Street Foods

"Street cooks are magicians: With little more than a cart and a griddle, mortar, or deep-fryer, they conjure up not just a delicious snack or meal but the very essence of a place."
Unknown

 

Viet Nam, street food vendor with Banh Mi sandwiches

Whenever I travel I like to experience the food in the place I am.  Most of the time that means eating at local restaurants.  But it also means eating street food.  Street Food is any food or drink sold in a street or a market area or fair by a hawker or vendor, usually from a portable stall or truck.  Most street foods are also food that can be eaten with your fingers and are cheaper than food you would buy from a restaurant.  Almost any city you visit has street food that is very much a part of that place.  

Banh Mi Sandwich

Some people worry about eating in places such as this, for health reasons, but if you use a little common sense, it is not a problem. If you do not try something that looks good you are denying yourself an essential part of the travel experience.  Go where the crowds are, the locals know where the food is safe to eat.  And if it doesn’t look clean, then go somewhere else.  But try the local foods.

Suman, a street food in the Philippines

We lived in the Philippines many years ago.  I used to go out to the local market to buy fresh shrimp.  They would unload the boats of fresh fish early in the morning, and you could get fish and shrimp right off the boat. The shrimp were still alive and jumping. If you waited until later in the day, then it was no longer fresh, as it would have been in the open with the heat of the day, and the flies covering it.  I never went to the market later in the day.  But while there I quite often would also buy some of the Suman which is a sweet rice that was wrapped in banana leaves and cooked there in the market.  They were delicious.  I never got sick from eating there, but like I said, I got there early in the day when things were still fresh.

That was my start on street foods.  Over the years I have tried many more versions of street food.  Each country has things they are famous for.  When we visited Istanbul, Turkey, I noticed that there were many carts selling fresh corn-on-the-cob.  I love corn, and I bought and ear one day and ate it as I walked down the street.  It tasted really good.  The other street food I had in Istanbul, was simit.  Simit is a bagel style sesame bread.  I enjoyed that also.

Simits in Istanbul

Corn on the Cob in Istanbul

While in Germany we had bratwurst on a bun, cooked on a grill.  It came with onions and green peppers.  Another German street food is the pretzel, big doughy pretzels with salt or mustard.  We have some that are similar here in the states, but somehow they just tasted better there.
 

George with our friends Bonnie & Pete
Having pretzels at the Christmas Market in Germany

Baguettes in Paris

In Paris we purchased long sandwiches with tomatoes, mozzarella and basil in a baguette from a street vendor, and ate them in the park.  Another Paris treat is a crepe made with nutella. 

 



Frites in Belgium

Another place known for street foods – Belgium where you can get the crispiest, freshest fries (frites) served in a paper cup, or waffles from a street vendor.  For those who do not know, the Belgiums are the ones who originated what we now refer to as French Fries.

Israel is known for falafel balls served with pita bread.  Viet Nam has their Banh Mi sandwiches which are baguette bread filled with grilled pork and pickled vegetables.  Mexico has street tacos. 

 

We saw some really interesting street food in China.  There were scorpions on a stick and some drink that had smoke coming off of it, which seemed to be quite popular with the locals. 

Street Vender in China

Drink in China, Never found out
what it was

 

Singapore Street Food

And Singapore probably has the safest street food, and some of the best.  The government enforces health standards at all places that serve food.  Singapore is so clean, you could probably eat safely off the sidewalks.  And they are famous for their food stands, and food carts.  We went to a place that was famous for serving the local food.  It had probably 20 carts in an area with tables set up.  The tables had numbers on them, and you would order the food and they would deliver it to your table.  My mistake was that I didn’t know they had 2 sizes of plates.  I had seen little plates being delivered to the table, so I thought that is what I was ordering.  I decided to order a variety of food.  I wanted to try a little of everything.  When I realized that I was getting large plates of food, it was too late.  We had enough food to feed a small army.  We did waste some of it, there was no way we good finish it, and I’m sure the local people were laughing at us.  But everything we ate was good, and even though we ordered alot, it was cheap, so we didn't break the bank.

Hot Dog Vendor in New York

Even here in the states we have street food.   And I don’t mean all the fast food restaurants, that is not street food.  Food trucks are becoming quite popular all over the states, and many of them are now serving ethnic foods.  I know the Vietnamese Banh mi is becoming quite popular here because of the food trucks.  And if you go to New York or Chicago, you will see the hot dog vendors on the street corner, they are an institution. 

So when you are exploring a new place, make sure you take the time to also try some of the local favorites and get a taste of the place you are in.  Use common sense, yes, but be adventuresome.  Look for the crowds, and see what they are eating.  Sometimes the street food is really the essence of the place you are visiting. 

 

 o

Souvenirs of our Travels

"Souvenir collecting can be a lot of fun when you travel. Whether they're free, cheap, or pricey, the souvenirs you gather and the souvenirs you create become symbols of special places you visited or experiences you had."  

Susan Breslow Sardone

Bronze Statue from Thailand

Souvenirs – why do we bring home those knickknacks and mementos of our journey?  And why do they sometimes mean so much to us?

I always say that I am not going to buy anymore “things”, I have way too much stuff around already.  So this trip I am not buying anything!  It never works.  Inevitably I see something that is different, that I just can’t live without. 

Tree Root which stands in our entrance area

I have purchased some unusual things over the years.  We have a tree root from the Philippines that has been with us since 1980, when I saw it alongside a road.  It was an unusual shape, and it had been polished up, and when I saw it, I just had to have it.  A man was selling it for practically nothing.  Now I will have to admit, that if I had been traveling where I had to think about getting this root home in a suitcase, then I would have had to pass it up.  But we were stationed there for 2 years, and all our household goods would be shipped home by the Navy, so it became ours.  And it has always held a place of honor in our home.  It is one of my favorite purchases from my travels.

While we were in the Philippines I also brought home close to 100 baskets, some of which I have kept, and some I have gotten rid of.  Wood carvings were also popular there, so we have a large wood caribou statue that we use as a door stop to our bedroom, and a carving of a Ho Tai Buddha.  We also bought a small bar, that has a capiz shell inlaid top and when you open it there is a built in wine rack and space for glasses and other bottles - again something I wouldn't have bought if not for the Navy shipping everything home for us.

Plate from Rhodes, Greece

While in Greece a few years ago I purchased several souvenirs.  I love my little owl that is made of metal and stands on my shelf.  The owl is the symbol for the goddess Athena, and is also the symbol for the city of Athens.  And in Rhodes, Greece we discovered a pottery place that had hand painted plates that were made in their shop.  I bought several for gifts, and kept one for myself.  When I look at these items, I remember our trip to Greece.

 My husband doesn’t tend to purchase much in the way of souvenirs.  He seems to be mostly immune – I think it’s a guy thing.  But he does have a weakness.  Everywhere we go he drinks some of the local beer.  He then finds a beer mug that has the name of that beer on it, and he purchases it.  Most of the time he asks at the bar where he drank the beer if he can purchase the glass there, and about 95% of the time, they have given him the glass free.  He actually hasn’t had to pay for the mug very often.  He has a huge collection of mugs now, from around the world, and he is running out of shelf space in his den.  But that doesn’t stop him from getting another. He just brought back several from our last trip.

My dragon from York

I have purchased Murano Glass in Italy, and Waterford Crystal in Ireland.  And I have a full set of dishes that are oriental in style - service for 8, that I bought in Hong Kong back in 1980, but while I like those things well enough, they are not the kinds of things that become favorites.  It is usually the little things, the things that are slightly different. 

I have several other souvenirs that I am particularly fond of.  I have a ceramic dragon that I purchased in York, England back in 1989.  It is whimsical and it makes me smile.  I remember a song from my childhood, The Reluctant Dragon, and he reminds me of the song.  I also purchased a few cottages on that trip, and when I got home they grew into a whole collection.  I now have my dragon sitting next to a castle from that collection. 

Hand-Painted from the inside,
Bottle I bought in China

 And while in China last year I bought a glass bottle with a tiger hand-painted on it.  The painting is actually done with a very fine brush, on the inside of the bottle.  I watched the person paint one like it, and the talent it takes to paint such fine detail while reaching the brush inside the small bottle was fascinating to watch.  I will always treasure that bottle for the talent of the artist. 

I also bought a very small glass bottle on a little street in Hong Kong.  An old guy was sitting on the street in front of a makeshift store, and he was selling all sorts of unusual items.  Mostly knifes and tools.  But mixed in with this was a small bottle with green frogs and a red cap.  I loved it when I saw it.  It has absolutely no practical use, but it appealed to me, and I bought it from him for just a couple of dollars.  Some of my favorite purchases over the years have not necessarily been expensive, but they are priceless to me.

Frog Bottle from Hong Kong

Unlike the standard souvenir junk that is found in every tourist shop in every city – the T-shirt, dish-towel, keychain or whatever, a real souvenir is yours alone, and has real meaning.  When you look at it, it brings the trip back to you.  You remember the street where you found it, or the person you talked to as you purchased it.  It is a tangible memory of your vacation.

Now, I will admit, that when I travel I see a lot of crap for sell.  And like everyone, I have sometimes bought some of that crap.  There are times I have come home from a trip and looked at my purchases and think "now why did I buy that?"  And then sometimes you just can't resist, even if it is very touristy.  I remember that in the Philippines we came across a small barrel man, and when you pushed the barrel down, up popped a huge penis.  At the time we were part of a small theatre group on the Navy base, and we were putting on a play.  We decided to buy several of those barrel men, we took them back to the base and spray painted them gold, and after the play we gave them out to certain actors as awards – kind of like a Tony Award, only we called them Fred Awards.  We gave one to the actor who made the biggest goof, or who did something funny during rehearsals.  They were well received, even if they were really tacky souvenirs.

Metal owl from Athens

So, is it okay to bring home a souvenir if it makes you think about the area you visited, and about the culture of the place?  Is there a moral pass on a souvenir, if it makes you chuckle?  (Like the guy with the penis jumping out of the barrel in the PI)  This is one of the reasons you travel, for the memories and the fun.  Bringing home little fragments of the trip, makes you remember your trip for years after you are home.  So will I continue to buy things as I travel?  I’m sure I will.
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Delilah

Years ago, my older sister took a trip to Germany.  While she was there she purchased a small carved donkey.  She purchased it in a shop in Oberammergau.  Shortly after her return I visited her, and she showed me that donkey.  She told me she had named it Delilah, and she was obviously very proud of the carving, which was quite well done, and had probably been fairly expensive.  That visit was the last time I saw my sister.  I left for the Philippines a few days later. My husband was in the Navy and we were being stationed there.  My sister had said she would come visit us during our stay there.  But 2 months later she was killed in a car crash.  I flew home for the funeral.  While there my mother asked me if there was anything of Donna's I would like to have.  My first thought was of the little donkey Delilah, and her delight in telling me about her trip and purchasing it.  That donkey has always had a special place in our house and when I look at it, I think of my sister.  We all have a list in our head of what we would grab if our house was on fire, after family and the dogs, Delilah is the next thing on my list.  Some souvenirs just become very special for reasons you never would have dreamed of when you bought them!
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My next posting is an extension of this one - sometimes you don't know what to do with something you have brought home, but don't despair, hold on to them, and sometimes a brilliant idea will come to you.  If not, well you can always gift it.

Christmas Markets

A Christmas market, also known as Christkindlmarkt, Christkindlesmarkt, Christkindlmarket, and Weihnachtsmarkt, is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, Austria and Alsace but are now being held in many other countries.

 

As a travel agent you sometimes see advertisements of things you had never really thought about doing, and the reaction is “I want to do that.”  In 2000, a flyer came across my desk for a trip to “The Christmas Markets of Germany and Austria.” It was a tour being sponsored by AAA, the company I worked for. I just had to do it. I had some vacation time coming, and I was so excited about it.

I went home and told my husband, and he really didn't get at all excited. It sounded like a shopping trip to him. He said, why don't you find a friend to go with. I immediately called Bonnie. She had been my roommate back in my college years and we were still best friends. She thought it sounded like fun and said yes. So we went.



Nuremberg Christmas Market

We flew to Frankfurt where the tour started and we traveled by bus down what the Germans call “the romantic road”, with stops at quite a few Christmas Markets. The biggest of the markets is in Nuremberg, and it was pretty fantastic, but even the smaller towns that we stopped at were great.  One of the best stops was in Rothenburg which is home to Kathe Wohlfahrt's Christmas store.



What are Christmas Markets?  Every town in Germany and Austria has a town square. In the town square at Christmastime, they set up a huge tree, and stalls.  And there are people singing carols. But the smells of the food is what hit me first. There are stalls that are serving the German sausages on rolls, and stalls making spiced nuts.  





And then there is the gingerbread. Lots of gingerbread stalls. And best of all, the hot Gluhwein. That is a spicy hot wine drink. Since it is cold out, just holding onto the mug is great. And talking about the mug, when you purchase the drink you get to keep the mug – they are great souvenirs. The mugs are a dark blue ceramic and each city has a different design logo on their mug. I have a whole set of them, and at Christmastime I serve hot Gluhwein or Tom & Jerry's in them.

The stalls also sell anything and everything you could possibly want to give someone for a Christmas present, as well as the best ornaments of all time. My weakness is the ornaments. For years I have made it a point to buy at least one Christmas ornament wherever I travel. That is not always easy if you are traveling to a country in the summertime, but I find something. I don't want something commercial that says where it is from, but something that will remind me of the trip when I hang it on the tree. As an example, while in the Canary Islands in September, I kept looking for an ornament. There were none to be had. But finally I found the cutest little frog, and he had a string of lights wrapped around him. He's just little, and doesn't have a string to hang from, so I wire him onto a branch each year, and when I do, I think of that trip.

While at the Christmas markets, I have to admit that I went a little crazy and bought lots of ornaments. Some I gave as gifts, but a lot of them go on my tree.

The trip included stops in Munich, as well as Salzburg and Innsbruck. We spent one afternoon taking a gondola to the top of one of the mountains in the Alps. Every city included a city tour, so we really did lots more then just go to Christmas Markets. It was a great trip. And we got a little snow, something that I rarely see anymore, since I live in Southern California. Bonnie lives in Washington state, so for her it was not a big deal.

When we got home from that trip and told about our adventures, our husbands both said that it sounded like fun and they wished they had gone. So in 2005 we returned to the markets as a foursome. The guys agreed they'd have a beer while we shopped. Although Bonnie's husband made the comment that there probably wasn't enough beer in Germany to cover the time while we shopped.
 



Regensburg Medieval Christmas Market

On that trip we actually started in Prague, then went over to Nuremberg and took a river cruise down the Danube all the way to Budapest. That was the way to travel, no packing and unpacking. The Christmas Markets in Prague and Budapest were quite nice, and of course we had been to the Nuremberg market before, but it is the most famous and a must stop if you are doing the markets. In the small town or Regensburg we had our most memorable market experience. The main market in the town square was very ordinary, and that is where most people from our cruise went. But I had read about a market that the locals went to, on the grounds of the palace. They said that the royalty actually mingled with the people at this market, and that the theme was medieval. There was an entrance fee to get into it, but it was different from the other markets, and if you should decide to do a markets tour or cruise and find yourself in Regensburg I would suggest giving it a try, it was quite different and fun.


Booth at Regensburg Market



Both times we went to the Christmas markets we came home loaded down with mugs from the Gluhwein, gingerbread, spiced nuts, and lots of fun ornaments and gifts. A great way to get yourself in the holiday mood, and you can do it and still come home and have Christmas with the family. The Christmas Markets start in early December and go through the holidays.

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One of the ornaments that I bought on my trip to Germany was a glass pickle.  For those of you who may not know about a pickle as an ornament, it is a traditional ornament for the Germans.  Here is the Christmas pickle tradition:

The glass pickle ornament is an old German tradition. It has become a welcomed addition to the present unwrapping dilemma of who is first. The pickle ornament is supposed to be the last ornament you hang on the tree. It should be hidden among the branches in an out of the way location. On Christmas when you are ready to open the presents everyone should search for the pickle. The first person to find the pickle receives a special prize, a piece of candy or some other token. They are also the first to start opening the gifts. The pickle has become a keepsake, which is handed down to future generations

To Read more about Christmas Markets you can go to the link - Trip Reports from trips we have taken - in the column to the right and click on Chrisktmas Market trip December 2006.  The trip report is from the emails my husband sent home to family and friends while we were traveling.

Link to trips we have taken

In the past few years, when we have traveled, we have sent emails home to friends and family. My husband usually writes them. His emails are a sort of blog about what we are doing while we travel. We don't have any from our early trips. For one thing, when we first started traveling the internet wasn't an option. We really only started doing this in 2003. But we have done a bit of traveling during that time. The trip reports are sometimes long. Quite a few of our trips were 3 weeks in length, and he does report on what we do from day to day. If anyone is interested in reading them just go to the links on the right hand side of the page - Trip Reports from trips we have taken - and you can click on the trip that most interests you. The only one I wrote was the one on China, as my husband did not go on that trip.