The Thoughts of a Frumpy Professor

............................................ ............................................ A blog devoted to the ramblings of a small town, middle aged college professor as he experiences life and all its strange variances.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Quiet & Calm



I decided to take a few days off from the U to go play.  My wife and I and our kids all went together for a few days to a city we had not visited before about 5 hours away from home.  It was wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable.  We really didn't do anything dramatic, but the following were the relaxing highlights:

1.  We ate at a great Italian resturaunt and I ate an Ahi Tuna Ceasar Salad.  It was *quite* rare (purposefully) but was wonderful.  All of us also shared a Cuban Pizza.... which had a rich, black bean sause, Asiago cheese and pulled pork.  While I generally am not fond of pork, the pizza was delicious!

2.  We visited a grand historical museum for several hours.

3.  We ate an absolutely tremendous Indian Buffet.  The Chana Marsala they had was tremendously spicy (and utterly delicious).  The Kheer (a rice pudding) was rich, creamy and had a pleasantly strong almond and cardamon flavor.  There were many other wonderful dishes as well, but those two were especially wonderful highlights.

4.  We spent most of a day at the city's Zoological Garden.  It was wonderfully well done, and the Tamarins were an especially big hit with all of us.  They were active and playful and a joy to watch.

5.  We ate at our first "Tapas" resturaunt.  This is a typical style of meal favored by some forms of Spanish and Argentinian cuisine.  We had small tasting samples of a few items and each one was rich and satisfying.  The highlights included a pesto hummus served with corn tortillas, and also  black bean and quinoa  patties that were baked and served with richly seasoned vegetables and herbs. 

6.  We spent a long time at the Art Museum and saw two of the traveling exhibits that were especially inspiring, one a photography exhibit about urban decay, and the second a painting exhibit featuring the period of the early rise of abstraction in the 20th century. 

7.  We also ate at a very satisfying Mediteranian Resturaunt that had perhaps the best traditional hummus I have ever been fortunate enough to eat, a Tabouli salad that had the brightest, crispest, and most flavorful parsley I have had in years, and incredible seasoning. 

Interspersed amongst all these wonderful activities, we swam several times in the hotel pool, walked around through the downtown area observing the sites and scenes, stumbled upon not one, not two, but THREE seperate, different FREE musical events held in the town center (one was 1940s  through the present dance music, one was jazz, and one was world music), we ate wonderful ice cream cones a few times, walked along the beatiful river Boardwalk that seperated the city into East and West sides, and I did my requisite exercise intensity walking every morning at 5am so I was able to watch surise each and every morning in the city and see the hustle and bustle come to life each day. 

It was wonderful.  Since I was away from the U, I was unable to post during my absence.  However, I think I have highlighted most of the most enjoyable parts.

PipeTobacco

8 Comments:

Blogger BBC said...

It seems like you sure like to eat out a lot, likely expensive meals also, well paid catholics like to treat themselves well before tossing some crumbs to the poor via a collection plate. You'd be a great pope.

Does it ever occur to you to go do something without the family?

Thursday, 16 August, 2012  
Blogger austere said...

Sounds like much fun.Specially the art part.

btw PT you probably had kheer (rice pudding). Roti is generic for breads.

Friday, 17 August, 2012  
Blogger amelia said...

Surely the rice pudding is Kheer? I make this at home and it's delicious!

Friday, 17 August, 2012  
Blogger PipeTobacco said...

Hello Everyone:

BBC... when we go on vacation, we *do* typically eat out a lot. It is easier, and we usually enjoy trying the new things we find. To save costs though, we had simple breakfasts of fruit and similar things that we purchased at the grocery store.

Austere and Amelia.... you are both correct, I was typing fast, and accidently put "Roti" down when I should have said "Kheer" for the rice pudding. I will correct that. We did have wonderful Naan at the resturaunt that I did not mention.

PipeTobacco

Friday, 17 August, 2012  
Blogger PipeTobacco said...

Everyone:

One more thing for BBC... yes, I *do* tend to mostly go on vacation with as many members of my family as I can... I tend to feel I do not get to spend as much time with them as I want to in day-to-day living, and the intensive time we get to all be together when we take trips is so wonderful and I cherish these extra times of closeness. I do take a "solo" venture of sorts when I go to deer camp in November. That too is wonderful and enjoyable, but I do admit that often at deer camp, even when I am fairly "rowdy" I often miss being with the family.

PipeTobacco

Friday, 17 August, 2012  
Blogger BBC said...

You live with your family, oh never mind, you just wouldn't get my reasoning, you live a much fancier life than I do and I have no desire to live yours.

Friday, 17 August, 2012  
Blogger PipeTobacco said...

BBC:

I would like to hear your reasoning... and I do not think my life is a whole helluva lot "fancier" than your own. I really do not think so. So, please tell me what you were thinking.

PipeTobacco

Saturday, 18 August, 2012  
Blogger BBC said...

I just think that catholics should be doing what they are supposed to be doing instead of living well, they should be out fixing the world and feeding the starving. Or not be catholics at all because it’s all bullshit anyway and idiots don’t deserve to be fed and saved.

You have to take me with a grain of salt at times, I’ve decided the world is a piece of shit.

I can assure you that you live a lot fancier than I do. Or have you forgotten that I live in a 12 X 15 foot shack without piped in water?

Not that I think everyone should live that way but it fits me just fine.

Saturday, 18 August, 2012  

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