I made an attempt to eat better in Vienna. My effort was lame.
It started off okay with the scrambled eggs, but then lunch came. A friend recommended I go to Prater, an amusement park, and have lunch at Schweizenhaus where they serve a roast pork knuckle that is to die for. When that 2lbs of meat was dropped in front of me, I knew eating better wasn't going to happen in Vienna.

Oktoberfest. Beer and sausage.

Prague. A beautiful city even when it's raining, but I don't think its food is going to be high in the ranks. Meat, bread and potatoes. I like my meat and potatoes, but my waistband doesn't feel the same when I have it every day, every meal.

The first traditional meal is pork neck with sauerkraut and a variety of dumplings. These are not chinese dumplings. To me, they just seemed like heavy, dense bread. My first and last time trying it.

For dinner, the recommended restaurant, Lokal, was booked up so we had to improvise with a limited amount of time. We had to be somewhere in 1 hour. We found a place with traditional fare and walked down to a completely empty cave like restaurant. Too hungry and too awkward to turn around and leave, we decided to stay put. The food was decent and we left full. The guys shared a beef tartar. I opted out and ate more pork neck.





For lunch the next day, I just didn't have it in me to take more meat. I warmed up with a noodle broth and ate a dish of baked barley. Food to fill me up and not to impress.



When it came to dinner, I sucked it up and participated in the group meat. We were at a medieval themed restaurant and ordering anything less than a hunk of meat would have been a waste of an experience. It was our last big meal in Prague and we had seen this dish served many times while walking the streets. This was 1kg of pork back knee. We shared this and a couple of appies amongst the four of us. When it comes to unconventional pig parts for food, pig's feet still stands higher for me.



I wasn't the only one feeling the meat heat. We all took it light for breakfast. I was forced to a lighter meal because I didn't have much in koruns left. I knew they would serve us bread, so I cheaped out and got scrambled eggs. For lunch I "penny pinched" again and grabbed a tuna baguette. $3! Dinner on the train was a $2 baguette from a 7 Eleven type shop on the train station. Just trying to get by.

I have higher hopes for Munich. Next!

Our very first meal was not very German. We had just arrived and didn't have much motivation to look too hard. I present to you, a burger ordered from Frankfurt. I won't bother with words. It's a burger.

We were still running on Van time so we forced ourselves to stay up and regulate. 1L beers back at the hostel. 4,50 euros. So many celebrations were had. So many that we had to celebrate those numbers with late night schawarmas. Falafel King on davie and thurlow is still top in my books. Drunk and cocky, I asked for extra spicy. The guy gave me a "oh VERY spicy?" with raised eyebrows. I knew I had just been challenged and I shouldn't have taken it, but my pride got the best of me. He handed me a pepper while he made my wrap, filling it with hot sauce and more peppers. I bit in to that pepper in front of him with a big smile. I finished it and the wrap, but it was not an easy feat. I've learned not to challenge spice in European cities. It isn't wimpy buffalo sauce that I'm going to see.

The next day, we took advantage of the hostel's free breakfast and made it our breakfast and lunch. It was hard to do with bread and deli meat. This skimpy strategy led me to the moment I'll remember as the moment I stopped using butter as a spread. I bought a pretzel with what I thought was a layer of cheese. It was butter. A thick layer of butter. I hate wasting food, but my body could not take it and my mind wouldn't allow it.

At night, we took the hostel's suggestion and went to an apple cider house. It was clear this was a popular tourist joint when the waiter greeted us with multiple Asian language greetings until we confirmed one back to him. We settled for "ni hao". It was to our disappointment that they did not serve beer, but it shouldn't have been a surprise. Apple cider house, folks. It didn't taste as sweet as the cider I usually grab from the liquor store in Van, but I guess this is how it's supposed to taste. We quietly finished our glasses. Opinions were kept to ourselves, but the quietness gave me the idea we had all drawn the same. The absence of beer was forgotten when I met my chicken schnitzel. Deep fried goodness with hearty potatoes. Picture was on my dslr and access to those are a bit cumbersome, so my blog will depend on my memory to whip out my iPhone.

Next, check it: Czech cuisine.

September 14, 2013 begins my first time really traveling. 30 days. I have my journal to document my moments and my girly feelings, and then I have this blog as my food journal. I'm expecting entries and entries of food successes and failures. As someone who sucks every last bone from chicken/duck feet and pouted all day when the restaurant across my apartment said they were out of pig's feet, I'm expecting myself to be food adventurous. There should be at least one meal from each city where I'll have to coax myself in to eating. Accept the challenge, Shannon!!!

Boarding day, Kim Ho suggests we down food we wouldn't be having in a while. By the way, Kim Ho proved to be a super friend. She patiently waited for us as we scrambled to last minute pack and she gave us a lift to the airport. So, I'm sure poached eggs and hash are obtainable in some of the places I'm visiting, but I'm not sure I want to order something I can get any day of the week at home. The Flying Beaver proved to be the second establishment to fail at breakfast for me. Wildebeest is the first. Their hash had too many tomatoes. Now tomatoes taste great, but when you dice them up and shower a hash with a full tomato's worth, what you are giving me is a hash salsa. I like my hash crispy and made soggy only by the gooey egg yolk. You do not make my brunch list, Beaver.

A warning by KHo was that caesars are not on the drink menu. Bloody Mary's are. Tomato juice- yes. Clamato juice- no. After a big beer (1st of the trip), I savoured my last caesar. I don't even drink them often. We can always make good enough excuses when it comes to drinking.

Up next. Schnitzel and bratwurst!

My last week before absolutely zero work and 100% fun. I'm only leaving for a month, but I always like to take these opportunities to get my friends to meet with me like they're sending me off on a year long trek in to the mysterious abyss. So it's eating out for dinner every night, which means, lunch has to be at home. I couldn't even allow myself to buy two apples for my juice today. If it doesn't exist in the fridge already, then I don't go out to buy it. Use what I have and be happy I just saved myself a few more dollars.

What's in my fridge right now? Broccoli, spinach, alfalfa sprouts and barbeque sauce. In the freezer? Prawns. In the cupboard? Quinoa.

And so, my lunch.

Apparently, there is a better chai latte than Starbucks. It exists at Edible Canada in Granville Island. And if you're eating a duck poutine right now, drop it. You do not settle for anything less than the best. So ditch the rubbish that's in front of you. The best is at Edible Canada. Get there.

A meal out means a meal in. Dinner tonight was from a fresh bag of Happy Planet Lousiana red pepper corn chowder. I "made it my own" with quinoa, spinach, alfalfa sprouts and a Shannon staple, weiners.

Beet juice to wash it all down. It was juiced with celery, cucumber, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, ginger, lemon, carrots and apples. I still dislike beets.

I am a twenty-seven year old whining like an eight year old. This I have realized: I do not like eating fruits. Too messy. Too sweet. Too sour. I know I should be eatinb more (or any), but lately I haven't been doing too much of what I should do. I'm very strong on consistency.

At the end of this past week, my body, for the first time, told me 'no'. No, you cannot have fries daily. No, you cannot have two or more beers daily. No, wings or a stir fry are not better alternatives to your burger and fries. No, you do not need two slices of pizza at 12am at night after eating plates of sausage, sauerkraut and pretzels.

On Sunday, I argued with myself over items on a menu for 15 minutes. My eyes wanted wings or a burger and fries. My tastebuds were campaigning with them. My stomach wouldn't have any of it. It joined forces with my mind. I was given a look in to my future 20 minutes from then of how I was going to feel if I went ahead with wings or a burger. It didn't not look or feel good. Suddenly the salad was polling strong.

Today, I grabbed ingredients for juicing. This time, I'm still eating food, but the juices will be my fruit serving and extra vegetable servings. Unlike last week, I don't immediately hate myself after a meal now.