Rio Carnival Starting...

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a world famous festival held before Lent every year and considered the biggest carnival in the world with two million people per day on the streets. The first festivals of Rio date back to 1723 Rio is second biggest city of Brazil where is the site of carnival place. Rio carnival is arranged every February and 40 days ago of the Easter. Traditionally, carnival has been on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Rio Carnival is known all around the world and people visit to enjoy carnaval in Rio de Janerio every year. One of the greatest elements of the Rio Carnaval is that it not only provides entertainment for many people around the world but it also gives a chance to learn about the true culture of Brazil. Carnival is very important to the Brazilians, it sums up their culture. Rio carnival is effected everybody all around the Brazil and off course all around the world. Brazilian carnival was being started from old Indian tradition.

Rio Carnival is the result of months of preparation. People eagerly anticipate the start of each year's Rio Carnival. It begins with the crowning of the Fat King (King Momo), who is presented with a giant silver and gold key by the city's mayor. It is a euphoric event where people dance, sing, party and have tons of fun. There are many parties that take place before, during and after Carnival all night and all day. It allows someone's true heart to come out and have as much fun as possible.

As the parade is taking place in the Sambadrome and the balls are being held in the Copacabana Palace and beach, many of the carnival participants are at other locations. Street festivals are very common during carnival and are highly populated by the locals.

With the combination of the parade, the balls, and the street carnivals, Rio’s carnival is said to be the greatest show on Earth. As the Rio de Janeiro handbook states, The Rio carnival is probably the most famous party in the world.

This year Rio carnival will be on February 18th 2012. Book your hotel online with GalaHotels. http://www.galahotels.com/Hotels/Brazil/Rio_De_Janeiro.aspx

Delicious French Cuisine

" French Macarons "

French cuisine is one of most popular cuisine in the World. French Desserts, chicken, red meat, fishes, seafoods, game meat, cheeses, wine are known all around the World. Cuisine-France provides some of the most popular french cuisine recipes.

" Famous French Cheese "

They all come out from the tradition of french cuisine and the recipes follows the same steps and techniques used in France for centuries. France is a country made of diverse regions with different weather, various landscapes, specific traditions. The regional french cuisine is a snapshot of the products available in one region, of its history and tradition.

" Escargot Bordeaux- Famous French Dish"

" Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Pickled Pear "

" Pot au feu-beef stew with mixed vegetables "

" Cassoulet-Duck with different sausages served with white beans "

" French Lamb dish with wine "

" Foie gras (fatty duck or goose liver) "

" Creme Brulee "

" French Profiteroles "

" French Tart "

" Chocolate Mousse "

French cuisine has three meals and these are breakfast,lunch and dinner. French people eat croissant, baguette with butter,pain au chocolate-chocolate cake. In lunch French people drink mineral water or wine and eat cheese, dessert and traditional french dishes.

" Croissants and Pain au Chocolat "

A recipe from this blog is a cooking way to visit the country and the regions ! Enjoy your meal in French: Bon appétit !!!

Venice Bridges

From bare necessity, the bridges have turned in to actual symbols of the city, & are among the most representative features of Venice. Moreover each bridge, from the smallest to the most important one, from the public to the private ones, gives something more to this glorious city, & offers unique sights to tourists. There's over 350 bridges all around the city, but some of them are definitely more famous than others, & can be regarded as important monuments of the city.
The two bridges on the Grand Canal, in particular, are among the best-known bridges of Venice, & are crossed every day by tourists & by the Venetians, . Built on the most important waterway of the city, which divides Venice in two parts & is lined with some of the most important buildings of the lagoon city, these bridges are tourist attractions & indispensable constructions to link the two banks of the canal & make it simpler to visit the city.
The first bridge that was built on the Grand Canal, & most probably the most famous bridge in Venice, is Rialto Bridge. The bridge that they can still see nowadays was built in 1588, but the first bridge on this zone was built in 1175: it was a bridge on boats, which was replaced by a fixed bridge in 1265. After the collapse of this wooden bridge, a firmer one had to be built, & lots of architects made their proposals. Antonio Da Ponte’s projects won: he had projected an Istrian stone bridge (a material that has been often used in Venice), made up of two ramps hosting shops & covered by an elegant portico.
Until the 19th century the Rialto Bridge was the only bridge on the Grand Canal, but in 1854 the Accademia Bridge, its name deriving from the nearby Gallerie dell’Accademia, was built. In the beginning it was an iron bridge, but to keep away from its deterioration another material needed to be chosen: thus a contest was announced for the project of a stone bridge. Meanwhile, a temporary wooden bridge designed by Eugenio Mozzi was built, & it's seldom been replaced, becoming the definitive bridge.
The third bridge in Venice, the Scalzi Bridge, also called Station Bridge because it is close to Santa Lucia Railway Station, was designed by Eugenio Mozzi & rebuilt in 1932. In lieu of the Istrian stone single span bridge that they see now, before 1932 there was an iron bridge, which had been built by the Austrians in 1858.
The last bridge to be built on the Grand Canal, the Constitution Bridge, was recently realised to connect the Station to Piazzale Roma. The bridge, born of a project by the great architect Santiago Calatrava, was inaugurated in September 2008, & although it is a contemporary work, it's some features which are typical of Venice monuments, like Istrian stone, which has been used together with other materials (steel, glass & bronze).
Besides the two bridges spanning the Grand Canal, there's other fascinating bridges in Venice that tell us something about the city’s history & that, for this reason, are worth visiting, like the Bridge of Sighs, the Bridge of the Tits & the Bridge of Fists.

The Traveler’s Thai Kitchen: 50 Thai Dishes for Small Kitchens

I’ve been dabbling with Thai cooking since settling down in Chiang Mai, Thailand — but I wanted to do more. I now find myself with an apartment equipped with a kitchen, albeit a small one, with just a two grill stove top. The idea for this series came from a simple realization: I could learn how to cook Thai food, just by buying local ingredients and recreating my favorite dishes at home. So I started making a list. It was supposed to be 10 dishes. Then I stretched it to 30. By the time it hit 50, I knew that it was way more than I could ever share on this blog. Seriously, I know people like seeing some cool Thai food, but 50 recipes? I had to find somewhere to write about this.

So I’ve decided to create this series on Facebook. I’ll be posting one picture of each dish plus a few notes and the recipe. FB handles image galleries pretty well, so if you want to follow along, the pics are going to look great.

How to follow the series: Watch my facebook page for updates. Everything starts on November 1st, 2011. (Note: the series will not be on almostfearless.com, only on the FB).

The food

I’ll be updating these dishes with links to the photo/recipe as they are posted. You can also bookmark the album on Facebook.

Appetizers
Steamed Thai Dumplings, “Pun Sip Neung”
Thai Fresh Spring Rolls, “Pa Pia Sod”
Thai fried spring rolls, “Poh Pia Tod”

Curries
Roasted Duck & Red Curry, “Kaeng Phed Ped Yang”
Stir-Fried Fish in Red Curry, “Pad Ped Pla”

Thai green chicken curry, “Gaeng khiao wan gai”

Thai Green Curry Shrimp with Noodles

Thai hot yellow fish curry, “Gaeng Lueng”

Thai masaman chicken, “Gaeng masaman gai”

Thai panang curry with pork, “Panang moo”

Thai red chicken curry, “Gaeng ped gai”

Desserts
Bananas in Sticky Rice, “Khao Tom Mad”
Black & White Sticky Rice Pudding With Coconut Milk and Fresh Fruit
Thai Pumpkin Custard, “Sankaya Phak Tong”
Thai Sticky Rice with Mango, “Khao Neeo Mamuang”

Drinks
Lychee sunrise cocktail

Papaya Margarita

Tamarind Vodka Cocktail

Thai Iced Tea

Meats
Pork Leg on Rice, “Khao Kha Moo”
Steamed Chicken Chiang Mai, “Gai Muang Nung Kreung Gaeng Nua”
Thai cashew chicken, “Gai pad med mamuang himaphan”

Thai chicken satay

Thai chicken with holy basil, “Pad Kra Pao Gai”

Thai drunken chicken wings, “Peek gai mao daeng”

Thai style pork with peanut sauce, “Phraram long song”
Thai sweet and sour spareribs, “See klong prio wan”

Noodles
Drunkards Noodles, “Pad Kee Mao”
Larb w/Glass Noodle & Minced Pork, “Larb Woonsen Moo Sap”
Thai Chiang Mai curry noodles, “Khao soi”
Thai crispy stir fried noodles, “Mee krob”
Thai fried noodles, “Pad Thai”
Thai style wide noodles in thick sauce, “Kuatiao radna”

Thai Stir Fried Wide Rice Noodles, “Pad Si-iew”

Salads
Thai beef salad, “Yum neua”

Green papaya salad, “Som tum”
Thai seafood salad, “Yam talay”

Seafood

Spicy Fish Cakes, “Tod Man Pla”

Stir Fried Tamarind Shrimp, “Goong Pad Nam Makham Piek”
Sugarcane Prawns, “Goong Pan Oi”
Thai curried crab claws, “Bu pad phong kari”
Thai Fried Clams in Roasted Chile Paste, Hoy Lai Ped

Soups

Piquant prawn soup with lemon grass, “Tom yum koong”

Pumpkin in Coconut Soup with Shrimp, “Phaktong Tom Kati”

Thai beef noodles soup, “Kuaitiao neua”

Thai Chicken Coconut Soup, “Tom Kha Gai”

Tom Kha Salmon, by the Prime Minister of Thailand

Vegetarian
Thai stir-fried pumpkin, Pad Phuk Tong
Thai Vegetarian Curry, “Kaeng Phak”

Thai vegetarian peanut noodles
Vegetarian Thai stir-fried squash and mushrooms, “Phak thong phat het”

All content has been taken from  Christine Gilbert's http://almostfearless.com/2011/10/15/the-travelers-thai-kitchen-50-thai-dishes-for-small-kitchens/