travel posts

traveling is one of my most favorite things to do! i love finding the best things wherever i go: best dumplings, best hummus, best local specialties... ideally i'll ride around on a bike and if it's an extra good trip, i'll meet a new friend or two. following are some links to travel posts that contain tips and tales. they're not authoritative i-know-more-than-you guides, they're usually more like "look, i was kind of drunk in hong kong and ben the bassoonist ordered nepalese dumplings from a secret kitchen and i don't know what was in them or really how to acquire them but you should try to find them." happy traveling!

israel

summer 2013: i spent ten of the best days of my life on a culinary trip where we traveled all over israel and met goats that gave us cheese and stuffed ourselves silly with unbelievable hummus. we also cooked for an entire army base, rode some camels, and overdosed on halvah. 

summer 2015: i went back! and ate and ate and ate. and spent more time with tel aviv and fell even more in love with the place!

hong kong

fall 2011: my good friend aziz had me out to play prokofiev 5 with the hong kong phil. when i wasn't playing woodblock i was eating as many dumplings as humanly possible and drinking illegal strawberry daiquiris. (these posts are here.)

summer 2013: aziz had me out again, this time to play rite of spring. my dad also played too! we took it easy on the dumplings, did some hikes, and spent a lazy afternoon on a junk boat. (click the photo for these posts.)

amsterdam

summer 2012: rob and i spent a week in amsterdam living partly like locals and partly like tourists. we biked everywhere, including to some cute little surrounding villages, and we had one really fabulous late night eating adventure at the fantasyland automat that is febo.

berlin

2001ish: my dad took me along when he went for work and i spent the entire time perusing ka de we.  

2004ish: i went with a concert band and spent the entire time eating döner. 

summer 2012: i visited my good friend hammer. we ate cute marzipan cake, biked to the urban beaches, and saw really fascinating opera productions. i also discovered a cool bagel place and an adorable flea market. 

england

summer 2012: my good friend sam showed me around some amazingly tasty places in london and in his perfectly picturesque hometown of lewes, in the countryside. we had an earth shattering meal at st. john and then i almost missed my plane so that i could get a super special bagel and it was worth it. i also tracked down one of my most favorite photographers and we spent a morning eating lentil soup and strolling down portobello road. 

barcelona

spring 2011: during spring break of our senior year of college, i went with my good friends maria and hannah to barcelona. we ate tapas in an old brothel, twirled around park güell, and ate iberico ham after the discotheque.  

milan

spring 2011: maria and i went apeshit over aperitivo.   

nice

spring 2011: maria and i biked along the beach, ate our weight in pastries... and then ate our weight in pastries again.

la jolla, ca

my dad often performs at the la jolla summerfest so i freeload the crap out of it whenever possible. i get to see family, eat in-n-out, and occasionally surf. 

the berkshires (posts are here and here)

i love the berkshires with all of my heart. i spent some of my favorite summers at tanglewood and i've since tried to go back every summer for the amazing music, scenery, one of my favorite sandwiches, and some really hardcore i'm-too-old-for-this parties. 

boston, ma

boston is another place i try to get to every year. it has my favorite sandwich cookie, my favorite scotch egg, an awesomely massive asian grocery store, and some of my most favorite humans.  

philadelphia, pa

i love being a fatty in philadelphia.  

fargo, nd

fargo is so cute i could barf. it has tons of local shops and restaurants and everyone is so creative and nice. i am so lucky to live so close by. 

bemidji, mn

summer 2013: eggboy and i took a really adorable day trip to the lakeside town of bemidji where we ate cake flavored taffy and wild rice pancakes. 

jacksonville, fl

spring 2011: i went out to jacksonville to play... i think it was the planets. jacksonville is like five cute towns smushed together. it is great.  

miami, fl

a good miami trip is three things: sunny, musically fulfilling, and only partially remembered.  

chicago, il

i grew up outside of chicago, so over the years i've posted a million chicago adventures which might be difficult to navigate if you're like i just want the name of a damn sandwich place. basically, for me, chicago is good for pizza (lou malnati's), mexican food (any hole-in-the-wall place and big star), hot dogs (hot doug's and superdawg), and seeing the chicago symphony. 

new york, ny

i lived on the upper west side for five years and in brooklyn for a year. i could talk about my favorite places to eat until the cows come home. a perfect day in new york for me involves alternating between walking and eating and walking and eating (or biking and eating...).

phoenix and scottsdale, az

winter 2014: i went with the egg family for a big hiking trip, interspersed with a bit of exploring in the cities. highlights: lots of tacos, a hot air balloon, a super cute pizza place, and the greatest little desert farmer's market experience ever.

bay area, ca

summer 2014: i went on a little orchestra tour and at our stop in berkeley, i spent all of my free time eating as much food as humanly possible. it was mind-glowingly delicious. we also stopped in beautiful ojai!

new orleans

summer 2015: holy balls is it hot here in the summer. but it is totally worth it and *exciting* and tasty!