When You Catch a 844-Pound Shark, Size Clearly Does Matter

by Iva Skoch on

Talk about a big fish story. Six guys go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, hoping to catch some grouper in the Destin Fishing Rodeo tournament, and catch a 844-pound, 11-foot mako shark instead.

They couldn’t even get the thing into the small fishing boat, so they had to tie it to the boat and bring it to shore. Of course, they “had to.” Nobody would ever believe that it was really as big as they said. And, honestly, who really cares?

I feel bad for the shark becoming a victim of a competitive spirit. What are they possibly going to do with it now? Shark meat in an old shark is not even good, yet they look so graceful underwater. What happened to catch and release?

Nachos and Natty Boh on The Square in Baltimore’s Canton

by Kelly Amabile on

I lived in Baltimore for many years, so while reading this New York Times piece about Canton, I thought of some additional insider info I could share. First of all, no one calls the heart of the neighborhood by its real name, O’Donnell Square. But it was nice of Mr. Villano to fill us in on who Captain O’Donnell was. Locals just call it “the Square”.

Secondly, (and I’m sure some native Baltimoreans will argue with me on this one), I think that the very best crab dip in the city is served at Looney’s Pub. My mouth is watering as I write this…it’s the cheesiest, served with veggies and warm bread for dipping, and they’ll bring you more of either if you ask. It’s the best sports bar in town, at least through when I left there in 2005.

Next up, the beer. Sure, Yuengling is a popular beer in Baltimore, but what about Natty Boh, and the mustached grin that smiles down on Canton from a tower atop the former site of the National Brewery building? It’s Baltimore’s beer! The Boh man’s presence is also strongly felt within the walls of Nacho Mamas, an institution on Canton’s Square. (Shame on Mr. Villano for leaving this one out!) This Mexican eatery is small, so you almost always have to wait — but a visit to Baltimore is just not complete until you’ve sipped a margarita from a hubcap and signed your name in chalk on the bathroom wall. Need I say more?

Cliff Barnes: Stockholm’s Nightlife Done Right

by Grant Martin on

Next time you find yourself in Stockholm, consider visiting one of my favorite bars in the world: Cliff Barnes.

Now, I’ve been to a lot of bars in my day and I’m generally a person who’s fonder of the the quieter, lounge types of establishments. Sure, I’ve been dragged to a few clubs, but dancing really isn’t my forte.

Cliff Barnes is set up as a ski-lodge-esque sort of of drinking hall, with large dark tables, wooden trim and exotic wallpaper. When we got there at about 10:30, the line had just started and we could see the happy Swedes dining about their business within. Declining to check our coats on the way in, we were told by the bouncers “No, really. It’ll get hot in there.”

And hot it got. Milling about and enjoying the landscape at 11PM, the lights suddenly dropped and Also Sprach Zarathustra came on over the speakers. Followed by a five second pause. Followed by In The Navy. You get the picture. Not your average dance music by far, and therefore, outstanding. As you can probably guess, it didn’t take long for the happy Swedes and Americans alike to get on the tables and start swinging things around.

We later learned that Cliff Barnes was a recurring member of the telly show Dallas. A perfect name for a perfect bar.

Norrtullsgatan 45, 11345 Stockholm.

It’s Not Horrifying If You Can Eat It

by Abha Malpani on

Ever since I ate fried cockroaches in Thailand and rotten kangaroo tail in Australia, I love bringing up the ‘what’s the weirdest, most disgusting thing you’ve eaten’ topic; I normally beat everyone. It’s funny though how I can eat cockroaches, but I think caviar is disgusting.

The grossest thing I’ve eaten is eel. UGH. It was in a Korean restaurant in Wollongong (Australia) where we went with Korean classmates and (over) confidently asked them to order. UGGGHHH.

The most stomach-churning Spanish food which I haven’t had the courage to try yet is bull testicles.

Anyway, after looking at this recently published list of World’s Most Terrifying Food, bull testicles seem as good as eating grapes. Among the more, um, unusual foods are:

  • Escamoles (Mexico): Eggs of a giant ant that have the texture of cottage cheese.
  • Cazu Marzu (Sardinia, Italy): Sheep cheese infested with ‘cheese fly,’ in an advance stage of decomposition. It’s even illegal in Sardinia!
  • Lutefish (Norway): It’s a fish marinated in lye — a strong industrial chemical used to clean drains and kill plants; and apparently when the fish is drenched long enough in this lye thing, it can dissolve silver cutlery.
  • Baby mice wine (Korea): Beats the eel on a scale of grossness 100:1. This is a health tonic where baby mice are stuffed into a bottle of wine while alive! (I think I am going to throw up).
  • Pacha (Iraq): Boiled goat head. Well, in the Arab world fried goat brains and tongue is not uncommon, so this one didn’t gross me out.
  • Balut (Philippines): Duck eggs incubated until the fetus is almost a duck, but not quite; it’s then boiled alive and served out of buckets of warm sand.

Now let’s try and keep in focus that this is daily food of people around the world, and is not gross to them, let alone terrifying. I wonder if it’s unthinkable for people in Korea and China that in India some eat only vegetables grown above the ground — i.e. their food cannot have potato, onion or garlic. What must the rat-cat-eyeball eating people think of vegans?

The world is filled with unusual foods. What’s the strangest thing you have eaten on the road?

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Brussels: A City Without a Soul?

by Iva Skoch on

I just spent a few days in Brussels. It’s been a long time since I visited the capital of Belgium, well before it became the EU-conglomerate that it is now. Back then, the only thing I remembered about Brussels is that I didn’t really remember anything. Not because I was intoxicated, mind you. The city just didn’t make a huge impression on me.

Still, I wanted to keep an open mind about Brussels. Although I went there for a journalism conference hosted by the EU, not for pleasure, I liked it. The old town is picturesque and diverse, both architecturally and culturally. I had a couple of good Belgian beers, overdosed on pralines and even had a decent falafal.

On the plane back I was thinking about Brussels. I liked it but it didn’t really make an impression on me. I didn’t love it. I didn’t even hate it. I think I figured it out. Brussels is a city you visit for its particularly good elements (chocolate, beer, buildings…) not for the city’s soul.

(Thanks to Melanie & John for the picture of Brussels.)