Wineries, Easter Break, Rugby and a New Diet

6.5.15
Kristen says...

Happiest of Easter/Passover to those who celebrate those holidays!

And warm greetings from Australia, where the days are getting shorter and the weather cooler, but so far not any less busy! :)

We have had a particularly large amount to do the past few weeks, what with weekend events, the Easter holiday, our HHE (STUFF!) being delivered, and of course, multiple trips to the chiropractor...le sigh.

So let's start with our winery trip a couple weekends ago...a friend of a friend is leaving soon, and so wanted to buy some wine to take home with her...and since I am a firm non-drinker, I became the much appreciated designated driver. :)

There are many wineries in the Canberra District, in large part due to the cool climate. We visited four, and Chris and our friends sampled (and purchased) a wide variety...

Chris contemplating a red

Most of the wineries use netting to try to keep the birds off the grapes before they are picked

Christmassy wine barrel art

Wine bottle art

A llama

It was a beautiful day and we had a really nice time!

 The following weekend we went out for breakfast across the street from an apple orchard--it's fall here, and we're enjoying being in the middle of the local apple season!

More netting!

Visiting the apple orchard was particularly good, since our chiropractor has put us on an inflammatory diet, which has outlawed: sugar, wheat, bread, potatoes, milk...basically everything I eat. On the approved list? Fruit, vegetables, beans, eggs, cheese (thankfully, or I'd have starved to death!), yogurt, and things I can't eat like nuts (allergies)...

So we've had fun experimenting with recipes this week. So far I've made flourless brownies (made from dates) and pudding (made from oats), as well as quiche and grilled cheese with a cauliflower crust/bread and a delicious veggie frittata...

So, clearly we're not starving...I do REALLY miss bread, though, and I'm not going to lie, we totally cheated on this diet on Easter Sunday when we went to the Pancake Parlor after attending the 6 am Sunrise Service...

Also on the schedule for Easter Sunday? A trip up Red Hill for an amazing view of the city:

Beautiful!!

What else did we do over the Easter weekend? Well, our stuff was delivered at the end of last week, so we have been spending a lot of our time unpacking and putting things away...I finished the library (much smaller than it was in Vlad, unfortunately) last night:

And we gave ourselves a reward for all our hard work by attending our second-ever rugby game!

And were met by singers!

Fun fact...there are two types of professional rugby in Australia, Union and League. The Raiders, the first team we watched, are rugby league, while the Brumbies (an Australian horse), the team we watched this weekend, are union.

They both play at the same stadium, but the style of play is quite different.

For one, the Brumbies got to do this:

 FUN!

A Knock On is like a Fumble in American football (called Gridiron here)

Go Brumbies!!

 Of course, a weekend in Australia isn't complete without a kangaroo sighting:

And that brings you back up to speed with what's going on here...

 It's good times!

 KF

Summer is (Almost) Over

8.9.14
Kristen says...

I can't decide how I feel about the fact that our final Vladivostok summer is (almost) over...

On one hand, I vastly prefer the weather in fall to the weather in summer...I dislike being too warm, and I love the crisp fall feeling you get when you pull on your jeans and a sweater for the first time...

However, I'm so going to miss all the hours of morning sun we enjoy in the summer, and I'm NOT ready to wear a coat or (especially) shoes!

One sign summer is (almost) over?

I went back to school (Year 2 of volunteer teaching has begun)!

It is a tradition in my family (and probably in yours, too, judging by facebook) to take a picture on the first day of school, so here's mine!

 My schedule this year is quite different than it was last year, which has taken some adjusting, but one thing hasn't changed: my terrible drawing skills! :)

One class is learning about Ancient Greece...I was trying to explain how the Ancient Greek civilization "came to an end" and for some reason decided to use the analogy of mice fighting over cheese...

Probably should have made Greece out of feta cheese rather than Swiss?? :)

 It doesn't quite feel like fall here yet (well, ok, it didn't before today's chilly rain), we have been having some BEAUTIFUL days:

We took advantage of the warmth this weekend to have a picnic lunch

Black bean burgers, chick pea and onion salad and lemonade, so summery!

and we took a trip downtown where we saw two of the many different types of ships that visit the Vladivostok port:

The tall ship Nadezhda on the left and a visiting cruise ship on the right

We also took a ride in the oldest, sketchiest bus in the world on the way home, which was something of an adventure :) Ah, the memories we will take with us when we go!!

So, whether I like it or not, our final Vladivostok summer is (almost) over, but we are enjoying the last days as much as possible!!

Winter is coming my friends, winter is coming. :)

KF

When Did April End?! April and Early May Happenings.

10.5.14
Kristen says...

And then it was May! Crazy how time flies! :)

We have been very busy the past few weeks, doing this and that...

For example:

A couple of weeks ago, Lawrence "Trooper" Johnson, a Paralympic wheelchair basketball champion visited Vladivostok and held a training camp for local players. At the end of the week they had a public scrimmage between all the players. I'm not much of a basketball fan, but I really enjoyed watching them play!

Chris also showed off his basketball...skills :)

We've also had pretty decent weather recently (at least, better than 10° and snowing!) paired with two long weekends, so we have gotten out into the city a bit more.

On our way to the basketball game we stopped by this famous Vladivostok statue, the hitchhiking sailor. This isn't as odd of a thing as you might imagine, as hitchhiking is quite popular here.

 After the basketball game we checked out one of Vlad's newest restuarants, an official Paulaner brewery with chef and brewer imported from Germany. Needless to say, the food is good, the beer (according to Chris) is great, and the pretzels are AMAZING!

 This weekend is Victory Day in Russia, so after work on Thursday we went to Syndicate, a 1930s America-themed steakhouse that most of us really love. We were surprised to be treated to Victory Day concert, which was very nice!

Today the weather is AMAZING, so Chris and I had a nice BBQ and Chris even got out the Birdee Golf set and practiced his short game!

Awesome! Yay spring! :)

 KF

April Showers and other Stuff

21.4.14
Kristen says...

Happy Easter!

Have I mentioned yet that the weather here is weird? (Oh maybe once or twice...)

Last night (this morning?) I woke up to the sound of torrential rain. This morning it was foggy and dreary. And now, at 5 pm, the sun is shining so brightly through our windows that I'm squinting writing this...crazy!

So we're settling in nicely to the new house...Pip is particularly enjoying deciding where his favorite places are. So far the clear winners are the backyard, the window ledge overlooking the bay,

and for some reason, the corner landing on the stairs...





What a silly dog! :)

So far we have had two (somewhat chilly) barbeques. Chris is definitely getting the hang of this Russian charcoal grilling:

We have also picked up a habit we seemingly left behind in Honduras...we have started practicing yoga again! The Indian Consulate offered free classes a few weeks ago and we decided, why not, it's free yoga. This time around we're practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and boy is it kicking our butts! :) Oh well, we're burning off all the calories from the BBQs! :)

I also had the pleasure of presenting to a group of local college students a few weeks ago. They asked me to talk about American culture...I decided to narrow that amazingly broad topic down to US cuisine, and had a fun time presenting (and introducing examples of) the topic.  Amazingly few Russians took me up on my offer of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! :)

Other than that...it hasn't been terribly exciting for us. Mostly we're just settling in and going about our lives as usual. The weird weather has been overall very nice (50s to 60s most days) and we've been able to get out and wander the city a bit more without getting frostbite.

 We even saw some (very crazy) people swimming in the bay the evening we took these pictures!

KF