Parada na św. Patryka/ St. Patrick’s parade

Wczoraj Irlandia obchodziła hucznie święto swojego patrona, świętego Patryka. Nie jest chyba zatem zaskoczeniem, że post właśnie o tym będzie. 

Czego możemy się spodziewać w ten dzień w irlandzkich miastach? Parady, zielonych ubrań, no i oczywiście litrów Guinnessa. 

Mimo chłodu i deszczu na paradę tłumnie przyszli mieszkańcy Galway. Na szczęście nasi znajomi przezornie zajęli miejsce pod daszkiem, a i deszcz ustał po kilku minutach. Sama parada może nie była szczególnie niesamowita (daleko jej i to nie tylko przez niekorzystny klimat do parady w Rio), ale miło się oglądało tancerzy, artystów, żonglerów czy mimów.

Nie zabrakło także polskiego elementu, co nie powinno nas dziwić, ze względu na liczną mniejszość narodową z Polski.  Portugalczycy i Hiszpanie, których też sporo w Galway chyba wolą inny typ zabawy, bo nie brali aktywnie udziału w paradzie. Na paradzie nie spodziewałam się jednak zobaczyć na przykład traktorów,  cheerleaderek czy żołnierzy. 

Jedną z najważniejszych tradycji w ten dzień jest noszenie ubrań w kolorze zielonym lub elementów dekoracyjnych kojarzonych z Irlandią. Prawie wszyscy mijani na ulicy mieli choć jeden zielony element, nawet jeśli była to koniczyna czy irlandzka flaga namalowana na policzku. I oczywiście  po paradzie puby pękały w szwach, bo picie to nieoderwany element obchodów St. Patrick’s. Rozczarowana musiałam zadowolić się normalnym piwem, bo nigdzie nie znalazłam piwa w kolorze zielonym (podobno to nie jest wymysł irlandzki). 

Więcej zdjęć z parady w galerii na facebooku. Po przejrzeniu zdjęć zauważyłam, że na wielu dziecięcych twarzach nie ma uśmiechów. Może to przez zimno? Albo ktoś je zmusił do udziału w paradzie?

A w waszym mieście też obchodzi się St. Patricks? Nie zdziwiłoby mnie to, bo przez liczne społeczności Irlandczyków mieszkających poza krajem, w wielu zakątkach świata podświetlano na zielono znane zabytki, a w Chicago na zielono zabarwiono rzekę. 

 

Yesterday the most famous Irish festival took place, St. Patrick's Day. So it comes as no surprise that I dedicate a whole post to how people in Galway celebrated of their famous patron Saint Patrick.

What  you can expect to experience in Irish cities on this day? Parades, green clothes and of course, countless pints of Guinness.

The morning was bit cold and cloudy (no surprise here) but still a lot of people were on the streets to see the parade. Our friends saved us a soft under a bar’s roof so we didn’t mind the short rain. I enjoyed the parade (well, it falls behind, and not only because of the cold climate, the famous one in Rio) but it lacked the “wow” factor. It was fun to watch dancers, artists, jugglers and mimes, but that’s it. 

There was also a Polish representation  in the parade, thanks to quite a big Polish community here in Galway. There are a lot of Spanish and Portuguese living in Galway, but I guess they are not that into that kind of fun. There were some surprises, as I didn’t expect to see, let’s say, tractors, cheerleaders or soldiers parading.

One of the most important traditions on this day is to wear something green. Almost everyone had at least one green item, even if it was a clover (shamrock) or Irish flag painted on the cheek. And of course, after the parade, everyone went to a pub, as drinking is a inseparable part of the St. Patrick’s celebrations. I was bit disappointed to be unable to order green beer (apparently it is not that popular in Ireland and was invented only for tourists) and had to settle for a regular one.

If you enjoyed the photos from St. Patrick’s parade in Galway, you can find more on the blog’s facebook fan page. I’ve just noticed that many children aren’t smiling… Is it because of the cold? Or somebody made them take part in the parade?

Is St. Patrick’s  day celebrated in your town? It wouldn’t surprise me, as because of numerous Irish communities living outside the country, in many parts of the world there were big celebrations: the river in Chicago was dyed green and a lot of famous monuments were illuminated in green.

Guest post by Aggy: Five Indonesian Food to Die For

Lubię chodzić do restauracji, by próbować dań z różnych krajów. Takich, gdzie już byłam i przez smakowanie smaków, powiedzmy włoskich, na chwilę przenieść się do restauracji, gdzie nasz znajomy zabrał nas na najlepszą w naszym życiu pizzę. Albo do kuchni krajów, gdzie jeszcze nie byliśmy, ale mamy ogromną ochotę pojechać. 

Dzisiejszy post jest postem gościnnym napisanym przez Aggy z Dream Explore Wander (nie wiem czy pamiętacie, jakiś czas temu napisałam posta gościnnego o Bukareszcie właśnie na post Aggy), która przedstawia nam najlepsze i najbardziej typowe dania swojego kraju, Indonezji. Ostrzeżenie: posta najlepiej przeczytać po posiłku, czytanie „na głoda” może skończyć się napadem ataku głodu.

Every once in a while I like to go to a restaurants that specialise in a cuisine of some more or less exotic country. If it is a country I already visited, my eating, let’s say something Italian, I can imagine for a while I’m in Italy where our friend from Roma took us to a place where we had the best pizza in our life! Or we go to the places to have some meal from a country we dream of going.

Today's post is a guest post written by Aggy from Dream Explore Wander (you may remember her, as some time ago I wrote a guest post about Bucharest that is available on her blog). She shows us the best and most typical dishes from her country, Indonesia. Be warned: it’s better not to read the post before eating, as you may end up very hungry.  

 Five Indonesian Food to Die For

Indonesia. Many boast about the undoubtedly beautiful islands, the clear blue sky, the stunning beaches, the lush forests and its natures and of course the hot, tropical weather. However for me, there is nothing I love more than its food. Yes, I am a proud foodie, and I am also proud to say that my home country has the most delicious food in the whole world. 

I was born in the town of Yogyakarta, which is located in the Java island, the most populous island in Indonesia. Almost all my life I have been accustomed to Javanese cuisines and other cuisines coming from other islands which has become a favourite in our island. I don’t think one blog post is enough to describe my love for Indonesian food, but here are five favourite Indonesian food which I highly recommend you to try when you visit my home country!

Satai

The “proper” or I’d like to say the more “posh” way to say this cuisine is satai, but us locals like to call it sate - check out the “ai” replaced by “e”. It sounds more down-to-earth when you pronounce it like that. Sate is basically meat put in a skewer and grilled, the best sate are known to be grilled traditionally over hot charcoal. There many kinds of sate: chicken, beef, mushroom, fish, lamb, pork - you name it, we’ve got it! But my two favourite sate are the classic chicken and mushroom. The chicken or mushroom are usually marinated before the grilling process, take a bite from a sate and you will see that it’s bursting with flavours. Chicken sate is best served with peanut sauce with a drizzle of sweet, dark soy sauce. The mushroom sate is served the same. Both sate is best eaten with fresh cut chilli (if you’re a fan of chilli like me) and shallots. 

Gado-Gado and Lotek

You’d be amazed how easy it is to be a vegetarian in Indonesia. Exotic fruits and vegetable are easily found in local markets, we are huge fan of soya beans too. Gado-gado and lotek are one of those quick dishes, you can say it’s our McDonalds since they are so easy to make and considered to be a fast food. It’s definitely a healthy lunch/dinner option when you’re in a rush. Both almost has the same ingredients: spinach, green beans, bean sprouts, tofu, cabbage served with peanut sauce (yes, we are a fan of peanut sauce). The difference is in the sauce, although both have the same based ingredients, in gado-gado the sauce has extra coconut milk. The serving of the sauce is also different, in gado-gado the sauce is put on top of the vegetables whereas in lotek the sauce is mixed together. In gado-gado they also put boiled egg, potatoes, cucumber and tomatoes.

Soto

This is a famous dish in Indonesia which you can easily get in Java. Like sate, there are different kind of soto even for a classic chicken soto, there can be many version. Soto is hot, refreshing soup. The one I like most is chicken soto with clear chicken broth filled with pieces of shredded chicken, cabbage, bean sprouts and rice. The key ingredient is the broth, we say that if the broth is good then the whole soup is undoubtedly delicious. Soto is usually eaten with side dishes like fried tempe (soyabean), tofu and quail egg sate. It’s so simple and delicious.

Bakso

Bakso is also a type of soup, and is a popular street “snack”. Bakso is made from meatballs, usually made from beef, served with hot beef broth garnished with spring onion and fried shallots. You can have fried meatballs, pangsit (Indonesian crispy wonton) and tofu with it too if you prefer.  It is sometimes considered as snack because it’s light food. People tend to add rice or noodles when they want to have it as lunch. It’s one of those food that you eat when catching up with the girls or just having a good gossip.

Gudeg

I have to tell you about gudeg. The people of Yogyakarta are known for their sweet tooth, we even put a little bit of sweetness into our savoury meal and gudeg is one of them. When you go to a gudeg stall, you will find a lot of dishes and a portion of gudeg is a combination of it all. Usually you will find brown egg, brown tempe and brown tofu - all brown because they have all been cooked with dark, sweet soya sauce and other spices thus the brown colour. There is also krecek in gudeg which is beef skin cooked in red, spicy sauce. The main ingredient of gudeg is jack fruit. The young jack fruit is also brown-coloured as it has been steamed with palm sugar before leaving a soft, sweet taste. Gudeg can vary in different cities in Indonesia, but the sweet type is most popular in Yogyakarta. My town is known as a gudeg city and is known to have the best ones!

And there you have it the five Indonesian food to die for. Of course all food are best eaten with krupuk which is crackers, very popular in Indonesia. For me, without krupuk something is missing when I’m eating. The most famous krupuk is made from shrimp and has the most scrumptious taste. There are different krupuk for different meals, but that would be another post :)

Have I made you drool and pack your bags to Indonesia yet? I hope I have. 

Zachęcam do zaglądania na bloga Aggy, która niedawno zaczęła nową serię postów poświęconych jedzeniu- Dewlicious. Tu macie linki do jej bloga, twitter i facebooka. A jeśli macie ochotę napisać gościnnego posta dla mnie o jedzeniu, proszę o kontakt.

If you liked the guest post, here are all the link you need to follow Aggy’s blog: blog, twitter and facebook fan page. She’s recently started her own food-related post series- Dewlicious. And if you feel like writing a guest, food-related post for me, please feel free to contact me. 

Niedzielne poszukiwanie słońca/ Sunday sun hunting

Pierwszą wizytę gości mamy za sobą. Nazbierało mi się materiałów do postów, nie wiem tylko czy się wyrobię, bo w środę wizyt ciąg dalszy. Śmiejemy się, że po 4 wizytach prawie pod rząd nikt nas już więcej nie odwiedzi.  Wizyty to okazja to weekendowych krótkich wypadów oraz do godzin przegadanych nad guinnessem. Dziewczyny miały szczęście i nie doświadczyły ani jednej kropli irlandzkiego deszczu.  Choć ja i tak śmiem twierdzić, że deszczowy dzień na Zielonej Wyspie powinien nikogo nie ominąć. 

W ostatni dzień wizyty wybraliśmy się na zwiedzanie okolicznych plaż, bo pogoda (nie licząc wiatru i niezbyt plażowej temperatury) była idealna na spędzenie niedzieli na powietrzu. Promenada na Salthill, Barna, Spiddal oraz małe urocze plaże po drodze (obowiązkowy przystanek na chowdera w drodze powrotnej) i udowodniliśmy gościom, że Irlandia to nie tylko klify i zieleń. 

Zatrzymaliśmy się też w pięknym małym parku-lesie w Barnie, który wygląda jak wyjęty z filmu. Jest mroczno i tajemniczo, choć promienie słońca bez problemu przebijają się prze konary drzew (wiosną i jesienią, gdy drzewa pokryte są liśćmi, musi tu być naprawdę pięknie).

W Irlandii tak to już jest, że gdy dopisuje pogoda, to wszyscy tłumnie wychodzą na ulice: na plaży i promenadzie Salthill spotykamy całe rodziny + psy, ciężko o wolne miejsce na stolikach przy pubach czy kawiarniach, ławki przy Spanish Arch są idealne na lunch czy pogaduchy ze znajomymi, ale trawą czy schodkami też nikt nie wzgardzi. I jak to w Galway, spacerując zawsze natkniemy się na znajomych. 

Do znudzenia będę powtarzać, nie spodziewałam się, że Irlandia jest tak piękna. Koleżanki też wyglądały na zdziwione i chyba trochę zrozumiały, że zamiana Barcelony na urocze (małe lecz pełne życia) Galway nie była aż taka zła.

Po więcej zdjęć z niedzielnego spaceru zapraszam do galerii na facebooku.  I jeśli jeszcze nie polubiliście mojej facebookowej strony, to teraz jest idealny moment by to nadrobić :)

Few days ago we had first friends visiting us in Ireland. I have some ideas for new posts, but don’t expect them too soon, as on Wednesday we have another visit… and then another… and them my parents are coming over for Easter. It seems like after4 visits in a raw, there won’t be anyone left to visit us. We try to get the most out of every visit, going to different places, spending hour talking in a pub with pints and pints of Guinness… Girls were lucky and it didn’t rain during their stay. Still, I believe that if you don’t experience typical  Irish weather (meaning rain), your experience  isn’t full.

On Sunday, which was the last day we spend together with our guests, we decided to explore the seaside and go ‘beach crawling’ (nice change after 3 days of pub crawling). The weather was just perfect (maybe bit too chilly and windy, but with the sun on our faces, we ignored it). Walking on a promenade as Salthill, going to Barna and Spiddal and stopping at some small charming beaches along the way, in a word, this is how Nuno pictures a perfect Sunday. Ireland is not all about green color and cliffs. 

On our way back, we stopped (after having an obligatory chowder for lunch) in a little beautiful park/ forest in Barna. It was all mysterious, I could picture some movies being shot here. We definitely have to come back here in spring and later in autumn as it must be truly a beautiful place to have a walk with green and colorful leaves. 

On a sunny day, we weren’t the only ones who chose to spend this day walking and enjoying the sun. Galway people just flocked to the streets:  you can meet big families+dogs on the Salthill promenade or nearby beaches, there is hardly any place left in pub’s and café’s terraces, benches at the Spanish Arch are great for lunch or having a chat with friends, but sometimes you must accept grass and stairs as the area is full of young people. And in Galway, I’m no longer surprised when we meet some friends unexpectedly , as you always come across a friend.

I like to collect such perfect  normal days. I find Ireland more and more beautiful.  And after only few days that my friend spend on the Emerald Island, she seems to finally get it that leaving sunny Barcelona behind and moving to small but charming and vibrant Galway was not such a bad thing. 

You can find more photos on facebook. If you still haven’t “liked” my fcb page, now is the time :)