March 4, 2014 by anexpatreturned - 1 Comment

Spam, Glorious Spam!

Most people on the Continent have never heard of it. Still, every culture, even the most fine, produces some version of it: pressed meat in a can. Even the Italians have their own version: Simmenthal (which is shredded and encased in aspic rather than pressed, and tastes much better than it sounds). The British, of course, have their famous corned beef, which can be purchased ~~in a can~~ in a tin. Perhaps the French are above such things, but somehow I’m sure they have their own version as well (well, of course they have their tins of fine pâté that go for €50 a pop, but I’m talking about the kind of tinned (or canned if you’re American) meat that makes the gourmands out there turn up their noses, so we can’t really include pâté in our list). No, I’m talking about the stuff we Americans know as SPAM. It’s the stuff that was used as rations during WWII (and, to this day, remains a kind of regional delicacy in Hawaii as a result… yes, there is such a thing as Spam salad, Spam pizza…). All these years I’ve been under the impression that Spam was, simply, Spam. Au contraire! However, I had to go to an NYC deli on the Lower East Side to discover that this historically (and often affectionately) maligned American ~~delicacy~~ food item has branched out quite a bit since the 1940s. Who would have guessed? If you’ve been worrying that food might get boring after a hypothetical ice-age/nuclear/zombie/asteroid-provoked apocalypse, you can breathe a sigh of relief. The good old Spam company has ensured that we will not lack for variety for quite a few decades after the end of the world as we know it.

Can man live on Spam alone? Perhaps it’s not so far-fetched of an idea after all (well, provided the man in question isn’t a vegetarian).

For those of you who didn’t think America took it’s Spam seriously: Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota: Dedicated to This One Cultural Icon (infolific.com)
For those of you who aren’t sure you believe me about the Hawaiian Spam fixation: We Made SPAM Sushi (mancave.cbslocal.com)
For those of you who… well… just check it out. Need I say more?: 21 Sexy Ways To Eat Spam (neatorama.com)

Thanks for coming along to NYC! I saw a whole lot more than Spam on a shelf, but let’s take things one at a time. There will be more NY adventures coming soon.

Until next time, bon appétit!

– Jennifer

December 2, 2013 by anexpatreturned - 2 Comments

A Hidden Stag

A furtive movement seen from the corner of my eye as I coast down one of the smoothest portions of the wilder part of my bike trail is enough to make me hit the brakes. I peer into the tangle of bare tree branches and I spy…

First glimpse

He is watching me too, stock-still. He is only about twenty feet away (that’s about six meters, for my foreign friends), but the fact that there are a lot of dense branches and bushes between us emboldens me to back my bike up to a better spot and snap another shot or two. This one’s my favorite:

Hiding in plain sight

We watch each other for awhile. He’s starting to look kind of irritated, and I’m starting to notice how flimsy those branches between us are, after all, when he loses interest and walks away. I follow him (with my eyes alone, of course. I may be a recently-transplanted city girl, but I’m no ninny) until I lose him amidst the trees. I’m about to ride away when I realize that the trajectory I last saw him on would bring him right out onto the trail where I’m waiting, albeit farther away (which would be far enough for comfort). I decide to stay.

I only have to wait a couple of minutes before my guess proves to be correct, and I am rewarded with the chance to take these shots. Forgive the blurriness, but it’s the best my trusty little pocket camera can do with such a distance to zoom over.

Look both ways before crossing the trail, Mr. Stag

Glorious

What a magical moment. I feel like a kid again, all full of wonder. What a gift this ride has been.

I’m glad you could come along.

-Jennifer

The magic of a misty morning sunrise (shutterbugchy.wordpress.com): Tennessee, USA
Enchanting Forest: Karlovy Vary (czechingoutofhere.wordpress.com): The Czech Republic
Images from Rugova Gorge (wantofwonders.com): Kosovo
Big trees are the draw at Indian River Nature Trail (hamptonroads.com): Chesapeake and Norfolk, Virginia, USA

November 25, 2013 by anexpatreturned - 3 Comments

Fall’s Last Hurrah

Clouds cover the sky in an opaque shroud of white. Still, here and there, trees and bushes cling to their last, colorful foliage, unwilling to succumb to the inevitable change of season.

Moonrise

The next day dawns cloudless and blue, but the sunlight that gilds the last, tenacious leaves is as cold as the gold it resembles. It will not do more than brush us with a reminder of warmth until this winter has come and gone.

The feathers of a cardinal provide camouflage amongst the last reds of autumn, but will soon stand out brighter than holly berries against bare white branches, frosted ground and whiter snow

The last golden foliage persists, fragile and tenacious, for a little while longer yet

Autumn’s last hurrah: Glorious scenes captured on camera as Britain moves towards winter – and colder weather (dailymail.co.uk): England’s Lake District, UK
Burning Bush (forestgardenblog.wordpress.com): near Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
Season for brilliant leaves extended by fortuitous weather in Western Pennsylvania (triblive.com): Pennsylvania, USA

November 13, 2013 by anexpatreturned - 5 Comments

The Woods Are Lovely, Golden and Deep

The woods are lovely, ~~dark~~ golden and deep.

Those words kept running through my head as I watched the leaves beginning to turn in the woods behind my house. Only last week they were at the peak of their colorful glory, and shortly before that it seemed that they had just begun to lose their green.

Why does this qualify as a post for the Adventures of an Expat Returned? How is this a specifically newly-returned-to-America topic? Well, let’s begin with the fact that, while abroad, I nearly always lived in big cities. This means that I had very little access to nature except on weekend excursions, which were few and far between (that’s what happens when you work weekends). It is therefore relevant to my experience of returning to America, which has meant returning to live in a semi-rural area for the first time since I was a kid.

Umbrella pines on the Palatine Hill

Rome’s beauties tend to be of the architectural as opposed to the naturalistic variety. Of course, they do have some lovely public parks in Rome, my favorite of which was the Villa Borghese park (where you can find the famous Pincio Belvedere that is featured in pretty much any movie filmed in the Eternal City).

Your faithful writer sits atop a fallen umbrella pine near the outdoor hippodrome in Villa Borghese park

The umbrella pine is one of the symbols of Rome. It’s everywhere (although, having been brought over from North Africa during the time of the Ancient Roman Empire, it’s not truly native), it’s beautiful and it’s a conifer.

The steep, cypress-lined road that climbs to the Church of Santa Margherita above the famous little hill town of Cortona

If you think about it, Italy is famous for its conifers. Just think of Tuscany and what comes to mind? An avenue leading to a villa in the hills above Florence, perhaps, and it is lined with… cypresses, another gorgeous tree and, again, not deciduous.

Cypresses rise from behind every garden wall in here in the hills above Florence

Olive groves and cypresses are an integral part of the Tuscan hills’ distinctive beauty – and neither tree changes its colors in autumn

Despite having had access to places world-renowned for their beauty for many years, it had been a very long time since I’d seen the brilliant reds and yellows of a North American fall, the bright fiery shades of autumn I remember from my childhood.

And this is just my back yard. Imagine what it’s like down in the woods…

Lucky for me, I have my faithful steed…

…and a long and winding, well-kept trail…

…and woods wild and golden enough to satisfy your average hobbit’s sense of adventure

Further on, the golds begin to give way to a little more red

See the deer behind me? That’s how close (and tame) they were

I get off my bike to take a picture of those red leaves, and what should I see, not so very far off the trail?

Can you see mother doe in the background?

Can you see Mom in the background?

This is about as wild as it gets in the woods behind my house, but for someone who’s spent most of their life in the city, it qualifies as an adventure. And a little further along the trail…

A nice place to pause for awhile before our adventure continues

Thanks for coming along. Come back and visit soon for more rides through the autumn woods, as long as the leaves last.

– Jennifer

Villa Borghese (kcrobins.wordpress.com)
The two faces of Tuscany (bellotobarga.wordpress.com)
Roaming Roma – The perfect 24-48 hours in Italy’s ancient capital. (layoverescapades.wordpress.com)
The Golden Woods (scotnor.com)

And by the way, a big thank you to all of you who have followed and liked my blog lately. It’s great to have you here, and I hope you’ll keep on visiting!