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That's german for "choo choo".
Sister and Smart Car.
The tourist towns on Rügen all seemed to have the little reproduction locomotives to ferry tourists around. We rode on one when we visited a castle. We also saw a lot of Smart Cars. They've been sold in Europe for a number of years. Daimler-Chrysler announced last week that they would soon begin selling them in the U.S. They are cute but I'd be afraid to drive one here with all the SUVs on the road.
Baabe was another small resort town not a mile from where we stayed in Sellin. The most impressive thing about Baabe was the Strand, the street that led to the beach. When my father was young the street was lined with giant trees. During the war he had to march up and down the street after he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth.
There's only a couple of buildings in Moritzburg. There's a port that can handle a few small boats and a ferry to Moritzdorf across the inlet. It is the only hand-rowed ferry left on Rügen. Ring the bell and a guy on the Moritzdorf side rows across the inlet, picks you up, and rows you over to Moritzdorf. Moritzburg is where my father learned to swim. Hitler Youth swim lessons consisted of being thrown off the dock and quickly learning how to swim.
Happy Independence Day!
Off 10th Ave in Chelsea
School in East Harlem
Is there a secret to chopping a chocolate bar so that you minimize the chocolate shavings? I needed to chop a bar into small chunks, regular semi-sweet morsels aren't what I'm after, but when I chopped I got a lot of shaved chocolate in addition to the chunks.
The chocolate chunks were for the cherry-chocolate chip vanilla ice cream I made yesterday. This is the best ice cream yet. It was made Philadelphia-style. French-style ice cream is more work, and involves whipping eggs and carefully making a custard. Philly-style, which I believe is what the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory makes, drops the eggs which basically leaves heavy cream, sugar, vanilla and mix-ins. While that mixture was churning away I chopped a bunch of sweet cherries, covered them with a bit of sugar, and the chocolate. When the the ice cream was almost done churning I gradually added the cherries and chocolate. A couple minutes later it was done. I seriously considered eating the whole batch it was so good.
One thing I've noticed when adding fruit to ice cream is that the ice cream is best before freezing. Before the fruit freezes it is soft and you really taste the juices of the fruit. After freezing, the fruit hardens to ice, you have to wait for it to melt in your mouth, and it isn't as flavorful. It's still good, but I'm convinced ice cream reaches its peak just before freezing.
Central Park was nearly empty this morning. Granted it was only seven o'clock, but there's usually more people there when I go for a bike ride. Balto stands in the southeastern portion of the park, not far from the Children's Zoo. If you've seen the movie you know that Balto was part of a sled dog team that carried diptheria serum from Nenana to Nome in January 1925. Following that run, which saved the lives of Nome's children, Balto and his fellow dogs became international celebrities. The statue in Central Park was dedicated in 1926 in recognition of Balto's achievement.
Like many overnight celebrities, Balto's fling with fame was fleeting. He was soon relegated to appearing in a peep show in Los Angeles, where for ten cents you, if you were male, could see Balto and other dogs. A Cleveland businessman was outraged at the dog's treatment and bought the seven sled dogs with funds raised by Clevelanders young and old. The dogs were brought them to Cleveland with a parade and hero's welcome in Public Square. The dogs lived out their days at the Brookside Zoo. Balto is currently on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. How come my Cleveland friends never told me about this?
I needed a bit of Alaska to cool off today. For more Alaska Jeff and Ann have made their way to Fairbanks.
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