Cartman

Couldn't resist, I thought Jamie reminded me of Cartman in this pic. And I could see him now saying "Respect mah authoritah!"

Cheese Farm

Ah this was fun.

I had always wanted to visit an Irish Cheese Farm, so I got some names from the local Cheesemonger in Kinsale, sent out a few emails, and setup a time to visit Fermoy Farms in . . . Fermoy, a small town about an hour north of Kinsale.

Fermoy is run by Frank and Gudrun Shinnick. Frank's family has farmed the land for generations, but now they have mostly cows that they milk for their raw cheeses - apparently there is no money in sheep (probably not in cheese either).

Tons of information, I was there for pretty much the whole day - so I basically saw how they made cheese from beginning to end. They actually do a Swiss type cheese - so that's a pressed, cooked cheese similar to Gruyeres. And since the milk is raw, they have to be super careful on hygiene and controls.

I could go on and on about raw milk, which I'm sure freaks some people out that someone who actually risks eating it. But I have this theory that raw milk products - cheese or otherwise - are safer than pasturized products. The reason is that raw milk producers KNOW they have to be careful, and if they screw up, it's pretty obvious that something is wrong. Whereas with pasturization you get this attitude that I've seen at other farms or factories that says, "Eh, we pasturized, so we don't have to worry about keeping everything clean."

I'll give you an example . . . to cut down on the risk of infection, Fermoy will actually wash the cows before milking so that any dirt or crap (literally) doesn't get into the milk. It takes an extra 10-15 minutes to their twice daily milking routine each time, but it shows up when the milk is tested by the milk truck that comes to pick up the milk every other day. I think they were allowed on one particular test for bacteria 100,000 parts per some unit of measure with the average from most milk producers being 40K-60K - Fermoy consistently scores 100.

You figure pasturization ain't gonna kill everything anyway (you would have to boil the milk under pressure for an extended period of time to do that) - so I'd rather start at 100, than the alternative of 50,000 and hope to get the number down to 10,000.

Anyway, like I said, tons of information - the storage of the cheese itself was cool. We tried tons of cheeses from the area and talked non-stop about all things cheese - including the US market and how it has changed.

Glengarriff

Great little place called Glengarriff, which was about an hour from Kinsale. One of those places that you always wanted to get to, thought you had all the time in the World to do it, but you're running there at the last minute.

Turns out this small island was bought by a member of the Irish Parliament about 100 years ago. He starts this huge project to turn the island into a cultivated garden. Unfortunately, he passes away and his wife takes over. In the end the son donates it to the Irish people as a National Treasure.

Tons of vistas and views around the island, and this Italian Garden is probably one of the more famous places there.

More Seals

As the last minute rush to see places with Patrick before he goes home, we went to Glengarriff, which is small island off a harbor about an hour from Kinsale. As we were taking a boat out to the island, we passed a rocky outcrop which was populated by seals. They were so used to tourists, I think they set their clocks to when the boat saunters by. One of the cool things is that it was probably the closest I was ever to a seal in its native habitat.

Zadar: Pag Cheese

Yep, another picture of cheese.

Not any cheese, mind you, but cheese from the island of Pag. Because the sheep graze on grass close to the sea, the cheese has a natural salt taste to it which is really good.

Very similar to Parmesan, but a little higher in the taste and price category - which is saying something because Parmesan in the Kinsale Super-Valu is something ridiculous like 30 euros a pound.

Zadar: Maraschino

Proving again the basic rule of all civilizations - if it can be grown, it can be made into an alcoholic drink - this is Croatia's local liqueur - maraschino - as in maraschino cherries.

Great stuff, but a bit sweet, as you can imagine. I'm thinking you could come up with some killer mixed drink with gin or vodka with it though. I'd have to come up with a catchy name like Phillip's Head or something like that though in order to sell it.

Zadar: Scooter

Yes, I look like even more of a dork if the helmet is on, but I knew it would be used against me at some point in the future.

The place we were staying was nice, but it was a bit out of the way, so getting around fell to a little scooter.

Fun little things these scooters once you get the hang of it. . . "Shut up, Patrick, I am leaning !!!"

Zadar: Sea Organ

This was tough.

Basically they built next to the water a sea organ that is a bunch of pipes set underneath marble steps - as the waves hit the cavity, there are various sounds that are created. The video doesn't do justice to the audio, but you get the idea. The tempo and tone changes from hour by hour as the waves change.

Zadar: Fruit

See, we miss good fruit these days - except you live in California or something like that.

Picked these up at the market, and I think they were literally picked that morning out of their backyard.

Nice stuff.

Zadar: Market Nirvana, Part II

Part II of the most amazing market found in a small town - this is just the indoor fish section part.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to get anything and cook it ourselves, but it was still pretty impressive. We were probably there at about 10 o'clock in the morning, and we were already late with people packing up. I'd say this row was one of 6 to give you an idea of how big this was.

Zadar: Market Nirvana

Dude, the market to end all markets - spank me and send me home to Mama.

For a small town on the coast, this market was huge. There were probably 100 tables like the one in this picture, and 95% of them were full with produce.

I think I offended a guy when I bought some olive oil from him, and then asked where it was made - ummm, backyard, Wade.

Zadar: SCUBA

SCUBA Time !!!

Didn't really get a great shot of where we went SCUBA diving, but you get the idea.

We found a Dive center and after some confusion with our certification we went diving in a huge inlet from the sea. Not the best coral, but always fun to go diving in a new place.

One of the more interesting things we found we spent gun casings.

Zadar: The Streets

I know I have a lot of pictures of Patrick, but I actually wanted to get a shot of this paved street.

Again, ancient Zadar, streets had been there forever. First time I saw a road that was basically so old, that it had been worn down smooth. It looks like it had just rained, but it was drier than the Sahara.

Zadar

Ah, another cheap airline flight from Vienna, and we've landed in a country that didn't even exist 20 years ago - Zadar, Croatia.

The small town is ancient - like pre-Roman ancient - and it was also under seige during the war in the early 1990's with the Serbs. In case you don't know the gory details, Wikipedia does a pretty good job of explaining what happened.

The nice thing about Zadar is that yo got the small ancient town culture thing with the beach and water and sun. Sweet.

Vienna: The Zoo version 2

The Vienna Zoo is one of the oldest Zoos in the World - back when there were Emperors and Empresses, there was the Zoo.

Needless to say, we have come a long way since we first took a giraffe from Africa for the first time and had a bunch of nobilit walk around at the bizarre creatures from distant lands.

The original design of the Vienna Zoo had this central structure (cool frescos on the ceiling, by the way). And then where Patrick is standing there would have been individual cages for each animal - I think there were about 12-16 cages in all. So basically you had the visitors walk in a circular path and see each animal.

Well, when they redid the zoo, they basically reversed it, and allowed the animals way more space, and the people are now in the cage surrounded by the animals. Hard to explain, but cool to see. This place didn't do too bad of a lunch either.

Vienna: Baby Panda

Ain't he cute.

First time I have ever seen a Panda, and definitely the first time I've seen a baby Panda. Seems that there is a breeding program that the Vienna Zoo is partnering with China on, so there is crazy Panda mania going on at the zoo.

Not the best picture, but Mama, Papa and Baby bear where behind glass. All were kind of over the ooh-ing and the ah-ing, but all the spectators would go nuts on the slightest thing - like yawning or rolling over.

Vienna: Pandas

Ain't he cute.

First time I have ever seen a Panda, and definitely the first time I've seen a baby Panda. Seems that there is a breeding program that the Vienna Zoo is partnering with China on, so there is crazy Panda mania going on at the zoo.

Not the best picture, but Mama, Papa and Baby bear where behind glass. All were kind of over the ooh-ing and the ah-ing, but all the spectators would go nuts on the slightest thing - like yawning or rolling over.

Vienna: Cheetah

Closest I've ever been to a cheetah - also at the Schoenberg Zoo.

We actually got there around feeding time, so they stuck a hunk 'o meat on a zip wire, and the cheetahs were chasing it - they're pretty fast, surprisingly.

So when she made her loop around the enclosure, we were probably about 6 feet away - not too bad.

Of course now, Patrick wants to REALLY go to South Africa for a safari in Krueger National Park.

Vienna: More Bats

Now you can understand 'leatherly wings" a little better.

Running around the Schoenberg Zoo (which is actually a really nice one, considering it is tucked back behind the Palace), we came across a really cool indoor Tropical rainforest exhibit. Really well done, and it was all pretty open.

Out on the ceiling, not too far away, we could see bats - big bats - hanging from the ceiling. They were actually kind of cute from far away.

Vienna: The Bat Cave

In the spirit of Batman coming out to the theatres, we actually ended up in one. Like most idiots, we walked into this cave exhibit, saying "I wonder what this is? What's the flying thing? Oh my God !!! It's a bat and it's coming this way"

We ran out really quick - only to work up the courage a little later to make it through to the other side.

Yikes.

Vienna: The Maze

Fun little maze in the garden of Schoenbronn.

If you think Patrick is looking smug, you would be right. The maze wasn't completely easy, but once you reach the right place, there was a little tree house overlooking the maze to see exactly where you went.

Kind of fun to run around one of those places.

Vienna: The Queue

Ah, the lines.

The queue to Schoenberg Palace wasn't nearly as infuriating as Versailles, where the first task is actually to figure out which line you actually need to stay in.

The only issue with this line was stupid people. The Palace controls entry into the exhibit when it's crowded by giving you a ticket with a time that you can actually enter through the gate. I thought it was pretty obvious, since it was printed on the ticket and displayed a message on the screen.

Apparently for others - not just the Italians who are truly allergic to standing in lines - but the Americans and French as well, they all had issues with it.

Vienna: Schoenbrunn Palace

Schoenbrunn Palace, otherwise known as the Austrian version of Versailles.

Cool little place actually, but you have to put these places in perspective. Granted the living spaces were huge, and they could throw a hell of a kegger in the ballroom - but they also had tons of administrative space in these places.

It was definitely a little more low key than Versailles - not quite as big, gardens not quite as over the top, etc - but it was also a lot of fun - complete with zoo, and garden maze.

Vienna: Nespresso Store

Ah, the Nespresso Fantasy coming true.

Was shopping around Vienna, and we came across the Nespresso store. You know for a place that sells a couple of cups, expresso machines, and little capsules of coffee - this place was huge. It was almost to Super Wal-Mart of the Nespresso family seen.

This particular machine though is kind of off limits. It's actually part of their new commercial line of espresso machines - let's you do some cool new stuff like mochas, hot chocolate, etc. The only major issue I see is that it's a $4000 machine - for that price, you can fly over an Italian barista to set you up on a proper Italian model.

Don't get me wrong, not dissing Nespresso at all - but Nespresso is all about decent coffee for convenience. If I have to pay two month's salary for the thing, I can start standing a little inconvenience.

Vienna: Silver Collection

Now this is a silver collection.

Not surprising, the Hapsburgs had a bit of an empire and always had to do some serious entertaining. But still . . .

I've decided that I couldn't do the royalty thing - when you really look at it objectively with all the rules, customs, public, and lack of indoor plumbing - that really cool Palace isn't look as nice as a simple suburban home with wireless connectivity to the Internet.

Vienna: Sacher Torte

Must say, this was a bit disappointing.

Vienna is famous for their Sacher Torte, but quite frankly, it wasn't as good as I remember from my college days. Granted my taste buds have gotten a bit more discriminating from the days when I was fine to eat Monterey Jack cheese and wash it down with a Little Kings - but I found this little dessert to be a bit . . . well . . . dry.

I suppose I understand better why they serve this cake with a bunch of whipped cream, but I tried them three times - once at Hotel Sacher (for its namesake), Cafe Dremel (they stole the recipe, so says the Austrian courts), and a off the beaten path pastry shop. Dry, dry, dry - and almost verging on stale - couldn't even finish it.

Vienna: Rent-a-bike

I think we'll be seeing more of these . . .

While we were in Vienna, we came across their rent-a-bike scheme for the city. I didn't get all the details, but it was pretty slick from what I saw.

Basically they have bike stations throughout the city with spots for about 10-40 bikes depending on the station. As you can see the bikes are pretty basic, and they even have advertising, which helps cover the costs and makes this economical.

If there's a bike there, you can go to the electonic kiosk and rent a bike using your credit card or membership card for a nominal fee. Rates are by the hour. Once the short transaction is over, you ride off on your bike and drop the bike off at another station down the road.

Patrick saw a similar idea in Paris, and they are starting to crop up all over European cities. Although we didn't take advantage, one of the nice things is that it's so easy to rent a bike, anyone visiting the city can do it.

Vienna

Off the Vienna (2 hour train ride from Salzburg) and how appropriate that there is some sort of socialist demonstration going on - most people don't realize that Vienna was called 'Red Vienna' after WWI. I think it was like the Austin, Texas of the modern day US.

From this little perch in a cafe over the major pedestrian square, we could see all sorts of stuff - one of the best people watching places in all of Europe - giving the Spanish steps a run for their money.