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Tag Archives: Mount Everest

My.Daily.Distraction ~ Post 10: Everest Envy

11 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Mount Everest, Music, Nature, Nepal, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

BaseCamp, Breakfast, CD Player, CDs, Chomolangma, Envy, Everest, Green Tea, Mount Everest, Nepal, Quest, Shania Twain, Sherpas, Washcloth

It was about twenty years ago that Mount Everest captured my imagination.

After having watched all that I can watch, and reading all that I could read about the world’s highest summit, I became and remain completely enamoured with her.

Reality long ago dictated to me that I would never climb her, but I have a quest that one day I will at least see Chomolangma for myself.

Imagine then, my pleasant surprise when I learned that my friend and coworker, Brian had just returned from a five week holiday to Nepal.

“Please tell me that you saw Everest.” I said to him after welcoming him back.

“Not only did I see Everest, I stayed at base camp.” he proudly told me.

Being instantly smitten with joy at his achievement I also turned a tad shade greener with envy. My next question was inevitable.

“What was it like?”

He then related the long trek that he and others of his team had made. Describing the beauty, the people, and the cold, he made it sound both fascinating and frightening.

Then, I moved on to my next question…

“Tell me…. what did they eat for breakfast on Mount Everest?”

“At about five in the morning,” he began, “the sherpas came to the tent and offered us a hot towel. That was our shower. Then they gave us a cup of tea. That was our breakfast.”

I could picture it all too easily. In a heartbeat I would pass up the most lavish breakfast imaginable in favour of what he had just described to me.

Then came my final question…

“What music did you take to Everest with you?”

Upon hearing my question, he shot me a very pained and sheepish look. I instantly knew that I would not be impressed by his answer.

“Oh Doris,” he began, suddenly looking and sounding very sorry for himself…

“I really don’t want to tell you.”

“Yes, I want to know…. tell me…”

“Well,” he began, “I forgot all my CD’s at home, and the only one I had was the one that was left inside the player.”

“Brian,” I continued to prod, determined to find out what music he played at base camp. Fixing my eyes onto his, I asked once again…

“What music did you take?”

After a deep breath and a heavy sigh he blurted out his sad reply…

“It was Shania Twain.”

I let out a horrible gasp.

“Shania Twain, …“HOW COULD YOU???”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Shania Twain. In fact, I can sing along to just about all of her songs. It’s just that when I think about what music I would choose to take up to the roof top of the world, I think majesty and grandeur. Take Beethoven’s 9th, or Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. However, listening to Shania’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” on Everest seems so wrong on so many different levels.

Upon hearing Brian’s sad confession, I could hear myself go off on a rant which I no longer remember. However, within a few moments Brian was able to talk me down.

“I know, I know” he repeated in soothing low tones.

Then, he went on to say…

“Everyone that I was traveling with really hated it.”

However, having said that, my friend Brian’s face then lit up with such a mischievous gleam, the likes of which I had never seen on him before.

Then leaning in just inches away from my face he proudly and triumphantly said to me…

“But you know, …. the sherpas REALLY loved her!”

Adventures in Italy… Post 10: The Colazione Club

12 Tuesday Aug 2014

Posted by duckykoren in Travel

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Tags

Base Camp, Breakfast, Coffee, Colazione, Everest, Expresso, Italy, Mount Everest, Pastries, Rome, Stories, Tea, Travel

image

Whenever I find myself speaking to someone who has been away on a holiday to a foreign country, I always like to ask:

“And what do they usually eat for breakfast there…?”

Breakfast is usually where we have our first conversation of the day. It’s our first gathering of the day. It’s where we find the fortitude and nourishment to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

My friend once had the good fortune of spending the night at base camp on Mount Everest. I asked him what they serve on Mount Everest for breakfast.

“Well…” he began, “at 5:00 a.m. They open your tent and give you a cup of tea… That’s your breakfast. And then, they give you a hot washcloth… That’s your shower.”

Because of my German upbringing,  as a child, breakfasts on weekends usually consisted of oatmeal with milk and brown sugar. During the week, it was rye bread, cold cuts, cheese, and liverwurst. Donuts were especially prized when they found their way to our kitchen table.

When travelling as a child, it was always the restaurant breakfasts that I most looked forward to.

Even as an adult, I still do.

And so, I was as intrigued to learn what they serve in Italy for breakfast, or as they say ‘breakfast’ in Italian:

“Colazione”

Most hotels in Rome offer a free complimentary continental style breakfast.

Having done some travelling, I’ve learned that the term ‘Continental’ can be everything from a stale wrapped Danish, to the whole nine yards of scrambled eggs, bacon and even pancakes.

However, although my experience in Italy did not include scrambled eggs or bacon, the breakfasts we were served were tasty, nourishing and elegantly served.

You would probably want to start out with an orange juice. The juice alone would induce a double take from anyone in North America due to it’s reddish tinge…. as well as the egg yolks, it was interesting to find that they are more orange than yellow.

And so, in Italy, if you were to show up hungry for breakfast one morning, you could expect a brunch like setting featuring buns, slices of rye bread, cold cuts, ( mainly mortadella) hard boiled eggs, as well as a variety of cheeses and yogurts.

If you are inclined for something sweeter, (and who does not love to indulge while on holidays?) you are in for a banquet of fresh pastries, oversized donuts filled with cream, and of course, the obligatory muffins.

I always try to tuck few extra slices of bread into a napkin so that I can feed the birds at some point during our sightseeing. There are lots of benches and places to rest weary feet in Rome, so why not feed the birds while you take a breather?

And if you’re not into feeding birds, then grab an extra chunk of cheese during breakfast, and you’ve got yourself a nice little snack to recharge yourself as you charge up and down the famous seven hills of Rome.

And let us not forget the coffee.

You may, or may not know this, but customarily cappuccino is made of leftover coffee from the day before.

True, Italians can even make 12 hour old coffee taste enticing.

And if you have your heart set on an espresso, you will not be disappointed.

Real Italian expresso has the flavourful kick that is usually missing from North American expresso.

However, if you want to linger a little longer over your coffee, you might want to consider a Cafe Americano, which is an expresso, but with more water. It’s still much more flavourful than your average North American cup of coffee.

As much as I love the expresso, I find myself finishing it far too quickly and immediately wanting more. A Cafe Americano allows for at least ten minutes of pleasurable sipping while either conversing or people watching.

I could easily live in Rome. All I would need is a bed, some knitting, and a coffee cup. Then I would spend my days knitting, drinking coffee and watching my Italian world go by.

And then, in the words of the popular 1960’s song that was sung by the late great Sam Cooke:

“…What a bellisima world it would be.”

 

 

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