Full Suitcase a WOW
I’m researching an upcoming trip and wanted an address for the Unter den Linden Museum in Colmar, a city we visited a few times as a young family. I found a rabbit hole. I found a blog called Full Suitcase.com, and I have been there for a couple of hours, learning all the things I need to see (in a few short hours) in Colmar.
The article I looked up is called 15 BEST THINGS TO DO IN COLMAR, FRANCE (+MAP & TIPS FOR YOUR VISIT); you can visit it for yourself by clicking on the link. I skip around a lot, but this article kept me riveted. She takes or uses the most lush, gorgeous photos I have ever seen. It appears she and her family always visit her destinations on the perfect day.
The article on Colmar covers all the things I want to do, and it rings true to me, based on our own prior visits as a family.
But the section that impelled me to write this article was her section on Alsatian foods. Her food photos are also gorgeous. You feel like you could reach right into the photo and eat the food.
This is a photo of a dish I don’t even like! Choucroute Alsacienne, full of fatty meats and sauerkraut, but I swear, I’d give it a try if it really arrived at my table looking this good:
And here is what gave me a smile. Look at this “Alsatian Crepe”. The translation is “Galette Sarasin.” When I look at it, I see something that looks very much like my favorite street food in Tunis, Tunisia, North Africa, called Brik. It is mad with a very thin batter, not poured, but popped from a hand over and over on a skillet shaped like an overturned wok. Each pop leaves a thin, delicate skim of dough, and enough pops create a thin fragile skin in which a mostly cooked egg, or tuna, or egg and tuna are placed and then quickly wrapped.
So this crepe is some kind of hybrid. Crepes are made with a thin batter, but poured and swirled, not popped by hand by a skillful granny. And it makes me wonder how this thin, fragile pancake-like meal travelled; I’ve eaten it from the Middle East through North Africa to France. But look at the texture – it looks very thin, very fragile!
This is from her About section: “Full Suitcase was founded in 2015 by travel writer Jurga Rubinovaite and is independently run. The site publishes original, first-hand travel guides and is regularly referenced by international media. Our travel advice has been featured by CNN, BBC, and BBC News World Service, and published online and in print by Lonely Planet and Lonely Planet Kids. We also collaborate with selected travel brands and destinations worldwide.”
I love her work. She is really good at what she does. Go visit her!
September 11; A Day of Infamy
I was in Seattle for a wedding, staying with my sister. My nephew and I were up early, and he called to me, “Come see something! This is so weird. A plane just flew into the World Trade Center!”
I didn’t believe him, but I went to his room across the hall to see. As we watched, the second plane flew into the second tower.
“That wasn’t an accident,” I said. “It’s not that easy to fly straight into a building.”
But mostly, I was thinking “Will I ever see my husband again?”
We were living in Germany. The phone lines were blocked. I couldn’t hear his voice.
My sister got a call, and she left for work. My nephew left for work. I had a coffee date with one of my former professors; she never showed up. She called me later to say she was stuck in the ferry line; the ferries weren’t operating, and neither was her phone until now.
So I hit the quilt shop. I knew I would spend the rest of the day rivited to the television screen, trying to learn what had just happened. We had seen it, we kept seeing it, over and over, but none of us could understand what we were seeing.
The New Yorker cover, above, captures it perfectly – we were all in the dark.
I was scared, and I felt angry. I wanted to DO something. I wanted to have something positive to come out of this horror. I designed a quilt. I cut out the pieces. I hand stitched all the pieces. It got me through.
Maybe late that night, AdventureMan was able to call me. We still didn’t know exactly what was going on or if the planes would ever fly again. I held my breath in the coming days, as my flight reservation day approached.
I was on one of the first planes out. I remember the pilot coming on as we were departing, and telling us to introduce ourselves to each other, to be neighbors on our flight, that we would help one another if anything went wrong. It was greatly moving, unexpectedly emotional.
September 11 is one of those days when everyone knows where he or she was when the planes hit. Everyone has a story. On our first safari to Botswana, we met a New Yorker who had been working in downtown New York and who had to walk miles to get home and somehow ended up barefoot. She said the walk was the best part, being alive was the best part, and that the streets, on that day of horror, were filled with people who were kind and helpful to one another.
Alaska 2026: Aftermath – You Can Do This
We wanted to do this ourselves, and we did it. We’ve done it before.
Alaska is a US state. Delta, American, Alaskan Airlines all fly to Alaska. People speak English. All the usual car rental agencies are there, and they speak English, and they share American culture. My friends, Alaska is doable.
When we go to Alaska, people assume we are cruising. No. We can do this on our own, and we love it! We can choose our own adventures, how much or how little time to spend at each spot, the people we will spend time with, when we will get up, when and what we will eat – we love having this control. Alaska is easy.
The drawbacks – yeh, well there is the suitcase drag, packing and packing again. There is the drive time, although Alaskan scenery is so compelling and varied that drive time kind of passes magically by. There is the energy expenditure, when you choose your own adventure, but it is balanced by being able to schedule your own nap time, meals, bed time and bathroom breaks.
Next time, we will probably skip Denali. It was a lot fun, and once, for us, was enough. We might go back and do the Alaska Maritime Highway Ferry from Juneau, all the way down to Dutch Harbor, and we will probably schedule longer stays in Seward and Homer, because they are so interesting and so walkable, with so many things to do and see, and such comfortable lodgings.
Traveling this way takes more planning, and it also gives you more options to customize your tour so that you experience what YOU want to get out of your time in Alaska.
I grew up in Alaska, so you might look for different experiences. For me, one of the most wonderful experiences happens every two years, in Juneau, usually around the first week in June. Sponsored by Sealaska Heritage Institute, it is called The Celebration.
Here is what their home page says:
In 1982, the fledgling Native nonprofit Sealaska Heritage Institute held a dance-and-culture festival to celebrate the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. At the time, Native people were emerging from a long period of cultural oppression by Westerners, and they worried that young people weren’t learning their ancient songs and dances. A couple of hundred Native people gathered in Juneau for the event, called Celebration. They could not have imagined then that Celebration would spark a movement across the region — a renaissance of Native culture that prompted people largely unfamiliar with their heritage to learn their ancestral songs and dances and to make regalia for future Celebrations.
Today, Celebration is one of the largest cultural events in the state, drawing thousands of people to the four-day festival. It is the largest gathering of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian people in the world. It has grown to include associated events, including a Juried Art Show and Competition, a Juried Youth Art Exhibit, a Toddler Regalia Review, an Indigenous Fashion Show, a Native Artist Market, and Native food contests. The biennial event is schedule in early June every even year in Juneau. Everyone is welcome to attend.
We attended in 2014. Many of my Juneau friends didn’t even know it was happening! It was amazing and joyful. My favorite part was the parade when all the clans, in their beautiful handmade costumes, paraded down the main street of Juneau. It is something rare and beautiful, something wonderful to see.
Alaska 2026: Anchorage Airport, An Experience in Itself
We actually enjoy the Anchorage Airport. It is full of interesting experiences from entry to exit.
There is something about taking photos of a childrens’ play area – I had to be very careful not to include the children. Isn’t it delightful to see this creative wonderful area to entertain the children traveling?
We met so many people who have come to Alaska to work, and who love Alaska and end of staying. Maybe someone reading this blog will want to teach in Alaska?
Bye now!
Alaska 2026: A Bonus Day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center
This was an odd day, as we packed out of the Alaskan Jade B&B. Our flight wasn’t leaving Anchorage until 8 that night, so we had time to visit the Alaskan Native Heritage Museum.
As we arrived, a demonstration of traditional games had just begun, and following that, a dance demonstration, with descriptions of the costumes, how they were made and how they were used.
All this was done by a group of young people who were having great fun as they shared their culture and heritage.
We spent an hour watching the games and dances, then toured the museum, and did the walk among the tribal dwellings. I’d forgotten, it was raining lightly. We don’t remember rain on this trip. The photos remind us.
Leaving the Alaskan Native Heritage Museum we headed downtown, looking for the historical museum and for a place to eat lunch.
We walked to the Snow City Cafe, which we had spotted earlier, and were in for one last very Alaskan experience. The place was packed, and we sat at the bar.
Almost all the customers were young people eating breakfast foods (at noon) so we did, too. There was this great party vibe, great coffee, good food in generous portions, and a lot of energy. We were out in our allotted hour, picked up our car and headed south, to find a filling station and head to the airport.
Alaska 2026: Turnagain, Again
More about what True Love looks like. For fourteen years, I have talked about a blueberry pancake I ate in Homer, and how I wanted to eat there again. I couldn’t find it. AdventureMan didn’t give up, he followed all the clues, and he found it. We packed up and as we were leaving, he suggested we stop at this place, Duncan House, for breakfast.
It was in the right location. It had the right feel. AdventureMan found the exact place, and I was able to order the exact pancake, an order known as Bear 1-1-1 because it has one piece of bacon, one egg and one bear pancake with blueberries or chocolate chips. Again, I chose blueberries.
In the Duncan House lot, a new customer drives up . . .
The four-hour trip to Anchorage was all on roads we’ve traveled before, but it didn’t lessen their impact – Alaska is full of stunning beauty. A new perspective, different weather, we see different things.
We had leftover pizza from last night’s dinner at Fat Olive’s, so we stopped along Turnagain Sound for a small picnic en route to Anchorage.
We arrived a little ahead of schedule, but our room at the Alaska House of Jade, an independent B&B, was ready for us, and our welcome was warm and gracious. It is another beautiful, clean, very quiet, and private place to stay. The hosts, Linda and Greg, keep it spotless and in good repair, and have fresh cookies ready on arrival.
Tonight is a special night. We are invited for dinner at the home of a pair of Alaskan doctors, one of whom I graduated high school with 60 years ago. (How can that be??)
We found their house easily, following their instructions. While my friend poached a fresh salmon, his wife showed us her show-stopper garden, full of a huge variety of edible berries and fruits and beautiful flowers.
with the salmon, we had special coated potatos and a Caesar salad. For dessert, his wife made persimmons in yoghurt with a sprinkle of brown sugar. The dinner was delicious, and the conversation was even better. When the evening ended, we had trouble saying goodbye; there was still too much to learn about one another’s lives. The conversation was as delicious as the dinner.
We left with three jars of Alaskan-made jam, made by our friends; we can’t wait to try them and to share them with our family.
These heroes, Bill and Jane, spent their careers in Bethel, Alaska, running a hospital treating mainly indigenous Alaskans, far from anywhere. These are people who believe in public service and have lived their beliefs, serving others.
This is a perfect photo of Mt. Denali which Bill took during one of the rare days when the mountain was not shrouded in clouds.
Alaska 2026: Homer and Love Languages
There are some books out that talk about Love Languages, and they mention five. I actually read the original book and almost threw it at the wall in frustration. It seems so obvious to me – there are thousands of love languages! We are all wired differently, and a successful pairing requires each person paying attention to the small things that matter to the other person.
No! Don’t bring me candy or expensive jewelry! I have particular – maybe peculiar! – tastes.
Love isn’t perfection, it’s abrasive, it rubs off our sharp spots and helps us become easier to live with. AdventureMan has learned a thing or two about me, things I didn’t even know. Keep me traveling. Keep exposing me to new ideas, new sights, sounds, and tastes. I thrive on exposure to new things.
Allow me to break the rules now and then, and eat those King Crab legs, so extravagantly beyond our normal budget. Unexpected kindness is always a love language.
(Aside, Jewel Kilcher, who sings the song with the refrain “In the end, only kindness matters,” was born in Homer. She is related to the Alaska: The Last Frontier Kilchers.)
And this.
It may not look romantic to you.
I have annoyed AdventureMan for years with my need to document, to stop at every gorgeous, irresistible view and take a photo. Sometimes I shoot through the windshield when stopping isn’t possible.
He cleans the windshield.
I don’t ask him; he thinks of it all by himself. He doesn’t do it for himself; he does it for me.
True Love. If you have the eyes to see. If it matters to you, you can see it. True Love.
You’ll have your own definition. True Love is what matters to YOU.
Alaska 2026: Homer Quiet Anniversary
This was a really funny day. The weather has changed, cloudier, foggier, damper.
We had a reservation for lunch again at Captain Pattie’s; AdventureMan had made it in advance for our wedding anniversary. We had a leisurely morning, starting to pack for our drive back to Anchorage, then heading down early to the Homer Spit where the Viking Orion was docked.
It was so funny being on the other side, watching the cruisers come into the little town of Homer, AK, doubling its normal population. We went down and took a photo; we can’t remember if we’ve been on the Orion before, but we have been booked on the same itinerary – three times – and never took the trip.
We had booked first for 2020. Ummm, yes, COVID nixed that. We had rebooked for the following year and then the following year, and none of those ships sailed. It was a trip from Japan, and at the time, through the Kamchatka Peninsula, which we really wanted to see, Dutch Harbor, the Aleutians, and then around the inner curve of Alaska, ending, I believe, in Vancouver, BC. We never took it. And here it was.
As we entered Captain Pattie’s, we were greeted by the wait staff that had taken care of us the day before, and had another lovely dinner, having salads and splitting a seafood linguine. It was all delicious.
I did not have King Crab again. After lunch, we visited the shops on the spit, ending up at Carmen’s Gelato, where I had the Chocolate Noir sorbet, very very dark chocolate, very intense, and AdventureMan had chocolate gelato. We sat in the parking lot overlooking the docks and ate our ice cream in bliss.
This was in the window of a shop on the Homer Spit. It totally cracked me up.
We try to have an easy day in each place we stay, and this was our easy day. We napped, we packed, we discarded. We thought through what we would get rid of now, and what we would leave in Anchorage.
We agreed that we got great sleep on this trip; the places we stayed were so quiet. It’s early in the season, and I expect the places will be livelier and noisier as the season goes on. We’re glad we came when we came.
What is amazing to me is how random all our good fortune has been. When AdventureMan said Alaska, and showed me the trip he had found, I just used those dates to plan our own version, and didn’t change a thing. It didn’t occur to me, and I wonder why? I love it that we traveled in comfort and privacy, and it cost us a quarter of what it would have if we had booked the group travel.
Alaska 2026: Homer Happy Surprises
We are up and eager for our boat trip into the Katchemak Bay. We have cereal and banana, pack up some snacks, and put on our sunscreen. It is not so brightly sunny as prior days, but sunny enough to burn. We find the meeting point, and another couple joins us, then the crew and we get on the boat. Once again, we are four customers and a captain and deckhand.
Even better, the man in the other couple introduces himself and adds “You will notice I have an accent. I am Jordanian.” AdventureMan, ever quick, asks him in Jordanian Arabic “From what part of Jordan do you come,” and we all laugh at his utter astonishment. Once we started talking, we never stopped.
We watched otter, and learned how they attach themselves to the kelp so that they don’t drift too far from their food source.
We saw countless birds, and one great-grand eagle. We saw puffins galore. And at the same time, we were having these conversations, figuring out who we knew in common as we are near to the same age.
We had so much fun with this couple that when the wildlife tour ended, we decided to eat lunch together at Captain Pattie’s on the Homer Spit, a place AdventureMan and I have eaten at on earlier trips to Homer. The wife and I had the Alaska King Crab Legs, which were hideously expensive, but not so expensive as I have seen them in other places, and these were perfectly prepared. True Love: AdventureMan knows me to be a frugal woman. He did not bat an eye when I ordered the King Crab.
I know exactly when I last had Alaska King Crab. It was my birthday, many years ago, and my son and I were staying with my parents in Seattle while my husband attended a military school. As we sat down to dinner, suddenly my husband appeared! He had flown in to surprise me! And my mother served King Crab legs with melted butter, and she made a Baked Alaska for dessert. I must have been 30 years old.
We had such a good meal, and such good conversation. Even the wait staff was part of what felt like a great celebration.
After lunch, we headed out to explore downtown Homer. We ended up at the Homer Farmer’s Market, and oh what fun.
We had thought we wouldn’t buy anything, but I found some Spruce Syrup (like Maple syrup, sort of) and we found some barbecue.
Yes, even though we had just eaten lunch, we knew this BBQ was special, and we ordered up two plates and had them wrapped so we could put them in the little refrigerator and have them for dinner.
They were wonderful! I’d like to say we had them on our deck patio, watching the sun go down, but here’s the problem – the sun doesn’t really go down, or it goes a little bit down but not at dinnertime, more like around two a.m. Even then, as you have seen, it is not DARK dark.
It’s hard to settle down for the evening when it is so light out. We go for a walk in the neighborhood, then come back to catch up – me with my photos and notes on the trip, AdventureMan with his reading.
Alaska 2026: The Ocean House Inn in Homer, Alaska
This is the Ocean House Inn overlooking Kachemak Bay.
This is the view:
Homer Spit is in the background. The first time we came to Homer, we came by the Alaska Maritime Highway System, by ferry. The ferry, the Kennicott MV, landed out on the spit, and we shared a taxi with another couple getting off in Homer. It was a long hike into town; we were glad to have a taxi.
We stayed at the Driftwood Inn, where we have stayed every time we come to Homer, but this time they were already full. After a long search, we found the Ocean House Inn. This place was perfect for us.
Small. Quiet. A view that goes forever. And a suite we love.
We had so much left from lunch that we just stayed in for dinner, eating outside on our deck/patio. We met our next door neighbors – from nearby Louisiana. We were not watching the sun go down – I don’t even know when it goes down; when we go to bed, it is still bright as day outside. The room has great blackout curtains.
This is a place we could come back to.
Recent Comments
intlxpatr on Shampoo Ginger tigerbutterya0c5ff1d… on Shampoo Ginger intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… John on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
