Happy Little Food Moments

I had some time in Veliko Turnovo before meeting up with other PCVs on Friday for a birthday dinner.  So I visited a couple natural foods stores.  They are very tiny (maybe 10 x 15 feet) with a limited amount of products but it was nice to see familiar items I haven't seen since Sedona.  For instance I bought a little over one pound of organic quinoa (500 grams).  It's very expensive at 7 leva and 80 ctotinki (or 7,80 BGN) ($5.70 US).  Compare that to other items in same sized packages which I have purchased - brown rice 1,10 BGN (80 cents US); white rice and white beans 1,45 BGN ($1.06) each, and brown lentils 1,80 BGN ($1.31).  I had quinoa for breakfast this morning and it was a little taste of heaven!

Also I found a cafe/restaurant for lunch where I ate fresh, grilled vegetables sprinkled with a little balsamic vinegar and soy sauce.  OMG  - ambrosia (see photo).  It was larger than I expected but I ate it all because it was sooooo delicious!  Then for dessert I had the closest thing to a Starbuck's Frappacino (blended ice coffee) I've found here.  I left the restaurant with a big smile on my face and looked for a hill to climb because I was so full!

Veliko Turnovo is a little city (65,000) and a university town. It reminds me of San Francisco because there are a lot of hills.  So I didn't have to go far to find stairs to climb - and more stairs - and more stairs!!  It was a good workout - I was huffing and puffing.  Here is a link to some photos of V.T.  Click Here

Thursday I had my first avocado here - it was scrumptious too.  These are a few examples - just about everything can be found here, but for me living in a small village, I have to go to larger towns for anything other than staples.  Every village stocks it's favorite little specialties so in one village I buy brown rice.  In another I can buy whole grain bread.  In my village they sell an oatmeal cookie I like not found in others.

After eating and walking I went to the park to sit for a while.  It was a great place to people watch.  There were a lot of moms and babies and there were even some dads.  It was a balmy afternoon and the huge trees provided shelter from the sun.  People strolled by headed to and from and it was a great way to spend an hour and a half.

At this point - what do I miss most?  I miss New Frontiers - with it's great selection of organic foods and I especially miss the convenience of the Deli.  Here there is no "I'm too tired or too busy to cook - I'll just stop by the deli to get dinner."  I'm afraid most of my food is pretty basic and I miss the creativity of the NF chefs!