The Memory Train

Last night I was going over some of the photos from my trip to Europe last year while listening to Nujabes music. As you might imagine, I started thinking about taking another trip. I opened my web browser and visited the website of Deutsche Bahn, the German rail authority. For those of you who do not know, Deutsche Bahn is the definitive source of information on European train schedules. In both Italy and Spain I remember the local train ticket offices using it rather than their own national websites to check information on trains. As the melodious flow of Nujabes played in the background, I started typing in various starting and ending destinations. Paris to Barcelona. Amsterdam to Berlin. Vienna to Venice. I wasn’t searching for anything in particular, and it was only for about half an hour, but something about looking up schedules and examining the maps took me back to those days before and during my trip when I would sit at a computer with my train pass in hand, and the possibilities for exploration and discovery seemed endless.

A Taste of Boulder: the Walnut Cafe

I've been on something of a break from blogging, but now I'm trying to get back into it. My goal is one post per week. That being said, my job sucks up a major chunk of my time these days so it will be much harder to keep writing than in the past.

A few weeks ago I got photos for a Boulder restaurant that I've been wanting to spotlight in this series. Today our journey through the Boulder food scene takes us to the self-proclaimed favorite breakfast and lunch joint of Boulder; the Walnut Cafe.

I don't know if the Walnut Cafe really is Boulder's favorite breakfast and lunch joint, but I can confirm that it had some very tasty offerings. It is also right across the street from where I usually have my car's oil changed, so I sometimes grab a meal while waiting for my car to be ready. Since I'm normally there in the morning, I'll be speaking to the Walnut Cafe's breakfast offerings.

On a recent visit, I got pancakes with a side of breakfast potatoes and a chocolate chai tea.

The Walnut Cafe has everything you would expect in their breakfast menu: eggs, waffles, omlettes, pancakes, a variety of breads, grits, potatoes, meats etc. They also have a selection of vegan, gluten free and even tofu offerings (none of which I like, but this is Boulder, so such things are kind of mandatory). Though there's nothing particularly outlandish or unusual about the food you get at the Walnut Cafe, the focus of the restaurant seems more to be in doing ordinary things well (a hallmark of many good restaurants). I personally enjoy their pancakes and toast, which are actually combined in a menu item that I think is called the Big Dipper (there's a photo of it at the end of this post). Any visitor to the Walnut Cafe should also be sure to give the chocolate chai tea a try. It is quite good.

My friend Ed prefers his food a bit more colorful than I do.

Another thing I like about the Walnut Cafe is that it is not a large restaurant. Being slightly on the smaller side, the Walnut Cafe works well for more personal meet ups where you and your friends don't have quite as much background chatter to listen to. Big restaurants certainly have their place, (they work well for large groups) but places like the Walnut Cafe are preferred by people like me who prefer one-on-one or small group meals.

The inside of the Walnut Cafe

That will do it for this edition of A Taste of Boulder. Do you like simple, but well done breakfasts? If so, the Walnut Cafe might be for you. Pull up a chair, enjoy a filling meal and get your day off to a good start.

The Big Dipper. Yum.

Leaving Eden

Sooner or later the dream ends. The last 13 months have been some of the best in my life, and 2012 might go down as the best year ever. I quit my job, spent 3.5 months traveling overseas and got done so many things that simply were not possible while I was employed. I made significant gains in both intellectual and spiritual progress and even slimmed down a bit. But alas, my financials, as good as they are, cannot sustain me forever in their current condition, and the need for a source of income is upon me once more.

I am going back to work, but maybe for the last time. One thing that has occurred to me is that I did very well in planning to leave my job and travel, but I did not have as much preparation for what came after that (the "end game" as I call it). This next time around I will not be committing the same oversight. Within the next few months I plan on paying off the last of my debts. Then, preparation can begin in earnest.