Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved. (fr. Medieval German saying)

The vino category will mainly be quick snippets about the reds and whites which I have experienced.  When known, I will note if the wine has been rated by any wine authority such as Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator or Sam’s Wine.  In general, prices are based in the Chicago market and usually at Sam’s Wine & Spirits.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

The sounds category is where I will put my very brief reviews of albums.  Many artists can put out a few good songs but few artists put out truly good complete albums.  I only recommend complete albums…and so if the album only have a few good songs (even if they are excellent) I won’t recommend it.

People who drink light “beer” don’t like the taste of beer; they just like to pee alot. – Capital Brewery, Madison, Wisconsin

Liquid bread contains my quick reviews of beer.  If you are actually reading a review about a beer, well, I’m pretty sure you enjoy good beer.  Hope you enjoy the reviews too.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. – Mark Twain

Journeys.  The only posts that aren’t brief are in this category.  There are pictures too!  Just my way have trying to help the fellow traveler have a more enriching experience and less stressful experience while in another world.

Dark Was The Night

Dark Was The Night is a compilation album benefiting Red Hot Organization (an international org that  raises funds for HIV and AIDS awareness).  (Some may remember Red Hot Organization’s No Alternative or the hip-hop America Is Dying Slowly albums, both released in the 90s).  Its a 2-disc album and its excellent.  Some of the artists who perform on the album are: Andrew Bird, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, The New Pornographers, Sufjan Stevens, My Morning Jacket, Beirut, Arcade Fire, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, Feist, Iron & Wine, The Decemberists, Yeasayer, The National, Bon Iver, Ben Gibbard, The Books, etc…  Unbelievable list.  The album is mellow but its very good.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This is the fourth studio album from Phoenix (a band hailing from Versailles, France).  Give a listen to the first track (Lisztomania) and you’ll be drawn in.  Halfway through the third song (Fences), you’ll be hooked.  The album has a jazzy, techno beat to it that oscillates between mellow and upbeat.   I noticed that Phoenix also had a track on the Lost in Translation soundtrack.  Highly recommended.

Full Circle – New Holland Brewing Company

Full Circle is a kolsch-style beer made by New Holland Brewing Company (out of Holland, Michigan).  I’m gradually becoming more and more impressed with the brewery (which also brews The Poet).  Full Circle is more of a light beer and thus is a good summer companion.  Also, for those who dislike the fullness of craft beers (i.e., Miller Lite drinkers), Full Circle is a good beer to introduce you to the world of better beer.  While Full Circle doesn’t have a strong aroma, it has a medium body and doesn’t feel watery, tasteless like most lighter beers.  Recommended if looking for a light beer.

Cut Copy – Bright Like Neon Love

This band hails from Down Under.  I bought this album b/c I loved listening to their 2008 release (In Ghost Colours).  Bright Like Neon Love was release in 2004 and is slightly less techno/electronic.  Its also more mellow, but still very hype.  If you only have $10 bucks to spare, and don’t own either Cut Copy album, then I’d opt for their 2008 release.  However, if you’ve already listened to In Ghost Colours a hundred times then I recommend buying this album to mix things up a bit.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart debut album, released February 2009, is a very good one.  This NY band reminds one of a mellower My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain.  The album has a late 80s, British feel to it.   I’ve just begun listening to the album but am so far digging “Young Adult Friction” the most.

Rome, Italy

Rome.  Thus far, of the cities that I’ve visited, it is my favorite city.  It has a great history, its own vibe, friendly people, activity and great weather.  Plus I found it to be pretty reasonable on the travel budget.

There are many things to do and I think there is something for everyone in this city.  My highlights were taking a walking tour of the Roman Forum (ruins), seeing the Pantheon, visiting Vatican City (the riches of the halls are mind boggling), seeing the inside of St. Peter’s (huge), seeing Michelanglo’s steps (Cordonata), having an espresso standing up at the bar, and dining at a real Italian restaurant.

I’m sure there are many great places to stay in Rome.  We greatly enjoyed our accommodations and stayed at Nice Hotel which is affiliated with the more upscale Hotel Des Artes.  The location of Nice was good and the accommodations were an excellent value and clean.

For general information about travel to Europe see here.

(FYI – I traveled in Rome during August 2006.)

Florence, Italy

Florence is a lovely, quiet city in central Italy.  It makes for a great stopping point between travel from northern Italy (such as Venice) and central Italy (such as Rome).  I visited Florence near the end of August and it did not seem to crowded, plus a lot of shops had deep discounts due to it being the end of tourist season.

A lot of what makes Florence great is its architecture and art.  So if those two don’t appeal to you, you may want to skip this Italian city and visit another nearby instead (such as Bologna).  My highlights were visiting the Uffizi gallery (considered to house the greatest collection of Italian and Florentine art in the world), seeing Michelangelo’s David, street shopping, eating gelato and  seeing the Ponte Vecchio.  I think that three days is enough time to speed in Florence.  The Uffizi can take a whole day to go through but after that, no sight will consume more than an hour or so.  The David is located Galleria dell’ Accademia and is the main thing to see there (the rest of the Galleria dell’ Accademia won’t take much time to go through, if you decide to even go through the rest).  Which leads me to the one downer about Florence and its art.  Florence seems to have kept certain masterpieces at different museums and thus causes the visitor to have to purchase multiple museum tickets to the various museums (and the tickets aren’t cheap).  But other than that, no compliants from me about Florence.

If you decide to visit Florence, I highly recommend you do some shopping and visit Marsili’s chess store.  The owner, Tommaso Marsili, is extremely friendly and provides great customer service.  When I was in Florence, visited Marsili’s store and decided to purchase a chess set.  However, I wanted to think about it for a day before I made the purchase.  Unfortunately, when I returned the next day (and my final day in Florence) the store was closed that day.  I was disappointed and so when I was in Rome, and still thinking about the chess set, I decided to email Marsili and described the chess set that I liked and asked if he could mail it to me in Rome.  Marsili said yes and quickly shipped me the package (since I was only in Rome a few days before heading back to the States).  When I got the package, it was a different set than I had in mind (my description of the set I wanted was vague and so I don’t fault Marsili at all).  When I arrived back in the States, I thanked Marsili for quickly shipping the package and briefly mentioned that I provided him the wrong description of the set I wanted.  Marsili replied and sent me pictures of four similar sets that he had (b/c the one I wanted had sold out in the meantime) and offered to ship me one of the similar sets for FREE.  This was a very generous offer given that the sets I was interested in were under $100 and shipping to the U.S. from Italy was around $50.  I took up Marsili on his offer and now happily have two chess sets from him.  Sorry for the long story but I just wanted to publicize Marsili’s store and the great customer service he provides…hope you visit him.

For general information about travel to Europe see here.

(FYI – I traveled in Florence during August 2006.)

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest is a great and highly recommended city to visit in Europe.  If you have the itch to visit Prague, think twice and consider going to Budapest instead.

This lovely city is situated on the Danube River.  West of the Danube is Buda and east of the Danube is Pest.  The Pest side seemed to have more places to stay and better access to transport whereas the Buda side had many great baths and the Castle Hill.  We stayed on the Pest side and walked over bridges to go to Castle Hill and Gellert Bath.  Speaking of baths, I highly recommend you visit at least one.  We tried Gellert because we didn’t need reservations and it was open to both men and women on the same day (although we were still in separate baths for most of the visit).

Besides Castle Hill and the baths, I also recommend visiting Vasarcsarnok market.  Its a great, renovated, market which has plenty of treats, foods (the apples are great!) and gifts.  We also enjoyed searching out wine bars (borozo) (also, the wines of Hungary are great esp the dry whites) and strolling down the chic shopping street Vaci utca and people watching from a cafe.  I also think that Budapest has a great opera and symphony (but its was closed when we were there (in August)) and I recommend just wandering the city and exploring.  Part of what we liked best was that Budapest was a bit less touristy then Prague and Vienna and so we felt we got to experience more of the culture.

As far as a place to stay, we stayed at Caterina Hostel and I highly recommend it.  Joe and staff were very friendly and the place was actually nice.  The outside wasn’t the greatest and walking up the steps to the hostel (I think it was on the 3rd floor) gave us doubts but once we reached the hostel we were very happy.

And finally, if you happen to be in Europe in late August, I’d try to visit Budapest on Saint Stephen’s Day (August 20).  It is a national holiday.  The have a huge festival along the Danube and fireworks at night.  When we there, we greatly enjoyed it and sat along the Danube for the fireworks show.  Unfortunately, a sudden storm moved through the area and caused mayhem and some fatalities (thankfully we stayed along the bank and were guided to shelter by so friendly locals).  Amazingly, during this severe storm, the fireworks continued.

For general information about travel to Europe see here.

(FYI – I traveled in Budapest during August 2006.)

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the first European city that I visited.  Its a modern city which is undergoing much development.  There was a lot to do in Berlin (I list some of my favorites below) and it seemed like a city that I would enjoy permanently living in.

A must is to take a walking tour of the city.  Both visits I took a tour that began outside the Starbucks near the Brandenburg Gate.  I cannot remember the group that hosted the walk but it was an excellent walk (it covered about three hours, with a break near Checkpoint Charlie, and ended around Berliner Dom).  The walking tours give you a bit of history about the city and allow you to hit the major sites.  I find it helpful to take a tour on your first full day as an introduction to where things are in the city. I also recommend visiting the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe (which is near the Brandenburg Gate) as well as the Reichstag (also nearby).

If you are visiting during the Bundesliga, I recommend going to a Hertha Berlin match.  They play at the Olympic Stadium (which hosted the 1936 Summer Olympic Games where Jessie Owens won 4 gold medals).  Also, if they win the match, the club hosts an hours long party outside the stadium which is complete with free beer.  Its a pretty cool experience.  The day we went Hertha tied the match but the club still hosted the free beer party b/c the tie resulted in a 4th place Bundesliga finish and Hertha gaining a berth to next seasons UEFA competition.  (FYI, you can reach the stadium via public transport.)

Hanging out (shopping, drinking, eating or people watching) on Ku-Damm (Kurfürstendamm) is also a good time.  The modern Potsdamer Platz provides a nice break too.  A close, recommended day trip is to Postdam (about 30 minutes via the S7 for about 3 Euro) to see the park and palace.  I have also heard that Dresden is a cool day/overnight trip (its 2 hours via train for about 35 Euro).

On my first visit to Berlin, I stayed at the Hotel Pension Fischer.  I highly recommend this place as the location was great and the staff and accommodations were excellent too.  I stayed at BaxPax Hostel Berlin.  The place was okay but it was a bit to wanna be hippies for me.  We stayed at the Kreuzberg location (they have three locations).

For general information about travel to Europe see here.

(FYI – I traveled in Berlin during May 2005 and August 2006.)

Vienna, Austria

Of the places I have visited in Europe, Vienna is at the top of my list.  I think that this city in central Europe is overlooked and underrated by travelers from the U.S.  It has a rich history, beautiful architecture,  wonderful galleries, great cafes, palaces, shopping, classical music concerts, great wine taverns, friendly people and even the world famous Spanish Riding School.  Also, the central location of Vienna makes it accessible for those that want to take a tour of central-eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, Romania, etc…) as well as those visiting Germany, Italy or Croatia.

There is so much to do in Vienna that I’m not sure where to start.  I spent the mornings and early afternoon doing walking tours which allowed me to take in the history, culture and architecture.  The mid-afternoons were spent walking the grounds of palaces, lounging in parks or cafes, relaxing with a beer or glass of wine at a tavern or strolling through one of the many galleries.  The evenings were spent either at a tavern, concert, theater (I saw The Third Man at an Burg Kino…its was cool to see this movie in Vienna) or just hanging out at a square.  Somewhere in the mix of all this I found time squeeze in some shopping and to also take in a show at the Spanish Riding School.

My first time in Vienna I stayed near Stephansdom.  The Graben Hotel was very nice and if its in your price range I recommend it.  The second time in Vienna I stayed about a mile from here in more of the shopping area.  While I liked staying closer to Stephansdom, the Hotel Kugel provide a great value (55 Euro for a room that had not been refurbished yet) given the location and quality.  I also recommend this place if your price is in this range.

For general information about travel to Europe see here.

(FYI – I traveled in Vienna during May 2005 and August 2006.)