travelenvelope: 10

See the World for Free

The idea here is to TRAVEL THE WORLD regardless of time or budget. It dawned on me one day that even if I had unlimited time and money (which I definitley do not), I still couldn't see everything in the world that I'd like to see--I'm simply not going to live long enough to do it.

But I had a bit of brain wave and soon after the travel envelope was born. This is an actual physical envelope. I typed the name of every country in the world, plus every state in the US on little slips of paper which I then put into the envelope. In the beginning we (myself, my husband, Dave and daugher Catherine) would draw out a slip at random at the beginning of the month and that's where we would go---at least in our minds. We grab some books about the country from the library and put them in our bathroom to look at. We also check out some videos about the country if any. We check it out on googleearth, listen to the music, try the food, maybe even attempt to learn a dance or celebrate a festival.

After the first two years we discovered that even virtual traveling can be tiring, so we travel now whenever I happen to be in the mood.

It's great fun. I especially love it when people I meet have been to the place I'm "visiting" in real life, or get excited and have some virtual adventures of their own. I hope that anyone who comes across this blog will feel welcome to come with us on the trip!

You have a standing reservation to see it all!

Apr 1, 2010

Weinerschnitzel

Good news! Weinerschnitzel isn't hard to make at all. On this first try the meat was a little tough. You're supposed to get some veal and pound it very thin with a mallet. I couldn't find a mallet and I thought the veal looked thin enough as it was. Not quite, but still a respectable first effort. You take the veal cover it with flour, dip it in egg, then cover it with bread crumbs. The internet is divided between whether to fry it in oil or in butter. I went with the butter route on the grounds that Omi would fry anything in butter if given any chance at all. I think the overall result was probably pretty authentic--schnitzel, boiled potatoes, saurkraut made with bacon and onions and the very smallest pot for the vegetables. Lots of good food simply cooked--with meat, carbs and fats. Can't beat it.

Mar 31, 2010

Sorry Mozart

To get a proper sense of Austria, about half of anything you see has something to do with Mozart. We biffed it here in our virtual travels. Of course there's the internet and I could have looked up all kinds of things. Instead I think I'll blame the public library. We live near a cute little branch--brand new and I think, reasonably well stocked, but when I went to the biography section there was no Mozart! Not in children's or adults. I grabbed a librarian thinking I must be looking in the wrong place. But no. We stood there looking at the M's in amazed bafflement. I suppose to atone, I should listen to the Magic Flute or something here at work today, but I'm not really in the mood. I guess I'll leave that to my fellow virtual travelers.

Mar 30, 2010

Busy

I think one of the most charming things about travel is the illusion that neither I nor anyone else in the country could possibly be as busy as I am right now. The idea of being able to stroll along a pier, visit a museum and have a leisurley lunch is completely intoxicating. Especially today!
PS--stores do indeed sell veal. It wasn't even that outrageous. I'll need to find the meat mallet though---do I even have one?

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