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For some reason, I was wondering in my dream last night which cities I could claim to "know". Obviously, there's not another I know like I know Chicago--not even my hometown of St Louis. But I also don't mean cities I've only been through once or twice. I'm thinking in terms of cities where I have enough sense of the layout, the landmarks, and the transport to get around relatively comfortably. Places where, if someone described the location of some site, I'd have an idea of where it was and how to get there.

Here's the list I've come up with, in rough order of familiarity. It pretty much corresponds to the amount of time I've spent in each place, but not entirely. Other factors include the recentness of my visit and how much I've research I've done. (For instance, I've read much more about Barcelona over the years than Toronto.):

1. Chicago
2. St Louis
3. San Francisco
4. Toronto
5. New York [Manhattan only]
6. Beijing
7. Berlin
8. Barcelona
9. Freiburg (Breisgau)
10. Vienna
11. Xi'an
12. Paris

Cites I've stayed in which didn't make the list include Granada, Seattle, LA, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Ávila, and Rome. I'm mildly embarrassed not to see any UK cities on the list, but it's been ages since my last visit and London bamboozled me even back then and all the British media I've consumed since then hasn't really helped (except to expand the number of placenames that I recognise but couldn't find on a map without help). But the real shame is the lack of American cities. Even my birthplace doesn't rank!

What's your list?

February is for lovers

Whenever anyone asked me if I had "any special plans" for this Valentine's Day, I'd responded, "monshu's making me cassoulet" with a grin of stupid satisfaction on my face. But that was nothing at all compared to the stupefaction on my face after I'd actually eaten it. Two heaping servings, in fact. And after that, there was still clafoutis!

I think we really impressed monshu's co-worker Tsubo-chan. He was shaking his head at the foolishness of his friend in turning down the invitation in favour of some brewery tour in Cleveland. See, the GWO had ordered a new CD changer and needed some help setting it up in the living room (a task for which I'm largely useless), so he bribed a twentysomething bachelor geek with a dinner invitation for two.

As foodpoisoningsf says, the great thing about cassoulet is that it has stages. And the great thing about these is that the last is the easiest. After you've cooked up the beans and all your meats, all that remains is to throw them all together in a pot and bake it till crusts over (for whatever number times your sectarian allegiance demands). As a result, we were able to go for a leisurely stroll down Broadway to check out the antique malls for suitable stereo shelving.

We left again without having bought anything but a John McPhee book, but it was worth it to get in a nice walk in before the snow all but disappeared in the afternoon warmup. The vendors had all their antique valentines on display, which was a hoot. Also, I talked the Old Man into mochas from Metropolis (my lakeside alternative to Meinl) and on the way back we stopped at a Mexican place we'd both been curious about, Susupuato. Verdict: Perfectly decent. Their salsa ranchera has a near-optimal level of heat for me and they know their way around a tamale. Definitely coming back on a warmer day for the licuado de mamey!

We also stopped by Holzkopf's and inspiration struck at the sight of a lovely packages of oxtails. So dinner tonight was 꼬리곰탕 /kkolikomthang/ with 수숙나물 /swuswuknamul/, 시금치무침 /sikummuchim/, 표고버섯 /pyokopeses/, and 무생채 /musayngchay/. (Translation: oxtail soup with sides of seasoned bean sprouts, seasoned spinach, seasoned shiitake, and seasoned shredded daikon.) I figured four banchan is about the bare minimum I could get by with without disgracing Korean cookery, and it more than made up for the lack of green vegetables in the broth. To my surprise, I was able to find everything I needed--including daikon and bean thread--at the local market. So while Devon Market is no Family Fruit, it's also no slouch either.

But the best thing about that day was glancing down the hall to see monshu ensconced under an afghan in the sunroom reading nook reading Pratchett and listening to Mozart. Before inviting Tsubo-chan, he checked to see if I'd rather it were just the two of us for Valentine's Day. "Everyday with you is like Valentine's Day," I told him. I think he thought I was joking. After all these years, he still hasn't learned that it's when I'm joking that I'm at my most earnest.