Sick to death of Ursula Le Guin...but counting the days 'til Paris!
...since that's what I've been working on for what feels like a millennium.
It's academic crunch time...I had scads of papers due while some my roomies have exams. My roommate Philippa is in biochemistry, so she's got endless experiments involving yeast, and whenever asked about how her course is going, will tell you yeast stories. I don't know why I find it so entertaining, but it's a source of endless amusement.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer watching and Harry Potter reading, aka 'research', continue apace, and Jean and I are almost finished Season 2. She's off to South Africa to do her practicum in criminal psychology, which involves lots of courts and crime scenes, it appears. So Buffy is preparation for both of us in one way or another!
Jon gets here in 19 days (not that I'm counting or anything!) and we leave for our mega trip through Eastern Europe on the 24th!
Our rough itinerary (and one or two highlights for each city) is as follows:
May 24th - 29th Paris (Eiffel Tower! Yummy French food! The Mona Lisa!)
May 29th - June 4th Istanbul (Blue Mosque! Turkish cooking class! Turkish baths!)
June 4th - 5th Troy and Gallipoli (Erm, historical sites of the dead!)
June 6th - 7th Plovdiv (old buildings, Bulgarian stuff!)
June 7th - 8th Varna (beaches! nature preserves! Different Bulgarian stuff!)
June 8th - 10th Bucharest (vampires! AND a museum all about peasants!)
June 10th - 13th Brasov (Dracula stuff! Mountains and ghoulies! More peasants!)
June 14th - 17th Budapest (Caving and a MEGA sized circus!)
June 18th - 19th Bratislava (Slovakian goodness!)
June 20th - 23rd Vienna (Palaces galore, musical masterpieces! And streudel!)
June 23rd - 24th Graz (Really really big military museum! Poor me!)
June 24th - 26th Salzburg (Yes, folks, the Sound of Music! Poor Jon!)
June 26th - 29th Prague (I turn 30 - eek!I'll console myself with Czech castles!)
June 29th - 30th Liverpool (um..my dorm room and the Beatles!)
June 30th - July 2nd London (Tower of London and Jon and I have big teary farewell!)
As you can tell, this has been long in the planning stages, and we've both got countdowns going. And yes, there will be copious photos and lots of vampire jokes.
Sadly, in order to achieve this glorious continental trek, I need to get back to the seemingly endless Ursula paper. I know, I know - you're sick of me whining about her. I'm sick of reading and writing about her, so we're even :)
It's academic crunch time...I had scads of papers due while some my roomies have exams. My roommate Philippa is in biochemistry, so she's got endless experiments involving yeast, and whenever asked about how her course is going, will tell you yeast stories. I don't know why I find it so entertaining, but it's a source of endless amusement.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer watching and Harry Potter reading, aka 'research', continue apace, and Jean and I are almost finished Season 2. She's off to South Africa to do her practicum in criminal psychology, which involves lots of courts and crime scenes, it appears. So Buffy is preparation for both of us in one way or another!
Jon gets here in 19 days (not that I'm counting or anything!) and we leave for our mega trip through Eastern Europe on the 24th!
Our rough itinerary (and one or two highlights for each city) is as follows:
May 24th - 29th Paris (Eiffel Tower! Yummy French food! The Mona Lisa!)
May 29th - June 4th Istanbul (Blue Mosque! Turkish cooking class! Turkish baths!)
June 4th - 5th Troy and Gallipoli (Erm, historical sites of the dead!)
June 6th - 7th Plovdiv (old buildings, Bulgarian stuff!)
June 7th - 8th Varna (beaches! nature preserves! Different Bulgarian stuff!)
June 8th - 10th Bucharest (vampires! AND a museum all about peasants!)
June 10th - 13th Brasov (Dracula stuff! Mountains and ghoulies! More peasants!)
June 14th - 17th Budapest (Caving and a MEGA sized circus!)
June 18th - 19th Bratislava (Slovakian goodness!)
June 20th - 23rd Vienna (Palaces galore, musical masterpieces! And streudel!)
June 23rd - 24th Graz (Really really big military museum! Poor me!)
June 24th - 26th Salzburg (Yes, folks, the Sound of Music! Poor Jon!)
June 26th - 29th Prague (I turn 30 - eek!I'll console myself with Czech castles!)
June 29th - 30th Liverpool (um..my dorm room and the Beatles!)
June 30th - July 2nd London (Tower of London and Jon and I have big teary farewell!)
As you can tell, this has been long in the planning stages, and we've both got countdowns going. And yes, there will be copious photos and lots of vampire jokes.
Sadly, in order to achieve this glorious continental trek, I need to get back to the seemingly endless Ursula paper. I know, I know - you're sick of me whining about her. I'm sick of reading and writing about her, so we're even :)
posted by Sunshine @ 9:23 a.m.
8 Comments:
At 6:45 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
Take the time in Vienna to go to Schonbrunn - the Versailles of Central Europe. Oh and St. Stephen's Cathedral - take the time to go up the staircase (tiny, winding)- fantastic view of the city.
Also, the central district is a walking district.
And struedel nothing. Don't forget the Wiener Schnitzel. :>
::sigh::
Envy
At 11:09 p.m.,
Sunshine said…
I will ensure that schnitzel is on my list. And not just because it's a funny word!
At 8:17 a.m.,
Unknown said…
Woe betide you, should you come back without having acquired a taste for at least 5 of the following:
- Schnitzel
- Knoedel
- Groestl / Roestli
- Spaetzle
- Lindauer Bread
- Pruegeltorte
- Apfelstrudel (with hot vanilla sauce)
- Sacher Torte
- Linzer Torte
- Schlutzkrapfen
...
Better stop before I start drooling.
Come to think of it, if you are going to the lands of Cockaygne, better get a local guide. When you're in Austria, feel free to drop in on my little sister in Innsbruck, lovely place. :o)
At 9:57 a.m.,
Sunshine said…
Those are decent odds - I have to pick five of ten. Jon's more likely to eat strange and wonderful things than I am, so I'm sure he'll be up for trying all of them at least once!
At 5:56 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
Ooh, I forgot knoedel.
And the apfelstrudel with the vanilla sauce. Yum.
At 8:12 a.m.,
jonny death-star said…
Sacher Torte is amazing, and I'm up for anything that is strudel... but
err... Schlutzkrapfen?
At 7:06 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
From my father who did a bit of fast research (he is from Vienna but claims that that schlutzkrapfen is a regional dish):
OK, I just finished a search ande if you go to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Austria, and then go down and look at Tirol you will find Schlutzkrapfen., pasted below:
Tyrol
Tyrolean bacon and all sorts of dumplings play an important role in the cuisine of the Tyrol. Dumplings are prepared with bacon, spinach or Tyrolean Graukäse (a sour milk cheese) and eaten on their own, in a soup, or as a side-dish. Graukäse is also dressed with oil and vinegar and served garnished with onion rings. Other local delicacies are Tiroler Gröstl (pan-fried meat, potatoes and onions) and Schlutzkrapfen (noodle dough pockets filled with meat or potatoes). Doughnuts and Kiachle (fritters) fried in dripping are also popular. Melchermuas (a type of pancake) is still prepared in an iron pan in alpine lodges.
Personally, I think it sounds dirty.
:)
At 9:15 a.m.,
jonny death-star said…
You had me at Bacon. Bring on the Schlutzkrapfen!!!!
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