I’m still here!

Aloha from Maui!

Since my last post in Belgium about the German restaurant in Vancouver, I’ve been to the Netherlands, stuck in Germany because of the volcanic ash, finally made it back to Canada in time to pack up my apartment and now in Maui!

I have tons of pictures from Europe including food galore and will soon have the same for Maui. My goal is to write from the beach or patio in the next couple of days to share the last month or so with you.

I apologize for not having written sooner, but I’ll be back soon with stuff for you to read and salivate over:)

The Schnitzel Paparazzi at the Deutsches Haus

So, perhaps my most random entry to date. I’m sitting in Brussels and about to tell you about a German restaurant in Vancouver I went to a few weeks ago. I was invited by Victoria (of Victoria’s Food Secrets) to join some fellow Vancouver food bloggers as they get together from time to time and do what they do best, eat!

This entry will be a little different than others since I won’t be posting any pictures until I get back home in a week or so, but I encourage everyone to click on the blogs below to see some great photos and some terrific writing.

The Deutsches Haus was the destination and since I had Germany on my European itinerary (I’ve covered Spain, France and Belgium so far and I have the Netherlands and Germany to go), I was pretty excited to check it out.  I and some other brave souls ordered the Festplatte, which is meant for 4 people (at $20/person) and includes schnitzel, Eisbein (pork hock), Kassler (smoked and salted pork fillet), leberkase (some type of German meatload) and bratwurst sausages.

Yes, you are right, it sounds like a lot of meat and it is a lot of meat! You have to check out the pictures to see the enormity of it! I was pleasantly surprised that it was all good and Karl, the resident German from the Friday Lunch informed us that it was pretty authentic German food.  The platter also came with cabbage (mmm), sauerkraut (mmm again) and these dumplings that were disappointing in that they didn’t taste like anything and were hard to cut.

The highlight of the evening for me (aside from meeting wonderful new people) was the moment when the first platter came out and we had the first ever Schnitzel Paparazzi. Great big SLR cameras were brought out to take some terrific pictures and i’m happy to report I no longer will feel guilty about taking my point and shoot camera out since I know there are tons of other people who do it as well (so thank you all for that!).

For the most part, the food was very good, although my apple strudel was doughy and unflaky.

As I sat amongst everyone, I sat back for a moment and smiled as I looked around as it does Tastes Better With Friends.

Victoria’s Food Secrets

The Friday Lunch

MePlusFood

Sherman’s Food Adventures

Yum-O-Rama!

The Best Damn Food Blog

Food and Tell

My Secret Eden

La Petite Foodie

OMNOMics

On a side note, someone amongst our table saw a rat in the dining room while she was leaving. It is an old building and they are serving food, so i’m likely to give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s bound to happen from time to time. I can’t say I was comfortable about it when I heard and I still know what to make of it or how to mention it, but I wanted to mention it nonetheless.

Deutsches Haus Restaurant at Vancouver Alpen Club

4875 Victoria Drive

Vancouver, BC

604-874-3811

www.vancouveralpenclub.ca

Bonjour de la France

Hello from Brussels as I struggle with a non-English keyboard. Since Barcelona, I have taken about 1200 pictures through Lyon and Paris, but for now, I simply wanted to say hi and tell you a few things I have learned over the last few days…eating in a bouchon in Lyon is a must, macarons are little bursts of deliciousness, walking the Eiffel Tower is not as daunting as it sounds, but it is spectacular and people do walk around Paris with a baguette in one hand and use their other hand to tear off a piece.

Tastes Better With Friends coming to you from Barcelona

Welcome to my first post outside of Canada! Hola from Barcelona (and yes, that is the extent of my Spanish) Please bear with me as this is evolving into a food and travel blog over the next little while

I treated myself to a little European Vacation (a la Chevy Chase, but without the wife, the kids and the stationwagon since I don´t any of those yet). First stop is Barcelona and since I flew in on a Saturday evening, it seemed fitting to take in a Flamenco show at Tarantos and it did not disappoint. Two dancers, one singer, one sax, one guitar and one percussionist took the whole room on a journey. I understood not one single word, but in listening to the music accompanied by the dancing, the words didn´t matter, I for one was happy to construct the story in my head and tap away.

Flamenco at Tarantos

This morning, I got up early and attempted to beat the line up at the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi´s unfinished vision yet incredible as it stands now. The audioguide says it hopes to be completed within 20 years, hmmm, it´ll be cutting it close with that one I think! The detail and thought put into this buidling rivals the Sistine Chapel and the Duomo in Florence. If I remember correctly, once it´s completed, it will be the one of the largest, if not largest Church in Europe.

Exterior of the Sagrada Familia - Nativity Side

And this is a food blog, right…so I have to mention food. I got my wish, I ate and paid by the toothpick tonight! I went to Sagardi´s, a pintxo bar which is a tappas bar, but you pay by the toothpick. It is the ultimate honor system, the food is all on the bar in front of you and with your plate, you pick whatever you want and you save your toothpicks to pay at the end.

I obviously had more than 3 toothpicks, but a little sampling of what I had or at least what I think I had. No set menu, changes daily and back to the whole language thing again…At 12 o´clock, a delicious meat-potato filled crockette stuffed in a red pepper. At 3 o´clock, another red pepper but stuffed with a creamy hummus and topped with caviar, very good! And lastly at 9 o´clock, the OMG call of the evening…some type of soft sweet cheese (almost like Cream Cheese on steroids topped with an anchovy and garnished with a mounatin of freshly grated parmesan cheese!

Barcelona at its finest mmmm

That´s my first 24 hours in a nutshell, I had paella by the water too, pretty good stuff! Tomorrow is the Mercat de la Boqueteria and a walk through Park Guell, another Gaudi legend.

Happy Easter to all and to my family and other celebrating Passover, enjoy the taste of bread soon, I as you can see have been enjoying it already!

Euro-trippin’

Boarding momentarily to the first leg of my Euro journey and thoughts are racing…

What is the Pintxo bar all about? Do the French really use that much cream? What park will I sit in in Paris eating my cheese and baguette? What new people will I meet that become friends? How good can really good moules frites be? Can I find Das boot in Germnay and how many different ways I can learn how to say “Tastes Better With Friends”

I always knew the day would come that I’d be out of a job when I decided to move out to Vancouver for the Olympics 11 months ago.

What I didn’t know was right at this moment I’d be sitting at Gate 58 of YVR (Vancouver Airport) ready to embark on a backpackin’ journey through Europe which will include the history, art, people and food of Barcelona, Lyon, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Hanover.
I don’t know what my abilities will be to blog and post pictures on the wonky computers of the hostels but please know I’ll be taking a ton of pictures and wishing all of you could share the experience with me. I look forward to sharing everything with you along the way and when I return.

See you soon and thinking of you all! Ethan…out!