Louisville’s Club Grotto

by Adrienne Wilson on

The atmosphere has been described as a safe place with mysterious touches from black and
white photographs hanging from the walls and gargoyles peering
out from restaurant corners.  A subtle clinging from wine glasses and slightly hushed dinner conversation bounces
off the walls at
Louisville’s, Club
Grotto and it seems the folks are happy about the return of Chef Michael New.  Regulars at the establishment
are also delighted to find new additions to the menu as well as some old favorites. 

Going from the review at the
Courier-Journal
online some delicious starters include exotic mushroom strudel, pecan-crusted brie, and grilled asparagus.  From
there you can go with a dish that fuses Southern U.S. tastes with that of Latin America like the New Orleans BBQ shrimp
or the three empanadas. Personally the empanadas do sound rather heavenly and a bit different from the
norm. There are several other additions that may be worth your time if you’re in this part of Kentucky, but even if you
aren’t and want to make the trip be sure to try the Vegetable Orgy, a mouth-watering entree with fresh seasonal
produce.  Oh yum!

The Kungsladen: Snow or Summer

by Erik Olsen on

Hard-core cross-country fans who want to bail on
their easy little local trails take notice. It might be time to take on a real challenge: The
Kungsladen, or King’s Trail in Sweden. The trail links Abisko and Sarek
national parks, and lies above the Arctic Circle, so pack your long underwear.

As you push your way along a 58-mile section of trail through the Kebnekaise Range, you will gaze upon some of the
most remote terrain in the world. You’ll climb slowly rising mountains and find shelter and warmth at places like the
Salka Mountain Hut.  Of course, dufing the summer, you can also find some kick-ass hiking if you head to the
Kungsladen and climb to the top of Sweden’s highest peak, 6,965-foot Mount Kebnekaise. Once there, cast your eyes to
the West and catch views of distant Norway. And when you’re weary, head back to Stockholm, and order yourself up a nice
Aquavit. Prost!

Caymanian Cuisine

by Adrienne Wilson on

Hungry
Monster

is a cool spot to find a glossary for different types of international cuisines. 
They’ve actually got information on almost anything that has to deal with food, be it
recipes, restaurants, dining guides, reviews,  jobs, and much more.  Seeing that I wasn’t looking
for anything in particular I took the time to check out some of the different world cuisines and learned
a tad about
Caymanian
food, which I had no prior knowledge.  For the most part it sounds a lot like Bahamian foods, lots of
seafood and traditional fare that if one desired could be found with some hunting.  The national dish of the
islands is still turtle served as a soup, stew or braised turtle steak.

The Poo Problem

by Erik Olsen on

Climbers face a lot of challenges when the decide to scale the world’s great peaks. Avalanches, grizzly bears,
altitude sickness. But few probably realize how dangerous is their own poo. Yes, I am sorry to say, but poo is
dangerous. No, it does not come alive at night and attack unsuspecting climbers when they sleep. Nor does it sometimes
explode when struck by the perfect combination of neutrinos (although scientists are currently studying this). But the
badness of poo comes from its nasty ability to harbor viruses and other nasty bugs, and this is making things
unpleasant for some climbers.

This article explains the
problem. On Mount McKinley in Alaska, the unsanitary conditions created by piles
of feces (heretofore known as Piles o’ Poo) often cause diarrhea among climbers. This, according to the report in the
journal Wilderness and Environmental Medicine. The numbers are clear: of 132 climbers interviewed on McKinley in the
summer of 2002, more than a quarter reported having trouble with diarrhea, and the poo is to blame. Clearly there is a
poo problem.

So what do you do? Well, it’s funny you should ask, because I have just come up with my latest a greatest new product
idea: The Poo Palace! Yes, the Poo Palace is a portable home for your poo. It looks like a regular doll-house but has a
retractable roof which is lifted and the poo is placed inside. There is poo furniture, a poo dinner table and even a
poo bean bag chair. Everything to make your poo comfortable and sanitary, therefore less prone to breed viruses or give
your poo the incentive to attack you at night (just to be safe).

Delicious Polish Eel?

by Adrienne Wilson on

Lisa never lets us know whether she liked her
specially made dinner or not, but
she smiles with false happiness spread across her face.  Her appetite was riding high
when she heard a dish had been prepared just for her visit in Lednica Lake located in Rybitwy, Poland. 
Adrianna, the owner of the agrotouristic made the announcement in Polish and filled with excitement.  This made
Lisa want to dig in more, until a plate of quartered slightly smelly eel was placed in front of
her.  Of course common courtesy kept Lisa from refusing what I’m sure had to be an absolutely
mouth-watering serving of eel and so she smiled and swallowed it down.  

What might you have done?  Discreetly chuck the eel under the table when no one is looking or grin
and bare it, like good old Lisa? Personally, as much as I like to try new things I would have had to refused and
that’s off of smell alone. Her story is this month’s winner at
Pilot Guides.