Portugal: South -> North

Our research paper on Google’s brand animorphism through the changing of it’s logo (Doodles) was accepted to an ECREA (European Communications Research & Education Association) conference on Organizational and Strategic Communications, in PORTUGAL! 

So, at the beginning of May, Louise and I hopped on a RyanAir flight to Portugal for a week! We flew into Faro, an old dilapidated fishing town on the southern coast of Portugal and the plan was to make our way up through the middle of the country by bus to the small town of Covilha, where the conference was being held.

My goal in Portugal was to see what this economically-deprived yet historically and geographically rich country is all about. (And, to relish in wines from opposite sides of the spectrum: Port and Vinho Verde (green wine). Oh, and I did. THANK GOD Louise is Brazilian and speaks Portuguese – I have no idea how we would have gotten around without her.

After a mostly disappointing time in Funky-Ass Faro, we took a bus to Evora, an ancient Moorish fortress town with unbelievable cod a’bras (mashed, herbed cod) and a chapel made entirely of BONES (Capela dos Ossos)!!

The Bones Chapel was a prayer and meditation place focused on the human condition of the Franciscans. The chapel was built in the 16^th Century with the bones of the graves of the town. At the entrance, on a classicist lintel in marble, the following famous inscription can be read: 

WE BONES ARE HERE, WE ARE WAITING FOR YOURS. 

The interior is completely covered with human bones and has the solemn, gloomy and tragic atmosphere of a crypt.

 dem lotsa bones

During the 2 days we stayed at the lovely Old Evora Hostel, I met a UCSC Slug from San Diego (go figure, in the middle of rural Portugal!).

We made our way north to Covilha, a mountainous city in the Beira Interior region of northeast Portugal. The conference, titled "The Dialogue Imperative" went well - people seemed genuinely fascinated and visually engaged by our research. Our presentation was most exciting, if we do say so ourselves. We were on the panel regarding interactive strategies and spoke about Google's fluid corporate visual identity. 

The city of Covilha was quiet with a lot of hand-made crafts to offer. The area is known for it's quiejo de Serra, an incredible soft and salty cheese made exclusively from Bordaleira sheep milk. Next to it, presunto, or dried pork (think: the best prosciutto you've ever had) Mmmm. Damn.

After the conference, we hightailed straight to Porto where I magically stumbled upon a poster for an Ursula Rucker (Bay Area-based spoken word and r&b artist) who happened to be playing THAT night! I just saw her in LA on January! 

Ursula is a bad-ass 

Louise and I met up with her best friend from Brazil, a quirky little lady named Joisa. Her fiance took us to an unbelievable fondue restaurant north of Porto in Póvoa de Varzim where we dipped succulent pieces of chicken and steak into a wide variety of different Portuguese sauce creations. Sauce winner of the evening: garlic cream. HEAVEN. 

I also had my first quail egg at this restaurant, along with other delish savory little Portugese nibbles.

 

Spring Break pt. 2: Munich and New Californian Friends!

Munich was a delight - I would have to say that I like it most of any city in Germany. 

Yea, I said it. 

View from St. Peter's Church tower of Marienplatz

 When we were there, the weather was absolutely perfect. During the Sandeman's Free Tour of the city, we met two wonderful Californians named Lolly and Aaron (what a delight!!). After bonding over the love for the Lakers and a hate for LA drivers, we drank quite a few liters of Augustiner Edelhof beer and ate quite a few rostbratwursts and weiss spargel (white asparagus with hollandaise).

Aaron, Lolly, Louise and I at the famous Hofbrauhaus in Munich. 

Mmmmm! 

Brezeln und Bier aus München sind die besten der Welt!

 After this wonderful week in the South of Germany, I headed back up north to meet up with a new *friend* for a wonderful weekend in Berlin. :)

Spring Break pt. 1: Heidelberg, Salzberg and the Bavarian Alps

In April, Louise and I decided to use Spring Break as a great opportunity to explore more of Germany, since we've been here for over 6 months already. So we headed south - on the Deutsche Bahn (the train)!!! With Munich in mind, we first stopped in Heidelberg to see it's famed castle on the River Neckar. It was really quite a charming and adorable city that I hope to visit for a longer period of time. 

Lovely Louise 

Heidelberg castle ruins

We proceeded to spend 5 days in the Munich area, taking one day trip to Salzburg, Austria (Mozart's home and the setting of The Sound of Music - those quaint rolling hills WERE alive!). And we saw MARIA Rainer!!! Oh the joy!



The next day we took a trip through the Alps to see 2 famous castles of the former Bavarian King Ludwig - Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. These castles were absolutely spectacular and I fully endorse your visit to them, especially Neuschwanstein (translation: new+swan+castle) because a.) it was the inspiration for Walt Disney's magic kingdom, and b.) it is CRAZY - the man was obsessed with swans! They're everywhere in that castle!!) 

Linderhof - inspired by the Sun King and French monarch Louis XIV. 

Gold and gaudy. 

The hall of mirrors was the best room ("1 million lights")

And here we have... Neuschwanstein!

They did not allow photos inside, sadly. 

I enjoyed a König Ludwig Dunkel, a deep-brown or sepia colored all barley lager named after the crazy King. This beer was deliciously rich and nutty, gave off a mild vanilla sweetness on the tongue, and finished dry, and clean without any harsh hops or overt fruitiness. 

Paris

Mid March proved to be a great time to visit….. Paris! Oui Oui! In what unfolded as a series of unfortunate events and massive misunderstandings, my roommate Mira and I missed our Eurolines bus to Paris and had to re-buy train tickets to Paris. Mira happened to have some family and friends staying in Paris, so fortunately, our accommodations were free!! We stayed in the Montmontre area; an adorable and quintessentially Parisian neighborhood walking distance from the walking Sacre Cour church. 

Exhausted but excited, once we finally got there, Mira and I took a tour of the neighborhood. We went to the boulangerie that was credited for having the best baguette of 2010 and promptly got a pain au chocolate and a baguette stuffed with olives and cheese. The pastry was flakey, moist, and buttery; the bread was soft and chewy, savory and warm – the absolute epitome of delish.

There were SO many things to do in Paris. Most notably, EATING! 3 course meals everywhere! For reasonable prices! One day, I had lunch alone at the café Le Saint Severin and pined upon the Paris experience:

“Could I have asked for a better Paris at this moment, at this time and at this space? No. After such the long and cold craze in Northern Germany, the rich Parisian sun has chosen to beam down upon me as I sit up gazing at the Eglise Saint Severin Church; it is the rawest display of sunlight I have felt since being in Europe. I am sipping on a crisp, Sancerre white wine, waiting for my lunch, getting the whiffs of cigarettes in my nose.  Swirling around my auditory is the combination of jazz notes from a lone musician, clattering dishes and different languages and tongues. God, these rays of warmth feel good. At this moment, the dearth in academic rigor and support in my master’s program at Jacob’s University has turned into a blessing in disguise: my life is exceptional and I am 100% fortunate to be living here and now.”

Of course, a visit to the Eiffel Tower was also a must. Mira and I practiced jumping in front of it for about a half hour ‘till we got the perfect shots. And we did!! I was definitely way more impressed by the tower than I thought I would be because of its incredible size.

 My favorite sight although had to be the Sainte-Chapelle, a gorgeous church on the Seine and a  “gem of High Gothic architecture”. The stained glass windows on the top level of the chapel are some of the most breathtaking I have ever seen. The fine detail of each individual window paired with the sheer mass of space these windows took up made this one of my favorite religious places I’ve visited.

All in all, Paris was an interesting place, albeit not my favorite; it seemed to lack the romantic element that all the movies put such a high emphasis on.  I also couldn’t manage to find a decent French Onion soup! I tried 4! No balance at all between onioniness, crouton and cheese flavor. WTF. Whereas I did get to see the Moulin Rouge, Notre Dame, and try rabbit for the first time, I did not get to do all the things I wanted to do, like go into The Louvre and The DeOrsay museums, eat escargot and spit on a hobo. And find a good French Onion! 

Next time Paris, next time!

Swedish Skies

In March, I found cheap last-minute tickets to Stockholm, Sweden where I finally got to see what my Grandpa loved so much about this heavenly Scandinavian city. The snow was just beginning to melt and the small little islands of Gamla Stan and Sodermalm were quaint and cute, brimming with blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauties!

“Kick Ass” Al Shear told me a great story the last time I was in LA. He was retelling his experience in Stockholm, or, as he called it, “the most beautiful place" he’d ever been. I asked him what about it had been so beautiful, and with his inimitable way of telling a story, he painted a marvelous picture of one night when he was with his gorgeous Swedish wife, Stella. It was summer, it was 2AM, and the sky a lavender hue. A delicate twilight illuminated the Swedish skies. They had just eaten a fanciful feast, including caviar and champagne and had just danced the night away at a nightclub on a nearby island. He recalls cascading along the glistening waters of the the Stockholm harbor, speeding past islands as the sun rose. It was in that moment he decided that Stockholm was the most beautiful place in his universe. 

Having fallen in love with this story, I went to Stockholm to see what my Grandpa's most vivid memories had told. 

Although it was not summer, it was just as magical as he remembered. 

Und der DOODLIN' Frühling beginnt!!

I am throughly sorry for being such a slacker. Everyone says "Dani, I love your blog, why don't you update it?" Like a neglected sore, I let it turn to gangrene. 

BUT, now, Dr. Keiser is here to heal the wound. 

First of all, I am faaaaaaantastic. Other than failing to update my blog, I am one happy camper because.... life is damn exciting in Europe!! I've been pretty diligent about updating on Facebook, so hopefully a few of you have been seeing my pictures and reading my quick posts. 

What Happened in Spring, Ms. Keiser? 

After returning back to Germany from California in January, I began my second semester at Jacobs University. There were some major departmental issues that threw us Global Visual Communication (GVC) Master's students for a spin, including the sudden sick leave of a primary Professor which really left us a bit in the cold. But, as adults do, we worked it out and ended up having a rather light course load for the semester which gave us the time and freedom to develop our research interests. In turn, I ended up working more as a research assistant  A close colleague of mine, Louise Elali (from Brazil) submitted our research on Google Doodles & Brand Anthropomorphism and the fluidity of Google's corporate visual identity, a topic which we presented on at a European Communications Conference in May in Covilha, Portugal. 

Spring in Bremen is a gorgeous sight to behold. Things start thawing, birds start singing, trees begin to bud little green ornaments and life in general gets better. 


Since the semester proved to be fairly light, I made traveling a main priority. 

It's happening.

After an unexplained and what has seemed like a 

"forever-in-length" sabbatical, I'm resuming my blog.

NOW.