Beer for Dinner

Editor's Note: This entry is from our Europe Trip and was originally written July 5th, 2013

I was already on beer number three when the waiter realized he had forgotten our beer sausages. He said he would bring them right away.

Not that I was too concerned. I was still full from my second breakfast. Yes, second breakfast. The first I ate with eyes half-open while descending in an airbus over the Fatherland. The second was a disheveled affair where I stuffed my face with Nutella and fruit at the hotel buffet.

I ordered beer number four. Our host ticked another mark on the coaster. This was tic mark number 8. Robyn was up to my challenge.

Beer in Germany costs less than soda, I jokingly observed to Robyn.

Still no beer sausages...

We struck up a light-hearted conversation with our tablemates, representatives from Milan, Paris, and Vienna who had converged upon Düsseldorf for their media company's annual meetings. They paid their bill and headed to catch their respective flights.

So we left too. Without the beer sausages. I'm still unsure what a beer sausage is. Unsure and incredibly intrigued.

We returned to Hotel Berial, thoroughly jet-lagged and slightly buzzed.


Tiredly I pulled out a napkin containing the smuggled leftovers from our earlier buffet. My third breakfast.

Three breakfasts and beer for dinner.

The view from Hotel Berial

"This is happening...you can stay or you can go, but this happening"

The title for this post comes from NBC's 30 Rock and it has been running through my head all day today. Today was the final count down...you know it is close when you can check into your flight online. We spent the day organizing electronics, booking the last few sleeping place, and doing the third target run of this trip for last minute supplies.

But before we could leave our journey took us to two weddings. One was a Vegas wedding for our dear college friends Brad and Jacey and the other was for my brother-in-law in beautiful La Jolla. There are many stories and memories with each, but for now just know that we have been busy and blessed with friends and family.

Tomorrow morning at 4:30am we begin our trek. More to come...

P.S. I have received many word of encouragement and support. I am pleased to report that I am more excited than nervous at this point and am ready to begin my journey.

The Unexpected Journey...Sort of...

"We don't want any adventures here thank you! You might try over the hill or across the water."-Bilbo 

Bilbo does not like adventures. He likes to stay in his warm Hobbit hole and eat his delicious food and be comfortable. He does not like his comfort disrupted. Yet, he embarks on a legendary trek that sparks one of the most epic journeys ever capture in literature. Why does he go? Mostly because Gandalf knew he was just the man for the job...and he was! Perhaps Gandalf sensed that Bilbo's legacy would last beyond their journey together. Bilbo's adventure is an amazing story (seriously, check out Danny's post here), but Frodo's journey is epic. Bilbo needed to go on his adventure so his nephew would be poised to, well, save the world. 

Bilbo begins his Unexpected Journey

Our adventure is neither as dramatic nor as unexpected as Bilbo's. However, at the start, I resonate with Bilbo and fear that I am a hobbit at heart. I want to stay in the comfort of my home. I am leery of the tasks needed in order to survive in the world. I do not want to venture out into the unknown. Yes, I did plan this trip with Danny. And yes, we have booked every night's lodging in order to prevent sleeping on the street and most modes of transportation, but there are still many unknown things. 

Bilbo's journey reminds me of two things: 1. I travel in order to change and 2. I need a wise friend to encourage me out the door. I am blessed to have Danny who has, with a gleam in his eye, reminded me that we will be living our dreams. He tells me it is good to leave all my possession, which have such a strong hold on me, and rely only on what I can carry on my back. As I emotionally prepared last night I found other reasons to go: It is good for me to get out of the city and live in the country. It is good to be isolated with my husband, away from the daily distractions that can consume our quality time. It is good to take a risk. 

I am hoping that I will come back a better hobbit. 

Tuscany, Italy

To those of you who are confused, Danny and I have left San Francisco for the summer. We will be gone for two months. We will be celebrating weddings in So Cal for some of the time, but mostly we will be working at a B&B in Tuscany Italy in exchange for room and board. We will also be traveling to Paris, London, Croatia, and Bosnia. Traveling to Europe has been a dream since we started dating. (The truth is we would love to live abroad, but are settling at this chapter in our lives for a summer abroad). I am very excited, but also nervous. Check back to hear tales from our unexpected journey. 

Reducing Car[bon] (Part 1)

Currently Robyn and I are halfway through our self-titled Great Bike 'N' Rail Adventure to Southern California.

Amtrak Pacific Surfliner

In brainstorming the trip, we had several objectives, goals, and questions. A few of them are as follows:

Could We? Is it even possible? Can two people travel 500 miles each way within California using only pedals and public transportation? This is a step beyond the family pickup at the train station or airport. Could an entire trip, door to door, be done without the use of a car, especially to suburban destinations? 

Should We? What are the practical issues facing car-free travel? Will we be able to fit a week's worth of supplies in our panniers and still look presentable for Thanksgiving dinner? Will the financial and environmental savings offset the inconvenience of unpredictable public or lengthy self-powered transit? 

Would We? Would we eagerly embrace this car-free adventure? And afterward the trip is completed, would we consider it a one-time experience? Or a new approach to long-distance transportation? 

We made it to Murrieta, although not without several challenges along the way. Once our trip is complete, I hope to follow up with several observations, pictures, reflections, and recommendations for long distance car-free travel. In the meantime, I leave you with the one question most clearly reflected on the face of those we discuss our trip with:

Are we crazy?

 The Details:

- Jumping on BART from San Francisco to Oakland Jack London Square

- Taking the Amtrak bus from Oakland to San Luis Obispo (originally this was to be a train, but it was delayed 11 hours, so we took a bus instead)

- Riding our bikes from San Luis Obispo to Robyn's extended family in Los Osos

- Riding our bikes back to San Luis Obispo

- Taking Amtrak to Los Angeles Union Station

- Taking the Metrolink to Corona

- Riding our bikes from Corona to my parents house in Murrieta (we almost made it! but we were 10 miles short before it got too dark!)

- Carpooling to the Rose Bowl to watch Stanford take on UCLA

- Taking Amtrak from Los Angeles back home to San Francisco

Empire State of Mind

In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of,There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New YorkThese streets will make you feel brand newBig lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York-Jay-Z


At the end of May we got to take a spontaneous trip to New York City to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. I received a full scholarship (flight, room, and food stipend) to attend NCORE 2012, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in higher education, through my Gates Millenium Scholarship community. There will be a later post on my experiences at this conference. With my travel taken care of, we changed our anniversary and summer vacation plans and off we went to the Big Apple. 


We arrived on a Thursday night and Friday was jammed packed. We were staying with my best friend and maid of honor in our wedding, Catherine, for two nights. She lives on the boarder of the East  Village and Noho, so we decided to do all the downtown stuff on Friday morning. This included ground zero- just looking at the new construction- wall street, and Staten Island ferry. On our way to the ferry we found a little alley with restaurants and pubs and had to stop to get a flight of beer. 

Handsome Man

Beer Flight

On the Staten Island Ferry

The reason we took the ferry...free view!

Once in Staten Island we got hot dogs and hopped on the next ferry back to Manhattan. We took the subway up to the NYC Modern Musuem of ARt, affectionately called the MOMA. Every Frifay there is free admission, so it was packed! We did a quick two hour walk through of the six floors. Next, we headed to the Empire State Builbiding and waited in this line....

Line at Empire State Building

...For about an hour and then were told that we would have about another hour to two hour wait and there was no visibility at the top. We decided to cut our losses and come back early another day. We headed to Korean BBQ and then called it a night.

Korean BBQ

Empire State lit up for Memorial Day

 Saturday was Brooklyn day! We LOVED Brooklyn! It felt like San Francisco with the farmers market, people with canvas bags, and bikes everywhere. We ate pizza, strolled the streets, and got our discount Broadway tickets. Walking back across the Brooklyn bridge provided some amazing views and opportunities to avoid tourist on bikes. Once back in the city we went back to Ground Zero to see the memorial. It is a very humbling place to vist. That night we went to the Broadway play, The Columnist. We did not know anything about this play and were by far the youngest people in the audience, but it was a great performance and loved "taking in" a play in New York.

Manhattan Bridge

Danny and the Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

The City

The Surviving Tree at Ground Zero

Ready to see The Columnist

By 8 am the next day we were at the Empire State Building and at the top in less than an hour. Best way to do it! After taking in the views we headed over to Macy's to see the wooden escalators. Then we headed back to our hotel for some down time before heading out to celebrate our second wedding anniversary. We went to a matinee of the new Broadway musical Memphis. The music was breathtaking and had lots of dancing. We both left with stars in our eyes. For dinner, we headed down to little Italy and had an amazing meal and stroll around the street fair that was taking place. It was a romantic evening with my love.

So excited there is no line!

Us at the top

View to Downtown from the top. The tallest building is the new building at the World Trade Center that is almost complete. 

Wooden escalators at Macy's, the largest store in the world!

After the Show

Where we had dinner. (Would recommend!)

Party in Little Italy

Our last day, Monday, was an all day bike ride around central park. My friend Catherine joined us and we may have converted another person to become a city bike rider! It was a great way to see the park. For lunch we headed up to the West Side, by Columbia University, to find the restaurant fasade used in Seinfeld television series. It is called Joe's Restaurant and is an excellent New York dinner experience. That evening, I started my conference and brought our adventure together to an end. Well, so we thought. We had a nice anniversary surprise when Danny's Tuesday afternoon flight was canceled. While it is never fun to have a cancelled flight, which messed up Danny's work schedule, it was nice to be able to go out for a glass of sparkling wine after my conference that night.

Catherine and Danny at Bethesda Fountain

Danny at Seinfeld Restaurant

Us with the view of the city

We are very grateful to have been able to take this trip and experience this city together. New York's lights did inspire us as Jay-Z promised, but it wasn't to live in New York. Rather, New York made us more remember the sparkling lights on the other coast. It made us long for our dreams in the city we experience and love everyday: San Francisco, our home. 

Commute by Bike - Getting Started

Interested in becoming a fully-fledged bicycle commuter? You're in luck! In honor of today's bike to work day in San Francisco, I thought I would put together a short list of my advice for a bike commuter newbie.

Using a bike as your primary means of transportation to work can be an overwhelming experience. Most people are not even sure where to start. My suggestions?

Step 1 - Reflect. Why do you want to ride your bike to work (or school, or downtown)? Is it finding the time for exercise during your busy schedule? Are you trying to lower your carbon footprint? Do you enjoy being outside in the fresh air instead of inside a traffic-lodged car? Are you trying to save money on gas and parking? Are you planning on transitioning to a car-free lifestyle? There are plenty of fantastic reasons to spin those pedals. If you understand your conviction for two-wheelin' it, you will be more likely to push through during the "learning curve."

Also understand there will be sacrifices, like leaving earlier in the morning, or showing up a bit sweaty to work. Can you live with that?

Step 2 - Research. Imagine you just moved to a new city and have no idea how to maneuver the new freeways and main roads. This is exactly what it is like when you start riding a bike in your city for the first time. You need to discover the main "biking" roads. Start with your city's local bicycle coalition. They will often be a great resource for local routes and will often offer a downloadable map. Also use the bike tool on  Google Maps to look for local bike routes and give you estimated trip duration. It is surprisingly accurate. At the beginning, my ride to the office took exactly the 35 minutes predicted.

Step 3 - Buy. For me, the biggest obstacle to a bike purchase was sticker shock. No, you cannot get a good new bike for $200. Don't even try. For a new bike, you should expect to spend $500 minimum, and a high quality commuter bike will be from $1000 to $1500. No department store bikes from Walmart or Target! My bike was $1000 dollars, but in the last year I have ridden it over 1,000 miles. Let's say my bike lasts only 5 years (I expect it to last at least 10) and I ride it only 5000 miles. Average cost per mile? 20 cents. Average cost per mile to drive a car? 59.6 cents. So realistically, that $1000 price tag is a fraction of what you are paying to drive.

I suggest visiting at least 3 bike shops. Bike shops have agreements with different manufacturers, or brands, of bikes, so you will find new options at each shop. There are lots of different types of bikes depending on what you are looking for (touring bikes, cyclo-cross, road bikes, mountain bikes, folding bikes, single-speed). Do you have a lot of hills? Do you prefer speed or comfort? My suggestion is to look for a steel frame. Although a bit heavier, steel will be most comfortable for longer rides and sturdier when carrying heavier loads. If you can afford it, an internally geared rear hub is amazing for city riding. Be specific on what your needs are, and most bike shops should be able to offer a couple options that will be a great fit for you!

Step 4 - Accessorize. Fenders are a must to keep you dry and clean. I highly recommend a rear rack and pannier set (I have this one) for storing a change of clothes. Although some prefer a messenger bag, I like the panniers because it keeps the weight (and sweat) off my back. Get some rechargeable bike lights for night riding, a sturdy U-lock, and a nice helmet.

You should invest in some warm bike gloves, and a windproof jacket does wonders for me in San Francisco. Once you become more comfortable, I would highly recommend a pair of hybrid shoes for clip-in pedals. I have these.

And if you are especially trendy, shops like PushBike offer fashionable, bike-friendly attire.

Step 5 - Ride. Expect it to be an adjustment at first. Be patient. Don't give up. And eventually the warm sunshine, the cool breeze, and the joy of life on a bike will win you over!

I'll see you on the streets...

Occupy Marin

In Solidarity with Occupy SF, Occupy Oakland, and Occupy Cal, Robyn and I decided to occupy Hawk Camp in the Marin Headlands. Some highlights from our trip...

We departed the SF Ferry Building headed for Sausalito...

Then we stopped at Lighthouse Cafe for a delicious breakfast. Robyn got a huge

blueberry pancake!

Our backpacks rested like upside turtles in front of the many steps we had to climb... but at the

top the view of the Bay was fantastic!

Finally we arrived at Hawk Camp overlooking the Marin Headlands and SF to the south. Robyn kept warm with her stylish wardrobe of socks while Danny set up the stove for some delicious Mac N Cheese N Sausage under the full moon.

In the morning we packed up, headed down the mountain and caught the 76 bus back across the Golden Gate Bridge, all in time for church at 11am! It was a great escape from the city for the weekend.