Saying hi to my mate Borat

So as some of you know, I’ve now got a new job (yay!), but what not all of you may know is that it was the craziest start to a job EVER. I turn up, have a day at work on the Friday, then on Saturday morning get on a plane and fly to Kazakhstan for nine days. No, that’s not a typo. I literally went to Kazakhstan on day two of my job!

It was to look at a reservoir/hydropower complex in a small town called Shardara in the very south-western corner of Kazakhstan, right by the Uzbekistan border. There were a whole group of us from different organisations and it was fascinating to hear some of the stories from Soviet times from those who’d been working in Central Asia for a long time. Shardara itself was very dry (but lovely and hot, nearly 30 degrees) and had been pretty much desert before they’d constructed the reservoir in the 1960s. We stayed in a pretty basic guest house, but it had the most amazing views right out over the reservoir and was a bit of a stunning vista to look out at in the mornings.

It was so interesting going right inside the hydropower plant and seeing the massive turbines and all the water gushing out through the turbines and back into the river(technical term: tail water – I’m going to be such a pro soon). We had all sorts of interesting food too – it was heavily based around bread and meat, but sadly despite horse being a local delicacy we never seemed to see it on the menu (actually, only sadly for Adrian who wanted me to try it, not for me...). Every meal always included a version of a delicious, but very basic tomato and cucumber salad – the tomatoes were just amazing, so flavourful and not at all like the perfect yet tasteless ones you get in the supermarkets in the UK. I’m determined to go to the farmers’ markets now and replicate it!

Shishlek was another popular dish (basically, skewers of different meats covered in raw sliced onions) and we tried lamb, beef and catfish versions. I actually preferred the catfish version the most – it was pretty tasty! Other things included various salads (all with lots of mayonnaise), a specially prepared pasta and meat dish, and the ubiquitous ‘piva’ (beer).

After staying in Shardara for three days it was time for a three hour drive back to Shymkent – the major town of the province. Sadly, I’ve got little to nothing to report on from Shymkent as I was struck down by an evil bout of food poisoning which confined me to my hotel room for two days. All I can say is that thank goodness I had my own (and western-style) toilet as if it had been back at Shardara with a hole-in-the-floor toilet shared between a dozen people life would have been very, very miserable indeed...

But once I recovered I managed to eat a bit more of the local food – and got to try ‘plov’ which was the one thing I’d read about before the trip. Apparently there are heaps of different kinds of plov (it's a dish based around rice), but the one I had was beef with roast garlic...mmm... Totally too rich for the delicate state of my stomach, and I definitely paid for it the next day, but worth trying nonetheless!!

Things got even more farcical as we arrived at Shymkent airport to fly to Almaty – the biggest city and previous capital of Kazakhstan. I totally didn’t see the tiniest, 10cm tall step and completely bailed as we entered the airport. Searing pain = twisted ankle = not good. Luckily one of our translators had sprained her wrist the previous week and had a bandage on her which I wrapped around my ankle and which actually made the world of difference. It was basically healed within a week which was great. I had also taken some ibuprofen immediately, but in the confusion and subsequent rush to get to the ticket office and check in, I forgot to re-zip my suitcase up after getting it out and when a colleague picked it up to take it to the check-in desk for me every single person in Shymkent airport got a close-up view of the innards of my bag... Thank goodness I’d put all my dirty washing in an interior bag! It was honestly like a scene out of a slapstick comedy...you’ve just got to laugh about these things though!

It had been getting steadily colder as we got further and further away from Shardara, but the air hostess telling us that the local temperature was zero degrees as we landed in Almaty at midday was a bit of a shock, as was the fact that the entire city was covered in a thick blanket of snow! Luckily I’m used to layering being a good NZer, so I put on everything I owned and went for a small (hobbling) explore. The city is surrounded by mountains which means that the clouds stick around for a long time and winter is basically one long grey cloud. But, in its defence the snow was very pretty!

And then that was that, back in the air to Heathrow and home. It was a really interesting, eventful trip and I learned so much about my new job by jumping in at the deep end which was great. I can tell you that Kazakh vodka is pretty full on, that it’s a country of huge extremes (hot/cold, dry/wet, rich/poor) and that you can still order cigarettes from a restaurant menu! The influence of the USSR era is still enormous and it will be interesting to see how it continues to develop. There’s pretty much no tourism infrastructure (as we are used to it) that I could see, and it probably wouldn’t be somewhere I’d recommend for holidays, but an excellent experience nonetheless.

And I didn’t say one word about Borat the whole time I was there...

Here are the photos - enjoy!

Photos from Winchester and Berlin

I've been terribly slack putting these photos up... Enjoy!

Winchester: click here

Berlin: click here

Beautiful Berlin

As part of my friend Alice’s fabulous round-the-world trip, she and I decided to spend a weekend in Berlin. I’d never been to Germany before and everyone has always said that Berlin is wonderful, so it seemed like a perfect place to visit!

The day we left (Friday) was completely harried, but we managed to get to the airport on time (just!) and sneak our two pieces of carry-on luggage past the amazingly officious EasyJet check-in guy. The whole evening felt like an absolute mish but we managed to get to the hostel eventually, where we collapsed into an over-tired stupor...

The next day the awesomeness of our hostel revealed itself – the EastSeven hostel in Berlin is pretty much the cleanest, biggest roomed, most comfortable, fanciest kitchen, nicest people hostel I’ve ever come across. Highly recommended! But, as much as I loved the hostel, that’s not where I intended us to spend the entire weekend! Our first trip was pretty important – out for breakfast! We had the traditional breakfast of bread, cheese and cold meats – the first meat I’d had in a month and it was funny, I hadn’t really missed it at all! It was so lovely and sunny (albeit cold) that it felt so luxurious and relaxing to just sit outside and have breakfast. After that we did a bit of exploring towards the town centre – finding a Birkenstock shop on the way (how fabulous, and how German!) – before heading back to our hostel for our walking tour. There were about half a dozen of us who were picked up by Theo, our Australian guide, and then we picked up another dozen and a half at the next few hostels we passed.

The tour started on Museum Island (home to a lot of museums so quite aptly named), before heading around the main sites of the city – Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Reischtag and Brandenburg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, and Bebelplatz among others. The most moving thing for me was the memorial to the victims of war and tyranny – a sculpture of a woman cradling her adult son in the middle of this empty room. It’s open to the sky so when it rains, snows etc. it falls on her as well. I just thought it was so haunting.

Theo was a great guide – giving us all sorts of stories and tips as we went along. After the tour, Alice and I went back to the hostel and got flashed up before heading out to dinner and drinks and employing nearly every tip Theo passed on! First we had a traditional German dinner (Alice with Berlin meatballs and me with butter spatzle and veal – talk about an intense way to break a month of vegetarianism!) and a couple of glasses of the local beer. After that it was off to a couple of other places for some sweet German riesling at a place called Alta Europe and then a cocktail in a bar called Pony. It was quite funny that while we were there and Alice was drinking a White Russian, she was also getting chatted up by a white Russian guy...ironic.

The next day we had a fantastic long sleep in and then mustered the energy to head north to explore a bit more of our neighbourhood (Prenzlauer Berg). First we had croissants and coffee sitting outside in the sun – a much warmer day thank goodness! – and then went and explored the Mauer market. That’s a big flea market north of town and was absolutely amazing! So many people selling so much stuff – I got a scarf and a pair of shoes for 3 euro each, and we had the most delicious spinach and cheese filled pancake thing filled with hummus and lettuce...mmm... There were heaps of people just milling about, either sitting in the sun and eating and drinking, or getting on with the serious business of shopping! Once we’d had our fill it was down to the Kaiserallee (our local main street) to have a plate of Lebanese food, then back to the hostel and back on the plane! Alice stayed on for a few more days – actually going inside places and visiting West Berlin as well – and I definitely think I only gave Berlin a very cursory glance and absolutely need to go back.

It was so laid back and chilled out – it seemed to be all about sitting and eating and drinking – and the city itself was quite beautiful. We caught it at a really good time too, with all the beautiful Autumn leaves set against the pretty apartment buildings with their balconies chock full of hanging baskets and other plants. Once I see other bits of Germany I will be definitely booking my next trip back to Berlin!

Winchester

As part of Adrian’s summer training regime, we went to Winchester so he could run in the Clarendon half-marathon (an off-road affair, all along tracks etc. in the woods). We couldn’t get a train down there early enough on Sunday morning to make the start time, so decided to make a weekend out of it.

We headed down on Saturday morning, then walked about 20 minutes through town and out the other side to our B&B. It was my first time (well, that I can remember at least), in a traditional B&B and this one was really just a spare room that they were letting out. It was really nice and comfortable though – I wish I could have swapped the bed over for the one we have in our flat! But we weren’t in Winchester just to appreciate a nice B&B – it was time to get out and explore town. The first thing we came across was the Hampshire Farmers’ Market festival thing and boy, did we come, eat and conquer that! As well as having nearly every sample under the sun, we had a water buffalo burger, a watercress burger (both slightly different tasting from the other!), an Eccles cake, and then to top it off, a ‘lardy cake’. And, I’m ashamed to say, despite its massive size (and the fact we’d both had burgers), it hardly took any time to finish off at all. Who would have guessed that the combination of flour, fat and sugar could be so appealing...

After the market it was time to walk off all our excesses, so we signed up for a walking tour of the main sights of the town. John, our guide, was a wealth of information and we saw Winchester School, heard all about the history of the town, and then (my favourite), the last house Jane Austen ever lived in. To top that off, after the tour we visited Winchester Cathedral where she’s buried. I don’t know where I’d be with a bit of Pride and Prejudice in my life so it was lovely to stand there and appreciate her work.

After that, and before it got dark, we headed up St Giles Hill where we could look out over the whole town. They had some particularly appealing ladybugs on the handrails of the park too which totally captivated me for ages! A massive dinner of pasta (it’s all about the pre-training bulking up!) and it was home for an early sleep. The next morning dawned incredibly wet and soggy – good for the ducks but not so much for the runners! But Adrian’s a hardy soul and ended up coming 12th overall and smoking his previous PB which was awesome! I on the other hand went shopping and ate a cream tea which was shamefully nowhere near as energetic (although possibly more fun...).

After the run we had some lunch and then it was off to see the Great Hall where they have the Round Table (as in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table) hanging on the wall which was pretty cool. It was made in 1250 or something ridiculous and is in remarkably good nick. (I imagine it’s been painted a fair few times since then though!).

So thanks for the good times Winchester – perfect ‘mini-break’ destination from London I’d have to say!

Vegetarian experiment

So as some of you know, I've been experimenting with being a vegetarian over the last few weeks. The intent is to give it a go for a month and then see how I'm feeling and whether I'd like to carry on with it. For me, the trial is excluding fish, but I'm not going so far as to exclude rennet (I love cheese too much...). The main intent has been the unsustainable way meat is being produced and the impact that it has on our climate. We can't continue to cut down rainforests just so we can eat hamburgers.

The month is up this weekend and I have to say, I've actually really enjoyed it! We've definitely eaten a whole lot more vegetables - you plan the meal around the veges rather than the protein side of things I find - but it has helped that I do really like tofu and quorn. And while I know that the idea of quorn can be a bit icky (fungus cooked in large vats...mmm...not), it's actually really handy to have on hand. We've had two quorn meals - nachos and Thai red curry - but have always bumped them up with beans or mushrooms or something else. I haven't felt too tired or anything, but Adrian has noticed he's had to have a bit of steak occasionally because he's doing quite a bit of training at the moment (oh, and fyi, 1h32 and 12th place in the Winchester off-road half marathon yesterday - awesome!!).

I did have a slight faux pas moment when I ate a tuna sandwich offered to me without even thinking about it (my head was elsewhere), but as it was completely unintentional I'm giving myself a free pass for it!

So, do I think I'll continue? The main downside has been eating out. We went to a Vietnamese place in Chinatown and of the bazillions of choices, about two were vege and they were so disappointing. Another example, we were in a pub in Winchester yesterday and it was either a plain salad or a mushroom suet pudding. I'll just let the thought of what a mushroom suet pudding would look like sit with you for a second shall I?? (Needless to say we went elsewhere).

I think that the final conclusion is that while I won't buy any meat to eat at home anymore, and will actively look for the vegetarian option, if I really want to have a piece of salmon or some roast lamb when I'm out, then I will. I think reducing my meat consumption (albeit dramatically) rather than having none at all is the most sustainable option long-term for me.