tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68428679029520614802024-03-14T08:34:27.009+01:00Outdoors in the Czech RepublicCMabenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11903661584137350663noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842867902952061480.post-58876512413067802762013-03-09T15:32:00.000+01:002013-03-09T19:06:17.156+01:00Review: Fuizion freeze dried food<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I thought I'd give my
impression on the Fuizion freeze dried meals that I bought for the
winter hike I did. I'm going to rate these meals as I would food that
I'd get at home as it's what I'm most familiar with.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Why Fuizion?</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I decided to give
Fuizion a go as I'd seen good reviews and read that they have been
used by a number of expeditions and sailing teams. My logic was that
people who go sailing have tons of money and must like to eat well
when away from home :) They meals are quite expensive at around £6.50
to £6.99 for main meals and £5.80 for the desserts I tried but they
are produced in the UK by a British company which helps justify the
expense.</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Ordering</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I ordered 6 meals and 6
deserts in total which came to just shy of £90 including shipping to
the Czech Republic. I had a few problems ordering on my iPad as there
seemed to be some formatting problems with buttons and quantity entry
boxes but when I moved to my laptop all was well and the transaction
went smoothly paying with google wallet.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
There was a slight
hiccup however, when the delivery arrived one of the main meals were
missing, I contacted Fuizion, I got an apology and the missing meal
sent with no fuss which was very good.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Preparation</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The main meals involved
adding approx. 300ml of hot water to the bag and letting it stand for
about 12 mins. I put mine in a DIY cozy to keep it hotter during
rehydration.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The deserts required
150ml each and and 8-10 minute rehydration time.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>The meals themselves</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From now on I'll
describe each meal individually in the order that I tried them.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Lamb stew with pearl
barley:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This was my favourite
meal of the trip, considering the size of the pieces of lamb it
rehydrated very well however there was still the odd crunchy bit now
and again. You got a real taste of lamb that had a nice consistency
considering it was freeze dried, the sauce was good too, not too
thick or thin and the pearl barley fully hydrated and thickened the
sauce. I'm not a big guy or a massive eater and this really satisfied
me, I had a desert after too, the balance if you are having a meal
and desert together was just about right for me. The meal was
575kcal.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rating: ****</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rice pudding with
fruit.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This desert stayed in
rather large chunks if you just added water and stirred, I'd
recommend smashing it up a bit beforehand to increase the surface
area for water to rehydrate it. Apart from the lumps the rest made a
nice creamy sauce with good amounts of real fruit in there. The
crunchy lumps actually made a nice texture difference from the rest
though. The overall taste was fantastic, it is probably the best
desert I've had outdoors, it was very sweet though so may not be to
everyone's taste. Together with the main meal it filled me up
perfectly. This desert was 843kcal. Rating: *****</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Chicken and bacon pasta
in a cream and white wine sauce:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This meal was probably
my least favourite of the trip, it rehydrated fine but even with the
correct amount of water in it was rather watery. There wasn't really
much depth of flavour considering the description and was a lot like
a chicken soup, it wasn't bad but I just felt like it needed
something more to add a little more interest. Due to the wetter
consistency I felt that it didn't fill me up as much as the lamb the
day before. This one was 571kcal.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rating: **</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Chocolate and orange
rice pudding:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The preparation for
this one was very much the same as fruit rice pudding in that it
suffered from the odd lumps that didn't completely rehydrate. It was
very much the same flavour as chocolate reddy brek I had as a kid
with added body from rice and the lumps, I didn't get much more than
a faint suggestion of orange though, a bit more would have been nice.
I used the recommended amount of water but I felt this one could have
done with a drop more as it stuck to the roof of my mouth a little.
The deser certainly filled my up like the rice pudding the night
before and left me feeling content after a main meal too. This one
was 874kcal.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rating: ***</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Chilli con carne:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Chilli is a difficult
meal to get right, it's quite simple but it's very easy to end up
with a slightly bland chilli, unfortunately this was one of those
chillis. I like my chilli with a nice and rich with a thick sauce,
this one however was a little watery despite using the correct amount
of water, the flavour was OK but lacking a bit of punch in terms of
spice and richness. Don't get me wrong it was an OK chilli but just
not up to a home made chilli that I like. Calories in this one
511kcal.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rating: ***</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Conclusion</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Overall I was
reasonably impressed with Fuizion meals, it would be easy to knock
them for not being as good as home cooked meals but all dehydrated
meals are always going to struggle in that regard. They're much
better than the dehydrated meals I've had in the past those being
raven meals. However I have to admit that I haven't tried mountain
house or some of the other higher quality dehydrated meals which is
why I compared them to home cooked meals, it may not have been fair
but at least it gave a baseline to measure them against.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The calories may seem a
little high but if you're out walking for a few days it's nice to
have a nice hot meal that will replenish your stores for the next day
especially in winter.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Would I buy again?</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I'd definitely get the
fruit pudding and lamb again, the fruit pudding in particular I'd be
happy to eat that at home, the others I'd probably not bother and
would like to try some of their other offerings instead, the all day
breakfast, lamb tagine, Thai green curry, beef and ale stew and
chicken tikka masala sound like worthy candidates.</div>
CMabenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11903661584137350663noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842867902952061480.post-16770185775741159392012-05-27T18:27:00.000+02:002012-06-03T16:34:22.131+02:00A walk in Kokořínsko<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last weekend I made a trip t<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">o </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kokořínsko which is a national park in the centre of the Czech Republic. I went with a couple colleagues from work, there were meant to be more but some last minute rearrangements meant an early start and many people backed out. This turned out to be a bonus as with fewer of us we stopped less and managed a good distance.</span><br />
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<span dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our start point was Nádraží Holešovice bus station in Prague, from there we got a bus to Chudolazy. Once at our destination we walked directly east along the blue trail until we too the green trail north. We wanted to see the old castle carved into the sandstone rocks so took the yellow trail, at the viewpoint we had lunch sitting ont he edge of the cliff overlooking the valley below. You can find a map of the national park <a href="http://www.mapy.cz/s/42gQ">here</a></span><br />
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<span dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We then made our way towards the old castle, it was used in the 1400s and is quite impressive and you can scramble up to a couple rooms carved down into the rocks.</span><br />
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<span dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />After checking out the Castle we then made our way towards the village of Nedvězí following the yellow trail, it takes you over the hill which at 458m is the highest point for quite a few miles around and provides good views. As it was quite warm this really took it out of me, in cooler weather I would have been fine but my head was thumping at the top and I had to take a couple minutes to regain my composure at the top.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7OWBpQxuos/T8pBWV4BsUI/AAAAAAAAAHo/JR8zX-HfWjg/s1600/DSC00457.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z7OWBpQxuos/T8pBWV4BsUI/AAAAAAAAAHo/JR8zX-HfWjg/s640/DSC00457.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We followed the yellow trail east through </span><span dir="auto" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nedvězí past a religious shrine, a lime tree (the Czech national tree) and a swing on the lime. We then headed on to</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">Dobřen which is a town that has beautiful houses with whitewashed and walls and stained beams. We then headed north to another trail that winds itself along the foot of sandstone cliffs that have worn into interesting shapes.</b><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">From there we headed south to </b><span class="st" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ráj</span><b style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> and then onto </b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mšeno where we ended our day at approximately 30k done. From there we took the train from </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mšeno to </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mělník and then a short bus ride back to Prague.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gear:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On this trip I wore a new pair of shoes that I had got for walking in summer as my boots would have been overkill for the trails, hotter and more tiring moving their weight with each step.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After checking the models stocked at my local outdoor store I went online, did some research and narrowed them down to a few pairs that suited my needs. I went to the store and tried the shortlisted shoes on extensively, walking around the store and ended up with a pair of Salewa Fire Tails. Some shoes when new feel different, not bad but you can feel them on your feet, these felt like I was wearing nothing which is a very good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was their first trip out and they were great, I wore a pair of Alpkit hiking socks and even without any breaking in and doing 30km they gave me no blisters at all. At the end of the day I had a slight hot spot on the ball of my left foot but that only came on later in the day when I was tired and makybe not planting my foot quite properly. The sole is Vibram and grip it gives is phoenomenal at least on dry surfaces, I'll have to see how they cope in wet conditions at a later date.</span>CMabenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11903661584137350663noreply@blogger.com0Střezivojice, 277 21 Dobřeň-Střezivojice, Czech Republic50.48634732684517 14.545898437550.466139826845172 14.5064164375 50.506554826845168 14.5853804375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6842867902952061480.post-83779593094983434192012-02-27T14:28:00.000+01:002012-02-27T14:28:05.904+01:00The journey begins...<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Hi,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">This is my first blog and what better subject matter than my favourite hobby, the great outdoors. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Currently my aim is to create an English language blog of my adventures in the Czech Republic, where I go, how I get there, what I took and what I saw all interspersed with comment on news and maybe a review or two of my current kit and any new items. Essentially a blog like all the rest :)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I am a self confessed gear head and feel that I spend more time reading reviews about and lusting over the latest and greatest shiny things. I need to just get out and enjoy the outdoors more, after all equipment is just something that allows us to get out and not the reason for getting out! Or that's what I try to tell myself.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Things may start off a bit messy as I find my feet and play around with layouts and fonts, however I do promise you original content and hopefully an insight to the great outdoors of an often overlooked country in central Europe with a lot to offer.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Colin </span></span>CMabenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11903661584137350663noreply@blogger.com0