Soup Anyone?

As I was working around the hostel on Tuesday morning, Jimmy came up with a wonderful idea. Soup. Well, we did not have any meat, but we had plenty of veggies - eggplants, pumpkins,onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and some tomato puree. Jimmy did throw in a few spices as well. I will let the picture do the talking. It is nice to buy food sometimes, and have someone else prepare it, while I am doing a little dirty work around this hostel at times.

This will be the last post for the next two - three days, since I will go run in Greece on Saturday evening. There is a chance that I will have wifi on the bus though.

             Interestingly enough, this was the first time that young Jimmy had ever eaten Veggie Soup

The Reward I had been aching to eat for a while

This is a thing of beauty. Pretty good taste as well. I pass this little bakery on my way to the produce store a few times a week. I have seen this carrot cake many times, but told myself "you have to get that long run down first, then you can eat it." I made it to the bakery Sunday evening a few minutes before closing time. I can not even recall the last time I ate carrot cake, but I savored the few moments I had eating it Sunday evening. I was so satisfied that I let Jimmy take half of it. We also shared some baklava as well. I am still ready to devour some pizza or a big burger as my reward for running this race in Greece this coming Saturday evening. Anyone hungry yet?

Ajvar

I first tried this a few weeks ago when I visited Kosovo. This was something that I saw many times though being sold in the cities of Macedonia as well. When Jimmy and I went to the store this evening to buy some little dishes for dinner, I was pointing to and trying to read out a bean dish that I wanted to the counter lady. Instead of receiving the bean dish, I received a little tub of what is called Ajvar. 

I love this Ajvar stuff. I was wise enough to only eat half of the container tonight, and perhaps I can save the rest for later. This would make great souvenirs for those folks out there who love peppers, and no, not the spicy kind either.  I just learned that the word is pronounced "eye-var". 

Here is a link that explains this yummy red pepper and eggplant dish. The link also contains a recipe too, so you can get started ASAP. 

Ajvar

Here is a link to one of the most famous brand names associated with Ajvar. I even remembered seeing a little car in Skopje, Macedonia, with the Mama's insignia on it. 

MAMA's

Only because it is a funny picture

I normally do not post random pictures on here, but as I was walking past a jewelry store Monday, I saw this. If it was good enough for a laugh, then it was good enough for a post.

Stray Dog Issue

It turns out that Eastern Europe has had its fair share of problems with over growing stray dog populations. Sofia, Bulgaria, Belgrade, Serbia, and now Bucharest, Romania. 

Here is an article that I found about the stray dog problem that is going on at the moment in Bucharest. 

Bucharest Strays

Jimmy and I, along with my friend Lauren will be passing through Bucharest in the next two weeks. I would love to make a short film documenting this problem. Here is one more article regarding the situation too. 

Bucharest again

Sofia has had their fair share of problems as well. I sometimes notice that the stray dogs here have had red tags clipped on their ears. Well here is an article that should support why they have received those tags. 

Four Paws

Just tonight as Jimmy and I were walking very quickly through the rain, we saw a medium sized stray hovered over in a corner avoiding the rain. Both of us instinctively pull something from our dinners and passed it on to the little fella.

Enjoy the article readings, and perhaps I can get some pictures of the strays when I camera's battery charger arrives next week. Ciao! 

Hello from Super Rainy Sofia

Luckily I got my run in earlier this evening. It turns out at 7 pm, though the sun has already set, I saw more runners than I have seen at any other time during my running adventures in this city. My Achilles Tendon is bothering me a little bit this week, so I may not be running the night race in Greece at a full pace. about 19 miles (almost 30k) on Sunday at a pretty good pace was not the best idea. 

We are having some major, major plumbing issues right now in this joint (hostel). It seems there some of the pipes have leakage that comes from our bathroom sinks or shower drain into someone's downstairs office. Meanwhile, as someone is working on the repairs of that issue, another person is piecing together the pipes to build up the second bathroom here (finally). 

At least we do have hot showers here now. For the first few months, one could take a warm shower for a good five minutes or so, but not so much a hot shower. I was credit with the idea for the thermostat which has solved the problem. 

Last week I met a recent college graduate from the University of Memphis (my hometown university), who was born and raised in Memphis. He lived in the Bartlett area, and went to high school at St. Benedict. It was definitely a great experience to spend time with someone from "back home" for a day or two. 

I have a few more things to throw on this blog, but I will try to keep everyone updated a little more regularly. 

A Beautiful Movie

A few times a week, Jimmy and I sit around and watch various movies.  Last night we watched a really well written, and beautifully acted movie, titled The Way, Way Back.

If you have not seen it, order it on Netflix, pick up the DVD, or download on your iTunes.

Here is a trailer, just in case you need a little more persuasion.

The Way, Way Back