Hospital-themed restaurant in Latvia. Check in like a patient and order up a meal

by Jamie Rhein on

Here’s another unsual restaurant that joins the ranks of off beat eateries like the Toilet Restaurant in Taiwan.

In Riga, Latvia, folks who head to the restaurant Hospitalis check in as if they are patients in a hospital. Once seated in the midst of operating tables, medical equipment and other hospital related paraphenelia, nurses wait on them.

The nurses are not real nurses, just dressed that way. Kind of. Their attire looks more like the va va va voom variety than the nurses who wear sensible shoes. Also, they can play the violin.

By the looks of the menu, this is not a restaurant with everyday food either. The offerings tilt toward the creative and interesting, particularly if you like fish.

In this recent post about Hospitalis in Jaunted, Victor Ortis, who lived in Riga after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, describes the drinks as being served in beakers and test tubes and the food in flasks and operating room dishes.

Although it doesn’t sound as if Ortis has eaten here, he surmises that the fact Hospitalis exists might indicate that Latvia has moved up in the culinary world from the days he ate a “Flake Burger–a thin, nondescript slice of meat on a waffle.

The photos are from Hospitalis’s website. The nurses were playing the violin during the restaurant’s opening.

Hemingway’s house and museum remains a cat haven: 60 cats can stay

by Jamie Rhein on

When Ernest Hemingway lived in his house in Key West, Florida, penning For Whom the Bell Tolls and To Have and Have Not, his cat Snowball must already have been busy procreating. Although Snowball is no longer with us–he was given to Hemingway in 1935–his six-toed offspring still live at the house, along with their other cat buds. In all, there are 60 or more.

The cats have been part of the house’s ambiance much to the dismay of folks who don’t appreciate a slew of cats wandering about Key West wherever they please. There was a move to have the cats removed.

According to this Jaunted post, the five-year negotiation about what should happen to the cats is over, and the cats can stay. A fence around the Ernest Hemingway House and Museum was found to be a solution.

Jaunted wondered why it took five-years to make a decision. I’d say perhaps there was a love-hate relationship with those cats.

The tourists who have visited the house seemed to enjoy the felines since they are a living connection to Hemingway. Plus, this literary cat haven helps take care of Key West’s cat population.

When I read about the cats, I was reminded about traveling in Venice, Italy one summer. I have never seen so many cats in one city in my life.

Here’s the link to the museum’s page on the cats. Browse through the names. I’m particularly fond of Spencer Tracy’s photo which you see here. He may look a bit like Snowball is my thinking–a slimmer version, perhaps.

Guide on traveling like a local in Cambodia

by Jamie Rhein on

No, I haven’t traveled like a local in Cambodia, but from how Tim Patterson describes it at Jaunted, my local travel in The Gambia sounds close. His line about both butt checks falling asleep at the same time brought back memories.

As one of his entries for the Embedded Travel Guide to Cambodia, a series where he blogs about his experiences staying in a guest house in Sihanoukville, Patterson describes the various ways one can get from point A to point B in that country. The emotions he highlights are shock, misery and exhilaration–perfect word choices for capturing the flavor of many of the experiences I’ve had while shouldering my way into a bush taxi, or bobbing along in ramshackle boat without a life jacket and the shore almost too far away to see.

For anyone heading to a place where transportation is an assortment of tuk-tuks, fishing boats, buses, bamboo rafts, regular boats, motorcycles, cyclos, regular taxis, pick-up trucks, or heaven knows what else–ox carts, for example, Patterson’s guide is a great way to familiarize yourself with what’s out there and how to play it safe as best you can.

Patterson’s idea is you jump on, have fun, but know the risk. I second his emotions. Besides, you’ll end up with some great tales to tell and you won’t even have to embellish the details to make the stories more fantastic.

[Photo from Jaunted. Clicking on it brings you to Patterson’s guide.]

Amazing Race 13 cast revealed: Yeah!

by Jamie Rhein on

Joy! Rapture! A bit of excitement is heading to Sunday night TV on September 28 at 8 PM on CBS. Yes, folks. The Amazing Race returns. This round is season 13.

The cast has been revealed and is now up at the Amazing Race website. Thanks to Jaunted for giving me the heads up when I received my daily Jaunted missive yesterday.

There’s a link in the Jaunted post to the L.A. Times travel blog, “Daily Travel and Deal.” Here, editor Maret Orliss, senior programming manager for Los Angeles Times Events presents her impressions of each couple after chatting with them in person.

As usual, there are the team combos that we’ve come to know and count on for good TV:

  • The blondes
  • The parent/child where someone wants to bond more with the other
  • The incredibly competent couple who gets along so well that you’re left wondering what the hell is wrong with your own life
  • The couple whose non-stop squabbling is something you recognize, or if you’re lucky, leaves you feeling like the couple in the above example.
  • The older couple who is too sweet for words and have a snowball’s chance in hell of ever winning
  • The sibling pair who think that each of them are the best thing since sliced bread
  • The pair who is sure they will win because of they are so much better qualified than any others. Duh.

I’ll miss seeing two of the couples from last season when I tune in. They are:

Kynt and Vyxsin, the Goth pair who I consistently rooted for, and Donald and Nick, the grandfather/grandson team who came in second. Don was the oldest contestant to do so well and watching the two of them was TV worth watching.

Here are the countries the teams hoped to see by being Season 13 contestants, according to Orliss’s reporting. As we watch this season, let’s see if any of them get to go to the country of their dreams.

  • Latvia
  • Argentina
  • Italy
  • Greece
  • New Zealand
  • Egypt or another African country
  • Tibet
  • Nepal
  • Mongolia
  • Fiji
  • Israel

Click here for the video clip of “Meet the Cast.” As Phil Keoghan, the host of the show says, one reason to tune in week after week is that this is a chance to see “Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

Minneapolis’s outdoor art experience

by Jamie Rhein on

Two summers ago we spent a few days in Minneapolis visiting friends, a visit several years after my first trip here. Both times it struck me how lovely the city is. Minneapolis is one of those gorgeous urban spots in the world that pays attention to how public and private space work together to create an environment everyone can enjoy.

The architecture in Minneapolis is a large part of its visual scene. Its buildings often end up winning awards for their design. Here are a sampling of what you’ll find of particular note. These are new buildings that were commissioned as a tribute to Minneapolis’s dedication to the arts: Children’s Theatre Company; Guthrie Theater, Central Library, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center and Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum.

All featured on the Meet Minneapolis Web site and are places you might consider putting on your itinerary. Here’s a link that leads to the descriptions. The Weisman Art Museum was designed by Frank Gehry thus is my particular favorite.

However, my favorite aspect of visual pleasure was when we spent an evening walking among the sculptures at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden outside the Walker Arts Center. This is an eclectic mix of styles set in among flower beds, a conservatory, an arbor and wide open spaces.

This year marks 20th year since the garden has been open. Jaunted tipped me off to the two artist designed mini-golf courses that have been added to the space as part of the celebration. It costs to play the courses but you can see them for free. The rest of the garden is free as well.

Here’s another opportunity for a public art feast, you can also tour the University of Minnesota’s campus where there is an extensive public art program. Tours are available from May and October. Here’s the link for that info.