Paella in Barcelona

Some amazingly delicious Paella we got on the first night in Barcelona.  It was the best Paella I have ever had.  The restaurant had a great outdoor eating area where we could hear the waves.  This meal with a few pitchers of sangria was a great way to start my vacation in Barcelona.

Bond, James Bond

With the release of the new movie a few days away in the Czech Republic and a few weeks away in America there is Bond excitement all around. The Bond marketing strategy is probably one of the most incredible forces in entertainment. In the past five or so years, they have managed to make Christmas into a week long Bond-fest with the "007 days of Christmas." Every time they come out with a new movie, the entire collection of bond movies is put into a new box set, and they sell! The temptation is overwhelming, even though I have every single bond film on DVD, a little part of me cant help but want the shiny, neat new box set that even includes the very last film to come out. Now with Blue-Ray becoming the next media standard, they have started releasing Blue-Ray volumes of three movies at slightly less than sixty dollars. But the marketing genius does not stop there, they have there product placements of high end luxury goods. In Paris, the Omega watch store has a huge banner of Daniel Craig behind the showcase. In Prague the Sony Ericsson store has the Quantum of Solace logo with a conversation quoted in Czech, but there is still the unmistakable, "Bond, James Bond." Brand consistency is a key, "Quantum of Solace" is one of the only movie posters that I have scene that is the same in every country, this is mostly due to the 007 that diagonally lines up in the movie poster. Swatch has recently teamed up with Bond for a brilliant series of Bond villain watches. There are twenty-two in total, one for each movie, and they hit the full range of Swatch watches, from the plastic, glow in the dark "Live and Let Die" shamen watch to the Folex, gold plated "Gold Finger" watch. One of my personal favorites is the "Thunderball" watch which was also one of my favorite Bond movies growing up. The Bond movies also have a unique tie into pop culture through their theme songs. They usually feature some of the most popular artists of the time, for example, Duran Duran in the eighties and for "The Quantum of Solace" Jack White and Alicia Keys perform the first Bond Duet. I'm only scratching the surface of the marketing behemoth that is Bond, but I bet the strategies will get more creative and more elaborate with each new movie that comes out.

OCD-ing Out My Suitcase

So in preparation to go to Barcelona for four days and then Paris for four days I have to pack my overnight bag. I was debating whether to do the flat pack or the roll method. As you can see I opted for the roll method, I figure it will just be easier to grab a pack of clothes and change. Just thought I would share the above picture to those who know me, I am just as surprised as you are that my bag is packed this neatly.

One of my Favorite Czech Dishes Yet

The picture above is a slight variation that I had in Olomouc made with gniocci. The original dish consists of potato dumplings, sour kraut and pieces of bacon. They put a generous amount of pepper on as well. Its a real hardy, very flavorful dish, it also goes great with a nice glass of pivo.

Super Cheap, Super Cool Decorating

I am completely inspired by Charlie Kratzer's work in the basement of his south Lexington home. He painted all of the walls a creme color and then used ten dollars worth of sharpies to create this incredible space. Here is a full view around the room. I love the imperfections and hand drawn look, no straight lines or realistic pictures. I am seriously considering something like this for my room when I get back. If I can get myself together to pull this off, its going to be a mix of the library look and the squares in between the two sections of library. Perhaps some other designs that I'll think up between now and then.

A Political Plea Cookout!

So heres a brief political break down of what is happening in Old Town Square in these pictures. The Czechs have a two step election system. The current party in power is a conservative, rightest party, who is throwing the party (haha). No one particularly likes them, and everyone thinks that there leader Mr. Klaus is a racist idiot. (He threatened the social democrats that he was going to show them a kristallnacht of their own and he used a famous hitler line against them, just to keep it straight he didn't say this about the jews, but still a bit scary) Anyhows, in the first wave of elections they were bombed, surprise! So in order to gain a few more votes before the second set of elections the conservative party decided to throw this crazy party in old town square, there was tons of bands and professional dancers and speeches from the candidates and the president himself. Normally I really wouldn't care about Czech politics, we have our own problems, buuuuuut I got an excellent free dinner out of it!

It was an all you could eat and drink extravaganza. Firstly lets deal with this picture above. They had an army of grill masters prepping the kielbasa troops. The kielbasa was amazing, it was slightly smoked, so it had a great garlicy, highly seasoned flavor, but it was still really juicy since it was not completely smoke cured. They were also cooked over charcoals so there was char blackened goodness all over them. Once I got my kielbasa, I moved on over to the condiment table. I decided on traditional eastern European preparation, I grabbed a big slice of a rye/sourdough mix spread on lots of white horseradish and mustard and then sandwiched the kielbasa in between, it was perfect. Now to get a drink. There were two carts of all you can drink Gambrinus. I felt bad for the poor girl who was pouring beer in the picture below, it looked like she had been pouring a constant stream of beer the whole night. Gambrinus is the third of the three great beers of Prague. It is the least expensive of the three as well. Gambrinus is a very creamy beer that goes great with kielbasa, but then again what beer wouldn't. Once I had my beer it was time for the second course, Goulash. (it was a free diner, I was going to stuff myself) Even though this was mass made Czech tax money goulash it was some of the best I have had yet. The broth was incredible, it was so spicy, with lots of pepper and other spices that make a soup warm and wonderful. There were also huge chunks of deliciously fatty beef. It was apparent that they had been stewing all day as they melted in my mouth. The goulash was literally steeped in the mouthwatering fat of these beef chunks. I could not have asked for a better free dinner from the quickly slipping out of power political party. Maybe the new party will throw a delicious Old Town Square party too! If only US politics were this gastronomically generous the US would be a much better place.

Cool Car on the Way to School

Across the street from the metro stop by school is a cuban restaurant and smoking room.  Out front they have this beautiful car that looks like it belongs cruising through Havana.  It's a massive behemoth of a car that takes up most of the store front.  The back of the car has distinct features that reminds me of a scowling old face.  The red and black combination makes it look almost like the old style bat mobile.