willkommen bienvenue welcome

for the past two weekends, we have attended embassy open houses. weekend one was non-EU countries, and although they were cultural and educational and pretty, only bangladesh had ample free food. we did have to sit through a brief talk on how the people of bangladesh were entrepreneurial and hardworking, and how bangladeshi stocks were undervalued. serbia also had some egg bread and cheese egg tart bread and hazelnut chocolate which luckily laura dislikes. i also enjoyed the garden at the serbian embassy.

the importance of planning in the great success of these quests cannot be underestimated. with our map and laura's list of open house descriptions with food opportunities highlighted, we were able to maximize cultural and culinary intake and minimize line-standing.

we made friends at the embassy of sri lanka.

on weekend two, Euro weekend, food was more plentiful. We breezed through Luxembourg at 10:01 am and immediately queued for Greece, the holy grail. What a beautiful spread. Yogurt and honey, ouzo candies (gross), bread and olive oil, cheese pie, feta with little greek flag toothpicks, stuffed grape leaves, olives, and then an adjoining room full of pastries and cookies and baklava! when our compatriot Niketa arrived we went through the buffet again. We are friends of the Greeks. The following picture is actually from Bulgaria, but the happiness lingers.

for me, the real jackpot was the netherlands. the people were tall and welcoming, and they gave me stroopwafels. niketa and laura and i each took two, and luckily i enjoy stroopwafels most vehemently and niketa and laura donated theirs to my cause.

i guess next time i have to take some pictures of laura. at the EU commission to the US they made us fill out an irritating quiz to get a free tote bag. we also got miniature pocket size books that detailed our fundamental rights in the EU.

we were overwhelmed with success. and on weekend two we didnt make no fool mistake of eating breakfast beforehand. LEARN BY DOING