Thanksgiving

My parents came to Seattle to visit for a few days this past weekend. Anya made a wonderful salmon dinner for Thanksgiving (none of us are overly fond of turkey), and my parents were able to spend time with some of their friends here.

Since my parents have been to Seattle quite a few times, we took them down to Portland for a couple of days. We showed them around the city; walking and taking the streetcar to different neighborhoods. My mom excitedly did some of her Christmas shopping (Oregon doesn't have any sales tax), and we were able to drink some great beer. Contrary to the stereotype, it was sunny the entire weekend (both in Seattle and Portland) and we all had a good time. There are some random pictures here.

Now my hope is that the sun goes away and the rain comes...not so much because I'm fond of rain but because I'm fond of snow (in the mountains). Most of the ski areas around here rely entirely on natural snow; they usually have plenty of it and making snow is very expensive and very wasteful. It's been sunnier and drier than normal, so the ski season's start has been delayed. There's snow in the forecast for the weekend, though, so my fingers are crossed.

Disneyland

I spent this past week at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. REI sent me there for a conference, but there was ample time to have a little fun and take a few pictures.

I attended the World Congress of Business Analysts, which probably sounds a lot more impressive than it is. The conference was, overall, hit or miss. Some sessions were very good (interesting, informative) and some were quite bad (boring, irrelevant). It also offered a good opportunity to get to know some of my coworkers better; REI's contingent was 12 strong. For this reason alone it was worth going.

We stayed at the aging Disneyland Hotel, which is also where all the classes were held. This was convenient because I was able to take advantage of the beautiful weather (80's & 90's every day) to go swimming in the beautiful pool at lunch time. All the families were at one of the theme parks during the day, so the pool was deserted.

The entire Disney complex in California is smaller but far more convenient than Disney World in Florida; you can walk everywhere. The hotels are connected to the parks via Downtown Disney, a pedestrian corridor with shops, restaurants, and surprisingly active nightlife (which we took advantage of).

Without apparent irony or sarcasm, they call Disneyland 'The Happiest Place on Earth.' This is surely only true if you are 7 years old and aren't footing the bill. Parents spend extravagant sums of money buying Disney-branded crap for their kids: every little girl is a princess, every little boy a Pirate of the Caribbean. No wonder kids these days have serious entitlement issues.

I'm fortunate that my employer was footing the bill. My only real expense was entry into the Disneyland park itself for an evening. Some of the rides (the roller coaster style ones) were genuinely fun for adults, and a new Indiana Jones ride was very entertaining. Lines were pretty short, and we timed it so that we wouldn't need to buy the overpriced food in the park.

It was a good trip. I learned a few things, the weather was nice, and I got to hang out with some very fun people. Anya was a little jealous, but she's going to get her revenge: she's going on a girls' trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to hang out on the beach in a few weeks.

Review: Espresso

At Stumptown in Seattle, Oct 07

I've resisted posting reviews on this blog for the reason that I always saw this more as a way for friends & family to stay in touch with what's happening; a sort of travelogue for Anya and I in Seattle. I don't expect that anyone really cares which restaurants or movies I like. Curiously, however, I've been asked about this topic several times recently so I thought I'd write something up.

Intro: I love espresso, and Seattle is a great place for a person like me. I'm pretty spoiled. I also drink my espresso straight. I don't add milk or water, so these ratings don't apply to other drinks (latte, cappuccino, macchiato, mocha, etc).

Here are the ratings on a 1 (terrible) to 5 (excellent) scale. These reflect only drink quality, not decor, service, food, price, convenience, etc. Since having a good barista is a big part of the equation, I'll only list places I've been a few times to average it out. These shops are in Seattle unless otherwise noted.

• Espresso Vivace ***** Sweet, dense, carmelly perfection; not a drop of bitterness. Seattle's original espresso, still the gold standard
  
• Stumptown Coffee ***** Precocious newcomer, now tied with Vivace. Fantastic crema (the fine bubbles on top). When Seattle is destroyed by the next earthquake, I'll happily drive to Portland just to drink this
• Victrola **** Probably closer to 4.5 stars, this is excellent espresso but just a hair shy of Vivace & Stumptown
  
• Caffe Vita **** (as served at Motore) 4 stars means very good. Better than 99.9% of espresso in the world
• Caffe Umbria *** Tries to be Italian style, 3 stars isn't bad at all
  
• Caffe Ladro *** Only if the places above aren't around. A little on the bitter side.
  
• Zeitgeist *** Cashing in on rich history. If they hired decent baristas they could probably get another star; the attention to quality isn't there
  
• Fonte Espresso *** Popular at Seattle restaurants; usually served on the watery side
• Attibassi *** An Italian brand served at Tutta Bella, our favorite Seattle pizzeria
  
• Peace Coffee *** Minneapolis' hands-down best (as served at Espresso Royale Cafe)
  
• Nordstrom *** Yes, the department store. Best you'll find at a mall
  
• Peet's *** West coast chain, best of the big guys. Bolder and richer than many others.
  
• Uptown Espresso ** Seattle chain known more for lattes
• Allegro ** Whole Food's house brand served at their cafe, made in Texas (ugh). Quite like Starbucks but a little bolder
  
• Starbucks ** They use an automated machine; at least it's consistently mediocre. Overly bitter, overly watery. Weak crema.
  
• Tully's ** Northwest chain; same problems as Starbucks
  
• Caribou Coffee ** Theirs got less bad over the last couple years; can be outrageously bitter and abrasive in the mouth
  
• Dunn Brothers * I really like this perennial Mpls underdog chain, but DO NOT order the espresso. They burn the hell out of their poor beans; it's like they make espresso out of a French roast
  
• Cafe del Diablo * They serve it "Cuban style" with cane juice; truly awful
  

If there's some that I've forgotten, let me know.

Vermont

This past weekend I went to visit Matt, a good friend who recently moved to Burlington, Vermont. I took quite a few pictures, and Matt posted shots of our hike on his site. Anya unfortunately had to stay in Seattle, but I think she had fun without me around (although she's too nice to admit it).

Matt and I took advantage of gorgeous weather on Friday to climb Mount Hunger, a 3600' hump in the Green Mountains with spectacular views. After a leg-burning hike through birch and spruce forests (and some scrambling over icy rocks near the top), we were rewarded with a perfectly sunny and almost wind-free view from the top. From there we could see nearby Mount Mansfield (Vermont's tallest) and the Stowe ski area on its flanks. In the east we could see across Vermont to New Hampshire's Presidential Range, including snow-covered Mt Washington - New England's highest peak. To our west was a great panorama of New York's Adirondack Mountains. After our hike we walked around Stowe, which despite the large ski area has maintained its quaint New England village feel.

Back in Burlington on Saturday, Matt showed me around the University of Vermont (where he's doing his Master's in Special Education). The campus is spread across the top of a broad hill with great views in all directions. The campus, with its old, oversized red-brick buildings felt a lot bigger than you would expect of a school with only 12,000 students.

We then walked around downtown Burlington, which is centered around pedestrian-only Church Street. It's a lively place with many shops, restaurants, bars, etc.; the many transplants from Boston and New York also means that there are a lot more options for good food & drink than would typically be available in a town of only 40,000 people (fun fact: Burlington is Vermont's largest city, but it's the smallest 'largest city' of any state).

It was a great weekend; it was a lot of fun visiting with Matt and getting to see his new surroundings. Burlington is cute and is a nice place to visit.

To finish, I'll just comment on some Vermont stereotypes:
- Maple syrup: yep, there's a lot of it and they seem proud of it
- Cheddar cheese: yes, and Vermont's cows have much more scenic beauty than their Wisconsin counterparts
- Beautiful fall colors: probably, although I missed the best of it
- Mean East Coast people: Not true, Vermonters are actually quite friendly
- Ben & Jerry's: Nobody goes there since they sold out to Unilever