Bangkok for Songkran

Oh, hi. It's been awhile but yes, here I am. Maybe back but without any great ambitions for text. Things have been very busy here in Kabul. Lots of work and lots of forced time indoors, too bad since we've had beautiful weather lately. We're coming close to the end of our tour but still have one last R&R to look forward to next month.

I've got lots of photos from our trip to Phuket and Bangkok - it was fantastic. Not much time for any photo correction so you'll get the basics but at least they'll be online. We arrived in Bangkok right before the Thai New Year, aka Songkran, aka the Water Festival. It's basically just how it sounds - lots of water and lots of celebrating! Two friends from Kabul met us in BKK the first night and we had a great dinner to celebrate my birthday. One of our friends was PCS'ing back to the US but we managed to convince her to stay just one last day to celebrate the New Year. She was glad for it and so were we.

We headed to Khao San road (the infamous backpacker district) where we joined the thousands of Thais and foreigners in a huge street party. There was music, drinks, delicious food, and torrential water beatings. We had purchased water guns along the way and while we put up a good fight, the buckets of ice water won every time. Aside from the water, there was a clay paste that (mostly Thais) were rubbing on people's faces. Since we'd watched 'No Reservations: Thailand' prior to our trip, we knew to expect this and thus my knee-jerk reaction to smack any stranger who touches my face and neck was suppressed.

One low point to the day was the pickpocketing of our new digital waterproof camera. These photos belong to a friend since, duh, all our photos were gone. Luckily, we had so much fun that even the thief didn't spoil our day. Also lucky? That we found a good deal the next day on a replacement waterproof camera (we knew we'd snorkel in Phuket and want to take pictures) for about $100.


P.S. This marks our third New Year party this year (Western, Afghan, and Thai).

Day 27: BIT Show and Carnival

Curious. I thought all my photos from the BIT show (the international trade and tourism show) were accidentally deleted. Couldn't find them in iPhoto but sure enough, they made it onto the hard drive. Oh well.

This one is fairly recent, mid-February. So this MAJOR trade show was at the new Milan fairgrounds and was open to the public on the weekend. We attended and picked up brochures from a whole bunch of countries we'd like to visit and admired the more dramatic set-ups. The Indian tourism commission had a whole pinkish-orange palace thing going on, the Americans had a big old American car with lots of red, white, and blue; and the Italians had these Venetian Carnival dancers performing throughout the afternoon. Very cool.

Forty days later, Lent is coming to an close and Christians everywhere are preparing to celebrate. Happy Easter!

La Fiera Artigianale

Each holiday season, Christmas markets are scattered all around Europe. From Barcelona to Brussels, wooden stalls are set up throughout European piazzas selling kitsch and crafts representative to local culture and...other stuff made in China.


The Fiera Artigianale in Milano is more than just your standard Christmas market. Held at the Milan fairgrounds, the business center is thousands of square feet in size (so big! so much to walk!) there were TONS of nationalities represented. I didn't count the number of stalls but there had to have been well over a thousand.


I went with a visiting friend (well, I went twice. The next weekend, I went back with Mark but these pictures are from the first visit) and we started out in the "world" section. Basically, the fair was divided into four gigantic rooms - World (mostly Africa/Asia with some South America), Europe, Northern Italy, and Southern Italy. So, as I said, we started out in the World. Since my friend has spent a great deal of time in Asia and lived in China a couple years, it was a short visit. This is where Mark and I went back to the next week to buy a beautiful silver mirror (from "Morocco" and pillowcases from "Pakistan").


We perused the offerings of "Europe" including a host of spices and teas (various nationalities), marushka dolls (Russia), polish pottery, and foods from pretty much every nation in Europe. French pastries, Spanish ham, bratwurst and Irish pubs pretty much rounded out the rest of the offerings. Yum.


Italy was our final stop but by this time, we were several hours and at least a couple miles into our visit. I think every small town and province in Italy must've been represented at the fairgrounds. I bought a crema di pistachio (very sweet, perfect for a future cupcake topping) and some cannoli that would end up as our dessert that night. Despite the pre-Christmas timing of the fair, the offerings were weak on actual Christmas paraphernalia. I was in the market for a tree-topper but came home empty handed on that front. Oh well, some of these other fairs will probably do the trick!

Gorgonzola and a Festival of Cheese

When I found out last year that the town of Gorgonzola had an annual festival celebrating the cheese of the same name, I knew that I had to attend. When I found out that not only was the town close by but that it was actually on the Milan metro line, I marked by calendar.


So in September, we hopped on the green line and headed for the suburbs. Aside from a newsletter on the town's website, we weren't too sure where to go but found it easy to follow the crowds when we got off the metro. The 11th annual Sagra Nazionale di Gorgonzola is celebrated with booths throughout town, some selling arts and crafts, some selling the infamous cheese, and all crowded with people. A tasting pass let you go to some of the booths to try the gorgonzola recipes being featured but after one look at the risotto booth, we decided to go our own way. While the risotto looked good in smaller portions, I couldn't get over the gigantic metal container and the oar used to stir the rice. Yum?


We finished out the day with some tastings of gorgonzola dolce washed down with a couple of Peroni beers before heading back into the city.

The Chianti Festival

While the cantinas in Montepulciano were plentiful, the various wine regions in Tuscany were begging to be tasted by Mark and I. Luckily for us, the 19th Rassegna del Chianti Classico (Chianti wine festival) in Greve-in-Chianti was taking place and offered us the opportunity to taste various Tuscan and Chianti wines from all over the region - all in one place! For 10 euro, we purchased a "commemorative" wine glass and a punch card that entitled us to 10 different tastings - not a bad deal!Some of us (ahem ahem, me, unfortunately) had to drive back to Montepulciano that night but an early start enabled me to taste a few as well. Mark's strategy was to pick the most expensive wines around (which ended up being the Super Tuscans, for the most part) and get "the most for his money". Some of them were particularly tasty and we walked away with a few bottles so that I could do a little more tasting at home.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo

With a 700 year old castle as the backdrop, the Edinburgh Tattoo takes place each year in the Scottish capital. This year, we were lucky enough to score some tickets from a friend and enjoy the Saturday evening performance. It's called the 'Tattoo' because the word derives from from 'tap toe', a signal that the drum corps would play to close the ale taps and send the soldiers home...i.e. last call for alcohol.


The Tattoo is the second largest festival in Edinburgh, second only to the Fringe festival, and attracts nearly 8000 each night throughout the month of August. In 2009, we saw various Highland performances (pipes, drums, and dance) as well as the UK 1st Royal Tank Regiment, the Tongan Royal Corps of Musicians (immediately above), the Chinese She Huo Dance Troupe (immediately below), and the Swiss Top Secret Drum Corps.


A light show played concurrently with the performers, lighting up the Edinburgh Castle in all kinds of colors and designs. The grand finale brings out all the performers, nearly 1000 of them, for some classic Scottish songs and the lowering of the flags. Right before the fireworks start, the Lone Piper plays one last mournful song.


The fireworks show at the end was spectacular. All of my favorite types shot across the sky and twinkled as they came down. Since this is the U.K. a drizzle of rain helped to finish off the end of the night. However, it was well-worth it for such an entertaining show.

Edinburgh and Festivals

On Saturday morning in Edinburgh, we woke to another brilliant blue sky. To improve further on the day, our friends from London met us in the breakfast room so that we could all start the day together!

When we booked our tickets for Edinburgh, the only thing we'd planned on was attending the Military Tattoo. We soon found out that August was basically the season of festivals in the Scottish city. Everywhere we walked, we ran into another event - festivals for books, politics, foods, the arts....even a festival for stone-carving (ok, that was just an exhibit at the arts college).

The Fringe Festival was the most obvious and popular of them all. Created in 1947 when eight theater groups showed up uninvited to the arts festival and took to performing in the streets, today's Fringe is organized enough to close down part of the Royal Mile and play host to hundreds of groups from all over the world. Nearly 250 Edinburgh venues play host to 2000 theater and musical performances. Performers spend their days in the streets of the Royal Mile, handing out advertisements for their show and re-enacting scenes in the street.

Also along the Royal Mile (and beyond) were scores of shops, selling Scottish cashmere, kilts, shortbread...just about anything you can think of - including tartan formal ware!

We were able to attend the Foodies at the Festival event twice during our trip - the first time on Friday when we popped in, soaking wet, for a chef's demonstration and some hot soup. On Saturday, we sampled Scottish whisky and cheeses while one of our friends hunted down local oysters.

Popping into the Parliament building (with its contemporary architecture, pictured above), we viewed the media photography exhibit while the Politics Festival went on. It wasn't all festivals and food though. We went into Holyrood Palace (photo at top), the Queen's Gallery and the Camera Obscura museum and enjoyed not only the illusions inside but the amazing views of Edinburgh from the roof.

Arthur's Seat, hiking in the center of Edinburgh

After weeks of 90+ degree temperature here in Milan, we were looking forward to the cool climate of the United Kingdom. We were not disappointed as a nice breeze greeted us immediately after stepping off our EasyJet flight. Despite the warnings we'd received of the terrible Scottish rain, we were so lucky (as our taxi driver told us, over and over) to have bright blue skys straight away!

While our friends from London would be meeting us that evening to explore the city for the weekend, we decided to make the most of the weather and after depositing our suitcases at our hotel, we headed straight for Holyrood Park. Our stroll along the Royal Mile was full of interesting sights and sounds since the Fringe Festival was going on right under our noses but more about that later.

Like Rome, Edinburgh is a city built on hills and Arthur's Seat is the highest at a little over 800 feet. It's not a particularly difficult hike though some of the parts on our path were pretty steep. However, the peak provides some spectacular views of the city once you make it up the scraggly rocks. The way up is very highland-esque, a comforting thought since we'd regretting not extending our vacation to allow for a trip to the Highlands.

350 million years ago, Arthur's Seat was an active volcano. Long extinct, it's now the home of lots of native flora and fauna, including some lovely lavender.

From the top, we enjoyed the amazing panorama views but quickly noticed the storm clouds approaching. It was super windy and we had to pull the sweaters out once we reached the top but apparently we dawdled too long.

That strong wind pulled the storm close quickly and we ended up SOAKED as we much more carefully made our way down from the peak. My talented husband managed to negotiate the least muddy path and soon we had a crowd following us down to avoid slipping! A foodie festival taking place at the base of the extinct volcano provided us with whisky and dry tents to warm up - too bad every rainy day doesn't end that way!

4th of July!

Flying solo this July 4th, I attended the J4Milano fete at the Triennale museum near the Parco Sempione. Hosted by the expat newsletter group EasyMilano, it was a pretty good overseas approximation of the US holiday.

La Triennale di Milano is the modern design museum. In the back, they have a big sculpture garden. When we walked into the back, the grass was set with red, white, and blue blankets. Big tents hosted food and beverages while a big Dixieland band played in the background. A representative from the US Consulate read President Obama's 4th of July address and the expat community mixed and mingled.


This was a big family event but I spent the time with colleagues, friends, and their families. The kids mugged for the camera in-between their facepainting sessions and magic shows.

Towards the end of the afternoon, the wind picked up pretty significantly and caused the party to break up more quickly. We've been having some rough weather in Milan lately with lots of torrential downpours coming up quickly, accompanied by lots of thunder and lightening. If you don't believe me, you can come over to see the stack of pots in pans I had to set out near my kitchen wall to catch the gigantic leak that was created by yesterday's 530am storm.


Before leaving, I took a bit of time to check out some of the sculptures and decor that was available for viewing. The Triennale really pulled out all the stops, managing to come up with modern furniture that had an American spin. Definitely worth another visit.

CioccolaTO

I've mentioned before how much I love Turin and how famous they are for their chocolate (even if you've never heard of it). If you weren't convinced that it should be on your Northern Italy travel adventure, perhaps this will do the trick. Every year, usually at the end of February, the city of Turin sponsors the CioccolaTO - a gigantic chocolate festival.



Held in the Piazza Vittorio Veneto (seen above), tents are set up to display the makings of chocolatiers from all over Italy and Europe. Vendors ply passersby with freebies, tempting you to stop and eventually purchase some of their goods. I took an afternoon off work and headed out to Turin with a friend visiting from Zimbabwe (she needed the break) to explore this foodie haven.


It didn't take much to get me to stop immediately. The first stand we saw was for hot chocolate. Options abound. You can get your cocoa flavored with mint, liquor, dark chocolate, milk chocolate and about six others that I don't even remember. I opted for canella, or cinnamon. This is no Starbucks where they add your high-fructose cinnamon-flavored corn syrup into your cocoa. No, these hot cocoas are blended together from fresh ingredients - the stand had separate containers for each different type of cocoa. As you can see, the drink had more of a "thick pudding" aspect than your typical watered down Nesquik.


The first few booths we encountered seemed to be run by small producers (one of the later ones was heavy hitter, Swiss Lindt). They didn't spend as much on fancy wrappings but what they did, they did well. Fruits and spices were candied and covered in dark chocolate (orange and ginger above) but there were multiple options in the way of normal chocolate bars. I walked away with some of my favorites like chocolate orange, rose chocolate, and chocolate with fleur de sel. Some dark chocolate may have also made its way into my bag, to be saved for making my dark chocolate cherry chunk cookies for the next bake sale/fundraiser.


I saw some uses for chocolate that I'd never previously imagined. Yes, that is actually chocolate pasta (light and dark) pictured above. When I asked the clerk what one cooks with chocolate pasta, I got a "whatever you want" as the answer. While I didn't buy any, I guess I'd imagine a light sauce with fresh nuts and cream or folding them into a sweet dessert casserole or a "chocolate spaghetti with candied fruit 'meat'balls". Hm, maybe I should've bought it to experiment with!


But the CioccolaTO is more than just buying and tasting chocolates. it has to be - even with my sweet tooth I could only take two small pieces after the hot cocoa. The festival puts on laboratories, demonstrations, and even cooking classes available (some in English) to the general public. The above demonstration got going after we left but it appeared as though he chef was going to do something very interesting with all those little cups. We even stumbled across a local group of Italian elementary school students participating in a learning session under another tent. The production and history of local, regional, and national foods are a serious matter in Italy.

Though the chocolate festival was not our only foodie destination in Torino, we left with full bellies, chocolate hangovers, and heavy shopping bags. Since the festival closed just a few days after we visited, we were lucky to have caught it at all and even luckier to have experienced such a wide range of Italian chocolates with so little effort!

Cologne: Aalaf!

Karneval is not an official holiday in Germany but if the cities in the Rhineland didn't shut public offices and schools down, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to get around! Koln, or Cologne, is noted for the biggest parade and celebration of Rosenmontag, or Rose Monday, in the Rhineland. Just a short distance from Dusseldorf, we were lucky enough that our friend had received tickets for a party at Cologne's rathaus and seats on bleachers for the parade route. While "helau" is the traditional greeting in Dusseldorf, you'd be laughed at for saying anything other than "aalaf" in Cologne.


At the rathaus, or town hall, we joined in the celebration being hosted by the city mayor. Red and white were the colors of the day with balloons and streamers in those colors all over the room. Traditional German dancers (wearing red and white, of course) performed with a live band for the cheering and dancing crowds. Though early (about 10.45 am), the local pilsner beer was flowing freely and the lunch buffet was fully stocked.



Everyone was in costume at the party. Everyone. The most traditional sort of costume is the old Prussian military uniform, sported mostly by older men (and some women) but all sorts of costumes were in play. Some of the less creative (including myself) used hats or wigs to constitute 99% of the costume but, hey, at least we were all in the spirit. Use of feathers was widespread and I thought that the hat pictured above showed them off quite nicely.


A little after noon, we headed out of the rathaus, stuffed and maybe just a little tipsy from all the tiny glasses of beer. Claiming our seats on the bleachers, we expected German punctuality for the quarter-to-one start time. While the parade did start then, it was quite a slow beginning. A float or marching group/band would pass by every 5 minutes or so. We thought "this is it?" Luckily, after about a half hour the pace picked up a bit and the floats really started to come by.

The celebration of Karneval is nearly as old as the city itself since the Christians adopted pagan springtime rites to incorporate them into Lenten rituals. However, the organized celebration that we were able to witness dates back less than 200 years. In 1823, the Festordnende Komitee was founded and began to organize the celebrate and the parade that continues today. Like the social clubs that create and sponsor the New Orleans Mardi Gras floats, the Festordnende Komitee operates in a similar fashion.


Instead of beads, chocolates and candies are thrown from the floats to the crowds. Since this is a family affair, creative costumes attract attention from the floats - not nudity. The Komitee members on each float (and their friends and family, I suppose) have chocolate bars that are often wrapped in personalized paper to indicate what Komitee they're from. The crowds along the streets and bleachers come prepared - we were probably the only group WITHOUT a canvas bag to throw all our candy in. In fact, we had a hard time collecting in the beginning. It just didn't seem like much candy was coming our way and wasn't until a box (yes, a freaking box) bounced off my hands onto the bleachers to be stolen by a woman in a bumblebee costume that we realized we had to be more aggressive. So we dove within bleacher seats and Mark tried to attract attention with his large afro. We didn't get nearly as much as our seatmates (or the bumblebee) but we collected a large enough portion that our host (with whom we left the chocolates) probably won't have to buy sweets for another few months.


The parade and floats themselves were a mixture of bands, dancers, and political humor. We saw a float that depicted German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a string bikini, one representing the economic meltdown, a cowboy cartoon of G.W. Bush, and of course - President Obama. Costumes from the stands ranged from bumblebees to Winnie the Pooh to a broke investment banker (probably my favorite). The Cologne Karneval ended up providing the perfect atmosphere to let loose before Lent's message of abstinence began.