Broccoli, Carrot & Celery Soup

Originating 2000+ years ago from the Northern Mediterranean, the broccoli is an Italian vegetable that was highly regarded by the Romans.  It spread into France in the 16th century, followed by England in the 18th century, then the US in the 19th to early 20th century.

Broccoli's health benefits abound which makes this very light and soothing soup a desirable recipe in a cook's collection.  Packed with vitamins, the good ole broccoli just like the yummy cauliflower is full of antioxidants. 

According to Healing Foods for Special Diets antioxidants neutralise free radical chemicals which are released in your body when "...oxygen is processed through the bloodstream and into the tissues".  Whilst the free radicals are in your body for only a couple of seconds it seems to be sufficient time for them to "...cause all kinds of damage in the body including taking hydrogen electrons from molecules in body tissues and damaging the tissues in the process". Top up with plenty of antioxidant inclined foods such as broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage and you can keep those free radicals on holidays. 

More reasons to indulge in broccoli are: aids with detoxing, energy and strength boosting, protects the health of the heart, skin, nerves & muscle tissue, and has anti-cancer and anti-stress qualities.

Broccoli, Carrot & Celery Soup

1 broccoli (about 400g)
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
3 sticks celery, chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1.2L water or stock

Method

In a saucepan, saute the carrot, onion, celery, garlic & ginger with about a cup of water for 10 minutes on low.  Add the broccoli and saute a further 5 minutes (add a bit more water if the previous has evaporated).

Sauteing carrot, celery, onion, garlic and ginger.

Adding the broccoli and sauteing a further five minutes.

Add the water/stock and salt, then bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer on low for approximately 20 minutes or until the vegies are cooked.  Blend till smooth and serve.  Add a dollop of live yoghurt, if desirable.

Finished soup before blending.

Served with cracked pepper.

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

I found this soup recipe on the New York Times website and it looked more interesting than my more basic recipe. 

Just like cabbages, the cauliflower along with the broccoli are rich in antioxidants and apparently believed to reduce the risk of certain cancers, ie lung and colon cancer.

Here is what the book, The Complete Guide to Nutritional Health, says: "encourages antibody and haemoglobin production and protects against allergy, asthma, migraine and depression.  It improves the health of the skin and mucous membranes, helps maintain energy levels and regulate blood-fat concentration".

Off course once you cook the raw vegetable much of these benefits are either reduced or lost.  The soup below, I have reduced the recommended cooking time to 15 minutes, simply because I found that the cauliflower was sufficiently cooked for me to blend and still maintain some of the nutrients as opposed to cooking them into oblivion.

Spicy Cauliflower Soup (Serves 4)

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1tsp finely chopped ginger
1tsp curry powder
1tsp ground cumin
500g cauliflower, chopped
600ml water or vegie stock
Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

In a saucepan add the onion and a bit of water and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.  Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin and regularly stir for a further minute.

Add the cauliflower, water or stock, and salt to taste and bring to boil.  Cover the saucepan and simmer on low for 15 minutes. 

You can serve as is or blend the soup, grind some fresh pepper and serve.  Add a tablespoon of live yoghurt (optional).

Mummy's little helper.

Cabbage, Carrot & Apple Soup

If you have been following my blog recently than you may be aware that I have started a detox diet using fruit juice in the morning and veggie juice for dinner.  For lunch I make soups and slightly alter them to remove oil and commercial stock from the recipes.

I have a terrific book called the Detox Diet Cookbook by Nicola Graimes which I have been using for about nine years because it has some beautiful soup recipes in them.  The cabbage soup is one them.  Given the wonderful health benefits derived from cabbage it was an ideal veggie to include in my current diet.

Nicola describes the health benefits as: "an excellent detoxifier and its reputed to aid digestion, detoxify the stomach and upper bowels and cleanse the liver and reduce the risk of certain cancers.  It is rich in folate, vitamins C and E, potassium, iron, betacarotene and thiamin, and is well known for its potent antiviral and antibacterial qualities."

Cabbage, Carrot & Apple Soup

1 small white cabbage shredded
2 carrots, peeled, cut lengthways and then sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 celery sticks, sliced
1 apple, cored, peeled and chopped
1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
1.2L water (I would normally use commercial vegie stock if I was not detoxing)
Half a lemon

Method

In a saucepan add carrots, onion, celery and enough water to saute the vegies for about 10 minutes.

Then add the cabbage, carrot, parsley and water (or stock).  Bring to boil and then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

At this point you can either serve as is or blend it.  Grind fresh sea salt and pepper and squeeze lemon juice to suit your tastebuds.  Usually I wouldn't blend this soup but I made it easier for my daughter since even when the cabbage is shredded, it is still a bit too bulky for my little girl.  I also dropped a tablespoon of live yoghurt in her bowl.

Wellbeing & Weight Loss Journey - End of Week 1

Day 1

Started the day, which was at noon for me (recovering from jet lag), with a pineapple and apple juice.  A surprisingly delightful combination of flavours.  Abhorring food wastage, half hour later we finished off the bacon, eggs and hash browns. 

After some research for shopping items, we visited the local health food store and supermarket.  Between the two we added more vegies and fruits to our basket, along with:

• psyllium husk and LSA mix (linseed, sunflowers and almond meal) both a source of dietary fibre;
• quinoa (alternative to rice or cous cous) for its protein, digestibility and gluten-free characteristics;
• nuts and seeds for their protein, vitamins B & E, calcium, iron, essential fatty-acids;
• dried beans and chickpeas for low-fat protein, vitamins and minerals;
• dried prunes to protect against osteoporosis, has vitamins A & K, it's a carbohydrate and antioxidant and has a low glycemic index (GI) rating;
• ciabatta stick for John and Trini to finish off the ham and cheese.

Whilst at the mall we had a coffee each to stave off the headaches.

We all indulged in a vegie juice made up of cucumber, carrot, celery & psyllium husk (for the adults).  John and Trini also had their ciabatta with tomato, ham and cheese.

We've had 6 glasses of water, a mix of distilled and Perrier with lime.  Not quite the minimum requirement of 8 glasses per day but we are working our way towards it.

It is midnight and I am feeling peckish but it is to be expected as I am taking in less than my stomach size.  Ideally the intake will cover various aspects of protein, fibre, iron, calcium, sodium, carbs and natural sugar for my sweet tooth.

Finishing the night off with a cup of Rooibos Tea.  A South African herbal, it acts as an antioxidant, lowers blood pressure, cardiovascular protection, inhibits brain aging, prevents DNA damage to name a few.  Thanks Marc & Lindz for introducing us to it.

Day 2

The day started with a tall glass of distilled water each and lime slices.  Apparently this kickstarts the liver.  Fifteen minutes later we indulged in a watermelon, nashi pear & kiwis juice with 1 tsp of psyllium husk for fiber stirred in.

During the day we drank both distilled and carbonated water and had a cup of coffee to ward off headaches. 

Late afternoon John made a delicious mix of 2 beetroots, 2 celery, half a fresh ginger, 2 carrots, 1 orange and 1 apple juice.  It made a large jug with me having 700ml and John about 150ml.  I added 1tsp of LSA for protein.  The juice was my main meal, whereas John had his ciabatta roll with cheese, ham, hommus, tomato and pickles (he was good enough to move away from me so I don't drool).

Early evening snack we served ourselves a handful of mixed nuts and seeds.

Continued with the water intake which totalled about 1.5L each (helps starting with the big glass we have as it takes 700ml) and we are finishing off with a cup of Rooibos tea.

The shock to my system is when I prepare a sandwich for Trini and I automatically wanted to have a piece of cheese, slice of ham.  My fingers were itching but thankfully I abstained.  I also had Trini later shove a creamy Cornetto ice cream in my face telling me to try.  Managed to abstain again.

Physical symptoms are light headedness and just the desire to relax but that is also the remnants of my jetlag.

Day 3

As a way of using up leftover stuff we made a mix of tidbits of whatever was left in the fridge for brekky.

Whilst I am nearly over the jetlag, today's greater challenge was surviving a BBQ.  Imagine the smell of sausages, burgers and skewers tantalising our nostrils and tastebuds.  Thankfully we were saved by the delicious Quinoa salad with raisins, parsley, pinenuts and lemon juice for dressing.  We abstained from alcohol and drowned ourselves in mineral water.

The pretty pink chocolate birthday cake was very enticing so we let Trini indulge but managed to abstain yet again.  Phew.

By the time we got home, I was hanging out for food and so we cleaned up the veggie crisper some more followed by a handful of nuts and seeds.

Had one cup of coffee and tomorrow I will go for no coffee.  We are settling in for the evening with lime mineral water and will finish up with a Rooibos tea.

All in all, I was very impressed with our will to stick to our diet and not give into temptation.

Day 4

I was intending to do a mono diet today, which is basically 1-1.5kg of one type of fruit for the whole day.  Papaya being a little more substantial than some of the other suggestions was my fruit of choice.  I prepared it for 4 meals, interspersed with water.

Three out of four serves were eaten but when John made another awesome beetroot juice (see Day 2), I couldn't resist it and had to have it.  We mixed 1 tablespoon of LSA into the juice instead of 1 teaspoon.  Somewhere in the afternoon I also ingested 5 dried prunes and had no coffee (no headaches either so the approach worked very well for me - along with lots of water to keep flushing the body).

An evening walk down the pier just beckoned, so we took this opportunity to put Trini in her new rollerblades and get her outside with them.

We finished the evening with another handful of nuts and seeds.

The only difficulty I had today was the lack of energy.  Each time I lifted something a little heavier my heart would start racing as my body was working harder.  Tried to go to sleep earlier and then John recommended a new book for me for me to read in bed and well the hours just slipped away.

Day 5

Juice today was watermelon, kiwis and grapes.  An unusual combination but we still enjoyed it.

Lunch was my leftover serve of papaya fruit and afternoon snack was a sliced banana, sprinkled with LSA and small drizzle of honey (so yummy my daughter devoured her serve).

Dinner was a tomatoes, celery and carrot juice.  Found that the carrots overrode the tomato flavour but then unless the tomato is straight out of the garden you don't get much flavour in them anyway.

Finished off with a half hour rollerblade as a way to ease myself into it, followed by mixed nuts.

Let's just say my glutes worked more than they have in way too many years.

In overall it was a smooth day.  Dealt with hunger pangs but just poured more water into me (I can only begin to imagine what the food and water deprived people on our planet must go through everyday).  It's amazing how those hunger pangs pass.  Probably the unexpected came at midnight when I went to bed and I got one of those headaches across the crown of my head where I thought it would split in two.  After contending with it for an hour, I relieved the pain with Panadol.  Slept like a baby afterwards.

Day 6

Morning began with pineapple, carrots, celery and apple juice.  Not wanting a juice for lunch, I made a pumpkin and cumin soup.  An old recipe that I have used many times over the years (extracted from a detox diet cookbook), I altered slightly in order to keep it as natural as possible, meaning no oil or commercial stock.  The natural flavour of the pumpkin permeated into the water which was further enhanced with ground cumin, coriander, garlic and ginger.  Blend and serve (added a dollop of yoghurt for Trini since she is not detoxing).

Snacked on another banana, LSA & honey mix as yesterday in the afternoon and mixed nuts and seeds at night.

Finishing off with a Rooibos tea but I can feel the same headache coming on.

Whilst video chatting with my sister in Oz, she complimented me on my improved facial complexion.  I have noticed it as well in the last couple of days so it was good to have it verified by someone who didn't know till now that I was detoxing.

Day 7

Breakfast - 5 oranges, 1 lemon, 3 carrots and ginger
Lunch - White cabbage, carrots and apple soup (altered to remove commercial stock and oil from recipe)
Dinner - 2 nashi pears, 3 sticks of celery, 1 carrot, 0.5 ginger, stalks of parsley juiced.
Snack - mixed nuts
Water - averaging 2-2.5L per day
Exercise - rollerblading 90 minutes

First week is complete.  It went faster than anticipated and have had some pleasant results so far.  Largest feat was surviving the BBQ without breaking our resolve.  No alcohol, no burgers, no sausages, no pasta salads, no cake.

John has lost half a kilo but we figured that it is too hard to have weight loss for me and weight gain for him as concurrent objectives.  For now he keeps me company in my morning and dinner juices and he has a solid meal at lunchtimes.

When this detox is complete we will concentrate on John's desire to gain weight and undertake the relevant research in relation to this exercise.

Without further ado, here are my stats at the end of the first week:

Age - 42
Height - 170cm (5"7')
Weight - 69.3kg (lost 1.9kg)
Natural Waist - 76cm (lost 5cm)
Waist around navel - 84 (lost 2cm)
Hips - 107cm (lost 3cm)
Thighs - 62cm (lost 1cm)
Breast - 95cm (lost 1cm)
Calf Muscle - 39cm (lost 1cm)

I am enjoying the process simply because I find it fascinating how the body knows where to extract the stored fats and burn it.  I feel as if I am melting throughout the night and as I wake up in the morning I find another 300-500gms gone.

This detox is certainly not for the faint hearted.  Up until now, I never had the will to engage in a weight loss program.  Now I just do it because it needs to be done.  It is made easier knowing each day is planned and when meal time arrives we just juice the daylights out of the fruit/vegies.  We have enough recipe books to help us out with ideas and the trial and error makes it fun as to what is nice and what is just okay.  Kind of like experimenting with cooking.

Stay tuned for next week's post and see how we go over the next seven days.

Carrot, celery, nashi pears & parsley.

LSA mix is visible at the bottom of the glass.

A physical wellbeing journey

Inspired by our Aussie kickboxing and karate instructor, Bernard Schokman, my hubby and I started a journey towards body detoxification, cleansiness, weight loss/gain and overall improved physical being. 

Not quite sure how, but the will to discover as we go is good enough for us.  We have a basic idea about food and through ongoing research we will add to the knowledge bank.  We also purchased inline skates to use as a family way to exercise whilst having fun (it's been about 5 years since I've been on them).  Trini will have the option to join us either on her own skates, scooter or bike.  We have a gym and 50m lap pool as part of our condos facilities for further resistance and cardio training.

Target length of this journey is 33 days simply because I have to travel to Australia in June.  It seems long enough to break some bad habits and acquire some good ones.

Here are our stats as at 28 April 2012:

Silvia

Basic Stats

Age - 42
Height - 170cm (5"7')
Weight - 71.2kgs
Waist - 81cm
Hips - 110cm
Thighs - 63cm
Breast - 95cm
Calf Muscle - 40cm

John

Basic Stats

Age - 40
Height - 185cm (6"1')
Weight - 68.8kgs
Waist - 75cm
Thighs - 53cm
Chest - 88cm
Biceps - 27.5
Calf Muscle - 35cm

Typical daily food/beverage intake

Breakfast - coffee (sometimes 2) and cereal with flavoured yoghurt and milk (sometimes only coffee) or bacon, fried eggs & hash browns on weekends.

Lunch - toast x 2 with margarine or 2 minute noodles (sometimes nothing at all).

Dinner - wokked Asian out at Hawker's market or Indian take-away or pizza (3 slices each) and occasional hot chips.

Good snacks - mixed nuts or apple or banana.

Bad snacks - ice cream every 2nd day, sporadic Ferrero Rocher chocolate intake (the box lasts a while), occasionally plain biscuits with coffee.  No cakes, it just doesn't work with Singapore's heat and humidity.

Non-alcoholic beverages - standard glass of water x 4approx, 1 glass of carton juice on weekend with brekky.  No fizzy drinks (never really took to them) other than the occasional Perrier lime mineral water.

Alcoholic beverages - alternating daily between 1 beer or 1 breezer (2 of either if we are socialising with neighbours) or sharing a bottle of wine with John.  3-4 times a week a straight scotch usually late at night.  We never drank so much till we moved to Singapore and found ourselves in a resort style lifestyle which just begged for too much overindulgence whilst socialising.

We don't have a short term target since we just want to figure it out, break some habits and see how well we manage it since we have never done this before.  Over the longer term though I want to lose approximately 10kg and John wants to gain 5kg.

What we'd probably like to accomplish initially is to wean off coffee (I get horrendous headaches if I go cold turkey) which should take less than a week.  First step is to go from three cups to one.

In terms of alcoholic beverages, it is simply cold turkey. 

John bought a juice extractor and made a terrific Balinese Lola juice which is a combo of 3 carrots, 2 apples, 2 oranges, 1 lemon, half ginger. 

As of Monday, I start a juice fast (combo of fruits and vegies) with psyllium husk, LSA (linseed, sunflower and almonds mix) and sea salt additives.  You may wonder why?  According to good ole Wiki, the salt aids with keeping headaches, irritations and nausea at bay, LSA provides the protein and the psyllium husk is used to aid with colon cleansing and are a source of soluble dietary fiber. 

For John the cleansing would be beneficial however the diet will need to be supplemented with protein and other intake that aids with weight gain rather than weight loss.  This one will be a bit trickier.

What we need to be aware of is any side effects as a result of detoxing such as tiredness, irritability, bad breath, constipation, dizziness and headaches.

My next post will be at the end of day 7 to share what has transpired.

My Brother's Venetian Experience or Not

A humorous account of a day in Venice by my brother, Alex. Actually I wonder if it was more about him wrapping his head around what his 3 years old niece is all about. No matter, let him peel back his eyelids and away with his story.

I peeled back the eyelids this morning to the insufferable sound of an engine that was not going to start and realised that darkness was still about. I lustily sucked in a big breath of Venetian air as I looked out the incomprehensibly askew window of our not so exotic hotel room at that contraption that was making all that noise and at its sight I relented to the idea that not all was going to go according to plan today. The rain was the first sign.

To add to that, I briefly caught a glimpse of myself in a well-positioned mirror and I can’t say that I liked what I saw. I stepped back a little to ascertain the fault and after 10 minutes of careful study, I found it. A pimple was forming within the follicles of the left eyebrow ruining the perfect picture. To this you might say, that vanity in all its diabolical splendour has taken a hold.

No matter, fast forward the morning through a shower that wasn’t to my liking due to the less than average state of the bathroom, further fast forward through a breakfast during which I should have left the cheese at the buffet table and there I was listening intently to a group of Americans giving a discourse on all things Venice, with the enthusiasm of a child who has taken its first step. All smiles, laughter, happiness and achievement. The problem was, and I now realise, that Yanks tie their words together in a most non-English of ways and I did not understand a thing. It was a terrible start to the day. Even the double espresso, Italian style, did not seem to be able to kick-start the cerebellum.

I concluded that not all was good in the world and I was struggling to bring myself up to speed with all that needed to be done that day.

The second double espresso jolted the heart and the inevitable surge rushed to the grey matter kicking it into action. It did the trick. The words flowed poetically towards my sister. The plan was being perfected. All of Venice was mapped out and vocalised and only when she pulled me up on it did I stop for a well deserved breath. I was away: do a tour, that is... an all day walking tour of Venice.

To those in the know, the two of us have left many a footprint on the streets of Rome and Singapore. So in my most able mind an all dayer on the streets of Venice at a most reasonable 20 degrees was a no brainer. Easy. Considering that we did Rome and Singapore at 35 degrees heat and 80% humidity. The stats are important at this juncture as we had a 2.5 years old rug rat in tow. Trinity put up a brave fight in the relentless sun of Rome on our lazy 9 hours amble and I now realise that Trinity’s lack of expression was largely due to limited words in her dictionary. Looking back on it now, those calm sorry eyes that were telling me one thing were turbulently telling me something else.

The coffee kicked in, the sugar was flowing in the blood stream, my sister was ready and all the jovial mood and energy was all of a sudden sapped away as Trinity asked to go to Costa Del Sol (her place of residence). In my mind, with all the American influence around, a sentence formed in the nether regions directed at Trinity: “Not today sista” with all the Harlem attitude a female of that species could muster. Costa Del Sol is in Singapore, 12,000 kms away and today we are doing Venice.

We hit the asphalt and in view of the fact that I was told to make this piece of writing short, here is a summary that brought us to the moment that Trinity pulled us up and made a stand for all the humanity that lay within her and most of all to what it cost my pocket.

Firstly, I wish I knew the person responsible for the street lay out of this most unworking of cities. I mean we got lost countless times and found ourselves in a loop that got us back to this most interesting of coffee shops and when we were finally ready for a well-earned rest we couldn’t find it. We must have gotten into a different loop. I asked a local for direction but his 3 days growth and the stained look on his face told me he was lost as well. As we left him to his own devices the hammer blow that I envisaged in the darkest alcoves of my mind when I sucked in that Venetian air this morning came thundering down. It was brutal, it was relentless, faultless, innocent and true all rolled into one. Trinity rolled this off the tongue – verbatim: “We have been here before and I can’t do this anymore.” The rug rat speaks. I stood there silently, losing weight.

This was around the corner from St Marco’s square. The place where coffee shop owners, believe that everywhere else in the world, dollar bills are cultivated, grow on trees and we mere mortals pick them at random and just come to Venice. Nevertheless, the order was placed and I had to find a place of rest and coffee.

I did what any man in my position would and found a reasonable coffee shop with a view in the square, as you would. So as the girls evaporated to the inevitable powder room check-up, I got to the bargaining table with this waiter that belonged in one of those spaghetti westerns that Clint Eastwood made famous. As the bad guy of course.

I told him I wanted a table close to the action and he replied with that tone of “anything you like” as long as you read the script (aka the menu) and agree to the fine print: 5.70 euro each for the musicians (I told him I had my own on my iPhone – to no avail), 8.50 euro each for coffee (1kg costs that much I said – he did not flinch), then I tried the next obvious thing, I tried to talk Trinity out of eating so we can save some of the hard earned currency but to no avail again. So there went 12 euros for a sandwich that had no substance and I firmly believe it shrank on the way from the kitchen to our table to the size of a 50 cent coin. Needless to say the mineral water weighed in at 5.50 euros. So if you ask about the experience, well it is quite simple. In Rome where Trinity was silent all was well in the world as far as I was concerned. Now that her voice box and all the rest of those tiny little muscles that make words fly out with reckless abandon, have come to party, I am resigned to postpone all future trips with the said female. As what is in it for me (1 – that is one – coffee) versus total cost for the experience (5.7 + 5.7 + 8.5 +8.5 + 12 + 5.5, you do the math) is financially not viable and fundamentally unsound.  (For those who don't want to do the math it was 46 euros, aka AUD$58, SGD$75)

It may not be her fault (but I am questioning it) for her exuberant and extravagant taste but I decided to nip that little rug rat in the bud, I mean – and this is the crux – where does she get off in chirping “we’ve been here before and I can’t do this anymore” precisely when you come across the best seat in the house, where all the action is and the price of one cup of average coffee leaves my pockets empty.

I knew it this morning. That one gulp of air had traces of arsenic through it and now at the end of the day I am forced to admit that I’ve been taken for a ride by an Italian waiter with his exorbitant prices and a 3 years old blondie. At least the waiter was a professional.

Vienna, Austria - Days 19-21

This is the final post for our Austrian holiday. 

We spent our 19th day journeying from Graz to Vienna by train again.  This time round we finally got a clue.  Prior to arriving at the station we searched for the right departure time that would get us on the RailJet train instead of the Inter-City.  Once we got to the station we bought first class tickets and checked exactly which end of the platform was going to be the first class carriage.  With ample time to spare we hopped on the train and thought we were doing real good till we found our seats and just couldn't figure why we would be seated separated (2 x 1 seating arrangement) as opposed to located at the four seater plus table.  Well we didn't think about it too much and just took the four seater.  An absolutely awesome ride ensued all the way into Vienna.

We shared this first class carriage with 3 other people
all the way to Vienna.  How cool is that?

Here we promptly returned to the Marriott Hotel.  Why go anywhere else when this was such good value for a 4 star hotel and the breakfast spread was yummo.  From here we also knew our way around and was easy access to the Belvedere Palace; the last major tourist site for us to visit.

Belvedere Palace

The Belvedere consists of two palaces, aptly named the Lower and Upper Belvedere.  Commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy the palaces were built early 18th century.  Built in Baroque style, the palaces are joined by Baroque park landscape, tiered fountains and numerous sculptures.

Lower Belvedere

Upper Belvedere

Today the Belvedere is an art museum housing arts such as Gustav Klimt's famous painting "The Kiss".  The three floors of art is neatly segregated into different styles.  Here you will find Romanticism, Medieval, Biedermeier, Historicism, Impressionism, Viennese Secession, Expressionism, Contemporary and Baroque Art.  Photography was not permitted inside.

A walk in the park even on a dreary winter's day is a must.  Whilst the water was turned off on the tiered fountains, you could just imagine how lovely it would look on a summer's day amongst the perfectly manicured gardens. 

Palace Sculptures

Fountain Sculptures
 

Garden Sculptures

Trini found playing hide and seek with her dad a blast and lots of running and hiding was taking place.  The cold wintry weather did not phase her.

Playing hide and seek and finding daddy.

Trini's version of hide and seek.

We returned to the hotel for that scrumptious steak with bernaise sauce we had earlier on in our trip.  We certainly weren't disappointed.

On our last day we had the foresight to enquire about taxis as I noticed a 12 euro surcharge for a cab to return from the airport.  The hotel offered their chauffeur driven car for a mere 5 euros more.  A uniform dressed driver assisted us into a brand spanking new Mercedes.  Now this form of travel I do like.  I am not much for budget, have never done backpacking but slot me into anything stylish and I will happily and gratefully lap it up.

Our return flight was uneventful.  What was eventful was the two weeks of jetlag I was dealing with.  Up at 3am, out like a light during the day.  It wasn't much fun but the holiday was immensely satisfying. 

Thank you to all who followed our journey through the blog.  Would love to hear your feedback either here or on Facebook if we are friends.  So long and see you on my next sojourn.

The Belvedere Cafe

Graz, Austria - Days 17-18

Graz lies 210km south of Vienna and it is the second largest Austrian city. Like Salzburg, the city is divided by the River Mur with the old town and its narrow cobblestone streets to the south and the new town to the north.

We obtained a guide to exploring the sights of Graz which was divided into three separate walks, being:

1. Through the old town
2. Through the old town, across the river and back
3. From the rooftops

These spectacular walks completed in 2 days are best illustrated through the lens as a photo-journal.

Walk 1 - Through the old town

Landhaus Courtyard 

An arcaded inner courtyard of Italian Renaissance, the Landhaus is currently used for state parliamentary meetings.

Herzoghof

Known as the "Painted House", the facade of this building was painted with frescoes in 1742 by Baroque artist Johann Mayer. The frescoes show the gods of Greco-Roman mythology.

Town Hall

Considered to be the heart of the city, the Town Hall with its dome, clock and corner towers has dominated Graz since the late 19th century.

Luegghaus

The Luegghaus is a striking building with an elaborate stucco facade. It is well complimented by its surrounding buildings and vibrant colours.

Double Spiral Staircase

This double spiral staircase built in 1499 is renown as a stone masonry masterpiece from the Gothic era.

Edegger-Tax Bakery

Crowned with a gilded double-headed eagle, this splendid wooden shop-facade is a bakery.  Confectionery from the Imperial era such as the Sissibuserl or Kaiserzwieback biscuits are a specialty and may be sampled.

Stiegenkirche

The oldest parish church, it is now known as a church for students which is evident in its simplicity and the modern paintings.

Cathedral

This enormous and imposing cathedral was commissioned by Emperor Frederick III and built as a court church over 26 years starting in 1438.

Mausoleum

The final resting place for Emperor Ferdinand II, who commissioned this tomb for himself and his family, is today considered highly important in terms of art history.

Walk 2 - Across the Mur and Back Again

Kunsthaus Graz

It is a fantastic and somewhat awkward modern building in the midst of historical and traditional structures. Along with the Clock Tower on the opposite side of the river, the Kunsthaus is Graz’s trademark. The building is used to house temporary and photographic exhibitions.

Mariahilfer Square

A square dominated by the Mariahilfer church, the monastery and the cultural centre of the Minorites. The church was built early 17th century and double towers were added in 1742.

Murinsel

The Murinsel takes the form of a floating shell linking the two sides of the river by footbridges. It houses a café and amphitheatre.

Schlossberg Square

The 13th century Reinerhof situated in Schlossberg square is the oldest documented building in Graz. The Schlossbergstiege stairs were carved into the cliff by prisoners of WWI. Originally there were 260 steps.

Walk 3 - From the Rooftops

Schlossberg stands at 473 m high and it is accessible by the abovementioned stairs, a funicular, a glass lift or a walk via Karmeliter Square.

A large Renaissance fortress stood on this mountain until Napoleon invaded Vienna in 1809 and under threat Graz surrendered itself. This impenetrable fortress, which is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the strongest fortification ever, was subsequently razed to the ground. All that remain are the bell tower and clock tower.

Funicular Railway

Built over 100 years ago the funicular ascends from the lower station at an incline of 61%.

Bell Tower

Graz’s famous bell the Liesl housed in the Bell Tower weighs nearly 5 tonnes. The special ringing mechanism that allows the bell to sound was constructed by two blacksmiths working at full tilt. It now rings 101 strokes daily at three separate times.

Casemate Stage

Casemates were sleeping quarters for prisoners. Today it is a stage used for operas and concerts.

Hackher Lion

Erected in honour of Major Franz von Hackher, who in 1809 together with a handful of soldiers withstood months of siege laid by the French.

Clock Tower

Striking the hour precisely since 1712, the Clock  Tower is Graz's landmark. The aerial view of the city and River Mur is breathtaking.

Rooftop views

Train journey, Salzburg to Graz - Day 16

If you have been following my trip then you will remember our stressful experience on catching a train from Vienna to Salzburg. Very swiftly we learned that for an extra 40 euros each, travelling in First Class would have alleviated all of our stress and we would have journeyed in style.

The train to Salzburg was via RailJet which is Austria's high-speed train. Where the route allows it, the train is capable of 230 km/h (143 mph). So there was no complaint with the train as it was brand new, travelled super-fast and regardless of what class you were in, the comfort was there. I just wish that we had caught the next one where boarding would have been relaxed and with plenty of time.

The very sleek and classy RailJet.

However, anyone would understand that the experience between First Class where you have space, generally your own cabin and are waited on is vastly different to Economy Class. With that in mind we obtain assistance from the hotel concierge to book our Salzburg to Graz train in First Class. Pleased with our cleverness we look forward to boarding the train and spending four hours admiring the scenery.

Again we arrived at the train station with ample time (with 2 suitcases, overhead luggage and a small child will do that to anyone), obtained our tickets and waited on the platform. Imagine our dismay though when the InterCity train arrived and all I could think of is "where is my RailJet?".

Yep, not too cool, neither was the interior.

But this disappointment was nothing to what was awaiting us on the train.  Again, incredibly clueless we had no idea where to get on for First Class so we found ourselves yet again, traipsing through the whole train because the First Class carriage was on the tail end of the train as opposed to the front like the RailJet train.  At this point I simply refused to move any further with all the luggage and child until I knew exactly where my seat was.  So John went searching and 10 minutes later he returned to inform me that we are actually in a six seater cabin. 

The train may not be modern but we have a cabin and space for our luggage.  As we enter the cabin we come across a 6'4" male who has taken one window seat and stretched himself and his luggage across to the other side of the window seat.  He promptly informs us that he is expecting four friends at the next station which caused my mathematical confusion.  Our seat numbers are reserved as opposed to taking whatever is available, although he tells me that there are no seat reservations - I'm confused but carry on.  It's a six seater cabin and there's four of us in there already but he's got four more friends to come.  I couldn't add it up but I live in the comfort that my seats are reserved because we intentionally purchased the tickets with a reservation and paid a reservation fee.  He and his friends will have to sort themselves out.

So I proceed to settle ourselves in and lifted Trini to put her on the spare window seat at which point this bloke tells me that the seat is reserved.  I said to him how is it possible for the seat to be reserved when he just told me that there are no reservations.  That means I can put Trini anywhere I like.  I got a little more feisty and promptly overruled him and dropped her on the spare window seat.  I sat down next to Trini fuming but thought we are going to be travelling together for 4 hours so perhaps we should at least aim for an amicable journey. 

I try to grab his attention whilst he was talking on the phone by touching his knee so that I could offer to move Trini when his friends boarded since I knew she would not be looking out the window.  He lost the plot at me.  "Don't touch me" and "You are so rude" and "You better move elsewhere" and "I will have you thrown off the train" are just some of the comments he was throwing our way.  Completely flabbergasted and unsure how to handle this, I started using my head and thought, first step just ensure that we are in the right cabin and discovered that the seat numbers were on the door and they were definitely reserved for us.  As a matter of fact he was sitting in one of our seats.  However, what to do, what to do....  I was raging inside and thought that I would burst a blood vessel but diplomacy is always my first step, avoiding confrontation with strangers was also a consideration.  I have a child in the cabin so can't get into an argument and the fact that he striked me as aggressive I was more concerned about our safety.

Well nothing like spending the next hour or so fuming and passing train stop after train stop and realising that these friends of his just aren't materialising.  Since it was a completely unacceptable way for me to journey, I went off looking for non-booked cabins that we could just move ourselves into.  I found a completely empty one, moved ourselves into it, pushed all our luggage in the way and made sure that no one else was going to try and accommodate themselves with us.

With this move, emotionally I settled down and we had a delightful journey all the way to Graz, with both Trini and I enjoying the window seats.  We had coffee and snacks delivered to us, an amazing scenery unfolded, did princess jigsaw puzzle bought in Salzburg with Trini and every so often found myself mentally replaying what transpired in the previous cabin.  We watched the bloke disembark in Graz with all his imaginary friends and I wonder what the hell just happened.  Was he that desperate to be on his own that rather than move himself with one small luggage he preferred to cross words with a family and create an unpleasant environment.  I have to pity this guy for his way of life.

What did I take away from this experience?  How I deal with a conflicting situation sets an example for my daughter and what I teach her, even if I was caught off-guard and actually didn't know how to handle it.  Blowing a gasket in public to push my own agenda was not going to resolve anything and could have created bigger problems.  That this world most certainly has a percentage of extremely unpleasant people and nothing I do or say will change that.  Thankfully, I rarely come across them.  Finally, it is my choice whether I let this event spoil it for me or find a way around it so the beauty of my trip remains intact.

At Salzburg train station.