Dundee

Two weeks ago I went to Dundee for the day. I had previously heard Dundee being called Scumdee so I wasn't sure want to expect. I was actually pleasantly surprised. While it is definitely not the nicest place I have visited, Dundee was a perfectly nice place to visit for the day. The high street/central part of the city could be mistaken for any mid-sized British city.

On this trip I visited Scott's Discovery which was the ship used on his Antarctic expedition in 1901. The ship's museum was really well done and the ship itself has been well preserved. I would highly recommend visiting the Discovery.

 

I also visited the Verdant Works, which is an old jute mill that has been converted into a museum. Jute is made into a fabric, such as burlap. The museum does a good job explaining the manufacturing process and also the wider implications of the jute trade. 

Lebkuchen

Continuing my series of posts on street foods, today we have Lebkuchen. Lebkuchen is normally described as resembling gingerbread and is a traditional German Christmas treat. They are either rectangular or round, they have a sweet, lightly nutty taste, and their aroma is a bit like nutmeg and allspice. They are soft and baked on top of a thin, sugary "oblaten" wafer. Nuremberg is famous for its Lebkuchen.

Lebkuchen also comes in a harder form with is made into different shapes and decorated with icing. A common sight at Christmas markets is stalls decorated with Lebkuchen.

This Nürnberger Lebkuchen came from the Christkindlesmarkt.

Crêpe

Crêpes are a popular European street food. Although they are most commonly associated with France, you can find them in many other countries. You can get crêpes filled with many different things including fruit, whipped cream, sugar, chocolate sauce, and jam. Crêpes are a pretty versatile food.

This particular crêpe is from the Regensburg Christmas market and is filled with nutella, which is my favourite topping.

Kartoffelpuffer

When I went to Germany last month, I made sure to have some my favourite German food to eat. Potato pancakes, known as Kartoffelpuffer in German, with applesauce have long been one of my favourite foods, and I always have some when I go to a Christmas market, whether in Germany or the one in Edinburgh.

These particular potato pancakes were from the Frankfurter Weihnachtsmarkt and were excellent. Quite possibly the best I have ever had. Later on the trip I had some more from the Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt.

 

You can find my other articles on street foods here: 

Langos
Käsekrainer
Belgian Waffles
Frites
Socca

Law School Apps

Sorry for the lack of posts but I am frantically trying to tie up some loose strings and submit my law school applications before I fly back to Scotland. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and a great 2012.

Field of Dreams

Tonight Field of Dreams was on ITV4. Field of Dreams is such a great movie. It was really good to come across it on British television.

This scene with James Earl Jones has to be one of the greatest movie monologues of the past 25 years.

November Catch Up

It has been awhile since I have posted so I figured it was time to do a quick catch up post of what I have been doing for the past five weeks or so.

At the very end of September, I moved into a new flat in Stirling. It was a little sad moving out of my old flat. I had lived there for almost two years, which made it the longest I have lived anywhere on my own and the 3^rd longest if you include where I lived with my parents. While it wasn't the nicest flat, it had a great location and suited my needs fine.

My new flat is great though. I'm renting it from a friend who is giving me a pretty big discount from the going rate for a flat in the building. The flat has a great view of the Wallace Monument and the surrounding Ochil Hills. It has also cut my commute to work in half, from six minutes to three. The downside is that you just can't pop out to a nearby shop if you need to quickly pick something up.

Similar to the view from my flat

In early October, I went to the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St Andrews. It is basically the European equivalent of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. I got to see John Daly and top European golfers like Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, and Graeme McDowell. By chance, I also watched Huey Lewis a lot. I can't believe how much I have seen Huey Lewis playing golf. I'm pretty sure he started to recognise me by the end of his round.

John Daly teeing off at the Old Course

Also in October I took a day trip to visit York. I was born in York Pennsylvania, which is named after York England, and much of my family lives there so it was kind of like I was "going home". I visited York Minster, York Castle, The Shambles and the Jorvik Viking Centre. The Viking Centre was pretty interesting. It had a ride that took you through a reconstructed Viking town. They piped in this smell so it smelled like what a Viking town would smell like. I had a great pork sandwich from the York Hogroast for lunch.

The Shambles