Monday 25 June 2018

Carrousel

I haven't traveled out of town since March, however these past two weekends have felt like a trip around the world. My city hosts a Carrousel of Nations where you can sample food, music, and entertainment from a variety of places.



Last week we started at the Greek Fest where we sat outside enjoying the beautiful weather while watching the children dance in their traditional outfits. I visited Greece in 2012 and was blown away by the beauty of both the country and the people. This brought back some great memories.

The ticket booth was manned by two older Greek men and they were extremely efficient at keeping the line moving in a quick, orderly manner. We sampled the cheese and spinach pies but the line for gyros and honey balls were too long.


The Brooks kids

After the crowds got to be too much, we made our way to the Bavarian Fest. I traveled here in 2014 and was lucky enough to be in Munich for Oktoberfest. At this festival, we had pretzels, schnitzel, and sausage. Of course we also had beer! We sat on the patio and watched the sunset. Musicians and dancers came outside to perform. I had to work at 7 the next morning so our carrouseling had to be cut short.














Paulaner beer reminded me of Oktobertfest. PROST!
The food was also delicious here.








This past Saturday, we visited the German Fest which coincided with the World Cup, Germany vs Sweden game. Again we had pretzels, sausage and schnitzel. We had a debate over which place made the best pretzels.  It was a tie!

Erdinger beer was on
tap and it went well
with the pretzels



The festival was busy and there was lots of dancing before the game started. My nephew Zach is a huge fan of soccer (football) and was excited to be a part of the crowd. Germany won 2-1! ⚽️⚽️⚽️🍺🍺🍺








Zach tapped out after the German fest but my sisters and I continued on. Our next stop was the Caribbean festival. We were pretty stuffed and just a little buzzed from the German fest. We rallied though as we wanted to try their jerk chicken.






It's been close to 9 years since I visited Jamaica. Our resort had a jerk hut on the beach and it was incredible. This was pretty good too. I ran into a couple friends here (Nicole and George) who travel to Jamaica almost every year. They didn't go this year so this was a good festival for them to visit.


By this point, we were full and definitely buzzed but felt we had room for one more festival.

The Scottish club was definitely worth the visit. We were entertained for hours with dance and music. Hearing the Border Cities Pipe Band play Amazing Grace almost brought me to tears. They are so incredible!


We had to try the fish and chips!


This young lad is a student
at the school my sister
teaches at. He did a great job!

It was so fun to "travel" to these villages the past couple of weekends. I feel so fortunate that I've been on many trips and have seen some wonderful places. For people who don't get the chance to travel, the Carrousel provided an opportunity to try new foods and experience different cultures. This event occurs every year and I try to go to a couple of the venues. Hopefully your town offers something similar so that for a few hours you can feel transported to a different place.

~MT

Saturday 9 June 2018

Lost Souls

There was some sad news this week in the entertainment industry. Fashion designer Kate Spade took her life on June 5th.


Kate was well known for her designs and handbags. They were affordable yet sophisticated. Her brand was popular and after having her daughter, Kate took time off from the company in order to raise her.

Kate started another company in 2016 named after her daughter, Frances Valentine, where she sold both handbags and footwear.

Sadly, Kate committed suicide at the age of 55.



Yesterday, we learned that celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain also took his life while filming in France.

Bourdain was known for being a chef, a writer of a number of books, and hosted shows on the Food Network, Travel Channel and CNN.

His most popular and recent show Parts Unknown, showed Bourdain traveling the world, sampling various cuisine and experiencing new cultures.

Bourdain committed suicide at the age of 61.






Looking at the lives of both Spade and Bourdain, many would envy them for their careers, their families (both had young daughters), and their success. It proves that what we see on the surface is not always what is happening behind closed doors. These two obviously fought demons and could only find solace by escaping this world.


Bourdain sums up travel perfectly in this quote.

Luckily for all of us, both Spade and Bourdain left something good behind. They will be missed by many. May they rest in peace.




~MT