Discovering La Scala

La Scala, the world’s most famous opera house, lies in the center of Milan  on a busy city street. On the Saturday afternoon before the seasons last run of La Traviata, I sat in a nearby restaurant looking out at the Piazza in front of Milan’s Duomo, dressed in my black gown, waiting for the doors to La Scala to open.

Getting to La Scala from the Duomo is quite easy. Walk through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and go slightly to the left. It isn’t an impressive building from the outside, but as people start to congregate in their ball gowns and cocktail dresses, the atmosphere gets a bit exciting. There are mostly Italians here, but plenty of foreigners too. We wait impatiently in the street and on the sidewalks, and the heat on this June day is punishing.

When the doors finally open we are shuffled in. I ask an older woman, sitting alone, to take my photo with the small poster announcing the performance.

The inside of the building is nothing special either, until you reach the theater itself. The doors open up and you lose your breath for a second. A beautiful, dramatic red and gold room leaps out at you and its elegance and grandeur makes it hard to believe you’re even allowed sit down.

There are floor seats and box seats at La Scala. The box seats are in two rows, two people in each row. There is nothing to be recommended in getting the second row- if you make a trip to Milan, plan to get tickets early and don’t cheap out on the seats! I spent the entire performance standing, craning my neck to see anything other than the right half of the stage. In general, box seats need to be further away from the stage as well. The closer you are, the more parts of your vision are obscured. In retrospect, this seems obvious, but it’s difficult to make that call when looking at a seating arrangement online and considering whether to pay 150euro or 65euro. Especially when the exchange rate is $1.70/euro! But going to an opera at La Scala is a once in a lifetime must-do: get the expensive seats.

Hang with the locals in San Antonio

San Antonio may be known for the Riverwalk, but every local knows that locals don’t go to the Riverwalk (maybe if it’s Christmas or Fiesta- that’s about it).

So where DO the locals go to have fun? Here are a few suggestions that might help.

Beethoven Maennerchor Halle:
Beethoven is a cultural center that is open to the public the first Friday of each month and for special events such as Oktoberfest. There is a small cover charge, but there’s live music, beer and food is cheap, and you’ll have a great time. Most of the seating is outdoors, so dress appropriately. Everyone is welcome here, and you’ll find people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Bring your dad! He’ll love it.

The Drink:
This cocktail bar near the Riverwalk has a casual lounge setting that 20 and 30somethings adore. On slow nights you’ll get great service and free nachos as well as a quiet, upscale place to have an after work drink. On Fridays or Saturdays after 10 expect to see a well dressed, lively crowd but a still relaxed environment.

Pedicab Bar and Grill:
Pedicab can be described as a dive bar. A one room establishment that only serves beer and burgers, you can often find live music on its small stage. The bar also has a loveable cat that will demand petting from unsuspecting guests. The crowd is mixed, but mostly under 35 in jeans and t-shirts.

Front Porch Restaurant, Niceville Florida

During our Thanksgiving trip to Niceville, one restaurant really stood out as the highlight of the trip. Front Porch, a busy local brunch spot, serves delicious food in a quaint atmosphere.

The restaurant was decorated beautifully for Christmas, including a 6ft Santa, hundreds of ornaments glowing on the porch and garland around the bar. Outside of the Christmas season it may not look like much, but I assure you the food is worth a trip. Only open for Breakfast and Lunch, Front Porch has legendary Chicken Salad and Eggs Benedict and everything is reasonably priced. If you are passing by Niceville this is worth the detour. The only downside? The place is tiny; get there early or you’ll be waiting!

Breakfast in Milan: Zucca and Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele

Probably the most famous spot to have breakfast in Milan is Zucca, a cafe just inside Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele. This cafe has a wonderful view of the Duomo and the plaza, and one can watch thousands of tourists and Milan natives pass by as you enjoy an overpriced cappuccino and pastry. I sat for an hour, eating an amazing chocolate croissant, writing postcards and waking up to the idea that I was in Milan.

 

The view out to the piazza is crowded with people, but nonetheless inspiring.

Stepping inside the Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele, the glass ceiling takes all your attention. Despite it’s beautiful architecture, the Gallerie was really built as a shopping mall. And a mall it is, with stores so expensive I hardly dare to window shop.

Further through the Gallerie you find a famous tile mosaic on the floor, the Taurus zodiac symbol. It is said that if you step on the bulls most delicate parts you will have good luck! All day long you can find tourists and locals stopping by to give the poor bull a stomp. Some of them do a dance, others twirl around a few times, and some just pause for a second, stomp down hard, and walk off as if nothing had happened! No matter what method you choose, you’ll be sure to have onlookers.

My favorite runs, Taos Ski Valley

Starting at the bottom of the moutain at TSV there are four lifts, although one is rarely operational. Rueggli is the childrens lift, and takes you up a small short hill that is normally filled with small children going to ski school. Lift 3 is the traditional ‘bunny slope’ lift, and takes you up a steeper but still small hill for a run called ‘Strawberry Hill’. Lifts 1 and 5 are your first real stops to Kachina Peak, and after you’ve warmed up they are certainly where you should go.
As an eternal intermediate skier, I stayed on greens and blues during my weeklong trip to Taos. Greens are understandably crowded, but if you can manage a few blue runs you will be very happy with the empty slopes and they are only slightly more challenging.
Most beginners, once they are ready to get off of bunny hills, start with Whitefeather. This relatively long run (about 30min) takes you from the top of Lift 1 back to the bottom of the mountain. On the way you can go up lifts 2, 6 or 8 for more lengthy skiing and longer runs.

 
My favorite trip was to take Lift 2 or 6 to Kachina Peak- a beautiful vista and colder temperatures await you there. Take Honeysuckle down and admire the amazing view and huge bowls, and turn off at Lower Totemoff or Lonestar, or stay on Honeysuckle until you reach Winkelreid. Take Winkelreid down to Lift 4, then ride that up to go down Easy Trip, Japanese Flag and Lower Patton. Exiting Lift 4 can be a little confusing- you should ski all the way across the hill (get some momentum, you’ll need it!) to your left as you exit the lift. There you will find Easy Trip and some crazy skiers hiking to Hunziker Bowl.  Ski down Easy Trip, then all the way across the hill again under the lift to get to Japanese Flag. Lower Patton takes you to a lodge and a restaurant- a great place to stop for lunch if you don’t want to go all the way down to the base.

Kachina

To get back to the base, take Rubezahl Run, a very long, almost completely flat trail through beautiful forest. This is a very peaceful run, almost always empty, and I enjoyed it immensely. Don’t go to slow though- take advantage of the momentum when you get it because you don’t want to end up walking! Rubezahl will spit you right back out at Lift 1 so you can do it all over again!

Of course Taos is a haven for expert skiers as well, as there are plenty of black and black double diamond runs all throughout the mountain, often right next to a green or blue counterpart. As you ride Lift 1 you will be treated to the good, bad and ugly of skiers going down a hill of challenging moguls on Al’s Run. It makes for an entertaining trip up!

Hiking the Cinque Terre: Part 5 – Vernazza to Monterosso

Amazingly enough, eventually you will want to leave Vernazza and travel to Monterosso. One of the longest legs of this journey, this trip is graced by more gorgeous views, hikes through deeply forested areas, and this pretty, ice cold stream that offered me welcome refreshment about halfway through the hike.

Stream on Path to Monterosso

Finally arriving, after thousands of stairs and about 5 hours of hiking, you will see beaches an your 5th lovely town.

First view of Monterosso

Don’t be fooled, as I was, the town actually stretches all the way around the hill that you see onto the other side of the bay. The train station is on this other side, down a long boardwalk that is often filled with people shopping, going to the beach and having drinks or gelato. Spend some time wandering around Monterosso, especially in the spring or summer, because it is a really beautiful place with a lot of interesting architecture, shopping and an almost tropical mediterranean environment.

When it was finally time to leave, I waited for close to 2 hours for a very late train. Luckily I was surrounded by friendly tourists and enjoyed these gorgeous flowers. I hope you do too!

Ski Taos: Getting There

From San Antonio we drove to Taos. Yes, drove. Yes it was a long drive, and yes it was boring. I recommend passing through West Texas at night. For some reason it isn’t as boring at night, perhaps because there’s the constant fear that an animal will come out of the pitch black surrounding you and you will be forced to slam on your brakes. Vigilance is crucial, especially since hitting a deer at 70 or 80mpg could devastate your car- and the poor deer. There aren’t street lights out there, and the sky is so dark it seems like the stars have multiplied a million times.
The most eventful portion of the drive was the stop in Albuquerque for lunch. 66 diner, just a quick trip off of the freeway on Central Ave, was a nice stop. Breakfast was still being served so we had huevos rancheros, pancakes, an emormous omelette and oatmeal between the four of us. I regret that I wasn’t able to try a milkshake: flavors like ‘The Dreamsicle’ and ‘The Elvis Presley’ still make my mouth water. They also have a full line of desserts including sundaes in all shapes and sizes, multiple varieties of pie and double chocolate cake.

There isn’t much that can rival perfect ski conditions. With luck, you too can experience them, even in New Mexico. We arrived one day after a fresh snow- with slopes perfectly groomed and the sun out again.
The trip up to Taos Ski Valley from Taos or Arroyo Seco takes 15-30 minutes, but it is not a steep climb. Most of the trip you are driving between two mountains, with a small brook on your right, so only the most fearful acrophobe will have trouble.

Arrival at the resort anywhere near opening time will mean a bit of a wait to park in the icy, inconvenient parking lot. Don’t worry though- whether you are Gila Monster 11 or Deer 14, the shuttle will come get you, normally right at your vehicle.

Riding the shuttle is a bit of an adventure by itself. The big trailer full of people, skis, snowboards and boots slides around the parking lot, bouncing, stopping and starting. But it sure beats walking! The shuttle drops you off in two locations- outside the Childrens Center or right at the lift ticket office. If it’s your first day at Taos Ski Valley, definitely ride to the ticket office to register for lessons, get lift tickets for the week, and just generally check everything out. Nearby are most of the restaurants, cafes, ski rental shop and travel office as well as condos.
There are not many ski in/ski out options in Taos, but the travel is worth it for great snow. There are tons of rental options in Taos village, including many homes with multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, internet, hot tubs- our rental house even had heated floors! So enjoy your stay, even inside away from the snow.

Pray for an end to abortion

In Search of Internet in Taos, New Mexico

This past Christmas vacation I was fortunate enough to go skiing in Taos, New Mexico. I will leave a discussion of the skiing for another time, but it was terrific. At the same time I was unfortunate enough to have some applications due Dec 31st and Jan 1st, and being the procrastinator that I am, they weren’t done when we arrived in Taos on the 27th of December.

Taos is a pretty town, especially if you appreciate Southwestern style, art and architecture. It has small town charm as well- there are tons of local shops, coffee houses and locally owned restaurants. It does not, however, have a whole lot of internet.

At first our rental home was supposed to have internet, but for some reason it had not been installed by our arrival. I waited patiently, but by the 29th I was anxious. Asking a friend over the phone to search for an internet cafe, he directed me to Wired, the only one listed online. After skiing one evening we sought to find the cafe and were shocked to find it closed, completely dark, at 6pm. Granted, the sun sets at 530pm, but to be closed at 6pm? I was appauled. Next I tried a place I found in a directory: it clearly said open until 10pm both in the directory and on the front door. Someone must be confused about when 10pm occurs because the coffee shop was locked, the room was dark and there were no cars in the parking lot.

On to the backup plan: a hotel lobby. Walking into one of the main hotels in Taos at about 7pm I found out where all the skiers went: out drinking. The lobby, bar and restaurant were packed with 20 and 30somethings warming up with beer and cocktails. Needless to say the hotel staff did not have somewhere for me to check my email.

Back at the house I kept my laptop out and searched for a wireless network. I found one accessible in the driveway: but not inside the house. I sat in the driveway working on applications until my laptop died about an hour later.

The next day I thought I’d get smart. We left the ski slopes a little early and tried the public library. A sign on the door read: Internet down, sorry!  Ok, let’s try Wired again. They’re open at 4pm, surely I will have success there.

Indeed Wired was open, so I went in, got comfy and ordered my coffee. By the time the coffee was ready I found out the internet wasn’t working- the barista cited a regional outage of the major provider in the area. Clearly I had found the ultimate internet dead-zone.

In the end we had internet installed in our rental house, for the last night we were there. So I had one night of application work and email bliss during my vacation, and the rest was frustratingly free of technology.

Rudi Lechner’s Oktoberfest

Houston isn’t my number one choice to celebrate Oktoberfest, but this year it will have to do. Just down the street from our humble abode is Houston’s most popular German restaurant, Rudi Lechner’s. And as far as authenticity, it’s pretty good.

We went on a Saturday night, meaning live music and a full restaurant but no wait. I don’t know if there’s no wait because it’s a little expensive, or because Houstonians don’t appreciate yodeling as much as they should. We had potato pancakes (a little too soggy) with applesauce, and they compared pretty closely to the wonderful potato pancakes we used to get a German festivals and outdoor markets in the fall in Frankfurt. I chose a quiche plate, because I wasn’t very hungry, but sampled my date’s weisswurst and bratwurst with spicy mustard. Delicious. I only wish it came with a brotchen as well! The pork steak (Rippchen) was perfectly cooked and thickly sliced, just like it came from our smalltown butcher in Martinshoehe. They have a reasonable selection of German beers, and you can indulge yourself and say ‘bitte ein Bit’ if you like.

The music was quite good, with typical favorites, German toasts and the whole restaurant was smiling and singing along. The crowd was very friendly, just as you would find in a beer hall somewhere in Bavaria. A tear almost came to my eye when the whole room rang out with “Ein prosit, ein prosit die gemüdlichkeit” 

If Germany isn’t quite in your budget this October, try it. www.rudilechners.com