MH Blogs

London Olympics 2012

Last Sunday, when I arrived from Vienna to London Heathrow, I landed together with Japanese Olympic Team. This is when I started to feel the Olympic fever and this is when I have realised that Olympics will start in a less then a week. The atmosphere in Heathrow was very sweet, you could feel the upcoming excitement about the games.

I have checked out and left just shortly before the Japanese Team. Now I wish I have stayed a little bit longer to see their welcoming to London.

I have found this short video on YouTube which capture the whole moment. Feel free to have a look, it is very sweet video. The feeling of this moment will stay with me for a long time.

My Mums Orchids

Trip to High Tatras, Slovakia

Every time I come home to Slovakia, my sister, her husband and I plan a trip to our mountains, High Tatras. It has sort of became our tradition. Every time we choose a different root, somewhere where none of us has been before. Every time it is such a challenge and an amazing experience. I really like hiking and I love High Tatras. This time we went for a route from Popradske Pleso to Velke Hincovo Pleso and back.

Visiting ELRO 2012 in Kezmarok, Slovakia

This Saturday I visited annual folk festival in Kezmarok called ELRO 2012 (http://www.elro.kezmarok.sk/web/) It is cultural event full of european craft, dancing and music. When I used to live in Slovakia, I usually visited this festival every year. Since I live in London, I never really managed to come to Slovakia at the same time as festival was running. Because of that I had over eleven years break. Yes, the last time I have visited ELRO was I think in 2001.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prawn and chorizo pasta

Ingredients:

1 shallot

3 gloves of garlic

1 chorizo

2 tablespoons of tomato pure

1 dcl water

250g prawns (I used cooked ones)

1 green pepper

150g sweet corn

a jar of tomato sauce

300g penne pasta

a pinch of black pepper

and olive oil

 

Method:

Start chopping shallot, garlic, green pepper and chorizo.

In a pan, preheat the olive oil and slightly glaze chopped shallot and garlic until soften and translucent. Once they are soften, add a pinch of black pepper for little bit of seasoning. Pop chorizo into the pan and fry for a couple of minutes until chorizo oil colour your shallot and garlic mixture. Add 2 table spoons of tomato pure and little bit of the water to soften the whole texture. Add chopped green pepper and continue cooking for another few minutes. Meanwhile, you can prepare penne pasta.

Add prawns into the sauce and pour jar of tomato sauce. (I have used Lloyd Grossman tomato sauce with roasted garlic.) Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Towards the end add sweet corn and leave to cook until soften.

If you want you can add the pasta directly to the sauce. I prefer to serve clean pasta first and then add the sauce on top of that.

I have decided to enjoy the meal with the glass of Italian red wine. Enjoy!

Catching up

What has been happening in the last few weeks?

Well, first of all, I have finally finished my exams. It was a tough experience to revise and working full-time in demanding environment. I founded it very difficult to keep up with everything. I could feel the strain. But I have managed to get through it and now I am waiting for the results. My results will be out towards the end of the July, so I have decided not to stress myself about it and just enjoy the summer.

Talking about the summer, here in England, so far it has been a huge disappointment. Rain, rain, rain and more rain. Typical British summer wash out. Even now, when I am writing this post, is raining.

Yesterday, I collected my delivery from the post office. When I opened the envelope, there was a ticket to Olympic games. How exciting! To my big surprise, there was a travel card for the whole day, too. I didn’t expect that and it definitely will help not to spend a fortune on travelling to the event.I have managed to get a ticket to watch the canoe sprint.  I can’t wait now!

My dearest friend, Martha, is turning 40 this week. Our group of friends decided to organise something special for her. This Saturday, we went to the Thai Restaurant called Mango Tree (www.mangotree.org.uk) The whole dining experience was just glorious. The food was very delicious. Particularly, I loved authentic Thai soup with the hint of lemongrass and coconut milk. It was full of flavour. Well, it was my first posh dining experience in London.

 

Next week, I will be travelling to Slovakia for a 10 days. I will be visiting my parents. I am really looking forward to spending some time with my Mum and Dad as I haven’t seen them for almost a year. And of course, I am also looking forward to see the rest of my family and friends.