Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the upside is I get to spend the Christmas season in Europe! This is a dream come true for many, including myself.
Although beautiful, this tree is somewhat controversial with Parisians as it was a gift from Russia. In case you didn't know between annexing Crimea and the plummeting Rouble they're not so popular at the moment. I think gifting trees must be a thing in Europe. When I was in London last week there was a big beautiful tree gifted from Norway as a tribute to British support during WWII.
A few weeks ago I went to Oporto and Lisbon, Portugal. Oporto is where Port wine was invented. Of course I didn't have any, but I did try this succulent beast.
It's called Leitão
à bairrada (roasted suckling pig) a Portuguese specialty. It was pretty delicious, although after posting on Instagram I found out I should have tried something else like Francesinha. Next time perhaps.
However, in Lisbon the next day I made up for it with a visit to a nice Fado restaurant for some traditional cod fish and Fado music. I couldn't decide which type to get so I just got the trio. I highly recommend it.
Since I've arrived in Europe I heard about the wonderful Christmas markets so I decided to take a quick trip to Munich to check out where it all began. My friend Cassidy Hall from San Francisco was in town so I brought her with me and we had a grand old time, although we pretty much ate non-stop while we were there. We went to the markets in Augsburg and Munich.
After we shopped till we dropped at the Christmas markets we decided to switch it up and visited the Nymphenburg Palace. Somehow Cassidy got the most amazing shot of me with abolutely nobody else in the picture - unheard of! Great picture Cassidy.
Last week I was in Scotland for work. It was my first visit to Scotland. Unfortunately I didn't have any time for sight seeing, but I did have to eat so I tried the local specialty IRN BRU. It's some sort of orange soda. It was ok, but with fish and chips it made a nice addition.
A few weeks ago I went to Oporto and Lisbon, Portugal. Oporto is where Port wine was invented. Of course I didn't have any, but I did try this succulent beast.
However, in Lisbon the next day I made up for it with a visit to a nice Fado restaurant for some traditional cod fish and Fado music. I couldn't decide which type to get so I just got the trio. I highly recommend it.
Fado is a traditional and very popular type of Portuguese music that's a sort of romantic mix between opera and pop - like combining Michael Buble and Pavorotti. During dinner the lights go dim and the artist comes to the middle of the restaurant for about a 15 min performance and then the meal resumes and alternates every 15 minutes till the early hours of the morning. It's wonderful.
That's all for this post.
Merry Christmas friends and family and random people that read my blog for whatever reason and may you find peace on Earth and goodwill toward men this Christmas Season.
