Away from the blog for a bit.

 

Just a quick note to say I'm taking a short break from blogging. I'll be back soon. Take care.

The house of terror

As soon as tourists and visitors get into the House of terror in Budapest there is a strong initial attraction to them: their sight is immediately attracted by an old Soviet tank. 

Located at Andrassi utca 60, the House of terror is a museum now, but the historic building was witness to two shameful and tragic periods in Hungary's 20th century history. Between 1945 and 1956, in peacetime, 487 peole were executed on political grounds. After the 1956 Revolution, nearly 230 freedom fighters were executed. The minimum age at which people could be sentenced to death was lowered to sixteen. 

Now transformed into a museum, the building is a monument to the victims, due to the fact that many died there during the most unimaginable and horrific interrogation lasting for weeks. Other received long prison sentences. 

After the fall of  communism in 1989-1990, the hanging judges and prosecutors who had served the communist regime were not held to account. They were not punished, but the museum serves as a means to denunce many of them.

 

This post today lacks of pictures as visitors were not allowed to take photos inside the House of Terror Museum. I managed to take only two photos of the Soviet tank. The third photo shows Szabadság híd in Hungarian translates into Freedom bridge in English. It's a majestic bridge in Budapest, that crosses the Danube river, connecting the two sides of the Hungarian capital. 

Have a nice weekend ☀

Vegetables out of season's disadvantages

During this first week of September the weather was still warm. Consequently, we haven't to forget to maintain good fluid balance in our body. Many fruit and vegetables that grow in late summer contain high percentage of water. They can contribute to our daily fluid intake, alongside drinking water. Obviously I'm talking about in-season fruit and vegetables that haven't been shipped from other continents.

Producing vegetables out of season presents several disadvantages, such as high up-front costs to build the structure an no natural pollination. 

Furthermore, production is limited to high-value crops and significant knowledge level is required.  Not to mention of awful landscape and visual impact , special permitting and expensive cost of production. 

Last week I was so glad to see young people enjoying donkeys.

 

Donkey remains useful in many parts of the world today. In some Italian villages, located in mountainous ares, those marvelous creatures are used for sheperding and for waste collection due to narrow ancient alleys, where motorized vehicle is impractical.

 

Have a nice weekend🌻☀🚴‍♂️  

Typhon kajiki

Just two photos sent by my daughter who is visiting Vietnam right now. 

Unfortunately, a tropical storm battered coastal Northern Vietnam this week  unleashing dangerous wind and torrential rains. It damaged thousands of homes. My daugher had already left the Northern part of Vietnam while the typhon was triggering the flooding. Now she's in South Vietnam. 

She will come back to Italy on the 1st of September.

                                                                                                                                     Have a nice Sunday ☀

Egg's origins

After I had published my previous post, I got interesting comments by some blogging friends. They shared information about their favourite breakfast. Thank you for that. It allows me the opportunity to understand which food can be included in the typical international breakfast. 

I've noticed that most Anglo-Saxon people eat eggs at breakfast, in addition to fresh fruit, yogurt or cereals accompanied by beverage like coffee, tea and juice.   

            

How to select good eggs at the supermarket? With the aim to ensure food protection with the EU member states, European Regulations mandate specific requirements for eggs marking and labelling. Consequently, eggs must be labelled at the place of production, and this  enables the possibility to know whether the eggs are organic, free range, barn farming or cage farming.

The first digit on the left side on an egg indicates the farming method used of the hens that produced them. In other words, if you notice "0", your egg comes from an organic farm. If you notice "1", it comes from free-range farm. "2" and "3" indicate barn farming or cage farming, respectively.

The two letters indicate the country of origins of the eggs, e.g. in the above photo  "IT" stands for Italy. And the three digits refer to the municipality of origin. Then there's the indication of the province and the code ascribed by the Ministry to the farmer's company. 

Enjoy your scrambled eggs.

               

Well balanced breakfast

 

I have noticed that tourists who come from North Europe, Australia and American continent don't like the typical Italian and French breakfast.  They say our breakfast is not well balanced as their, due to the fact that it lacks protein. That's why they always ask us to serve them scrambled eggs or yogurt. 

It's fair to say that the Italian cappuccino, which is a hot beverage consisting of espresso coffee with steamed milk, contains protein, primarily from the milk used in its preparation. On the contrary, croissants contain carbohydrates.

Meanwhile many tourists continue to flock to the Italian peninsula. The good news for them is that the weather is not too hot and humid this month.

Have a nice Sunday  🍉☀️🍹

Two grasshoppers

This post was inspired by our Scottish blogging friend Ananka, as she sometimes shows marvelous creatures on her blog. I've just taken two pictures in my Mother's garden. 

Have a nice 2nd weekend of August  🚴‍♂️ ☀  🌻