Now, after having covered the first part of my travels in my previous blog, it's time to talk about my travels overseas. This blog will be much longer as I visited quite a few places – I went to Warsaw to take part in the European Psychiatric Association Congress, then I went to my hometown, then I explored Israel and I finished my trip by going to Amsterdam to see my friends and making a short road trip to Belgium – we went to Ypres, then I met with Dr.Devos in Nieuwpoort and our last stop was in Bruges. So there is a lot of material to cover and, likely, I will have to cut a lot of things out. Nevertheless, it was a great trip and I'm excited to share my experiences with you.
Days 8-12: Warsaw
The second part of my journey began on April 5th, 2019, the 8th day of my travels. I had a whole day to myself, so I checked my weight, wrapped up the first part of my trip, had a workout and in the evening, I went to the airport to fly to Warsaw. It was a nice nonstop flight and I really enjoyed it. On day 9, I didn't have much time to relax as the congress opening ceremony was scheduled just several hours after my landing in Poland, so I only had some time to change and to check-in at the congress venue. So just a couple of hours later I was tasting amazing Polish dishes at the opening ceremony and networking event! It was nearly impossible to stay on keto that night – I just had to try different things as the selection of food items was quite unique.
The following couple of days I spent attending various sessions, presenting my own research and meeting new and old colleagues. I managed to explore Warsaw a bit – I went to the Old Town, saw the museum of Marie Skłodowska Curie and the remnants of the Old City Wall as well as the Old Town Market Square and, of course, I had my share of authentic Polish dishes such as pork knuckle, beef tartar and others. Nutrition-wise I just did my best to have authentic Polish dishes once a day and to minimize my carb intake.
Days 13-15: Hometown
On April 10th, 2019 (Day 13) I went to my hometown to meet my classmates and to visit all the places I missed so much – my Alma Mater, several major landmarks and my last place of work – National Institute of Neurology, Psychiatry and Addictions of the Academy of Medical Sciences. I had some shashlik (shish-kebab) with my friends on my first night – it was definitely a keto meal! I shared it with my friends and some cute cat that joined us for the dinner. He looked like Frelken from the most recent Captain Marvel movie and he actually scratched me! Also, I had a chance to enjoy something that I couldn't have in North America – crayfish. They tend to be quite big there and they are absolutely delicious. Also, they are 100% keto, so it was a real treat! While being at my original home, I was able to check my weight every morning and it was consistently at a lower mark – the same 4-5 pounds lighter than day 1. Things looked good diet-wise!
Days 16-19: Israel
On April 13th, 2019 I left my hometown and went to Israel – I always wanted to go, but somehow I never had neither time nor opportunity to go. I had quite an odd itinerary as I had to fly to Warsaw – I spent several hours there, then I went to Wroclaw and spent the night there and only after that I went to Tel-Aviv. In Tel-Aviv I met my classmate from medical school and we explored Jaffa, or the old city, and we had an amazing meal at the harbor – they serve lots of appetizers before the dinner, 13-15 of them! Quite honestly, we were fed with appetizers alone! After that I went to Jerusalem. I was very tired after all the travels and my last sleepless night in the airport, but that day happened to be Palm Sunday, so I stepped out for a walk and had some local coffee, which is exceptionally good there.
I spent the following 2 days checking out various historical sites. Needless to say that I went to the Old City and explored the Tower of David – apparently he had nothing to do with it, the name is a historical misnomer. I made a video on its rooftop, but the wind was too strong and you wouldn't be able to hear a thing, so I used the snippet I made in the lower part. After this landmark I went through the market to the Wailing Wall and made my wishes – hopefully with divine help, I'll be able to see them through. Finally, on day 18 of my travel, I went to the Church of Holy Sepulchre – a 4th century temple built over the site of Jesus Christ's resurrection. The crucifixion site is also a part of this complex. I was truly impressed and made another short video. Overall, I filmed a lot, but I honestly couldn't include everything into my vlog. Food-wise I had to try various dishes so I had some authentic hummus, falafel, shawarma, Israeli halvah, local shish-kebabs etc. I couldn't taste everything and I definitely missed some important food items, which I don't regret much as my goal was still to maintain weight.
Days 20-21: Amsterdam
On April 17th, 2019 I went to Amsterdam to meet my oldest friend and his family – they have a son and a couple of adorable Maine Coons. I knew this guy for over 25 years – It's hard to believe that it's been so long! We had a nice dinner at my friends' place – some salmon with asparagus, a really good nutritional choice! I also had a chance to play video games with their son and to spend some time with Maine Coons – one of them, the older one, actually remembers me (my Archer reference). I tried to make him speak on camera, but he just did his cat thing and chose to sit there and be adorable. Cats are such cats!
The next day we spent some time in Amsterdam, checked out their new attraction – "This is Holland!" and had a very carnivorous meal at some place called "Cannibale Royale". They even have an old school scale to check your weight. Luckily it was out of order, so I didn't have to worry about my weight. And the next day, April 19th, 2019 we went to Belgium.
Days 22-23: Belgium
We didn't have too much time there, but we really enjoyed the trip – we spent the night in Ypres, a very important place for any Canadian – they even have a huge museum dedicated to Flanders Fields! Unfortunately, we arrived there at around 6 pm, which was totally my fault – I had a brunch with a colleague of mine from the European Pathway Association and it took longer than expected, so we couldn't check the museum out, but we walked the streets of Ypres and saw their main gate covered with the names of fallen soldiers. Also, our hotel had quite an exposition in its lobby. Interestingly enough, I knew the name of the city as in medical school we studied toxic substances and one of them was mustard gas also known as yperite – it received this name after being tragically used in fights near Ypres in World War I, which was the first documented massive use of chemical warfare in modern history.
The following day we went to Nieuwpoort where I met with Dr.Devos aka the Lifting Dermatologist at his practice. I had a chance to see the famous Dr.Fox' Power Basement, we recorded our field interview (see part 1 here and part 2 here) and had a lovely lunch – we had some Belgian fries and then we went to the beach and had Belgian waffles as we agreed upon months ago.
After that my friends picked me up and we went to Bruges – it was nice too. I love Bruges and I learnt something new this time – apparently there is a psychiatric history behind the term "the fools of Bruges": when people of Bruges asked Maximilian of Austria for support to build a new mental hospital he told them that they don't need one – all they had to do was just closing the city gates and they would have one as the city was filled with fools. On our return trip to Amsterdam we had a stop at McDonalds, I'm not particularly proud of it, but I love McDonalds and they had "Big Tasty" there, a burger that I've never seen in North America, so I had one there.
Day 24: Going Home
On April 21st, 2019, day 24 of my travels I checked my weight and it was almost exactly the same as on Day 1. I regained some weight that I've lost in the first couple of weeks of travel, which I totally blame that big tasty meal the night before for. I packed my suitcase for the last time and went to the airport to fly to Warsaw and then to Toronto. I had a couple of hours in Warsaw and made my last short video there.
Day 25: Wrapping up
April 22nd, 2019 was my first morning since my return and it was the moment of truth – I checked my weight and it turned out that over the course of my 25 days of travel I lost 2 pounds. My goal was accomplished! Obviously, I could do much better and there were moments when I could see it clearly, but in the of the day I didn't gain any extra pounds and it's a small victory on its own.
So, I will finish this blog on a positive note and I will post my rules for travel dieting in the third and the last installment of my epic journey report. If you haven't subscribed yet, it's time to do it now so that you won't miss anything. Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel where I posted my journey vlog and as always, you are more than welcome to make comments, suggestions and to ask questions.
Sincerely Yours,
Dr.Sam