Disappointment

Ever since I started the cruelty free journey I feel elated when someone is on my side, from my own husband to a large cosmetics company. Unfortunately this only makes disappointment bigger when they leave my side. I don't expect principles on this front from Tesco or Boots, I know where I stand and only buy necessities from them. But when Urban Decay sold to evil L'Oreal I felt betrayed.
And today I felt that again. The Netherlands has many Celtic, Medieval and Fantasy Festivals, one of the bigger ones being Castlefest. Mr. Dutchess and I have been considering a trip over there but of course we need to know what we can eat on location. I did some research online and was delighted to find the 2009 programme for the festival, informing me that they provide free range meat from the barbecue. But 2009 is four years ago and the 2012 booklet did not state this. It being the same caterer (The Cooking Highlander FYI) I hoped that their situation had not changed but to make sure, I e-mailed them. They replied this morning and while there's no point copying a Dutch message here it came down to this:

"We can't sell free range meat anymore. The costs are too high. We don't like it either".

This made me very angry. If they had just said they don't do it anymore due to cost I would not be pleased but business is business. However, it's this "can't" and "we don't like it either" that I have a problem with. They make it sounds like they have no choice but they do and they chose profit. Which is necessary to stay in business of course but what about raising the prices on the meat? People are well aware festival food is expensive and the notion that meat should be anything but is ridiculous, it's the most precious of foods. I know people might not accept the price rise as unfortunately the horrors of intensive farming are not a priority for most but still, there is a choice here and implying there isn't makes me see red. I told them all of this in a reply as well as that it will negatively influence my decision to attend the festival. They probably don't care but here's hoping it makes them think at least a little bit.

Escapism

This is the view from my sitting room window right now:

 

It looks pretty nice and normally it is but the rain and wind don't come out in the photo. For that and so many other reasons I could really do with a trip away. It is absolutely not an option right now but sometimes dreaming about where to go can be just as nice. So I reckon blogging a holiday wishlist will give me something to look forward to. So here goes, in order of achievability:

Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland. One of the few places in this country I have not even come close to visiting yet. I hear fantastic things about Dingle as well as its surrounding countryside. And I really want to see Fungi the dolphin while he is still within this plain of existence.

Castlefest, Lisse, The Netherlands. Or really any other medieval fantasy festival in my home country! The costumes, the music, the mead...magic. It is in August so gods willing, I might be able to go this year.

Dartmoor, Co. Devon, United Kingdom. Speaking of magic, look at this tree! Just one of the things the mysterious Dartmoor has to offer. Its zoo, its ponies, its plains, its forests...I wanna go there so bad.

The Black Forest, Germany. Forests are pretty much my favourite kind of place and I would love to again visit a large one. I have never paid my home land's biggest neighbour a proper visit and I think the Black Forest would be the perfect way to change that.

Scandinavia and Finland. Particularly an Ice Hotel in one of those places. It just looks so...cool!

Transylvania, Romania. North and East Europe are still decidedly undiscovered by me. Transylvania just looks so beautiful and it tickles my imagination. There is a place to stay that has an actual count for a host!

New Zealand. Middle-Earth itself. It's the dream. I don't even know that much about the place because I think too much research would make the want to go there unbearable. Typing it into Google Images speaks for itself.

So there we have it. The list I will turn to when I'm in the mood for daydreaming.