Kinder Surprise

I had read an article about these Kinder Surprise candies that were banned in America.  Apparently they have a bit of a cult following.  Once I was in Belgium and realized I could try them, I figured why not?  They are chocolate and they have a toy, sounds great!  I was not disappointed!  I bought one my first day, and looooved the taste of the milk and white chocolate.  And the toy!  It became my new tradition to get a Kinder Surprise and big bottle of water every morning, and a few more Surprises at the end of the day.  Yum!  Here are all of my toys,  I think my favorite is the last one I got!

Here is it, the egg shaped delight!

The first of many, sleepy smurf.

This one shot a snowboarder out of the ski lodge!

Baby Smurf and a massive teddy bear.

So lame and disappointing, stickers.

A different candy, which was not as good.  I could only eat it by carving it out using the coffee stirrer in my hotel.  The saving grace, was the amazing Rio parrot toy.

This one is awesome, a gorilla that throws a banana!

Not that into cars, but still cool.  Overall, the surprise was the best part, I never knew what I was going to get.  The variety of toys was amazing!

Another smurf!

This is a fab British ring that is also a stamp!

My favorite of them all I opened in the plane home, it's a boat!!

I miss Kinder Surprise.

Self Portrait

In all my solo travels I love to take photos of myself in reflections and shadows.  Here are a few from Belgium.

Color Blocking Belgium

Belgium

i recently booked a trip about a week before traveling!  what fun and adventure, just going!  so i found a deal to belgium and got on the plane the next week.

i had a fantastic trip and did only things i wanted to do, what joy.  and my high school french came into play.  i was so excited when i was approached first in french, and was able to keep up pretty well!

i love traveling and i love taking photos.  at about day 3 i realized that i was taking photos kind of in series.  i happened to take photos of street art, buildings, color blocking, kinder surprise, doors, churches, a bit of fashion and some self portraits.  herein i will add some of my studies.  enjoy!

European Union Open House

today i went by a few embassies in DC for the European Union Open House.  the embassies opened their doors and had activities, food and drinks!  what fun.

i went by the Czech Republic embassy first.  the residence is gorgeous as well as the grounds.  there were vintage cars, a pianist and a biergarten.

this car looks like a shark!

i hope the owner of this dapper hat found it!

i next stopped by the Hungarian embassy, which had puppies!  there was also traditional dancing and music and girls walking around with pitchers of what looked like wine on their heads.  this is the best sign i have seen in a long time:

and here is a puppy!

lovely afternoon

today i had a luncheon for the program i volunteer with, acementor.org.  it was a great luncheon to create funds for the scholarship fund to help kids become architects, construction managers and engineers.  i had the luncheon, and later in the afternoon i was volunteering with the kids so i had a few hours to enjoy.  i started out on 37th street on a beautiful nyc day and walked up 5th ave.  i made my usual stops at St. Patrick's Cathedral and Tiffany's but i also stopped in to Gucci and Louis Vuitton and then to Henri Bendel.

while at Bendel's i got a free oxygen facial and makeup application.  it was a delight!  so refreshing and relaxing.  it was the perfect afternoon!

soul daddy

i went to the new restaurant Soul Daddy on monday because i happened to be in lower manhattan.  i got the pulled pork sandwich which was ok.  i was a bit confused because the menu lead me to believe that i was getting two sides with the sandwich, but apparently i glossed over the menu and didnt realize it was only for "meals."  here is the menu below.

i went at about 4pm, and it was not busy at all, scarily so.  walking back to the subway i saw other "fast casual" "restaurants" busy so it wasnt just the time of day, maybe it was the location, which wasnt in the south street seaport, but off the beaten track.  

but anywho, i got the sandwich, which came with slaw on top, on a whole wheat bun.  i got a booth and felt like a food blogger.  i found myself taking photos of the sandwich and analyzing everything, never done that before.  so here are the photos!

looks pretty good right?

it was good.  slightly dry, and not every bite was flavorful, but i liked it.  i kept wishing i had some sauce to add to make it better, but ate the whole thing.  i was hungry, but it was nice and for $4.95, not a bad price.  the slaw was good, but i really couldnt get over the dryness.

the atmosphere was alright, a bit industrial.  i didnt really sense "soul food," more chipolte with wooden booths.  the staff was undertrained; the lady who rang me up didnt know what i had ordered, even though there are only about 6 items on the menu.  i also noticed that a few other people who came in after me also thought they would get sides with the sandwich, which made me feel better.  here is a view of the interior of the restaurant.

as i was leaving i sadly found a table of sauces hidden behind a corner, oh the sandwich would have been so much better had i only seen!  overall ok, but not running back there, and even if i worked/lived in the area i couldnt see myself there more than once a season.