God Did That For Me

The only place I remember my Grandmother, Honey, saying she wanted to travel to was Holland.  I offered to take her, but she always refused. She would talk about the tulips, windmills and wooden shoes.  Imagine my excitement when John told me there were samples to be collected on the Dutch coast.   I looked forward to this particular research trip with much excitement and a great deal of nostalgia.  I miss my grandmother, Irene, terribly.  And so I knew on our first day in Holland that God did this for me........

 

I was admiring all of the beautiful boats along the canal on the way to our first collection point when I saw a boat named "Irene."  When John turned the car around to get a picture we both noticed that in the background there was a beautiful field of tulips, an old windmill and even a more modern windmill.  Thank you, God.  That was beautiful.

These are some pictures from our boat tour in Amsterdam.  A lot of our pictures are of the masses of people who had gathered to celebrate the Queen's birthday.  Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that the Queen would have no part of many of the day's festivities. 

On our last day we decided to drive to Keuckenhof Gardens to see if we could get some better pictures of tulips.  We found this cute little field on the side of the road in Lisse.  We couldn't properly capture the beauty of millions of tulips.  The colors are more brilliant than anything I have ever seen.  It is beautiful.  This year the season was from late March to mid May.  We're hoping to see some of you here next Spring for the tulips.

 

In Lisse, we saw a guy selling tulips and other flowers at a roadside stand.  We bought forty tulips for five euro.  That is about $6.35.  The tulips made it all the way back to Germany and bloomed a few days later into the biggest, most beautiful tulips.  The second picture shows about a fourth of the whole bunch.  We didn't have a container large enough to hold them all.

Praha

We were supposed to meet two of my college friends in Prague for the end of their European vacation.  Unfortunately, Eyjafjallajökull had other plans.  Maybe the girls will be able to reschedule in the fall.  Cheers to travel insurance!    We had already planned to go to Prague so we went to scope out some cool spots for future visitors. Prague is a really easy drive from Erlangen, about 2.5 hours.  

 
We managed to find an authentic Czech meal in a bar near our hotel. Our only regret is that we didn't have our camera to properly document the enormous plate of food we both received.  I have never seen such humongous ribs.  I could only eat two of the four they gave me.  John really enjoyed his pig knee.   The server said that if we are hungry the ribs were the thing to order.  I think he meant for both of us.  It was quite an experience.  Oh the things the Czech people can do with sundry parts of a pig, black beer and red wine. 

 

Prague's Astronomical Clock

The Charles Bridge

Various Views of the Prague Castle

Not Just Another Day at the Beach

Some of you have wondered aloud what our visit to Italy had to do with John's research.  We had a wonderful time playing tourists, but we also got a great deal of work accomplished.  We spent many hours going through Daniele's fossil samples and taking pictures. We also did some field work collecting recently living examples from the same species as the fossils.  I have to admit, I love this part of John's job.  It is by no mistake that I am married to a scientist who has to collect samples on a beach.  Here are some pictures from our last day in Italy on the beaches of the Adriatic Sea and Po River Delta.

Carnevale di Venezia

At the recommendation of our Italian host, Daniele, we trekked with many other Italians to Venice to celebrate the last day of Carnevale.  If you were traveling with us to these different cities you would regularly hear me (Laura) comment that I love the charming narrow streets.  Part of Venice's charm, I believe, comes from similarly narrow canals.  It is the beauty of Italian/European cities plus water. Perfecto.

La Città Eterna

For Valentine's Day we decided to take a trip to Rome, the place where romance was born. It seems that every corner you turn in Rome you are face to face with something really amazing. I wish I had better words to describe what was so amazing about the city. Even though tourists fill every possible inch of sidewalk it is easy to disappear into the beauty of it all and feel like you are the only person there, and easily the only person ever to experience such beauty and romance. We started our first day at the Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo) where ancient Romans used to watch chariot races 100,000 people at a time.
The Colosseum was next up on the John Huntley tour of Rome. We consider it kind of like a Lane Stadium with weapons, a place to go with 55,000 of your closest friends to catch a violent show. Call it what you will, it is stunning.



Less historical maybe, but no less amazing, was this stairwell to the bathroom in a small cafe. More alarming than the stairwell was the surprise black-out mid-visit.

The Trevi Fountain was swarming with people all trying to get their return trip to Rome guaranteed by throwing coins into the fountain.   It is estimated that 3,000 Euros ($4,071.60) are thrown into the fountain per day.  According to Wikipedia, the money is used to help fund a grocery for folks from underprivileged situations. 
While waiting for John to come back from his coin-toss I saw a couple get engaged.  One of the most beautiful sights was from the top of the Spanish steps.  The best of luck had us arriving as the sun was setting over Rome.  The view of St. Peter's Basilica was breathtaking. 
We decided to visit Saint Peter's Square on Saturday night before going back to the hotel.  That was truly one of the most unbelievable sights.  There really are no words...

Buon Appetito!

Daniele and Paola invited us over to their flat so they could teach us how to make homemade passatelli. This hearty soup is local to the Emilia-Romagna region and is a favorite of their two year old son, Marco.

Here is the recipe....
A large pot of broth cooked the day before: this broth was made from coarsely-chopped carrots, celery, onions, beef ribs with meat, and chopped pieces of chicken on the bone. Cool the broth in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat from the top. Throw the fat away...unless you have another good use in mind.
200 grams of Grated Hard Rolls: Daniele and Paola collect all their leftover rolls from the week and then they grate them with the small side of a cheese grater. The bread needs to be very hard to grate properly. After you grate it run the crumbs through a sifter.
200 grams of Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Zest from 1/4 of a small lemon
3-4 Eggs
1 Tbsp. of Flour

Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon zest and flour. Make a well and crack 3 or 4 eggs, depending on their size, in the middle slowly combining all ingredients. Knead the dough into a tube shape about three inches thick. Tear off a small amount of dough and squeeze it through a schiacciapatate, potato masher, until the pasta is about two to three inches long. Cut the pasta free with a knife. Continue this process until all the dough is passatelli-shaped.

Meanwhile bring the broth to a boil in a large pot (meat and veggies removed). Cook the passatelli in the broth until it begins to float (7-8 minutes). Serve immediately as the primi piatti or first course. The broth is rich and the passatelli are yummy. This is no big surprise since nearly one half of the pasta is cheese. The meat and veggies can then be eaten as the second course. Some folks like to eat their meat with mustard while others prefer moutarde which in Italy is a spicy and vinegary combination of syrup and pickled fruits.

Lucchetti d'amore

On February 9th we took a day trip to Florence, the capital of Tuscany. Florence's art and architecture are among the most beautiful sights in the world. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there touring museums (including seeing Michelangelo's David), and taking in the unbelievable views of the city from Piazzale di Michelangelo. This is the Florence Cathedral, truly a breathtaking work of art.


Pallazzo Vecchio houses the town hall and an art museum. Note the copy of 'David' near the door.

Ponte Vecchio originally hosted butcher shops. Now the bridge is lined by jewelry shops.
A relatively new trend in Europe is to engrave or write you and your lover's names on a lock and attach it to a bridge. The couple then throws the key into the river to symbolize the lasting nature of their love. It seems that Alberto and Bubu were doing quite well after their first six months.
There is an incredible view from Michelangelo's Park. Unfortunately, none of our pictures can really capture the magnificence of Florence.