Day 3 - Part 2: Castle of the Counts

Alright. The castle was a blast, I think we have officially eaten ourselves to death.  Since I left out the fact earlier today that we also had chocolate mousse after the waffle, and then we arrive at this castle to be bombarded with more food.  The mousse was so worth it though, I really have not had much chocolate at all, really none other than a taste of Dr. Harris's "Pure Black" ice cream yesterday which was way too strong for me - but the mousse - oh my goodness :)

So we walk up to the castle and we wait to be invited in for about 15 minutes, not really sure exactly what we were waiting on.  When suddenly trumpets sound and a fire breather came out of the door, a jester snuck up from behind scared me, and then we were in the court yard and there were people in costume, and food everywhere.

Outside:

Inner courtyard:

Tower viewed from courtyard:

Raw meats (Lindsey and I both tasted the steak tartare, which had great flavor but was definitely a textural challenge):

"Young herring," amazing display but, no, we did not try it: 

In front of several people in costume:

The local favorite, with the topping of choice:

Please note the mayonnaise to mustard/ketchup ratio:

The falcon handler brought out a falcon, then an eagle, then a barn owl.  She was gorgeous, and he let us hold  her.  In Lindsey's picture, he was calling her back and then fed her the leg of a chick.  The eagle got whole chicks, and the falcon got meat scraps.

Over the canal on the walk from the castle to the hotel:

Canal as dark sets in:

Square near our hotel as it starts to get dark:

We had a lot of food, and a lot of fun today.  I hope tomorrow will be equally as exciting since there is an event that "Early Delegates" (ie. attendees under 32) cannot attend, so we are going to dinner with Dan - which promises to be an adventure.

Also, there are two things we keep forgetting to mention: (1) bathrooms are called water closets, and at the train station we had to pay a "guard" to use the bathroom.  At the train station it was a man sitting at the main door, men and women's restrooms face each other with the main doors open, so your only privacy is the stall door.  The male potty patrol also happened to be selling feminine products - awkward.  On the city maps, "Gratis WC" are usually marked so you know where to potty for free.  At the convention venue, although the potties were free, there was a guard.  We have decided they remove the trash and keep the restroom clean at all times. (2) And this may only be funny to us, but every time a European speaker says "slaughter" we die (laughing that is - lame pun, I know).  Because that is not what it sounds like at all.  It's closer to, "An zen, vwe schlaughter zem" which we have now mastered saying it that way - LOL - maybe we are just cracking ourselves up on that one!

More tomorrow!

Day 3: First Day of the Conference

I was in a terrible mood about an hour ago after being blown in the wind and rain, freezing to death, all while carrying my bag from the conference, my purse, the poster tube, and my umbrella, and then somehow managing to balance all of that to count Euros to by a tram ticket.  Which, while we are on the topic, we were riding the tram yesterday in an unauthorized fashion.  I read the tram website, and buying a ticket from the driver is an option so I don't think there was a fine or jail time in our future; however, buying a ticket in advance is 1,20 euro while buying one from the driver is 2,00.  Also, there is something about the more zones you cross the more you pay, and we have only been paying the 2 zone rate...I'm not sure if we are riding 100% legal yet or not.

Anyway, that was just now, and we should really start over from this morning.  Lindsey and I got up at the crack of dawn to go to Ekki (which we lovingly call "Eeeky") to get a pastry or yogurt or something for breakfast since we would pay 5,00 euros for Eeeky and 9,00 for hotel breakfast.  However, we just found out after our afternoon drowning escapade that breakfast is included in our rate because we are here for the conference, so we will begin eating free breakfast in the morning (glad someone decided to fill us in).

Anyhow, we leave 45 minutes early to find Eeeky which we thought opened at 7 - WRONG - since we had to meet Dr. Harris at 8:00 this morning and the line at Eeeky was nuts yesterday.  Instead we stood in the pouring, freezing rain, in dress clothes outside of Eeeky until it opened at 8:00.  Please see exhibits A-C below.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Moving on, we joined Savell, Harris, Dan, and Dave McKenna and began our hour long tram ride/hike to the convention center.  Please remember it is still raining, I have a purse, a poster tube, an umbrella, and a paper sack from Eeeky because our plan to eat our pastry in a relaxed environment with time to spare before meeting our group was ruined.  So at some point my breakfast decides to start leaving through the bottom of the paper sack, but I manage to realize this before it is too late, so I am holding that in my free hand at registration.  We get all of our stuff, hang our posters, and then start our efforts to fight nodding off during the sessions.  Some of what went on was entertaining, like Gerrard (of Principles of Meat Science) brought to our attention that everything we have ever know about lactic acid and pH decline postmortem is wrong, and we listened to him argue with a lot of people.  Or the sweet little French-Belgian (literally, she was from the "French-part of Belgium") speaker lady spilled her glass of water all over the podium after a question flustered her.  I got a lot of poster questions, all very interesting, and each of the people we met today had really neat stories, it is amazing how small of a world we live in, so that was really fun.  Lunch was surprisingly good, so far, wayyyyyy better than Denmark food for sure.

After the sessions, we made our way back to the hotel, [refer to the rain, carrying stuff, stress, wind, God help me description that started this post] and tried waffle attempt #2.  I had one with powdered sugar, Lindsey tried one with chocolate, Dr. Harris tasted mine and informed me that we still had not had the proper experience because they were not made fresh and served hot.  So that just means we will try again.  

Currently, we are still trying to warm up because we are about to leave to go to the Castle of the Counts, I think this is it, but I will try to get a real picture when I get there:

I will see if great things happen on the way to, at, and on the way back from the castle.  If it is worth sharing, I will post again before bed. Bye for now!

Day 2: Visit to Brugge

Well, I would like to start this off with a minor panic.  I got on to post and the blog website had turned to Dutch and I could not figure out how to start a new post.  But, I got it translated back and we are okay for now.  Turns out Dutch, French, German, and tiny amount of English are spoken here.  Most things are provided in 4 languages, and many people seem to know at least Dutch, French, and English.

Nonetheless, we started today by finding a tram, that would take us to a train, that would take us to Brugge.  We then wandered around blindly until it started to rain and we hid in a hotel where we also bought a map for 0,50 euro (essentially, 0.72 cents).  The town was beautiful, doors on the houses are painted bright colors, almost every window has a flower box, and everything is green. 

After viewing so many shops we have realized that chocolate, fries, waffles, and lace are the big things here.  There are shops and museums dedicated to each of those.  Some of the chocolates were really neat, and some were terribly inappropriate.  We really wanted to bring a cow, pig, or lamb home to everyone but they were hollow and would have melted/crushed, so you will have to settle for the pictures.  We must have gone in at least a half-dozen chocolate shops alone.  There was also a deli with tons of cheese, and a really interesting ham display.

Chocolate livestock:

This is a picture of the boat dock covered in flowers where our canal tour started and ended.  It is just a really pretty place. 

We accidentally came across something called "The Beer Wall," apparently all 780 Belgian beers are represented here.  There are also three beer related quotes posted above the wall. 

Most impressive is the fact that they managed to create an entire museum for french fries, which we tried today....it was just a fry in my opinion.  However, Dr. Harris said she saw better fries yesterday so we may try again.  We also realized we got ripped-off on our waffle experience and will have to try that again as well.  The showcase of what we got was based on the ice cream, not the waffle.  

We also went to the Church of Our Lady and saw the 'Madonna and Child' sculpture by Michelangelo.  It was sculpted from marble in the early 1500's.  The detail was amazing, and the church it was housed in was equally as amazing.  To think we were standing there looking at something from Michelangelo is really difficult to wrap your head around.  Here is an image of the sculpture if you are not familiar, I took this from the internet since pictures were not allowed in the church.  This picture does the sculpture no justice.

Lindsey made an observation that no one is ever on their cell phone, they are all actually talking to each other, something we aren't used to.  Also, the world doesn't open for business around here until 9 or 10 am, and they close at 6pm, breakfast and lunch are late, dinner seems to be beer for most people.  Around 6pm and after all you see are people sitting outside of all the restaurants drinking beer.  When we caught the tram this morning though, there were people boozing it up at a cafe, so maybe you don't have to wait until the evening.  The restaurant set-ups are really cool, you just walk in (to their outdoor seating) seat yourself, and they set your place for you.  It is a really pleasant experience.  This picture is of market square in Brugge and you can see three restaurant entrances...it is fun to walk past them all, attempt to read the menus, and see what people are eating.

Well, I think that sums it up, the only other thing to mention would be the weather, we have been in jackets all day, with the wind and the rain it had to have been in the 50's.  Not to rub it in :) Talk to ya'll soon, I will be at the convention all day tomorrow, but will think of something to say. Bye!

Day 1: We made it!

Despite very complex public transportation: railways, tramways, and buses.  And our attempt to possibly catch all of the above in an effort to arrive at the hotel, we made it via taxi in the end for 8 euros.  The hotel is better than Denmark although not at nice, there is more space.  It reminds me of an old Comfort Suites with a bed that is only 18" high.  Once we found the hotels we went walking around long enough to find food.  This is the view from the steps of our hotel:

We were brave and ate at what I am assuming was a Belgian place for lunch.  There was some minor English translation in the menu but it turns out macaroni and ham is just as delicious here as it would be at home.  The butter on the bread was really good too.  This is the area near our hotel with food and shopping:

We passed a small meat market during our first walk.  The window glare is bad but you get the idea, and clearly lamb is a huge deal.:

Of all the menus we read on the streets, and the food we saw people eating, these seem to be the basics-based on frequency we have seen so far: (1) mussels and fries (2) fries with mayonnaise (3) pastas (4) steak and fries (5) croquettes [bread/toast] with various toppings (6) bread and pastries (7) waffles with various toppings (8) chocolate.

Since Lindsey and I are wimps, we parted ways to return to our hotels.  Lindsey and I ended up taking a nap, while Dr. Harris continued her walk.  She found an old meat market that I am hoping to see before we leave, and oil & vinegar specialty shop, Australian ice cream and a few other things.  We reconvened and had dinner at McDonalds. Turns out iced tea is carbonated, not what I was hoping for.

Tomorrow we will try to see Brugges (everyone has told us that we MUST see this place).

It's about bedtime, I'll post more tomorrow!

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Day 4: In-N-Out and Hollywood

Ten o'clock this morning: tour at In-N-Out, I had no idea a humble restaurant chain could have such a rich history, and immense attention to detail...you should go to in-n-out.com and see what you can learn, but there is no way to understand the railings, wallpaper, hand polished delivery trucks, and upbeat employees unless you see it for yourself.  And get this, the "butchers" hand-bone fed and cow chucks and are paid a bonus on top of their base pay based on the number of occipital or "count" bones they produce in a day's shift.  As they bone each chuck, the drop each vertebra in the "magic bucket," and then turn them in at the end of the day.

After the tour, we ate at Store #1, the burger and the shake were both DELICIOUS.  Then, a trip to the company store where we each got a shirt.  I chose this one:

After In-N-Out, we ventured off to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the infamous Chinese Theater, and Rodeo Drive - OMG.

I knew this place was ridiculous for a lot of reasons, for instance: driving - I've learned to merge and honk like a Californian; people - we still gawk; gas prices - high; Rodeo Drive - UNREAL.  Please, let me provide a few small examples: Versace tank top $725, small Tiffany & Co. diamond ear rings $24k, "cheap" Porsche brand t-shirt, well, look for yourself...and Versace shoes, HA, try $2k minimum...

Then dinner at Mastro's, and to think, we managed to eat for less than $100 per person, ha - take that Los Angeles!

On to tomorrow....and the Tower of Terror....maybe we should skip sore and go for total loss of voice...

Day 3: Sessions and the Beach

Sunday began with some of the Committee Meeting sessions, in which the use of social media avenues was a hot topic for disseminating timely and accurate food safety information.

We also had a student luncheon, where my pre-assigned seating arrangements placed me with a vegan and a vegetarian all at the same table - interesting.

Then, we drove to downtown LA to pick up David, who served as our Santa Monica tour guide.  We were able to stick our feet in the pacific, walk the famous Santa Monica pier, watch street performers, eat at Yankee Doodle's, and shop on the Santa Monica Strip (I bought a shirt!)....

Wow for all of the people and their highly ridiculous clothing - OMG.  You would never believe some of the things we saw.  

I will have to say, the sunset was beautiful over the beach, and the shopping on the 3rd Street Promenade was pretty impressive.

On to tomorrow....

Day 2: Disneyland and BASEBALL!

We left the hotel for Disneyland at 7 AM, and fared quite well against the lines until lunch time or so.  We managed to ride nearly everything on the Classic Disney side of the park, with the exception of Indiana Jones...and we rode Space Mountain twice, Thunder Mountain twice, the Finding Nemo Submarine, and Splash Mountain - which didn't treat us very well.  We were all soaked except the kids....Jered and Jessika made it out dry.  Oh, and by the way - FastPasses are AMAZING.  Unfortunately - we did have a Small World experience, and the Tea Cups almost made me hurl - but it's all good.

At 6:05pm, first pitch at the Rangers v. Angels game was thrown, and the Rangers went on to win in a small margin, low-scoring game.  The park was gorgeous, and who knew you could get full-service Panda Express at a ball park?!

Moving on - after the game, we returned to Disney where we went to the California Adventure park, only to encounter Glow Fest.  Now, I have never been to a rave - but this is how I would imagine one, neon clothes, lights, cars, sticks, drinks, jewelry, crazy music, and dancing - it was intense but, highly entertaining.  Then, Brittany, Joe, Jacob, Jered and I (yes, me too) rode the Tower of Terror, where Brittany and I screamed until our throats were sore - my sides hurt the next morning...but we are going to do it again on Tuesday.

On to tomorrow...

Day 1: Dinner at the Cube and our search for the Hollywood Sign

After a lovely 3 hour flight of which we nearly missed thanks to a late connection out of the grossly busy and over booked Easterwood airport (which led to running in designer flip flops and huge blisters through IAH), we made it to the largest Enterprise rental center of all time. It was here that we selected our ultra chromed-out Ford Edge with dual, I said DUAL sun roofs - we were on our way - kind of.

Being from Houston, taking 30-60 minutes to cross town is a concept I am used to.  However, this is different.  45 minutes to go 5 miles is a little obscene.  Despite the fact that it is legal for motorcycles to pass on the white line between lanes, and the lanes are 30% smaller seeing as how Mercedes and BMW's aren't wide vehicles like the trucks from Texas.  

No matter how we got there, we ate at Dr. Harris's nephew's (David) place of employment: Cube.  This restaurant is a very modern, sophisticated, Italian, wine and cheese bistro.  The food was interesting but good and there were 200 cheeses and 20 salamis to create your ideal cheese plate.  This would be the same place that a few of the cast from Mad Men chose to dine on the same night.  However, the mean joke I played on a few is the exact opposite of the truth:  Laura and Julianne - Demi and Ashton were not there! GOTCHA.

Following dinner, we embarked on a indescribable adventure through an old, upscale neighborhood (on a VERY windy road) to find the elusive Hollywood sign.  Lets put it this way - Kayla, if you read this - you would not have made it through the entrance to the neighborhood without puking.

Nonetheless, we were able to watch the sun set over the Hollywood sign.

On to tomorrow.....

Headed to Hollywood!

Fly out today at 11:35am. On the schedule for today: Rodeo Dr., the Hollywood sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, and dinner in Beverly Hills...Hopefully I can upload non-google pictures tonight. Hasta luego!