Trivia

Barracuda Showdown

While snorkeling over a colorful aquarium-like reef in Belize I suddenly came face to face with a barracuda, albeit a small one. I floated motionless on top of the clear water, but I was unable to stare down the probably surprised barracuda. Eventually, I slowly backed off leaving the fish to go his own way.

Cut in the Mountains

Going through a cut in the Himalayas to get to Tibet was a bit scary. I swear the wing tips neatly brushed the mountain sides. I’m sure this was more my perception than actual fact.

Pandas

I visited a panda sanctuary in Chengdu, China. We were so lucky to see the pandas playing. It was like they were mugging for the cameras. The facility has had good success with a large survival birthrate. Pandas are indigenous to China and have been endangered since 1949.

Solitary animals, the female is fertile only 2-3 days a year. Their bamboo habitat is disappearing. The sanctuary, established in 1990, is large, but plans to increase its size several fold. Moats kept the pandas safe and inhibit visitors from touching and petting the pandas.

The Irish Drum

The Bodhran Irish drum is constructed from a laminated, shallow, round, wooden frame. In most cases the frame is reinforced with center wooden crossbars. Ireland is one of six Celtic regions that utilize the Bodhran Irish drum. Styles and techniques vary. Goat or, calf skin covers one side of the drum that is struck with the hand or a stick called a tipper. The stick varies in shape and size depending on the style of the player or the player’s region. Various shifts of timbre and pitch is achieved by manipulating the hand or fingers, on the underside of the skin

Money Exchange

Literature cautions about exchanging money on the street anywhere, but it was pretty adamant in Peru. You can imagine our surprise when at the desk of our Lima suburb hotel, we watched the receptionist step outside to the street with our US currency and return with Peruvian Sols!

A Respite

Between the walking and sightseeing we stopped late one morning at Bewley’s Oriental Café for Irish coffee and a pastry. Bewley’s coffee and tea was founded by Quakers in 1842. Stain glass windows and marble top tables decorate the café on Grafton Street in Dublin. The place was crowded, but we were lucky to find a small round table for two just as a couple was leaving. The pastries in Ireland were scrumptious. I really enjoyed too many of them, and it seems they all landed on my hips

Mosaics

One can find beautiful intricate mosaic murals all over the world. In Europe mosaic roofs are a special treat. St. Stephens in Vienna is well known. Two such colorful  roofs in Croatia and the gorgeous roof at St. Matthias Church in Budapest are others that quickly come to mind. In Europe some of the most beautiful architecture is well above eye level. Don’t forget to look up!

TRIVIA

THIS AND THAT TRIVIA

In 1683 fleeing Turks left behind bags of coffee beans, after their second attempted invasion. The Viennese soldiers thought they were fodder for the camels and were about to burn them. However, King Jim Sobieski gave the beans to one of his officers, George Franz Kohchetsky. He roasted the beans and opened the first kaffeehaus in the Vienna. The coffee (black soup) spread rapidly and as they say the rest is history.

When escalators were installed in Harrods in 1980 people were skeptical about riding them.After a little brandy was offered to shoppers, people slowly started to use the escalators. The brandy wasn’t offered for very long.

In New Zealand the Barossa Valley is referred to as a hung valley because one end of the valley is 450-feet lower than the other end.

It was a strange but, common sight, to see cows grazing with bobbed tails in New Zealand. This is common practice as the cows tend to swat the milker with its tail. Some kind of organism in the cow’s urine cased illness so the farmers solved the whole problem by cutting off the tail of their cows.

In France coffee follows a meal, and you might as well get used to it as it is nearly impossible to get coffee served with a meal.

Also in France City Halls are referred to as hotels which can be confusing for the 

unsuspecting tourist.

In Costa Rica tiled floor porches are common and a sign of one’s wealth. A great deal of pride is wrapped up in these lovely tiled floors and they are always kept clean.

The only bridges I’ve run into where there are shops on the bridge are the Realito Bridge in Venice and the Pultney Bridge in Bath, England. At one time it was a fairly common occurrence.

The hot air balloon ride in Kenya over the Masai Mara was not my first balloon ride, but it was an exciting one. We were awakened, in what I think of as the middle of the night, for the early morning flight.

    The balloon rose up into the sky just as the sun peeked over the horizon. Floating over the Mara the only noise breaking the incredible silence was the occasional swoosh of the helium being pumped up into the balloon. The swooshing noise did not seem to bother the animals below. We floated right over their heads, so the animals were not dwarfed by height.

    With no roads, the support van was able to follow the balloon to the landing site shortly after the balloon descended into an open field. In record time a galley appeared and a delightful champagne brunch, including eggs to order, was enjoyed. What a delightful morning!

Memories

                                         Kiev Trivia

     We had many vodka drinks on this trip. We learned that vodka is often mixed with a fruit

liqueur. Many of them were very good.

      I happen to like borsch and I ate a lot of it on this trip, however, the very best was in a

Kiev cafeteria. It was hearty and superb. The worst was in the Moscow hotel.

Never give a Chinese a clock as it means death, Give a vase, or any other item instead.

 

      That year the Russian Orthodox Easter corresponded to May 1. Big festivities were

planned for the breaking of the fast. Walking into the restaurant on the sunny Sunday

morning we accepted a glass of wine and was greeted with Christos voskrese (Christ is

risen). We were unable to respond in Ukrainian. We were then directed to a nearby table

holding decorated hard-boiled eggs and paska. Paska is a special decorated bread which is

always torn and never cut. The breakfast buffet held special Easter fare. A local gal

translated much of the food for us. What a nice surprise!

     Later in the morning at the Lavra Monastery there were long lines of people with their

baskets of food waiting for it to be blessed by the priest.

    We learned about salo—a pig fat product that is served many ways. It is white in color

and reminded me of Crisco. Apparently it is popular in this part of the world although it did 

not  appeal to me in any form.

In Hong Kong it is good to know that taxis charge round-trip fare when using the tunnel 

under the harbor between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. They have to return to wherever 

they started and pay the tunnel toll again.


 In Russia it might be good to know that Kvass is similar to beer without the alcohol content 

and is made from fruit and berries. Mors is made from berry juice which has been diluted  

and fermented.

SCOTTISH TRIVIA

                                          Interesting Trivia

• The thistle has been the symbol of the country for 500 years. Legend has it that sleeping Scots were awakened by invading Vikings when they cried out after stepping on thistles in their bare feet. The Scots won the battle and the guardian thistle made it into history.
• Language originally was Celtic based with some Gaelic and a smattering of Norse dialects. By 1980 less than two percent of the population understood Gaelic. Gaelic is most popular on the Isle of Sky where 60% of the population speak the language. Accents and dialects have not developed in Scotland as they have in England.
• The Highland games started more than 1000 years ago. Bagpipe playing and dancing are always part of the games.
• After a wet harvest centuries ago, finding a way to use rain soaked barley resulted in the national whisky known as scotch. Scotch is the whisky, not the name of the people who inhabit the country. They are Scots, and the adjective is Scottish.
• All the museums in Glasgow are free.

      Big Bertha, a huge crane is now a monument to the vast and prosperous ship-building industry that the city of Glasgow was famous for. The last ship built on the Clyde was the Q E 2 in 1962. During W W II a warship a day rolled off the rails into the River Clyde. The 24-hour a day operation was incredible when 2000 ships hit the seas in a six year period. Before the war most of the ships built were passenger ships including all of the Cunard line ships. At one point the shipbuilding industry employed over 200,000 people. The ships were not only built here, but fully outfitted here as well. To say something is Clyde built means that it is quality and built to last. The River Clyde is but 78 miles long and has as much as a 20-foot tide here in the city.

      In Dornoch. We visited the 1239 Presbyterian Church where a couple of elderly docents told us this where Madonna had her son christened and that Prince Charles also had visited the church. The ladies proudly told us that the hotel across the street was once the home of Andrew Carnegie,

     They forgot to tell us that Dornoch is the area where the last witch burning in Scotland took place in 1722. An old woman was accused of turning her daughter into a pony and riding it around town. She was sentenced to be burned alive in a pot of boiling tar.

OTHER RUSSIAN MEMORIES

                                                         So Much to See

       Every time we entered our Moscow hotel we had to scan all out belongings and walk through a scanner. Just one of those things these days!

       Most Russian homes, especially in the countryside have a ‘red corner’. Originally that is where the religious icons were displayed. After the Bolshevik Revolution the religious icons were replaced with busts of Lenin and Stalin. Since the demise of the USSR in 1989 the religious icons again have a place of honor.

     Russian nesting dolls are called matryoshka. The brightly colored and decorated lacquered boxes are called palekh.

      Conflicting info was often given (bus numbers in Moscow, where things were located)

     Traffic was heavy in the big cities. Pedestrian beware!

     Infrastructure often in need of repair.

     Museums are housed in old palaces.

    In spite of Stalin destroying half of the churches there are still many many of them.

     Payment of $4-6 was required in nearly all places to use one’s own camera inside.

     Built in 1825, the Bolshoi is Moscow’s oldest and best-known theater. Its splendid external architecture sports a lavish façade with columns and large bronze horses at its peak. The theater, known for its world-famous opera and ballet companies seats 2000; only the La Scala in Italy is larger. A large granite monument of Karl Marx, looking at the Bolshoi stands in the square across the street from the theater. Unfortunately the theater was under renovation when we visited so we could not get inside---too bad!

      Because of ice on Lake Onega we were not able to make the next two scheduled stops at Petrozavodsk and Kizhi Island. We laid to waiting for an icebreaker to get us through the very southern portion of Lake Ladoga. Rain did nothing to enhance the rather drab town of Vytegrn. It was an unscheduled stop and one few tourists see. We maneuvered around mud puddles on a dirt road from the pier to the town center where we visited a church (1873) and a small but well done museum. Individual wooden houses and log cabins lined the street, and in the distant background were a couple of Stalin concrete apartments.

      Our final stop before St. Petersburg was Mandrogy. The small village is a place for the new rich Russian to escape to. The area is situated in deep dense forest. Steep metal roofs topped wooden buildings and much wood carving was used as decoration. The architecture was rather unique. After warming up a bit on a windy cold day we walked to the ferry landing to board a hand turned cable ferry for a five-minute crossing to Pushkin Island. Pushkin was a famous Russian poet of fairy tales. Walking a well-packed path through the woods we stopped every few meters to observe wood carvings illustrating Pushkin fairy tales. We were well sheltered on the island, but once across the river the wind hit us full force in the face! It was fun to get somewhere few tourists do.

      Christ Our Savior Cathedral is the largest church in Moscow. It was started in 1839 after the war of 1812 and it took 44 years and the reign of four czars to complete. The first electric lights in the city were installed in front of this church. Stalin destroyed it in 1931 and it became a city swimming pool. The pool was covered up in 1994 and in 1995, financed with private monies, construction began on this new church. It took four years to finish the exterior and two years to finish the interior. The mosaics inside are beautiful. The church has five domes with a big central and four angular turrets with 14 bells. The church is so big that the main cathedral of the Kremlin can fit inside.

COTSWOLDS INFO

                                                 Absolutely Charming

I can’t imagine anyone not being enthralled with the Cotswolds with its quaint villages, charming thatched-roof homes, lovely gardens and the picturesque bridges over all the rivers running though towns. I found several neat and different things to learn about and photograph. Here are some of them.

Avon is a Celtic word meaning river. Stratford is a Saxon word: strat means soft road and forde means over a river, in this case the River Avon, not the Avon River. Over time the final e has been dropped from Stratford. Richard I (King Richard the Lion Hearted) granted Stratford-upon-Avon a charter in 1196. A charter was necessary to become a market town.

Upon boarding a canal boat we learned all of the locks are manual, no mechanized ones, and are operated by the same winch—(or whatever the tool is)—which is given to you when you rent the boat. We found out soon enough that it is rather strenuous work to open and close the locks, but one soon gets the hang of it.

Mr. Wedgwood helped finance the canal system built in the 1700s---too much of his merchandise was being broken via horse and wagon.

In town we boarded a manual winch ferry to cross the river, as we needed to be on the other side of the river. On this small ferry the fellow stood up and turned a wheel which moved a chain that propelled us the short distance across the river. This mechanism was new to me.

Windows in the 1700s were only open wooden framed spaces in the walls and tended to be few in number. Being open left the home exposed in bad weather. When it rained a cloth, smeared with fat from cooking, covered the wooden frame placing it over the window opening. Perhaps this was the original storm window?

A yeoman farmer is one who owns his farm vs. a tenant farmer who rents his plot of land.

All bus and truck drivers in England, by law, are required to stop for a 45-minute rest every 4-½ hours. They are limited to driving only 9 hours a day.

China clay is quarried, but only a small amount of it is sent to the china/porcelain industry. It is the paper industry that has a big demand for it, as it is the substance that makes paper shiny for all those slick colored ads.

Built in 1246  Hailes Abbey ruins, , once housed 20 monks and 10 lay brothers. Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and brother to Henry III, was caught in a storm at sea in 1242. He vowed that if he survived the storm, he would build a religious house. Hailes Abbey was the fulfillment of that promise. The first cloister was built of wood, but replaced with stone at the end of the 15^th century. The abbey was destroyed, like nearly all others, during Henry VIII reign. All churches were catholic until that time. Henry just ravished England with his destruction of the churches.

SURPRISES

                                            New Things Here and There

• In Germany I saw the tallest lupines I’ve ever seen. They came in all colors and seemed to be a garden favorite. Quite different from our Texas bluebonnets.

• In the Bahamas Cable Beach was a beach with no name until 1907 when it became the starting point for laying the trans-Atlantic cable to Florida that connected the island to the US mainland.

• In Croatia a linden tree is always near a church so people can sit under it to contemplate and solve problems. The tree has a heart shaped leaf and is a symbol of hospitality. The linden tree is the Croatia’s national tree. Tea is sometimes brewed from the leaves. In Belgium the linden tree is severely cut back each year. 
   
• In Belgium bell towers have a clock on all four sides---this is also true in other places.
• Scotland has 2 million sheep—two for every person in the country.
• It is possible to exchange money in at the post office and may be the cheapest place to do so.
  
  
• In Switzerland many stairs lead to a ravine tunnel elevator that took us to another stairway leading to Trummelbach Falls where the noise was deafening—the noise of 20,000 liters of water per second cascading down the mountain!. It was a damp and slippery walk up to the falls that are glacier fed from the Mts. Eiger, Monch and Junfrau. The sight was spectacular and difficult to capture on film and because of the noise it was impossible to carry on a conversation.
   
• Dutch auctions start high and go down, opposite of most auctions.

Small villages in Holland have hand operated draw bridges.

Dutch people are friendly and have a great sense of humor.

• In York, England streets are called gates from the Viking word. So gates are bars and streets are gates---confusing! I’ve seen many ancient city gates in my travels but York had the most extensive and different gates still intact. Bootham Bar is the defensible bastion for the north road. Micklegate Bar on the south was traditionally the entrance for monarchy, and the place where traitor’s heads were displayed. Monk Bar, the last bar built, is the tallest and has kept the portcullis (iron grating) in working order. It has a couple of levels and each one is defendable. On the street level is a tax door, as everything entering the city was taxed. Walmgate Bar is the only town gate in England to have preserved its barbican, a funnel-like approach forcing attackers to bunch together.

• We walked a good part of the  ancient three-mile  wall surrounding the inner city of York. The population inside the walled city is 2000, the city’s population reaches 60,000 and greater York approaches 150,000.

MORE IRISH TRIVIA

 Irish Trivia Continued

Country

• The Gulf Stream moderates west coast temperatures.
• Seaweed is harvested for use in the cosmetic industry.
• Oysters are found in Galway Bay.
• There are huge seabird colonies. The gannet mates for life and returns to the old nest each year. They have a long white beak, yellow on their head and black outlines on their face.
• The first settlers stayed along the coast because of impregnable forests.
• Christianity came to Ireland in the 15^th century and in the 16^th century Oliver Cromwell destroyed the churches.
• The River Shannon is the longest at 230 miles.
• The highest mountain is 3414 feet.
• They say it rains in Ireland only two times a week, Monday to Thursday and Friday to Sunday.
• The west coast gets much more rain than the east coast.
• The countryside is a vibrant emerald green.
• Dry set short stone walls are seen all over the countryside.
• In the countryside drivers are very courteous on the very narrow roads.
• Mail trucks and post offices are green.
• Slate roofs seem to be the norm, although new ones are synthetic look-alikes.
• Rocky coasts and large tides have prevented a lot of harbors from developing.

Odds and Ends

• President Kennedy’s great grandfather came from Ireland.
• Andrew Jackson is the only US president not born in the United States. He was born in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in 1767 on an emigrant ship taking his parents from Carrigfergus, County Antrim.
• Hundreds of the 1197 victims in the Lusitania sinking are buried in Cohb (pronounced cove).
• Many well known authors and poets including James Joyce, Yeats, and Jonathan Swift called Ireland home.
• The famous Waterford glass factory is the largest in the world and hosts 3000 visitors every week!
• John Holland from Liscomb invented the submarine.
• The old and new mix well. Buildings are only three stories high.

SOME IRISH TRIVIA

 Good to Know Trivia

• Burning peat in homes emitting its distinctive aroma is common.
• Celts used hanging moss as toilet paper eons ago.
• The tapping of the foot is called riding the boat.
• In an Irish wake the body remains above ground for a week.
• An Irish ceilidh (pronounced cay lee—the dh in Gaelic is silent) involves Irish music, song and dance.
• Signs are in both Gaelic and English. Gaelic is learned in school and tests are given in Gaelic.
• There is no definitive yes or no in the Irish language.
• Getting to know the Irish is like finding a friend for life.
• The Irish love any excuse for a party and the country is legendary for its craic (good fun). Festivals and fairs are a massive part of Irish cultural life.
• In the Republic of Ireland 95% of the people are Catholic.
• Divorce was not legal until 1995.
• Birth control was not allowed until the 1980s.
• Celtic designs represent eternity and leave a story telling legacy.
• The faster an Irishman talks, the heavier the bough and the harder to understand.
• Fish and chips are a common menu item.
• 99 ice cream is popular everywhere.
• The thousands of sheep are marked with the owner’s colored grease mark.
• Counties all have colors and display such flags everywhere for all kinds of events.
• No bother is a common expression.
• A well known Irish comedian says, “That’s a good one. Write it down.”
• Shay la la means another story.

Drinking

• Poteen is moonshine made from peat.
• Irish whiskey with cloves, sugar, lemon and hot water is called hot powers.
• Ireland is as famous for its castles as it is for the national drink, Guinness.
• Water of life is Irish whisky.
• Downing a pint is equivalent to ingesting the most complete vegetarian meal in the world.
• Women imbibe a half-pint, not a full pint---that is left to the men.

BELIGUIN and DUTCH CUISINE

BELGIUN CUISNE

Belgium is famous for its brewing tradition and there are 4000 brands produced within the country. Several brews are still brewed by Trappist monks.

Poffertjes are small fried balls of dough dusted with sugar.

Asparagus, fresh seafood, especially tiny shrimp (crevettes), red cabbage prepared with apple, and frites-twice fried French fries are also popular.

Beef braised in beer, mussels, and the Belgian national dish of (jambon d’ Ardenne) smoked ham from Ardennes are easily found.

Gouda and Edam are popular cheeses. Herring is often served with raw onions 


and makes a treat    when served on rhy bread or a bolletje (soft roll)

      

Hearty pea soup (erwtensoep) simmered with pork, sausage or bacon


 is a stable diet food. A stew made   with potatoes, carrots and onions is 


called hutsepot and is also popular.

A stooperwafle is a waffle made from two thin layers of baked batter with 


a caramel-like syrup     filling   in the middle. They were first made


 in Gouda, Netherlands. Traditionally they are placed on top of a cup of 


hot coffee or tea to soften the middle and then eaten. Yummy!

Popular with tourists is the Indonesian Rijsttafel.

This Dutch Colonial feast was created to provide a festive and official type of banquet that would represent the multi-ethnic nature of the Indonesian archipelago. It was brought back to the Netherlands by former colonials and exiled Indonesians in 1945 after Indonesia gained its independence. Often containing up to 40 different dishes with rice cooked several different ways, it could be described as a huge Chinese buffet.

DUTCH CUSINE

Gaufres are waffles topped with sugar, fruit and/or whipped cream.

You’ll find pancakes with sweet fillings, mashed potatoes with carrots or sauerkraut, beef and onion stew and wonderful hearty breads.

Deep fried croquettes are served with mustard.

Broodjes are sandwiches or rolls filled with a variety of fillings.

Popular with tourists is the Indonesian Rijsttafel.

This Dutch Colonial feast was created to provide a festive and official type of banquet that would represent the multi-ethnic nature of the Indonesian archipelago. It was brought back to the Netherlands by former colonials and exiled Indonesians in 1945 after Indonesia gained its independence. Often containing up to 40 different dishes with rice cooked several different ways, it could be described as a huge Chinese buffet.

MORE FOODS---#3

                                           More GreatFoods

Cornish Pastry

Years ago tin miners took their lunch down into the mines. Their wives created a pie with a very thick crust. The miners could eat the inside of the pie while holding the thick crust with their dirty contaminated hands. When they were finished the crust was discarded. Today the crust has been replaced with a flaky pastry. My filling was a ground lamb mixture about the consistency of mush. It was different but very good, and if I had not known it was a lamb filling I never would have guessed it.

Peppakahor

Peppakahor is a thin ginger and almond Swedish cookie. The fluted round cookies are used to make the equivalent of gingerbread houses at Christmas time. These yummy cookies taste a lot like a ginger cookie.

Mongolian Hot Pot

A Mongolian hot pot dinner, hot meaning heat hot, not spicy hot, was an interesting experience. A pot of boiling water over a burner was at each place setting. The lazy susan was loaded with all kinds of veggies, and meat. A large array of condiments to make one’s own sauce was on another table. It was a different kind of meal and one could individualize her meal however she liked. A fun meal in China.

Pavlova

Pavlova, the desert named after the famous dancer, has been a rival between Australia and New Zealand for years. I tasted my first Pavlova at a museum café on my first trip down under. The baked meringue pie shell is filled with whipped cream (the real stuff) and topped with thin slices of kiwi. It is yummy.

Good but Different Pizza

The pizza we had in Vienna and throughout the Balkans was good, but different. The paper-thin crust was brushed with olive oil, then toppings added. It is common to share a pizza, so it always came with half on each of two plates. No other cuttings are made, unless requested. The very thin dough really requires one eating it with a knife and fork. We liked these pizzas and ate many of them.

Chop Sticks

The first day in China our guide gave us a lesson on how to hold and use chop sticks. I had always had a bit of a problem with them in the past. But I conquered the technique and ate every single meal with chop sticks---no silverware!

In every restaurant in China we ate at large round tables seating 8-10 people. In the center of the table was a large lazy susan. Serving dishes were placed on it and we helped ourselves to the foods we wanted. We were given saucer-size plates, but the Chinese eat directly from the main bowl. The food was always good. Dessert is nearly always fruit.

The Best Strudel

I’ve mentioned this before but it is such a wonderful memory I shall repeat it. My German bicycle guide detoured us mid-afternoon one day to Eizendorf to a family B & B where we enjoyed a wonderful apple strudel. It was hot out of the oven, and served with or without schlag (real whipped cream), whatever your choice.

Apple strudel is popular in this part of the world, and over the years I’ve eaten a lot of it, but none has ever been as good as that wonderful Eizendorf strudel!

MORE FOODS

                                                    More Experiences

Lentil Soup

Every noon for fifteen days I consumed lentil soup for lunch. Why? While traveling in Scotland, we found ourselves each day in a castle, fort or museum at noontime.

Suddenly I’d look at my watch and tell my traveling buddy, “We only have fifteen minutes left.”

We’d then hurry to the ever-present café. Lentil soup was always ready, hot, and quick to serve. More than once I added an ice cube to my steaming soup to quickly cool it to eating temperature. The lentil soup and a crusty roll hit the spot.

The soup varied a bit, but was always tasty and good. We enjoyed the quick service, and always joined the others on time.

Yak Burger and Milk

In Tibet I ate a yak burger at the hotel and found it quite tasty, very similar to a beefburger. I ate a yak steak at a local restaurant, complete with entertainment. It was a fun-filled evening and I was even kissed by a yak. The yak milk was good although quite different. Sweet, it was drunk warm.

Borsch

Borsch is a traditional Russian soup. The main ingredients are beets and cabbage. Borsch can be pink to deep red depending on the amount of beets used. It can be thin or thick like a stew. Other available vegetable chunks and or sausage may be added. I had the best borsch in Kiev, Ukraine, and the worst at the Moscow hotel. I like borsch and enjoyed very good ones in between those two.

Bugs anyone?

In Oaxaca, Mexico, people eat chapulines, fried grasshoppers, like we eat candy. There often was a small bowl of them on the restaurant table. There were huge baskets full of chapulines in all the local markets.

Most natives pull off the legs before popping the crisp critters in their mouth. I was game to try them, but they are not a favorite treat.

I brought home a commercially sealed jar of them that could pass through airport agriculture. It was fun watching people’s reactions as I shared them.

Porridge

Porridge (oatmeal) is always included in a Scottish breakfast. The country is well known for its good oats. Porridge is never lumpy, is served piping hot and never with sugar, but a bit of milk is permissible.

Tortes

Tortes are a common dessert, and perhaps the most famous one is Vienna’s Sacher Torte. The multi layered chocolate cake with apricot filling between each layer is a long time specialty of the Sacher Hotel. When in Vienna one must put this treat on their agenda.

Hokey Pokey

We were told that New Zealand’s favorite i.e. national ice cream is hokey pokey. Of course this ice creamaholic had to try it. We might call it butter pecan or butter crunch. It was good.