What’s the most delicious thing you’ve ever eaten?

Hmmmmm, that’s a tough one…

I am not a champagne and caviar kind of girl. Nor do I go in for calamari and escargot.

My tastes run much simpler than that…

Some good chicken or beef and broccoli is a really good eat and I do love me some cheesecake and key lime pie.

A nice piece of venison or even reindeer is about as exotic as I get.

But I have to admit that those weeks I spent in Russia were very interesting in more ways than one.

There are some American restaurant/fast food chains in places all over the world.

In Russia, the Pizza Hut doesn’t put the sauce on the pizza; if you ask, they will bring you some sauce in a bowl. I know, weird right???

But at McDonalds one of the parts in the contract is that the establishments must use local products. And that includes the cows, vegetables, and bread.

There was nothing like walking down the road and being assaulted by the aroma of a fresh bakes loaf of bread…and at 50 rubles (about five cents) it was a bargain! But, you had to buy two loaves because one of them would be half eaten by the time you reached your destination!

But, back to McDonalds…milk isn’t pasteurized in Russia like it is in the United States and it gives the milk a whole different …to me better…taste; they feed the cows differently too and the meat REALLY tastes better.

I am VERY picky about where I order a hamburger…and in the U.S. McDonalds isn’t one of them, but in Russia, I ate my share and probably a couple of other people’s while I was at it. There were no McD’s in St. Petersburg but they had three of them in Moscow and I learned which Metro went by one of them :). Stocked up on a few to bring back on the train when we headed back to St Petersburg too. Oh, and those apple pies…as they say, to die for!

Funny story, luncheon was a part of the deal every day; we were on our own for breakfast and dinner. After class we would head to the hotel on the corner for lunch. At the table was bread – white and dark, butter, and a plate of tomatoes and cucumbers. We were served soup – I don’t like borscht 🙁 – and then a main course which was always some form of beef – don’t ask, don’t tell – and potatoes in some form.

Americans have acquired a reputation around the world of arrogant, loud, and spoiled. The largely young college students I was with were in many ways typical Americans – demanding ice for their juice, etc.

Back to the story…every day it was meat and potatoes, which sparked numerous complaints (not from me); so when we got to Moscow, the first thing a bunch of them did was head to McDonalds for hamburgers and french fried – meat and potatoes!

Wish I could find me some of that kiwi juice I found in St. Petersburg; that stuff was great!