Day 47. Kinder Surprise (Nice)

Ah, vending machines. Thank you for feeding us. Were if not for you, many of us would starve at work, at school, and when having to ride trains for 11 hours in one day. You'd think without them we would learn to do things like pack lunches and bring snacks. No. No we wouldn't. We would just wither away into nothing, and be cranky little monsters saying, "why has no one invented some sort of machine to dispense food at convenient locations?". Well, someone has. And I would like to take this moment to thank them.

Seeing as I don't go to work, and I don't go to school, that leaves 11 hours on trains for me. So my food journey is one of convenient dispensery. Exhibit A

Apricot nectar/juice. So people think you're being healthy, but really you wanted something that tastes more like candy than water.

Esta The. The Italians are way big into the Esta The, along with Dory. I'm quite fond of it, as it mostly just tastes like peach juice with maybe a hint of something planty in it. This is something so far removed from actual  tea, that they can't even really call it tea. They call it "the". Weirdos.

Yeah, apparently I was all about the beverages today. I know I ate some cracker things, and some peanut M&M's or something, but I really went crazy with the photos of drinks. Sorry guys. No crackers jokes today.

A lot of things in Europe are in pouches now. Yes, you can find them in the states as well, but not like you can here. They love 'em. Yogurt in pouches. Fruit puree in pouches. Juice in pouches. I kind of like it. I pretend I'm an astronaut.





When I was in Strasbourg, Gaetan said, "You can get a Kinder Surprise here! They are illegal in the states, right?" Yes, I told him. Yes they are, and it is very unfortunate. Then he asked, "But it is legal to buy a gun?"

...


At this point all I could do was begin singing the nation anthem at the top of my lungs. It seemed appropriate.

For those of you who don't know what a Kinder Surprise is, it is a snack, about the size of an egg, with a toy inside. It is now illegal in the states, due to the fact that American children apparently cannot tell the difference between toys and food. So many great conclusions can be drawn from that statement I think that I will leave it to you to discover them all.

                KINDER!!

 
SURPRISE!!!

(As a sidenote, there also are Kinder surprises that are chocolate eggs with the toys inside of them.)

So my toy was a sort of ninja guy, with an attachable face.

Mine was better.

Although the surprise usually refers to the toy inside, I think I found the actual surprise.

... I mean... I don't really have anything specific to say about this, but... hm. It doesn't look like anything dirty or weird in particular, but something is just wrong about this. Don't worry. I still ate it. And it was delicious.

FINALLY I made it to Nice. And oh my gosh it is gorgeous. Once settled in my hostel, I walked the like 1 block down to the beach, and stood in the water. It was amazing.

It was heavenly. It is a pebble beach, so as the waves crash, they drag the stones over each other like a giant rainstick. Plus, it is so warm, people were even swimming still at like 9pm.

Then it was food time. My hostel actually has a new cheap dinner every night, and I decided to take advantage.

Tonight, it was turkey "tacos" with guacamole. I don't think they know what foreign food is here. They were really kind of like grilled turkey/guacamole burritos. But I didn't mind. They were delicious. Not to mention the juicy tomatoes... oh my goodness gracious. You have not tasted a tomato until you have had a fresh cherry tomato from Nice.