Blog It Up!!!

Alright, perchance you have noticed that I have been slacking on my blogging... Well, here it is, the condensed version of the past month or so of my life, my incredible adventure in Europe. Obviously, there is so much more to the stories that I have listed and will continue to write about but this is just a little taster. If you want more then you will just have to come with me on my next adventure when I go to South America or I suppose that I can just show you some pics and tell you more stories when I get home on October 20th!!! Yay I will be back in San Francisco for Halloween! I just couldn't miss it! Europeans aren't too big on this fantastic holiday so I decided to come home a few days early so I could dress up and celebrate one of my fav over-commercialized American sugar driven holidays! As of now this is my potential costume: Halloween Hat


I am currently in Poland and have a bit to say about it but am currently going back to where I left off on my last post in France and will update in an out-of-order fashion... Sorry, for you listing logically minded folks but try to use the creative side of your mind and I will try my best to make the timeline make sense :)

Wroclaw, POLAND
I know that I have said it before but I LOVE it here! Hands down this is one of my very most favorite parts of ths trip! Josie and her family (the Kriegers) have made me feel so at home that I am starting to believe that I am Polish. First of all, let's talk about the food! OMG, Holy Smokes, Heavens to Betsy! I am damn near eating my heart out here! I may have to roll myself home after my time in Poland. Point A) The Soups- Beet soup is now my favorite, and there are umpteen different bean soups to fall in love with, sauerkraut soups and about a billion other vegetarian soups that I would be content to eat every day from now until forever! B) The bread - Northern Europeans have it going on when it comes to bread products! The French have their white baguettes, which may smell wonderful when a fresh roll is plucked from a warm oven. But the things are basically devoid of any nutrients and serve as not much more than a tummy filler when served with some jam and a vat of steaming instant coffee, as we found to be quite common in most of France (mind you that poor breakfast rituals are my only criticism of France and their cuisine). Anyway, as I said before, German bakers have it dialed down in regards to whole-grain delicious fresh breads! I am not entirely certain as to the origin of these healthy-ish breads but northern and eastern countries seem to also follow the whole-grain trend. YUM! C) What better to top your bread than CHEESE! Yes, Please!!! Mother of Pearl, I thought I had good cheese while I was in France but Josie has introduced me to a new world full of myriad cheeses to accompany our morning meals! My recent favorite is what she calls "white cheese." It is a mildly, sweet cheese that looks like a cross of ricotta and cottage cheese without the water. One can eat white cheese with a bit of jam or take it in a more savory route and add fresh herbs and radishes. WOW. Love it! Really the list goes on but I will leave it there for now...
When I arrived in Wroclaw, Josie and her Mama met me at the train station with a bouquet of beautiful roses and warm hugs. I was such a happy girl after a long train ride from Berlin. That afternoon Josie's Dad and I ate a FEAST of traditional Polish foods that included the ever present soup, followed by amazing pierogi and finished with tasty Polish potato pancakes called latkas. Everyday the Kriegers show me more of the beauty of Poland and each day I am falling more in love with this place! Over the weekend we went on an adventure to Krakow and took a tour of the beautiful old city. More beautiful castles, churches galore, a handful of synagogues that are used as nothing more than tourist attractions since the second world war devastating impact on the Polish Jewish population. We spent the night in Wieliczka (just outside of Krakow) and the next morning went on one of the best adventures to date! Wieliczka Salt Mines are an UNESCO world heritage site that have been worked for 900 years. I was amazed at the beauty of this mine! The tour takes you down 135 meters through a series of enormous caverns complete with various sculptures and one of the raddest churches that I have seen! Click here to see the chapel that serves as a hot spot for weddings and still hosts weekly services on Sunday! Saturday night Jos, mama Krieger and I went to a beautiful local park here in Wroclaw (pronounced: Vraswav - I was waaaaaayyyy off when I was pronouncing it phonetically) and saw the Wroclaw fountain that was built in honour of the 20th anniversary of the first free elections in post-war Poland! What a way to celebrate the end of communism! Let's have a light and water show! Seriously though, it was so cool! I know that the Bellagio has an impressive water show but this was even cooler with fire, pretty lights, animated projections, lasers and other fancy visuals! Despite the fact that I was fairly certain it would start snowing any minute, I had a fab time! Yesterday, we went to the Krieger's country cottage house in the village of Laki (pronounced Wonki). The weather was beautiful!!!! We had a chance to relax, walk around the yard, pond and through the forest. Josie and I ate veggies fresh from the garden and gathered wild hazelnuts from around the yard as her Dad fished in the pond! As an appropriate end to our stay in Laki we had a beautiful meal freshly prepared with loving hands! Wow, I am getting cheesy... but really I am having the best time and feel so at home with this sweet family. After we got back to Wroclaw, Josie and I went to see Inglourious Basterds at the local theatre... ummm interesting flick... thankfully not as bloody as most Tarantino flims but then again scalping isn't exactly an appetizing ordeal either... eh, it is worth watching but probably only once. Ok. There it is! My life, my trip, my adventure! Obvi I haven't included all details but from here on out I plan to be better at keeping up with this thing. As you know I have about 3 weeks left and only 3 more countries before I return home. All in all I will have visited 17 countries in 5 months and have learned so much. This is a lifetime adventure for sure!

Poland Continued
Today I tried broad beans for the first time. In Polish they are called bob (pronounced: boob hehe) and they are delicious!!!! They are the perfect high fiber snack to help with my current diet that is insanely high in the opposite of high fiber cheese... I love bob! And I love Bob as in Dad! ha :)