Food from Vancouver

It has been so long since I posted, too long in fact, but I am back now after the most amazing holiday in Vancouver.  Unfortunately since I got back not much exciting cooking has been going on, so I thought I would post a little of what we enjoyed about the Food from Vancouver. In no particular Order, here are a few of my favourites:

First up, a bagel at Tim Hortons was already on my to do list before we left, after being recommended (more like told) to go there and try their bagels, I had cream cheese and it was well worth the visit!

Bagels at Tim Hortons

We also had dinner at a restaurant called Whitespot – which was again something we were told to do – and it was so good, although famous for its monstrous burgers I opted for a mango and tomato curry, the recipe for which I will be investigating.

Mango Curry at Whitespot

Getting to eat the Canadian version of Nandos was actually disappointing, I miss Nandos living here in Germany so I was really excited to get to have it whilst we were in Vancouver, however it is not the same although we still had a lovely meal and evening.

Trying the Canadian Nandos

I was so thrilled to get to eat a hotdog on our visit to the Aquarium, I really do not like Pork but all of the sausages were beef, however as you can tell I am not accustomed to eating hotdogs and did not really know where to start.

A Messy Hotdog at the Aquarium

Another Canadian restaurant on our to do list was the Old Spaghetti Factory, where upon arrival, after getting a table (it is always packed), you are greeted with unlimited fizzy drinks and freshly baked bread with garlic butter. We actually went twice as the food was so good and great value for money, there was also so much choice available that there is always something new to try, as long as you like spaghetti of course!

Unlimited Freshly Baked Bread at the Old Spaghetti Factory

So the last cooked meal on the list was pancakes for brunch, this was on the last day of the trip when we suddenly realised that we had not yet had pancakes with Maple Syrup. So our hotel kindly pointed us in the direction of an old school dinner which had great pancakes. Great pancakes they were, but huge and filling, I am ashamed to say I only got half way through before calling it quits!

Giant Pancakes They Were

As well as the restaurants that we enjoyed there were endless amounts of coffee shops to enjoy. We regularly stopped for a drink which usually ended up being accompanied by a cake, I had a great brownie at Starbucks,

Enjoying a Brownie in Starbucks

and a delicious (not as good as mine) piece of home-made Banana Bread from a stall in Stanley Park.

Home-Made Banana Bread

I also couldn’t resist the constant purchase of fruit smoothies, the best one I had in Waves Coffee Shop in Chinatown, made with banana, strawberry and yoghurt!

Fruit Smoothie in Waves Coffee Shop, Chinatown

Vancouver Aquarium was also the place where I was able to try Salt-water Taffy for the first time (after a particular Friends episode made me want too) and it was yummy, however sticky and messy and not really that gracious to eat in a public place.

Sticky Salt-water Taffy

And finally no summer holiday would be complete without Ice-cream! It is however, not often that you get to enjoy an ice-cream in the beautiful surrounding of Lynn Canyon, in North Vancouver, and after an afternoon of hiking this ice-cream was truly deserved.

A Well Deserved Ice-cream in Lynn Canyon

I had the best time on my trip and it was great to experience Food from Vancouver but a small, only small, part of me is happy to be back and once again have access to a kitchen and get back to baking!

My Week in Pictures

As you may have read this week I was back in the UK visiting my friends and family in sunny Poole, I had an amazing time whilst enjoying the May sunshine that seems to have graced most of Europe over the past few weeks. As I have lived out of my suitcase for the past week, I have no recipes or cooking disasters to share so I thought I would share my week with you in Pictures.

Sunday – was the first day in the UK, after arriving late Saturday night, and I spend the day with my dad shopping at Gunwarth Quays Outlet Shops .

New UGG Shop at Gunwarth Quays – Must Go Back!

I was lucky enough to have my Dad spoil me!

My New Clothes

Followed by a drive through the New Forest and dinner in a lovely country pub!

Driving through the New Forest

Monday – I went to see my best friend and her daughter who is just beautiful and growing so fast.

Cuddles with Alice

Later that afternoon it made us very happy to hear the ice cream van down the road!

Ice-cream from the Ice-cream Van

Then we enjoyed the evening with a BBQ in the garden – with some of my favourite BBQ food including Halloumi!

Grilling on the BBQ

Tuesday – was spent with the bestie again and involved shopping in town, of course! I was also lucky enough to witness one her firsts – rolling from her back to her tummy, which made me a very proud Auntie!

Alice on her Tummy after a Successful Roll

Followed by a trip to spend the evening with a few drinks and snacks with some of my closest friends.

Enjoying my Evening with the Girls

Wednesday - my bestie and I (are you seeing the trend) spent some time with Alice’s nanny, my gran and my mum, so it was yet again a very busy day that did not end there;

Alice with her Nanny

Later that evening I met my dad for dinner and the cinema at Tower Park, we saw Men In Black 3 which was amazing and I highly recommend you see it!

MIB3 Cinema Tickets

And yesterday I headed back to Berlin and the excitement of starting my new job in the morning! However the UK will be missed, but I had a great time at home the past few days so I thought I would also share with you my favourite picture from my entire trip;

Jenny, Alice and I

I hope you enjoyed my pictures as much as I enjoyed spending the time taking them

Over and Out for now!

Visitors in Berlin

This week my boyfriend and I had some of his family staying with us. His cousin and his auntie live in Mexico so it was great for them to detour to Berlin whilst visiting family in the UK. They picked a great week to come as the weather has been lovely in Berlin and it was nice to take some days off of work and enjoy the wonders of Berlin.

This week for the first time we went on a walking tour of Berlin, it was a free tour lead by David from NEW Berlin, and it was just great, he was both informative and interesting and taught me some things that I did not know even after living here for over a year. The tour really is free and there is no catch so if you are ever visiting Berlin I highly suggest you go on one of these.

Later that afternoon, after some lunch in one of the many delicious bakeries in the centre of the city we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. I am so disappointed to report to you that this museum was awful, I have wanted to go since I first visited Berlin 2 years ago but I certainly will not be going again or recommending it to anyone who visits. It was overpriced in comparison to other museums in Berlin and was far too cluttered and disorganised, the exhibitions had no flow and I felt that many of them were irrelevant to the focus of the museum. I cam away from there very dissapointed!

The Famous Sign at Checkpoint Charlie

After the museum we went for dinner at Casa Italia on Unter den Linden, the weather was lovely so we sat outside with a lovely view of the Brandenberg Gate in the evening sun. The pizza was delicious and reasonably priced and their home-made ice cream for dessert was just to die for!

My Banana and Chocolate Ice Cream from Casa Italia

From here we made the short walk to the Reichstag and went up to the dome to look around and watch the sunset. This was the fourth time that I have made this visit and it still does not bore me, the views from the top are breathtaking and the mini exhibit displaying the history of the building is really interesting and just the right length. Again, if you are ever in Berlin this visit is free and highly recommended.

It was great to have visitors and sometimes it is  fun to explore Berlin as a tourist rather than as a resident, now it is our turn to plan our trip to Mexico!

My Weekend Back in the UK

This weekend I went back to the UK for a holiday, although it never seems much of a holiday when you come back more exhausted than before you left! But nonetheless I had a great time catching up with my friends and family and going to see the football! I was only back for a flying visit of 3 days but this is what I got up to:

Thursday

Since I have been gone my best friend Jenny gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Alice. I visited after she was born but she is growing so quickly that so much changes every time I go back that I have to take advantage of the valuable time I get with her. We made the most of the brief gap in the horrid weather that has plagued the south of England and went into town for the afternoon. I love the town I grew up in but it is such a weird feeling when it doesn’t feel like home anymore.

Enjoying Cuddles with Baby Alice

In the evening we went to my dads for a good ol’british favourite of ‘chippy tea’. You just can’t get fish and chips like they make it in the UK in Berlin so it was the perfect holiday treat.

Friday

Old habits die hard so on Friday I had my haircut by my favourite hairdresser, she did a great job as usual, and if you are in the Bournemouth area and looking for a great hairdresser please get in contact and I will pass on her details. Another day of retail therapy in town whilst enjoying a rare bit of British sunshine and a pub lunch was just what the doctor ordered before meeting my mum and sister for a catch up. A highlight of my weekend was spending Friday night with some of my closest friends. We enjoyed snacks and a lot of alcohol whilst talking the night away.

Drinks with Friends

Saturday

My whole trip was planned around this day, the last game of the championship season day. As a Southampton fan and season ticket holder I probably moved away at the most pivotal time in the clubs 125 year history. I unfortunately missed the promotion party from League 1 last year but I was not going to make the same mistake again! I was so excited, I am always excited when I am going to football, especially now that is only once or twice every 3-4 months, but this was an even bigger excitement. Today was the day that Southampton FC could be back in the premier league, back where we belong and I could finally put those haunting memories on the day we were relegated in 2005 behind me. Although the game was not as tense as I had anticipated with a comfortable final result of 4-0 over Coventry it did not take away from the celebrations that began.

Celebrating on the Pitch with my Dad

I am proud to say I was one of 20,00 on the pitch celebrating with players and friends alike our long awaited return to the Premier League, and despite a long and nerveracking season at the top I could not be prouder as a Southampton fan. I had a great day and I cannot wait for next season to begin, I just hope that the first game of the 2012/2013 Premiership Campaign does not clash with my holiday to Vancouver in August!

Sunday

After saying our goodbyes we said goodbye to the UK and headed back to Berlin and to the glorious sunshine that awaits. I had a great weekend but one full of emotion. I love seeing my friends but it does tend to remind me of how much I miss them despite loving my life here in Berlin and the drive to the airport was certainly the hardest one I have done since moving in February 2011.

Thankfully I took over 150 photos and can look back and remember a great weekend and certainly one I will be telling people about for the rest of my life.