On the Way Back from Florida

After swimming with manatees, kayaking with alligators, snorkeling with sting rays and jelly fish, and camping with mosquitos, we are back in a motel with internet access on the way back home.



Here is Anke and a whole gaggle of other tourists trying to pet a manatee (and succeeding in doing so):



One of the hundreds of birds we saw (I think this is an ibis):



And here is Anke kayaking:



Yesterday, we had a food day. We started with an amazing huevos rancheros at Rosita's in Florida City:



Followed by a famous rock shrimp restaurant, called Dixie Crossroads. They served corn fritters, which was a great (early) substitute for the obligatory oliebollen (Happy New Year!):



And these amazing rock shrimp:



We then drove on to a town that is even crazier than Williamsburg, St. Augustine (still in Florida). Anke found another great restaurant though, Catch 27. We had a wonderful fish stew:



And an even better main course of shrimp and grits:



We also had blackened flounder which was good, but paled in comparison with the shrimp.

We then enjoyed a little bit of the local craziness:





Happy New Year!

Tibetan Food

The more interesting food we had in Xiahe, we ate in Nomad Restaurant, which served nomad and Tibetan food. Pictured above was the pinnacle of nomad food: Tsirzin. It is made of yak cheese, butter and sugar. Yak cheese has a very distinct flavor that you either love or hate. On further reflection, I actually wonder whether there exist people who love it.



This yak meat, on the other hand, was very delicious.



You cannot go wrong with oliebollen...



... or cucumber.



I heard you wondering aloud where the momos were, after I announced Tibetan food. Here they are.



Another dish with yak.



Also, Tibetan breakfast.



The ingredients of momo combined in a different way.



I really loved this rice dish, both for lunch and dinner.

Happy New Year!

Bear with me as I am getting ready to sort out the pictures of our short holiday in Lithuania with Ellen and Christiaan.

Happy New Year!

We did not have cheese fondue today, which seems to be the German tradition. Instead we still celebrate New Year Dutch style: with oliebollen.



Secret ingredient: preserved lemon.

So Last Year!

Here are some more pictures from yesterday. We started the day off with our usual hot water troubles, and while waiting for the repair guy, F made some oliebollen.



We then went to work. We got on email from our landlady that she called the management of our building again, and was yelled at. She was told that this is not a hotel. It is hard to argue against well established facts. Our landlady is really everything anyone could ever wish for and then some: she happily keeps helping us complain, does not mind being yelled at, and now even offered to install water heating equipment in the apartment! We love her.

Next up was the New Year's party of our great and beloved institute. It was actually not even bad, so I'm afraid that fans of A's chronicles of toe curling events will be disappointed to hear that I do not expect that she will even post about this. Not even about the fact that we got headphones on our heads, and had to sing along with the Chinese song that we were hearing. Or the game of relay charades...

We decided we would end the year with some good wine, so we went to Enoteca at The Place. It turned out that this was a particularly good choice, as all of Beijing seemed to be congregating right there.



Also, there were many cameras, police men, and these mysterious looking things with "Eternal Starworld" printed on them:



We had great expectations of the spectacle that would be unleashed before our eyes when the clock would strike midnight. We had visions of artificial snow and fireworks...



... but the machines just turned out to be confetti canons.

Anyhow, we finished our Champagne (ok, actually Prosecco) and headed home. I think this picture gives a good summary of the whole of 2009:



Happy New Year!