Vandrelysten – Aching for the Distance
Cultural Notes
Spanish Bull-Boards
Pamplona, Spain – November 14th, 2010 Since arriving in Spain, I’ve seen the simple but striking outline of a black bull emblazoned on t-shirts, keychains, and bumper stickers. It seems to be every bit as strong a national symbol as the Spanish flag itself – in fact, the two are often combined, especially for sporting … Continue reading
The 5 Weirdest Objects in the British Museum
London, England – August 2nd, 2010 Look to the British Museum’s “History of the World in 100 Objects” if you want an official list of its most relevant artifacts. If, instead, you’d like a very unofficial list of its most irrelevant artifacts, read on! Here are the five things that really made me laugh: 1.) … Continue reading
Japanese Shave Ice
Snow Cones can be refreshing on a hot day, but I’m usually disappointed by hard, course ice that lets all the syrup slide straight to the bottom of the paper cone. In Japan, I found Kakigōri (かき氷), or shave ice – a fabulous dessert which made me reconsider the potential of the snow cone. Served … Continue reading
Late Night Okonomiyaki (Miyajima, Japan)
Miyajima shuts down quickly after the bulk of the tourists leave around 4 pm. The majority of those who spend the night on the island eat dinner in their Ryokans or hotels, so when 6 o’clock rolled around, Laura and I found that nearly all the town’s restaurants had already shuttered for the night. Luckily, … Continue reading
Naantalin Aurinkoinen (Turku, Finland)
Naantalin Aurinkoinen is a small chain of cafes in Southwestern Finland, mainly Turku and it’s suburb of Kaarina. The name means “like the Sun of Naantali” -Aurinko means sun, and Naantali is a nearby town known for it’s lovely sunshine, even spawning the local idiom “to smile like the sun of Naantali”. The cafe and … Continue reading
Six Funny Things about the Japanese Language
Japanese is a fun language to study, for travel purposes or to enjoy Japanese culture from afar. Because the language and the culture are both quite different from those you may be familiar with, it can be a funny experience to study Japanese as well! Here are a few things that always make me laugh … Continue reading
Onigiri (Japan)
Onigiri, (Kanji 御握り, Hiragana おにぎり), also known as Omusubi, are Japanese rice balls. They are relatively simple to make, especially once you get used to the basic techniques, but you can also buy surprisingly yummy Onigiri in any konbini (convenience store) in Japan. Onigiri come in many different varieties. The most common shapes are the … Continue reading
Chokladkoppen (Stockholm)
No matter the season, Stockholm’s Chokladkoppen is delightful. Perfectly situated in the Stortorget square, the center of Gamla Stan, it neighbors the Nobel Museum and the Swedish Academy, and only the imposing Stock Exchange Building separates it from the Cathedral and the Royal Palace. Everything in Stockholm is expensive, so once you surrender yourself to … Continue reading
Kamakura’s Daibutsu
No visitor to Kamakura, or even to Tokyo, should miss this Great Buddha. Housed in the temple Kōtoku-in (高徳院), it is a popular destination and so easy to reach on foot or by bus. Most maps of Kamakura depict the Daibutsu visually, so you need not read Japanese to find your way. Cast in 1252, … Continue reading
Yuba (Japan)
Yuba (kanji: 湯葉), also known as soybean skim or tofu skin, is a Japanese food made from the skin that forms on the surface of boiling soy milk. The result is a bundle of thin, rubbery layers of a firm, tofu like substance. Yuba can be shaped in order to texturally resembled other foods, such … Continue reading
