I usually try to take a photo of the full moon every month, but yesterday it was too overcast to see it in Stockholm. No wonder they call it the “snow moon”. Maybe I will have better luck next month. Here is a photo of the statue of Carl von Linné. He is the Swede who implemented the binomial latin nomenclature system for species. We are Homo sapiens because of him.   I am including a few photos of Stockholm at night, where the full moon was supposed to be.

I think that a lot of musicians have gone through what I am experiencing now. I first learned the Schubert’s last piano sonata D. 960 when I was about 20 years old. At that time, I didn’t care for it much, and thought it was long and repetitive. Now, at this more advanced age, it makes so much more sense, and I find the depths and subtleties of the work very beautiful. Another reason I didn’t like the piece was because it is in B-flat major. When I was young, I didn’t like B-flat major. It was my least favorite key, which was a problem for me because so many bassoon pieces are in that key. Now I understand that as we age, something about the hairs in our ears changes, and our perception of keys changes. Basically our ears begin to run sharp. Here is a link to the absolute pitch study conducted at UCSF. So now, B-flat major sounds more like B major to me. I never had a problem with B major. I wonder if anyone else has experienced something like this. I am also enjoying playing Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien, another piece in B-flat major. I didn’t like this piece when I was young either. I fear that in this modern technological age, young people will be reluctant to learn to play piano and other instruments. There are so many distractions now, but learning music is like learning a second language, and I think it makes learning languages easier. I know that playing music in front of audiences made it much easier for me to be a public speaker because it is much much harder to perform a piece by memory on stage than to give a lecture.

I am impressed with the library system in Stockholm. I have been working, writing and reading, at the Stockholm University Frescati library among the very quiet and serious students. Outside the window I see the university fields covered with snow. The facilities are excellent, with free high-speed wireless, and good clean lighting. I am thinking to get some cross-country skis to add to my collection of things that I use for a little while and then forget about (like my roller blades and long distance ice skates).

It is still rather dark in Stockholm. The days are longer, but there is a constant cover of overcast. The Christmas lights are down, and now everyone is back to work.   The Swedes and Lithuanians tell me that they might as well work hard, since there is no reason to go outside.

I have been thinking about what life was like here in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. There was not much electricity, and houses were heated by wood or coal. My parents’ place has large tile furnaces in each room. It must have been really cold. Our lives are so completely different now. We have electronic entertainment. They had books, but needed candles or oil lamps to read in the evenings. There were horses on the streets, and the smells would have been pretty strong. Now there are no smells. Whenever I travel to India or other warm crowded places, I am overwhelmed by the smells. Look at all the vegetables and foods that the Swedes have access to now, because of international trade.

The Nordic artists of the last century were rather dark and melancholy. Here is a photo of the painting “Despair” (Förtvivlan) by Edvard Munch that is at the Thielska Gallery here in Stockholm. It is very reminiscent of “The Scream”, from the same time period. Here are also some from the artist Ernst Josephson, who suffered from mental illness. This painting is of the Islamic prophet whose name starts with an M (who is not supposed to represented visually). There is also Jesus and the current King of Sweden painted in 1899, long before he was born.

The city is expanding by about 15,000 people a year, so new buildings are popping up. There are new train lines and always improvements to public transportation. The restaurant taxes have been lowered, so now there are more ethnic restaurants and people eating in them. It is expensive here, but with global climate change, Stockholm will be a very desirable place to live in the future.

It is hard to leave San Francisco when it is warm and sunny; going back to the winter and cold of Stockholm. Here are some photos of beautiful Rodeo Beach in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, on a warm January day.

I have been a lot of places this last year, and in each place, people have complained of the same thing; traffic.   Vilnius is overcrowded with cars. Bogota and Belo Horizonte. Rio, Delhi and Istanbul, Cape Town, Cartagena, Lima, Stockholm and San Francisco. It is bad in Geneva, one of the richest cities in the world. I can only imagine Moscow or Manila. People are trying to get around, but there are just too many vehicles. Think about how much steel and vinyl, rubber and petroleum it takes and then multiply that by billions. If I were to rule the world, I would ban the automobiles and have people take bikes, buses and subways. I would also ban meat consumption and I would encourage a one-child policy worldwide. There would be no borders or nations. There is a book that I read a long time ago, Ecotopia, by Ernest Callenbach. My society would be somewhat like that, but perhaps more extreme, because right now, the biological world is losing.

Besides the automobiles, San Francisco is an exceptional place. The neighborhoods each have a distinct flavor. The Mission has changed the most in the last 10 years, and I could have predicted that it would be the most desirable neighborhood for young people working in high tech – the hipsters. I had dinner at Gracias Madre tonight, with its delicious organic hand made corn tortillas and vegan cashew cream on cauliflower. This food is not easy to find anywhere else besides San Francisco.  For vegans, I think it is the best in the world.   Be sure to visit Just for You in Dogpatch, excellent vegan squash risotto, and if you were there on Friday, you would have heard some lovely chamber music for oboe, viola, cello and bassoon (with this blogger on the bassoon).

Is the opposite of homeless homefull? Right now, I am officially living in 3 different places in 3 different countries. I am certainly not homeless. I have telephone numbers, bank accounts, transit passes and things to do in Vilnius, Stockholm and San Francisco.

It is great to be in San Francisco, even though it is only a short visit. There are already flowers blooming on the back deck. The sun is providing me with some vitamin D, and the city seems cleaner and greener after the December rains. The reconstruction on Castro Street is complete, and the wider sidewalks make it more pleasant to walk around the neighborhood.  I still think it would have been better to simply make it a pedestrian zone, with no cars.

This week one of my Master’s students, Allison Nelson, delivered her thesis talk about her research on the migratory connectivity of Hermit thrushes. You can see a video about her work and read about it here. The best part of being a professor is seeing students develop into scientists with successful important research projects. The worst part about being a professor is writing grants and raising money for the research; something that I am doing this week.

The Berkeley Symphony had an interesting program with some difficult music last week. After that concert, I don’t think I can play bassoon for a week. First up was Thomas Ades’ “Asyla”, with a lot of rhythmic complexity. Then came Tchaikovsky’s 6^th symphony, the “Pathetique”, which is notoriously difficult for the bassoons. Here is the review, and I agree completely that the orchestra is sounding better than ever under Joana Carneiro’s baton.

Rainbow grocery continues to astound me with its selection of all things vegetarian. The vegan cheese world is taking off, and I got some nice ones yesterday. Also rhubarb strawberry pie, and chocolate peanut butter coconut milk ice cream. I lose weight when I am not in San Francisco. There are all kinds of new restaurants and they seem full all the time. I like watching all the bicyclists with their different colored bicycle tires in the Mission. Pretty soon the birds will return and it will be spring.

In Sweden after the New Year, people greet each other with God fortsättning, which means “good continuation”. I am wishing all of my friends and readers, a great continuation of the New Year 2015.

Here are some photos of the first full moon of 2015 over Stockholm. The first is over Globen, the largest globe structure in the world, which also serves as the sun in the Sweden Solar System model. Then I have a photo of the moon over the Wenner-Gren Center, where I lived when I first moved to Sweden in 1992, now nearly 23 years ago.

2014 ended with me learning that my proposal to the National Science Foundation was not funded.   The process of getting government funding these days is difficult to say the least. You submit a pre-proposal in January. Then you find out if it passed the first stage in May. The deadline for the full proposal is in August. Final results come out at the end of December. It seems through the entire process only about 5% are funded, meaning that 95% don’t make it. But this year I was close. The project is terribly important, studying the effects of deforestation on malaria transmission. I am sure that I will find some way to do the work, but for the short term, it means that I will be spending more of my sabbatical in Europe, instead of Cameroon.

It was a long holiday for Swedes. Most are starting back to work today, January 7^th. The stores are full of shoppers looking for deals at the after-Christmas sales. The economy seems to be doing fine here. But people also take time to go ice-skating or to performances. If you have skates, there are several outdoor rinks open for free to the public. I saw a very modern performance of Othello, in modern Swedish. I like how theater takes risks here. It was a stark stage, in simple contemporary costumes, and in the end, when everyone dies, there was blood all over the place.

After my experience at the Bogota airport where I ran out of breath running between airplane gates, I decided to start running. I bought some good shoes and the outfit. Stockholm is the perfect place for runners, because of the many huge flat parks. The Lill-Jansskogen is a large forest park right across the street in the center of the city.

Next week, a short trip to San Francisco!

Merry Christmas! God Jul! Linksmų Kalėdų! Feliz Navidad! Frohe Weihnachten!

In a few minutes the traditional Christmas Eve in Sweden will begin with Kalle Anka; Donald Duck with Mickey Mouse and his friends on television. Nearly 40% of all Swedes will be watching the program that is nearly exactly the same every year. It has been a tradition since 1959.

There is still no snow in Stockholm, but it is cold. The lights are up in all the houses and apartment buildings and the Sehgal family has a huge Christmas tree with the same ornaments and lights that my parents have been using for decades. On the table are 12 dishes for the traditional Lithuanian Kūčios. We have a mix of Lithuanian, American and Swedish traditions in this household.

Stockholm doesn’t seem to be experiencing an economic slump; shoppers are rushing around on Christmas Eve buying last minute presents. The stores are crowded, and the signs are already going up for the after-Christmas sales. Sweden has a social democrat government but it doesn’t exclude consumerism.

It has been a tremendous fall with a lot of travels. Merry Christmas in the 5 languages I have been trying to speak these weeks.  I will continue this sabbatical blog in 2015. Wishing everyone Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!

Culture shock occurs when you leave the incredible rainforest and within one day find yourself in the Christmas market in Frankfurt. I left Tambopata in the early morning, and took a boat for 5 hours to return to Puerto Maldonado. Then flew to Cusco, Lima and Bogota. I had a 5-minute connection in Bogota, and actually made it. Lufthansa had changed the timing of the flight to Frankfurt, so now it leaves nearly one hour earlier. I ran from the Avianca flight from Lima to the gate for Frankfurt. They asked “are you Señor Sanchez?” and I said yes, and quickly showed my passport. They gave me Señor Sanchez’ boarding pass, and closed the door behind me. Only after take-off did I tell them that I was in fact not Mr. Sanchez. They made some calls from the cockpit, and everything turned out fine. Of course my duffel bag didn’t make it, but it will arrive in Stockholm sometime soon. Call me if you want some tips on how to deal with airlines.

I arrived in Frankfurt and felt somehow very comfortable. Clearly South America is not my home culture. I loved every minute of my time there, with the warmth of the people and the sun. But when I arrived in Europe, everything seemed familiar and easy. I visited the Christmas market and then had a South Indian thali at the Saravanaa Bhavan restaurant near the train station. This multiculture is my culture.

Now I am in Vilnius. There are Christmas lights everywhere. I slept until noon and am getting organized. I will participate in a thesis defense on Friday, and then fly to Stockholm to celebrate the holidays with my family. Frequent Flyer.

It is rare to see such a pristine forest. There are so many birds.   I was watching the macaws and parrots eating the clay when suddenly they all flew off. We soon spotted an ornate hawk eagle in the tree: this is the macaws main predator. The macaws presumably eat the clay because it is rich in sodium.   I saw beautiful manakins in a lek, and several mixed flocks of birds. There are toucans and red-necked woodpeckers; beautiful tanagers and plenty of antwrens. The researchers here study the development of the scarlet macaws. This involves climbing 30-meter high trees and taking the chicks out of nests and measuring them. The baby macaws look like plucked chickens, but with cute macaw faces.

The sounds at night are incredible and at dawn the howler monkeys begin their roaring. In the dark, there are always some lighting flashes in the distance, and wonderful spiders and butterflies. Of course there are fungi everywhere and the biting insects. I didn’t get attacked by bullet ants, but there were plenty of sandflies to keep me itching for a few days.

A high point was swimming with a group of students in the fast flowing Tambopata river, with a rainbow overhead. Four nights at the field station was not enough, and I promised myself to return sometime, and begin some research projects there in earnest. Here are some photos from the rainforest. Unfortunately, I do not have the right type of camera equipment to get good photos of birds, but I did see plenty. The rainforests of South America have a chance. I cannot say that I feel the same way about the rainforests of Africa, where the deforestation and poverty is so rampant. Take a deep breath and think about the rainforests.

When the rain is about to start, the howler monkeys and toucans start making their wild calls. The orangutan colored howler monkeys roar like lions, much louder than their size would suggest. Then you hear the rain start to approach from a distance over the vast forest. You know when it will start to pour like a shower; it is no surprise.

I am deep inside the jungle in Peru at the Tambopata Research Center. I flew in from Bogota, spent the night in Lima, and then took a 3-hour boat ride along the Tambopata river. Spent one night at at the Refugio Amazonas lodge, and the next day took another boat for 4 hours to get here. This is primary untouched protected forest, which is rare in today’s world. I remember why I chose this profession. It is incredible.

This place is famous for its macaws. Blue and yellow, scarlet, and red and green macaws. They are in the trees and along the cliffs, eating the clay to get salt and minerals. There are monkeys, capybaras, and of course many unusual bird species. I am here to hopefully develop a long-term research program.

The field station is incredible. I have never seen anything like this before; more like a first class lodge.  A lovely dining room, and each private bedroom has a open wall to the rainforest. Excellent food and company. The researchers here focus on the macaw biology, but other scientists come through to study this remote rainforest. I have a private guide showing me all the birds and wildlife. I am giving a research talk tonight.

The internet connection is poor, through a distant satellite, so I will post more photos later. I wish everyone in the world could experience this, to understand why rainforest conservation is so important.

Bogotá is huge, and from the airplane looks like it goes on forever. The buildings are not the tall skyscrapers of São Paulo, or other Brazilian cities, but instead just sprawl over the landscape, in a valley surrounded by green mountains. The avenues are wide, and easy to understand with a convenient north south numbering system. The TransMilenio bus system is a model for transportation. It is a mix between a subway and a bus system, and people play music and sing on the buses. But it can be confusing with different tickets for different lines. I am staying at a hotel near the National University of Colombia. In the evening, there are fireworks outside my window.

The Gold museum is unique. I thought all the gold had been stolen from this country, but the museum is full of ancient gold artifacts. You walk into bank vaults that showcase the gold masks and pieces that the ancient warriors wore. I like the gold animals; frogs, birds, fish and crocodiles.

I am not sure I am in love with the art of Fernando Botero, but the museum is interesting. The people in his art are simply voluminous. Even the still lifes look fat.

Today my hosts took me to Chingaza National Park. The park is about 2 hours from Bogota on steep gravel roads. I have never seen this type of landscape called the Páramo. The plants look as if they should be in a desert, but it is very wet and foggy. We did a hike around the Laguna Seco in the cold rain, looking for birds at an altitude of more than 3600 meters (11,800 ft). It is an incredible landscape and a big change from the humid heat of Cartagena.

On Tuesday I fly to Peru.

Here is the full moon over a church in the old city of Cartagena. It means I have only been gone from San Francisco for two months. It seems longer, because I have been to so many places, and met so many fantastic people. The best is that everywhere I have gone, I have very dear close friends.  The conference closed with a salsa band in the central square, under a warm moonlit night.

The Zoology conference is huge, and Cartagena is overrun with biologists. It is ongoing, but of course I have found time to explore the area. Cartagena is surrounded by beautiful nature. The mangroves are just outside the city, and yesterday we did a canoe ride to see the birds. There are mangrove tunnels, with the names “tunnel of happiness” and “tunnel of love”. Young boys were practicing their fishing with small nets, and the older men used large nets.

Then today was a boat trip to the Rosario islands, with snorkeling and a chance to swim in the warm Caribbean Sea. Cartagena must be the inspiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. There is a long history of pirates plundering the city, and there are old fortresses and walls to repel any attacks. An abundance of colorful fish, and great times with scientists and students studying avian malaria.

I read that Cartagena is one of the top 50 cities to visit worldwide. I agree. I arrived yesterday for the 4^th Colombian Conference for Zoology. There are about 3000 people here all participating in research in Colombian wildlife. Colombia has the highest diversity worldwide of birds, plus an incredible diversity of plants, mammals and insects. It is also number one in orchid diversity. The conference opened with speeches, but then there were some traditional dance performances. I have seen a lot of Mexican dances, and the costumes seemed rather similar, but the dances were much more wiggly, as if they had been inspired by Tahiitian hula, with hip action.

The old city is full of life, with people selling fruits and hand-woven bags. Bougainvilleas pop out of the balconies of the colorful old buildings. I had some delicious vegan paella for lunch, and enjoyed the company of my Colombian hosts. I am a millionaire in Colombia, because the exchange rate is more than 2000 pesos to one US dollar. The weather is warm and humid and my shirt gets wet from sweat in just a few minutes. Then in the afternoon, a visit to the San Felipe fortress, with its massive walls and maze of tunnels. I bought some fruits which I had never tasted before, and a huge fresh avocado. The hotel Monterrey where I am staying must be the best hotel in the city, because of its location, and beautiful view from the rooftop balcony. The Christmas lights are up, and people are enjoying themselves, because Colombians say they are the happiest people in the world.

Two days is not enough time in Rio de Janeiro! Two days was like going into an amazing vegan restaurant where I would want to try everything, but can only choose one dish. I did find a great vegan place: Rio Vegano. I ate there twice, because it was close to where I was staying. Delicious salads and lentil burgers and also pastels de forno, which are like empanadas stuffed with various things, tofu, eggplant, hearts of palm… Chocolate cake of course, and the owners are delightful.  I promised them I would write in my blog.

I took the train up to see the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer, but it was very foggy. It cleared after a while.  I saw some very authentic samba at Rio Scenarium, at the suggestion of my friends in Belo Horizonte. Today was sunny and time for the beach at Ipanema. Then the cable car ride to the Sugar Loaf mountain. Everything was quite incredible, but mostly it was the friendly people. I don’t speak any Portuguese but they were always helping me. Today I wanted to get to the cable car ride, and I asked which bus to take, but instead people at the bus stop put me in a cab with a wonderful lady who said she was going that way anyway, and paid for the taxi. On the way back, I got lost on the bus, but the bus driver made a special stop for me near a different metro station then the one I was supposed to go to. It will be a great place for the Olympics. Here are some photos of my time in Rio.

Tomorrow I fly to Cartagena, Colombia.

Rio de Janeiro. Finally, my first visit to the Cidade Maravilhosa. So far, it is a little rainy and overcast, so no one was at Ipanema beach. People are going about their daily business. There are so many shops and little corner stores and people drinking from big coconuts. The beaches are huge with volleyball nets and soccer goalposts, but nobody playing. Just not the right weather. I can visualize what it is like on a hot sunny day.

I arrived by airplane from Belo Horizonte. I would recommend taking a bus from BH instead of the plane. It would probably be easier and faster. The taxi line at the airport in Rio was ridiculous. But I got to my little Airbnb apartment near Ipanema and then started walking.

I walked all around Ipanema and Leblon. Then I went to the Vegetariano Social Club. My Thanksgiving dinner was a vegan buffet with tofu stroganoff, stewed beans and nice salads followed by chocolate tofu cake and ice cream. Definitely Brazilian flavors and a nice quiet atmosphere.

They have Black Friday in Brazil, but of course no Thanksgiving. So nobody quite understands what Black Friday is. Capitalism from the USA is affecting the whole world, and people will go to the sales tomorrow. Maybe I will go shopping tomorrow and be a good consumer!

This morning I was the plenary speaker at the 5^th annual research meeting of Parasitology in Belo Horizonte. Most of the meeting is in Portuguese, so I am not able to understand much. All the participants are gracious and friendly.

The meeting began with the announcer presenting the professors as soccer stars, with the excited voice of a radio broadcaster. Then there was a mini-performance of a choir singing the Brazilian anthem, Kumbaya and the Saints Come Marching In. This was followed by a short introduction by the panel of professors; then a coffee break. I was the first speaker with my presentation “Effects of climate change and deforestation on the prevalence and diversity of avian malaria”.

In the USA and Europe, we are largely rid of dangerous human parasites, but here it seems that everyone knows someone who has had parasites. I have been traveling a lot the last few years. Time to get a check up for parasites?

Yesterday, I had a chance to do some exercise at the gym in Pampulha. This is the gym of the beautiful people, with a beautiful view of the Pampulha lagoon and the famous modern church. There are so many buffed personal trainers that walk around helping people, especially the women in revealing outfits who wear a lot of makeup to the gym.

The meeting continues tomorrow, followed by a soccer party.

Soccer is religion in Brazil. Yesterday was an important championship game and the local team, Cruzeiro, won. The fans were all over the city honking horns and setting off fireworks. They spent their day at parties drinking and having churrasco, their big BBQs. There was music everywhere and people dancing in the streets. This was all happening during a huge thunderstorm with rain drenching everyone. I will go to a soccer party on Wednesday for another championship game.

Belo Horizonte is huge. There are all apartment buildings and skyscrapers all over the city. This seems different than American or European cities where the tall buildings are only downtown. The roads are crowded. I think this is a common theme all over the world, and everywhere I go, people say the same thing. “The traffic is terrible”, whether it is San Francisco, Vilnius, Honolulu, Delhi or Belo Horizonte.

Instead of watching soccer, I got to see some art. Inhotim is an impressive outdoor art gallery, with beautiful gardens and pavilions featuring international contemporary artists. It is huge and one could easily spend 2 days there. My friends and I were there for most of the day yesterday. The park is about one hour from Belo Horizonte (on a Sunday when everyone is watching soccer). One artist I liked was Geta Brătescu, a Romanian artist who does colorful collages. I always like how Olafur Eliasson plays with light. The landscape is tropical and reminded me of Hawaii. This was truly one of the most beautiful outdoor museums I have visited, and it is worth a trip to Minas Gerais just to see it.  Here are some photos.

I wish I spoke some Portuguese. This is the third time I have been to Brazil in three years, and it seems that by now I should understand something. I don’t watch TV, but it is curious that the television in the hotel room has over 100 channels, but not one in English; not even CNN. I look Brazilian enough that people speak Portuguese to me.   This is different than Vilnius, where I don’t look like I should speak Lithuanian.

I am loving the food. I have been to a great vegetarian Asian restaurant, San Ro, in Belo Horizonte and the restaurant at Inhotim. Brazilians typically have huge buffets with fresh salads, vegetables and lots of mangos. Birds, fruits, flowers and happy people in Belo Horizonte.

Belo Horizonte is the 6^th largest city in Brazil, but where I am, it doesn’t seem crowded. It is sunny and warm and people are jogging and riding their bikes around the lovely Pampulha lagoon. This is all near the very large and spacious university, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais where I am based this week. I will be one of the plenary speakers at the Parasitology conference here.

I must say it is nice to be in the warm sun after arriving from Vilnius where it was beginning to snow. Delicious mangos, papayas and pineapples, plus greens, beans and rice are a nice change after the last few weeks of winter foods.

My talk will be on Tuesday about the effects of habitat and climate change on the prevalence and diversity of avian malaria. I will present  our work in Alaska and Africa, and how although there is much more research to do, we do know that with the rapid environmental changes, we are seeing differences in types of malaria and also the diversity. It is nice to be interacting with students and professors here. Brazil seems to have money to send students abroad and also invite professors for collaborative work. And the lab and facilities are not much different than what we have at San Francisco State.

There are some nice birds, and I will see more nature and more of the state of Minas Gerais over the next few days.

Probably my last blog from Vilnius for a while:  Here are some photos of the churches in Vilnius. The miraculous Madonna at Aušros Vartai, the Gates of Dawn, is is believed to heal peoples ailments. The churches are fully baroque, but there seem to be more churches than the people need. One friend said it would be better if they sent buses to the suburbs and bus people into the old town, because there are too many churches and not enough people living near by.

The second largest city in Lithuania is Kaunas. It was also the temporary capital of the country during the short interwar period of independence. My close friends from Stockholm were visiting, so we decided to take a day trip to Kaunas to see the museum of the Lithaunian artist/composer Čiurlionis. There is a modern fast train that goes between the cities now, and it is as good as any European train and covers the distance in one hour.

Along the way, the train passes lots of small villages, that are typical of the country. People have their own little gardens, and that was partly how they survived the Soviet occupation. It seems that everyone still grows some of their own food, and makes preserves for the winter. That is why when the organic food movement started arriving in Lithuania, it was comical, because people already had their own organic vegetables and fruits.

Here are some photos of my favorite paintings by Čiurlionis.

Here are some photos of Kaunas

I am leaving Vilnius now for nearly a month, for a trip to South America. It is with mixed feelings that I am leaving. I have grown so fond of my daily routine here, with work, friends and exploring Vilnius and Lithuania. I will return. On Friday, I will be in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Wherever I travel, I like to visit the farmer’s markets. In San Francisco, my favorite is the Alemany market, where I shop every Saturday and buy the freshest vegetables and fruits. I have been making kiwi juice for more than a decade with the kiwis that are available now in California. I was in Split, Croatia last year, and I loved the market there. I went to some nice markets in the villages of Cameroon recently too.

Today I was at the farmer’s market in Vilnius. Kalvarijų turgus is not far from the city center. I must say that they have some great pickles, horseradish and adjika (which is a Georgian spicy dip that is very similar to Mexican pico de gallo). If you love bacon and sausages this is heaven. If you love dino kale, bok choy, and long beans, like me, you are out of luck. It was a chilly foggy day, and I bought some beets and preserved sorrel (konservuotos rūgštynės) and made a simple soup. There were pears, apples and pumpkins, which people use to make pumpkin soup. This is not where the prosperous Vilnius suburbanites shop. They go to the new big supermarkets. This is the market of the people, and seems to have some characteristics of the soviet times. Here are some photos.