Sugar High

To start with a shocking fact that I read in the Financial Times. India is the worlds largest consumer of sugar. It consumes 26 million tons of sugar a year. USA consumes 21 million tons. Of course the per capita consumption in India is very low but think of how many poor we have who get very little sugar and the rich rest who consume a vast majority. This can only get bigger. Buy shares of sugar processing companies or better still start growing sugarcane.

Europe is a decidedly dangerous place. The food is definitely suspect. God know what you will get to eat. What they call vegetarian includes fish and egg. Most suspect! Secondly there are no signs anywhere telling you what to do and what not to do. For example, near water bodies it does not say if you can drink the water, if you can swim in the water, if it’s dangerous because its wet and the area may be slippery so you may fall. This confuses Americans who are used to having clear signage all over. England is much better. They have signs for everything. To top it all most people don’t speak English. Jains will have it tough here. Potato everywhere.

Last night we had a most pleasant dinner experience. We went to yet another local Munich type restaurant. The beer was really nice. You have to pay for each piece of bread you eat. We had two delicious pretzels and had to pay for them. No problem. Dinner was as described in the photos. The one fact that always strikes us is just how hard people in Europe [Western Europe] work. In restaurants a single waiter/waitress will handle at least 30 if not up to 50 people. No one saunters about, everybody is always rushing often carrying 10-12 glasses or 5-7 laden plates. They do everything clearing tables, taking orders for drinks, for food, serving, clearing, billing and being gracious enough to stop for a quick chat or to ask if the food is OK. 

Today we started with a walk thru the market and after seeking permission from the shopkeeper we took photos. Then we headed out to a large summer castle called the Schloss Nymphenburg. It’s not a castle up on top of a hill but more like a strip mall, huge and spread out. Quite nice. The Porcelain inside being the royal crockery was very good. The quality and symmetry of the stuff is very high. Remember this is some 200 years old. Very contemporary in looks.

We rode there in a tram. Very efficient and a great way to see the city. 

That is about it for now.