Polish Food

Yummy "Golonka"

I had high hopes for polish food and for the most part it was a major let down, and some what my fault. The only Polish food i had tasted prior to actually being there was a home cooked meal a friends mom made for me from a here polish mothers secret recipe, it was delicious, amazing even, i loved everything i tried, so when i had the opportunity to go to Poland i was looking forward to resurfacing these flavors my palette had yearned for for so long. The best traditional polish food i had was "Golonka" Which is a Pigs Thigh, very juicy and delicious. The perogis were okay, but i eventually overdosed on them when a friend and i ordered a 30 piece platter of meat perogis that were terrible, my friend ate 3, i ate 27 of them, i guess i felt obligated to finish them. The next two days i was misserable and literally only had two meals. The last thing i wanted to do was eat. Also for some reason, i had developed a craving for a smoothie, i learned that they are not easy to come by in Poland. The ongoing joke of me trying to find a smoothie was rather funny, especially when we went to a bar that had strongly recommendation trying their smoothies. I ordered it and the waitress came back 10 minutes later to let me know that they can't make it, i asked why? was it because they were out of the ingredients? No, she said the person that knows how to make them had gone home. This was way to funny, it is so simple, yet they don't seem to understand the concept. The funniest part is that it is on the first page of the menu as a strongly recommended drink, and we ordered before 10 pm, but it still couldn't be done. I look forward to making some killer smoothies in my parents new kitchen. I miss you Vita-Mix.

Joke:

How many Polish people does it take to make a Smoothie?

Zero, they don't know how. The guy who makes the Smoothies is American and he went home for the night.

Hostels in Krakow.

We were in Krakow for a week, and for the most part everyday was a blast. I met Bret's friends and we made some new ones as well. The first two nights we slept in a hostel which wouldn't be my first choice of sleeping arrangements but it was the best we could do. I didn't think it was too bad, the people working there were nice, the dorm-mates were polite and some were especially entertaining. The only problem was the location. It was right on the main Market Square, where everything goes on and the noise never stops, and when you are staying in a hot room with 8 backpackers, it is not a good idea to close the window. The most annoying thing was the sound check for some festival in the square the next day that went on until 2:30 am, then from 3-5 am the loud Australian and British tourists shouting, and singing, "Wodka, Wodka, ooohhh Wodka!" I'm not sure why this was the case, but every night there we heard this chant going on into the wee-hours of the night. So the hostel wasn't the best experience and you can imagine how Bret felt sleeping and being around a bunch of Backpacking Frat Guys and Sorority Girls that were literally saying, "Oh, yeah just like in Euro Trip...i love that movie." Ironically one of our Dorm-mates was from LAKE OSWEGO, OR. and is a tennis coach at Gonzaga now, he seemed to be about 27, but acted 17. Damn spoiled Lake Oswego kids, he went to LO by the way, not Lakeridge. 

The highlight of the hostel was this gnarly 44 year old British Rocker who essentially knew nothing about music bands, other than AC/DC and i am assuming Motorhead since he was wearing their t-shirt. Someone would mention a band to him, for example Pink Floyd and he would ponder the name and say," Yeah? Pink Floyd...i've 'Erd of 'em...but never rrreally got around to 'em." or Metallica, " Yeah, sure Metallica, 'Erd of 'em, but never rrreally got into 'em." This went on for over an hour, this kid would ask him about pretty much any band that has sold t-shirts at Target, i mean very popular and well-known bands and he would have the same response for all of them; The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, etc. Bret and i got a great laugh out of this, and have now developed a new character, which our British flat-mates rather enjoy as well. We are all constantly looking for times that we can use our new phrase. I asked Steve if he ended up going to the Club and he replied, "Yeah, i was meaning to, but never really got around to it." And the more we do it the more exaggerated the accent seems to get, it is quite funny. 

The next few nights we stayed with friends and had a more peaceful experience, but we were eventually forced into having to find a hostel for one night in between and through a recommendation of friends we ended up staying at the Stranger, Hostel and Bar. The moment we walked into our dorm room we knew we would hate it, first of all it was a total mess, everyones crap all over the place, it was 11 pm and no one was around meaning they would be showing up later and waking us up, and the worst part was there were several porno-magazines scattered throughout the hostel. Bret and i quickly returned to the front desk and requested are money back. We didn't want to live with Horny Frat Guys. The employees didn't understand why we wanted to leave, they are 20-something Polish girls, that loved the idea of Horny Australian and British Dudes. We explained to them that it was not at all our style and we were very uncomfortable. Rather then leaving they suggested we stay in a different dorm room that had only one older woman sleeping there, this turned out to be much nicer and quieter, so it wasn't so bad. We don't know why they try to put as many people in one room as they can, there were tons of empty rooms and they throw us in the Animal House. When we checked out i noticed the book exchange near the front desk, it was littered with sticky Men's Magazines, this place was guilty of supplying this stuff to there guests and they were proud of it. We were very happy to be out of there. 

So, maybe the Hostel wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep, or the cleanest place (though, other than Montreal, we did have the best showers in the hostels)but in the end, it certainly was the most entertaining, and i am happy I finally "got around to it."

Bad Eats in Berlin

Berlin should not be known for its indian restaurants, other than the fact that there are tons of them and none of them seem to be that good. Everything is very safe and mild and full of yogurt. Bret and i have been very disappointed with the three experiences we have had with indian food. It is typically over priced and overrated. 

Another food let down are the bakeries, there is a bakery every two blocks and very few of them are good. They are nothing like the french bakeries i experienced in Montreal. The bakeries in Berlin seem to not have very many sweet treats, which for me is unacceptable. I would say that the thing that i miss most about american style food would be breakfast. Here breakfast gets very little attention. There are no diners with 24-hr pancakes, eggs, waffles, french toast, bacon, sausage, etc. Breakfast here is usually a small plate with bread, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce and salami, and is typically meant for two people to split. I am not saying this is bad, but where i come from we call this an unmade sandwich. 

One more thing, Germany is supposed to be known for great cakes right? Then why can't i find any?

Good Eats in Berlin

I have been in Berlin almost a month now and there seems to be so much to explore still. I have been going out almost every night of the week and discovering a new and exciting place each time. Bret and i have developed a group of restaurants we frequent regularly, and after a recent disaster with a home cooked meal, we  have decided to stick to eating out. Our two favorites are Nil and Spatzel Express.  Both ofter very different tastes, and uncommon flavors, and both serve up plenty of food for under 4 Euros (aproxamately $5-$6). Nil is a Sudanese restaurant that specializes in Pita sandwhiches, which are great for the go, but if you ask for it on a plate it seems like you get a bit more food. My two favorites are the Tiymays? which are a Sudanese sytle Falafel (the best falafel i have ever had), they are accompanied with a small green salad, Aswad, Fohl or Mish and Potates, also a choice of peanut sauce  or yogurt, all of the ingedients are freshly made there. Nil Chicken is the next favorite, it is served with the same options, but with curry seasoned chicken in place of the falafel. The Falafel is 2 Euros and the Chicken is 3 Euros. You can't beat that...or can you. 

Spatzle Express maybe does beat it. The small portions cost less than 4 Euros, and include a small salad. Believe me, the small portion is enough. Bret's favorite is the Kasespatzle, which is spatzle covered in delicious melted cheese. I myself haven't determined a favorite. Spatzle has a very simple menu with four categories, with that being said i usually don't know what i am ordering, but i have no fear, because so far everything has been delicious. I know that Bret and I are going to miss eating spatzle 4 times a week. 

There is one more place that we want to add to the rotatiation, but it is aboud 7 Euros a dish and a bit out of the way, however i think we will still try to enjoy it once a week. The restaurant is Monsieur Vuong, it is an Indochina Cafe. They have 6-8 fresh dishes to chose from in a day and all of them are winners. The food and tea have a very authentic Vietnamese taste due to the freshness of everything. I want to try everything there, and i just found out that the menu changes every two days. Sounds like i can develop a schedule than. 

 

Bret with Kasespatzle and Linsen mit Spatzle und Wiener Wurstchen.... Monsieur Vuong

Bret

Au revoir Montreal

My last day in Montreal and i still had a bunch i wanted to do, i met up with my new friend Eliane Prefontaine, she is a 22 year old that i met at Mutek two days before, i think we were one of five people that were in their early twenties at the event, most people seemed much older. The first night i met her, she was with her friend Nancy who is 33. Bret and i hung out with them the rest of the night. On my last day i met up with Eliane again and her friend Manue. They gave me a tour of the city that most tourists don't get. It was like a Belmont or Hawthorne area of Montreal, really fun. You are allowed  to have alcohol in city parks as long as you have food, so i bought a famous montreal bagel (which is more like a pretzel) and we all split a bottle of wine. It was a beautiful day, maybe the nicest one of my stay. We went back to Manue apartment and her and Eliane made dinner (very delicious pasta meal) and played some live music for me afterwards. Eliane plays piano and sings and Manue plays the cello. They played their original songs, they were great i have them stuck in my head still. It felt so cool to be with locals and just hanging out and trusting eachother as if we had known eachother for years. Most of the time i didn't even know what they were saying but i was still able to enjoy the experience because it was so different and comfortable and exciting at the same time. I look forward to trying to make some friends like Eliane and Manue in Berlin and wherever else i go, and i look forward to going back to Montreal next year for Mutek and reconnecting with my friends. 

I think it is safe to say that i loved Montreal and Bret and i both agreed that it was hard to leave it behind. It was well worth the stop. It is a great transition city from america to europe, because it is english and french speaking and has new modern american style city and also old port montreal which is cobblestone roads and very european. Definitely one of my favorite places i have been.

MUTEK finale!

 I Love Montreal, if i could have found a pin or sticker or shirt that said I "heart" Montreal i may have even purchased it. The Mutek festival was fun, discovered some new artists and saw some i have been wanting to see. The last day was an outdoor picnic festival and it was raining but musically it was by far the best day so the rain didn't make a difference. Bret and i we pretty much the first ones on the island were the event was held, we got there at 2pm and danced until 11:30 pm. It was a great way to end the festival, after that we went to an exclusive after party with Matt, Genevieve, Phillip, and our new friend Ermand. He is a character designer for Mortal Kombat and he also does the voice over work, "Finish Him, Fatality" etc. He was super nice and fun to be around because his voice is so radio and commercial sounding, almost as if there isn't much emotion behind it, it's strange. The afterparty was fun but short-lived, a bunch of canadian cops broke it up after we were there for a couple hours, i did hear a new track i like by Mike Dunn, titled- "Phreaky MF" i encourage anyone to check it out, it is a fun dance track. One last thing about the festival, the outdoor venue was cool with a great view of the city, the biodome, and crazy metal sculptures which I predicted a drunk festival goer would  climb.  

Notice the Billy Elliot dance move @ 1o sec. Bret and I crack up every time.