paninis (who doesn't love crispy grilled sandwiches stuffed with prosciutto and mozzarella and salami and goodness knows what else??) in various places...yum.
• Various snackies served with aperitifs at various Roman restaurants, pre-dinner. (Two-bite pizzas! sesame pastry sticks! homemade potato chips! and tons of other bite-sized delights!)
• Gelato, whenever and wherever. My favorite flavor is amarena, which is (at its best) sour cherry with cherry syrup on top. 
• Pasta e fagioli and a fantastic pasta all'arrabbiata, followed by a steak with green peppercorn and cream sauce at Osteria Margutta our last evening in Rome.

Ok, so it turns out that most meals were highlights. Sheesh, I love Italian food. And being on the Mediterranean let me get my seafood fix...SO MUCH DELICIOUSNESS. And on that happy, happy note, I'm going to go exercise and try to remember that being able to eat like this is what makes it worthwhile.