Dandies & Quaintrelles Full Moon Ride

I have been wanting to do an event with Dandies & Quaintrelles (also check out their Facebook page) forever. They, or really he--as it is one very dedicated guy who does most of the work (thank you!)--are the ones who organize the Tweed Ride (I have scoop that it will be mid-November this year) and the Seersucker Social (which I missed, but Cidell attended). Bicycles and dressing up? Truly, two of my very favorite things, and who would have thought the combine them? Brilliant!

Anyway, I finally caught a break with the advent of the White Night/Full Moon Ride tradition! I didn't make the first one in July, but I was determined to go to the August ride. I emailed around and my friend Donna was game (thank you, Donna!). There is never a strict dress code for D&Q events, but there are suggestions. The style guide for Full Moon Rides calls for light colors, but beyond that it is your imagination. The white clothing is both stylish and practical for nighttime visibility.

I had actually completely forgotten about my McCall 5045 50s style dress until I went hunting in my costume/evening closet (not to be confused with my regular closet, my auxiliary summer dress hanging rod outside my regular closet, or my coat closet). It is white, retro, and definitely a full enough skirt to bike in--woo hoo! As you can see, there are all manner of interpretations of the dress code--some people went full retro, others were in t-shirts and shorts...and everyone had a great time regardless of what they were wearing.

This ride was a joint venture with BicycleSpace, a great new bike shop that is really working to create a bike community. I've taken my bike there a couple times and had truly great service at a very reasonable price. We started off with a trumpet calling us to arms (or bikes, as the case may be), followed by a performance of "Night and Day." We were encouraged to sing along, but few of us knew the words so there was a lot of humming and ad lib. Then we were off!

There were somewhere between 50 and 75 people, I would guesstimate. The ride was well-organized, with both leaders at the front and sweepers behind to make sure nobody got lost. The leaders had whistles to make sure cars were aware of us.

The ride was, in a word, awesome. I have no idea how far we biked. Based on the amount of time were out and the landmarks I could recognize my guess is somewhere between 10 and 15 miles. I know that sounds like a lot if you're not big on biking, but I had taken a 40 mile ride earlier in the day out to Mt. Vernon so I was quite depleted. At our pace I did not even feel this ride.

In the middle of the ride we arrived at the Navy Yard area near the Nationals Stadium and took a break for Truckeroo, a monthly food truck gathering. What fun! There were at least a dozen trucks parked in a safely enclosed area with lots of people enjoying their wares. We had met for the ride at 8 so I was plenty ready for dinner. I got the very last portobello panini from Capitol Greenz. Bleu cheese, yum!

We resumed our ride and took a pause at the Capitol to ride around and around the roundabouts (more fun than it sounds), and did a stop at the White House to see the moon shining overhead.

We ended our ride at Logan Circle, spreading out picnic blankets and being serenaded by our trumpet player and a guitar.

I cannot even tell you how much fun I had. My only hesitation about doing a D&Q event was I feared it would be snobby hipsters who would be too busy being cool to have fun and too afraid of losing hipster cred to talk to the likes of me, but I was completely wrong. It turned out that the participants were--wait for it--nerds. Yes. They are my people. Everyone was incredibly friendly. You could pull alongside anyone and start a conversation with them and nobody would miss a beat. I talked to at least a dozen people and didn't meet more only because the evening came to an end. If you're in DC and own a bike, there is literally no reason you should not be doing this. And if you don't own a bike, there are plenty of places to rent one!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of photos because my camera does not take good pictures at night and I need both hands on the handlebars at all times. All my photos are here. There are photos from the previous Full Moon Ride here. It appears I'm the only one who's added photos to the Flickr pool from this ride. So it's hard to tempt you/make you jealous with pictures, but trust me you should be!

A Visit to Charming Milford, PA in the Poconos

My travel companion and I drove to New Hampshire over the long weekend to visit his sister. We did the drive north from DC in one very long 10 hour go (helpful hint: never, ever drive through New York City), but decided that we'd break it up on the way home and take a little time to enjoy ourselves. We looked at the map and it appeared that the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area was just about halfway between New Hampshire and DC. After a quick look on TripAdvisor we decided on the Myer Country Motel in Milford, Pennsylvania. We gave them a call (reservations can only be made by telephone) and snagged the evening's last vacancy.

The motel was easy to approach and to find, just five miles off I-84. It was founded in 1943 and keeps the old school motor inn style of the rooms being small cottages (some are duplexes) arranged around a lawn with a few picnic tables and barbecue spots, rather than the bland row of rooms you find in motels today.

It is completely adorable and we were thrilled to have one of the single cottages. The interior is cozy and clean with country style decor and a comfortable bed. The towels had been washed into a perfect softness and smelled of my favorite dryer sheets.

We settled in and then headed into town. Route 209, on which the Myer Motel is located, is the town's main drag. To walk there from the motel you have to walk on the shoulder of the road for a bit, which isn't fun, but once you get past that you're onto sidewalk and the town is very pedestrian friendly. There are only a few stoplights but there are several pedestrian crosswalks between the stoplights with signs to motorists saying they have to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks. In DC this would be taken by drivers as a challenge to mow down as many pedestrians as possible, but we found that cars actually stopped for us when they saw us standing on the side of the road waiting for the road to clear so we could cross. Highly unusual!

Milford is a quaint little town with beautiful old buildings. Since we're lawyers, we were intrigued by the courthouse, which still performs its original function.

I was also struck by this large old castle-y looking building, which has now been subdivided into little shops (our favorite name: "Reigning Cats and Dogs"; groan with me over the pun). Unfortunately, we arrived at around 6:30 on a Sunday evening and everything was closed, so we couldn't check out the shops or the historical buildings. This gives us a reason to come back!

After walking through the town we chose the Dimmick Inn to have a drink before dinner. We sat at the bar next to some people we took to be fellow tourists but in fact they were locals who lived about a mile down the road near the llama farm. We did not, alas, see the llama farm, but they are kept for their wool apparently. They were very friendly and we enjoyed hearing about the area. The bartender was also a local, just returned from Boston where he had been studying. I had a glass of wine but after seeing him expertly working the shaker I thought I should have ordered a cocktail! The restaurant at the Dimmick specializes in steak and burgers and the food we saw coming out looked good, but since I'm a vegetarian we decided to look for somewhere else.

We decided on Bar Louis downstairs at the Hotel Fauchere. Although there is a bar, there is actually a lovely dining room downstairs. The decor is nice--pale wood paneling, an old brick support wall, indirect lighting.

I was immediately struck by the fact that (1) there was a vegetarian entree, and (2) it was not pasta. The downside of being a vegetarian is that the fancier the restaurant the less likely they have anything--even a salad--without meat in it. And if there is a vegetarian main dish, it is invariably an uninspired pasta. Not so at Bar Louis! The veggie entree was grilled halloumi cheese, an arugula and foraged purslane salad with heirloom tomatoes, and a fried egg. Several dishes featured fried eggs; I don't know if they keep chickens or what. There were also several small plates to choose from, but I decided I'd go for the entree for the novelty value of a non-pasta veggie main. I didn't think to take pictures of the food so please content yourself with random bear statues that were scattered throughout the city.

Everything on the plate was fantastic, though the salad was definitely the star, perfectly dressed in a nice vinaigrette with perfect tomatoes and greens in a generous serving. The fried egg was indeed fried....mmmm, butter. The grilled halloumi was excellent. I really appreciated that there was adequate protein, which shows a degree of thought and care that is a glaring omission in the ubiquitous pasta. My travel companion had the steak frites and also enjoyed his meal.

The dessert was the crowning glory. I had some kind of dense flourless chocolate concoction with browned butter caramel and lemon curd. Chocolate and lemon are not often paired together but here they were sensational and the browned butter caramel was amazing.

We woke up the next morning and unfortunately many shops are closed Mondays and those that aren't normally closed were closed for the holiday. We took one last walk through town and stopped for photo ops at the locations that best represent our personalities: me at the library and my travel companion at the Beer Barn.

Luckily, Jorgensen's Deli was open and we had fantastic New York style bagels for breakfast before hitting the road back home.

We'd love to come back and get a chance to see more of the town and do some hiking in the area so we're considering this our scouting trip!

All photos are here.

Biking to Mount Vernon

I had the day off last Friday and it was an amazing, glorious summer day in which it was possible to be outside, unlike the 100F+ degree days that had kept us cowering indoors the past few weeks. So I decided to go on a long bike ride. The DC area has a plethora of great bike trails (see also, Capital Crescent, C&O Canal, W&OD, Custis, etc.), but I have always been partial to the Mt. Vernon Trail, which runs 18 miles roughly alongside the George Washington Parkway next to the Potomac river from a little north of Teddy Roosevelt Island in Rosslyn (Arlington, Va) to Washington's estate, Mount Vernon. I have ridden along the trail many times, but this was the first time I went all the way to Mount Vernon. I'm hooked!

First of all, the trail is awesome. It is paved, so perfect for biking, and except where it goes through Old Town Alexandria is completely separate from the road and therefore very safe (be sure to share the trail with runners, walkers, and inline skaters). In Old Town, the bike trail runs along low-speed limit streets with good visibility.


There are a few tricky points where the trail seems to disappear. The Park Service Map sort of shows them, but when you're on the ground it can be tough to figure out. The first is when the trail enters Alexandria. You run paralell to some railroad tracks and then it seems to peter out. Stay on the street closest to the river, Union Street, for a couple of miles (look for the bike stencils painted on the road). At the end of Union Street, the trail seems to dead end at a playground. There is a tunnel to your right--head through the tunnel and the signs on the other side direct you to the left along another street. The photo is of the other side of the tunnel--coming back, this is the only hard part because you have to spot the tunnel going off to your right.

Eventually, the street you're riding on is closed to cars but continues as a trail under an underpass and then it really seems to end in an apartment parking complex. To your right is a paved inclined embankment (see photo at right). Bike up the ramp. At the top a huge medallion is embedded in the sidewalk (you can't miss it) and it points to the left for the Mt. Vernon trail.

These small annoyances aside, the trail is phenomenal. It goes through several little ecosystems like the swamp on the left and the marsh at the top of the post. There are several rest areas with bathrooms, many drinking fountains, and dozens of benches and grassy areas to pull over for a rest and to enjoy the scenery.

I pick up the trail from the 14th Street bridge (entrance to the protected bike/pedestrian crossing is near the Jefferson Memorial) in the District, but if you're looking for a shorter ride, bikes are allowed on Metro subject to a few rules--not during rush hour on the weekdays (7-10 am and 4-7 pm) and only in the front and back doors, not the middle door with one bike allowed per door. No extra fare is required. Take the Yellow/Blue line to Braddock Road (a little shorter ride down to the trail) or King Street (a little more scenic, but also more crowded) and ride downhill toward the river until you pick up the trail or Union Street, respectively. From there it's about 10 miles to Mount Vernon.

I am a slow rider; from my door (in the middle of DC) to Mount Vernon took me about two and a half hours. You do not have to be a fitness nut to ride the trail, but you do need to be in reasonable shape. If this is the first exercise you're getting in a couple of years, I can't guarantee you'll make it or that you'll be happy if you do. There are gentle rolling hills and--I'm not going to lie to you--the last mile is almost entirely uphill. The estate is called Mount Vernon, after all. Mile Marker 0 is at Mt. Vernon, so the mile markers count you down and cheer you on as you head toward your goal. Riding back to Alexandria, on the other hand, is practically a coast!



There are plenty of bike racks at Mount Vernon, though when I arrived a Bike'n'Roll tour was obviously on the premises because the rack was full! It must have been a special event because a Mount Vernon tour is not on their website. I have done their Mall tour and highly recommend the company. They also rent bikes and have a location in Old Town.

Admission to Mount Vernon is $15. They have added a visitor's center with a short film in the past few years. I recommend the film, if only to sit in a cool darkened room for a bit and see Pat Sajak in colonial costume.

The house (pictured above) is really only a small part of the Mount Vernon complex. Actually, it is referred to as "The Mansion" but is quite modest by today's standards. The objects and decorations inside are interesting, but after seeing it once I've not waited in the long line again to return. The real draw of the mansion is the one experience you *must* have while visiting: sitting on the back porch overlooking the Potomac. It is a gorgeous, relaxing, timeless experience with great views. No need to wait in line to go through the house for this; just walk around to the back.

The grounds are extensive and well-kept under the "Living History" philosophy. In addition to the Upper Garden's butterfly-attracting flowers, it is still a nominally working farm with fruit trees and a vegetable garden and a few livestock. Allegedly, costumed interpreters work the farming area of the grounds, but I've never managed to catch them even though I have been to Mount Vernon many times. There is a little climb through the forest (the sign estimates 10 minutes) with signage about local plants and wildlife, as well as a nice pier (left) ending in a gazebo from which boat rides depart. I've never taken the boat ride, but you can walk onto the pier without a ticket.

Be sure to pay your respects at Washington's tomb, set up in the location he specified in his will. Washington died with no children--it is suspected that smallpox rendered him sterile--and the estate is run by the Mount Vernon Ladies. In a sense, it is fitting that he had no children because that way all Americans sort of get to "own" him without anyone having a larger claim. The Mount Vernon Ladies definitely take a proprietary interest. During one of my visits there was a Mount Vernon Lady acting as an interpreter at the tomb. I asked her if George and Martha had any children (and thought it odd I didn't already know). She replied that "The General and Mrs. Washington did not have any children." Although nobody owns Washington's legacy, apparently the hoi polloi ought not be too familiar!

The ride back down to Alexandria is a breeze and goes by fairly quickly. Back in Old Town, I kept my eyes out for this welcome sight and stopped for an ice cream lunch (never mind it was 6:00 in the afternoon).

I had such a fun day, though I confess I was pretty beat by the time I finished my ride. I bought an annual pass to Mount Vernon ($25--only $10 more than one time admission) so I'll have to make it back eventually! Just give me a little more time to recover...

All photos are here.

Montreal, June 2010: Sights, Activities, and Culture

I went to Montreal last week for Pattern Review Weekend! I had never been to Montreal--or to Canada at all--so my friend Cidell and I decided to head to Montreal early to see what we could see.

Monday, 14 June

When my plane landed on Monday it was pouring rain and quite cold. Cidell and I were scheduled to land at around the same time but, as is the way, her flight was quite delayed. The good thing was that when I finally left the airport, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out!

We bought weeklong Metro passes--carte hebdo--and navigated our way to Marche Atwater, a large market the guidebook insisted was open until 8. Unfortunately, it had closed at 6 so we hopped back on the metro (love that unlimited pass!) and headed into the Plateau, to famous La Banquise for poutine. It has about 30 varieties of poutine on the menu. Poutine, by the way, is a regional dish of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy. La Banquise makes a vegetarian gravy so even veggies can have the pleasure of clogging our arteries. It had been a long day of travel with an early morning breakfast and no lunch so fries, gravy, and cheese sounded just about right. I'm not sure it's an experience I could repeat very often, however.

After dinner we walked around a bit, trying to digest our meal. The row house architecture is lovely, and everyone has added their own little twist with brightly colored balconies, hanging plants, and painted doors. We got back to the Mount Royal metro stop just in time for the (late) sunset and headed back to the Universite de Montreal dorms and hit the sack.

Tuesday, 15 June

The weather prediction was for alternating days of rain and sun, and luckily our first full day was a day of sun. We decided that a bike tour would be the perfect way to take advantage of the weather and get an idea of the city, so we contacted Cycle Tours Montreal and arranged to take the City Highlights Tour.

This turned out to be a fantastic decision. Our guide, Shea, was very enthusiastic, loves the city, and tailored the tour to our varied ability levels. We started at Parc La Fontaine in the Plateau, meandered through the Plateau (stopping for croissants and coffee), headed to the Mountain where I very proudly biked all the way to the top, then went down into the city, stopping to see McGill University, biked along the Lachine Canal, and had lunch at the Marche Atwater. It was a gorgeous day and we could not have been happier with our choice!

Wednesday, 16 June

Rain was predicted and the morning started cloudy, but we hoped it wouldn't start until the afternoon and planned a self-guided walking tour of Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) for the morning. We started at the Basilique de Notre Dame de Montreal, a copy of Notre Dame in Paris (though without the flying buttresses). I visited the famous wedding chapel, which honestly did not seem very romantic! I did enjoy its modernism, in contrast to the traditional interior of the main part of the church.

Next we meandered our way through the old financial district, stepping into several amazing banks that still serve customers, including one with a wedgewood ceiling and one guarded by gargoyles. Looking at the gargoyles I think I understood J.K. Rowling's inspiration for the goblin bankers in Harry Potter. I was amused that there used to be a Molson Bank (left), now an office building, but beer-making is pretty steady business through good economic times and bad so perhaps we should have more liquor-run banks and fewer mortgage-backed for the stability of our financial system.

We ended our tour at the Old Customs House, next to the Archaeological Museum and along the St. Lawrence river, just as it was beginning to rain. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit the museum. It is my reason to go back!

From there, we headed to the McCord Museum, stopping along the way we stopped by the Cathedrale Marie Reine du Monde, which the guidebook said was a 1/4 scale reproduction of St. Peter's in Rome. We went to the McCord to view their temporary exhibition of costumes from Cirque du Soleil. I love Cirque, but when I go I am in the very far away seats and the costumes are nothing but a bit of color to me. It was so interesting to see them up close. The designers put minute and intricate details into each one. I really appreciate their dedication to their craft. The museum also has exhibits on winter in Montreal and Irish-Canadians, with lots of artifacts and bits of history.

I had a late lunch at vegetarian restaurant Lola Rosa. It was so pleasant to enjoy my meal and watch the passers-by. It is very near McGill's campus so there were lots of students to-ing and fro-ing. The waiter was very pleasant and (as with our bike guide and most Canadian men) quite attractive, which never hurts.

As soon as I left it began to rain in earnest, and then it began to POUR. Cidell and I tried to visit the Musee des Beaux Arts, which has late opening on Wednesdays. Unfortunately, only the temporary exhibits are open during the late hours and we wanted to see the permanent collection. So we headed to Pullman for a glass of wine and some nibbles instead, and capped off our evening with gelato.

Thursday, 17 June

Since sun and rain were alternating days, Thursday was a day of sun. Yay!!! I returned to the Musee des Beaux Arts in the morning, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that it is free to visit the permanent collection. They have a wonderful little capsule collection of Impressionists, whom I love, and an excellent exhibit on Modern Art by artists from the Quebec province and Montreal in particular. There is also an exhibit of Contemporary Art; I must confess myself a cretin when it comes to Contemporary Art. I pretty much hate it all. Then I took the underground passage to the Decorative Arts exhibit, which has great furniture and glassware from the early 1900s through the present.

Not wanting to waste a beautiful day, I took the long metro ride out to the Jardin Botanique. I first stopped to take some photos of the 1976 Olympic Stadium, which is on the walk up from the Pie IX metro stop to the Botanical Garden.

Admission to the gardens is steep--$16 (though I got a small discount because the Insectarium was closed). But once inside I saw dozens of groundskeepers hard at work maintaining this huge and beautiful complex and realized that the admission price is actually a bargain. I had only about three hours to spend before the gardens closed, but you could easily make a day of it with a nice picnic lunch (there are restaurants on site, but I didn't see any prohibition on bringing your own food).

There is an amazing diversity of gardens--including a vegetable garden, poisonous plant garden (!!!!--I finally know what poison ivy looks like), First Nations Garden, medicinal garden, water gardens (I got to see cranberry plants! they are one of my favorite foods) etc. etc., but the real showpieces are the Japanese and Chinese gardens. I have been to many Japanese gardens, including in Tokyo, but never visited a Chinese garden before. It is gorgeous! The garden was built in China and then carefully disassembled and shipped to Montreal, where it was reassembled by the original Chinese designers and gardeners. It has water features, buildings, a Bonsai garden, and amazing views.

By this point I was pretty well exhausted. A free mini-train makes a loop around the property, the north half of which is a large arboretum. I didn't think I'd manage a tramp through the arboretum so I took the mini train for a bit of a view and a rest. I finished off at the spectacular series of greenhouses, which range from tropical to desert. I learned that bananas never ripen on the tree. Interesting!

For dinner I headed to vegetarian institution Le Commensal. There is a buffet of hot and cold foods (and dessert!). You fill your plate and pay by weight. I got a full (but not unreasonably so) plate and a bit of dessert and it was around $13. I went to the location on Rue Berri and found a secluded little table where I could observe the busy street without feeling exposed and self-conscious about eating alone and heartily enjoyed my food and the view.

Saturday, 19 June

Friday I was at my sewing conference, and went fabric shopping Saturday morning, but I snuck off to do one final bit of sightseeing on Saturday afternoon. I didn't want to miss the Oratoire Saint-Joseph, which was luckily located in the vicinity of U de M and the dorms.

I decided to save myself some time and rent a Bixi bike from the stand conveniently located at the dorm. There are tons of bike racks in the trendy and tourist areas (not so much in the working class areas), you pay $5 for 24 hour access, and can use the bikes for 30 minutes at a time. If you exceed 30 minutes, it's $1.50 for the next 30, $3 for the next 30, $6 for the next, etc. This is meant to be an extension of the public transit system and the rentals are for transportation, not leisure. DC has a similar but not as user friendly system called Smartbikes DC. The only way to use them is to pay a $40 annual membership and get a special card. On the flip side, you can keep a bike up to 24 hours (at which point you are charged a $550 replacement fee). The Bixi model is so much better! A person is much more likely to sign up for the program if they can test it out first on a 24 hours basis, and the Smartbike is no good for tourists who won't want to pay an entire annual membership.

Well, I really should have taken into account my inability to read maps or navigate! I got lost several times, each time involving bicycling up and down very large hills, and when I finally found the Oratoire I sailed past it down down down a large hill looking for a Bixi rack, couldn't find one, cycled back up up up the large hill and was afraid I was going to have to ride all the way back to the dorm to drop it off. Finally found a stand. Had I done all this smoothly with no getting lost and finding the stand immediately (it turns out at the stands where you rent the bike there is a map with all the stands in the vicinity clearly marked) it would have taken about 12 minutes. It took me about 50.

However, I had plenty of time to climb up to the oratory, visit Brother Andre's tomb and view the interior of the main chapel. There is a lovely garden with (I think) the stations of the cross, but it continued on uphill and my enthusiasm for hills had waned. Brother Andre, the founder, was known as a healer and many people seeking cures visit the Oratory. There is a large display of canes that have reportedly been left behind by the healed.

I walked over to the Cimetiere Notre Dame Des Neiges and just had a moment to pop my head in before it started raining. I raced back on the Bixi bike through the rain and managed to arrive back at the dorm before it really started to deluge.

Sunday, 20 June

I had just enough time before I needed to leave for the airport to take the metro to Mount Royal and ride a Bixi Bike over to the Mountain to try to catch the beginnings of the weekly Tam Tam festival. This time I was well and truly foiled by my inability to navigate. I picked up a bike at Parc La Fontaine and knew I needed to ride along Rue Rachel to get to the Mountain. So I rode and rode and rode and then eventually the Olympic Stadium came in view and I realized I'd gone several kilometers in the wrong direction. When I turned around I realized that I could clearly see the Mountain and the direction I should have gone. Oh well. I picked up a pain au chocolat to console myself and returned to the dorm to head back to the airport and come back home.

It was a wonderful visit and I hope to return someday and have a little more time to enjoy the city. All photos are here.

Montreal, June 2010: Accommodations and Food

Here is where I stayed and ate in Montreal!

Accommodations

As the Pattern Review Weekend activities were held on the campus of the Universite de Montreal it was recommended that we stay at Les Studios Hotel, a dorm that converts into a hotel in the summer. This option is not for everyone. The rooms are small, very small. My room was quite dusty/dirty and had an unpleasant dank smell (luckily the window could be opened and that took care of the smell). The bath is shared and there is only one toilet per sex per floor (10 rooms). The beds are rubber futon-style mattresses and the single plastic-coated pillow is rather small. Do NOT try to share one of these rooms. However, it was very cheap at $40/night (internet extra) and nicely situated at a five minute walk from either the Edouard-Monpetit or the Universite de Montreal metro stop.

Food



Poutine at La Banquise, a classic spot for a vegetarian version (rare) of this classic local specialty. $7.

Punjab Palace for cheap, metro accessible, perfectly-acceptable-but-nothing-to-write-home-about Indian food. $9.

Lola Rosa for mid-priced vegetarian fare in a quaint restaurant in a cool part of town with great service and good food. $12.

Premiere Moisson, a small chain of bakeries with locations at Atwater and Jean Talon markets. I don't particularly care for sandwiches, but their mozzarella and tomato on olive baguette was delicious. $8.

Pullman for wine and small plates. The giant olives were delicious and the goat cheese divine. The atmosphere is a little snooty and the prices are quite high. I didn't recognize any of labels on the by-the-glass list and there was no info on the varietal so I just had to guess. I could have asked but I didn't feel up to it in French (the staff spoke English and I'm sure would have helped with only a little attitude). I ended up with something cabernet-ish, which I don't particularly care for. It was good to feel civilized, though. $8 for a glass and around $5-8 per small plate.

Le Commensal for a huge variety of tasty vegetarian food at a pay-by-weight buffet. Had I eaten here earlier in the week I probably would have come back. $13.

Mid-Priced Eats in DC

So, I already gathered together a bunch of cheap eats. But what about somebody who has an income? I used to be that person. Then I took a new job at a pay cut of over 50% and got my life back. But I still have fond memories of the few times I was let out of my office to gather enough nourishment to get me through another 12 hour day.

Some restaurants appear on both the cheap eats list and the splurgey restaurants list. They're relatively cheap (in the cost/benefit sense) if you don't get drinks, appetizers, or desserts, and splurgey if you do the whole experience. So that's how I explain that little discrepancy away. I define splurgey as over $35/person, and cheap as under $25/person.

I am a vegetarian. I only eat at places where there's something more for me than bread and a plate of iceburg lettuce (hold the bacon dressing). There is a whole world of fancy restaurants out there to which I have never been and am never likely to go. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding recommendations for places at which you can eat large quantities of animal flesh in DC. All my recs are veggie-friendly, which is much harder to find in upscale. They are not exclusively vegetarian unless noted otherwise, so your dining companion who will allegedly drop dead if not fed morsels of dead animal at every meal will be fine. That said, these are *good* restaurants, not just veggie-friendly restaurants. Although these restaurants are splurgey for me, it's hard to spend a lot of money on a vegetarian meal, so most are going to be under $50/person if you're going meatless and getting a glass of wine rather than a bottle. Check out the links to the restaurants to see menus; most list prices.

If you are a gastronome who can drop upwards of $250 per person and just want to go straight to the top, you don't really need my help but FYI Washington's two creme de la creme restaurants are Michel Richard Citronelle and CityZen. If you would like to experience either of these restaurants on a weekend, you must book several months in advance. You *might* be able to get a weekday table at an undesirable time within the month, but call as soon as you plan your trip. Michel Richard has established a chef's table at Citronelle which puts you in the kitchen on a tasting course of his choosing (from my understanding) at a prix fixe of hundreds of dollars per person. You probably have to book it a couple of years in advance. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration...but only slight.


Restaurant Week

There is a thing in Washington called "Restaurant Week." And it is good. During Restaurant Week, which occurs twice a year (February and August), participating restaurants offer prix fixe three course lunches or dinners for $20.0x or $30.0x respectively, x being the year. So last year it was $20.08/$30.08. This is a really great way to experience upscale restaurant dining without the major price tag. You're not *really* going to get out for that price, of course. DC restaurant tax is 10%, then there's a 20% tip (stop whining and just do it). If you order a glass of wine that's $8 or so. Some restaurants will offer the entire menu with a supplemental charge of $2 or $3 for more expensive dishes. But you'll still do better than $50 for a dinner that can cost twice that much under normal circumstances. Before you decide on a restaurant week location, though, be sure to browse through the regular menu. Some places it would be hard to put together a meal, especially a vegetarian one, costing $30 from the regular menu and restaurant week actually ups the price!

Reserve in advance if you're planning to do restaurant week. Most of the fancier restaurants participate in Open Table which makes reservations easy and painless to make online. Open Table operates year-round, not just during RW and I recommend it for making reservations. If there aren't any reservations left for RW check the restaurant's website--many restaurants now extend Restaurant Week beyond the official designated week. Most extend to the next week to do a two week stint, but Dino, for instance, did Restaurant Month for the whole of January.

Some restaurants cheap out during restaurant week. I tried Galileo (which is closed right now for renovation) during two separate restaurant weeks and was disappointed both time. The portions were teensy and the staff surly. Many people had the same complaint. I won't be returning.

Where I have only tried the restaurants below during restaurant week it is duly noted. It's probably safe to assume that it can only get better during the regularly scheduled program.

And now, the restaurants

Penn Quarter/Chinatown/Metro Center/The Mall
http://www.finemondo.com/ is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It's a place where everybody knows my name. OK, not really, but there is zero staff turnover and you get recognized after a couple of visits. That's a really nice feeling. Start with the finocchio (fennel) soup in the winter, the insalata finemondo (avocado, tomatoes, and fresh mozarella) in summer. Move on to the gnocchi with asparagus and fava beans. Finish with the chocolate hazelnut cake. You can actually order anything off the menu and it will be sensational, but those are some of my favorites. My only teeny tiny complaint is that the by-the-glass menu is a little limited. If you're getting a bottle of white, my favorite is the Soave.

A Jose Andres creation, Jaleo brought tapas to DC, and continues to serve it up better than anyplace else. The small plates are divine and you'll want the server to keep 'em coming. I love the spinach sauteed with raisins and apples, the endive and goat cheese salad, the chickpea stew, the tuscarora mushrooms, and well, everything on the menu. The white sangria is nice, if they're serving it up. My only gripe with Jaleo is that the bar is teeny-weeny, way too small for a restaurant of that size and popularity. Reservations are not accepted so you'll be waiting in the cramped bar for quite a while at the weekend for a table. At lunch or dinners early in the week this won't be a problem. The Jaleos in Crystal City and Bethesda probably have larger bars, though are not likely to be less crowded.

Zaytinya offers more small plates from Jose Andres. If the squash blossoms are on special you must order them; they are stuffed with a mild feta cheese and I wish zucchini tasted as good as its blossoms. Everything is divine, although they changed the recipe for the Santorini fava recently and I don't like the new iteration as much. The old version had raw shallots, now the shallots are caramelized. It's more civilized on the breath but less bracing on the tongue. You must, absolutely must, get the potatoes fried in olive oil topped with yogurt (aka fries). The cabbage dolmades are not good, but they are literally the ONLY thing I've had there that I didn't love. The apricot yogurt dessert is not to be missed, and the sesame seeds sprinkled on the chocolate dessert are intriguing.

Tosca is another Italian place on F Street, three blocks from Finemondo. It is slightly fancier, a bit more expensive (both of which add up to less veggie friendly), and certainly more intimate with a much smaller dining room than Finemondo. It is located in the building where I used to work the aforementioned 12 hour days so I hyperventilate a little when I walk in, but the food is worth a little hyperventilation.

Zola doesn't have a lot of exciting vegetarian options; it resorts to the old pasta stand-by which is perfectly good but not, well, exciting. Apparently the burgers are very good so this is a nice place to take your meat-eating companion where they can have their meal and you won't be served a plate of iceberg lettuce with carrot shavings. The atmosphere is fun and funky and the cocktails are excellent. The server will thoughtfully provide you with a black napkin if you're wearing dark clothes. The desserts are good. I like the chocolate peanut butter one (but I'm a sucker for that combo). Zola is in the Spy Museum building, an easy walk up from the Mall around the National Gallery of Art-ish, and directly across the street from the Portrait Gallery. I love to do cocktails in the bar.

Rasika is upscale Indian street food. No danger of Delhi Belly here! The portions are delicate and the food delicious. I've only been for the pre-theater dinner special (prix fixe around $25 before 6:30 pm), but want to go back someday to try the full menu. Its D Street location makes it an easier walk from the Mall than most Penn Quarter restaurants, which are concentrated on F Street for the most part.

TenPenh is located at Tenth and Penn (note the clever pun of the name). This Thai restaurant serves up plenty of heat, though you can ask them to tone it down. The desserts are not to be missed, especially with a glass of sparkling wine. The dining room and bar are very well done; you'll feel much further from the dusty paths and hordes of tourists on the Mall than you really are. It's nice to feel civilized.

Indebleu is getting a provisional mention. The concept is French-Indian fusion, and when it opened I was quite excited about it. French food is not just veggie-unfriendly, it is veggie-hostile. Indian food, of course, has a long tradition of vegetarianism. I thought the two might tone each other down--Indian a little less earthy, French a little less involving the parts of 12 different animals in each dish. Unfortunately, the original menu had virtually nothing vegetarian on it, the prices were ridiculous, and the portions were minuscule. After our meal there, all three of us (small women) went home and had dinner as what we got there for $60/person amounted to a small nibble of appetizers. The menu has now been revamped and is a little more veggie friendly, but I have not been back yet. One of Indebleu's strengths is its cocktail menu; it's in the form of the metro map, with each line representing a different liquor. The drinks are as fun to drink as they are to order.

Convention Center
Vegetate is owned by an African-American couple doing their part to revitalize Shaw, my neighborhood. They chose to open their upscale vegetarian restaurant on a street that is not (yet) upscale. It's an easy walk from the Convention Center. The streets are "urban" and "mixed income" but it is safe--I walk through my neighborhood every day and I love living there. If you're not from an urban area you might feel more comfortable taking a cab. Vegetate's menu changes often according to what is seasonably available. This is the only fancy vegetarian restaurant in the area (there are other veggie restaurants but they concentrate more on food than atmosphere), and makes for a great meal with a nice experience.

Farragut Area
The K Street corridor is very 9-5 (well, this being Washington more like 9-8) and most of the restaurants cater to the power lunch or intern lunch crowd. There are a few sit-down gems, though, and among them is Vidalia. Vidalia's concept is upscale Southern cooking. I have only been during Restaurant Week, but they get a mention for always having a vegetarian option during RW. It's generally an unimaginative not-super-tasty rice pilaf, but they still get an A for effort. The sides and dessert are always amazing, so I suspect they can do much better than that off the regular menu.

Georgetown
I don't care for Georgetown and don't spend any time there, but I did have a memorable meal at Cafe Milano. This Italian restaurant is known more for its nightly parade of political celebrities than for its food, but they wouldn't all go there if it was terrible. I really enjoyed everything I had there. My taste buds *might* have been impaired by all the pre-dinner cocktails and during-dinner wine I had, but my palate is so discerning that no amount of alcohol...oh never mind.

If you absolutely must have dinner on the Waterfront, Sequoia isn't as bad as it could be. I was, in fact, pleasantly surprised at the pasta dish I got when taken there by a date. The draw is the view so I expected a frozen dinner brought to me still in the cardboard tray. The food is at least one step up from that. The crowd skews young and scantily clad.

I like Neyla in Georgetown, though my opinion is not universally shared. The middle eastern food (it doesn't seem confined to a single cuisine) is quite good, and if it's nice eating outside is a lovely option. It's a little out of the major hustle and bustle, which I like.

DuPont Circle
One of Washington's favorite places for sushi is Sushi Taro, which is closed for renovation until early March 2009. The location above a CVS isn't auspicious, but once you enter the dining room you'll forget that you're sitting on top of the hair care aisle. The menu offers plenty besides sushi. I got the seaweed salad, an avocado roll, and the tempura vegetables. I wouldn't recommend the tempura vegetables, but that's more the nature of tempura--it cools too quickly to be good for longer than a few minutes. I wished I had ordered two seaweed salads, though. It was delish. In the spirit of Japanese hospitality, the server will bring you a complimentary[CHECK] amuse bouche. I didn't know how much I wanted some miso soup until she brought it to me. The door is to the left of the CVS on 17th St and looks almost like a delivery entrance--don't miss it! You must climb the stairs to get to the dining room, so it's not for the mobility impaired.

Sette Osteria was conceived as a more affordable answer to Sette Bello in Northern Virginia. I haven't been to Sette Bello, but I love Sette Osteria. This casual Italian restaurant has excellent pizza from a wood burning oven as well as a variety of pasta and meat dishes and great wines by the bottle. If it's nice, get a table outside and enjoy the people watching in DuPont Circle.

Cleveland Park
Dino is at the Cleveland Park metro stop, so it's easy to pop onto the train and head out there even if you have no other reason to be in Cleveland Park. This Italian restaurant is in a strip mall, but does not suffer from strip mall blandness in decor, menu, food, wine list, or anything else. All the food is exquisitely prepared, and the owner prides himself on the extensive wine list with affordable bottles. If the strawberry-rhubarb shortcake is on the dessert menu, order it. Maybe as an appetizer and then again as dessert. As mentioned above, Dino extends restaurant week throughout the entire month. There was no vegetarian entree option on the RW menu, and they made me up an amazing plate anyway at no extra charge.

Woodley Park
Lebanese Taverna isn't quite a splurge, but it's not quite cheap either so I'll include it on this list. This local chain (with lots more locations) serves up consistently good Lebanese food in a great variety. The small plates are great for sharing with the table, and they have full plates for those who don't enjoy the communal food experience. The green beans are really, really good. The Taverna is located across the street from the metro stop, so it's a good last stop in Woodley for dinner after a visit to the zoo; it's a convivial and somewhat noisy place and therefore pretty kid-friendly.

Capitol Hill
Sonoma, a few blocks from the Capitol and a pretty quick walk from the Capitol South stop, brought California cuisine (and wine!) to DC. Start with a cheese plate or charcuterie, or end with the cheese plate if you're more European. Just don't miss the cheese plate. You can order 3, 6, or 9 cheeses and various accompaniments. You can order bottles of course, but Sonoma's space-agey wine preservation system allows them to offer many varieties by the glass. I'm sure your server can recommend wine pairings for your courses. I like the pizza, but they have a variety of entrees to choose from. The restaurant is easy to miss because the sign is just its name frosted into the glass above the door (this sort of thing drives me crazy). Check the address and look closely.

Crystal CityBebo Trattoria was opened by Roberto Donna as a more casual addition to his empire, the flagship of which is Galileo (I already gave my opinion on this one), and the flagship within Galileo is the Laboratorio--a chef's table. Bebo's space in Crystal City used to be occupied by Jose Andres's Oyamel, which has since moved to 7th and E. Because it's outside the District, the dining room is much bigger than your average DC restaurant, which I assume makes it a little easier to get a table. I've only eaten from the bar menu, but the food was great and the wine selection excellent. The service here is notoriously bad and my experience was no exception (one bartender alleged there was no bar menu when we knew there was one and finally another bartender gave us one; super super slow). If you're willing to trade good food at more affordable prices for bad service, I recommend a visit.

My wish list
There are a few restaurants I haven't been to that have been on my list to get to eventually. Some opened after I had already left the lucrative job, some I just didn't get around to before leaving. If you would like to make my dreams come true, please leave a comment. :-P If you try them for yourself, leave a comment to let me know how it was!

Restaurant Eve (Old Town Alexandria) is the brainchild of new critical darling Cathal Armstrong. Within the restaurant is the tasting room, which does multi-course meals (ten-ish I believe) of whatever tickles the chef's fancy that day. Apparently, if you call ahead they will do a vegetarian tasting menu. In the dining room, the birthday cake dessert is supposed to be fabulous. Armstrong also runs Eamonn's Dublin Chipper, a fish and chips place. Do NOT go there if you are vegetarian, as the fish and chips are fried in the same oil and there is literally nothing for you (i.e., me) to eat. If you eat fish it is supposed to be fantastic.

Cafe Atlantico Minibar (Penn Quarter) is another tasting experience, this one of the gastro-chemistry variety. The most famous (notorious?) item is probably the foie gras cotton candy. I wouldn't have this of course, but Jose Andres also says he will do a vegetarian tasting menu with advance notice. You have to give advance notice anyway--the minibar is usually booked up for months. Call far ahead of when you'd like to do it; I believe they open the reservation book two months in advance and you pretty much have to call the day the reservation becomes available to get it. Minibar is located in Cafe Atlantico. This is the only Jose Andres restaurant I don't particularly care for. It's Mexican-ish food, but I am not wowed by it. Maybe the meat dishes are better than the one veggie option on the menu. The tableside-prepared guacamole is good, though.

Restaurant Nora is a certified organic restaurant. It's quite expensive and not as veggie friendly as you'd expect a certified organic restaurant to be. I'd like to try it someday, but the price tag and limited veggie options have put me off so far.

I haven't yet been to Heritage India (Upper Georgetown/Cathedral area) more because of location than price. The only way to get to upper Georgetown is to drive or take the bus. I hate driving anyway, and I really hate not to be able to enjoy a glass of wine with my meal because I've driven. The 30 buses are fine, but buses are always few and far between at night. There are always cabs, of course, but getting into a cab to me equals getting into a car with a man I don't know who probably has nothing to lose. I really don't like taking cabs. However, it is reputed to be the best Indian in town with a lovely atmosphere and I'll bite the bullet and get out there someday.

Central, pronounced the French way, is the less expensive sister restaurant (sound familiar? this is a very popular thing among DC star chefs right now) of Michel Richard Citronelle, arguably DC's premier restaurant, and unquestionably one of its fanciest. Citronelle is not only stratospherically out of my price range, it is also French. We have already established the veggie-hostility of French food so really, there would be no point in me going to Citronelle. I would perhaps someday like to go have dessert at the bar because Michel Richard is a pastry chef by training and I hear the desserts are out of this world. Anyway, Central is closer to my price range and hell, it's Michel Richard, DC's honest to god French chef. Incidentally, if you know a little of Michel Richard's life story it makes you want to try his food even more. He was completely neglected as a child and was sent out to work around age 9. He didn't go to culinary school, but learned the art of food through apprenticeship. Now he lives a big cushy life as a celebrity chef, though a chef's life with its brutal hours and non-stop physical exertion cannot really be called cushy, but he was not to the manner born. He's the quintessentially French chef with the quintessentially American success story.

Vegetarian Buddhist Nirvana and Fountain Friends, Thursday 27 March 2008

I had a very brief awakening around 4 but went right back to sleep. I am finally adjusting to the time! The anti-malarial dreams are starting to kick in, though. I haven't had an apocalyptic dream in years (I was raised in a household that believed very much in the apocalypse and the dreams plagued for years and years, even after I moved out) but I dreamt of a reprise of Noah's flood. I was trying to decide to which of two cabins in which I had a share to flee. Also, the anti-malarials apparently bring references from the TV show Friends to all my dreams. Odd.

I had my yogurt, fruit, and bread for breakfast. Yay for yummy breakfast! I hadn't scheduled myself to give any presentations on the last half day, because when the trip was first planned the e-commerce seminar was set to overlap. However, they rescheduled the e-commerce seminar to accommodate me and I had an easy morning. Lunch was more marigolds. These had the flowers included, which I hadn't had before. They were a little like the tender inner leaves of an artichoke.

The minibus on the ride back was a tad rickety and I feared for its power of forward motion, but we arrived without incident. J and S were going back to the Renaissance Riverside hotel, and I was checking into the Majestic Hotel as it was my conference location. It was quite nice, with a complimentary fruit bowl and water. The lovely wooden floors did rather accentuate the endless tapping of high heels above me (I later learned I was below the ballroom, which was being prepped, I can only assume for a wedding). The bathroom was hilariously opulent.

I emailed J and S, as we had planned to go to the market together. Two hours later they still hadn't responded so I set off on my own. The market's location seems evident on the map, but I couldn't quite triangulate myself to the right location. I kept wandering down shady looking (but well-populated) streets that smelled of either sour milk or urine. I later learned that the renownedly stinky durian fruit is experienced by some as sour milk, so that mystery was cleared up. I willed myself, with some success, not to feel uncomfortable. I live in a neighborhood that an outsider might find uncomfortable, but it is not actually dangerous and I just assumed it was the same in Vietnam.

I finally oriented myself to the circle and realized I had to cross it. Here's how you cross the street: you just do it. The traffic never stops, not even for red lights. They will swerve around you (usually), but they won't stop. So you just step out into the road into oncoming traffic. Seriously, without even getting hit it really diminishes your life expectancy because of the sheer strain on your heart. By this time, the market proper was closing so only the outdoor stalls of knockoffs and such were open. I had noticed some purses covered in fabric roses in shop windows. I found one on the street and the asking prices was 100.000 Dong. I talked the girl down to 50.000, around $3.50. I wasn't sure whether this was good or bad, but later I checked out prices on the purses and they were 100.000 everywhere, so think my first bargaining experience was successful.

I also found an alley of food markets, which was full of locals. Here is where they hide all the vegetables! There was also much meat. There were no beans anywhere. They appear just not to be eaten here. I really don't think I could live in Vietnam because I freaking love beans. They are a vegetarian's best friend--a low fat, high fiber source of protein. Well, with that nutrition profile they should be everyone's best friend. As to the side effects, your body's enzyme balance quickly adjusts if you eat a lot of them and they have no ill effects on my digestion system whatsoever.

I had to re-cross the circle to get to the Tin Nghia (Buddhist) Vegetarian Restaurant. I took a break in the park that wedges into the circle, where some sort of aerobics was going on. But it just involved holding your arms above your head and waving them in time to clubby music, and then making a quarter turn and doing the same thing. There were a lot of people participating, but then they all sort of realized that there was not going to be any more to it than the waving of the arms (I, too, kept waiting for the dance portion to kick in) and people started to drop out.

The restaurant is the epitome of a hole-in-the-wall, literally. While it has a metal grate they can close at night, it does not have a wall for a door facing the street. I ordered a spring roll, stir fried mushrooms and snow peas (the latter were DIVINE), and mushrooms and wheat gluten in pepper sauce--actual spicy food! woot!, rice, and a large water. I'm sure this was more food than one person should politely order, but I'd been starving in the provinces all week! I was finally full and only felt semi-gross about it. The total was around 50.000.

I walked back to the hotel along Dong Khoi. I stopped at the little strip of park with a fountain in front of the opera house. It was kid central and the sellers of balloon animals on sticks were cleaning up. I sat at the fountain, which I later noticed was one of those abstract family sculpture things, just enjoying it.

A woman sat next to me and we had a nice conversation. Her English was impressive, though I sometimes had a hard time with her her pronunciation. She asked me if I was married, of course. We turned out to be around the same age. It was a very pleasant encounter. I think she invited me back to her home, but (1) I couldn't really tell, and (2) it felt weird. Thinking back on it, I can see that if I ran across a French speaking tourist in DC who was helping me practice French and seemed nice and normal I might invite her home so I guess it's not that weird. She let me take pictures of her daughter, who loved seeing herself on the camera.

I stopped into a store with this really cool pleated gingham silk skirts. The pleats were gathered so that the yoke of the skirt appeared to be solid and then opened out from there, similar in concept to Vogue 8353. I asked the price and was told "Ninety-five." Only later did I realize this was in USD and was glad they hadn't had my size.

I sat in the hotel lobby and had a "Happy Saigon," some sort of fruity cocktail, while prepping for my conference the next day. A hilariously mournful jazz band played and Russians sat next to me. I was so caught up in it all that I accidentally went to bed late.


You can see all the photos of Saigon, and all photos from this trip if you'd like.

Houses on Stilts and a Bride in a Box, Wednesday 26 March 2008

I woke at 4 and took a melatonin, but it didn't help this time. I laid there for a couple of hours, then got up and did some yoga. A rooster began to crow and workmen began to bang but somehow I fell asleep again.

I brought a yogurt and dragonfruit down to breakfast and was so much happier than I had been with the greasy runny eggs!

The morning program went smoothly, and at lunch we got the Vietnamese food rather than the "special" Western meal. I had tofu and rice to go with my marigolds this time, and it was much better.

During the siesta period we went to the market area to get S some shirts. We had all packed for business attire, but when we got to the conference they told us it would be business casual! I was all set because I could just throw a jacket over the dresses I'd brought for the tourist portion of the trip, and J (the male co-worker) is a casual dresser and I don't think brought any suits anyway. But S had only long sleeve shirts and was dying.

Judging by the fact that this was among the three questions *everyone* asked of me, being married is a huge part of Vietnamese culture. And therefore *getting* married is a big deal and big business in Vietnam. There are bridal stores everywhere and elaborate weddings every night of the week. My first night in HCMC I walked by a restaurant that was having a wedding during the processional. I didn't get to see the bride, but she was preceded by two flower girls in white dresses wearing silver angel wings and tossing white flower petals as they went. The weddings are westernized, but not wholly western. The bridesmaids all seem to wear white, for instance. This confused me the first time I walked by a restaurant with eight "brides" standing outside to greet the guests! I finally figured out these had to be the bridesmaids. Anyway, the bridal stores have these freestanding plexiglass cubes out on the sidewalks that hold a mannequin wearing an elaborate dress to advertise the store. Even though the mannequins are obviously not real people, it still weirded me out somehow to think of a person in a plexiglass box slowly suffocating. I was hoping to get a picture of one, but alas once I was *looking* for one I didn't see any more.

After lunch, unfortunately there was no participation in the practicum I was teaching. It's hard to get people motivated after lunch, no matter what culture you're in! I did a unit on consumer education, which was a little more successful because I passed out consumer ed tchotchkes so people had stuff to play with to help them keep awake. The swag was a huge hit.

We finished the day's session at 5, and were to meet at 6:30 for dinner, so J, S, and I headed down to the river. Although I had gone on the boat tour the first night and been to the waterside restaurant the night before, somehow I had missed the coolest part of the river which was the houses--well, shacks really--built on stilts on the opposite bank. Very photo-oppy. The little kids all stared and said, "Hello!"





We walked along the bank and saw a ferry loading to take people home at the end of their day.












The boats gliding through the river saw their way with eyes painted on the prows.







We crossed the bridge at rush hour just for the death-defyingness of it, and watched a little boy launch a kite from his balcony. It took many tries, but he was persistent and eventually got it up into the air.




Finally, we watched the sun go down over the colonial decay of this French-style building.

At the restaurant, same as the night before, I just wanted stir-fried vegetables and rice rather than the feast that had been ordered for me the night before. Which I got. It was perfect. They also ordered some fried dough in the shape of mushrooms; it was a little sweet and quite good. There is nothing bad about fried dough.

The translator guy sat next to me and was kind of like a really good boyfriend, making my life easier in a totally unobtrusive way by making sure I had the food I'd ordered, my water glass stayed full, that sort of thing. I could get used to that!

There were 11 of us at dinner and it was really nice to socialize with our Vietnamese colleagues. I'd been feeling like we had been missing out on the most rewarding cultural exchange part of the trip, based on what people had described from past experiences of late night karaoke and learning a few of one another's words. We had been pretty segregated for the most part and that had disappointed me.

I was less ready to drop into oblivion at 9 on the dot. I think the day before had been the worst of the jet lag. Day 3 is always the worst jet lag for me, no matter where I am or how much the lag.

You can see all the photos of the Mekong Delta, and all photos from this trip if you'd like.

Time to Work, and a Visit to the (Super)Market, Tuesday 25 March 2008

I woke around 3, but a melatonin put me back to sleep. Don't even tell me it's a placebo because it's a placebo that works! My dreams were vivid, but not noteworthy. So far no anti-malarial nightmares, which was a huge relief. I am very lucky not to have many nightmares, but my dreams are very vivid and realistic so when I do have nightmares they are *terrifying.*

For breakfast we had the choice of meat-ful pho or runny fried egg. And I do mean fried. I think they were deep fried. Puke. I ate as much of the white as I could choke down plus a baguette-ish roll. I am going to be hungry yet gain weight on this trip. I asked for fruit, but it is only for dessert in Vietnam. I was told that I could go to a store at lunch.

The conference center was nice; the meeting room looked like a chapel with elaborately carved wooden chairs and quite convincing silk flower arrangements everywhere. Ho Chi Minh presided. At tea break I ate a sickly sweet roll because I knew I had to (based on my food experiences so far), plus 1 1/2 mangoes. Yay fruit!

At lunch the Westerners were served grayish-green hot dogs and fried potatoes. Double puke. Eventually we got the same Vietnamese food everyone else was having, including some stir fried marigold greens. I ate greens. I felt bad seeming like such a sourpuss for just eating greens, but I just can't eat meat. It will make me sick at this point, as it's been 15 years.

After lunch the translator guy took me to buy fruit. I assumed we'd go to one of the many stands selling the most beautiful looking fresh fruit but no, we cabbed to a supermarket at the edge of town. It's funny, I think this is always our instincts with tourists, to provide them with what we think is familiar to them rather than the local experience they crave. The produce did not look great and the stickers indicated it had been imported from Australia. I got oranges, tangerines, grapes, strawberries, and some sort of Laughing Cow-type soft cheese spread triangles and yogurt. There was no dragonfruit, which was the one thing I really wanted! I asked the translator if the dairy was pastuerized, but this was beyond his vocabulary and experience. He went off to find me a small folding knife and I paid. The cash register screen showed my change as 2000 some VND. The cashier gave me 500. I pointed to the screen and she swapped my 500 for 600. Hmph. We're talking a few cents here, but it irked me.

We got back barely in time for the afternoon session. I felt bad because Vietnamese generally have a long lunch with a siesta and he got no rest because of ferrying me around.

My first presentation was in the afternoon, the dryest one I was to give *and* the last presentation of a long day. But amazingly people were engaged and asked a ton of questions. I had whipped out a few of my Vietnamese phrases earlier in the day and I think people really liked me for it. I'm sure I was their favorite. `-)




After the day was over we went to the market. It was the same as any market in a poorer country--not rich handicrafts drawn from millenia of tradition, but cheap plastic crap from China, just acres of it. I spotted a fruit stand, where I got some dragonfruit. Yay!






We also spotted some beautiful, huge, waxy red flowers at the flower stand. The flowers were about 10 inches in diameter and the petals radiated from a central cone. The stems were about 3 1/2 feet tall. We got three of them at a dollar each and J and I shared custody.

As we were leaving a spotted a fabric stall. Yum. I couldn't resist. I got two meters of orange polka dot cotton batiste swiss dot. It is so cute! It was $2/meter.



Then we were off to a waterfront restaurant for a sunset dinner (that's the view from the table). I was ordered stir fried marigolds, tofu, and stir fried vegetables. It was a lot of food. It was as good as it could have been--though some chili heat would not have been amiss--but I just didn't like it. It was greasy, and if I'm having greasy food the grease better be coming from cheese. Otherwise I just wanted steamed or roasted vegetables. I ate it and smiled, of course! I wouldn't dream of appearing ungrateful for effort put out on my behalf.

There were tons of tiny geckos along the outside of the frosted glass upper windows. Only on the outside and only on the frosted glass. Funny.

You can see all the photos of the Mekong Delta, and all photos from this trip if you'd like.

The Mekong Delta in Half a Night, Monday 24 March Cont.

The minibus had a/c and the ride took less than two hours. I expected some picturesque countryside but it is suburban strip mall the whole way. Not the Old Navy and Home Depot and Target strip mall that is now all of America, but still not so exciting.

In the center median was a marsh with gorgeous purple water lilies in bloom. I couldn't get a picture of any until nighttime when the flowers were closed, but you'll have to take my word on it that they were pretty. We passed some cultivated water fields of some sort--rice, fish, I don't know. We saw some cows, and they looked pretty fat and happy. They are smaller and leaner than our cows, but in a good way, like their DNA hasn't been contorted for a preference for one cut or the other.

I enjoyed talking to J, and I tried out the words I had painstakingly learned from the Pimsleur tape on one of our translators. He said my accent was very good. I'm pretty sure that was mere politeness (and a little bit of a crush) on his part, but I felt good nevertheless.

We arrived in My Tho city in the Tien Giang province. The hotel was state run. I assumed that it was just a cheap alternative to a commercial Western-style hotel, but I later learned that it is a great honor to stay at a People's Committee Guesthouse. Only high ranking party members and honored foreign guests are permitted. It was still under construction, which appeared to require a great deal of vigorous banging on water pipes, and had a smell I found...unpleasant. To put it politely and mildly.

We checked in and somebody carried my heavy ridiculous suitcase up the stairs for me. I was simultaneously relieved and guilty. I had packed for two weeks and three completely different trips--work, pleasure, and a wedding on the way home and I just had so much stuff. It was insane. I'm never traveling with a suitcase that big again.

We had 30 minutes to unpack and refresh before our tour of the Mekong Delta. We piled into a minivan cab and drove all of 1 km to the river. It would have taken less time to walk there than it took us to wait for the cab! At the pier there were tall pikes sticking up, and kids were jumping off them to make spectacular splashes. They were so cute! I think often this kind of spectacle is put on for tourists for tips, but there hadn't been any other tourists around when we arrived and they didn't ask for tips so I think it was just for the sheer joy of it.

We got into our riverboat and headed out into the Mekong. Our first stop was Unicorn Island. It's a well-touristed island but people really actually live and make their living there, so it was kind of the best of both worlds.

We went first to the honey place, where we were invited to hold up a screen of bees, as demonstrated by the apiarist. I declined, though they were quite calm. My parents used to keep bees when I was a kid. There is nothing like fresh honey eaten off the comb. We sat at little tables and had tea with honey and the juice of tiny limes the size of kumquats. It was delicious. We also had coconut candy, candied lotus flowers, candied ginger, dried banana, and peanut candy. All of them were great. The men were offered banana wine to increase their male potency. J and I insisted on having some too. I don't know about male potency, but it was quite potent. It was like drinking sweet mouthwash. I bought some coconut candy, which was wrapped first in clear edible rice paper and then wax paper. It was pretty greasy.

We left the honey place and walked along the path to the fruit place. We had dragonfruit, pineapple, and little things the size of large grapes and the texture of tapioca pearls with a big stone in the middle to be peeled and eaten. I think maybe they were called may apples? In Vietnam, fruit is eaten with toothpicks and served with a (dry) mixture of salt and hot pepper that you squeeze a lime over and then dip your fruit into. It is so good. I never would have thought of it, but what is not to love about fruit, salt, and heat? I love all of those things. While we are busy eating the fruit we are mostly left to ourselves, except one very curious young girl. She LOVED digital cameras, because you could take a picture of her and then she could see herself.

There was traditional singing accompanied by two-stringed instruments. The adorable four year old girl who loves to have her picture taken sang first, then four women sang. The men played the instruments. There was a girl of around 8-10 "backstage" (behind the picnic tables where the singing was) but she didn't participate. I wonder if she used to be the adorable one and how she feels about it now. Somehow, as the oldest child, I really identified with her. Of course, maybe she is just shy and didn't want to sing! The women didn't wear full ao dai, but fitted shirt with raglan sleeves that are similar to the ao dai. They were cute.

Next we got into canoes and were rowed down the canals. Mostly women did the rowing. The woman rowing at the front of our canoe sat with her feet tucked under her on one side and was incredibly strong and fast.



It was very dreamy and surreal to be riding through the canoe at dusk with bats criscrossing the water, reeds on either side, and palm fronds dipping into the waves. I felt like I was in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It's funny how a new reality feels less real than a familiar fake world!

We got back onto the riverboat and were given green coconuts with straws. I was saddened to discover that while I love coconut, I don't really care for green coconut milk. The coconuts were in honor of our next stop, Dragon Island, home of the Coconut Monk. He started his own religioun after subsisting solely on coconuts (possibly) for 3 years (or 10). As with any good eccentric, lots of stories circulated and it was impossible know which was true. During the American war his sect was quite popular, as being a monk excused you from conscription. After the war all the followers drifted off and the religion trailed to an end.

He had spent his last years building for himself a fantastic mosaic funerary urn, at least 10 feet tall. The (new) government decided he couldn't be buried in it, though. I didn't ask where his body was instead, but I was curious. It was full dark by now so we couldn't really get the full feel for it, but I love it. It's huge and gaudy. There were also nine dragon towers on what felt like a basketball court, one male and (natch) his eight wives.

Then we were back to the mainland and dinner at the hotel. There was a hotpot of fish and a plate of fish. I got an egg and fried potatoes. This was not at all good and will make me fat. If I'm going to get fat I want it to be off cheese and ice cream! I dipped a potato into what I thought was a chili sauce. Oh dear! I discovered the source of the hotel's unpleasant (to me) smell. Vietnamese fish sauce is not my cup of tea, to say the least.

Jet lag was catching up with me and I was quiet at dinner. After dinner I had a shower and ran out of hot water halfway through. Bummer. It took me several days to figure out the hot water heater situation. I was asleep in a heartbeat!

You can see all the photos of the Mekong Delta, and all photos from this trip if you'd like.