The Countdown Continues... Six Days Remain

Hi Everyone,

I made a vow to myself to do something unique or otherwise special every day while I'm still here. This means things that I cannot do elsewhere for the most part. For me, this largely involves food but does include other things.

For one thing, I saw another Marlboro advertisement. Disappointingly, it has the typical Marlboro slogan on it but with a new picture. I've decided to share it just because I've been such a longtime fan. (I'm still hoping for one more new one before I fly away on Tuesday!)

Don't Be A Maybe. Be Marlboro. Become a Rockstar. Be Marlboro.

I have really loved the Tollwood Festival. It ended yesterday (tear) and I did make a point to stop by not only last night but also on Saturday. I want to start by saying that there is just SO much to do there. Natural and handmade clothing, authentic ethnic organic foods, music, jewelry (natural and handmade again), and so much more. Best of all for me was the food, of course. It's very difficult for me to find food I can eat, so when I find it, organic and regional no less, I really take advantage. Many of you recall me having Turkish and Indian food, but I am now adding Middle-Eastern, African, and Thai. Traditionally made and all fabulous, I have shared pictures of the edible delights below.

Falafel wrap. Traditional of the Middle-East. Hummus, lettuce, two tomato slices, three "patties" of falafel, and sesame sauce on top. Yum.

African open-fire (I watched this) roasted pork. With some kind surprisingly non-spicy sauce on top and a dash of what I think was cayenne or something similar.

Thai vegetarrian dish. I believe it was called pag pak or something along those lines. It was essentially cabbage, carrots, maybe some spring onions, made with a very light sauce and served over rice. Of course I added a touch of sweet and sour sauce and some spicy sauce too. I love Thai food. Probably my favorite ethnic food with Mexican and Indian tied as very close seconds.

Continuing on with food, I have discovered the deliciousness of a new food: dragon-fruit. I will say this about dragon-fruit, it was not at all what I was expecting. I looked up the best way to cut it (thanks About.com) and then I proceeded to cut and taste. The first surprise was that a pinkish-red fruit was white inside with black seeds! The second surprise was somewhat more intense for me. I was really expecting a tropical flavor since it has roots in Thailand and the like, but it honestly tastes a lot like a sweet pear... only softer somehow. Pears often have that very slight tang to them. This had no tang whatsoever. I liked it but it was on the expensive side (6,99 Euros for one... yes I know that's a lot of money) so I may not have it again in its raw form. I have included some pictures just for fun.

A perfect specimen.

Cut it open... and look! White! I guess that some dragon-fruits are red inside but I haven't seen any obviously.

Scoop out the guts and you have a perfect medium for cutting. It's such a soft fruit. Very tasty, just subtle.

As of today I have six days left, but considering I plan to go to bed earlier than normal I'm really saying about five. What are my plans?

For starters, I have already planned out my meals for the last days. Breakfasts will consist of muesli, either crunchy (like granola) or non-crunchy (like cold oatmeal/cereal, it's delicious this way) with a non-dairy milk, lunch will have the traditional yogurt and fruit - peaches in this case (with the exception of Saturday... I have plans for Saturday's lunch) and dinners will consist of finishing my lasagna and also using up the rest of my barley which I plan to make with a vegetable medley. I leave the house around 11:00am local time, so before I leave I plan to pick up my last Bavarian organic pretzel before I head to the airport. More packing and airplane fun Holly factoids in a later blog post.

As far as plans go, I have one final, final thing I want to do and I plan to do this on Saturday. I do have my special Holly lunch/treat on Saturday as well, and I also will be picking up a special bag of tea to take back with me to the States (black currant... my fiance's favorite fruit flavor... say that five times fast). I also have the boring things to do, like closing my German bank account and doing my own recycling. I'll keep everyone posted. Other than that it's packing, packing, packing for the most part.

I plan to do at least two more blog posts before I head out of Munich. One will be on my weekend and status updates and one will be my Holly's Fun Flying Factoids (the letter of the day today is 'F,' but only good words please). The latter will be my last blog post while I'm here in Munich... this time around anyhow. I'm denying my sadness.

I hope everyone things of something to be happy about today.

Schönen abend!