American Traveler

P1010146, a photo by wjsvt on Flickr.

Looming over the landscape like an otherworldly spaceship, this dome, designed by Fuller also stops traffic in the midst of this lush garden populated by works of art by Yoko Ono, Chihuly, Roy Lichtenstein, and many more. Fuller’s plan was to fit the dome out as a residence and have someone live their for a year and document the experience, by local zoning lawns blocked the project.

Table of Distances in Saratoga County., a photo by New York Public Library on Flickr.

Here’s a map of the town of Ballston in Saratoga County. up in the right hand corner you’ll see the Village of Ballston Spa, former location of Schultz’s V Corners Farm. That’s where my father built and ran a farm, greenhouse, market until he died in 1983.

Weiner Schnitzel, a photo by wjsvt on Flickr.

Yum! Lunch at Borschadt in Berlin. It was our first day. The weather was beautiful and we ate on the terrace. Lauren enjoyed the fruit de mer.

Goulash at UZK, a photo by wjsvt on Flickr.

A big bowl of goulash with potato pancakes and dumplings, plus a salad, plus some kolbasa, plus potatoes. That’s the ways we roll in the Czech republic. The place was in a basement filled with museum quality stuffed wild animals. Crazy!

P1000925, a photo by wjsvt on Flickr.

A beer in Dresden

We—or should i say “I”—sampled plenty of beers in Germany and the Czech Republic.

The beer of choice in Germany seemed to be Radeberger. of course it was Pilsner Urquel in the Czech Republic.

Also really enjoyed the Reisling in Germany.

We enjoyed the white chocolate mousse and the tiramasu at La Petite Maison.

Had a wonderful dinner at the elegant La Petite Maison on 54th St. in NYC last night.

The service was impeccable; the room was elegant and the food was delicious.

We started with  squash blossom beignet and tuna carpaccio.

For entrees we had broiled jumbo shrimp and branzino with artichokes and mushroom.

Everything was fabulous.

Kafer Berlin im Deutscher Bundestag, Reichstag

After touring the Reichstag via the dome we dined at the top. We found the restaurant to be very elegant, prices high but reasonable.

Good food. Lauren had chicken breast while i had fish.

Checkpoint Charlie

Now a major tourist attraction.

That guy in the uniform is faux military–

just a guy charging for photographs.

Our first stop in Berlin was the World Clock, just outside our hotel, the Park Inn

The Park Inn looms over the Alexanderplatz in what was once East Berlin. This is no quaint old town square. Instead, it is crammed with “modern” soviet-style buildings, mostly marred by construction. The Park Inn is a 20-something story monolith, hard up against the TV tower. The lobby is like a mall. Our room was nothing special—clean, large enough, totally adequate. But the breakfast? OMG!!! Included in our nightly rate was a breakfast buffet that blows away any we have seen. Scrambled eggs, soft-boiled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, sausage. That was just the first table. there was an entire table of sliced meat: salami, liverwurst, thuringer, ham. another table of sliced cheese. Christ, there was even salmon with all kinds of sauces. Croissants, jams, fresh fruit, cereal, dried fruit. We totally pigged out.

Went to Circle on the Square the other night to see Lombardi. What a great show! Don’t need to know anything about football or care about sports in teh least to enjoy. Just ask Lauren Ezersky! Magic Johnson sat right across the aisle from us and told me he really enjoyed the show. Dinner first at this great downstairs japanese place on 49th St. I think it’s just called Sake Bar. Lauren had her usual: eggplant with miso paste.