Travelog for: Mocha

Today we go around downtown Tarpon Springs.

We go to the Greek Heritage Museum, which unfortunately is closed.



We take a stroll around the park next to the museum.  It is nice weather.  The trees have Spanish moss hanging from them, giving them a romantic aura, or a ghastly look, depends on your take.





Look there is a little squirrel friend!



We have a good time at the park.  Wish we packed some picnic!



This is a monument for His Holiness Bartholomew, arch bishop of Constantinople, who visited in 2006.



The park is right by the bayou. 



Some days you can see manatee swimming here. We see two, but it's hard to catch them on the camera though, as you don't know when or where they will peek out from the water. 



The bayou leads out to the Gulf of Mexico.  There are several spots for people to unload their motor or man-powered boats, like these outrigger canoes, to go out to the gulf.  Or they can just paddle around inside the bayou and along the waterways leading out to the sea.





This house here looks very pretty!



We walk up to the main street.  This is the St. Nicholas Cathedral.  It is modeled after Hagia Sophia.



The statue is a memorial for those residents who fought in the wars.



You can see the Greek flag flying.



We spot a Greek bakery across the street.  We are not hungry so we will visit another time.

This is the room we are staying at.



The house has a beautiful patio where we can see the sea.  We like to read, use our computer or have our meals here.  The light sea breeze makes it very comfortable.



What a beautiful place this is! 



We enjoy watching the sun setting into the sea.

Boy, we are getting thirsty again!  LOL.  Today we go visit Dunedin Brewery, the oldest microbrewery in Florida.



The outside looks pretty good, almost like a German beer garden.  Let's see what's inside!



The brewing tanks here are much bigger than the other one we went to.



The inside has a cosy, funky atmosphere which we like immediately.



Oh, looks like we just missed the performing band.  : (



We have an apricot peach Ale and a gold ale.  They are both very delicious.  Also ordered some fried cheese curd, chicken wings, and more.  Yummy!

Today we go visit the Sponge Docks, which is the popular tourist destination in Tarpon Springs.



We walk along Dodecanese Avenue (named after the Dodecanese Islands of Greece).  There are a lot of Greek restaurants and shops selling sponges and Greek souvenirs.



This is how a sponge boat looks like.  While a 1894 newspaper article reported that Tarpon Springs did over a million dollars of business a year in the sponge industry, today there is hardly any sponge harvesting done here, due to costs and other factors.



This statue is a memorial to the divers. 



Look at all the sponges!  Most of them are imported from where costs are lower.



It's fun to play hide and seek among the sponges!!



We find this friendly sea turtle.



Oh Mommy!  Help!  I am going to be shark dinner!!!



What a scare!! Now we need some food!



Gyros is a Greek specialty.  You can see the stacks of pita bread and the roasting meat.


 
Yum!  It's so delicious.  The bread is soft and warm, and the tzaziki sauce creamy.



We also have a Spanakopita, spinach pie, which is very flaky.



Dessert time!  We go a few doors down to a bakery.



Look at all the baklava, flans, cookies and more!  My mouth is watering!



Mommy gets some of my favorite, the diples.  It's a thin waffle rolled up like a tube, with honey drizzled over it. 



What a fun trip but sadly it's time to go home. 



We pass the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  The Travel TV Channel rated the Sunshine Skyway #3 in its special on the "Top 10 Bridges" in the World.

Today we visit a place called Cauley Square.  This is originally a railroad depot from 1903.  Now, much of that downtown area, with its dozen of buildings, are preserved. 



The railroad is long gone, except for this little train here.



We walk around the village.



Most of the little houses are converted to either shops or restaurants. 





This weekend there is a Renaissance Festival going on.  Let's check it out!



What are these colorful things?



It's a society of glass blowers showing their work.



There is a booth for pan flute.



This lady is playing some lovely music on the harp.



There are many volunteers and workers dressed up in medieval clothings.



All these clothes look very interesting!



If you want to, you can go ahead and buy an outfit to join them!





Reward offered for my head!



I guess this rocking horse is like what our roller roaster is now!



These people are educating people about birds of prey.



Looks like we stumble into the camp of a crusader?



The sign looks medieval but the food definitely is not!  Ceviche?  Chili cheese fries?  And pray tell what is Peruvian donut?



Methink'st the medieval lords and knights will be stumped by the drink menu of pina colada and mojito too! 

Today we go get some bubble tea.  Enough beer for me already! ; )



The empanadas look very appertizing.



Look, they have some interesting goods on the shelf too!



We get the bubble tea with lychee tea.  Bubbles are tapioca balls that are chewy in texture. 



We want to take more pictures but the owner is not very nice and tell us we can't take pictures.... so we leave.

This morning bright and early we go to the airport.  I wonder where we are going?

This is some weird decoration on the wall at the terminal.  I guess they figure Miami is famous for the beach... and fishes too?



Look, here's our plane!



Mommy wants to bring everybody but cannot, as this is a work trip, and taking around a bunch of toys will seriously jeopardize her professional image.  LOL.  But she does want some company, so I get to come along.  And Genevona too, because while Mommy doesn't say where we will be going, she says it's a place a rat will really enjoy.  Now, that gets me really curious!

Okay, buckle up!



We arrive in Atlanta.  But Mommy says we are just changing planes.  So where are we going?

We arrived at our destination!!  Madison, Wisconsin! 





Madison is the state capital.  We come here to learn about cheeses.  Wisconsin is the largest cheese producing state in the U.S.; almost a quarter of production comes from here.  In fact, as a a state it produces more cheeses than the country of Italy!!  Needless to say, Genevora is super excited.  No wonder Mommy says she's the best companion. 

On our first day we do a little exploration around town.  It's a beautiful city.





It feels European in some way.









Look there are some maple trees!



And I find these maple keys, they contain the seeds.  I will take some home and hopefully grow a maple tree at home!



We are going around town w a mission.  We recently hear about a group called Little Free Library.  Being BookCrossers of course we get very excited with places to catch and release books.  Turns out Madison is the HQ of the group.  We decide to go hunt down some of these libraries. 

This one is outside a coffee shop.





Here's another one.



We also go and visit the founder.  He's in the picture here (though he doesn't know it!)



He shows us this beautifully painted library.  It will be dog themed.  We give him a copy of Marley and Me, as we have brought along quite a few books for releasing. 





We wish that we have a LFL where we live! 

Today we start our class at the University of Wisconsin.  The university has a big program on agriculture, including a dairy research center.  While we are excited to be here, my host explain that they may get alarmed about a rat appearing in a cheese plant.  So, we have to hide in her bag some of the time. 

Time to head to school! 



This used to be the barn where they keep the horses.



This is the stock pavilion.  In the past, the live stock would be exhibited inside, walking around a center stage.



This is their library.



The school has been around for a 150 years.



Constructed in 1897, this barn is the oldest building on campus.  The design is based on structures in Normandy.



Throughout the campus, they have these plaques which give information about various important agricultural and scientific discoveries.  This one is about immunity.



This one is about disease resistant plants.



This is one of their greenhouses.



Now we sit quietly for a while learning how cheese is made.



The university has some cows on campus!  We go to say hi.  As you can see, they are very friendly.



It's milking time!



Their milk is used to make ice cream that they sell on campus.  Of course, we decide to go visit.





According to this plaque, the building is named after Stephen Moulton Babcock, the inventor of the first reliable butterfat content milk test.  Before the test, it's hard to know if people who sold the milk diluted it with water.

They have some cheeses that are made on campus.



And of course, ice cream!  Look!  They have a mocha flavor!!



The ice cream is very delicious, and a great price too!



Hey what does this sign say?



Look, let's follow the spots!









Here we are!  Hmmm, can I just jump into the vat?

Today we go visit some cheesemakers.  We enjoy a scenic ride along the way.



The houses and barns look very pretty against the green pastures.







The Green County of Wisconsin is called "Little Switzerland of America", because its rolling green hills reminded Swiss immigrants very much of their homeland, who first came here around 1845 due to economic crisis back home.

We first visit Chalet Cheese Cooperative. They are the only place in the U.S. that makes the stinky limburger cheese.

Here is a formager flipping and rubbing the cheeses.



Now we watch the production of swiss cheese.  The curd is being stirred in the vat, so the whey will separate and drain out.



The curds are placed into rectangular molds, then age in the warm room, so that the bacteria can actively produce the gas holes that are characteristic of Swiss cheese.  They are made in squares instead of rounds because most of them are used for slicing for sandwiches.



Here you can see the holes on the sample the cheesemaker is holding.



The village of New Glarus was settled in 1845, and named after the Glarus canton of Switzerland.  After 160 years the Swiss heritage is still very visible.  Many Swiss customs are still alive in New Glarus, including the card game Jass, yodeling, and flag tossing.  Many of the buildings are built in the chalet style.



This is a hotel and restaurant.  We stop by for lunch.





We tried Spätzle and other dishes.  And some beer from a local brewery.



Next we visit Emmi Rothkase.  They are part of the Emmi group from Switzerland.



You can see the aging room where thousands of wheels American gruyere are being aged.  Four robots are used to flip the wheels twice a day. 



Hmmm, this may be a tasty wheel, they keep sampling from it!

Today we continue to visit more cheesemakers.  We pass by more green pastures and farms.









Can you see all the wind turbines in the background?



This is our first destination, Salemville Cheesehouse.



This cheesehouse is operated by Amish, a group of people who came from Europe in the 18th century to practice their religion.  Today their descendants continue to speak Pennsylvania German in addition to English, and they live a simple way of life shunning modern technologies.   

The cheese house collect milk from 40 farms in the neighborhood, no more than 15 miles away.  Some farms have as few as five cows.  All cows are hand milked, without use of machine or electricity, and delivered to the cheese house in 10 gallon milk cans.  The manager comes to work in a horse and buggy, and spot a large beard to indicate that he is married.



The Amish people believe deeply in not creating human images and so we are warned many times not to take pictures of them.  So we take pictures of the cheeses instead.  These are cheeses sitting in a salt bath.



The wheels are pierced so the blue mold can develop.



I don't usually care for blue cheeses but these are pretty delicious!



Their crumbled cheese is packed by hand.  In a room, young Amish girls work in a group.  One girl will scope some crumbles into a container, the second will weigh it on a scale and adjust by adding or taking a few crumbles.  After the container is put on, another girl stands by and put labels on the lid one by one from a roll of labels.  Another girl dates the containers and pack them into a box.  At another table, one will cut apart a wheel while other girls hand wrap the pieces.

Next we go to a very different farm. 



Crave Brothers is formed by four brothers.  One is in charge of growing the crops that feed the cows, one in charge of the herd (they have 1500 cows), one take cares of cheese production and one look after the books.  So, they grow the crop that feed their cows, and the milk are piped to the factory to be made into cheese.  Amazing, isn't it?

Let's go say hi to the cows.



This is where the calves are kept.



They are so cute!



When the calves grow up, they are allowed to roam in the pasture.



This structure is where they recycle the manure.  Animal waste is a big pollution problem for farms.  Here, they treat their manure.  Enough methane gas is produced to power the farm and factory plus three hundred houses in the area.  The nitrogen extracted is used to fertilize their farm.  The leftover dry matter is used for bedding for the animals.  Their green practice has won them several awards.



At the cheese plant, the curd are stirred then put into a machine to be stretched.



The mozzarella balls are coming off the mold!



Which are then packed into containers.



What an interesting trip this is! 

Today we discover a garden inside the University.



It looks very beautiful inside.  The tall purple flowers are called allium Mt Everest.



This is the Iris Garden, with, as the name suggests, many varieties of irises.  Which one is your favorite?







Next we walk into the Italian Garden.  It's too early yet for the plants to bloom.







This peony is called Scarlett O'Hara, named after the character in the famous novel Gone With The Wind.



We see a lot of big leaved plants. This one has a funny name, Big Momma Hosta.





This one has a prettier name, Angelia Stonecrop.





Ah, Alpine Lady's Mantle.  What a romantic name!





Look! The maple leaves are all red.



Look there is a mandarin duck in the pond!



I don't know what this is called but it looks like miniature roses.



These are called Caramel Coral Bell and Blackout Coral Ball.  Curious names!





Now we enter the rock garden.







Hey are we in the English garden?



I have to say this is a pretty garden.







I am not very good at reading sun dial but my watch says it's time to go to class again!

Today we visit the Gulfstream Park.  First opened on Wednesday February 1, 1939, it held the first Florida Derby in 1952 and today continue to be an important horse racetrack, and has a casino and shopping area. 

There is no horse racing today, and we cannot go in to see the race track.  But we explore around the place a bit.





We go around to visit the shops.  There are quite a few shops and restaurants in the complex. 





The architecture is again very typical Florida style, with the tropical palm trees and Mediterranean influence buildings.



Look who we bump into!

Today we go to try out some food trucks.  It is really popular now.  We visit some a few months back when we did a release for the BookCrossing monopoly.



Let's check them out!  This one sells burgers.



This one has tacos.



This one has arepa (corn pancakes) with cheeses.



Ah we find what we are looking for, Ben and Jerry ice cream!!  It's our host's famous ice cream.  Their truck goes around different cities to give out free ice cream.  Today is its last day in Miami, so we make sure to seek it out and find out where it goes today.



This year they are promoting frozen yogurt, which is very popular now.  Oh I am feeling hungry already!!



Hmm what flavor should I pick?



We get a cup of raspberry frozen yogurt.



Yumm!



There are some tables under the shade there!



We enjoy our fish taco at the table.  The tacos are made with corn tortilla.  We squeeze on a little lime juice and hot sauce. 

Today we visit the Miami History Museum.



The first exhibit we visit is about Guayabera.  It's a style of shirt that is popular in South and Central America, and has become ubiquitous in Miami as a popular clothing style of the Cuban Americans.

It explains the defining styles of a Guayabera.  It has plaits and four pockets, among other features.





We find out how the shirt comes to be called a guayabera.  They think that the many pockets are used to store guava.  Hmm.  Wonder if they develop a shirt for oranges and bananas too?





Over time, the styles evolve somewhat.



They also make guayabera for women, children and dogs too!!  I wonder what they carry in their pockets?





Next we go upstairs for a historic tour of South Florida.  AT the stairs, is a flamingo statue dedicated to the Heat Basketball team.