On the Boat with Jason

Erika's cousin, Jason, was in town last weekend for a quick visit before heading off to Denmark on a business trip. Rob and Jason toured the inside of several local cafés and the two cousins later took in an exhibit at the Van Gogh museum. After one failed attempt at a canal tour- it started raining buckets as we left the house- we were able to bundle up for a brisk evening boat ride. We even managed to bring a thermos of hot chocolate.  

For some reason, the canal that runs through the red-light district was overrun with swans, so we played 'chicken' (or is it 'swan') as we made our way through town.

Crete

Our trip to Crete was wonderful, even before we got engaged.  While it was great to be home in August, it proved to be one of those "vacations" where you get home more tired than you left, and so the point of the trip to Crete was to sit on the beach, read a few books, and to generally just relax. Of course, an hour after we arrived on the island it started to rain (for the first time in six months), so we were a bit nervous that we'd waited too long to get in one more week of summer. However, the bad weather blew over as we napped the next day and we were able to get plenty of time on the beach.  

In the interest of keeping it a stress-free, relaxing trip, we spent most days by the beach and only took one day trip, to the island of Spinalónga, in East Crete. Spinalónga is a small, impenetrable island that served as a Venetian fort in the 16th century, but is more recently famous for having been home to the last leper colony in Europe. Fun!

Our trip included a tour of the island, swimming on a remote beach, and a greek barbecue and while the swimming, the barbecue, and the views were great, we wouldn't recommend the trip. There are other, better sights to see in Crete, but we weren't really interested in getting up at 5 to catch a 3 hour bus ride- at least not for this trip.  Still, Crete is home to the caves where Zeus was born and who could forget the Minotaur?!  Maybe next time.  

The sun and the ocean were amazing, but we were just as happy with the food. Greek food is so good! And, since they have a lot of German tourists in this town, everybody served German beer. (In fact the town seemed to cater strictly to Dutch, Germans, and Brits. Every one we met was surprised to find out that we were American.) So, we ate a ton of food, which is sort of the opposite of what you want to do when you're spending all day in a bathing suit. We ate at many different places in town, but we found that the consistently best food was at the restaurant run by the people who also ran our apartment. Here's a shot of a typical starter, stuffed vine leaves and some baked feta. Sooo good! 

And then, of course, we got engaged, which is all well and good, but was really just Rob's insecure way of keeping Erika from running away with our waiter and host, George, who constantly plied her with booze and Greek food in an effort to drive a wedge between us. 

All in all a fantastic vacation and a wonderful trip.  If you ever go to Crete, here are a couple things you should know: 1.  The water is heated by the sun, while sitting in tanks on the roof.  So, hot showers in the afternoon or evening, but not the first morning you wake up.  2. The beaches are topless (or, at least, top-optional) but the people who choose to go topless are never the people you'd choose to go topless.  And finally, while you can't smoke on the plane, you can smoke in the airport (everywhere), which was probably the most foreign thing about the whole trip.  It was like going back in time or being on Mad Men....

She Said Yes!

We spent last week in beautiful Crete, trying to squeeze in one more week of summer, and while we were there, Rob surprised Erika with a proposal.  And she said yes. We'll put up more pics of our trip soon, but here's a shot we managed to grab with our first ever use of our camera's timer. Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes!  

Un Petit Chateau

This weekend we joined some friends for a quick getaway to Cambrai, France. We stayed on the grounds of an old chateau and spent most of our time either eating or looking for a place to eat- which makes for a pretty good weekend. The chateau was nice (and cheap when you stay in a room not actually in the chateau), but the weather and the fact that not much in the town was open on Saturday made for a slightly different weekend in France- since all the churches and bell towers in town were closed, we opted for a trip to the local grocery store and an afternoon of, um, wine-tasting (you know, the kind of wine tasting where you buy a few bottles and then taste 'em.  Repeatedly). 

Sunday's weather was sunny and beautiful and we made a stop in the town of Lille on our way home.  Lille has a couple of lovely squares in the city:

Rob especially liked this statue, which, if she were holding a wooden spoon, would be a dead-ringer for his mom giving the old, "You'd better get over in here by the time I count to 3. One.  Two...." There's nothing like finding a little piece of home when you're living abroad...

All in all it was a lovely weekend and also gave us an opportunity to debut as The Latest Annoying Couple to Play With a Fancy New Camera. Below, Erika holds court, followed by a cool shot of the sunlight shining through the trees.

Parrots... ...Parrots.

Last night we took a walk through the park and thought we'd practice with our new camera. We're still figuring out the camera, but we did manage to get a few photos of the often-rumored but rarely-seen parrots that live in the park.  

Of course, parrots aren't the only wildlife in the park.  There are ducks, pigeons, herons, and hippies.  Oh, and of course, rabbits.  If only the hippies hid in the bushes, too.

Badlands National Park

Rob's parents and grandparents live on opposite sides of the state and so the easiest way to get to see everybody- and show Erika the state- was to drive. And unlike driving through, say, Kansas, or Iowa, the drive through South Dakota isn't too bad. We started out in the Black Hills, moved east into the rolling plains, crossed the bluffs over the Missouri River, and then eased into the flat farmland.  It was a little tough going over and back without much of a break, but the promise of free ice water at Wall Drug can really keep you going. But, before we stopped in for our free drink, we pulled off the interstate and looped through Badlands National Park.

Like a scene from another planet and completely out of place in the prairie, the Badlands is an absolutely gorgeous park. Formed of sediment left behind when the inland sea that used to cover the Great Plains receded, the Badlands continue to erode with each rain (which also brings out bright coloring). The area is fossil-rich and finds have shown the area was once populated by precursors to the horse, rhino, and alligator. These days, it's home to bison, bobcats, coyotes, bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes, and of course, prairie dogs. We took some shots at the prairie dogs (with the camera!) but didn't get much more than little blobs of fur.  So, instead, here are a few more pictures of the Badlands:

The World Famous Corn Palace

Okay, maybe it's not world famous.  Did you know there's a place in South Dakota that has a palace made of corn?  Okay, not made of corn, but beautifully decorated in it in honor of corn's important standing in the state's economy.  Originally built in 1892 as part of an exposition displaying the viability of the state's farm land in order to entice farmers and settlement, the Corn Palace has been torn down and replaced twice.  Today, it's used for the annual Corn Palace Festival, the Corn Palace Rodeo, and- hold on to your hats- the Corn Palace Polka Festival.  Oh, and there's a basketball court inside where the local high school team (The Kernels!) plays.  

The exterior and interior are decorated in murals made of corn cobs sliced in half lengthwise and affixed to the wall.  The designs are first drawn on tar paper, which is like a paint-by-corn diagram.  We actually caught the palace in the process of pulling down the 2008 murals (theme: Everyday Heroes) and putting up the tar paper for 2009 (theme: America's Destinations).  Here's the plan for a diagram featuring monuments in Washington D.C.:

There are around 6 different strands of corn used, which allows for the variety of color.  Here's one of last year's murals of an everyday hero, followed by a close-up:

Inside the palace is a large exhibit hall where they hold the various games, festivals, and cream corn wrestling matches... okay, so they don't really have cream corn wrestling matches... but they should!  The inner wall is ringed with photos of the Corn Palace from almost every year of its existence and then there are more murals above the stage and court, including this one of Mt Rushmore: 

As we said, we just missed the big festival, but it's still an interesting stop if you're ever on I-90 and you need a break before you get to Wall Drug.  

It's cheesy.  It's kitschy.  It's, well, you know.