Extra Credit in Feb: Work takes me to France, but the week is spoiled by food poisoning...

While Philadelphia was the marquee trip for the month of Feb in my 12 month marathon, I had to make an unexpected visit to France for business meetings with my boss.  That makes two trips in one month, hence, "extra credit" for me in Feb.  I was debating whether or not I should even bother posting a blog for this trip, since it was more business than pleasure, which is why you'll notice significantly fewer pictures this time around.  Nonetheless, it was still a trip full of new experiences worthy to blog about, albeit not all glamorous (i.e., more to come in a bit on the food poisoning).

Looking down on Obernai

My company's offices are located in Molsheim, France (near Strasbourg, which is a one hour flight east of Paris near the French-German border known as the "Alsace" region).  Upon arrival on a Sunday afternoon, a colleague of mine was kind enough to invite me to spend the evening with her and her family.  Prior to dinner, they first took me for a walk in the hillsides of Obernai where there are a lot of wineries producing 7 types of Alsace wines:  Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, Tokay Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Noir.  The photo to the left is from the hillside looking down on a town called, "Obernai."  When I snapped this picture, I thought to myself "Geez, last year at this time, there's no way I could have predicted myself standing in this very spot, freezing my butt off on a hillside, looking down on a picturesque European town...This is so random!"  Similar thoughts went through my head, as I was graciously welcomed into my colleague's home sharing a home-cooked meal in a French house with a French family -- I felt comfortable, but at the same time, I felt so far away from home and my "bubble," but in a good way....

My schedule for Monday-Thursday was jammed pack with meetings, as I had to make the most use of my time visiting with my boss and team in Molsheim.  But, dinner/food is always an experience after each long day in the office.  I was enjoying oysters and mousse chocolat to start my week, but then it went downhill mid-week....It was hard for me and a colleague to find a descent place to eat at on Valentine's day, because everywhere was booked.  So, we just ended up at a pizza/pasta chain restaurant that's kinda like the equivalent to an "Olive Garden" here in the States.  I ordered a basic pasta dish which tasted and seemed fine during dinner.  But, the next day I didn't feel so well.  I woke up really tired thinking it was just the jet-lag catching up, but by the time I got to the office and the morning progressed, my stomach started not feeling so good and I felt nauseous, so I had to ask my colleague to drive me back to the hotel.  I tried to sleep it off all Wed afternoon but kept getting the chills and finally I ended up puking in my room.  At first I thought maybe it was the oysters, but that had been 2 nights earlier at the restaurant in the hotel which is reputable.  I was also feeling kinda stupid if it was cause of exhaustion from the traveling, because I was only on month two so far!  Well, I didn't feel so stupid afterwards when an admin from our Molsheim office confirmed that two other Millipore employees had eaten at the same "Pizzeria Del Arte" chain as me and fell ill the next day, as well.  The admin placed a complaint with the Mayor's office after hearing about my case.  Since it was my colleague's choice to go to Pizzeria Del Arte, I told him if he wanted to get back at me for pushing him on some reports, he didn't have to try to kill me...I'm just glad the food poisoning was over in 12 hours, because I was so worried for the plane ride back to Boston.  

Restaurant la Vignette

Was able to recover to go back into the office Thursday, but the food poisoning killed my appetite for the rest of the week, which was unfortunate.  I was able to accept a dinner invitation from my boss for my last evening at this cute little place in Strasbourg called, "Restaurant la Vignette," which was really good.  So, if you're ever in Strasbourg/Molsheim area, avoid Pizzeria del Arte, but I definitely recommend Restaurant la Vignette for some real good, authentic French food from the Alsace region.




As you can imagine, it turned out to be a really long week between the rigorous work schedule and the food poisoning.  But, I'm glad to have survived my first experience of getting sick while traveling and getting that over with.  Really hope I don't have to experience it again, at least not for a long long time.


In the last 4 weeks, I've done three places already.  My next trip is supposed to be towards the end of March, so there's going to be a little lull before my next post.  And, after this last trip with the food poisoning and 4 hour layovers at Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris, this lull doesn't seem like a bad idea right now......

In Philly: Morimoto Flops, while Garces Shines, and No One Beats Rocky...

Philly Skyline from Museum of Art

For my February trip, I got the chance to catch-up with my good friend from BU, Stacey, in Philadelphia.  Sure, I did a day trip to Philly as a kid with my parents and saw the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  This time around, as you can tell from the title of this blog, I had 3 main things in mind to help me really experience what "The City of Brotherly Love" has to offer -- eating at two Iron Chefs' restaurants and of course, Rocky Balboa....

First stop was Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's, "Morimoto," restaurant.  Stacey had warned me to temper my expectations for "Morimoto," and unfortunately, she was right.....The menu lacked in breadth and the service was so slow!  I wasn't expecting the Iron Chef himself cooking at the restaurant, but I still expected a lot more from a restaurant if you're going to brand it Iron Chef worthy and charge Iron Chef prices.  While my kobe steak was a melt-in-your-mouth delicious piece of meat, I still wouldn't recommend Morimoto's...

Just as I was becoming skeptical of the "Iron Chef" title, it's Iron Chef Jose Garces to the rescue in restoring what an "Iron Chef" is supposed to stand for.  Chef Garces owns a whopping 7 restaurants in Philly -- I decided to check-out his first restaurant, "Amada."  I'm usually not a tapas type, but wow, Amada was amazing!  I enjoy a good meal, but I usually don't walk away with something I can say, "wow, that was the best thing I ever ate," until now - Amada had the most amazing fried crispy pork dish I've ever had...Amada is a definite must visit for anyone in Philly!

Most Delicious Vegetarian Plate

Best Thing I Ever Ate

While food is a big part of Philly's identity, there was another iconic attraction that was a must see for my trip.......I just had to visit the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to pay homage to the one and only, Rocky Balboa!  And, of course, I had to do my own rendition of training and running up the steps to the museum just like Rocky...Can't you just hear "Gonna Fly Now" playing the background to these pictures?  Hehe...

"Trying Hard Now"

"Getting Strong Now"

"Gonna Fly Now"

While Philly is Rocky's hometown, you also see a lot of Benjamin Franklin all over town....As you can see from how we individually posed with Ben, my host for the weekend and I are pretty different in our personalities, hehe.  This is on the campus of UPenn...that Stacey is one smart chick!

Me & Ben

Stacey & Ben

Also on the UPenn campus is this iconic "LOVE" sign.  What should have been a simple photo-op turned into this massive ordeal.  Instead of just posing next to the letters, Stacey suggested that I climb onto it, like she had previously done.  Seemed like a simple notion at the time, but geez, riding that mechanical bull in New Orleans was a breeze compared to mounting onto these letters!  As you can see from the photos below, I worked-up a sweat trying to climb this thing and pretty much embarrassed myself as visitors to the UPenn campus walked by.  It was rather symbolic that of all letters I was struggling with, it had to spell out "Love," haha.

I can do this!

It would suck to fall

Now, I'm just pissed

Let's try this side; so graceful

Finally!

That took so long, I'm just gonna sit a bit

Double Meat w/Mushrooms & Onions

Sweating Meat

So, after climbing some steps Rocky-style, and trying to mount onto some letters, all that exercise calls for some more food....I've done Iron Chef, so what's left?  A Philly Cheese Steak, of course!   "Geno's" or "Pat's" are the real popular places to get a cheese steak, but they're in pretty ghetto parts of the city and I didn't want one with Cheese Whiz on it; I wanted real provolone cheese.  So, we ended up at another popular cheese steak spot - "Jim's Steaks" on South Street.  It was pretty good, but I must admit, I still love my Newtonville Pizza steak & cheese sub.  As a devout vegetarian, Stacey's a real pal for accompanying me to Jim's so I could get my cheese steak -- the poor girl ended up smelling like meat the rest of the night, haha.  Along with letting me crash at her place, and having dragged her to all the touristy sites and making her serve as my personal photographer for cheesy photo shots, I'm really lucky to have Stacey as a friend....Also, I have to give a shout-out to her UPenn cohorts whom I had a chance to meet -- real fun and nice people, and super smart...



So, while most people were questioning why I would have planned this trip on Super Bowl weekend (I didn't think the Pats' D would carry us to the big game), Philly turned out to be a great weekend getaway.  (Although a Pats victory would have made this an even better weekend).  Given the outcome of tonight's Super Bowl, I think I picked the right weekend to go to Philly.  Otherwise, the only thing I would be feeling right now is the disappointment of the Pats' loss.  So, instead of trying to avoid ESPN and the bad news of the Pats loss all over TV right now, I get to blog about having had a blast in Philly.....Thanks, Stacey for an amazing weekend!!!

My 5-Star View from "Hotel Stacey"