New bird friends

My sister surprised me at orchestra rehearsal on my 25th birthday with a little gift bag containing a picked wildflower, some brownie bites, and these cute knitted friends which she bought from the Aspen Saturday market. I was so busy that I'd actually forgotten it was my birthday, which made the surprise all the more poignant. These birdies remind me of her so much - especially the brown, limbless chicken torso, because we always give each other hilarious, utterly useless presents, and these are typical.

The creators of these little woollen delights have an etsy page: violastudio.etsy.com

Tulips, bicycles, canals...

I always look forward to meal time here at the Aspen Festival, but it's so different to the simple, primarily meatless, low-oil, vege abundant food I usually make myself in Vienna. I've also probably taken my 'when in Rome' attitude to the American school cafeteria a little too far, and have made an unfortunate habit of routinely overheaping my plate with too much fried crap and feeling less than average afterwards.

I slept in today and missed breakfast, which is probably why my tummy started dreaming and it made me think back to probably the best dish I've had out so far this year. I found this charming cafe-restaurant in Utrecht, Holland where I took a weekend trip to get a chin-rest custom made for my violin and me. After a lengthy deliberation and quite the question and answer exchange with the waiter, I chose a smoked duck salad, which contained tasty surprises scattered among the ribbons of cucumber and lettuce leaves: olives, capers, tomatoes, a marinated mild chili pepper, and sweet cranberry sauce which topped it off excellently. And of course the tender duck slices provided the perfect balance against the raw veg with a rich, decadent, fatty touch. YUM. So simple but so fresh and divine.

The rest of the time I ate huge €3.00 pouches of fries with mayo and delicious seasoning, to get amongst 'Dutch cuisine':

(I was unsure as to what the logo at the chip shop was about..... suggestions welcome)

Dutch people are tall

My sweet couchsurfer's apartment views in Amsterdam

The Netherlands is really a beautiful, unique place like no other I've ever seen. I knew all the stereotypes before going, of course, but I didn't expect to actually be able to smell the marijuana emanating from cafe houses at every street corner, or to have to be on constant alert for bike traffic whilst walking on any kind of pedestrian surface, or to be able to see the inside of sex shops from the street. I loved the positive atmosphere, the doors of houses and open curtains right on the street fronts, the wandering domestic cats, and the open and friendly attitude. It was a brief but very wonderful travel experience, which I highly recommend. Holland, you won me over.

Aspen's Town Centre

Aspen's beautiful city is surrounded by breathtakingly stunning mountains, and the town itself is brimming with ridiculous affluence. Check out this quite wonderful public toilet in the centre of town:

See that vase? Those are real, fresh cut flowers, featuring a perfect white rose, and near the door you will spy a weaved basket containing paper towels. To ride the bus is free within the central area of Aspen, and it's the only town in the world I've been in apart from New Zealand where walking around the city barefoot did not make me highly suspicious of the pavement's dried urine and spit gob content with every step. In fact, I have to say, Aspen is definitely winning here.

Vintage cars and other beautiful vehicles are aplenty, as are former or aspiring trophy wife-type women with leathery tanned skin, wearing rather minimal designer dresses and flamboyant heels in the middle of the day, some of which look so perfect that they confuse you as soon as they turn around to reveal their too-colourful, post-middle-aged faces. These slightly scary people explain the abundance of the Gucci, Christian Dior, etc. shops that line the storefronts, and also the difficulty I had in purchasing jandals anywhere in Aspen. All I needed were some cheap flip flops, but the seemly simple search proved to be quite the fruitless mission. Eventually I bought some vintage looking thrifted sandals for $2. Thank you, Thrift Store of Aspen, I love you! And thank you wealthy people of Aspen, continue giving away your sweet stuff.

4th of July in the USA

I suppose Aspen's Independence Day parade was probably not the most spectacular generally available to Americans on the 4th of July, as far as parades go. However, it was a gloriously beautiful day, and I very much enjoyed the novelty factor of celebrating amongst temporarily patriotic small town Americans, as well as learning what this 235 year old tradition is all about in 21st Century USA.

Yes, those are photographs of a 4 year old driving a minuscule car. They start em young! Also: obligatory tightly clad cowgirls.

"Shes 17!" An older cowgirl kept shouting at male members of the crowd, referring to the cute younger blonde cowgirl. I then realised that the age of consent in the USA is 18. Interesting. I guess they were quite aware of their 'slutty cowgirl' function in the parade.

A summer in Aspen, Colorado!

First impressions