Steve's sandbox

Tag: Wine

  • Where to eat and drink in St Petersburg: food, wine, and nightlife:

    Где пить и есть в Петербурге. Еда, вино, ночная жизнь.

    РУССУИЙ ЯЗЫК

    When I’m not studying, I’m guarding former Imperial residences.

    Когда мы (как западные люди) говорим о Петербурге некоторые люди думают о советском городе, в котором нет ресторанов и баров. Это неправда. Сейчас Санкт-Петербург – очень динамичный и современный город со множеством отличных мест, которые я нашла здесь и я хотела бы поделиться с вами! Если вы любите есть, пить и танцевать, как я, вам понравится этот отчет.

    1. Бекицер
    Замечательный и модный бар и ресторан на улице Рубинштейна. Здесь вы можете попробовать израильскую кухню в центре Петербурга, и для этого вам не нужен паспорт! Оригинальные блюда, наполненные пряными и необычными вкусами. Я рекомендую фалафели и шварму… вы не пожалеете! Что касается алкоголя то там очень вкусное израильское вино. А также дружелюбные официанты и хорошая атмосфера.

    A snow-topped Higher School of Economics.

    2. Бонч
    Большая и хипстерская гастрономичная кофейная на Большой Морской недалеко от Невском Проспекта. Красивый дизайн интерьера и отличное место, чтобы поучиться. В Бонче тихо и светло, а также вкусная еда для мотивации. У них удивительное меню с этетическим большим выбором и я рекомендую вам попробовать ваниль маффины, если вы любите сладкое, как я. Можно провести много времени в этой кофейне с друзьями. Благодаря панорамным окнам здании на улица кажется величественным вы можете хорошо отдохнуть. Также там вежливый персонал и быстрое обслуживание.

    3. Мишка бар
    Это не большой бар но размер ни так важен! Мне очень нравится этот бар, потому что музыка там всегда отличная. В Мишка мне нравится пить коктейли и шоты, потому что они вкусные и дешевые. Оно идеально подходит для встречи с друзьями, чтобы танцевать всю ночь на танцполе. По-моему мнение, этот бар очень похож на некоторые любимые бары в восточном Лондоне. Приезжаете! Вы не пожалеете!

    The 3rd April 2017 marked an absolutely heartbreaking moment in my time here in St Petersburg. The terror attack on the metro shook the whole city. We were horrified and saddened by the loss of lives in this senseless attack. An official nationwide mourning was observed for 3 days after the incident and flowers and candles decorated streets and metro stations around the city. I was close to the commotion as it happened, but I was very lucky to have not been hurt. As a foreigner and visitor to this aptly-named Hero City, I am with the Russian people in thinking about the innocent civilians who lost their lives on this tragic day.

    ENGLISH

    Where to eat and drink in St Petersburg: food, wine, and nightlife.

    Nothing is more Russian than drinking chai from a Putin mug

    When we, as Westerners, think about St Petersburg, some of us think of a Soviet city devoid of restaurants and bars. This is not the case. Nowadays, St Petersburg is a very dynamic and modern city in which I’ve discovered many great places, and I want to share them with you! If, like me, you love to eat, drink, and dance, then you will enjoy this report.

    1. Bekitzer
    In the heart of St Petersburg, you can try some Israeli cuisine in this stylish and cool restaurant and bar on Rubenstein Street. No passport required! The dishes are original, full of spices and unusual flavours. I recommend the falafel and the shawarma… you will not regret it! In terms of alcohol, they have some really delicious Israeli wine. The atmosphere is great and the waiters are friendly.

    2. Bonch
    This large, hipster gastro-coffee shop is located on Bol’shoi Morskoi, not too far from Nevsky Prospekt. The interior design is beautiful and this is a really great place in which to study. Bonch is well lit and quiet, serving delicious food too in order to motivate you. The menu is really great, with a large, aesthetically pleasing choice of dishes. I recommend that you try the vanilla muffins, if, like me, you have a sweet tooth. Thanks to the large, panoramic windows you have a view of the grandiose buildings. It’s possible that you could spend a lot of time here relaxing with friends. The staff is really polite and the service is prompt.

    I took this picture in mid February and the temperature was somewhere around the -20c mark. My hands were so so frozen in the 10 seconds I risked going gloveless to take this picture! I love the colours of this building, and standing in the Hermitage courtyard is intimidating and fascinating at the same time, due to the sheer size of it! The show looks and feels almost like a feathery carpet. For miles in the city all one would see was white.

    3. Mishka bar
    This bar is small but size does not matter! I really like this bar because the music is always great. I tend to drink cocktails and shots in Mishka because they’re cheap and they taste great. This place is perfect for meeting up with friends to dance the night away on the dance floor. This bar is really similar to some of my favourite bars in East London, in my opinion. You all should get yourselves to Mishka bar; you will not regret it!

    Mishka Bar

  • Sian Summerton, Barcelona, Spain – February 2015

    Sian Summerton, Barcelona, Spain – February 2015
     ¡Mis primeras semanas en Barcelona!

    Llegué en Barcelona al principio de enero. Acabé de pasar seis meses en Francia, así que estaba un poco preocupada por el choque cultural y el cambio de idioma.

    Durante las vacaciones de Navidad, entre mis periodos de prácticas distintos, pasé un par de semanas en casa, leyendo tanto como sea posible sobre Barcelona, organizando mi alojamiento y ordenando mi seguridad social.

    En cuanto llegué, primero estaba golpeada por el tamaño de la ciudad y segundo por el uso amplio de catalán dentro de la ciudad que es, fundamentalmente, bilingüe. Afortunadamente, había finalizado un curso corto de catalán antes de mudarme a Francia, lo que significa que, junto con mi conocimiento de francés y español, podía entender el significado de muchas palabras catalanas.
    Elegí vivir con una estudiante española de doctorado que es de Barcelona, y no habla nada inglés.
    Para mí, éste era perfecto como sabía que el apartamento sería tranquilo y acogedor, pero también tendría un montón de oportunidades de hablar en español, ¡y de vez en cuando en catalán básico!

    Actualmente trabajo 40 horas cada semana para una empresa española de vinos y destilados que se llama Decántalo, principalmente en marketing, comunicación y traducción. Me tomó varios días para conseguir mi cabeza del vocabulario español relevante y la gama de programas de software y bases de datos complejas, pero la verdad es que ahora puedo decir que confío en este trabajo y estoy disfrutando mucho esta oportunidad.

    La mayoría del día dedico a atender las consultas de clientes y la generación de pedidos de todo tamaño, desde pequeños envíos privados hasta los por mayor. Tengo mucho trabajo a hacer en los impuestos, sobretodo porque a menudo trabajo con los clientes suizos que, por lo tanto no pagan impuestos europeos. El idioma común en la oficina es español, con un interno cada uno responsable de la gestión del mercado anglófono, el mercado francófono y el mercado alemán.
    Las añadas de los vinos también se actualizan a diario y recibimos una serie de nuevos vinos y licores cada semana, así que también trabajo en la traducción de estas descripciones del español al inglés.

    Mis colegas son todos muy atentos y me han dado un montón de consejos sobre la ciudad incluyendo lugares para visitar, el mejor banco para unirme, planes de teléfonos, restaurantes… ¡Estoy muy agradecida por su experiencia! También he tenido la suerte de hacerme buenos amigos con los otros internos, y a menudo cenamos o tomamos algo juntos después del trabajo.

    ¡En conclusión, estoy disfrutando completamente de Barcelona! Es una ciudad absolutamente maravillosa, con mucho a ofrecer. Espero que pueda explorar más durante los próximos meses. El ritmo de mi trabajo es rápido e intenso y estoy disfrutando de ser desafiada y trabajar en varias tareas al mismo tiempo. Acaban de pedirme escribir un artículo sobre el Scotch Whisky para el sitio web, le informaré de mi progreso en el próximo reportaje.

     

    Barcelona, Spain

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    I arrived in Barcelona at the beginning of January. I had just spent six months in France and was therefore quite worried about the culture and language shock!

    Over Christmas I had a couple of weeks at home between internships, spending as much time as possible reading about Barcelona, sorting out accommodation and national security.

    Upon arriving, I was firstly struck by the size of Barcelona and secondly by just how widely spoken Catalan is in the city, Barcelona is essentially a bilingual city. Thankfully, I had taken a short course of Catalan before I moved to France, meaning that, together with my knowledge of French and Spanish, I could grasp the meaning of many Catalan words.

    I chose to live with a Spanish PHD student from Barcelona, who does not speak any English. For me, this was the perfect arrangement as I knew that the apartment would be quiet and welcoming, but I would also have plenty of opportunities to speak in Spanish, and occasionally in basic Catalan!

    I currently work 40 hours a week for a Spanish wine and spirits company called Decantalo, primarily in marketing, communication and translation. It took me several days to get my head around the relevant Spanish vocabulary and a variety of rather complex software programs and databases, but I can honestly now say that I am confident in this post and very much enjoying this opportunity.

    The majority of my day is spent dealing with customer queries and generating orders of all sizes, from small private shipments right up to wholesale. I have a lot of work to do on tax, especially as I often work with Swiss clients who therefore do not pay European taxes. The common language within the office is Spanish, with an intern each responsible for managing the Anglophone market, the Francophone market and the German-speaking market. Wine vintages are also updated on a daily basis and we receive a number of new wines and spirits each week, so I work on translating these descriptions from Spanish into English.

    My colleagues are all incredibly helpful and have given me a lot of advice about the city- places to visit, the best bank to join, phone plans, restaurants to eat in…I am incredibly grateful for their expertise! I have also been fortunate to become good friends with the other interns, and we have dinner or drinks together regularly after work.

    In conclusion, I am thoroughly enjoying Barcelona! It is an absolutely wonderful city with so much to offer, I hope to explore it more over the coming months. My job is fast-paced and I enjoy being challenged and working on several tasks simultaneously. I have just been asked to write an article on Scotch Whisky for the website, so I shall update you of my progress in the next report!