Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Cultural Curiosities: Jinxed Fish, Gelato on a Bun, Fun in Nazi Uniforms (?)

CULTURAL CURIOSITIES 

Jinxed Fish, Gelato on a Bun, Twisted Nazi Uniform Fun


Putting Their Best Face Forward

If you’re eating a whole baked fish in Poland, why shouldn’t you flip it over?  Because it’s a superstition that flipping over a fish in a plate will flip over the fisherman’s boat in the water. 

Alcohol is an Arabic name for an eye makeup known as kohl.  

Gelato with a haircut to match
In Palermo, Italy, gelato is served on a bun; it gets hot there and thus the perfect solution for catching every drop as it melts.  

Very few people in Austria have seen the movie The Sound of Music.  Its English music has too many rhyming words that don’t translate well into their native language.  

Middle Eastern gas stations are mostly all full service.  There is no self service option.  Plus, there are no gas stations with credit card readers; cash only.  

In the town of Malanka in Ukraine, residents dress up as Nazis and create simulated wartime checkpoints to celebrate the end of World War II. 

Greenland, an autonomous country and the world’s largest island, is owned by the country of Denmark.

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Sunday, November 8, 2015

What are you doing Wednesday evening? How about wine, painting and cheese? Victorios Art Studio in Fort Lauderdale

Elsa Victorios has a delightful idea for your evening on Weds., Friday and Saturday.  Bring something to eat, something to drink and a smile.   Spend three hours learning how to put colors on a canvas.

Her art studio can become YOUR art studio for the evening.
Facebook
Find her on Facebook

Find her on Yelp



  • 934 N Victoria Park Rd
    Fort LauderdaleFL 33304
  •  (954) 764-6968


From her Facebook page









Click HERE

How do Roadlovers play? with a mobile phone, we reach out and learn what's behind a mural


Roadlovers are inquisitive.  We're curious.  We appreciate creativity. When we saw this billboard

appear on the side of a black wall (next to Fork and Balls restaurant) facing Fort Lauderdale's "best" street, we said, "Bravo for entertaining us."  So why not call the artist?

Shine your light
A short phone message or a text (look at the phone number... if it doesn't have 562, 563, 763, 762, 463 or 462, it's probably a mobile phone)...

Meet an artist for coffee
This is why a Roadlovers takes time to
(1) contact an artist
(2) say "THANK YOU FOR
MAKING ME SMILE"
and (3) buy a cup of coffee

This sign was found at Victorios Art Studio's FB page
There's probably some area of any workspace that can benefit from a small mural.  What does a mural do that a photograph can't match?  There's something in the "errors" of the artist's hand that make us appreciate the time taken to simulate reality.


Steve Voss (stevenv8119@yahoo.com) made us laugh.  We've invited him to speak to a local school and we hope his inventive spirit will infect students in West Hollywood Private School.   Thanks for making Las Olas a bit more interesting.
Go Here

Friday, November 6, 2015

It's coming together at last: Family style food, Alcohol, Deli, Downtown Fort Lauderdale, breakfast, lunch, and valet parking!

Need Pastrami?  Head for the Top Hat Deli in Downtown Fort Lauderdale

Got a pastrami or matzoh brie craving?  Hungry for an ambient inexpensive meal in downtown Fort Lauderdale minus the bare plastic chairs and serving ware? Until now, the downtown choice in this city was posh pricey or fast food style.
At last we've been heard!   Top Hat Deli, located in the new residential and Arts district along the Mockingbird Trail west of Federal and east of the Rail Road tracks now calls to us with it's cheery ambience, wine and beer list and...Jewish ethnic comfort food that includes healthy alternatives with good salads and quick service.
Be Nice Restaurants

Operated by the Be Nice group of restaurants, you can be assured the quality and service at Top Hat will be consistent.  Be Nice also operates more posh locales such as Coconuts, Foxy Brown and the GB Oyster Bar.  No trendy layouts, The restaurant has a back intimate section with high-back leather seating in a quiet zone for lunchtime meetings; the sunny open area of the restaurant, with glass garage doors facing west, is a  warm space for enjoying good sandwiches and excellent omelettes with friends. Cozy high-backed booths complete with WiFi.. The owner confesses to being a foodie.  "When I travel, I visit as many delis as I can." He's taken notes about what NOT to do.

Think about the typical Manhattan deli:
GONE
A typical New York Style sandwich
(which lacks veggies)

-- dark floors
-- noise all around
-- the travails of urban culture
-- guilt ridden sandwiches with pounds of meat and virtually no veggies

IN
-- healthy alternatives
-- fun Yiddish names we cherish (LOX! to make the LEO,  Lox Eggs and Onions)
-- AHHHH Rugelach!
-- Matzoh Brie
-- blintzes
-- pastrami

















The deli is at 415 NE 3rd Street, at the southern border of Fat Village (Florida Art and Technology) to the side of the Greyhound bus station.


Rugelach (/ˈruːɡələx/; Yiddish: רוגעלך‎), other spellings: rugelakh, rugulach, rugalach, ruggalach, rogelach (all plural), rugalah, rugulah, rugala (singular), is a Jewish pastry of Ashkenazic origin. Traditional rugelach are triangular cresents of dough baked crisp around a filling
Rugelach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia





Saturday, October 17, 2015

What do ROADLOVERS do with their photos after the trip is over? How about turning the photos into art?

What do you do with
souvenirs like this?
Roadlovers often take notes.... brochures....  store these souvenirs for a future "some day" when they'll look at the brochures and photos and journals again....  

What if those souvenirs could turn into something that we could look at daily?  What if we could create reminers of good times on the road?   Roadlovers could become creators of artwork....

Click here to learn about Boomers who play with travel photos....




Sunday, October 4, 2015

A Picture Tour of Mont-Saint Michel: Worth the Adventure, History, Cafes & Wandering

A Picture Tour of Mont Saint-Michel from History to Cafes You'll Never Forget It


The Spired Spector Rises to Your Left from Miles Away

Shuttle Bus View
Water surrounds Mont Saint-Michel like a glass platter, changing from misty slate to deep glassy blue; yet the medieval wedding cake spires forever loom like grey mirage. Even seasoned travelers feel the excitement as they catch a glimpse of Mont Saint-Michel.  The mirage became our GPS, a directional beacon a beyond the farms and rivers . This island fortress-abbey-village has successfully paired history and magnificent architecture with bright cafes and shoppes.  Museum-satiated tourists find places for contemplation and conversation filled with imaginings and "did you see"  experiences.
Its history dates from the 6th and 7th centuries eventually evolving from a stronghold of Gallo-Roman culture to a magnificent island abbey boasting towers, ramparts and arches rising from the stone until it now reminds many of the magic of Harry Potter...but far better.


Make sure you arrive right when the gates open. Visitors arrive in a steady line until the streets make passage difficult.









As you approach the entrance it's evident that the structure literally rises out of the stone.










We've crossed the bridge to the single entry point.





The entry gate tells volumes about the need for security in this isolated strategic place.


Merchants in the village surrounding the abbey make ready for the hoardes of visitors.  The village circles the abbey with shops, cafes and charming stone homes that were formerly where the workers needed to maintain life there lived.

Look around















Once inside this gigantic structure, vaulted ceilings and hidden corners carry eyes and imagination in all directions










An ancient ship model hangs from the rafters, reminding the monks to pray for sailors.







The structure rises from the stone




               
Few realize that early mathematicians knew this immense structure needed many underground crypts and chapels dug in order to support the increasing tremendous weight of additional structures added over time.

Not all is dark and overwhelming.  There are areas to stroll and enjoy the light.







Beautiful carved stone reliefs tell the stories of saints and heroes.



Huge gears and a complicated system to ring the heavy bells.  Imagine the magnificent sound hear from afar. 












One of the final rooms before exiting the abbey contains models of Saint-Michel as it progressed over time.  This early model shows that today's building has evolved to about four times it's original size.








Leaving the never-ending interiors for a stroll around the exterior areas continued the feeling of time travel with beautifully maintained stone pathways and dwellings..








This could be a set from Harry Potter or some other fantasy kingdom.
We expected the memorable history; however, the delightful shops and numerous cafes proved a relaxing surprise finale after some intense exploring.  Hurray!  Shopping, eye candy and wonderful French cuisine.






















La Vielle Auberge looked like a good place.  We loved the magnificent Salade Noicoise, Anchovie Maison, Moules Creme and plentiful wines, followed by Cafe Creme.  The hardy menu for three came to about 83 Euros.  No charge for the great atmosphere.





Omelette Renommee Mere Poulard is one of the most famous restaurants in the area.  It can take weeks to get a reservation.  Their famous omelettes go for as much as $50.00 and up. Unfortunately, we would have to plan better the next time in order to get in.








Not to be discouraged -- there are plenty of charming places to enjoy food and friends and shopping.



















Once surrounded by water during high tide, the changes of ocean and time finally filled the area around so that the abbey no longer was an island but rather a point on a sandbar.  A recently completed restoration taking years and countless tons of dredging has returned it to the striking vision on water it once was.  Here's a view of what would have been ocean before the dredging was completed.




Signs at the time we visited that explained the huge undertaking.


The restoration close to finish


The sand you see is again covered with oceanT






It's only about 2:00 pm and the streets are packed with streams of visitors.






Looking back as we say our goodbyes we can imagine the difficulty of reaching the abbey centuries ago before there was a bridged road bringing people across.







The End of a Wonderful Day