travel – Page 5 – Britt Skrabanek

Author Interview: Britt Skrabanek

Hey, lovely humans!

Just wanted to share my very first author interview with you all!!! (Can you tell I’m super stoked?) Sheila Hurst is a real gem for taking some time to sit down with me and my cat editing team. It was a surreal and awesome experience.

Stop by Sheila’s to check it out…

Sheila Hurst

I’m excited to introduce Britt Skrabanek, author of Beneath the Satin Gloves and Everything’s Not Bigger. Thank you for trudging through the snow to visit and for bringing Aphrodite and Hazel, your cat editing team. I’m sure they’ll help keep us warm while we talk.

I loved your descriptions of Berlin in Beneath the Satin Gloves. Have you lived there?

One summer in college I studied abroad in a sleepy town near Stuttgart, then my husband and I traveled to Berlin a few years after that. People were surprised we were only going to Berlin for ten days and blatantly encouraged us to do the usual tourist fail. You know the one – trying to squeeze in the entire continent of Europe, never stopping to absorb the experience. That’s not our thing at all, so we scooped up an apartment in former East Berlin and lived there for a…

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Beneath the Satin Gloves – FREE on Smashwords!

That’s right, loves! For the rest of October my debut indie book is totally FREE on Smashwords.

For those unfamiliar with Smashwords, know that they are a very pro-indie author distributor, offering any e-book format in existence. Instructions are right here so you know what to do after you download the format you need. With my Kindle Fire, I just email the mobi file right to my Kindle email address.

To get the free goods, use the coupon code down below.

A modern day woman, torn by her illusive dreams, awakens to a strange life in 1943, hurdled against the throes of destruction in wartime Berlin. Following a haphazard trail of clues, she discovers her new identity as Alina Feuer, code-named Sparrow, a famous entertainer, seducing a high-ranking SS officer to gather vital information for the Allies.

But, Alina is an amateur in these incessant spy games, relying solely on her wit and instinct to make her next move while frantically hiding her erratic behavior from the watchful eyes of her suspicious liaison/love interest and her pestering socialite gal pal along the way. A reluctant heroine, she must use charismatic glamour as her weapon of choice to fulfill her deadly mission before the week is through.

Click here to buy on Smashwords

(just copy and paste coupon code MS89Y at check-out)

In true indie fashion, I interviewed myself. Check it out…

Oktober Silliness

Back at the end of July, I had a convo with my blogger pal Juliann from Browsing the Atlas when she posted Weekly Photo Challenge: Masterpiece and covered the exquisiteness of Beijing roofs.

Juliann has a thing for choosing one focus for her photography as she globe trots, and I thought this was a rad idea.

Then, I remembered the time I did the same and focused on one pivotal representation of my surroundings.

The majesty, the colors, the architecture of….Lederhosen.

Some years ago, Mr H, my awesome sis-and-law and her hubby, and myself traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas (kind of the middle of nowhere) for Oktoberfest.

We always wanted to go to Munich for the real deal, but right in our Dallas backyard – not really, since everything in Texas is monumentally spaced out – was our very own Tex-German shindig.

Cute old couple alert! It’s a little blurry, but he danced with his hand square on her ass the whole time. That’s love, right there.

Umm…there’s a beer on your head.

I wasn’t expecting a lot, but it was pretty damn fun! A little too much fun, perhaps. We blame the beer for “sultry”, gender-bending moments like this…

That cold, frothy elixir turned the four of us into a team of misfits with one obsession…besides where to get our next beer.

We dared each other to get the best shots of Lederhosen, creeping up on unsuspecting, costumed dudes and snatching the best pic. Mind you, this was before phone cameras were any good.

It was risqué. It was silly. It was awesome.

First we have a distance shot of our unsuspecting Lederhosen subjects, Herr Rot and Herr Weiss…

A little closer…

Then, the money shot…

Guess they weren’t meant to live happily ever after. Herr Naked Legs stole Herr Rot away…

In the end, Herr Gelb stole the show with his manly stance and edgy variety…

Hey, I warned you that this was Oktober silliness, nothing more. Hopefully you had some laughs. If not, please drink a big ass beer then read this again.

Find your own Oktoberfest (here are a few big ones in the U.S.) and marvel at some Lederhosen. You’ll love it.

Any silly Oktoberfest stories out there?

Le Food, Le Drool

Ah, food. How you sooth me, energize me, and whisk my troubles away. How you bring me joy, fulfill me, and…

Oh, hello there! Sorry, I just went into a food love coma for a moment, but I’m back.

So, last week I chatted about our invasion of Montreal. Today, let’s talk food!!!

It’s no secret around the cyber world (this blog, my other blog, FB, Twitter) that I worship food.

So much that my idea of a shopping spree is going to our local Co-Op and spending without remorse. So much that purchasing our very first food processor a couple of weeks ago has made me insanely happy. So much that we even named said food processor “Bruce Lee”. He likes to chop shit up and he does it like a boss.

Anywho, one of the main reasons we gallavanted up to Montreal was for the food scene. There’s a lot of hype, saying it’s one of the food capitals of the world.

Was it the food orgy we were seeking? Um, let’s just say we’ve had better.

But, let’s also say that there was no possible way for us to eat at ALL of the restaurants there. I’ve never seen so many spunky cafes crammed together in my life. Also, we like to travel on a budget so we usually rock the apartment rental and cook a lot of our own food.

(A quick warning to budget traveling foodies…prepare yourself for the ultimate food tax at restaurants AND grocery stores in Montreal. You’ll be taxed twice and it will hurt your feelings when it happens.)

Anywho, since I just so happen to be married to the best chef in the world, there were many cozy nights spent on the terrace like this…

le plateau montreal — Our Stupendous Terrace in Le Plateau

One of the things we’ve learned over the years from the great Anthony Bourdain…when you first arrive somewhere, get your happy butt to the market. You will instantly connect with the people, culture, and pulse of your unfamiliar surroundings.

On our first morning, we took the Metro straight to the market. The Jean-Talon Market, mecca of grub.

jean talon market mushrooms — Mr. H Cruising the Shrooms

The French do three things brilliantly: cheese, chocolate, and bread. In other words, throw your healthy morals out the freaking window, ditch the skinny jeans, and indulge your ass off.

We received this cheese recommendation from a young fellow at the Jean-Talon Market, which was used in the terrace pasta above. It was creamy perfection and we ate it every day.

quebec cheese — The Cheese Wrapper (sorry, we ate the actual cheese)

We explored chocolate in many glorious forms…

jean talon market creperie marche — Slingin’ Crepes at Jean Talon Market

jean talon market crepe — Salted Caramel, Butter, and Chocolate Crepe at Jean-Talon Market

Juliette et Chocolat brownie and latte — Bananatella Brownie (Banana and Nutella) at Juliette et Chocolate in the Latin Quarter

There was a bar of chocolate called Caramel Crack from a chocolatier in the Plateau that was to die for. It was my kind of crack! (Sorry, no pic. We ate that puppy on the long road back home to Milwaukee.)

Lastly, we dipped a fresh baguette in a yummy tomato broth Mr. H fashioned to go with our mussels.

jean talon market seafood — Jean Talon Fish Market

Mussels are everywhere in Montreal. To save some bucks, we recommend fetching your own at the Jean-Talon fish market and enjoying them at your leisure.

In the end, Montreal is a fun romp for foodies who like the richness of French cuisine. Know that you’ll pay out the ass for food taxes, the chocolate anywhere will knock your damn socks off, and you’ll probably need to detox when you get home.

The Grit and Grace of Montreal

old port of montreal — Mr. H at Old Port of Montreal

If Brooklyn and Paris mated, their love child would be Montreal.

Grit and grace. Hard asses and romantics. The ones that won’t look you in the eye and the others who stare right at your ass.

This paradoxical city is emphasized further by its language tug-of-war. French is everywhere: the parking signs, the menus, the spoken greetings.

Yet, a sorry attempt at some high school French by an American tourist (yours truly) flips the switch. Seamlessly, as if “Bonjour” were never stumbled over, the conversation morphs into English with a peculiar flourish.

Walking down the street is a puzzling treat as English and French interlace. A couple at a table next to us bounces back and forth – a French question, an English answer, then one, then just the other – like a nail-biting tennis match for the ears.

Taking a road trip will only confuse the American more. Living in the U.S means conquering an ocean to hear that steady foreign hum.

Although Ontario looks a lot like Wisconsin, there are doors like these in the rest areas…

Eventually, there’s no more English. None. Our foreign experience creeps up on us in the form of construction signs and unpronounceable roads.

Where the hell are we? North America? Canada?

No…Montreal, Quebec.

Each languid day is strange – no schedule, no obligations. And, Mr. H. and I wander around this land without time.

One of the deepest ways to connect with someone means surviving together in a place where nothing makes sense, somewhere that is the antithesis of home, routine, and grind.

Travel makes the heart open to possibilities. And, so we opened ours to Montreal and did all of this…

And, we got down at Piknic Electronik at sunset on an island. Yeah, it was cool…

But, what about the food, Britt? Montreal is one of the foodie capitals of the world, isn’t it?

Indeed, it is. So, food gets it’s very own post next week. Get ready to drool.