Neue Lieblingsmusik von mir. Leider finde ich nur 2 Videos! Need moar, MOAR!!!
2016/04/30
2016/04/19
Savoury Cheese Muffins
[J.] It seems like I am really getting into the cooking or baking at the moment. I am not sure yet if cooking really is something I will ever be absolutely passionate about. I think that I am enjoying it so much at the moment because of the cold and rainy weather we are experiencing here in Buenos Aires since our arrival. It is not even that cold, but cloudy, windy and miserable most of the time and hence, not really a lot of fun to walk around and explore this city. And in order to kill some time, I started this baking or cooking thing. Also, the recipes are very simple, quick and it is no problem if one does not get the amount of the ingredients or the oven temperature hundred percent right...
Yesterday evening, we had planned to finish most of the left overs from the previous days, but then we also felt the urge for something freshly made. And that's where the savoury muffins came in...
Ingredients for Savoury Cheese Muffins (as per the Edmonds Cookery Book):
1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped red or green pepper
3/4 cup grated tasty cheese
2 cups plane flour
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
50 g butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of milk
Put celery, pepper and cheese into a bowl. Sift flour, cayenne, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Stir to combine. Quickly stir in egg butter and milk just to moisten.
Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes or until golden.
Makes 12.
Et voila!
The muffins were really tasty and we had them for dinner fresh out of the oven. They were moist and soft / sponge-like. Add some butter and top it with salami or ham; it was sooo delicious!
Notes:
1) I altered the basic recipe in the following way:
a) Instead of using cayenne pepper, I added a teaspoon of freshly chopped and very spicy chilli
b) I added a teaspoon of dried herbs de Provence
2) I would recommend to use more salt than just 1/4 of a teaspoon. I used 1/2 and still felt it could have been a bit more. However, you can still sprinkle some more salt over them later while eating.
3) Due to the lack of appropriate muffin tins, I used coffee cups and poured the remaining dough into a baking tray. The latter tasted the same but was obviously not as spongy and moist as the muffins out of the coffee cups. However, husband used the 'flan'-like bread to prepare some sandwiches for our Spanish class today by slicing several pieces into half and adding cold cut, tomatoes, cheese, etcetera. Yum!
Yesterday evening, we had planned to finish most of the left overs from the previous days, but then we also felt the urge for something freshly made. And that's where the savoury muffins came in...
Ingredients for Savoury Cheese Muffins (as per the Edmonds Cookery Book):1 tablespoon chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped red or green pepper
3/4 cup grated tasty cheese
2 cups plane flour
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
50 g butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of milk
Put celery, pepper and cheese into a bowl. Sift flour, cayenne, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Stir to combine. Quickly stir in egg butter and milk just to moisten.
Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes or until golden.
Makes 12.
Et voila!
The muffins were really tasty and we had them for dinner fresh out of the oven. They were moist and soft / sponge-like. Add some butter and top it with salami or ham; it was sooo delicious! Notes:
1) I altered the basic recipe in the following way:a) Instead of using cayenne pepper, I added a teaspoon of freshly chopped and very spicy chilli
b) I added a teaspoon of dried herbs de Provence
2) I would recommend to use more salt than just 1/4 of a teaspoon. I used 1/2 and still felt it could have been a bit more. However, you can still sprinkle some more salt over them later while eating.
3) Due to the lack of appropriate muffin tins, I used coffee cups and poured the remaining dough into a baking tray. The latter tasted the same but was obviously not as spongy and moist as the muffins out of the coffee cups. However, husband used the 'flan'-like bread to prepare some sandwiches for our Spanish class today by slicing several pieces into half and adding cold cut, tomatoes, cheese, etcetera. Yum!
2016/04/18
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and La Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires
[J.] The weather in Buenos Aires greeted us with clouds and rain and it remained to do so for the last two weeks. That's the kind of weather where you either cosy up at home on the couch, having rich and comforting food and watch one movie after the other. Or alternatively, you visit a museum. The latter was our choice for this Sunday while the clouds were hanging thick and low over the city.
The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is located in Recoleta, a barrio (neighbourhood) of Buenos Aires of "great historical and architectural interest, mostly because of the Recoleta Cemetery" as per Wikipedia. The museum does not charge any entry fees, features an international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century, and contains a collection of paintings by some of the 20th-century Argentine painters.
We had a stroll around the various halls of the exhibition for about an hour. The paintings and sculptures and art presented in this exhibition are interesting and I really liked the high ceilings and interior design of the museums itself, but overall I would not say it is one of the better art collections shown here. In my opinion, the exhibition lacks a more precise guiding theme and more detailed explanation. The titles and explanations are sometimes only in Spanish, something that might be considered acceptable but not what I expected of an national museum located in the capital of this country. In addition, it presents paintings of international artists from France, Germany and so on, without explaining why they are considered important for Argentinian art. Overall, the guiding theme was not as present as I would have wished for such a museum.
Anyway, with more time on our hands than expected after visiting this museum, we decided to further walk towards the famous Recoleta Cemetery.
And it really did not fail to impress us, I have never seen such a beautiful cemetery before. According to Wikipedia, this cemetery "contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Peron, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon. [...] In 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world." Due to the rain, the cemetery had quite a depressing atmosphere to it, I really would have wished for the sun to come out showing a nice blue sky. On the other hand, one might argue that a miserable, dismally, rainy day can be considered very suitable for a cemetery visit (something, I strongly disagree with).
The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is located in Recoleta, a barrio (neighbourhood) of Buenos Aires of "great historical and architectural interest, mostly because of the Recoleta Cemetery" as per Wikipedia. The museum does not charge any entry fees, features an international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century, and contains a collection of paintings by some of the 20th-century Argentine painters.
We had a stroll around the various halls of the exhibition for about an hour. The paintings and sculptures and art presented in this exhibition are interesting and I really liked the high ceilings and interior design of the museums itself, but overall I would not say it is one of the better art collections shown here. In my opinion, the exhibition lacks a more precise guiding theme and more detailed explanation. The titles and explanations are sometimes only in Spanish, something that might be considered acceptable but not what I expected of an national museum located in the capital of this country. In addition, it presents paintings of international artists from France, Germany and so on, without explaining why they are considered important for Argentinian art. Overall, the guiding theme was not as present as I would have wished for such a museum.
Anyway, with more time on our hands than expected after visiting this museum, we decided to further walk towards the famous Recoleta Cemetery.And it really did not fail to impress us, I have never seen such a beautiful cemetery before. According to Wikipedia, this cemetery "contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Peron, presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners, the founder of the Argentine Navy, and a granddaughter of Napoleon. [...] In 2013, CNN listed it among the 10 most beautiful cemeteries in the world." Due to the rain, the cemetery had quite a depressing atmosphere to it, I really would have wished for the sun to come out showing a nice blue sky. On the other hand, one might argue that a miserable, dismally, rainy day can be considered very suitable for a cemetery visit (something, I strongly disagree with).
(Ice-Cream) Pudding from scratch
[J.] I found a Sunday evening, especially a rainy, miserable and cold Sunday evening, is the perfect time to try a new sweet desert recipe from Edmonds Cookery Book. The recipe featuring this evening is the Ice-Cream Pudding, served chilled.
However, I think this recipe is a basic recipe for a vanilla pudding and best served warm and fresh from the stove instead of chilled. It so reminds me of my childhood, when my grandmother prepared this pudding on a regular basis for my grandfather (who really had a sweet tooth), my sister and me. It is perfect together with any kind of fruit compote or ice cream. My personal favourite is the combination of warm vanilla pudding together with cold cherry compote. Aaaah, these childhood memories are so warming my heart... Grandma, you are the best!
Ingredients for the Ice-Cream Pudding:
50g butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 plain flour
1 egg
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Cream butter and sugar until pale. Stir in flour. Lightly beat egg with a fork. Add to creamed mixture.
In a saucepan, mix creamed mixture and milk together. Cook over a low heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Pour into serving dish and chill until set.
Serves 4.
Notes:
I altered the recipe slightly in the following way:
1) Depending on your personal preference: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence instead of 1/2
2) Add a pinch of salt
3) Add a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
In the meantime...
1) Exercised my upper arm muscles by beating the mixture with an egg whisk and thinking of how difficult cooking/baking must have been without electricity. Really wished a mixer would be available. But then, this pink whisk so deserves to be used...
2) Pudding disappeared already, straight out of the saucepan and left husband and myself with a full and happy belly. Mmmmh...
However, I think this recipe is a basic recipe for a vanilla pudding and best served warm and fresh from the stove instead of chilled. It so reminds me of my childhood, when my grandmother prepared this pudding on a regular basis for my grandfather (who really had a sweet tooth), my sister and me. It is perfect together with any kind of fruit compote or ice cream. My personal favourite is the combination of warm vanilla pudding together with cold cherry compote. Aaaah, these childhood memories are so warming my heart... Grandma, you are the best!
Ingredients for the Ice-Cream Pudding:
50g butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 plain flour
1 egg
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Cream butter and sugar until pale. Stir in flour. Lightly beat egg with a fork. Add to creamed mixture.
In a saucepan, mix creamed mixture and milk together. Cook over a low heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Pour into serving dish and chill until set.
Serves 4.
 |
| Pudding fresh from the stove! |
I altered the recipe slightly in the following way:
1) Depending on your personal preference: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence instead of 1/2
2) Add a pinch of salt
3) Add a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
In the meantime...
1) Exercised my upper arm muscles by beating the mixture with an egg whisk and thinking of how difficult cooking/baking must have been without electricity. Really wished a mixer would be available. But then, this pink whisk so deserves to be used...
2) Pudding disappeared already, straight out of the saucepan and left husband and myself with a full and happy belly. Mmmmh...
2016/04/17
Sonntag Morgen in BA
Kaffeetrinkenspuelenunregelmaessigeverbenlernen und die neue Platte von Bleached hoeren. Yay!
2016/04/16
I Latina... Fine dining in BA
[J.] We have a big love for food and we love going out from time to time enjoying a fine dining dinner or lunch. I still remember how I thought about it years ago. "Spending so much money for food? For dinner?" - were only some of the few non-believing questions I would have asked.
So, what actually fascinates me so much about fine-dining and why do I have no shame in spending money for great food from time to time? I would say, it is a combination of different things that create three to four hours of perfect entertainment and food:
1) Quite obviously, the food itself is the main part of enjoyment and there are four ways of preparing a dish that is so magical to me.
a) If someone talks about a sandwich with cheese and tomato, everyone can easily imagine how such a sandwich would taste. Right now, while reading this, you can for sure imagine eating such a sandwich, because we eat such sandwiches a lot and we easily remember how it tastes and especially how the combination of cheese and tomato and bread tastes. But when going out for fine dining, it is so likely that various courses bring (at least for me) unknown flavours together. A combination of ingredients you have not eaten before and that's what makes it such a great new experience (and to be honest, for me its magic as I just cannot combine flavours with each other in my head). Do you know for example how great prawns and pineapple are working together and how it would taste like? Or baked peaches and aniseed ? Bingo... And from my own experience, it is always worth trying to get a bit of everything presented on the plate onto the spoon or fork or into your mouth at the same time: So often, the course is the best if you bring all of the ingredients together instead of nibbling at them one after another.
b) The deconstruction and/or recomposition of classic dishes. For example, the classic tomato and mozzarella salad with basil leaves. Now, imagine having it as a clear pre-appetiser drink, different look but totally the same taste!
c) Perfect cooking skills and food execution: I am sure, everyone knows more or less how rubber-like a bad prepared and cooked octopus can be like when chewing on it. But just yesterday, we had a pulpo that was so soft and so well cooked, it just dissolved on our tongues; unbelievable! So, although you know how such a dish would taste like, it is the actually preparation skill of the food ingredients that makes the dish such an enjoyment.
d) The structure of the food ingredients itself in another delight, I would say. If everything on the plate is a mush or pap, the whole course won't feel too appealing while eating it even if it tastes amazing. On the contrary, a dish is much better when you have a bit of everything structure-wise: soft parts, crunchy parts, melting parts and maybe even hot and cold parts at the same time. And so often, without you even noticing it, the chefs generally make sure that a course has different structures to it.
e) The presentation: Not much need to be said about this point, presenting food in a great way makes a course way more fun compared to a plate where everything is just shoved onto. And fine dining restaurants generally simply nail it.
2) In addition, I so enjoy the people working at good restaurants; those you are likely to most interact with: the waiter and waitresses as well as the sommelier.
a) The waiter and waitresses are of course presenting each course to you and are making sure you have everything you need during your lunch/dinner but I also like to think about them as those people who are making sure you are enjoying your time and being entertained. So often, they are witty and funny and just good entertainment, and we generally interact a lot with them over the course of our dinner, asking this and that about the course/food on the plate, other random things and husband tends to make really nice jokes with them. Yesterday at the I Latina, one waiter asked us if we are speaking English or Spanish. We mentioned that estudiamos espanol for two weeks now and that we only understand un pocito. So he was like "Okay! - let me introduce the courses in Spanish and we will see how it goes!" Of course, we were all up for it, had a lot of fun together and really understood more of what he explained to us in Spanish than we thought. And he also taught us some Spanish words, like 'Estuvo delicioso/divino!'. Really nice guy...
b) I do not know a lot about wine and grapes. But what I know is that the skills of a sommelier are the last ingredient to make a course really good. And pairing the wine to the food is something that I would say can separate the really good courses from the outstanding ones. I especially remember one sommelier at the restaurant Rust en Vrede (http://rustenvrede.com/restaurant/) in Stellenbosch, South Africa, with whom we had so much fun (and I like to think of him having had fun with us as well as the wine glasses were always extra full for every course; I seriously cannot recall the food after the seventh course) and who paired the wine so perfectly, for me it was the most outstanding experience during that evening (and the food itself was already more than just an experience). For example, one wine we had for a course that night was so not appealing on a stand-alone basis, smelling and tasting like salty fish water with algae; but when it was paired with the food it was the most delicious combination, way beyond what I could have imagined. Totally fascinating.
Then of course there are other components that contribute to making an evening eating out really worth for me:
3) Good company and great conversations. I believe that food is one of the best occasions to share stories and connect with people. It is so much easier to prepare food, eat and drink and just get the conversation going. And still, how often do I look around me when sitting in a restaurant and I see couples that are silent for most of the time during a dinner. Or they text on their phones. Or frankly, look bored. It is so sad to watch.
4) Relaxing and simply enjoying the evening. I remember my first time at a fine-dining restaurant. Worried about etiquette and behaviour and style and what else. Truth is, for most of the occasions it simply does not matter (however, sometimes it really depends on the location and occasion). The last two times we went out fine dining, I was wearing running shoes because that is the only pair of shoes that I currently have (pairing them with an overall casual outfit). Not even once did the waiter and waitresses blink or gave me the feeling of not being welcome. And indeed, it should not matter in the first place (as long as I am not dressed totally out of line). I am going there to enjoy the food, not other perfectly styled customers. Fact.
And then of course the most important factor: 5) You have to love food. You obviously don't need to be a cook (I am certainly not), but you should love to eat.
So, 'I Latina' - a Latin American restaurant (http://ilatinabuenosaires.com/). It is located around the corner of where we currently live in Buenos Aires, the suburb of Villa Crespo. Based on various information available on the web, the restaurant is run by three siblings from Colombia, but their food draws on influences from all across South America. The tasting menu included seven courses as well as snacks, breadbasket and coffee and we choose to go with the wine pairing for this evening. More information can be found on their web-page, also featuring a lot of lovely food pictures.
We were the first people to arrive that evening. So German, haha! But then, the Argentinian people like to eat late and made their reservation for a later time that evening. Which I liked because we had the whole restaurant for ourselves for a few minutes... The whole atmosphere of this place, the really nice people working there, the open kitchen (would have wished to sit right next to the kitchen in the back of this picture) and lovely decoration made it easy to enjoy the evening. And the food, well... the menu was really well balanced, every course was a super delicious, individual dish in its own and every course met the expectations raised by the previous courses. The wine pairing was also great, and we especially liked that they were all Argentinian wines and no imported ones. Maybe, we will visit this restaurant again before leaving Argentina in some weeks time. Will see, but definitely a recommendation should you be around :)
In the meantime...
1) During this week, I had one of the worst mornings in a long time. Just imagine a morning, where literally everything is going wrong... The day started of with husband and I oversleeping. We were rushing through our morning routine to get out of the house as fast as we can. It was raining heavily and hence, we decided to take the bus instead of walking (no umbrella at hand). While waiting at the bus stand, which was elevated slightly above street level, an emergency vehicle was driving past the bus station at high speed, through a puddle of water which turned out to be one of the biggest right in front of me. I did not expect the splash to be bad at all, because of this elevated bus stand. But it hit me with so much water, I was basically dripping wet. Noooo! After getting out of the bus and on the way to the class room, a kiosk wasn't stocked with cigarettes I felt I really needed being all wet, then my rain coat got caught in a motorbike parked close to the pavement and made me slip badly on the wet surface and if that was not enough yet, the moment I walked through the door of the class room, someone literally slapped the door into my face unintentionally and only missed my nose by a few centimetres. Coffee normally available at the class room was out that day and, because I overslept I did not prepare my homework which I had left for the early morning. Boy, it was not even 9.30 and I was already done with the day.
2) This week, it was six month ago that we left South Africa. And we still miss this country and Johannesburg so much. But I guess, that's a whole different story and for sure deserves its own blog post.
3) Our Spanish is really improving, something that I would have never thought to happen so quickly. We have little day-to-day chats with people we meet in the elevator or at the shopping stores. Or even yesterday with the waiter at the I Latina. So cool to actually see how we are improving! And the whole process of learning this language and how the brain is processing it, is fascinating to me. After a lot of information we were provided with last week and we all understood quickly, there were one or two days at the beginning of this week where we felt like our brains are cramping. Everyone in our class felt like that. I mean this moment, where one is learning something new and the body and/or brain is still in the process of automating it. One knows how things work, in our case some basic grammar rules and words, but during exercises the brain just seems confused of where to find the information, let it be vocabulary or grammar rules. For me, this have been the one or two days where I was constantly using French words I did not even know I would ever remember from school. I have not spoken French for more than 20 years but now and out of the sudden my brain thought it might be a good idea to throw all sorts of French words and expressions at me... Wow.
So, what actually fascinates me so much about fine-dining and why do I have no shame in spending money for great food from time to time? I would say, it is a combination of different things that create three to four hours of perfect entertainment and food:
 |
| Husband and I after some glasses of wine at the I Latina |
a) If someone talks about a sandwich with cheese and tomato, everyone can easily imagine how such a sandwich would taste. Right now, while reading this, you can for sure imagine eating such a sandwich, because we eat such sandwiches a lot and we easily remember how it tastes and especially how the combination of cheese and tomato and bread tastes. But when going out for fine dining, it is so likely that various courses bring (at least for me) unknown flavours together. A combination of ingredients you have not eaten before and that's what makes it such a great new experience (and to be honest, for me its magic as I just cannot combine flavours with each other in my head). Do you know for example how great prawns and pineapple are working together and how it would taste like? Or baked peaches and aniseed ? Bingo... And from my own experience, it is always worth trying to get a bit of everything presented on the plate onto the spoon or fork or into your mouth at the same time: So often, the course is the best if you bring all of the ingredients together instead of nibbling at them one after another.
b) The deconstruction and/or recomposition of classic dishes. For example, the classic tomato and mozzarella salad with basil leaves. Now, imagine having it as a clear pre-appetiser drink, different look but totally the same taste!
c) Perfect cooking skills and food execution: I am sure, everyone knows more or less how rubber-like a bad prepared and cooked octopus can be like when chewing on it. But just yesterday, we had a pulpo that was so soft and so well cooked, it just dissolved on our tongues; unbelievable! So, although you know how such a dish would taste like, it is the actually preparation skill of the food ingredients that makes the dish such an enjoyment.
d) The structure of the food ingredients itself in another delight, I would say. If everything on the plate is a mush or pap, the whole course won't feel too appealing while eating it even if it tastes amazing. On the contrary, a dish is much better when you have a bit of everything structure-wise: soft parts, crunchy parts, melting parts and maybe even hot and cold parts at the same time. And so often, without you even noticing it, the chefs generally make sure that a course has different structures to it.
e) The presentation: Not much need to be said about this point, presenting food in a great way makes a course way more fun compared to a plate where everything is just shoved onto. And fine dining restaurants generally simply nail it.
 |
| Cocktail for starters! |
b) I do not know a lot about wine and grapes. But what I know is that the skills of a sommelier are the last ingredient to make a course really good. And pairing the wine to the food is something that I would say can separate the really good courses from the outstanding ones. I especially remember one sommelier at the restaurant Rust en Vrede (http://rustenvrede.com/restaurant/) in Stellenbosch, South Africa, with whom we had so much fun (and I like to think of him having had fun with us as well as the wine glasses were always extra full for every course; I seriously cannot recall the food after the seventh course) and who paired the wine so perfectly, for me it was the most outstanding experience during that evening (and the food itself was already more than just an experience). For example, one wine we had for a course that night was so not appealing on a stand-alone basis, smelling and tasting like salty fish water with algae; but when it was paired with the food it was the most delicious combination, way beyond what I could have imagined. Totally fascinating.
Then of course there are other components that contribute to making an evening eating out really worth for me:
3) Good company and great conversations. I believe that food is one of the best occasions to share stories and connect with people. It is so much easier to prepare food, eat and drink and just get the conversation going. And still, how often do I look around me when sitting in a restaurant and I see couples that are silent for most of the time during a dinner. Or they text on their phones. Or frankly, look bored. It is so sad to watch.
And then of course the most important factor: 5) You have to love food. You obviously don't need to be a cook (I am certainly not), but you should love to eat.
 |
| I Latina; view of the kitchen from the dining area |
We were the first people to arrive that evening. So German, haha! But then, the Argentinian people like to eat late and made their reservation for a later time that evening. Which I liked because we had the whole restaurant for ourselves for a few minutes... The whole atmosphere of this place, the really nice people working there, the open kitchen (would have wished to sit right next to the kitchen in the back of this picture) and lovely decoration made it easy to enjoy the evening. And the food, well... the menu was really well balanced, every course was a super delicious, individual dish in its own and every course met the expectations raised by the previous courses. The wine pairing was also great, and we especially liked that they were all Argentinian wines and no imported ones. Maybe, we will visit this restaurant again before leaving Argentina in some weeks time. Will see, but definitely a recommendation should you be around :)
1) During this week, I had one of the worst mornings in a long time. Just imagine a morning, where literally everything is going wrong... The day started of with husband and I oversleeping. We were rushing through our morning routine to get out of the house as fast as we can. It was raining heavily and hence, we decided to take the bus instead of walking (no umbrella at hand). While waiting at the bus stand, which was elevated slightly above street level, an emergency vehicle was driving past the bus station at high speed, through a puddle of water which turned out to be one of the biggest right in front of me. I did not expect the splash to be bad at all, because of this elevated bus stand. But it hit me with so much water, I was basically dripping wet. Noooo! After getting out of the bus and on the way to the class room, a kiosk wasn't stocked with cigarettes I felt I really needed being all wet, then my rain coat got caught in a motorbike parked close to the pavement and made me slip badly on the wet surface and if that was not enough yet, the moment I walked through the door of the class room, someone literally slapped the door into my face unintentionally and only missed my nose by a few centimetres. Coffee normally available at the class room was out that day and, because I overslept I did not prepare my homework which I had left for the early morning. Boy, it was not even 9.30 and I was already done with the day.
2) This week, it was six month ago that we left South Africa. And we still miss this country and Johannesburg so much. But I guess, that's a whole different story and for sure deserves its own blog post.
3) Our Spanish is really improving, something that I would have never thought to happen so quickly. We have little day-to-day chats with people we meet in the elevator or at the shopping stores. Or even yesterday with the waiter at the I Latina. So cool to actually see how we are improving! And the whole process of learning this language and how the brain is processing it, is fascinating to me. After a lot of information we were provided with last week and we all understood quickly, there were one or two days at the beginning of this week where we felt like our brains are cramping. Everyone in our class felt like that. I mean this moment, where one is learning something new and the body and/or brain is still in the process of automating it. One knows how things work, in our case some basic grammar rules and words, but during exercises the brain just seems confused of where to find the information, let it be vocabulary or grammar rules. For me, this have been the one or two days where I was constantly using French words I did not even know I would ever remember from school. I have not spoken French for more than 20 years but now and out of the sudden my brain thought it might be a good idea to throw all sorts of French words and expressions at me... Wow.
2016/04/13
Baked Apple Dumplings
[J.] While travelling around New Zealand, we were staying with a very lovely family in Wanaka, South Island. They hosted us for two nights and we had a blast preparing dinner with them: they were fun to be around, had interesting stories to share and were seriously digging into food. They shared their whole kitchen with us and well, husband made a lot of use of it. Preparing dinner or a meal together is something that I found to be one of the most rewarding activities when staying with local people and something over which it is easy to connect with people. Okay, I must admit that generally my cooking part reduces to chatting with everyone, sipping on one or more glasses of wine and maybe cutting some ingredients while everyone else actually is preparing the food. I am so not into cooking, but well... I love eating and especially, the social atmosphere when everyone is assembled in the kitchen, chatting about the world and its little stories. That also the reason why I love having a couch in the kitchen!
The second evening, our host prepared the dessert for dinner and they introduced us to what appears to be the most traditional cooking book in New Zealand: Edmonds' Cookery Book. We were told that this cooking book is THE cooking book one will find in every household of New Zealand:
A few days later, we were walking past a book store and I thought, well... let's check if our hosts were right when they said one will actually find this cooking book everywhere. And indeed! Saw the book, and tataah! - Bought it.
Now, there were two questions coming with this purchase:
A) What on earth do I want with a cooking book when I do not cook?
B) Why would I want to carry a book around for the next six months when quite likely I am not going to use it?
These were exactly the questions husband asked. I looked at him and said 'Well, you are right, but a) I simply wanna have it, and b) it will remind us of our trip around New Zealand forever!' So, the deal was that we take the book with us and I am going to bake sweet dishes on a regular basis. Sold!
Now, baking without any basic tools can be a bit of a challenge. But, there are still more then enough basic recipes in this book that do not require any electric tool (besides an oven and some basic oven-proof materials). This evening, I started off with baked apple dumplings (recipe as per Edmonds Cookery Book):
Ingredients for Baked Apple Dumplings (serving 4):
2.5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
50g butter
1 cup milk
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add milk, mixing to a soft dough.
Divide dough into four portions. On a lightly floured board roll out each portion of dough to a 20cm square.
Place an apple onto each dough square. Dampen edges with water. Sprinkle each apple with 1 teaspoon of the measured sugar. Carefully wrap the dough around each apple. Place apples in a greased ovenproof dish.
Put water and remaining sugar into a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Pour this over apples.
Bake at 190 C for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden and apples are cooked.
And that's how the dumplings looked liked:
What I really liked about this recipe is that without having used any precise measurements the dumplings turned out to be totally yummy. They are like sweet bread with a sweet but fresh filling, something that I would call the perfect dessert for a cold day. Combine it with vanilla ice cream and you are in heaven.
Few notes:
1) It does not matter how the dough is wrapped around the apples, just wrap it.
2) Put the dumplings into a rather smaller but deeper dish.
3) I would say that one dumpling is easily filling one person for a meal, but then I might have used more flour and butter compared to what the recipe was indicating...
The second evening, our host prepared the dessert for dinner and they introduced us to what appears to be the most traditional cooking book in New Zealand: Edmonds' Cookery Book. We were told that this cooking book is THE cooking book one will find in every household of New Zealand:
A few days later, we were walking past a book store and I thought, well... let's check if our hosts were right when they said one will actually find this cooking book everywhere. And indeed! Saw the book, and tataah! - Bought it. Now, there were two questions coming with this purchase:
A) What on earth do I want with a cooking book when I do not cook?
B) Why would I want to carry a book around for the next six months when quite likely I am not going to use it?
These were exactly the questions husband asked. I looked at him and said 'Well, you are right, but a) I simply wanna have it, and b) it will remind us of our trip around New Zealand forever!' So, the deal was that we take the book with us and I am going to bake sweet dishes on a regular basis. Sold!
Now, baking without any basic tools can be a bit of a challenge. But, there are still more then enough basic recipes in this book that do not require any electric tool (besides an oven and some basic oven-proof materials). This evening, I started off with baked apple dumplings (recipe as per Edmonds Cookery Book):
Ingredients for Baked Apple Dumplings (serving 4):
2.5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
50g butter
1 cup milk
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Cut in butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add milk, mixing to a soft dough.
Divide dough into four portions. On a lightly floured board roll out each portion of dough to a 20cm square.
Place an apple onto each dough square. Dampen edges with water. Sprinkle each apple with 1 teaspoon of the measured sugar. Carefully wrap the dough around each apple. Place apples in a greased ovenproof dish.
Put water and remaining sugar into a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Pour this over apples.
Bake at 190 C for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden and apples are cooked.
And that's how the dumplings looked liked:
 |
| Two apple dumplings fresh out of the oven :) |
Few notes:
1) It does not matter how the dough is wrapped around the apples, just wrap it.
2) Put the dumplings into a rather smaller but deeper dish.
3) I would say that one dumpling is easily filling one person for a meal, but then I might have used more flour and butter compared to what the recipe was indicating...
2016/04/11
Our first week in Buenos Aires
[J.] It was a week ago that we arrived in Buenos Aires. And this first week felt like one of the toughest weeks in a long time besides us being all excited about actually being here. We were seriously jet-lagged and started the Spanish course at the same time. Maybe not the best idea, but well... how often do we really know how things are going to work out before we are actually doing them. Our day-night rhythm was seriously messed up although we both tried different strategies to exactly avoid this. The trip from New Zealand to Argentina resulted in about extra 12 hours for one day. Husband thought it might be a good idea to sleep during the flight and so he did. I on the other hand thought, naaah, it will work out better if I stay awake during this flight (and enjoy watching five movies in a row), then really going to be tired on our arrival in Buenos Aires and consequently, I will easily sleep through the first night. And although we both slept relatively well during the first night, the combination of having a jet-lag and starting the Spanish course at the same time was a real killer! Every day when we finished class in the early afternoon, we were dead tired and simply had to take an afternoon nap. We basically were already sleeping while still walking home. During these afternoon naps, we were sleeping so deeply that it was a mission to wake up again in the early evening. It then took maybe another two to three hours until we were fully awake again and not feeling any more as if a truck had been running over us. Which then resulted in us being awake for most of the upcoming night, clearly not ideal. And of course, in the early morning when it was time to get up and attending the Spanish class, we were super tired after only managing to fall asleep again around 4am in the morning... Uuurgh. We felt like being stuck in a bad circadian rhythm.
And learning a new language is a lot of fun, but soooooo exhausting! I simply was not used any more to concentrate for four hours in a row, something I was absolutely used to while working. I felt like my brains' threshold of the maximum intake capacity was reached after three hours, which just added to the feeling of being tired. But the Spanish lessons are really good, the class size is between three to five people and the teachers generally only speak Spanish with us. And they make us speak Spanish as well, although still very rudimentary, but that's the whole purpose of us taking this class, right?! No chance to hide in the back of the classroom and hope to get away with trying to be invisible, haha!
Therefore, we were really looking forward to this weekend, to a) having the chance to sleep in on the Saturday and Sunday morning and catching up on some sleep and b) finally starting to explore the city. So far, we have not seen a single thing of Buenos Aires besides the streets around our apartment on the way to the supermarket or to the Spanish class room!
However, we are feeling so comfortable being in Buenos Aires. I like how the streets and bars and restaurants look like, they are so inviting and the food is great. Husband is having a lot of fun buying cold cuts and fresh ingredients. The kitchen in our apartment is also well equipped, so cooking is a lot of fun. On Wednesday, we had our host Carla and her boyfriend over for dinner. Husband made a typical German dish ("Rinderroulade") and Carla prepared a typical Argentinian dessert. It has been a really nice evening with lovely food, chatting about Buenos Aires, Argentina and general travels, while drinking wine and sipping on Fernet con Coca: The Fernet is bitter and aromatic and while it might not be everyone's favourite straight, it enhances the spice inherent in Coca Cola. Carla told us that the Fernet is actually an alcoholic Italian drink, but for whatever reason, everyone in Argentina loves it. And it is indeed a very nice drink, which I am for sure we have not had for the last time...
Last night, we went eating out for dinner for the first time since arriving here. Finding a restaurant that opens before 8pm is not the easiest thing to do; Argentinian people like to have dinner very late compared to what we are used to! We went to a restaurant around the corner and really like its atmosphere with all the wine bottles stacked up along the shelves on the walls. And it was fairly crowded, whole families and various friends coming together for dinner; something, that Carla also confirmed when she described Argentinian people: social and warm-hearted with a love for food. We took a photograph of the restaurants' menu earlier that day and headed home translating all the dishes so that we would have an idea of what to order. Argentinians love "Parrilla" (pronounced "parischa") which is similar to the barbecue for Germans or the braai for South Africans. Husband tried a typical local dish made of pork intestines, which had a quite a specific taste to it, a little bit like liver. New culture, new tastes! I also cannot wait to try the Mate tea, which is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, particularly in Argentina. When I was looking up more information about it on the web and how to prepare and drink it, I found out that Mate tea is defined by law as the "national infusion" in Argentina... Seriously, you have to love this country :)
In the meantime...
1) I am experimenting with natural cosmetics. This is something I wanted to do for quite some time now. So, for the last two days, I was cleansing my face in the evening with a mixture of honey, milk and curd (which I could not really find around so far, so substituted it with a light fresh cheese cream). The nice thing is, that it cleanses and nourishes the skin at the same time. It felt so weird putting this mixture onto my face for the first time! - I was joking around the whole time of how Cleopatra-like I will look after some days... My skin is very dry and normally I struggle with cleansing products commercially available because I always have to apply a rich cream afterwards for my skin not feeling like being two sizes too small. And wow... with this milk-honey mixture, my skin felt really nice this morning, and even husband was saying that my skin does look so smooth! Maybe, he was just trying to be charming and maybe, it has also a lot to do with the extra hours of sleep I got over the last two days, but told you: Cleopatra-like. :)
2) I am very keen to get my grasp on yoga. All people I have met over the years that are doing yoga are people I really like. No exception. So, yoga must be something that I for sure will enjoy a lot?! I was looking up yoga classes offered here in Buenos Aires and found a nice looking studio that is doing the courses in English (not sure I would master Spanish classes yet). So, that is something I am looking forward to do while we are staying in this city. Actually, this city feels like I want to stay here for much longer than only the four weeks in total we have planned for so far....
3) It is raining the whole weekend! So much for our plans to get out and about this city!!! Bleeh... Double-bleeeeeeh!!! But around three o'clock in the afternoon today, we managed to sneak out and hop onto a tourist bus taking us around the city. And the city is huge! The tour provided us with a first good overview and orientation of the city... Oh, I so like it!
And learning a new language is a lot of fun, but soooooo exhausting! I simply was not used any more to concentrate for four hours in a row, something I was absolutely used to while working. I felt like my brains' threshold of the maximum intake capacity was reached after three hours, which just added to the feeling of being tired. But the Spanish lessons are really good, the class size is between three to five people and the teachers generally only speak Spanish with us. And they make us speak Spanish as well, although still very rudimentary, but that's the whole purpose of us taking this class, right?! No chance to hide in the back of the classroom and hope to get away with trying to be invisible, haha!
Therefore, we were really looking forward to this weekend, to a) having the chance to sleep in on the Saturday and Sunday morning and catching up on some sleep and b) finally starting to explore the city. So far, we have not seen a single thing of Buenos Aires besides the streets around our apartment on the way to the supermarket or to the Spanish class room!
 |
| Husband and I during our first exploring trip in Buenos Aires |
Last night, we went eating out for dinner for the first time since arriving here. Finding a restaurant that opens before 8pm is not the easiest thing to do; Argentinian people like to have dinner very late compared to what we are used to! We went to a restaurant around the corner and really like its atmosphere with all the wine bottles stacked up along the shelves on the walls. And it was fairly crowded, whole families and various friends coming together for dinner; something, that Carla also confirmed when she described Argentinian people: social and warm-hearted with a love for food. We took a photograph of the restaurants' menu earlier that day and headed home translating all the dishes so that we would have an idea of what to order. Argentinians love "Parrilla" (pronounced "parischa") which is similar to the barbecue for Germans or the braai for South Africans. Husband tried a typical local dish made of pork intestines, which had a quite a specific taste to it, a little bit like liver. New culture, new tastes! I also cannot wait to try the Mate tea, which is a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink, particularly in Argentina. When I was looking up more information about it on the web and how to prepare and drink it, I found out that Mate tea is defined by law as the "national infusion" in Argentina... Seriously, you have to love this country :)
In the meantime...
1) I am experimenting with natural cosmetics. This is something I wanted to do for quite some time now. So, for the last two days, I was cleansing my face in the evening with a mixture of honey, milk and curd (which I could not really find around so far, so substituted it with a light fresh cheese cream). The nice thing is, that it cleanses and nourishes the skin at the same time. It felt so weird putting this mixture onto my face for the first time! - I was joking around the whole time of how Cleopatra-like I will look after some days... My skin is very dry and normally I struggle with cleansing products commercially available because I always have to apply a rich cream afterwards for my skin not feeling like being two sizes too small. And wow... with this milk-honey mixture, my skin felt really nice this morning, and even husband was saying that my skin does look so smooth! Maybe, he was just trying to be charming and maybe, it has also a lot to do with the extra hours of sleep I got over the last two days, but told you: Cleopatra-like. :)
2) I am very keen to get my grasp on yoga. All people I have met over the years that are doing yoga are people I really like. No exception. So, yoga must be something that I for sure will enjoy a lot?! I was looking up yoga classes offered here in Buenos Aires and found a nice looking studio that is doing the courses in English (not sure I would master Spanish classes yet). So, that is something I am looking forward to do while we are staying in this city. Actually, this city feels like I want to stay here for much longer than only the four weeks in total we have planned for so far....
3) It is raining the whole weekend! So much for our plans to get out and about this city!!! Bleeh... Double-bleeeeeeh!!! But around three o'clock in the afternoon today, we managed to sneak out and hop onto a tourist bus taking us around the city. And the city is huge! The tour provided us with a first good overview and orientation of the city... Oh, I so like it!
2016/04/05
A photo that just does not make sense to me...
[J.] As recently mentioned in another post, I joined an online photo course to get my photography skills kick-started a little bit. Part of the homework I am currently working on are photographies taken during the night, in particular long exposure pictures of stars. I started taking some of these pictures when we were still in New Zealand in the more rural areas of the Southern Island. I knew we were going to leave for Buenos Aires shortly and because the city light in urban areas can compete with the starlight in the night sky, I was not sure if I would be able to see such a clear sky during a night in Buenos Aires.
One night, the sky above Wanaka, New Zealand, was beautifully clear and I grabbed my camera, a warm jacket and a glass of red wine to take my first star photographs outside. I adjusted the camera, a Canon EOS 60D, to a tripod and attached a remote control via an USB cable to it. I wanted to capture as much of the sky as I could, so mounted a wide-angle lens onto the camera body, the Tokina AT-X 11-16mm lens and set it to 11mm (or 17mm on a 35mm equivalent). The exposure time for these photos were set to 30 seconds with an aperture of 2.8, ISO of 1600 and manual focus.
With this set-up, I would have expected a photo showing no or almost no star movement caused by the earth rotation. And when I looked onto the screen at the back of my camera, I saw this:
My first thought was that I made a mistake with the settings or that maybe the camera has not been properly mounted onto the tripod. This photo does not only show the moving stars, it also shows movement of the tree leaves in the lower left corner. Such star trails would normally be expected when using an exposure time of around 15 minutes, but not with an exposure time of 30 seconds. However, the tree leaves should not show any movement at all because the distance between the camera and the tree is fixed and hence, no earth rotation could cause such an effect as this picture is showing!
I took more photos with the same camera settings to make sure that it is not the camera itself causing this effect due to being too loosely adjusted to the tripod and starting to move by itself during the exposure time. But all other pictures were showing a somewhat similar effect. And even if the camera would have moved on the tripod during the exposure time, the star trails in that picture seem to be really smooth and steady, something that I would not expect if the camera gets loose on the tripod and starts rotating.
I just cannot make any sense out of this! Haha... maybe my camera is developing some artificial intelligence and trying to mess with my mind! Anyone out there who can make sense out of this? Maybe some other camera settings I am not aware of could have caused this?
However, when I moved the camera facing the opposite cardinal direction, I got a picture that I more expected in terms of no star trails and even more important, no house or tree of fence movement:
In the meantime:
1) Our first day at the Spanish school is over and our heads are spinning with all sorts of Spanish vocabulary and new impressions, but it is a lot of fun. We went home from school in the early afternoon, had a quick light lunch and fell asleep almost immediately thereafter and slept like a log.
2) Walking along the streets of Buenos Aires this morning for the first time during daylight left me with the feeling of excitement for being in this city. It just feels so good and I cannot wait to further explore the streets and shops and cultural places and everything else around here. It just feels so, so good to be here...
One night, the sky above Wanaka, New Zealand, was beautifully clear and I grabbed my camera, a warm jacket and a glass of red wine to take my first star photographs outside. I adjusted the camera, a Canon EOS 60D, to a tripod and attached a remote control via an USB cable to it. I wanted to capture as much of the sky as I could, so mounted a wide-angle lens onto the camera body, the Tokina AT-X 11-16mm lens and set it to 11mm (or 17mm on a 35mm equivalent). The exposure time for these photos were set to 30 seconds with an aperture of 2.8, ISO of 1600 and manual focus.
With this set-up, I would have expected a photo showing no or almost no star movement caused by the earth rotation. And when I looked onto the screen at the back of my camera, I saw this:
 |
| Star trails above Wanaka, New Zealand |
I took more photos with the same camera settings to make sure that it is not the camera itself causing this effect due to being too loosely adjusted to the tripod and starting to move by itself during the exposure time. But all other pictures were showing a somewhat similar effect. And even if the camera would have moved on the tripod during the exposure time, the star trails in that picture seem to be really smooth and steady, something that I would not expect if the camera gets loose on the tripod and starts rotating.
I just cannot make any sense out of this! Haha... maybe my camera is developing some artificial intelligence and trying to mess with my mind! Anyone out there who can make sense out of this? Maybe some other camera settings I am not aware of could have caused this?
However, when I moved the camera facing the opposite cardinal direction, I got a picture that I more expected in terms of no star trails and even more important, no house or tree of fence movement:
 |
| Milky Way over Wanaka, New Zealand |
1) Our first day at the Spanish school is over and our heads are spinning with all sorts of Spanish vocabulary and new impressions, but it is a lot of fun. We went home from school in the early afternoon, had a quick light lunch and fell asleep almost immediately thereafter and slept like a log.
2) Walking along the streets of Buenos Aires this morning for the first time during daylight left me with the feeling of excitement for being in this city. It just feels so good and I cannot wait to further explore the streets and shops and cultural places and everything else around here. It just feels so, so good to be here...
2016/04/04
Arriving in Buenos Aires
[J.] Finally, we start relaxing in an absolutely lovely little apartment very close to the suburb Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And what kind of a 36 hour day was it to make the trip from New Zealand to this big city. We are both sitting now, tired and exhausted, in front of our computers. Husband is playing an online action role playing game and I am trying to summarize this day into a blog post while constantly sipping on a glass of whiskey which we bought at the duty free at our departure. Buying whiskey really seems to be our preferred way of spending the last cash amounts left when leaving a country. And I would say, that it is well spent money and such a good treat for ourselves when finally arriving at a new destination - being all smiles.
The day started very relaxed, packing up in Christchurch where we spent the last two nights in New Zealand. We could check out a bit later than the usual 10am time and arrived at the airport in the afternoon, dropping off the rented car when the guy from the check-in counter explained to us that we were risking being denied entry in Argentina without having proof of a return or onward flight, which well... we had not. We both looked at each other, checked all our Argentina visa and entry requirement information we had at that time again to make sure we have not had overlooked something. But we were left with shrugging our shoulders as no information we had was pointing at such an entry requirement. Luckily, we were checked through without providing such a proof of a return or onward destination. While waiting for the boarding procedure, I checked the web for further information in this regard and indeed, there are web-pages pointing out that apparently some airlines require their passengers to show such proof. But it seemed that it is rather an airline requirement instead of being an Argentinian entry requirement as the costs of returning tourists who are denied entry to Argentina are left with those airlines who checked them through. And indeed, on our arrival in Argentina, the officials did not even asked for such a proof of next destination and we were granted a 90 days tourist visa. Puuuuh, we felt like the first hurdle was taken! And a 90 days visa!! Oh, this country is going to see us around for some time!!
The 12 hour flight itself was a very bumpy ride; one that I have never experienced to such an extend before. Every now and then, the turbulences were quite intense and the air-plane was shaking a lot; or, at least it felt like that! However, all was good in the end; only husband left the plane with my finger prints on his legs. I did not even noticed I was clinging onto him to such an extent! Haha...
When we arrived at our AirBnB accommodation for the next four weeks, we were welcomed by our host and had a really nice chat with her. And it turned out that she is an actuary too!! How small is this world :)
We quickly did some grocery shopping, organised some dinner around the corner and figured that speaking English might be helpful in this country, but certainly cannot be relied on. This will give our Spanish knowledge some proper improvement opportunities over the next weeks!
By the time of heading home for a late dinner, we were already awake for more then 36hours with only some random naps in between and thought of a really relaxed evening that was lying ahead of us. Well... don't count your chickens before they are hatched! Plugging in an adapter to recharge our devices caused a proper power circuit and suddenly, we were sitting in the dark. Wooooah! Finding the power board was easy, but turning all power switches into the upper position did not change anything and darkness was still surrounding us. No internet and no phone roaming connection... absolutely great situation being all dead tired at 10pm in a foreign city. Doooooh!
With a lot of luck, gained roaming access after turning off and on various devices and a really quickly responding host we found the solution and power came back. What a relief! Sometimes, I really think that angels are with travellers... :)
In the meantime...
1) Getting more and more drunk on whiskey.
2) Knowing that we have to get up early tomorrow morning starting our Spanish course for the next four weeks, four hours every day and homework on top of it, does not seem too appealing. And I am not sure how I am going to cope with this new daily structure. The other day, I almost felt already exhausted by noon just because we made a longer breakfast... But finally being in Argentina does feel so good and I know I am going to love this country. Argentina, buckle up... here we are. :)
3) You have to like a country who's rugby team is called 'Los Pumas'
The day started very relaxed, packing up in Christchurch where we spent the last two nights in New Zealand. We could check out a bit later than the usual 10am time and arrived at the airport in the afternoon, dropping off the rented car when the guy from the check-in counter explained to us that we were risking being denied entry in Argentina without having proof of a return or onward flight, which well... we had not. We both looked at each other, checked all our Argentina visa and entry requirement information we had at that time again to make sure we have not had overlooked something. But we were left with shrugging our shoulders as no information we had was pointing at such an entry requirement. Luckily, we were checked through without providing such a proof of a return or onward destination. While waiting for the boarding procedure, I checked the web for further information in this regard and indeed, there are web-pages pointing out that apparently some airlines require their passengers to show such proof. But it seemed that it is rather an airline requirement instead of being an Argentinian entry requirement as the costs of returning tourists who are denied entry to Argentina are left with those airlines who checked them through. And indeed, on our arrival in Argentina, the officials did not even asked for such a proof of next destination and we were granted a 90 days tourist visa. Puuuuh, we felt like the first hurdle was taken! And a 90 days visa!! Oh, this country is going to see us around for some time!!
 |
When we arrived at our AirBnB accommodation for the next four weeks, we were welcomed by our host and had a really nice chat with her. And it turned out that she is an actuary too!! How small is this world :)
We quickly did some grocery shopping, organised some dinner around the corner and figured that speaking English might be helpful in this country, but certainly cannot be relied on. This will give our Spanish knowledge some proper improvement opportunities over the next weeks!
By the time of heading home for a late dinner, we were already awake for more then 36hours with only some random naps in between and thought of a really relaxed evening that was lying ahead of us. Well... don't count your chickens before they are hatched! Plugging in an adapter to recharge our devices caused a proper power circuit and suddenly, we were sitting in the dark. Wooooah! Finding the power board was easy, but turning all power switches into the upper position did not change anything and darkness was still surrounding us. No internet and no phone roaming connection... absolutely great situation being all dead tired at 10pm in a foreign city. Doooooh!
With a lot of luck, gained roaming access after turning off and on various devices and a really quickly responding host we found the solution and power came back. What a relief! Sometimes, I really think that angels are with travellers... :)
In the meantime...
1) Getting more and more drunk on whiskey.
2) Knowing that we have to get up early tomorrow morning starting our Spanish course for the next four weeks, four hours every day and homework on top of it, does not seem too appealing. And I am not sure how I am going to cope with this new daily structure. The other day, I almost felt already exhausted by noon just because we made a longer breakfast... But finally being in Argentina does feel so good and I know I am going to love this country. Argentina, buckle up... here we are. :)
3) You have to like a country who's rugby team is called 'Los Pumas'
2016/04/03
Running...
[J.] We run. Not too regularly, but we run to stay fit during our travels. I think that running is one of the most convenient ways of exercising when travelling. We both have running shoes as our first choice of sturdy shoes for travelling. And there are always a shirt and (beach) shorts available, so no extra running gear needs to go into the suitcase which would add to its weight and volume.
We figured though that running trails are a bit depending on the country itself. We tried to run while being in India, but it was generally hot even in the early morning. However, it were the stray dogs that made us stop running in the Indian cities, cause dogs are simply not used to runners. They tolerate noise, packed places of people, bikes and what else, but runners? Not so much, as they are simply not used to people running past them quickly, so they started chasing us instead - which made us abandon our running idea fairly quickly. :)
Running in Taipei was fairly easy; the city offers great trails and stray dogs are not such a big problem; we just walked past them when we met them occasionally.
However, running in New Zealand was the easiest so far and is basically possible everywhere you go. The country is THE country for doing outdoor sports and sometimes, we squeezed some runs in while actually being on the way to special sights or must-see areas. We were running along the most stunning lonely beaches, running up the trail to the Fox Glacier (which was pretty steep in the end, so before admiring the glacier itself, we both had to catch our breaths for some moments). In Wanaka, we planned to walk along the Mount Iron loop, from which one has a wonderful view onto the town, lakes and surrounding mountains; however, we made this walk a run exercise instead.
While living in Johannesburg, South Africa, we often joined the park runs (www.parkrun.com), which are free 5k runs every Saturday morning at 8am. I really like these runs as it is open for everyone and every fitness level and it is generally both, a good challenge and motivation for those runners who are seeking personal best times as well as a very social event. Often, I met with friends and we all had our dogs running with us. I have also often seen whole families joining with mom/dad running together with their junior while dad/mom is walking at the back of the crowed with the baby and chatting to friends. Some just joined for a power walk or for a 5k walk with their dogs to give all a good weekend exercise.
Being in Christchurch on a Saturday morning as well, we joined its park run along the Hagley Park. And although we really enjoyed the run, I noticed that the vibe was so different to what I was used to in South Africa. Before the actual start of the run, there was a guy giving a 10 minute speech about how one has to run a lot of miles a week when one wants to become a marathon runner and that even 100m Olympic medallist sprinters run for 100miles a week so on and so on. I don't know who is was but it seemed that he trains runners and was running himself a lot in the past (and maybe still is). And then, when the run actually started, I was surprised how fast everyone was running. Not that I am a really good runner, but when I turned around at some point I noticed that almost all runners were in front of me! Husband had a somewhat similar impression during his run. I ran a personal best that Saturday in Christchurch, but in the end I only finished in the last third of all participants. It did not really matter to me, cause I was all joy about my time anyway. However, would I think of joining such a park run as a beginner, I think I would easily become unmotivated when close to everyone is just bolting off like a lightning in front of me leaving me running all alone at the end of the field... But maybe that is just me. And it was interesting to see how such a run can become such a competitive event instead of a social event although the idea behind those runs are all the same.
In the meantime...
1) I am writing this post during our last hours in New Zealand. I am so glad, we decided to come here and were able to see all these amazing landscapes and meet all its so friendly and helpful citizens. We had a blast driving around this country and I will really miss this Kiwi-Land!
2) Finally about to arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cannot wait! And it's so funny, this time difference thing: leaving New Zealand on Sunday afternoon and arriving in Buenos Aires, well... on Sunday afternoon! :)
Running in Taipei was fairly easy; the city offers great trails and stray dogs are not such a big problem; we just walked past them when we met them occasionally.
However, running in New Zealand was the easiest so far and is basically possible everywhere you go. The country is THE country for doing outdoor sports and sometimes, we squeezed some runs in while actually being on the way to special sights or must-see areas. We were running along the most stunning lonely beaches, running up the trail to the Fox Glacier (which was pretty steep in the end, so before admiring the glacier itself, we both had to catch our breaths for some moments). In Wanaka, we planned to walk along the Mount Iron loop, from which one has a wonderful view onto the town, lakes and surrounding mountains; however, we made this walk a run exercise instead.
While living in Johannesburg, South Africa, we often joined the park runs (www.parkrun.com), which are free 5k runs every Saturday morning at 8am. I really like these runs as it is open for everyone and every fitness level and it is generally both, a good challenge and motivation for those runners who are seeking personal best times as well as a very social event. Often, I met with friends and we all had our dogs running with us. I have also often seen whole families joining with mom/dad running together with their junior while dad/mom is walking at the back of the crowed with the baby and chatting to friends. Some just joined for a power walk or for a 5k walk with their dogs to give all a good weekend exercise.
Being in Christchurch on a Saturday morning as well, we joined its park run along the Hagley Park. And although we really enjoyed the run, I noticed that the vibe was so different to what I was used to in South Africa. Before the actual start of the run, there was a guy giving a 10 minute speech about how one has to run a lot of miles a week when one wants to become a marathon runner and that even 100m Olympic medallist sprinters run for 100miles a week so on and so on. I don't know who is was but it seemed that he trains runners and was running himself a lot in the past (and maybe still is). And then, when the run actually started, I was surprised how fast everyone was running. Not that I am a really good runner, but when I turned around at some point I noticed that almost all runners were in front of me! Husband had a somewhat similar impression during his run. I ran a personal best that Saturday in Christchurch, but in the end I only finished in the last third of all participants. It did not really matter to me, cause I was all joy about my time anyway. However, would I think of joining such a park run as a beginner, I think I would easily become unmotivated when close to everyone is just bolting off like a lightning in front of me leaving me running all alone at the end of the field... But maybe that is just me. And it was interesting to see how such a run can become such a competitive event instead of a social event although the idea behind those runs are all the same.In the meantime...
1) I am writing this post during our last hours in New Zealand. I am so glad, we decided to come here and were able to see all these amazing landscapes and meet all its so friendly and helpful citizens. We had a blast driving around this country and I will really miss this Kiwi-Land!
2) Finally about to arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cannot wait! And it's so funny, this time difference thing: leaving New Zealand on Sunday afternoon and arriving in Buenos Aires, well... on Sunday afternoon! :)
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