the coolest bar in frankfurt

   My friends and I spend a lot of time talking about cities, specifically, about cities that have a wow-factor. New York has it; London has it; Istanbul most definitely has it; but we're of the opinion that no city in Germany really has it. Or rather, we were of that opinion before we went to Pret-A-Diner's pop-up bar/restaurant The Tree House on the roof of the Nextower and discovered that Frankfurt actually does have some world-class appeal after all. It's only open until October 22nd (though I have high hopes for the Nextower turning this space into a permanent bar, please oh please), so get in there while you can -- it requires a reservation (and its website requires registration), but during the week there's no cover charge and trust me, the view is worth it. Just don't be in a hurry to get your drinks. Watching the bartenders mix them is a slow slow slow art form.

heut ist so ein schöner tag

[full photo set here]
Mandie and I hit up Oktoberfest in Munich last Saturday, joining up with a couple of people who were already her friends and many, many random people who became our friends by the end of the day! In addition to these tips, a few words to the wise:

1. If you go on a Saturday, holy crap, get in there early! We were in the Spaten tent, and even before ten a.m. finding a table was rough. Not only was the place jammed, but also people do not like sharing space at their table at ten a.m.

2. After a couple hours and a few rounds of beer, finding a seat if you want one is easy-peasy. But you won't want one, because you will be standing up, wearing the funny gray felt hat you borrowed from a Dutchman and doing all the hand motions to das Fliegerlied.

3. If you're in the Spaten tent, order the chicken and the Käsespätzle. I don't think it's the beer talking when I say that that chicken skin was the greatest thing I've ingested recently. (Speaking of chicken skin, a timely NY Times article that pretty much forms the list of places I want to eat next time I am in NYC. Along with this list.)

4. Oh, and when you finally do leave the beer tent after eight hours of not seeing daylight, be sure to ride the Ferris wheel! It's EUR 6 for the ride, which ain't cheap, but it's worth it.

afternoon phillies & crab fries

I wrote about crab fries at Chickie's & Pete's last year, but didn't have any photos of the glory -- probably because I was too busy stuffing my face. This year we went for lunch before an afternoon game. Even at 12:30 on a Thursday the South Philly Chickie's & Pete's was packed.

The following Sunday I sought out the airport Chickie's & Pete's (conveniently for me, in the international terminal) and had a Yuengling draft and a basket of crab fries for lunch while waiting for my flight back to Frankfurt. "That's the lunch of champions," said my waitress. Darn right.

tour de shore

Over the week I was back in New Jersey for Bethany and Andrew's wedding, my dad and I biked from Stone Harbor up to Strathmere (~25 miles round-trip) one day and down to Wildwood Crest (~22 miles round-trip) another day, along with shorter rides around Stone Harbor/Avalon. Love that part of the shore.

stone harbor september

With a little bit of Wildwood/Strathmere bike rides thrown in for kicks.

boardwalk

  

Some shots from the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey from a long bike ride last week.

fifteen

Sunny the yellow Labrador turned fifteen on Saturday, September 10th. Lookin' good!

hurrah II

In between the drizzly gray August weather, Frankfurt's been sneaking in a few hours of pretty summer weather here and there. All last week I spent my lunch breaks on a picnic blanket in the park near work, basking in the sunlight. And Saturday was glorious: breakfast at Familienbetrieb (new favorite Frankfurt café); full afternoon of poolside lounging with Megan (German pools, with their huge grassy lawns, have it all over American pools, with their concrete); courtyard Grillfest with some of my neighbors; and a fairy tale themed costume birthday party hosted by Snow White, for which we naturally went as the Seven Dwarfs. (Well, six of the seven; Sneezy was on vacation, that slacker.)

I cooked some of the things you see above, all of which were delicious:

- these cheese grits (with English white cheddar rather than pepper jack, which improves them, I think, after having tried them both ways)

- this roasted eggplant salad with saffron-yogurt sauce (I added a bit of garlic to the sauce, and used fleur de sel instead of regular salt, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly; amazing)

- this coleslaw (you wouldn't think the texture mix would make that much of a difference but it really, really does; I leave out the bell pepper and halve the sugar and tend to add a bit of lemon juice to taste, especially if I'm using German mayonnaise)

I'm home in less than a week! Home in the sense of Stone Harbor, which counts. Bethany's getting married! And there's talk of going to see a Phillies game! And I'm hoping for plenty of glorious warm air/warmer water early fall beach days and daily bike rides. Riding bikes on that island in the early mornings never gets old.

alte oper

Frankfut's old opera house, on a beautiful blue-skied day this week.

postcards from stockholm

1. Östermalms Saluhall, Östermalm
2. & 3. Vasa Museum, Djurgården
4., 5., & 6. Coctail & Coctail Deluxe, Södermalm
7. & 8. one of the Fjäderholmarna islands
9. Djurgården
10. Gamla Stan, ferry to Fjäderholmarna islands
11. & 12. bridge between Kungsholmen and Södermalm
13. Swedish post hot air balloon as viewed from the city