How many of you, after traveling abroad, sought out those foreign things you learned and loved in your native land?

Personally, I have become a slight Anglophile and have started watching the BBC channel and finding places that have good shepard's pies....sigh.

Hey how many threads are there to keep up with you

bob, like you and I, she must be bored this evening. I did the full house cleaning getting ready for trip stuff today. Now is down time.

so where are you off to

Flybob, you obviously haven't read many of my ridiculous amount of posts lately. I'm off to Amsterdam (4 nights), Bruges (3 nights), Brussels and Antwerp (2 nights each). I leave my house at 4am on Thursday morning. And since I like a clean house to come home to, I did the big dusting, vacuuming all nooks and crannies, polishing hardwood floors, etc. today. Tomorrow I do the laundry. Oh, and my many posts is in part due to the fact that I'm off work right now.

Amsterdam and Bruges are really great.Antwerp i can miss as it does not have too much charm. Where do you stay in Amsterdam?

Flybob, you coming to stalk me? You ARE too young for me LOL I'm staying at Hotel Aspen actually. 3rd floor (i.e. 4th in American standards), no lift, no tv, no breakfast. BUT...the rooms are supposed to be a decent size as well as the en suite bathroom and shower.

NO worries i am interested as i sometimes stay in the Krasnapolski on Dam square

That's one hotel I've yet to hear of. It's my first REAL international trip, unless you count Puerto Vallarta and Jamaica (I live in Cali). I've done so much reading and research, I feel like I've taken this trip already

never been out to US, i mainly go to the far east for my vacations, having said that i went to the Cayman Islands 7 years ago

Oh birthdaygirl, shepherd's pie is one of the easiest things to make for yourself - you can make it almost a whole meal in one dish if you add enough veg. Everyone's got their own variations.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/s...ks,713,RC.html

Being an old biddy, I still think of shepherd's or cottage pie as a way to use up leftovers.
You mince up a bit of the leftover Sunday roast, add some leftover veg. and leftover gravy, bung on a layer of mashed potato and Robert is your proverbial.

I wouldn't make it from scratch, buying the ingredients specially.