Our day began simple enough with eggs, toast, coffee and skyr – at our apartment.  One of the main reasons we stay in apartments is just for this reason.  It can be expensive (and time consuming) to eat every meal out.

We have plans tonight (more on that later) but with the chilly temps, spitting rain and wind we decided Monday would be the perfect day to visit The Perlan.  Yes, you can definitely  see it’s windy outside.

It was created in the 1990s at the site of the city’s former water storage tanks.  The tanks have been converted into a Museum of Icelandic Natural Wonders, sharing displays about Iceland’s unique environment-perfect for two people with a science background.

Before even heading inside, there was this cool grouping of sculptures to the left of the entrance.

The first exhibit was about the power of volcanoes.

While also talking about the tetonic plates.

No, we didn’t go see Puffins in their actual habitat (nor did Eric eat puffin) but their exhibit was interesting and accompanying information was good.  This replicates a tiny portion of Europe’s largest seabird cliff.

Their ice cave is pretty cool (pun intended – sorry) and is the first of its kind in the world, being 100 metres long and made with 350 tonnes of real snow from the Blue Mountains of Iceland.

One other activity we indulged in was the Planetarium’s projection of the Northern Lights.  Sorry no photos, it was prohibited.  😦  I did go out on the observation deck, but man, if you thought it was windy in front of the building, it was REALLY bad higher up.  I might have spent two minutes outside, then put my head down to combat the wind and struggled to get back inside.

Before leaving we had a light lunch at the top of the dome (seen in one of the first pictures above).  My meal was a fabulous grilled chicken on a bed of assorted lettuces, lightly dressed with a tasty oil & vinegar dressing.  Eric got the seafood soup and he almost licked the bowl.

Even though it was raining, I couldn’t resist this photo of Reykjavik’s church.

Tonight’s plans were one of the highlights of this trip.  We met an Icelandic couple during a food tour in Paris in 2017 (photo below) and after the tour, most of the group stayed together and enjoyed a meal that night before separating.

If possible, we wanted to get together during this trip and they graciously invited us to their (new) home to meet their kids and have a meal with their family.  After a number of years in a 2-bedroom apartment with four children, having a house with a garden was a dream come true.  It’s a great house.  🙂

We met Diana at the University of Iceland that afternoon and she gave us a driving tour as we headed towards their home.

We got a tour of their outside garden and there are numerous hidden treasures.

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The meal was fabulous:  leg of lamb & gravy, salad & fixings and potatoes.  I was so excited to eat………. my photo only shows a portion of the food.

We both loved the two sauces, seen next to the bowl of tomatoes:  red current jelly was on the left and a rhubarb syrup was on the right.

Okay, and I forgot to take a photo of dessert, aarrrgghh.  It was a raspberry cheesecake and various flavored skyrs.  Talking wih Sverrir and Diana (along with their kids) was just so enjoyable and relaxing that I didn’t want to spoil the atmosphere with taking photos.  At least I got a few photos before Sverrir took us back to our apartment.  Unfortunately I missed getting their oldest daughter before she took off after dinner, but I hope we all meet again, sometime in the future – either in Iceland or Florida!

When sharing the address off our apartment, it was discovered that Sverrir’s grandfather grew up a short distance away and the house is still standing.  We had walked past it several times.  He was a carpenter and behind it was the workshop.  It’s over 100 years old and cannot be torn down.

We both totally loved our evening with their family and will hopefully return the honor if they get a chance to visit Florida.

More to come! We’ve only been here two days and still have four more days to go.

Ginny

 

 

A few posts ago we talked about Iceland and our bucket list.  The day has finally arrived to begin our trip!

And so the journey begins – at least it is a straight-through flight from Orlando. Yeah!!

Although not a short flight, after traveling to Shanghai, everything seems shorter.  It is less than 7 hours, and as you can see below, an overnight flight.

And if you can read Icelandic…….their alphabet has 32 characters.

Once on-board, you’re given a unique bottle of water to truly get you immersed for your upcoming adventure.

Our flight path eventually took us over Greenland.

Although not a window seat, I got a shot of their mountain tops.

We arrived!

Getting to our apartment was a mult-transportational adventure.  You start with a bus from the airport (40 miles away from Reykjavik), transfer to a smaller bus at their bus terminal, dropping you off at your requested bus stop (you need to know in advance), to walk to your abode.

The apartment is nice, small but everything we need.

 

First things first, a (power) nap.  We both got some shut-eye on the plane, but didn’t want to crash during our food tour this afternoon, so the 1 1/2 hour snooze really did the trick.

Pretty much everything is within walking distance and our meeting spot was the Harpa Concert Hall and while my photo is quite boring, there are some amazing photos on the internet when it’s lighted in the evening.  The outside is a honey-comb of glass panels.

Our tour guide, Marin started our walk, explaining we would be making 6 stops for this tour – wow, that’s a lot of stops & food.  First stop was at Islenski Barinn with a bowl of lamb soup.  It was just the thing for the chilly weather.  Of course, having a glass of beer only helped the experience.

 

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Next up was a deli, normally closed on Sundays but since our tour guide was a chef and knew the owners, a prepped cheese & meat platter was waiting for us.  She went in through their restaurant and unlocked the door to their deli for our group to enter.

 

The platter was all locally sourced.  The (3) cheeses were a gouda, soft-ripened type (kind of like brie) cheese, followed by a bleu cheese.  The (3) meats were salt-cured lamb, salt-cured horse, ending with hot-smoked wild goose breast.  She recommended a drop of raspberry champagne vinegarette with the goose, which truly made it more enticing.  Eric, of course, had it plain.

Next food stop was Café Loki for a unique Icelandic variety of ice cream – rye bread ice cream.

Don’t scrunch up your nose, it was quite tasty.  Barely, just barely can you taste the rye flavor.  I’m not the biggest fan of rye bread and this was delicious.  The whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top didn’t hurt.

There was an interesting mural along their back wall.  My photos would have no chance of capturing it, luckily they gave a nifty flyer with the photo.  The restaurant is a great location, right across from the iconic Lutheran church.

Now we switched back to a savory dish at Messinn Seafood Restaurant.

As the name indicates, this was a seafood stop.  We had (L>R, clockwise) arctic char, mashed cod and two people had pre-ordered a vegetarian platter.

 

So far, I was game for everything and while my plate might not be over-flowing with food, I tasted everything we were served.

Our next stop would probably surprise most everyone, unless you’ve been doing some reading about food in Iceland.  Hot dogs get a lot of attention, particularly this spot.  That’s our tour guide, ordering our dogs.  The traditional Icelandic ‘all the way’ is a dog with ketchup, remoulade, sweet brown mustard, fresh onions and (marvelous, very tasty & crunchy, little bits of heaven) fried onions.

You don’t see the onions in my photos, but they ‘make’ the dog.  I was good with everything but the sweet brown mustard.

Yes, you eat outside and yes there was a line for this small street food outlet.  A family in our tour group was renting a place in the background and they said the place was hopping at 4:00 a.m.

Our last and final stop was at Aptoek restaurant for dessert, served with coffee.  The photo does not do it justice.  There were fresh blueberries, passion fruit puree, berry compote and brownie crumbs.

Besides us, our tour group was comprised of 4 Floridians from South Florida, 5 ladies from Iowa, celebrating their friend’s 50h birthday and a couple from Australia.  It was a fun group for the tour.

I’m closing this post with a photo from one of their icons, the Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik’s Lutheran Church.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Ginny

 

Twenty-five years ago, Eric and I were walking down the aisle to become Mr & Mrs.  A lot has happened since then, some good times and some better times.  Times when we were separated half a world apart and other times exploring unknown parts of the world together.  Most every year we do something to celebrate whether it’s going out for a special meal or this year, checking something off the bucket list.

It’s always fun to look at old photos (who has photo prints any more!) and fondly remember those times. This year is a bit more special as we hit our 25th anniversary.

The photos below were part of our wedding video (no one does those either) and was a fun thing to put in this posting.

I also put together a memory book and included a few of those pages with this posting.

Along with with our wedding party

I still have my wedding dress and through the years it has fared well.  Some of the ecru lace & beading are growing darker with time, but for the most part, it’s in good shape.  Why am I keeping it?  Sentimental value, I guess.  But I am giving some thought to ‘upcycling’ pieces of the dress.  It’s the first snip of the scissors that is the hardest.

My veil is packed in the same box and holding up well.

No, there’s not any live shots this year with them on, but I have put them on several years ago and they still fit  🙂  probably better than the day I first wore them !

We had invitations printed-almost waiting too late-and friends stopped over to furiously get all the pieces stuffed into the envelopes and addressed to mail out.

The wedding was in Indiana and I found an old postcard of the church

It was way better than any photo I could take with my camera.

Now, lets get to the good stuff-wedding photos.

Upper left corner, clock-wise:       A shot with my sister before the wedding, me with our groomsmen and Eric with the ladies.

Upper left corner, clock-wise :      I’m with my parents, a solo photo before everything started and Eric with his mother and sister.

The wedding party after the ceremony.  Yes, we followed tradition and didn’t see each other that day until I walked down the aisle.

And we have the married couple.

The major stress is over, we now can enjoy the reception, being with our friends and family that traveled from afar.

Eric danced with his mother while I had the ‘father-daughter’ dance (oops didn’t get that photo before writing this).

I had to include this photo, while not the best shot, there’s a story behind it.

As a surprise, mom had arranged for a horse & buggy to take us around the campus to enjoy a quiet moment after leaving the reception.  A month before the wedding, the horse died .  She found another guy who had a horse & buggy  with a wedding carriage, then that horse died.  She found this guy shortly before the wedding, and (yeah) the horse lived to be a part of the festivities.

This was one of my favorite photos.  It was taken after the ceremony in the church.  In the photo with the wedding party, a railing can be seen.  The photographer had us sitting on the railing for this shot.  It’s a little hard to see but we included a few ‘Mickey’ touches for our wedding and Eric’s bow-tie is a Mickey paisley print.

There you have it.  I was not ‘bridezilla’ and took things in stride-kind of a necessity when you live 1000+miles away and planning an event.  But no wedding is complete with out a few ‘interesting‘ stories.

Story #1

My maid of honor had a baby 2 weeks prior to the wedding date. They were traveling  from  NC and was so concerned about what baby stuff to bring they forgot a key item she needed for the wedding. They were in the next state when she asked her husband to pullover so she could look in the trunk. Yep, they left her dress.  After calling her sister, the dress was taken to their UPS store with the barest of addresses (truly, it was a rural route address & they didn’t have easy access to my parents names).  UPS took the dress when they heard  the story (I think they enjoyed the challenge) and yes, it beat my maid of honor to Indiana by 2 hours.

Story #2

Then there was the story where my future mother- in- law made the petticoats for all of the bridesmaids dresses.  Since the participants came from different places, there was no time for this last detail until everyone arrived for the wedding.  The night before the wedding she was in the hotel hallway fitting each of them while also adjusting the length of their petticoats.  It was all about timing!

And finally, Eric wanted me to include this story.

Story #3

He and his best man had free time before the wedding and the town was have ‘Heritage Days’ that weekend.  They went on a historical tour, part of which stopped at the local bank.  This bank has one claim to fame…….it was robbed by John Dillinger and his gang in 1933.  It was the first of a 4-state robbery spree and the biggest bank robbery of Dillinger’s career, stealing over $75,000 dollars.  The lady giving the tour, Edith Browning, was working inside the bank that day and was the same lady giving the tour on the weekend.  She was a friend of moms.

I’m hoping we have another 25 years, but you never know what life will throw at you.  Happy Anniversary dear.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can probably figure out with the heading, that Iceland is on my bucket list, which got me to thinking about the phrase ‘bucket list’.  Then……….it got me curious.  Googled it and Merriam-Webster defines bucket list as:

• a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying, first used in 2006.

This story began as we were driving into work one day in January.  We talked about what should we do to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this year.  Ideas were tossed around, nothing stuck until……….one of us said “What about Iceland?”.   To this day, we still can’t remember which one of us said it first.  Regardless, who said it,  it stuck!  Eric booked our flights by 1 pm that same day and I ordered an Iceland guide book from Rick Steves that night.  The planning began!

Yep, I’m a fan of Rick Steves travel books.  I find his books an interesting read and full of (mostly) useful information.  My Iceland book joins my Rick Steves library.  We’ve actually been in one of his travel videos (unbeknown to us) which is an entirely different story.  But I digress………..

Eric loves to do the research and planning – almost as much as the actual trip……. well kind of.   🙂  Using Trip Advisor and other internet sources he searches out popular and well-regarded trips, historic sites of interest, top-rated restaurants and non-hotel accommodations.

 

Time requested off – √

Flights booked and accommodations confirmed – √

Tour(s) planned – √

 

But before going I really wanted to learn more about the country, its origins and some history, hence, research was required.

Iceland is a land of vivid contrasts, sparkling glaciers, ruggedly beautiful mountain ranges and abundant hot geysirs.  These geysirs provide heat for many homes and buildings and allow for hothouse agriculture year around.  The offshore Gulf stream provides a surprisingly mild climate for one of the northernmost inhabited places on the planet.

Iceland is located on top of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and was formed by a series of volcanic eruptions and is still growing and expanding from new eruptions.   Since the 1500s approximately half of earth’s lava flow has poured out of Iceland volcanoes.  There are about 200 volcanoes and eruption activity has been more frequent since the 1970s.  In recent memory, the 2010 eruption (seen below) sent ash plumes into skies that disrupted air traffic to Europe.  Some friends of ours got stuck in Europe extra days when their flight back to the US was delayed and canceled.

Traditionally, Iceland is divided according to the 4 points of the compass with the center being un-inhabited.  Iceland’s rugged coastline (3000+ miles) meets the Greenland sea on the north, Norwegian Sea on the east, Atlantic Ocean on the south & west and the Denmark Straight on the northwest.

A phrase I continued to come across was the ‘Sagas of Icelanders’.  Icelandic sagas are based on oral traditions.  Much research has been focused on what is real versus fiction and at times the accuracy can be hotly debated.  They are tales of kings, everyday people and large than life characters.  Most Icelandic sagas take place in the period 930 – 1030 but were written between 1200 and 1320.  They were focused on genealogical and family history, reflecting the struggle and conflict of early Icelandic settlers.  They have been deemed as unique contributions to Western literature, notable for their realism, style, power of character and tragic dignity.

Recorded history begin with a Viking settlement in 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks from Ireland settled Iceland before that time. The story goes that a Norwegian chieftain named Ingolfr Amarson threw two carved pillars overboard as he neared land, vowing to settle where they landed.  He sailed the coast until they were found in a southwestern peninsula and named the spot Reykjavik or “Smoke Cove”, probably from the geothermal steam rising from the earth.  It eventually became the capital of Iceland and its biggest city.

There is sooooo much more to read and learn about Iceland.  Earlier tonight I quizzed Eric on what he knew and we tried to outdo each other with our factoids we have independently discovered.  ‘Most’ of his facts were accurate.  🙂  The info I found below has no rhyme or reason, but were things that peaked my interest.

A few facts:

• Official Language – Icelandic
• Official Religion – Evangelical Lutheran
• Monetary Unit – Krona
• Total Area (sq mi) – 39,777
• Urban/Rural Population – 94%/6%
• Life Expectancy – male 80.4 years, female 84.1 years

I’m trying to resign myself that my I-phone photos cannot compete with all of the great images I found during my internet searches.  Don’t get me wrong, I have no plans to purchase a camera and my smart phone takes absolutely awesome photos, but not the wide-range, long distance nature scenes we will be seeing on our trip.

I’m ending on that note, sharing a few I found.

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Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!  Seriously, who knew beer slushies existed?  Okay, probably most craft beer followers, but I hadn’t seen them yet in any of the recent breweries we visited.  But, before diving into this tasty treat, let’s talk about the journey getting there.

It really started with beads, jewelry beads to be more specific.  Karen let me know another bead show was coming to Jacksonville, which on its own merit was a good enough reason to head north, but I needed a break from recent events, therefore……..road trip!

Sorry, I stand corrected, it’s not a ‘bead’ show, it’s a ‘Gem’ show.  While it’s a mix of vendors, it definitely reminds me of my time in Shanghai  when I visited my favorite vendor (Julia’s) almost weekly at the Pearl Market.

I really try to limit what I purchase, sticking to key colors that I use the most.  This time I concentrated on blue, black, white and purple beads.  I did pretty well – kind of.

Naturally, this trip wasn’t all about beads, it included food (and drinks).  One of our first excursions involved Legacy Ale Works, of which Rich is one of the founding members.

There’s this really cool board on the wall, recognizing all the founding patrons (127) that bought into the brewery prior to opening.

You can find his name in the upper right corner.

We shared a flight, concentrating mostly on beer styles I favor, dark beers.

And here was my biggest surprise…………………they pair extremely well with sushi!  There were several restaurants within walking distance and the brewery allows patrons to bring in their food.  Rich and I shared the sushi while Karen and Connor ordered a pizza.  This is a pairing that needs to be replicated.  And I’m talking the beer and the sushi!

Between the four of us we shared two pieces of cake – and had leftovers.  They were BIG pieces of cake.

Another evening, we visited a brewery and pizzeria combo:

The clown in their logo is a bit creepy, but it didn’t affect the beer.  We got two flights and shared.  I still can’t add ‘sours’ to my drinking palate.  I try them, then wish I hadn’t.

We started with pretzel bites before our pizzas arrived – very tasty.  We easily could have gotten two orders to share.

The pizzas………………OMG!  We all agreed this was some of the BEST pizza in recent memory.  Just wish it was closer to their house.  The top pizza  has pepperoni and bacon with the bottom pizza having mushrooms, banana peppers and more bacon (my pick).

While it wasn’t exactly the typical ‘brewery’ atmosphere we were expecting, we definitely enjoyed our meal.  The vibe was very low key.

We just couldn’t end the night without a few more calories and a chance to ‘fill in the cracks’ with ice cream.  Whit’s is a local ice cream shop on the drive home.  They gave you waaaaayy too much ice cream and without Eric to help me, I just couldn’t finish it.

Oh yeah, the beer slushie that I mentioned in the title.  I’m finally getting to it.  That was a part of our first night at Legacy Ale Works.  It was absolutely delicious!  Come on, anything put into a glass that was coated with chocolate syrup, has got to be good.  🙂

And all those beads I purchased………………….I was able to quickly make two pair of earrings from my new purchases.  I had to finish a few details on bracelets (from a previous working visit) and they came home also.  Love them!

 

Stay tuned, we’re getting close for another (over-night flight) Darden Travels trip!

Ginny

 

Throughout this blog there are occasional glimpses of my aunt that lives with us.  While there is a nice ending to this post, the path was fraught with many unknowns.  At the moment, Cranes View Lodge is the ending

This journey began when my aunt fell during the night several weeks ago and didn’t alert us.  I woke up early to get my coffee and found her on the floor in her bedroom.  Although we could get her to sit up, she couldn’t stand, therefore  the next call was for paramedics which came out of the Clermont Fire Station.

After getting her vitals they could tell something was wrong with her right hip and next stop was the South Lake Hospital.

Through the years myself or other family members have been admitted to various local hospitals, but being at this place had the added bonus of being close to home.  The last time we were here was for grandma and they have greatly expanded their building and facilities in the last fifteen years.

 

After x-rays it was determined she broke her hip and would need surgery.  Now the question was one of timing.  This occurred on a Sunday and because of its location in Lake county, surgeries are not regularly scheduled on the weekends.  It became a matter of finding all the necessary staff.  6 p.m. a surgical nurse came in, said to grab my stuff they were getting her prepped for surgery.  When the doctor arrived at 630 p.m., everything needed to be ready to operate.  Man!  Things happened fast after that.

The doctor walked in, talked with both of us and showed me her x-ray – definitely broken.  😦    Seventy minutes later he walked out, said the partial hip replacement surgery went fine and now the healing begins.

Twelve hours later, the nursing staff had her up on her feet and taking a few steps in her room.  Two days later, she was moved to a nearby Rehab Center, Sky Top View Rehab.

It literally is on top of the hill behind the hospital – definitely looks like one of the higher parts of town. It’s a fairly new, small facility (40 beds) and again, bonus of being close to home.

Okay, so now a (short) rant………..Medicare pays for 20 days in a rehab, average stay is 14 days, however they wanted to release her the morning of her 10th day.  What?!?  Eventually learned that Lake County is in an ‘accelerated Medicare release’ program which seems to boil down to saving Lake county some dollars and the families not so much.  Okay, I’m done.

We quickly had to find interim accommodations without knowing how to navigate this path.  Thank goodness for Google!!!!  Eric found this agency and their director quickly got in touch with us, efficiently arranged several Assisted Living tours located around us – within 24 hours.  Sara Woodward was my contact and she was a godsend.  Would definitely recommend going this route!

Not only that, she accompanied me.  She knew the ins & outs of the system, talked the ‘medical’ talk and knew what questions needed to be asked.  Once the tours were done that morning, called Eric and my sister……………decision made –  Crane’s View Lodge Senior Living facility.  It is a gorgeous facility and fairly new.  The architecture is reminiscent of the Northwest.

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Upon completion of 23 pages of paperwork sent home with me………another 12 pages emailed to me the following day to read and sign……………..we had a 1-bedroom apartment.  Now, I’m not sure I mentioned this……..Eric is out-of-town for his job.  Yep, got to do most of this myself.

Next step, moving day.  Oh yeah, nothing comes furnished so you have to bring (or buy) furniture.  The next several days were sorting & cleaning furniture, organizing supplies, purchasing a few groceries and gathering more of her clothing.  I made one trip myself and then waited for a friend to help with the second trip.  She also stuck around when Eric returned to help with all of the heavier stuff.  Her previous moving experiences definitely made this easier for me.

One day later, my aunt arrived.

During my initial tour, I saw many resident doors decorated and didn’t want my aunt to be left out.  Apparently, it’s a ‘thing’.  Darn good thing that Hobby Lobby is only a block away – just saying.

And while more things can be added to her apartment at a later date, it was ready for her to arrive.

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So there you have it.  It’s been a journey, with a learning curve and a few bumps along the way.  We left her settled in her favorite chair, watching game shows.

Until the next time.………..

 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

Like many others across the world, I was glued to media sources as the tragedy unfolded on Monday April 15, 2019.

Eric has mentioned that Notre Dame may be my favorite building in Paris, more so than the Eifel Tower.  We always have to visit the church when in Paris and go inside. Several years ago, we attended a mass during the week.  It was held behind the choir due to the small group attending.  So much history surrounded us as the mass was conducted in French.

 

The photo below was a defining moment when news outlets continually played the video as the spire toppled.

 

We know now that parts of the building was salvaged and millions across the world have pledged funds to help with rebuilding.

 

Earlier today I went back and found my 2017 posts from our France trip.  I am so glad that we did the Gargoyle tour and walked those hundreds of stairs to the rooftop.

 

I found three posts that are archived on my blog:

*Paris Tour Guides

*Oh, those gargoyles

*The last 24 French Hours

You can find them several ways.  Type ‘gargoyles’ in the search field and it will bring you to my second France post.  Scroll down to the bottom and you can see the ‘related posts’ mentioned above.

Another way to find these posts is to scroll to the very bottom left corner of the blog, under Archives, click on the box titled ‘Select Month’ and click on October 2017.

Ginny

The G stands for garden and what better way to get others excited about this Festival, than to add food from the garden!  Seems like a natural fit-right?  It wasn’t always  so, the food I mean.

Through the years, there had been talk, brainstorms, talk, more brainstorms and more talk.  But in late 2012, the Epcot Leadership took a chance and pushed the concept of outside ‘kitchen gardens’ through. When the 2013 F&G Festival opened, there were eleven outdoor kitchens preparing food for guests to purchase, similar to the fall Food & Wine event.  That has now reached eighteen outdoor kitchens and a dedicated year-around Culinary Team dreaming up magical culinary dishes for us to try.

Enough history, let’s get to the food!

How many people have a ‘cool’ location to work, like I do?  Lunch is a walk in the park……………….figuratively and literally.   We can take our time enjoying the Festival, leisurely stopping at a few outdoor kitchens and walk again the next day (or next week) to try a few more tasty tidbits.   Here are a few of my favorite highlights from this year’s F&G Festival.

One of our first treats from the Pineapple Promenade was the violet lemonade and spicy hot dog with ‘goop’.  Okay, using the word ‘goop’ would probably give the culinary team a heart attack, but this was a messy dish to eat.  Be prepared.  LOVE the edible pansy flower blooms in the lemonade and really, who can resist sipping on a lavender colored drink.

Across the promenade is The Citrus Blossom kitchen.  While we have tasted all three of the savory dishes, I only captured photos of the of the tuna and chicken.  And to tell the whole truth……..we’ve been back to have the tuna and chicken.  🙂  With this photo, I noticed the citrus shortcake on the menu – hmmmm, may have to make a return trip and try that.

Trowel & Trellis, come on, what a cute name.  While many guests purchase the corn on the cob which is cooked behind the outdoor kitchen, right on-stage, we chose the other two offerings.  Notice that little ‘V’ at the end of the Farmhouse Meatball description, this item is all vegetarian – no thank you.  It was served like a taco to keep all of the ingredients together.  The sweet item is very imaginative.  Not really one of my favorite items to taste and after a few spoonfuls, gave it to my eating partners.

An inside location called Arbor at the Gardeners Terrace, provides a chance to get away from the heat – uncommonly warm on the day we were eating.  We ordered all of three of the food options.  I really enjoyed the fried green tomatoes, but didn’t feel they were anything extra special.  A friend got the salmon and loved it.  I tried a bit of it and while it was tasty, it’s not something I would order again, personally.

The dessert however, keeps growing on me.  Yes, this is another place that has already warranted a second visit.  I really, really like the sorbet that topped the crumb cake.

I’m finishing with a tried and true culinary  stop – The Smokehouse.  I have photos of the top item and the bottom item listed below.  On-stage is a smoker that only enhances the smoky flavor of the meat as the smoke permeates the on-stage eating area.

This is one of my absolute favorite desserts from this festival:  warm chocolate cake, warm caramel sauce, topped with pecans – yum, just yum.

And how can you top that – you can’t.

 

Ginny

 

 

Not an exciting name, but descriptive, read on……….

No surprise, flower pots abound at the Flower & Garden Festival.  As I’ve been walking around these last several weeks, a few floral spots caught my eye.  Here you go with a mini tour of World Showcase.

I LOVE all of the pots at the Italy pavilion.  And this photo is not even half of the pots in this one display along the water!

Now turn around 180 degrees and you see this flower tower surrounded with more pots.

If you haven’t visited Epcot, the structures in the background won’t mean much, but they remind me of our trip to Venice last year.  It was a fun time with good friends.  🙂    Okay, back to World Showcase…………

 

Around a corner in the Italy pavilion, this little flower nook can be found.  There’s a bench nearby-sorry, when taking the photo, I deliberately cropped it out (Argh – photo-shop remorse).   This would be a great place for grandma & grandpa to relax while family is rushing around here & there, trying to fit everything in their visit.  It’s tree-covered & shady, away from the throngs guest traffic yet close enough to enjoy the ambiance of the park and take the take to smell the flowers!

It was about this time of wandering when the wide variety of flower pots really stoked my (scientific) interest, thus I did a little research and now I’m sharing.

• Terracotta is refined clay, formed to a desired shape, dried then placed in a kiln to be ‘fired’.
• If a potter’s wheel is used, this clay item is now called ‘earthenware’ pottery instead of terracotta.
• Ancient Greeks (3000-1500 BC), India, Pre-colonial West Africa and the Chinese were using terracotta as sculptures and building material way before anyone else.

Okay, back to the tour. I loved these square pots and they are found in several different pavilions.   The second photo is near the Morocco pavilion.

I can’t even imagine the skill and work that went into these round pots with sculptured faces (or the angst of delivering them – yikes).  Or the required handling once potted and placed in this garden near the Germany pavilion.

• In the 18th century unglazed terracotta became fashionable for pots and sculptures, before that time a glaze was utilized. 
• The iron content of the clay, reacting with oxygen, gives the pot its reddish color.
• Terracotta pots can also be yellow, orange, buff, red,  pink, grey, brown and white-colored.

It would be so boring if all pots were terracotta……………and this Festival isn’t boring.  The Japan pavilion showcased a different type of growing called Kokedama without any pot per se.

Now here’s another way to use trash cans and metal buckets…………

The gardens in the United Kingdom pavilion showcase elements of a cup of tea and what better way to highlight those plants than in a (gigantic) teacup.  These measure approx 2 feet tall by roughly 18″ wide – very cute.  Each of the pots has a tea tag, listing the plants involved in the tea profiles.

Of course, growing can happen vertically, as seen in these wooden towers.  Herbs mix it up with flowers to create a pretty and functional planting (if you cook).  😉

There are other extra touches as you wander the park.  The iron railing (preventing guests from sitting on top of the ledge) also allowed for more flower pots.  Loved capturing the Eifel tower in the background (that was planned, ha!).

Okay, so while there are numerous elements going on during the Festival, I wanted to feature one of the stars……………….the flowers!

A nice way to end this post is with this red, white & blue flower pot from the American Adventure pavilion.

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

Road trip!  Seems like once a year, we make the drive to the gulf coast with Tarpon Springs ultimately being our destination. It’s no short drive. Yikes!

There’s also no direct easy way to get there.   We need to plan a 2+ hour drive.  😦

So, why go?  It has kitsch, water, Greek food and sponges!

Let’s start with the kitsch.  One way to look at the historic street is ‘tourist trap’.  Another way is kitsch = defined as art, object or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way.  

Another to look at the historic street is ‘old Florida before Disney & the internet’.

Since the historic street is along the Anclote river, there are numerous opportunities for fishing expeditions, boat rides and dolphin tours.  And yes, there are tons of souvenir shops, some tackier than others.    As long as you go on with those expectations, you won’t be surprised or disappointed.

No matter where you walk, you’re never far from the river and boat traffic.

Let’s talk next about the Greek element.  With the last census, Tarpon Springs had the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US.

• First settled in 1876 and named when visitors saw Tarpon (large fish) jumping out of the water…..hence Tarpon Springs.
• The sponge business started in 1880 and Greek immigrants arrived in 1890s.
• In the first half of the 1900s, the sponge business became one of the leading maritime industries in Florida, generating millions each year.

I referenced food in the beginning.  There are numerous Greek restaurants along the street and this trip we stopped at a previously untried place – Hellas.

We started with the flaming cheese…………….yelling  ‘Oom-pah’ when it was lit.

It’s very tasty, if a little dramatic, but everyone in the restaurant was ordering it.  At first I thought it was too salty, but when paired with the hummas we ordered, it was perfect.

With all of the extras we ordered (and the free bread) coming before our meal, I settled for a (Greek – of course) salad.  While you can’t see it I ordered the ‘traditional’ Greek serving and underneath all of the lettuce lies potato salad – very tasty, and filling.

Eric ordered the stuffed grape leaves, which was accompanied by various starch sides (sorry – no photo of the starches, can’t even remember what they were).

My plan was to save room for baklava for dessert and next door to the restaurant is their bakery – it had WAY too many choices.  My last photo has the baklava on the bottom shelf.

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I was able to catch a quick shot of my aunt and mother-in-law in front of the restaurant.  Hellas had inside and outside eating and their dining rooms seem to go on forever – holy cow, they can seat a lot of people!

And finally we get to the sponges – the reason we made the journey.  They can be found naturally in the Gulf of Mexico.  I found this sign, so why re-type!

Sponges are stored in bins and a pricing & sizing guide gives you a general idea what you’re paying.  The natural sponges don’t come cheap – just saying.

We did learn that in 1947 a Red Tide Algae bloom wiped out the sponge fields in the Gulf and not until the 1980s did it become an active business again.  We saw an old film that explained the process of gathering the sponges and the processes involved before they have a viable product.  This place was not short on kitsch.

Driving over I found what seemed like a pretty cool heritage museum focused on the Sponge Industry.  Alas, it wasn’t open on Sunday.  Maybe we can visit on our next trip.  🙂

My last bit of research for Tarpon Springs indicates that on January 6, this is one of the more elaborate religious Epiphany celebrations, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Church.  This also includes a blessing of the water and boats.  One of the last events  of the Greek celebration entails youths (boys, 16-18 years old) dive into the water when the priest drops a wooden golden cross.  Whoever recovers the cross is blessed for the coming year.  Hmmm, do girls get to join?  Just curious.

 

Ginny