The advantages of getting old

Whilst many people fear getting old, for me, it isn't an issue. I have no real reason to worry, I have a wife who is younger than me and strong enough to carry me or push me in a wheel chair. Also, I feel the older I get, the more I am learning and the more I can fit into my life and brain. I am reading more books now than when I was at school and HAD to read them. I see more movies than ever before in my life. I am taking more photos now and feel more creative. I have the chance to bake, brew, bottle, and butcher most anything. I am experiencing another new culture in my life, possibly my most foreign. Many of my friends and peers are now having children or more children. I have no idea how they have the time, energy or willingness.

So, enough preaching, now to my birthday. Marty took me to lunch as my birthday this year was conveniently located on a Friday, perfect for a lazy day and slightly longer weekend. I just did my classes in the morning so that I could start the weekend with Lunch. My lovely wife and I have a few favourite restaurants, however as we love cooking so often ourselves, we rarely visit them. A couple of them are Zielnik and Villa Nouva I can thoroughly recommend these if you are looking for a great quality meal with really high quality service. So, we thought we would go to something new for my "special" day. My students, specifically Sarge and Ola, had recommended Stary Dom (The Old House) for its beef tatar or is it Tartare or tartar (there are multiple spellings of this). As I mentioned in my post about the Tatar Village, I had never had this rare meal. Notice the pun. So to the Domek it is!

Awaiting the food and included pomp and ceremony.

Nothing a little sour cream and chives can't help

Marty's stuffed capsicums

The amazing chopping man

Hands are just a blur

Add some pickles, some onion, a little marinated mushroom, some egg, salt, pepper maybe some paprika yum.

Check out the video above, Marty without knowing it, gives a great story.

The finished product, 25PLN 8.55AUD 5.60GBP 9.10USD

Wack it on some fresh bread and....

Bob's your Uncle. As the saying goes. It tastes pretty darned good.

So while we wait we take in the surroundings.

The tatar was really good, having the man prepare it in front of you was a great treat as well as the fact that you know it is fresh and not some old mince that had been laying around days.

The salmon with new season asparagus

Pork schnitzel with bigos (23PLN 7.85AUD 8.40US 5.30GBP)

It certainly is well organised.

A quick review would read like this, the food was pleasant, Tartare was really good, although of course I have no comparison to this meal. The schnitzel and salmon were fine, not outstanding, service was prompt and attentive. So it all appears swimmingly. Until we got the bill, being my birthday I just paid it and never read it as we had had a lovely day. Note to self, always check the bill, when I got home I realised they had charged us for a couple of things we didn't have, and it wasn't like the restaurant was busy, and the prices were already upper-mid for Poland especially for the Salmon which was fish of the day. Oh well still was fun.

Tea for two.

I stopped off to buy Marty some tea as a birthday present because it isn't your birthday thing like some parents do for the child whose birthday it isn't. Thanks Marty for the great day, may many more continue.

The way it will all end up.

 

More from the East-er trip

Whilst away for Easter in the East. I wanted to make sure we did something other than my normal trick of cooking and eating far too much, attacking the poor defenceless trees in the garden, as I am a prune-a-holic, and annoying the heck out of the cats and dog. So we decided to stop by the cemetery, ok not so glamorous as one may think, but in this part of the world it is a really important part of life.

They do have these freaky photos on the graves

Plenty of floral tributes.

It is a flower-a-rama at the cemetery

 So after the glitz and glamour that was the dead end of town, we headed off, and out of the city. I have been bugging everyone for a long time about learning more about the Tatars. The people who gave us raw meat (more on this when I talk about my birthday meal) for an entree, and controlled horseriding skills, still exist in Poland. They have suffered hugely in wars as they were highly regarded warriors. In the 17th century after some extreme bravity (saving King Sobieski's life), and assistance in defeating the Turks (The Ottoman Empire) at Vienna, they were granted noble status and give equal rights and land in what is now Eastern Poland. This is where we went to see one of the two villages left in Poland. There are about 3000 left in all of Poland and most live here in Podlasia. Something cool to note as well is the late Hollywood tough guy Charles Bronson was a Tatar!

The town has a church and not a mosque in the "city" sign

The actual Mosque in pristine grounds

The details like all mosques I have seen are delicate and simple

Me pretending to be creative

So as we pulled into Bohoniki we passed some adorable old men sitting out on a bench chattering away and then we parked the car right in front of the mosque. I was standing there taking some photos and I looked behind me. There was a lady standing in front of her house about 200m away yelling at me. I thought maybe we weren't allowed to take photos and then she came down on her bike. I was waiting to get bashed or something by angry town folk. She came down and pointed at the sign. She said "why didn't you come to me?" Marty told me the sign said to go to the address on the sign and the home owner would give you a tour. I was relieved and so for the next 20 or 30 minutes we sat, listened to stories, asked questions and had a good old time.

The lady I was at first scared of.

Prayer beads

Prayer rug with a "Mecca Finder" attached, also known as a compass.

I love a good carpet, and these were quality.

The caretaker of the Mosque tells us stories about Tatars.

Who knew?! I had married a Muslim.

Even her Mother is a Muslim!

After the Mosque we decided to head to the nearby cemetery and see what the differences were, compared to the Christian one that we visited earlier.

The grave stones are spread amongst a hillside covered in beautiful p

ine

 

It had a much more ethereal feel to it than any other cemetery I have visited in Poland

Most graves have both Polish and Arabic inscriptions. 

The graves were arranged so that the interned body had its head towards Mecca

Some of the inscriptions

A star and Crescent Moon with the inscriptions

It was a very well kept and beautiful cemetery

I think the almost ghostly pines added to the ambiance that is present there.

Some of the fascinating pine tree formations

 So that was a day with the Tatars. Interesting, no?