We're currently in Granada...and drinking cocktails. We've made friends with Martin from Leeds, he looks like a he's from here but no he used to be a barman in Leeds. So far we've tried a Honey bee, a Sacromonte sunset, Tincho's chocolcate orange (Naranja de chocolate). The recipes follow:
Estoy borracho como una cuba - im pissed as a newt, well not yet but we are working on it!
Honey bee
1 honey rum
1/2 vanilla flavour(galliano)
1/2 apple liqor
top with peach an grape juice (melocoton y uva)
shake!
sacromote sunset (sapphire agarve)
1 1/2 tequilla reposado
1 apple sour /apple liqor + lime juice.
pinch of ground cinnamon (canela)
shake
top with pinapple juice
tincho's chocolate orange
1 orange vodka /regular vodka
1/2 dark cacao
1/2 khalua/ cafe liqor
top orange juice
shake
virgin cocktail (no booze)
spiketail/tincho tail
3 raspberries
2 pinapple juice
1 cranberry juice
3/4 passion syrop
shake
That's enough for tonight will be back soon!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Calle Campania
That's where we are. I'm writing this in bed while Wendy gives the little ones tickles before they sleep. We've just got back from dinner around the corner outside a bar/restaurant. We had Jambon soup, patatas fritas aioli con pollo and venison slices with bread. Delicious and the beer was great too. We've just changed time zones back to Spain and it's now midnight here or 11 in Portugal where we've just come from. Oh we're now in Sevilla or Seville by the way. I actually have to think, which city am I in now. I know we've been a bit out of touch again. Same old problem, lack of internet or lack of interest in blogging. It's important to keep up to date though as we're already thinking where was it that we saw the ...
When I last wrote we were in Prague, CZ. We have been on buses, planes, the metro, trains, cable cars, gondolas, trams, driven and had a fun time doing it. First we crossed back into Germany with me driving We got lost again of course. I blame the motorway being closed in Prague where we needed to get on. We went one way then back, then another and back, then randomly found the right road. Part of the problem is navigating at reasonably high speeds without knowing where to go is interesting. Once we were on there was a big pile up and we crawled out of the city. Prague is renovating big stretches of motorway. Europe really is growing and bustling into the 21st Century.
The drive back to Fuerth was uneventful apart from occasional snow storms as we drove along and thick mist which slowed us down. We ended up getting back to Fuerth at about 10 pm after an exhausting drive needing full concentration. I was thinking of Peter Zettinig's advice which is "when you are feeling tired drive faster, it gives you more adrenalin". Hmm still mulling that one over.
The next morning we left to drive to Frankfurt Hahn, bit of a misnomer actually as it's no where near Frankfurt but it's Ryanair's nearest link. We took a couple of wrong turns as it was difficult to know when to turn off. Road signs come up very quickly on the autobahns. Our rental car said maximum speed was 190 Km/hr, we didn't quite reach that but got up to 175Kms. Fast enough for me. We'd suddenly come up to road works and cars would slow to 90 and it's amazing how fast the distance closes. Some people were doing over 200kms in their flash BMW's, Audi's or Mercedes. At 140 we got passed by lots of small 1.3l cars too though. Petrol costs between 1.35 and 1.45 Euros here. We think we've got it hard in NZ with them being at $1.40 or so but that's only about 0.70 Euros per litre. Driving at a lower speed did reduce the consumption amazingly but sometimes we were rushing and paid in extra fuel.
The Hotel BB at Hahn was great and we left at 6:50am to catch the plane. To Faro this time instead of Marrakesh as planned. I'm so glad we changed our plans though because Portugal was great. Lisbon was a beautiful city with various influences from as far back as the Romans. Henry and I went into the Monastery at Belem which has been partly converted into archeological museums. We saw old Roman coins, Bronze age metal work, and how the people there used to make bread from acorns. Henry loved that bit and we plan to experiment when we get home and try out the ancient methods.
We extended our stay in Lisbon as the backpackers was really cool. Oasis Lisbon and Seville are great places to stay. Wendy found them on the web and once we stayed at the Lisbon one we wanted to do it again. Lisbon provided free wireless and for 5 Euros you get a huge meal. The first night we were there Mama didn't expect so many people and so hadn't made "enough food". I couldn't complain though the portions were massive and there was dessert included too. Delicious food thanks Mama, thats not Wendy by the way they have a really nice woman come in each night to make traditional food.
We spent one day having a quiet time as Wendy got a cold and Bella was over tired. We dosed ourselves with a Caipirinha and lemon juice and extreme garlic dishes. We wandered a bit then caught the number 28 tram which goes from hill to hill around the city. Some of the streets it goes down are unbelievable people have to squish themselves against the side so they don't get splatted.
Next day we took an early train out to Sintra to see the Moorish castle and the royal palace. In the garden that surrounds the palace there is a New Zealand section. We came across it by accident and thought this looks familiar. Can't wait to be back in our beautiful country. We are still loving travelling but need to take a break to catch our breath and have time alone. It's not normal to be together with your children non-stop for 6 months. It's easy to just stick together in a new city and not go out alone but it is important to do this too. We need to think about what to do on our return too! Hmm
More later...
When I last wrote we were in Prague, CZ. We have been on buses, planes, the metro, trains, cable cars, gondolas, trams, driven and had a fun time doing it. First we crossed back into Germany with me driving We got lost again of course. I blame the motorway being closed in Prague where we needed to get on. We went one way then back, then another and back, then randomly found the right road. Part of the problem is navigating at reasonably high speeds without knowing where to go is interesting. Once we were on there was a big pile up and we crawled out of the city. Prague is renovating big stretches of motorway. Europe really is growing and bustling into the 21st Century.
The drive back to Fuerth was uneventful apart from occasional snow storms as we drove along and thick mist which slowed us down. We ended up getting back to Fuerth at about 10 pm after an exhausting drive needing full concentration. I was thinking of Peter Zettinig's advice which is "when you are feeling tired drive faster, it gives you more adrenalin". Hmm still mulling that one over.
The next morning we left to drive to Frankfurt Hahn, bit of a misnomer actually as it's no where near Frankfurt but it's Ryanair's nearest link. We took a couple of wrong turns as it was difficult to know when to turn off. Road signs come up very quickly on the autobahns. Our rental car said maximum speed was 190 Km/hr, we didn't quite reach that but got up to 175Kms. Fast enough for me. We'd suddenly come up to road works and cars would slow to 90 and it's amazing how fast the distance closes. Some people were doing over 200kms in their flash BMW's, Audi's or Mercedes. At 140 we got passed by lots of small 1.3l cars too though. Petrol costs between 1.35 and 1.45 Euros here. We think we've got it hard in NZ with them being at $1.40 or so but that's only about 0.70 Euros per litre. Driving at a lower speed did reduce the consumption amazingly but sometimes we were rushing and paid in extra fuel.
The Hotel BB at Hahn was great and we left at 6:50am to catch the plane. To Faro this time instead of Marrakesh as planned. I'm so glad we changed our plans though because Portugal was great. Lisbon was a beautiful city with various influences from as far back as the Romans. Henry and I went into the Monastery at Belem which has been partly converted into archeological museums. We saw old Roman coins, Bronze age metal work, and how the people there used to make bread from acorns. Henry loved that bit and we plan to experiment when we get home and try out the ancient methods.
We extended our stay in Lisbon as the backpackers was really cool. Oasis Lisbon and Seville are great places to stay. Wendy found them on the web and once we stayed at the Lisbon one we wanted to do it again. Lisbon provided free wireless and for 5 Euros you get a huge meal. The first night we were there Mama didn't expect so many people and so hadn't made "enough food". I couldn't complain though the portions were massive and there was dessert included too. Delicious food thanks Mama, thats not Wendy by the way they have a really nice woman come in each night to make traditional food.
We spent one day having a quiet time as Wendy got a cold and Bella was over tired. We dosed ourselves with a Caipirinha and lemon juice and extreme garlic dishes. We wandered a bit then caught the number 28 tram which goes from hill to hill around the city. Some of the streets it goes down are unbelievable people have to squish themselves against the side so they don't get splatted.
Next day we took an early train out to Sintra to see the Moorish castle and the royal palace. In the garden that surrounds the palace there is a New Zealand section. We came across it by accident and thought this looks familiar. Can't wait to be back in our beautiful country. We are still loving travelling but need to take a break to catch our breath and have time alone. It's not normal to be together with your children non-stop for 6 months. It's easy to just stick together in a new city and not go out alone but it is important to do this too. We need to think about what to do on our return too! Hmm
More later...
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Czech Republic with class
Hi all
We are snuggled in our fine apartment hotel in Praha/Prague. It's got a large living room with a comfortable pull out couch. Simple but nice kitchen. Large children's bedroom which we gave to the children, so we can watch TV (although there is not really anything on that we can watch, mostly Arabic programmes). We arrived here last night after driving from Fuerth, Germany where we've been relaxing.
We should be in Morocco all going to plan but no. Henry had his birthday on the 15th Nov and he got sick for his birthday. Was doing helicopter chunders with high temperatures and looked like a ghost. We took him to the Doctor as I thought we'd be able to claim insurance for the loss of tickets to Morocco. They were 1cEuro so non refundable (actually added up to 88Euros once tax etc added). We then found out only travel booked from NZ is claimable. So we used the credit and paid a little extra for changing flights to Faro, Portugal. So that is coming up next week. He's all better now by the way. He didn't actually do Heli chunders but it sounds more dramatic.
Luckily our gracious hosts
, (Tiziana below), let us stay on again as we let him recover quietly. He seems fine now and as I write he's jumping on the bed with Miss Muffet who's hair looks like Bjorn Borg currently (she has a very interesting way of putting up her hair with the hair band!). She now has a temperature, yay!
She has hot rosy cheeks and is a bit more grumpy than usual. At least she can relax in the buggy as we wander around Prague.
Slacky it's now 10:15 am on Sunday morning and we are just lying around after having gobbled down our breakfast. I called down this am and 5 minutes later we had fresh coffee, milk, orange juice, lashings of bread, butter, jam, ham, cheese and yoghurt and one little tiny thimble of cornflakes (Wendy says no one really likes Cornflakes) - Well my Dad and I like cornflakes but no other sane people. Too much food for us we'll have to make sandwiches ( my father will be so proud of me for saying that. Now if only I could find a way to use the ends of the carrots and dried up bits of cucumber left in the fridge he'd give me a medal!). We're not cheap just have genes that like to remind us they have Scottish ancestry mixed in there somewhere with all the other bits and bobs and gristle. You never know there could be an emergency one day and we'll be glad of the things growing under the bottom tray in the fridge. Hopefully not.
Ok enough blah blah. So we drove from Fuerth along the E50, Andreas told us it will take you all the way to Prague. We believed him! Oh dear...It was all going well but after about an hour of driving, 3 toilet stops, a coffee stop, a snowball fight and 12 arguments about how Wendy should hold the map, we came to the end of the E50. And we were'nt in Prague or even Praha, (not even Czech Republic) and no signs pointed that way. Hmm. We drove this way and that, I thought I'd broken the car as I pulled off to turn around and there was a big hole, ouch. it seemed to still drive ok only a slight dragging sound coming from underneath. Wendy re-orientated the map making sure the longest edge was lined up with the edge of her coffee cup and covering my steering wheel almost completely. I must give her credit as in the maelstrom of roads and spaghetti junctions she guided us back to the right road. I had to stop, I was in shock and couldn't breathe.
Again we drove and drove and eventually came to the border. I pulled our passports out as the border looked kind of intimidating and we were waved through. Entering CZ you have to buy an autobahn pass. So we got one of those and didn't exchange any Euros at their bad rate. All was going well. Soon we saw signs to Pilzn/Pilsen and decided to stop. It's in the Lonely planet and is worth a look. They specialise in meaty dishes of traditional fare with buckets of beer. I was driving but tried the Pilsner and declared it good. The wild boar ragout, Pilsner Goulash and Roast beef with dumplings sauerkraut and gravy went down a treat. Also food is really inexpensive here compared to the rest of Europe, we paid 24 E for our meal with 1 entree, 2 soups, 3 mains, 2 beers, 2 juices, 3 coffees and a Becherovka liquor. In Germany this might have been 45 - 60 Euro.
We went for a wander around the centre looking at buildings. There is a beautiful church in the middle and amazing buildings around, apart from one realy ugly hotel. It was raining and dark though so we didn't want to go too far. But we all needed a stretch. Wendy honed in on an internet cafe so we trudged in and visted Albert and Hubert the Cockatiels. Wendy printed off the driving directions then we went to pay. Only Krona sorry and I only had two. A helpful Welsh stranger helped out our by paying for our internet. We offered to pay him in Euros but it was only 70p to him so not a big deal I guess. Thanks nice Welsh stranger.
With our directions we were set. And within 30 minutes we were hopelessly lost once again. The Czech's have adopted the French street sign system of having signs occasionally for looks but making them so small that unless you are stopped and standing on a ladder with a torch in front of them they are practically useless. We drove and drove and drove knowing that stopping for directions would only cause embarrasment and add to our overall unease. Eventually I gave in at a petrol station, partly as Bella needed to "GO TO THE TOILET", at the top of her lungs. The helpful man circled where we had to go and off we went. Driving in Prague is not easy, it is a very old city and wasn't damaged in the WWII by bombing. Many cobbled streets and trams criss cross the roads. Also at night in the rain it's hard enough to even see the lanes. We made it to within a Km of our hotel but were stopped by the road turning into a cycle lane. The best map I could find wasn't at a very detailed level but it would have to do.
We backtracked and drove around the embattlements(?) the map doesn't show that you have to go around and over a big hill that way and that every second road is a one way. Suffice to say we got here but I drove:
We are snuggled in our fine apartment hotel in Praha/Prague. It's got a large living room with a comfortable pull out couch. Simple but nice kitchen. Large children's bedroom which we gave to the children, so we can watch TV (although there is not really anything on that we can watch, mostly Arabic programmes). We arrived here last night after driving from Fuerth, Germany where we've been relaxing.
We should be in Morocco all going to plan but no. Henry had his birthday on the 15th Nov and he got sick for his birthday. Was doing helicopter chunders with high temperatures and looked like a ghost. We took him to the Doctor as I thought we'd be able to claim insurance for the loss of tickets to Morocco. They were 1cEuro so non refundable (actually added up to 88Euros once tax etc added). We then found out only travel booked from NZ is claimable. So we used the credit and paid a little extra for changing flights to Faro, Portugal. So that is coming up next week. He's all better now by the way. He didn't actually do Heli chunders but it sounds more dramatic.
Luckily our gracious hosts
, (Tiziana below), let us stay on again as we let him recover quietly. He seems fine now and as I write he's jumping on the bed with Miss Muffet who's hair looks like Bjorn Borg currently (she has a very interesting way of putting up her hair with the hair band!). She now has a temperature, yay!
She has hot rosy cheeks and is a bit more grumpy than usual. At least she can relax in the buggy as we wander around Prague.Slacky it's now 10:15 am on Sunday morning and we are just lying around after having gobbled down our breakfast. I called down this am and 5 minutes later we had fresh coffee, milk, orange juice, lashings of bread, butter, jam, ham, cheese and yoghurt and one little tiny thimble of cornflakes (Wendy says no one really likes Cornflakes) - Well my Dad and I like cornflakes but no other sane people. Too much food for us we'll have to make sandwiches ( my father will be so proud of me for saying that. Now if only I could find a way to use the ends of the carrots and dried up bits of cucumber left in the fridge he'd give me a medal!). We're not cheap just have genes that like to remind us they have Scottish ancestry mixed in there somewhere with all the other bits and bobs and gristle. You never know there could be an emergency one day and we'll be glad of the things growing under the bottom tray in the fridge. Hopefully not.
Ok enough blah blah. So we drove from Fuerth along the E50, Andreas told us it will take you all the way to Prague. We believed him! Oh dear...It was all going well but after about an hour of driving, 3 toilet stops, a coffee stop, a snowball fight and 12 arguments about how Wendy should hold the map, we came to the end of the E50. And we were'nt in Prague or even Praha, (not even Czech Republic) and no signs pointed that way. Hmm. We drove this way and that, I thought I'd broken the car as I pulled off to turn around and there was a big hole, ouch. it seemed to still drive ok only a slight dragging sound coming from underneath. Wendy re-orientated the map making sure the longest edge was lined up with the edge of her coffee cup and covering my steering wheel almost completely. I must give her credit as in the maelstrom of roads and spaghetti junctions she guided us back to the right road. I had to stop, I was in shock and couldn't breathe.
Again we drove and drove and eventually came to the border. I pulled our passports out as the border looked kind of intimidating and we were waved through. Entering CZ you have to buy an autobahn pass. So we got one of those and didn't exchange any Euros at their bad rate. All was going well. Soon we saw signs to Pilzn/Pilsen and decided to stop. It's in the Lonely planet and is worth a look. They specialise in meaty dishes of traditional fare with buckets of beer. I was driving but tried the Pilsner and declared it good. The wild boar ragout, Pilsner Goulash and Roast beef with dumplings sauerkraut and gravy went down a treat. Also food is really inexpensive here compared to the rest of Europe, we paid 24 E for our meal with 1 entree, 2 soups, 3 mains, 2 beers, 2 juices, 3 coffees and a Becherovka liquor. In Germany this might have been 45 - 60 Euro.
We went for a wander around the centre looking at buildings. There is a beautiful church in the middle and amazing buildings around, apart from one realy ugly hotel. It was raining and dark though so we didn't want to go too far. But we all needed a stretch. Wendy honed in on an internet cafe so we trudged in and visted Albert and Hubert the Cockatiels. Wendy printed off the driving directions then we went to pay. Only Krona sorry and I only had two. A helpful Welsh stranger helped out our by paying for our internet. We offered to pay him in Euros but it was only 70p to him so not a big deal I guess. Thanks nice Welsh stranger.
With our directions we were set. And within 30 minutes we were hopelessly lost once again. The Czech's have adopted the French street sign system of having signs occasionally for looks but making them so small that unless you are stopped and standing on a ladder with a torch in front of them they are practically useless. We drove and drove and drove knowing that stopping for directions would only cause embarrasment and add to our overall unease. Eventually I gave in at a petrol station, partly as Bella needed to "GO TO THE TOILET", at the top of her lungs. The helpful man circled where we had to go and off we went. Driving in Prague is not easy, it is a very old city and wasn't damaged in the WWII by bombing. Many cobbled streets and trams criss cross the roads. Also at night in the rain it's hard enough to even see the lanes. We made it to within a Km of our hotel but were stopped by the road turning into a cycle lane. The best map I could find wasn't at a very detailed level but it would have to do.
We backtracked and drove around the embattlements(?) the map doesn't show that you have to go around and over a big hill that way and that every second road is a one way. Suffice to say we got here but I drove:
- On the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic once
- Through a parking building once and back out the same way (we didn't have to pay thankfully)
- Along the tram lines on a special raised centre platform for 100m
- Up a one way street for one block
- Through a one way pedestrian area in the old city and back out
Monday, November 12, 2007
Campagne champagne Comte
We just got back to Furth, Germany. We've been all over since leaving Switzerland.
First we went through France after picking up a rental car at the Geneva airport. Here's a bit I wrote last week.
Campagne champagne Comte
We're in Poligny where the Polignists come from! Actually they make great cheese here. Yesterday we left our little apartment in Montreux, said goodbye to Ann and Berny. They kindly picked us up and dropped us at the Montreux railway station. Many thanks for your hospitality and great food, we really enjoyed the relaxed space you provided for us. We continue with our stomaches full and family connections renewed.
On the train to Geneva we met a German speaking man. He shot out of the compartment when we went in. We were thinking we'd chose to be in a non child freindly bit too if we could. But a few minutes later he came back all sullen and ashen faced. He sat down and almost broke down...He said something terrible has happened to me. We prepared ourselves for the worst (internally going, lalalala). Out came a story of his favourite jacket which he'd just relined for 250 Francs ($300 dollars approx) this is a jacket he loved. He spoke about it like a favourite dog or even a child? Describing it's softness and silky lining the rich black colour, how many years he'd had it, how much he loved it. He was almost in tears! He'd gone into one compartment then changed and forgotten his jacket. I was thinking ungenerously get over it already and claim insurance. Wendy listened for over an hour soothing him with her empathy and kind words. We even had to buy the man lunch and she gave him my jacket to make him feel better. (Actually I made that last bit up, but she was thinking it!!! He gave us a 5Fr voucher for coffee on the train that the nice conductor had given him).
At the airport we again walked to France. The French looked all serious and there were forms to fill in. Thankfully I asked if I needed to fill them out before we went through. The guys asked us for our passports then looked at the nice rich dark blue colour checked they looked like passports from a distance with the requisite thickness then grunted "Merci". We took them back, do we look that dirty that they don't want to even touch them? I mean have you smelt their cheese? Odd they didn't even look at our nice photos we'd had specially tinted to have year round tans and stunningly luminescent eyes! Oh well. We do feel slightly ripped off though. Imagine going through the States after this it would seem like a full rubber glove treatment in comparision. Why did I have to spend so much on a passport, I could have brought my Mickey mouse club ID card, (not that I have one hehherher) Enough about passports, sorry it will not be mentioned again.
On a more serious note, there are many reminders of the terrible battles that have taken place here. Just near Rennes sur Loue, a tiny hamlet in Jura, we saw a small stone plaque saying "Quand on n'a pas tout donne on a rien donne. Ici Pierre Dole volontaire F.F.I est tombe le 2 aout 1944" (Roughly "When you haven't given everything you have given nothing"). Carpe diem!
First we went through France after picking up a rental car at the Geneva airport. Here's a bit I wrote last week.
Campagne champagne Comte
We're in Poligny where the Polignists come from! Actually they make great cheese here. Yesterday we left our little apartment in Montreux, said goodbye to Ann and Berny. They kindly picked us up and dropped us at the Montreux railway station. Many thanks for your hospitality and great food, we really enjoyed the relaxed space you provided for us. We continue with our stomaches full and family connections renewed.
On the train to Geneva we met a German speaking man. He shot out of the compartment when we went in. We were thinking we'd chose to be in a non child freindly bit too if we could. But a few minutes later he came back all sullen and ashen faced. He sat down and almost broke down...He said something terrible has happened to me. We prepared ourselves for the worst (internally going, lalalala). Out came a story of his favourite jacket which he'd just relined for 250 Francs ($300 dollars approx) this is a jacket he loved. He spoke about it like a favourite dog or even a child? Describing it's softness and silky lining the rich black colour, how many years he'd had it, how much he loved it. He was almost in tears! He'd gone into one compartment then changed and forgotten his jacket. I was thinking ungenerously get over it already and claim insurance. Wendy listened for over an hour soothing him with her empathy and kind words. We even had to buy the man lunch and she gave him my jacket to make him feel better. (Actually I made that last bit up, but she was thinking it!!! He gave us a 5Fr voucher for coffee on the train that the nice conductor had given him).
At the airport we again walked to France. The French looked all serious and there were forms to fill in. Thankfully I asked if I needed to fill them out before we went through. The guys asked us for our passports then looked at the nice rich dark blue colour checked they looked like passports from a distance with the requisite thickness then grunted "Merci". We took them back, do we look that dirty that they don't want to even touch them? I mean have you smelt their cheese? Odd they didn't even look at our nice photos we'd had specially tinted to have year round tans and stunningly luminescent eyes! Oh well. We do feel slightly ripped off though. Imagine going through the States after this it would seem like a full rubber glove treatment in comparision. Why did I have to spend so much on a passport, I could have brought my Mickey mouse club ID card, (not that I have one hehherher) Enough about passports, sorry it will not be mentioned again.
On a more serious note, there are many reminders of the terrible battles that have taken place here. Just near Rennes sur Loue, a tiny hamlet in Jura, we saw a small stone plaque saying "Quand on n'a pas tout donne on a rien donne. Ici Pierre Dole volontaire F.F.I est tombe le 2 aout 1944" (Roughly "When you haven't given everything you have given nothing"). Carpe diem!
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