Sunday, February 27, 2011

Badmansard is a bad tourist

When traveling abroad (and in the US), I try to be a good tourist. I dress quietly. I carry a map, try to speak the local language, eat what the locals eat and avoid anything that makes me look too American (or, worse, Midwestern). But by the last couple of days of any trip overseas, I lose my cool and unravel.

It usually involves large amounts of alcohol and/or McDonalds. I drank so much Rum and Coke in Cuernavaca, Mexico that on the bus trip back to Mexico City I stuck my head out the window of the bus and puked into traffic. All in front of my mother-in-law, who wasn't my mother-in-law yet. Thank goodness for the McDonald's in the Mexico City airport.

In Amsterdam, John and I were so tired we read in an English bookstore in the train station. And found McDonalds. We've also been to McDonald's in Paris and Prague.

On the most recent trip to Garmisch Partenkirchen, Germany, we watched this clip of the Family Guy in the town square on an iphone, laughed way too loudly and wound up at McDonald's the next day. Because I am an Midwesterner and ich liebe es.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Italians again

On Shaw Avenue in the Hill neighborhood (Italians). I think the front part used to be a storefront many years ago. Such an arrangement would allow the shopkeeper to live behind the store and maximize the parcel.

Pretty funky. I'd date the original mansardette to the 1890's and the front piece to the 1920's. I base this opinion on the brick color, the facade of the front unit and my make-it-up-as-i-go-along expertise.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Man(sard) on Fire!

A first- a mansard apartment complex on fire. Thanks to reader DAB for sending photographs of these mansards sur le feu. I do hope that everyone in the complex was ok and I feel for the residents, who likely lost all of their possessions and may not have had renter's insurance.

About Colorado Springs, and Colorado, doesn't it seem like every has moved there? I guess between the mountains, skiing, universities and ad agencies, it's the place to go.