The Happiness in Health

Scotland the Great

Ω December 5th, 2011 Ω Tagged 1890s mountaineer, Ben Nevis, black pudding, callanish stones, cullins, Edinburgh, Edradour distillery, haggis, Isle of Harris, isle of lewis, isle of skye, Luskentyre Beach, old man of storr, Scotland, Talisker Distillery, travel, Uig Beach, whiskey Ω 34 Comments

Before we get to the greatness that is Scotland, I’d like to thank all of you for your insightful comments in my last post about eating “real” food. I enjoyed reading about your food philosophies – a selection of comments (bold by me):

While I am a huge fan of many processed foods (ahem, peanut butter, canned beans, canned soups, etc) I thank my mom for getting me started young at taking whole and fresh ingredients and cooking with them and using them any recipe. I honestly think it’s lack of cooking skills that prevents so many people from buying fresh foods, and resorting to packaged pre-made foods. It’s tough when you’ve never learned how to even use a stove! (The Candid RD)

I heard [Michael Pollan] speak about two years ago, and I really liked that he was “real” and admitted to not being “perfect.” He also made a real big point about cooking real, healthy, and cheap foods like beans, etc. I think too often people say eating healthy foods is too expensive and too difficult. But it really doesn’t have to be. (Andrea’s Wellness Notes)

I have something more to add in the food philosophy question: eating while relaxed and calm is hugely important to me. I never have lunch in a hurry or standing or at my desk while working if I can avoid it (and I am planning my day in a way that I can), because the time pressure and stress make me not eat well at all. (Christa)

Keep the great comments coming!

On to today’s post: Many moons ago (and by “many”, I mean “three”), my family and I traveled to the west coat of Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides. Why did I wait three months to share my pictures with you, dear reader? I’d like to write that in the midst of various projects of dubious importance and uncertain relevance, I lacked time; but, the truth is … I forgot. Oops.

Let’s look at those pictures!

I didn’t realize that the knee-high leather boots I brought to hike in were so unusual until we were hiking down Ben Nevis (the tallest mountain in the British Isles) and a man who had passed us earlier in the day came up behind us and commented, “There’s the lady with the great boots!“  I thought I looked pretty snazzy myself – or, as my sister D said: “You look like a 1890s mountaineer.”

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Yeah, okay, I guess I can see her point.

A few more highlights of western Scotland and the Outer Hebrides:

Gallan Head, Isle of Lewis:

Luskentyre Beach on the Isle of Harris (yes, Scotland has wonderful beaches!):

“Cave” on Uig Beach, Isle of Lewis:

Near the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye:

On the Isle of Lewis:

Yes, I went inside the abandoned stone house – in retrospect, perhaps that was a poor idea (note the collapsing stone roof – I won’t post pictures from inside the house, because I want to preserve the illusion that I have some common sense (hint: see gallery below for evidence that I do lack sense)):

Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis – unlike Stonehenge, you can actually walk up to these (as evidenced below):

A gallery of more Scotland images (Note: The pictures should have captions, but apparently they don’t show up unless you click the “i” icon in the upper right corner of the gallery):

And, a gallery of what I’m sure you’re most interested in: FOOD! I’ve noticed that whenever I travel to a new place, many of my travel plans revolve around trying local foods – what better way to learn about a new locale than to sample its delicacies? For more examples of eating my way through new locales, check out THIH’s Travel Page.

As seen in the album above, I sampled several Scotch whiskies at the Talisker and Edradour distilleries and found that after a dram or two, all whiskies taste pretty much the same. I also had the opportunity to try both black pudding and haggis (black pudding = delicious! haggis = okay). Recently, I acquired some canned haggis (yes, canned) so that I can cook it up over the holidays with some neeps and tatties (that’s rutabaga and potatoes, cooked and mashed separately). Stay tuned for my disastrous attempt at cooking haggis!

In the meantime, click through the album below for some delicious meals I enjoyed while in Scotland:

Finally, during our Scotland trip, I had the opportunity to swing down to London and meet a dear friend with whom I’ve corresponded for seven years, but never met in person until this past summer.  Hi, Christa!

Take care, gentle reader!

Q: Have you been to Scotland? (I know YOU have LeQuan ;) ) Have you ever tried black pudding or haggis?

AND

Where is your dream place to visit?

» Filed under Favorites, Life, New Foods » 34 Comments

A Day in the Life of a Scuba Diver

Ω August 17th, 2011 Ω Tagged Bonaire, Bonaire Dive and Adventure, coral reefs, Dutch Caribbean, frogfish, Hilma Hooker, Paradise Moon Bonaire, scuba diving, seahorse, vacation Ω 27 Comments

Where in the world has Jessie been? Three weeks and nary a peep! As I wrote earlier, I knew I would be busy this summer with the registered dietitian exam, working on my Master’s research … and, swimming with the fishes!

You may remember last year’s post about our trip to one of my favorite places in the world: Bonaire. This Dutch island in the southern Caribbean has beautiful swaying palm trees and turquoise water – but, Bonaire is even more gorgeous UNDER the water:

Intrigued?

Rewind three weeks. I was scrambling to finish the rough draft of my Master’s literature review, while Peter was studying for the Bar. In the midst of reading papers about fatty acids, visions of gliding sea turtles and undulating schools of fish kept appearing in my mind (VERY distracting, I tell you). A few days later, we arrived to this:

Definitely worth waiting for.

If you travel to Bonaire, you are not looking to lie on the beach and sip mai tais – oh, no. You are looking to strap a tank of compressed air on your back and explore the underwater world – and what a world it is.

After last year’s post about Bonaire, I had a few reader questions about what exactly we DO on a scuba diving vacation. In this post, I’ll give a brief overview of what our days were like without slipping into “this is what I did on my vacation” mode. Scroll through the albums below for a quick look at what we saw – and what we ate!

Most days, we would get moving sometime between 6 am and 8 am (Hey, it’s vacation!  Consistent schedules are for workdays).  Breakfast (and often lunch) consisted of Dutch cheeses and fresh-baked bread, local eggs, fruit from the Venezuelan fruit sellers in town, yogurt, and copious amount of hazelnootpasta – a.k.a. the Dutch version of Nutella.

Sometimes, we picked up fresh pastries from one of the local supermarkets, Cultimara:

Kersenflap – cherry-filled pastry:

Most days, Peter and I would dive two or three times. We split our dives between shore dives and boat dives (a boat brings you to locations that may not be accessible from shore). Bonaire is famous for its easy shore diving, allowing you to dive where you want, when you want. And, when I say “easy” diving, I mean, as easy as “struggling into the water with many pounds of scuba gear on your back and with waves crashing into you while avoiding ankle-twisting holes in the surf” can be -

KIDDING! I have Peter carry my tank sometimes … ;)

Peter and I breathe enriched air nitrox while scuba diving, a compressed air mixture with a lower percentage of nitrogen that reduces the risk of getting the bends. Using nitrox means we get to use this handy dandy tool to test oxygen percentages:

We wear 5mm-thick wetsuits, which earn us a few guffaws from fellow divers in their skimpy swimsuits (women AND men). Even though the water is 82-84 degrees F this time of year, I get cold, yo. Our dives usually last about an hour, depending on how deep we go (usually 60-80 feet) and how fast we breathe. I’m working on slowing the rate of my breathing so that I can spend longer underwater.

And, what do we see underwater? A sampling (Peter took most of the pictures. I took a few, but I haven’t a clue which ones – probably not the one of myself):

Here is a short video of highlights from underwater:

(Music: Treasure Bay by Govi)

(Just for kicks, check out my other Bonaire video here.)

I have, like, 2.5 hours of footage and only edited though about an hour before giving up. Underwater Bonaire, Part II perhaps?

I spent plenty of time photographing beautiful Bonaire – check out some highlights in the album below:

Finally, what did we eat for dinner? Plenty! Check it:

Needless to say, I love our scuba diving vacations in Bonaire.

See you all in a few weeks!

Q: Have you ever tried scuba diving? What’s your favorite kind of vacation?

» Filed under Favorites » 27 Comments