Food in Madrid

Living in London, I rarely eat seafood anymore as it tends to be quite expensive and not very good, but being half Italian I am constantly craving all the seafood in the world, especially if it's cooked in a Mediterranian style. Well Madrid fulfilled all those cravings!

1€ tapas at the mercado de san Miguel

           
Eating out in Madrid is really really cheap. Ok not as cheap as Hong Kong's $13 congee or noodles, but for Western Europe, it's cheap, especially in comparison to Italy who is essentially Spain's long lost brother. In many of the cafes/restaurants they had lunch deals for 10€ which included an appetizer, main course, dessert and a drink. The food wasn't that great in these places and tended to be quite basic (salads, paella, soup for appetizers. Chicken escalopes, fried fish or steaks for mains and then flan, ice cream or store bought mousses for dessert), but it was still a good meal, and a very good price.

At one of these restaurants.

Things to do in Kazan, Russia

Having a month in a city really does give you time to fully explore it and see everything you can. Here is a list of my favourite things to do in Kazan, if you ever get a chance to visit!

The Soviet Lifestyle Museum (Музей Социалистического Быта) 

A museum like no other. This is going to make me seem very bad, but the truth is, this was the only museum I went to see in Kazan. Yes, terrible of me. It's just the beach always seemed like a better idea... and I wanted to get a tan!

This charming little museum is the only one of it's kind in Russia. It is a fun and very interactive little museum where you can try clothes, hats and even toys from the Soviet Era. This little museum is absolutely cluttered with artifacts and it was very interesting to see mother's reminisce on the past and explain to their children about the era they grew up in. 

The owner/curator of the museum was a very nice guy, who seemed very passionate about his job and came around to show us how some of the toys were played. Truly a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it! It even has a very nice selection of authentic and replica soviet items (badges, lighters etc.) which make for amazing gifts! I got a beautiful golden lighter with lenin on it. Russian student represent!

Day trip to свияжск (Sviyazhsk)

One beautiful Sunday we were taken on a trip to the beautiful, historical island of свияжск (Sviyazhsk), which is easily accessible from Kazan via a 2 hour boat ride or car ride, though the boat ride is a much more picturesque option. 

Sviyazhsk is full of history as it was the island which Ivan the Terrible's army used to conquer Kazan and the Tatars. Afterwards it became home to many churches, monastaries and cathedrals.

The institute we were studying at offered us this trip at a really good price. The leaflet as well as many websites online promised an island "stuck in the medieval ages", not to mention our teacher told us we could go horseriding and shoot guns, obviously us kids were shitting our pants! In addition we were told that there were no restaurants or food shops anywhere on this island so everyone bulked up on snacks and water.

Hello, my name is Norma and I'm addicted to ACCESSORIES.

So after so many Russia posts, here's a quick break for everyone! (There are many more Russia posts to come!)

First day back in Hong Kong, after my classic yum cha/dim sum therapy in my favourite part of Hong Kong - Mong Kok, I had no alternative but to dash to Argyle Centre, my favourite mall in Hong Kong and home to the cheapest and trendiest stuff any young girl would want!

I've been meaning to make a more detailed review of Argyle Centre, with maybe a few recommendations of the best shops, but I still have 6 weeks here so I will try and do it soon.

I had $100 in my pocket, so the equivalent of about 10€. I ended up leaving with $10.

My first stop had to be my favourite store - How much? conveniently situated on the bottom floor near the escalator. The beauty about this store is that everything costs $25! Yup! You read correctly! (Thats about 2.50€). Now to be honest, for the last 2 years, everything used to cost $20 only, but they increased the prices with inflation and whatnot, but I still always manage to snap up some amazing pieces which I always get compliments for, not to mention that I sometimes find stuff which is sold in this store being sold in other stores in the mall or in other malls for $60 or once I even found a ring being sold for $240! Insane!

$25

This necklace immediately caught my eye when I saw it in the shop. But at first it was in another colour, and I wanted something sharper. I knew I had to have it when I found this!

$25

Next I've been feeling the need  of a new bracelet. I often find myself buying mostly Earrings, rings and necklaces, mainly because I seldom find a bracelet that I like enough. Well this was a good day as I found this. I actually have a rather similar leaf necklace which I need to be careful not to wear this bracelet with to avoid looking like a character from the jungle book. 

(Left) Hamza Ring $20 (Right) USB ring $25

Last but not least that USB screamed my name and I grabbed it right in time. It is the cutest ring EVER. I love it and have been wearing it non stop for weeks!

Then while cruising around the mall I also came across this new store which I discovered back in April with really cheap accessories too. I was also going to get this really cute 3-fingered lobster ring as they had a $30 for 2 rings deal, and I really really wanted to get another ring as it's cheaper but it was cutting into my finger and I knew I wouldn't wear it if it hurt, so I ended up paying $20 for just one ring, as I think hamzas look cool and i've always wanted a hamza accessory of some sort.

How does it look?

xx Vagabond Girl

Bitten By An Emu In Kazan

             


While in Kazan we were all assigned Russian buddies/mentors to help us settle down. One of the mentors told my friend about this petting zoo on the top floor of a mall near the city center, so we decided to go check it out!

The zoopark is located in a mall on Peterburgskaya street/ulitsa, in the mall behind Kaltso!

The first thing we saw once we got there was an enclosure near the ticketing office where there were some birds and a squirrel. The poor squirrel looked kind of crazy as it ran back and forth in front of the glass pane.  (luckily when we checked on it on the way out it stopped doing that) We felt so bad that we almost didn't want to go in. The ticket cost 150 roubles, and I also paid 50 roubles for some carrots and lettuce to feed the animals

It is a relatively small, even family run petting zoo with pigs, chickens (and chicks), turkeys, peacocks goats, snakes, frogs, porcupines, turtles and of course emus!

                   

The cutest little white goat kept putting his hooves on the top of his enclosure to stick his head out to try and get the food (not gonna lie, I kept taunting it and putting the food just out of reach for him! I'm terrible!)

                  

The place was mainly for kids, but we're still kids! Just....very tall kids! The man who worked there also took out a hedgehog for us to play with and the snake.

The look of sheer terror on my face

Then I wanted a photo of me feeding the emu. The only problem was the emu would really quickly stick its head out grab the food and then recoil back into the enclosure, so it was a hard photo. I also didn't really trust it and found it really hard to just look at the camera without keeping my eye on the emu....

and then it bit me while grabbing the carrot stick out of my hands.

Also on a similar note, while roaming the main street of Kazan, Ulitsa Baumana, we saw a guy walking around with an owl and letting people take photos with it for free, so here is the intimate moment I shared with owl here.

me + owl = <3 forever

xx Vagabond Girl

Flying Hobo Style

I'm flying first class, up in the sky, popping champagne, living the li- wait what? The flight is completely full and if I even want to get on a flight back I have to camp out on a crew seat?

Staff travel has it's many advantages :

• Discounted tickets on the airline my mum works for, even in first class
• First class for me is about the same price as a full fare Economy class ticket
• Discounted Economy class tickets on most of the major airlines 

All of this until I am 24 (6 years left, thank god!)

But it also has it's disadvantages, like not being guaranteed a seat on the flight and having to stand-by at the airport until check-in closes. Flights to and from London are notorious for being always full. I was lucky enough to be released a jump seat, which is a seat the captain releases to passengers with staff tickets when there are no more seats available. 

For take-off and landing, I had to sit in the cockpit, which is something I've done quite a few times already (for fun and because of jump seat). It is pretty exciting, especially if you have a cool captain who lets you put on the headphones and talks to you, and it can be pretty dull if you're just left in the corner until you are told to leave. 

My beautiful seat... Oh so comfortable !

Afterwards  the captain could release a seat which is up in their rest area which can be reclined and has inflight entertainment (or is sometimes a business class seat). Otherwise, you would just have to sit on one of those fold-up crew seats next to the door near the galley (kitchen area thing), like I had to do. Obviously I was quite lucky to have my mum on the flight to look after me but it was painfully boring (12 hours with no inflight entertainment! I have never done that before), and I felt awkward to sleep there but was so tired I fell asleep a few times nonetheless. But i'm not complaining! When I was waiting to go into the cockpit before take off I was seriously hoping someone would miss the flight so I could take their seat... and they did! My mum was just about to give me that seat when the ground-staff told her that some staff travelers have waited in London for 2 days already, trying to get on a flight! And there are 5 flights a day! 

Guess the dim sum I had today made it all worthwhile! 

xx Vagabond Girl

A Month with Babushka

In Kazan we were all assigned host families to stay with for the month who would provide a place for us to stay as well as breakfast. Some people got families but most, including myself, got a Babushka (or a grandmother).

When we received a list with all our hosts on them, I knew I had a good one. Her name was Galina Marina, and me and my friends had already decided that she's probably magical. Anyone with a name like that would be! 

She spoke 0 English so it was all down to me to try and string together as much Russian as possible with the aid of a dictionary to communicate with her. The first day was a nightmare as I didn't know how to tell her I was full and she wouldn't stop giving me food. 

But when I found out how to "I'm full" in Russian, I realised that it was absolutely useless as she would just keep reassuring me that I was hungry. Every morning Babushka would make an absurd amount of food for me. (Which sometimes included dodgy looking fish... for breakfast!!!!)

All this food is for me. Only for me.

My first impression of Babushka was... crazy? The first day we met she just casually took her dress off in front of me while changing. OK... the next day she was topless and I just so happened to walk past her room.... OK... 2 days later... I open the front door and find her changing (again) but then 2 men walk out of her room. (They turned out to be her son and grand-son but my initial response was WTFBBQ of course) Then the 3 weeks after that she just chilled in a tshirt and underwear around the house. Oh and one day I came home to find her and her best friend just chilling in their underwear.

Did I mention that my babushka laughs at fat people? Yeah.... 

Babushka's living room/bed room. On the left you can see the gift I got her from Hong Kong 

NO!!! JUST NO!!!! Нет! Никогда!

I was really looking forward to taking a photo with her before I left as she was such an amazing host, but she freaked out and wouldn't let me as she is incredibly vain and very hung up over the fact that she is now old (therefore she doesn't let people take photos of her :/ )

We had a DMC one night. I was just asking her if she only had one son, and she merely replied saying "Yes. He doesn't love me." Talk about awkward. I just sipped my tea and looked down. But then I told her "At least you have a lot of friends" because Babushka is a crazy social butterfly. She has so many friends and her two phones never stop ringing (and she's never off the phone... unless she's out or she has friends from Nizhny Novgorod over) 

Babushka loved my clothes, and everyday she would make me parade around the house and twirl for her. (She frequently asked whether my mother made my clothes.... I don't know anyone who's mother makes their clothes for them.) Our relationship escalated, and before I knew it she would come and stroke my head and my back, when I fell asleep over the covers she'd come and put a blanket over me and when she left me notes she called me красавица (Beautiful girl). She became just like my grandmother and I became like her grand daughter.  

I'm going to miss her so much. She was so sweet, and I learnt so much Russian from staying from her. She told me I can go back to visit any time, so maybe one day I will.

xx Vagabond Girl

Привет из России!

I am currently in Kazan, in the Tartarstan Republic which a mere 12 hour overnight train journey away from Moscow in Kazan. Since I study Russian at University, we all got sent to Russia after our first year classes and exams to live with host families and attend even more classes during our summer break - for a month!

  
I only have a few days left now to take as many photos as I can and do as much as I can as well! So far I have spent most of my time on the beach on the bank of the Volga in attempts to get an amazing tan, but I have spent time doing other things as well!

So stay tuned for more to come!

xx Vagabond Girl

What to do in Paris on a Sunday

If you love shopping and ever decide go to Paris for a short while be sure to avoid being there on a Sunday as practically everything is closed! Yes! Even Lafayette, Colette, Chanel and any other big shops that you associate with Paris! (Except for the huge Louis Vuitton shop on the Champs Elysees) So what can you do? Having only one day with my mum in Paris, I was determined to find some fun activities for us to do - even if there was going to be no shopping involved!

So this is what we ended up doing ...

Have a nice long brunch 

We went to Angelina, which I talked about in my last post. Eat a few courses, slowly enjoying your warm beverage and all the pastries and other delicious things you can. Just take your time! (Look at all the food we had! Think about how long we took! Yup! Relax!)


Take a stroll in a park

I was really lucky to have been blessed with a few days of sun and warmth. (Literally the first time I'd seen the sun in over a month due to typical London weather and monsoon style rain in Hong Kong every day). I was so not used to being warm that I wore totally inappropriate winter clothing and ended up melting in my woollen dress. So we visited the Jardin de Tuileries as it was close by. It was full of tourists and Parisians wearing minimal clothing, sunbathing on the green chairs - just enjoying life! Another amazing park to visit is obviously the Jardin du Luxembourg.

Visit a museum

The Louvre is free on the first Sunday of every month. Obviously this means even longer lines. We decided not to go to the Louvre anyway for fear of queuing, even though it wasn't the first Sunday of the month (but it's the Louvre, what do you expect)

Instead we visited the Musee d'Orangerie with their massive Monet paintings and other wide range of impressionist paintings. It's small, and only has two floors (one of which is just occupied with 8 of those massive Monet paintings) so it's a refreshing little museum.

We also visited the Musee d'Orsay as there is a good deal if you buy tickets to the two museums, costing 16€. Like most museums in Paris, it is free for EU residents aged 18-24, just show your passport/ID.The Musee d'Orsay is absolutely huge and has billions of rooms filled with paintings (it has the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in the whole world), sculptures, photography and even antique furniture from all over the world.  It has many floors and I personally thought it was a too big (after one art museum, then the next), we spent a good 4-5 hours walking around museums that day, and I was hot and uncomfortable and tired. So wear comfy shoes and check the weather forecast (and BELIEVE it!) 

Mum has had enough of all the Art and has chained herself to this weird sofa thing...

After getting kicked out of the museum as it closed at 6:30, I decided that it was time for mussels, even though I was still so full from my brunch.

Have Mussels at Leon de Bruxelles

The iconic mussel place that I always go to in France. It might be a chain, and it might be in London now too, but they just have the most delicious mussels and although the service is a bit shit most of the time, the food is just the best.
And what's even better? ALL YOU CAN EAT MUSSELS + FRIES EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT! (For only like 22€!)

Oh yes! Sadly I was a little too full from brunch to attempt that challenge.

Of course there is so much more you can do on a Sunday in Paris that I haven't included here, such as visiting a market in the morning, like the flea market or some food markets (which is something I wanted to do but didn't get around to doing it the end!) or just the standard, tourist style sightseeing (Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur etc.)

Paris : Brunch at Angelina's

Angelina is a beautiful cafe/restaurant  on Rue de Rrivoli right opposite the Jardin de Tuleries, often featured on TV and magazines with a shop selling tea time goods and a patisserie filled with with goodies.

We decided to go for the brunch set which consisted of :

Tea, coffee or their renowned hot chocolate.

I highly recommend the hot chocolate as it is what Angelina is famous. It is like no other hot chocolate I've ever drunken. It's dense, creamy and oh so chocolatey without being so sweet it gives you diabetes.

Orange, grapefruit or lemon juice. 

My mum decided to be gutsy and go for the lemon juice, and lemme tell you this, its definitely not for the faint hearted. It is literally just a squeezed lemon....

Bread and jam/honey

A selection of pastries : raisin pastry, pain au chocolat and a croissant.

Eggs, and you could choose between scrambled, boiled, fried or omelette. I got the omelette. For 3€ extra you can add ham and cheese and that's what I did (but only cheese since I don't eat meat).

An entree : Foie gras pâté with toast and fig chutney or Norwegian smoked salmon with creme fraiche and blinis (which is what I got)

Fruit salad  (which I forgot to take a picture of...but it is just some chopped fruits in a bowl....instead...here is a photo of me and my mum.)

2 macarons (which are rather mediocre as they didn't melt in your mouth Pierre Herme style...)

All for 39€! Definitely cheaper than individually ordering different things (just the hot chocolate is 7.50€, or the omelette is usually like 15€!)

We also got tried the truffle ravioli (24€) as it sounded so tempting and good but I was a little disappointed as the fillings of the ravioli were very cheesy but not very truffley :(

Overall it was a lovely Sunday brunch experience, and I think that the brunch set is really worth it as me and my mum actually shared it (as well as the ravioli) and by the end we were absolutely stuffed! There is also a very lovely ambiance and decor (so very French!) but it tends to be rather touristy (but if you're a tourist too, why the hell not!)

xx Vagabond Girl