aretaic

Be friendly and open to new things. Don’t plan on getting much sleep. The hotel at the main train station is suprisingly affordable.

Go in the winter – they have a huge fireplace. It’s within walking distance of Dupont Circle.

“Largest in the world public display of mounted crabs from around the globe”, of course. Private collections of mounted crabs is an entierly different subject.

Get to the park early. Keep a lookout for turkeys and be prepared to get wet, real wet, if you get caught in the rain.
Fantastic views if you don’t mind the climb.

Pazzo’s! Oh and, of course, the skiing is fantastic – especially if you have a sense of adventure and are willing to hit the back trails.

I was watching this guy getting a pig ready for his restaurant – see pic. He saw that I was observing and I took a photo. After which, he approached me (with the rather large meat cleaver still in hand). At first I thought he was upset about the photo (my faux pas, I didn’t ask). Turned out, he wanted to talk. He asked if I was American (guess my accent gave me away) and he lit up. Told me stories about his cousin who moved to America and is working for NASA. He invited me into his home (which was behind the restaurant) and we ate fruit. Really wonderful place and great people.

The place has a lot of class. The shopping festival is great fun and will give you at least one good story – if not more.

Went skiing there a year before it erupted.
Pretty sweet skiing and seeing smoke from the volcano in the background.

...went to the Kibbutz Room next door. An interesting colleciton of people with very unique entertainment. Drunk, went next door to eat. Any place that gives you a gallon of melted butter with your pancakes is alright with me.