So French...

The thing about the French (and possibly every other culture more or less) is that everone loves the good cultural experiences, like red wine, 35 hour working weeks, brilliant baked goods, a wonderful modern art tradition, Amelie, etc. But you never really get a feel for a country until you experience the shittier side of their outlook on life.

Point in case: Strikes.

The whole of France is having a 3 day train strike. So instead of visiting Luxemburg as intended, and then returning to see the folks in the South of France, I have to take a long, complicated, over crowded (and expensive) train ride down to Toulouse.

Still, Luxemburg should be there for a while yet, and there's always next time.

As for the city I am currently in; Brussels is dirty, ugly and smelly. It has a couple of nice buildings, the undersized and overhyped peeing boy statue, and the best flea market I have ever visited. It was in a good sized market square and had everything, from clothes to trinkets to furniture. Brussels also has lots of chocolate shops, good waffles and amazing fries. They also have lots of great beer. You can get a Chimay at the supermarket for about AUD 1.50m and last night we went to a bar with over 2500 beers, the list was about 5cm thick. I don't think my backpack is going to come home too much heavier, but I certainly will at this rate. So it's all balanced out into quite a good time here.

So yes, on to France tomorrow, and a quite week of lounging around, eating less deep fried and chocolate things and spending some time with the family before they head off to Canada for the Christmas season and I begin to make my way home via a week in Japan. The end of the adventure is in sight.

'Dam fine town

As an Australian, the next statemnt will probably sound like a heresy, and I'm not sure whether they'll let me back into the country after I've said it, but it does need to be said. The Dutch do some of the best hot chips ever.

I can't decide whether it's because they serve them in a cone, whether they often slightly over cook them to crispyness the way I like it, or the fact that they have somthing called fritsause to smother them with (the sause basically being a tasty version of mayonase).

I am currently debating whether I can buy chips as a breakfast food, even though I'm not hungover. It just doesn't seem right somehow...

Also, because almost all my posts invariably end up about food, I should also try to let you know about other things too. I really love Amsterdam for its cosy size, beautful canals and greenery, and the museums. It is possible to aviod the dweebs who come here for their weekends of debauchery if you stay out of the inner area near the station, well, not entirely possible - but Amsterdam is all about a 'look the other way' permissiveness.

London Town

London has been turning on all her charm for Claire and I - and by charm, I mean rain - but that has not stopped us having a lovely weekend. Having both visited here before, and therefore being free of the imperative of sightseeing, we have taken a more leisurely itinerary.

We spent a morning at Camden markets, an afternoon trawling the second-hand book dealers along Charing Cross Road, and managed a visit to Brick Lane for curry, Harrods for tea (actually, chocolate milkshakes, but they were divine) and a late-night jaunt to my favourite bagel shop, which I was very happy to find has not changed a jot in the last five years (including the prices...).

Apart from all of the pleasantness above, we were also treated to a special wake up at our hostel this morning from London's finest. Someone had apparently reported a 'woman in distress' in the hostel and the police decided to door knock each room at seven in the morning in an attempt to find said woman. It was almost like being in The Bill (but without the explosions and workplace sexual tension).

Tonight Claire is heading off to Oxford, and I'm catching an overnight ferry to The Netherlands for the start of my Benelux week (Benelux being Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). There'll be plenty of sightseeing, plus a special nerd excursion on Tuesday. So expect a week of postings on chocolate, hot chips, beer and... psycholinguistics!

England (the telly, the weather, the cake...)

These three thngs are really of great importance while in England. most of my time over here is generally spent visiting family, which means we get a lot of chance to watch the local TV content, discuss the weather and eat cake. Thus I will tell you all about these things, as they are at the forefront of my activities.

TV

There is a new quiz show called Golden Balls. No, really, there is. And people are given these golden balls with cash values written inside and have to try and vote each other off, and then the balls all go in this big tumbler. it's hilarious, ridiculous, and every time the host says the name of the show I almost wet myself. Nut then what do you expect from a country that still has Millionaire and Weakest Link on air?

Also, in TV news, the British Telly Awards were on last night. In his acceptance speech for best actor in a drama, David Tennent said that he WON'T be returning as the doctor after the 4 2009 specials. There has been much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

WEATHER

Really, the only thing worth mentioning here is that it snowed while we were in Eastbourne yesterday. Actual big fat snowflakes. Unfortunately it was too warm for it to settle, but it looked magic.

CAKE

This is only here because Claire and I had morning tea by the fire side in these lovely little tea rooms. I really like tea rooms. I think Melbourne really has too many cafes and should really have more tea shops, with cakes, and scones and nice china, and with a fireplace.

Tomorrow Claire and i are off to London to terrify the good citizens of that fair town.

What's up, Doc (Martin)

In revenge for dragging them into a library, yesterday, my parents folded all five members of our not-too-short family into a Ford Fiesta for a two hours drive into Cornwall. More specifically, we went to Port Issac, where the show 'Doc Martin' is filmed.

Although I think the eponymous doctor is a bit of a twat, I have to give him credit for settling in such a lovely little town. We strolled around, ate Cornish pasties and drank Corninsh ale, and then folded ourselves back into the car for the drive home.

My legs were sore from the folding and the walking, and my stomach sore from the pasty, but it was a fun excursion none the less.

Moral Dilemma

Let me just say for the record that, on the whole, I'm a very contented vegetarian.

I don't feel socially outcast at a barbecue, I don't feel culinarily deprived around Christmas, I don't even have kebab cravings at 2am on a Saturday morning.

But when my dad was served a giant plate of bigos (which contains no less than 4 different meat products) by the matriarch of my Polish family, I felt a twinge of that ethical dilemma that many vegetarians often face.

Fortunately she had also made a giant serving of lazanki (cabbagey/mushroomy/pasta goodness) and so the anxiety quickly faded.

Homecoming

It's a lovely luxury to be both on holidays and at home simultaneously. For the last few nights I've been staying in Warsaw with the family who tolerated me for half a year when I was fresh out of high school - a short five years ago. I have been constantly entertained by all those things that are so familiar, and all those that have changed.

The family have not changed in their lovely, friendly and entertaining way - although the youngest, who was only 15 when I was here last has grown (It took me a while to comprehend he's actually old enough to drive...). The house is still the same, but the neighbourhood as grown. I went on Friday to visit the school that I taught at where there are still many teachers I remember, but very few students. In the city the Russian Markets have gone (only last month!!) but there's a shiny new shopping mall behind the Central Station. My favourite coffee shop is still there, but my second favourite has gone. My second favourite Milk Bar is still there but my favourite has gone.

It's been fun showing my family around the city - My parents are impressed by how much Warsaw is like any large European city, which has me a bit worried. I now get the impression that I lived for six months in a Soviet back block. I had to break it to them gently that 1989 was quite a long time ago now...

So a couple more days in Poland and then it's off to Old Blighty. So little time, so many pierogi...

Best Idea Ever...

... a vegetarian Milk Bar.

Now, first of all, a bit of background.

A milk bar in Poland sells cheap, hearty traditional fare without any frills. "Hearty traditional fare" is normally of the meat variety in this country.

Some awesome person came up with the idea of making all the lovely Polish food I use to enjoy before going veg-side without the use of meat. And and the same low low price one normally pays at a milk bar.

This has just been one excitement among many.

Fond(ue) of Geneva

I'm currently in Switzerland visiting a friend from England who I met in Poland on my GAP year back in 2003.

My intentions for coming to Switzerland were to eat chocolate, visit the UN and eat fondue.

So far I've visited the UN which consisted of boring building, lots of flags and a giant sculpture of a chair with a broken leg. The flags were cool...

We've also been out for fondue, which was excessively fun, and so completely overwhelmingly cheesy that my clothes actually smelt of cheese the next day in much the same way that cigarette smoke lingers after a night at a club.

So that means that I'm left with the task of finding some good Swiss chocolate today. I'll report back once the mission has been completed.

Things I Didn't Know About Paris

- The Eiffel Tower is brown, not gray.

- The Mona Lisa is not in a room by itself. In fact, it's in a room full of Venetian painting, which is all a it weird.

- Everything is the same price as in Australia, it's just that the price is in Euro, which is worth about twice as much as the dollar. I stopped converting back, and haven't dared to look at my bank balance since.

- There really is a Patisserie on every corner.

- The Bastille Fortress was demolished a very long time ago. Actually, I may have learned this in French history, but forgot. Sorry Sue...

- They have some Metro lines with trains on rubber wheels, it's endlessly fascinating.

- The Notre Dame cathedral is so well restored that it looks like it was built 8 years ago, not 800 years ago.

- That I would have quite as much fun there as I did (A big thankyou to the Kings and Queens and People of Paris for building such an interesting city, collecting so much art and knocking up Versailles too. Also, big thanks to Benoit for dinner, my parents and Claire for a fun night out (in the red light district, no less) and Alex who took the walking tours around the city and Montmartre).

The Supermarket

One of the perverse fascinations I have on holidays is to spend a lot of time in supermarkets. At home, I hate them and generally try and avoid them as much as possible. When I'm in another country however, I love spending time in the supermarket, wandering along every aisle.

I think it has something to do with the fact it's exactly the same principle in every country - rows of food, pay at the end - but the goods available are such a reflection of the country. Whether it's the aisle of olive oil in Italy, the twenty varieties of pierogi in the freezer section in a Poland or the vodka aisle in Mongolia, I always find it disproportionately interesting.

Products that you take for granted at home surprise you by being labelled in another language, or not appearing at all - while things you thought you never needed are for sale.

Anyway, while on a cheese-buying rampage the other day, I came across this square block of brie, and was so amused by the name that I had to take a photo and share it.



If only I always found supermarkets this entertaining...

A Spot of Baking

The loveliest thing about staying in a house, as opposed to the hostels and low low budged hotels that I usually stay in, is the ready access to a functioning, moderately clean kitchen. So yesterday I got a bit baking happy, with various degrees of success.

Item the first: Banana Cake

We had some bananas that were going brown and some almond meal that the last people had left, so we made a flourless banana cake and ate it warm with creme fraiche.

If you noticed on the last post, I currently have access to a digital camera, a computer and snap happy parents. Mum got a photo of the cake so I'll post it later. It looked ugly but tasted delicious.

Item the second: Parma Veggo Style

Again, a product of the dregs of our larder. i fried up thin slices of eggplant, then put cheese and pesto on them and popped the lot in the oven. Super tasty, if I say so myself. We were totally on a roll for the day.

Item the third: Roasted Chestnuts

Mum and I waited for darkness to fall so we could steal some figs from our neighbours tree, seems they were just letting them rot and fall. While out we also picked up a whole heap of chestnuts from the read and thought we'd have a crack at roasting them.

We popped a tray of them in the oven and went back to sitting around. About 20 minutes later there was an Almighty bang, as one of them exploded like a rifle shot in the oven. we opened the oven and another two exploded - disintegrating into shell fragments and white chestnut powder - both to be now found scattered around out lounge area.

We placed the tray of volatile nuts outside and went back to try them later. The best explanation I can give of their taste is that they taste like the odour to be found in large metropolitan subway systems, but a bit more buttery.

So, on the whole that's about a 2/3 success rate for a day of cooking. Today we're off for an excursion to Spain.

Nutrition

I did promise a couple of posts ago that I would let you in on the secrect of how I am maintaining my vitamin intake while travelling. Here's the secret: Coke Light, Plus Vitamins... (ie. Diet Coke to the Aussies)

This perverse piece of marketing tastes the same as the non-vitamin-laden variety of low-calorie Coke, but in a half litre bottle contains 75% of one's daily B12 and Niacin intake. Heaven's knows why these two vitamins have been selected as important, anyone apart from vegans can get enough B12 through their daily intake of meat and/or eggs and dairy. I first saw (and purchased it in Finland, but its also in Sweden, with it's sister product that claims to contain antioxidants).

Still, I had to by a bottle. Looking at the weird and wacky products that global corporations market to different corners of the world is a particular travel fetish of mine. I'd have to say that this is right up there with some of the weirder and wackier ones I've seen.

Anyway, I've had no need for extra nutrition while at Sophie's. Today Claire and I are leaving for a day long train journey to Southern France, where our parents are spending some time. I've resolved, after the last 5 days of eating, to put myself on a bit of a diet. Only fruit, veggies, low fat yogurt, good bread, nice cheeses, quality red wine, premium chocolate, plenty of croissants... dang it, this is going to be harder than I thought...

Today's Menu

Breakfast

Fruit (grapes and kiwifruit)
Porridge with jam and milk
6 different types of bread and biscuits (knakebrod, toast bread, Finnish bread, wafers, graham crackers, flat bread)
butter
6 different types of cheese (Gouda, Brie, Blue Castillo, White spreading cheese, yellow cheese, Gorgonzola)
tomato, cucumber, avocado and capsicum
marmalade
tea
juice

Lunch

Sauerkraut with beans
Cheesy tomato mushroom egg pie
Green Salad
Honey wine
Rum Cake with Cream
Apple Pie with Vanilla Custard
Tea
Chocolates (4 different types)
Licorice, cashew nuts, jelly lollies
Biscuits (choc wafers and almond biscuits)

Supper

Selection of breads, cheeses, salad.
Tea and juice
biscuits, chocolates and lollies

The Baltic, See

So, being unable to find an ínternet cafe for the last few days, my octogenarian Aunt has a computer with excellent connection at her house. She says she doesn't understand it or use it, but that her children set it up for when they occasionally drop in. Thus, for the next four days while we´re in Stockholm I'll be able to attend to my backlog of emails and things to do. But before all of that, I can now tell you all about the Baltic adventures Claire and I have had since leaving our trans-Siberian family and venturing off on our own.
The overnight bus from St Petersburg was the final 'stressful' boarder crossing for us (excluding convincing the English boarder patrol to let us in) on this trip. We got to the boarder at 1am and spent 2 hours sitting around, being pulled off the bus, being put back off the bus etc. Thankfully we´re now in the EU, where there is virtually no boarder control between countries, and being Aussie doesn't mean pre-arranging visas for entry.
Tallinn It Like It Is
We got to Tallinn early on a raining Saturday morning, so it was dead quiet - we had the whole place to ourselves for a while. It's a very cute old city that has been very well preserved and restored. We spent two days binging on museums, churches, galleries, and, off all things, Mexican food. It really wasn't intentional, but each day around lunch time we just happened to come across a good looking, affordable Mexican restaurant, and seems Claire hasn't been within cooee of a tortilla for 8 months we made the most of the opportunity.
Tallinn is strange in that I'm not sure where the actual population of the city lives. The old town consists almost entirely of museums, galleries, souvenir stores, bad restaurants and cafes and more souvenirs. It's like Disney for Euro-Tourists. It's not even like Venice, where if you walk down enough side streets you'll find the local population. Normally this situation makes me sad, but the Estonians who I ran into and talked to seemed to be so genuinely proud of the city, and the extent to which it's been preserved that I gained an appreciation of what a feat that is, considering that it was pretty heavily bombed during WW2.
Architecture (And Islands and Food and Shopping) In Helsinki After 2 days in Estonia we caught a ferry north to Helsinki. Now, I've heard rumours that Helsinki is cool. Like Prague, Edinburgh, Berlin and Stockholm before it, Helsinki is apparently cool du jour. I'd have to say that it's not so much cool, but it's certainly nice. It is small, clean, open, and has that effortless Scandinavian elegance - but it's just too small and nice to be cool. It's full of chic kitchen wares rather than chic fashion, and it's cafes are homely, not boho. Still Claire and I had a lovely time there, we visited the island fortress Soumelinna, and spent a lot of time at the food hall (cheap baguettes helped to offset the otherwise costly nature of the Scandinavian lifestyle).We also did something that I've been avoiding for some time now, clothes shopping. We hit up all the cheap and cheerful retailers (H&M, Vero Moda, Indiska etc) and I now own more than 2 summer skirts and 3 t-shirts. This is really a positive step, because the weather has taken a turn for the colder in the last couple of weeks. While it was 22C in Moscow less than a fortnight ago, it was 6C in Helsinki yesterday. Given my predilection for gloves, scarves, hats and coats, the change in temperature has been met with great relish.
Taking Stock(holm)After an amusing overnight ferry ride, in which we were in a cabin deep in the hull (the part of the ship in which everyone in Titanic were Irish and died very early on) we have arrived in Stockholm. We're spending the next four nights with our Aunt Sophie (nan's sister). I'll post all about how much I love Stockholm later - provided Sophie doesn't feed us to death first...

Happy Moscow Day

The city with the world's most beautiful Metro system is celebrating it's annual day today with a lovely late burst of warm weather.

it's so good to be back in Europe - and back in the (former) USSR. How I have missed you Eastern Europe! And also your fondness for baked goods, potatoes and white cheese. I know there's more to love than the food, but I'll get to that after visiting Red Square tomorrow.

3762 Things To Do On Trains

Having completed the 78 hour train journey from Irkutsk in Siberia to Moscow, I have decided to publish a book with the above name. Below is an excerpt:

Idea 2456: Eat
We decided to use our time and money creatively and instigated a cooking challenge. The group divided the nights up among us and 2-3 people cooked for all 8. This is especially challenging given the tiny preparation area and the fact that the only cooking process you have is access to boiled water. My group made a trifle for dessert, it was awesome

Idea 2457: Get Crafty
Claire did general repairs, Meg sewed flag patches on her backpack from different countries. I found some wool for sale at one stop and decided to knit a scarf using my chopsticks. It's bright green (the scarf, that is).

Idea 2458: Discuss All Bodily Functions
Spending all day and night with the same people in a tiny box brings a new level of intimacy, discussing toilet events is a topic that everyone has something to say about.

Idea 2459: Befriend The Cabin Guard
Even if you don't speak the same language. Then you can find out all about how he's dating the other cabin guard, but also seeing his boss, who as a boyfriend at the next stop. Who knew trains were so exciting.

Idea 2460: Get Sick
Claire, Bella and Jules all did this. It gives the others something to talk about. Works especially well with idea 2458, but not idea 2456.

The land of bread and cheese....

In my first year of uni I did a European Politics class in which we spent hours of our tutorial debating whether Russia was really a part of Europe, and, if it's western flank is, whether the whole country is? Or is the eastern half more Asian because of it's geographic location?

I can safely give three arguments as to why the Eastern part of Russia, where we are currently located, can safely be classified as European and not a part of Asia:

1. Ready access to quality bread
2. Ready access to quality yoghurt
3. Ready access to quality bread

There has been much consumption of the above staples over the last couple of days, which may also account for the improvement in health.

We spent the last couple of days living on the lake - and not just any lake. We've been at a lovely guest house on lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake in the world. It's over 600km ong at over 60km wide at most points, so it was more like being at the sea than a lake - albeit a sea with no tides, no waves and fresh water.

Two nights of sleeping on the train cured me of whatever variety of stomach bug I had, and the fresh air has done the rest. The place is rather beautiful - a deep still pool of water with mountains that come tumbling down from all sides, all lush with green pines. The lake is actually a tectonic rift that will one day split the continents of Asia and Europe in half.

We went for a couple of long walks, had a boat ride and a traditional Russian sauna, which was much like any other sauna I've had except at the end you hit each other with bouqets of birch branches. This is actually a bit less kinky than it sounds - it's a massage technique where you feel like your being hit with wet plastic bags. Very relaxing, much like the last few days.

This afternoon we start the 3 night train ride to Moscow. Next time I write I'll either be very relaxed or completely destroyed by it.

Under The (Mongolian) Weather

We're spent the last couple of nights living in a traditional Mongolian ger (tent-like structure) - the scenery was breath-taking, and the air was breath-able, which is a nice change after smoggy China.

While at the ger we went horse riding, visited a nomad family at their ger, ate some interesting dairy products and made the most of the lovely views.

Unfortunately I'm feeling a bit crook today - early diagnosis was a hangover, but I think it may be a bit more lingering. We have an overnight train to Russia this evening so hopefully a good sleep will make me a bit more lucid and descriptive for my first blog from Russia.

Blueberry Flavoured Potato Chips

The worst chip idea ever.