Picture of the Day: Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal

Montréal, Canada
03.17.2012 

Picture of the Day: Skyscrapers Along the Chicago River

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 
05.2011 

Italy Trip Day 1: Rainy Day in Montreal

Waking up in Montreal in the morning, Frank and I were exhausted after not getting to go to sleep until four in the morning due to flight delays. Looking out the window we saw that it was a rainy, grey day so we decided that since we had both been to Montreal before maybe it was best to catch a bit more sleep so we wouldn't be completely exhausted when we got to Paris.

After we were rested we checked out of our hotel, left our luggage there and headed down Rue Sainte-Catherine. We saw a lot of brightly colored graffiti adorning buildings which made a cheerful contrast to the dreary day. I stopped to snap a few pictures and Frank asked me, "What are you taking pictures of? The nudie bar?" In typical Lisa fashion I was completely oblivious to the fact that a strip club was right in the middle of the block I was taking a picture of. I decided that the other side of the street might be a better photo opportunity. 

Since we had slept through breakfast we were famished for lunch and stopped to eat at Café du Nouveau Monde. Frank had the beef burger on brioche with roasted onions, bacon and mustard mayonnaise while I ate the proscuitto, fresh fig and arugula salad with vinaigrette. My salad was fabulous with the sweetness of the fig and the saltiness of the proscuitto. I think I'll have to try to replicate it at home. We also decided to share an appetizer plate of charcuterie, cheese fondue and crudites. The cheese in the fondue was wonderfully sharp and the salamis and proscuitto were delicious. 

After eating we continued on and walked through Le Quartier Chinois which is Montreal's Chinatown. We saw some awesome looking noodle places that made us wish we hadn't eaten yet.

Finally we arrived at Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal. It is pretty from the outside, but stunning from the inside. The first time I saw the basilica was when I was in eighth grade on a trip with my French class to Montréal and Québec. I had spent months babysitting at every chance I could get and then used almost all of my savings to go on that trip. It was worth every penny and I absolutely loved the trip. I remember being mesmerized by the basilica as soon as I walked in and trying to capture the beauty with my terrible 110 film camera. Thankfully I ended up buying a postcard. Seeing the lovely basilica again it was no less beautiful than the image of my memory. The wood carving is stunning and the vaulted ceiling seems to rise to the heavens. It is a lovely and awe inspiring place of worship.

At this point we needed to start walking back to our hotel so that we could head to the airport. On our way we walked by Hôtel de Ville de Montréal (Montreal City Hall) and Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montréal.

After checking into our airport we discovered that our flight to Paris was very delayed and we ended up having seven hours on our hands before the flight finally took off. As compensation we got $15 food vouchers which we spent at an airport restaurant that ended up having sub par food. Luckily we had access to the Air France lounge so we enjoyed free drinks, snacks and internet while we waited. Frank had set up a sling box before leaving home so a positive side of the delay was that he could watch the Michigan-Ohio University NCAA tournament game.

Eventually we boarded, but then sat on the tarmac for an hour before finally taking off. Unfortunately this flight delay scenario is getting a little more common on our trip than I would like and I am glad that our flight from Paris to Rome was a little more smooth.

An Inauspicious Beginning

Rain, flooding, hail and tornadoes can't keep Frank and I from embarking on our trip and after four gate changes and a several hour delay we finally made it to Montreal, the first stop on our trip.

After a gorgeous, sunny day in the seventies the skies turned dark in the early evening. At 5:30 the tornado sirens started going off while I was still at work. As everyone was evacuating to the basement I decided I just needed to head home otherwise I would risk not being able to pack and make my flight. Lucky for me that I did because it turns out that the people at work were down in the basement for over two hours which would have caused me some trouble getting to the airport.

My drive home was slow with the pouring rain and by the time I got back to my house it was hailing even thought it was still warm. I finished up packing and Frank swung by my house to pick me up. Ann Arbor had flash flooding with about 4 inches of rain coming down in forty-five minutes. Tornadoes had touched down nearby and one had taken out a neighborhood in nearby Dexter.

Our drive to the airport was slow (we had to drive through some standing water that was a little nerve wracking) but we still got there about an hour and a half before our flight. When we dropped off our bags the gate agent said the flight was on time but we knew there was no way since the airport had been shut down for a while due to the storm and everything was backed up. About twenty minutes prior to our scheduled departure the flight finally showed up late and we ended up having a gate change every half hour or so. We had drinks and enjoyed watching some NCAA tournament basketball while we waited and finally took off at nearly one in the morning.

By the time we got to our hotel at nearly four in the morning we were exhausted but glad that we didn't have a tight connection to fly on to Europe that we would have missed. It was definitely a crazy beginning to our trip and hopefully things go a little smoother from here out.

Work Weekend in Pasadena

After leaving Las Vegas last Friday morning I headed out to Southern California for another work assignment. I guess that if you are in a situation where you need to work over the weekend it is better to have to do it somewhere warm and sunny like Pasadena instead of back home in the cold and snow.

The hotel we were all staying at was in Old Pasadena which is a fun area full of great shops and restaurants. After I finished checking in I had a little bit of time before my meeting so I grabbed a fast lunch at Chada Thai. I had one of my favorite Thai dishes, pad see ew with beef, which also included soup. The food was tasty, came out quick, and was inexpensive - everything that I look for in a lunch place.

After work on Friday evening my colleagues and I headed to Choza Mama for a dinner of Peruvian food. My entree of pulled pork and yams was okay, but I enjoyed the ceviche appetizer that we shared. When we were walking to the restaurant we spotted an adorable cupcake shop, Dots Cupcakes, so we decided to grab dessert there. I had a wonderfully moist red velvet cupcake that was just as tasty as it looked.

We were spending the weekend working at the Pasadena Convention Center which just so happened to be across the street from the Pasadena Antique Center. On our lunch break on Saturday one of the other women and I couldn't resist heading over there to wander around for a few minutes. It was packed with all sorts of things and it was fun browsing. I ended up buying a cool old ravioli rolling pin for my kitchen and some vintage reproduction California postcards for fun.

For dinner on Saturday night we went to Mi Piace for some amazing Italian food. We shared a wonderful charcuterie plate and then I had a delicious plate of ravioli for dinner. The homemade pasta of the ravioli was spectacular and I loved the citrus zest on top. For dessert we split a tiramisu that was wonderfully moist without being soggy. 

On Sunday during our lunch break we couldn't resist a quick run to Dots Cupcakes again. I wanted to try some additional varieties so I got three yummy mini cupcakes, mint chocolate, chocolate coconut, and fleur de sel. They definitely kept me going for the rest of the afternoon at work.

By the time we wrapped up on Sunday evening I was completely exhausted and not up for going out to dinner (lame, I know) so I ordered room service. Monday I was up bright and early at four in the morning to head to LAX for my flight back to Michigan.  It had been a long week and I was excited to be finally going home.

Viva Las Vegas

During the rest of my business trip to Las Vegas the week before last I was busy during the day at CES but I had some opportunities to eat some great food outside of work.

On Wednesday morning I had the special treat of being able to get breakfast with a friend of mine from undergrad, Lee, who was also in town for CES. It was great to be able to catch up and hear how his quickly growing family was doing. We went to Bouchon at the Venetian, which was fantastic. I had the Bouchon French Toast which was in a bread pudding style with layers of brioche, custard and apples. Wonderful company and wonderful food is a great way to start the day.

After breakfast I headed to the conference center for another full and busy day. At the end of the day I had a work dinner with a supplier at Smith & Wollensky for fabulous steak. I started with the Wollensky salad which had bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, and fried potato cubes on a bed of lettuce. For dinner I tried the beef tenderloin trio with three filet medallions featuring a fig demi-glace, Cajun seasoning and my favorite of the three, a gorgonzola crust with applewood smoked bacon. We were stuffed after the steaks but I just couldn't resist ordering the apple tart for dessert. Delicious!

 
My friend from work got us invitations to the iHeartRadio party DJed by will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas so we headed there after dinner. The party was held at Haze Nightclub in the Aria and was awesome. Will.i.am played great music and the lighting effects were really cool. You could definitely tell there was a large nerd contingent there since everyone (including me) was unabashedly taking tons of cell phone pictures.

On Thursday night after I was done with work for the day I had a supplier dinner at Zeffirino in the Venetian with colleagues.  The restaurant had a nice atmosphere overlooking the Grand Canal and it was a fun evening. To start we had carpaccio with shaved parmigiano and rucola sprouts followed by a salad of mixed sprouts, toasted almonds and smoked tofu. For my main I choose sea bass with capers and then we had a trio of mini pastries for dessert. Everything was great but my favorite by far was the carpaccio.

Friday morning I headed to the airport for my flight to LAX since I had to spend the weekend in Pasadena for work. Even after all the times I have been in the Las Vegas airport it always cracks me up that there are slot machines throughout the airport. That is some serious dedication to gambling!

If you are interested, check out the first part of my Las Vegas trip here: Hello From Las Vegas

Hello from Las Vegas

After only being back in town from New Orleans for the weekend I had to head out to Las Vegas for work on Monday evening. Currently, Las Vegas is hosting International CES (Consumer Electronics Show), American Beekeeping Federation - Beekeeping Conference, Photo Marketing Association 2012 Show and the first round of the Miss America pageant. Can you guess what I am in town for? Yes, this nerdy girl is here to check out the lastest and greatest electronics.

Vegas is crazy right now with over 140,000 people in town for CES. We had to wait for forty-five minutes in the taxi line to catch a ride to our hotel and our taxi driver said that the busiest time of the year is always CES. By the time we checked in it was late and we were starving so we decided to head to In-N-Out Burger for a quick bite. I love In-N-Out from my days of living in California so I was excited to get my standby favorite of a double-double animal style (double cheeseburger with added sauce, pickles and grilled onions) with animal style fries (fries with sauce, cheese, and grilled onions). Yum!

After we finished eating my co-workers hit the strip, but I had other pressing matters at hand. In my hurry to pack I stupidly forgot my power cable for my MacBook Air so I headed off to the Apple Store at the Forum Shops which was luckily open until eleven. I love the customer service at the Apple Stores. They are always so nice and helpful and the woman I was dealing with gave me my corporate discount without me even asking for it.

Armed with my new power cable I started walking to the entrance of the Forum Shops on the strip when I was enticed into Banana Republic and Ann Taylor by some sale signs. Nine dollars for a long black sweater? Okay, I'll get it. Eight dollars for a cute red shrug? Well, if I must. After paying for my ridiculously cheap purchases I checked out the cool entryway to the Forum Shops with spiral escalators and headed back to my hotel room to pass out asleep.

Tuesday was my first day at CES and I couldn't believe how busy it was. I had to wait over half and hour in line just to get on the monorail to take it to the convention center. With over 1.6 million square feet of exhibit space I only saw a fraction of it and was exhausted by the end of the day. One day down, two more to go!

NOLA Road Trip Day 7: The Long Road Home

Unfortunately, Wednesday was our last day in New Orleans. We had a really wonderful time so we were sad to see our trip coming to an end. Frank even joked that we should come back for the NCAA Final Four even if Michigan (his alma mater) or Duke (my alma mater) wasn't in it. I think any excuse is a good excuse to visit New Orleans. 

Before leaving town we had to take care of a few very important things, like eating breakfast one last time at Cafe Beignet. It is amazing how a person can eat beignets for breakfast three out of four days and still want to go back for more. Someone seriously needs to open a beignet shop in Ann Arbor. 

Of course we ended up getting beignets (just as delicious as ever!) but I also got a croissant filled with ham and cheese and Frank got a crawfish omelette with bell peppers and Swiss cheese since this was going to be our last sit down meal of the day and we needed something a little more hearty than just beignets to fortify us for the very long day of driving ahead.

Being the day after the bowl game all of the Michigan Sugar Bowl gear was on sale for half off in the stores around Canal Street. I had to take advantage of this and got a sweatshirt and a t-shirt for a grand total of thirty dollars which is a steal compared to the prices that are charged for Michigan gear back home. I couldn't believe that they even had t-shirts for sale with the final score on them less than 12 hours after the game was over.

We also had to make a stop in a praline shop so we could bring some of the famous sweets home. French settlers to Louisiana modified the original French recipe by substituting readily available pecans for almonds and adding cream as a thickener. Yum!

By the time we hit the road it was nearly eleven o'clock Central Standard Time and we had a 1060 mile drive ahead of us. Frank was a superman and drove the whole way, making it back in just over fifteen hours.  When we finally arrived in Ann Arbor it was nearly three in the morning and we were both absolutely exhausted. It was a wonderful trip but it was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

NOLA Road Trip Day 6: Game Day

Tuesday was the day that we had been waiting for and the purpose of the whole trip to New Orleans; at last it was finally Sugar Bowl game day!

We got a late start on the day and decided to go for an early lunch at Johnny's Po' Boys, where I had a half of a shrimp po' boy and a cup of gumbo and Frank had a shrimp and oyster po' boy. The po' boys were absolutely fantastic and during a trip full of good food they were one of the best things we ate in New Orleans. Luckily there wasn't any wait when we went since we had seen lines going down the street the day before when it was closer to lunch time.

After lunch we headed to the Louisiana State Museum at the Cabildo which we had tried the visit the previous day but had been closed for the holidays. The Cabildo was the seat of colonial Louisiana government and is famous as being the site where the Louisiana Purchase was signed. We saw a lot of great exhibits about the life before and after the Louisiana Purchase, the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The coolest thing I learned was that Napoleon had strong armed Spain into returning Louisiana to France in 1800 with the Treaty of San Ildefonso but kept it secret until it was quickly transferred in 1803 so Napolean could sell it to the US to raise funds for his war with Great Britain.

We then went next door to the Presbytere to see the Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond exhibit. The exhibit was well done showing what led up to the hurricane and the damage it inflicted on New Orleans. In the front hall they had on display Fats Domino's piano which had been damaged in the storm. The best part for me was a video installation set in old windows where residents talked about how Katrina affected them and what makes New Orleans so special that they felt compelled to stay and rebuild. It was a nice, hopeful message after seeing all of the destruction.

We then headed upstairs to see the Mardi Gras: It's Carnival Time in Louisiana exhibit which showcased the tradition of Carnival and Mardi Gras in Louisiana. They had a lot of wonderful costumes on display and I liked that they showed how things were celebrated in areas beyond New Orleans as well.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around Bourbon Street which was packed with fans in town for the Sugar Bowl. It was fun to see everyone dressed up in their Michigan and Virginia Tech gear and I was happy to see that the Michigan fans out numbered the Tech fans. There was tons of spirit in the air and I can't even count how many times I yelled 'Go Blue!' or sang The Victors that day. 

About an hour and a half before game time we headed over to the Superdome. There was a huge party in Champions Square with a band performing so we hung out there until it was time to go into the stadium.

For the game we had awesome seats, but it was a not a great game to watch. Michigan looked rusty from being off since the end of November, but Virginia Tech kept making mistakes which kept us in the game. At the end of four quarters the score was tied at 20 so we headed into overtime and we ended up winning 23-20 with a field goal by Brendan Gibbons. Even though it wasn't the best game it was a great result and a wonderful way for Team 132 of the Michigan Wolverines to end a very successful season.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 7

Picture of the Day: Pier at Vizcaya

Vizcaya
Miami, Florida
United Sates
01.2011