Some Updates...

I haven`t had much internet access lately, but I`m having a great time! In the last week or so, I`ve been in Dublin, Salzburg, Munich, and now Interlaken, Switzerland.

Here are a few highlights:



Dublin-Met up with some new friends including Sean from Dublin (met in Cork) and Ciaran, a friend of Kelly K.`s. Toured Trinity College, listened to local music, drank some local specialties, did some shopping...



Salzburg- Went to the Salt Mines, and up to the Eagle`s Nest (it was -5 degrees) ...


Munich- Met a really fun group of Ami`s. We went on an incredible walking tour of the city, and spent the afternoon in a Beer Garden. Also went to Dachau Concentration Camp, the Olympic Stadium, the Hofbrau House, the Deutsches Museaum, and Neuschwanstein Castle in Füssen.




Interlaken- After a hosteling mishap involving them telling me my accomidations were in a barn with cows (no joke), I found a really cool tent campground to stay in. I went rafting and canyoning today. It`s gorgeous and I`m absolutely exhausted. Heading to Geneva tomorrow!

Ireland So Far... (Cork and Galway)

The town of Cobh. Sam: Thanks for recommending it! This was the last place the Titanic and Lusitania docked. A lot of people left from here to go to Ellis Island as well. In fact, I think the first person who came through EI left from here.
This picture is to commemorate the 7,000th time I say a 'Kelly' sign.
Unfortunately this is the best picture I got from the Flaming Lips concert I went to in Cork. It was probably one of the craziest concerts I've ever been to (inflatable astronauts, tomato people, free lazers at the door, etc).


I spent the day yesterday at the Burren outside of Galway. The weather was dreadful, but the scenery was incredible anyway. I even saw some puffins! Above are the Cliffs at Moher.
It was pretty windy out there. About 2 minutes after this pic was taken it started hailing sideways too. I was getting pelted in the head.
A castle. I'll repost once I figure out what the name of it is! Today is a lazy day. In desperate need of some warmer clothes, I found a thrift shop where I got some great shirts for 2 Euros each. Excellent :-) I'm off to Dublin tomorrow and am heading to Austria on Tuesday. Hope y'all are enjoying your summer.

Tales from Canterbury (HAHA, I'm so funny)

I visited Kathy Benjamin in Canterbury, England and had the opportunity to meet her fabulous fiancee Simon! They were great hosts, and it was fun to see some other familiar faces there that I met last year. Some highlights from Canterbury were going to Biddenden where they make delicious cider (above). We also did some shopping, saw the sites of Canterbury, and I learned how to play Bar Billiards. You should check it out!

NYC

What was supposed to be a 24 hour layover in NYC turned into closer to 48 hours due to weather. I've never experienced thunder and lightning, or crazy humidity like I did in NY. I had a great time vising my old friend Adam Fitchett in Astoria. Thanks Adam! I was able to do some sightseeing during the day. Above is the WTC site, and below is a cool artsy tile display I saw in Queens.

Boys II Men!

Sam and I went to the Boys II Men concert at the ALAMEDA COUNTY FAIR GROUNDS before I left for Europe. The Fair had a pretty hot lineup of shows this summer.

Vietnamese-Style Spring Rolls and an Incredible Weekend

What a great weekend! I spent time with many great friends, and went to an awesome concert yesterday at the Pozo Saloon. We saw Steel Pulse, lots of hippies (no, not the band), Reggae Nation and The Expendables who turned out to be my favorite of the three. We BBQed after and I brought Fleetwood Macaroni Salad from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook. It's a macaroni salad with tons of chopped veggies and a hint of curry; a modern spin on a 70's classic! We had grilled veggies, corn, and boca burgers. Excellent.

Tonight I made "Vietnamese-style" spring rolls with homemade spicy peanut sauce, an apricot and steamed green beans with lemon juice and gomasio (a mix of roasted sesame seeds and sea salt). The rolls contained almost everything I had to use up in the fridge: celery, cilantro, lime juice, avocado, portabello 'shrooms, and baked tofu. The baked tofu was definitely the hit of the meal, I defrosted some frozen tofu--I freeze it after I buy it so it becomes extra sponge-y. I cut the tofu into strips and popped it in the oven with some Soyaki from Trader Joe's. I rolled everything up in Vietnamese spring roll wrappers from Cost Plus.

I paired this meal with my version of dessert - ginger beer (think root beer-ginger style), with a splash of Havana Club Cuban rum. Excellent.

What Do Vegans Eat Anyway?

You've been waiting for this all your life...I know you have. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, and today's the day.

This blog isn't going to be all about food, although food is my main motivation for this page. I've been vegan for 6ish years now, and vegetarian most of my life. I cook some pretty killer grub, if I do say so myself, but am asked at least once a day what I eat as a vegan. I *clearly* do not starve.

Here's a life update for those of you who might be wondering: I just signed on to come back to Cal Poly for 07-08. Before I start another crazy year here, I'm treating myself to a little R&R in Europe for the summer. More about my trip to come...