Saturday, August 28, 2010

Pritzker by day

After a great concert a few days ago, I decided to go sit in the park during my lunch. What a great choice! There was a dj spinning tunes and people were dancing, playing frisbee, reading, eating lunch and generally just enjoying the beautiful summer day. The best thirty minutes of my day.

Bucktown Artsfest

Beautiful day, cool artists, live music and beer. Believe it or not, I think it's too warm for a beer. Can there be such a thing? I opted for an ice cold pepsi. Refreshing. I can't believe summer is almost over.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Transformers!

I walked through as they were shooting a scene for the movie! The drivers were all dressed up in fire-retardant gear getting ready to race down the street. Very cool.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Someone built it, and we went!

The field of dreams. I know what you're thinking, it's nothing more than an oversized movie prop. But you're wrong, so wrong. This is a magical place that transforms you back to a carefree time when you ran in the grass without shoes and without the fear of stepping on broken glass or a hypodermic needle. This place rocks. If you haven't been there, I suggest you check it out. It's probably one of the better Midwest attractions, right up there with Doubleday.

Yuppy food stamps

Does anyone use that word anymore? I don't know and don't really care. I liked this ATM because it has jacksons all over it. And in it. The FDA would be proud.

Fan / not a fan

So, I'm not a big fan (or any size fan, actually) of the beverage, but I like the hibachi! Although I have a gas grill, I do like cooking on a charcoal fire. And, I've never really gone to a football game and tailgated. Oh, people have promised to take me, but it's never happened.

New office

This is the bookshelf in my new office. I cleaned out a whole bunch of stuff that was at least ten years old. The three binders are empty and the three books are mine. One of my new colleagues stopped by and told me that I shouldn't leave my personal books out because they would get stolen. Awesome.

Who makes these?

Another fine example of a sign instructing me to wash my hands. I don't know that I have anything else to say about this one.

More bathroom sign fun

Back to work at a new state office means more fun signs in the bathroom! This one tells me to wash my eating utensils and water bottle in the slop sink, which is essentially a place where they clean the mops. I have two choices- don't bring in anything that needs to be washed or violate this sign!

Scooter!

I saw these stickers on a scooter in the neighborhood. I'm not sure which one I like the best, they are all so good. I think I'll have to go with the sticker that makes fun of our former president. And you?

Monday, August 16, 2010

New job

Today is my first day at my new job and I'm rather nervous. I first interviewed for this job almost eight months ago and then had four subsequent interviews. I tried to pick out my outfit carefully, but I understood that people wear suits, so I'm wearing a suit, which I have not done in a while. My friends helped me pick one they said would send a message that "it's not my first rodeo," but I'm afraid the rest of the ensemble doesn't quite match up because I have a gym bag of clothes and my camera bag so I can change clothes for photography class after work. We'll see how it goes.

Here I go - off to meet my 300 new colleagues and try to convince them they made the right decision when they hired me. Wish me luck!

Friday, August 6, 2010

A taste of home

Maybe we will eat here if we get tired of random meat in tough casing.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Another castle!

I think these pictures are out of order, but you'll get the idea. This is a castle overlooking the Rhine River. Just about every bend in the river has a castle built on the hill to watch for people who might attack. Some are older than others, some are in better shape than others, but all looked cool from the river. A number of the castles were renovated and used as hotels. I would really like to stay at a castle some day, but not this trip! Maybe next time.

Castles!

This is a castle overlooking the Rhine River. It is hard to see, but the castle was beautiful. We spent four hours riding upriver looking at castles, but only went into one at the end of the trip. Each castle had a story, unfortunately they were told in German. The dark clouds were ominous, but it didn't rain until we were back on the train heading to Cologne.

McClean

I'm not sure, but I think this public restroom was owned by McDonald's. As with every other restroom here, there is a toilet brush next to the toilet and a real live human who wipes the seat after you leave the stall. I guess it is worth 1€!

Escalator

More German ingenuity - the escalators have sensors - when you approach, they start moving and then they stop after you get off. This is pretty cool except that I originally assumed that they didn't work and took the stairs instead - even with my bag. Dumb. For those of you who don't like escalators, this is probably not a good development.

Big slug!

I had dinner outside at a nice brauhaus after a heavy rainstorm. Apparently the heavy rain brings out the slugs. I got a picture of this one, but it was not even the biggest one that I saw. One word: gross.

Witch hunt

Yes, they still have witches in Germany. They come to this bar after dark, or so I was told.

Singlet

This is a tiny singlet that was worn by a German Olympic gold medalist in wrestling. He obviously didn't win the gold for his fashion or style.

A woman's bathing costume

This is a woman's bathing suit from the early 1900s. It is made out of wool and looks like it would weigh about 15 pounds soaking wet. The ancient Greeks didn't have to worry about the weight of their uniforms because they competed a puell - naked, as I learned from my new French friend.

The Olympic museum

This museum was next door to the chocolate museum. The first few displays were artifacts from the ancient Greek olympics. For example, this statue. He was hot, so they put the fan on him.

Weird

Germans are strange. This was in the shop at the chocolate museum. I don't know what it has to do with chocolate except that the circles and heart appear to be brown.

Chocolate museum

This is from the chocolate museum, which is really just a giant paid advertisement for Lindt. After paying 7.5€, you get a tiny square of chocolate and entrance to the museum. There was an informative display of the history of chocolate (the discovery of cocoa and the eventual exploitation of those people in the areas in which cocoa grew) which was followed by a chocolate fountain (complete with an attendant who dipped a wafer for you) and a short assembly line where you could watch chocolate truffles being coated and wrapped. Cool, but not worth the price of admission. Also, I think the chocolate museum draws more than twice as many tourists as all the other museums in Cologne together.

Bacharach

You better drive carefully and have a small car!

Bacharach

This is the "main" street of the little town of Bacharach, which is up the river from Cologne. Don't let the narrow cobblestone streets fool you, people speed down them like a mini autobahn. Most of the stores were closed and the restaurants were shutting down, but it was super cute. We managed to find a place that was still open and had a good typical German meal. Then back to the train for the long trip back to Cologne.

More jagerschnitzel

This time, I asked. It's pork. It was good, but not as good as the last jaegerschnitzel. The setting was pretty cool, though. We took the train to Koblenz and then took a boat four hours up the Rhine River to Bacharach. When we got to Bacharach, I climbed over 500 stairs (second day in a row) to the top of the hill where there was a medieval castle. From there, I could see both up river and down river. Then I climbed down and had this dinner. Very good!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A taste of home

Maybe we will eat here if we get tired of random meat in tough casing.

Why a door knocker?

This is the front door to the cathedral. The door knocker is beautiful; it reminds me of the door (and knocker) to Notre Dame. My question is, why do these churches have door knockers?

Lock and key!

Apparently this is a relatively new tradition that may have started in Italy. This is the bridge to the cathedral in Cologne. About three years ago, people started putting locks on the bridge. The locks are often engraved with the names of two people - "young loves" - who place the lock on the bridge and then throw the key into the river below. If you look closely enough, you will see a few combination locks. I guess it's good to have a back-up plan!

More German genius!

At the stadium, they were selling beer by the half dozen. Of course, they needed a way to carry them easily so they made these cardboard carriers. I think we bought the beer because of the carrier, at least in part!

The Cathedral by Night

I think I've taken 50 pictures since I've been in Cologne and 30 of them have been of the cathedral. It reminds me very much of Notre Dame, both from the outside and the inside. It is so big I don't think you can get an idea of the size from this photo. And it's really beautiful at night.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Sunrise over Ireland

This is Ireland, from 39,000 feet. Don't look down!

More smart stuff

My beer on the plane came with a napkin and a small cup tucked under the pull tab. Also, brilliant. I did t even have to break a nail to open my beer, which, for the record, was pretty good!

German ingenuity

I though this was pretty amazing - the back of the seat on the airplane has a cup holder that folds out so you can get up out of your seat without having to worry about what to do with your drink. Brilliant. The seat back also has a hook that pulls out to hang up your jacket. Also, brilliant.

German food is weird

Jaegerschnitzel!! "Hunter style" schnitzel. I don't know what it is, but I'm about to find out!