Crazy Restaurant in the Air

This came through on the wire, check it out. Looks really cool, I'm thinking maybe for the next company event!!! Here's the link to the company. Definitely not for the vertically challenged, yikes!

Alottingment

This story begins on thursday of last week. Beccy had mentioned to me that for a sort of birthday present she has been in contact with the local council and has been looking at getting allotment. So the day after a manager of an allotment in Northenden Moor rang to say that there were some plots available. We headed down this afternoon and had a look round. Everything seemed very organised; there's a shop on site, an association, water is provided, plots are of varying sizes and locations, there's a shared compost bin and manure is delivered every other day! So Beccy and I went on to sign the tenancy agreement on a 120 feet squared plot number 10. So we've started a small (web)log as a sort of sub blog in my site, here.
You may see a change on the side bar --->

NMI Parity Error!?

We've been having this problem with the Laptop more recently which has caused it to critically stop with a blue screen "NMI Parity Error." So it usually happens twice a day but today a breakthrough! Turns out it is the wireless card causing the problem. On closer inspection it appears as though the card has been physically damaged and I guess this would do it. A slight nudge, maybe some shorted wires and a parity error. Still, I've no actual idea what this means but it's fixed now. Well it's not fixed but I've found the problem. So for now we're back to the nineties way, hooray for Ethernet, long may it be the most reliable method of connecting two computers. In fact it pretty much is, and it's still much much quicker than WiFi. Ah, I remember the day I got my first Ethernet card (PCMCIA) and Ethernet crossover cable. What a revolution from the good old days of Null Modem... Ah. I leave you reminiscent.

Mystery Solved

So I was walking home from the gym today and as I rounded the corner into our lane I saw the offending article. Those avid readers will know that I've had an annoying hoovering noise penetrating the flat (article here), well it's a big industrial hoover truck with a massive elephant trunk hose, like 2 feet wide. It was stationed near the new buildings near where we live and it must have been that which has been causing upset. You'll be glad to here that it was on the back of a large truck.
Meanwhile at work tonight I was the main source and butt of all the jokes. I hate being the new boy. And it's not going change for a long while. Ho-hum I'll still be the new boy for at least another four months. Then I wrang Liverpool Radar to pass a release and it was an ex-colleague of mine who's now working there who answered the phone. So I struck up a conversation and then he totally pretended not to remember me... Thanks Paul, if you're reading.
It was a busy hour I did actually. Since it was reported that

"Out of date food scavenged from a smelly skip has been served to easyJet passengers..." (read full article)

you would think (be the allegations true or false) that easyJet would make sure that it would never happen. However I had two easyJet flights tonight declare medical emergencies about which we acted as required but I have just one word... HYPOCONDRIA!

Tartiflette

We had this traditional savoyard dish tonight and it occurred to me that it doesn't appear on my blog. This is an excellent dish, full of calories and saturated fats but who cares. Great on the ski hill and great when you're not. The ingredients include Reblochon which isn't widely available but I have seen it at Booths (the northern equivalent of Waitrose, only better) and some French/Farmers' Markets.
What you will need for this week's recipe:

1. 1kg Potatoes; new potatoes like charlottes,
2. Two Medium-Large Onions,
3. 250g Reblochon; yummy cheese,
4. Butter,
5. Cream; double's best,
6. Lardons*; small offcuts of Bacon,
7. Pancetta*,
8. Mushrooms*,
9. Anything else that might go*.

* = optional

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into 0.5cms thick discs. Pop them in a pan of boiling water for 5-7mins.
3. Chop the onions fairly coarsely. Coarsely chop any of the optional ingredients.
4. Drain the potatoes and place into a square pyrex cooking dish thingy, like a roasting tin, with the chopped onions and the optional ingredients.
5. Add a couple of nobs of butter and pour in the cream to fill the gaps.
6. You have 2 options here either:
   1. slice the Reblochon roll in half to make two discs, or;
   2. slice it into 0.5cm thick strips.
7. Place the cheese onto the top of the potatoes and pop the whole lot in the oven for 45mins to an hour.
8. Enjoy with a green salad, french bread and a glass of authentic Gamay (chilled of course).

A Cultural and Historical Journey

Kraków, what a place!
The centre of Poland for all things Cultural and Historical pretty much. And until 1918 the capital too. Beccy and I met our friends Gill and Ed, whom we met in Bournemouth, at Kraków's airport on Friday morning. A short taxi ride away and we were in the centre of the city.
One thing that strikes you initially is the architecture. The grey and functional buildings reminiscent of an eastern block country surround the city centre, oppressive and boring, but somehow romantic and wise. In the South East corner, on the banks of the river one such area is known as Kazimierz and is the restaurant, bar, disco and sex capital of Kraków. Outside of this ring and beyond the river blocks rise as far as the eye can see. But inside is a delight for the historical architects among us, this is the area called the Old Town.
I'm not going to recount the tale chronologically as I think we did things all the wrong way round so I'll start at the end when Beccy and I took a golf buggy tour on our last day. I'd recommend it if you're visiting, head to the Main Square in the old town and by the Basilica you'll find plenty of Buggies to ride. It's 100 złote per area; the Old town, Kazimierz and the Ghetto. It's here you begin to uncover the sinister side of the modern history of Kraków.
When first occupied by the Nazis in 1940 the Kazimierz district was inhabited by 65,000 jews all of which were de-camped across the river to the Ghetto. From here they were eventually transported away for execution in Auschwitz and other places. Due in part to the famous Oscar Schindler who had a factory there 1,000 of them survived the holocaust.
Anyway, we start with the Old Town where there are about 8 million cathedrals. I don't mean small churches I mean huge edifices. You're never 50 yards from a church in the Old Town. Right in the centre is the Market Square, the largest in Europe and in the middle of this is the old cloth market.

The main square and cloth market...	...at night.
Gill and Ed on the square	The bustling cloth market
plenty of wares	lots to look at
Gill, Ed and Beccy take a stroll	The Basilica...
... dominates the North East Corner of the square	Inside the Basilica
	The town hall tower.
	The Opera House
	Statues of the 12 Apostles
Wawel (castle)	Inside the grounds of the Wawel
View to the Keep and Cathedral	Wawel Cathedral
Gill, Ed and Beccy inside the Keep's courtyard	Beccy and I in the courtyard

The Sombre History

On Sunday we arose late and found our way to the Bus station where we caught an hours Bus ride to Oświęcim, german name Auschwitz. There are three memorials and museums within 5 miles of Oświęcim located on the sites of Auschwitz I, II and III. It is the first camp, built on an old Polish Army base, which we visited. I can honestly say that the experience was hugely harrowing and emotive.
One enters the museum through the legendary "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate. The main exhibits are housed among the accomodation blocks. I found the most thought provoking is the vast display of ladies' hair which was found when the camp was liberated. The saddest of course the subterranean gas chamber.
I can't of course put words down which can emote how it makes one feel visiting this place. In my opinion you should go and see the horror which took place so it will never be forgotten.

The Wieliczka Salt Mine

So we headed out on Saturday to the Wieliczka Mines. A word of advice, take the normal bus or get a taxi as the bus from opposite Wawel is a rip off. The mines were a huge source of income for the area and are rich in rock salt, apparently due to a salty sea which used to cover the area and which deposited the salt outside a small town called Wieliczka.
The mines are by guided tour only but I have to say the crowds were well catered for. You start by plunging down a steep stairwell and the tour takes in some sights. The miners spent much of their days in the mine and to pass the time carved many different things out of the salt. The guide was adamant that all the carvings were made by miners and not professional artists, save for some of the newer ones.
The tour takes in the deepest and largest underground "chapel", (St. Kinga's) which is more like a cathedral really. Later on one is treated to a ghost story and a delight for the ears. As I always say pictures paint a thousand words.

The lift gear	Looking back up the stairwell
The statue of Copernicus	All the chambers are named and the excavation date displayed
One of the more ornate chapels
The salty embodiment of the legend of the formation of the mines	A tribute to the "burners"
King Kazimir	Looking down at the walkway
The most precarious of stairs	Beccy, Gill & Ed
The gnomes are a good luck charm for miners
St. Kinga's Chapel	Our Salty Lady (lit internally)
One of the many alcoves	Beccy with the Altar behind
Looking up into the salt crystal chandelier	The altar of St. Kinga
Gill and Ed in front of the Last Salty Supper	A local hero
Two traditional miners	One of the underground lakes.

So there we have it. 2.5 miles later we emerged using the 4 level lift: cozy!

Kazimierz and the Ghetto

So as I said we took a golf buggy ride through Kazimierz (the jewish district) which we were staying at the edge of. We took in a few sights but the sad thing is the population of jews is still vastly reduced and the synagogues once the grandest and fullest of artefacts were pillaged. As we crossed the river precariously in the middle of the road heading to see Oscar Schindler's factory on the outskirts of the Ghetto about whom Beccy quietly remarked "Well he wasn't the whitest of white was he!". Some fragments of the 3meter high wall to keep the jews in still remain. Rounding a corner we happened upon the main square where many of the jews were rounded up and just shot by the SS. Back across the river our magical mystery journey continued and we were invited to dismount the buggy to enter "The New Synagogue" so named not because it is post-war but because it is the place of worship for the less orthodox jews. Used by the Nazis as a stable would you believe it was certainly one of the most astounding sights of the area. Restored it seemed by money mainly from the USA.
The Ghetto and Kazimierz districts were much of the set for "Schindler's List" as it happens. As you drive around you get the feeling that there's a sort of lack of lustre. Also an unwillingness to let go of the scars of the past, certainly it seems the tourist industry is almost geared up to holocaust tourism, it was a bit odd. But at night the whole district comes alive with nightlife. We wended away some hours in those restuarants and bars, but I suppose that's a different story. I'll leave you with a brief photographic tour.

Schindler's infamous pan factory, later making munitions,	The Ghetto's wall, resembling tombstones,
Inside the New Synagogue...
... some ornate detail of the ceiling.

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please click here to download all my Kracow images!

A Quick Hello...

... from Kracow Airport. Killing some time on the Internet Kiosk and heading home. As such in due course expect plenty of pictures to appear but not today as I'm still in Poland. I've had a grand time as you shall hear shortly. Highlights include superb bars and clubs, salt mines, 10,293 churches, 1 golf buggy, 17 dumplings, 39cms, the holocaust, 4,829 vodkas and a happy reunion with a scarf.
I shall now bid you farewell as I have a plane to catch and we have 30zlotis to spend in 3 shops... I'll let you know what we get.