I left this morning for a quick 2 hr ride to Galway. It's a lovely city, full of students. I actually feel a little bit old walking around here, it's amazing how many young people are out and about here. The only thing is that it didn't take me 2 hrs to get here, it took more like 7... Was doing ok, until I got a flat tire. I started fixing it and someone stopped to help me. Then the navigation system took me way out of the way and I ended up in northern Galway County in the middle of nowhere. When I finally realized that, I was in the middle of nowhere, so I headed back toward the City center. Once there, I accidently had an accident... yikes. Nobody is hurt, only the cars sustained any damage, but I was really upset to say the least. I felt really bad, since it was my fault (hit a parked car..). Before you laugh at me, I must remind you that people drive on the left over here and you don't realize how much room you have on the side of the car. Not to mention, the roads are ridiculously narrow. Now you can laugh, I'm over it. I scoped out a few places that looked like may be good places to watch the game tonight. I know everyone is going to be out.
Go Ireland!
~k
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Green and Gold
Green is for the rolling hills and I think the gold is for the beer... not sure. So I arrived in Dublin, which is a rocking city, and quickly found a place to stay right near the main drag for a good price. I went around town for a bit, it's much colder here than it was in Italy, only about 12 degrees C (compared to about 25 in Italy). I did a tour of the Guiness Storehouse today, which was done very nicely by Guiness. They have a self-guided tour set up, and show you the process of making the porter and they also go through some interesting facts about the owner, like he signed a 9,000 year lease 250 years ago, on the property where the storehouse is located. That's pretty insane. After you go through the tour, you can either go up to the highest point in the area, called the Gravity Bar and have a free pint of beer, or you can pour it yourself. Since I never poured a Guiness before, I figured I would learn how, and proudly received a certificate for pouring the "Perfect Pint." hehe, ok, it was exactly perfect but it tasted good :) When I got out of there, it had started raining pretty hard, so I high tailed it back to the city center and grabbed some Bulmers (that's Irish for Magners Cider) and some dinner before calling it a night. I wanted to see some Irish music, but the bars were really crowded because Ireland is playing Italy tomorrow night for a spot in the World Cup, so the city is teeming with both Irish and Italians partying it up. Hope to catch the game somewhere tomorrow.
~k
~k
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Foodie
The last two days of cooking were amazing. Prepare yourself for some real home italian cooking when I get home. I'm talking, pasta, gnocchi, ravioli, veggies, crostini, dessert, bring an appetite.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Learning to Cook - Tuscan Style
I had the best night's sleep in a month. It was incredibly quiet and comfortable here. I woke up to fresh capaccino and saffron ricotta cake with home made fig jam. Not a bad start ;) I chatted with Luigi in my limited italian (how are you, sleep well, etc) and got the inside scoop from Paola and Simonetta about the cooking class ahead. There were two other couples there, two women from Israel who were traveling around Europe in a camper. What a neat idea I hadn't even thought of. The other was a couple from Monteal Canada spending a couple weeks in Italy. It was a nice group to learn tuscan cooking with.
We started off making dessert, since it had to rest in the fridge for a while. We made a traditional style tiramisu, with the lady fingers, mascapone cheese, and a bit of coffee and rum. Then on to the frittata, made with potatos and green beans. In making this, I realized that there are a few kitchen utensils I definitely need to get when I get home - potato ricer and a half moon knife (this thing is awesome).
We also made home made pasta called Pici. It was a rustic, thick spaghetti type of pasta that you roll with your hands. We made a tomato, garlic and olive oil sauce for it that had just the right touch of pepperoccini to give it a mild spiciness. Along with that, we made bruschetta. Now, I make bruschetta all the time but it has never, ever, come out as fantastic as this. I'm not sure that I'll be able to recreate it, but Simonetta assured me that I could email with questions if I needed to when I got home.
After the cooking festivities, we sat with the family and enjoyed this feast for lunch with some Chianti of course. The one thing I'll mention is that to make real Tuscan cooking, you can't be shy with the olive oil. When you think you have used enough, add a bit more.
Once the class was over, Paola took me around Tuscany to look at middle century villages and small towns. At one, we stopped in a supermarket and she asked me if there was anything there that I never had before. Of course, there was a bit, so she purchased it so we could try it for dinner. Along the way, we stopped into a small wine shop where I tasted some Chianti dessert wine. It had a similar taste to port wine, but a bit lighter. Traditionally, this is served with some biscotti dipped in the wine. I need to try that at some point. Back at home, we had dinner. Not like I really needed it after the rest of the food today.
Dinner, not like I had room for it, was a cheese plate with some bread and salad. There was mozzarella, but not like we know mozzarella. It was more similar to buffalo or fresh mozzarella, but the inside had a softer consistency, more liquid than solid. To round it out, we also had two kinds of pecorino, one young and one aged, along with a smoked cheese that was similar to gouda. They served the cheese with two kinds of spiced jam - one fig and one apple, both of which were very tasty! They were particularly good on the harder, aged pecorino cheese.
There was left over tiramisu, but there was no way it was fitting in my stomach. As I have learned well since I have been here, "Sono pieno."
^k
We started off making dessert, since it had to rest in the fridge for a while. We made a traditional style tiramisu, with the lady fingers, mascapone cheese, and a bit of coffee and rum. Then on to the frittata, made with potatos and green beans. In making this, I realized that there are a few kitchen utensils I definitely need to get when I get home - potato ricer and a half moon knife (this thing is awesome).
We also made home made pasta called Pici. It was a rustic, thick spaghetti type of pasta that you roll with your hands. We made a tomato, garlic and olive oil sauce for it that had just the right touch of pepperoccini to give it a mild spiciness. Along with that, we made bruschetta. Now, I make bruschetta all the time but it has never, ever, come out as fantastic as this. I'm not sure that I'll be able to recreate it, but Simonetta assured me that I could email with questions if I needed to when I got home.
After the cooking festivities, we sat with the family and enjoyed this feast for lunch with some Chianti of course. The one thing I'll mention is that to make real Tuscan cooking, you can't be shy with the olive oil. When you think you have used enough, add a bit more.
Once the class was over, Paola took me around Tuscany to look at middle century villages and small towns. At one, we stopped in a supermarket and she asked me if there was anything there that I never had before. Of course, there was a bit, so she purchased it so we could try it for dinner. Along the way, we stopped into a small wine shop where I tasted some Chianti dessert wine. It had a similar taste to port wine, but a bit lighter. Traditionally, this is served with some biscotti dipped in the wine. I need to try that at some point. Back at home, we had dinner. Not like I really needed it after the rest of the food today.
Dinner, not like I had room for it, was a cheese plate with some bread and salad. There was mozzarella, but not like we know mozzarella. It was more similar to buffalo or fresh mozzarella, but the inside had a softer consistency, more liquid than solid. To round it out, we also had two kinds of pecorino, one young and one aged, along with a smoked cheese that was similar to gouda. They served the cheese with two kinds of spiced jam - one fig and one apple, both of which were very tasty! They were particularly good on the harder, aged pecorino cheese.
There was left over tiramisu, but there was no way it was fitting in my stomach. As I have learned well since I have been here, "Sono pieno."
^k
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Veni, Vedi, Vici...
Back in Florence, it was then that I decided that I was ready to move on from Italy. I love it here, really I do, but I needed to go to greener pastures. What better for greener pastures than Ireland. Ryanair had nutso cheap flights into Dublin, and I figured that I could catch up with my return flight home in London on the 13th. So I found an internet cafe and made some arrangements for Ireland. I arrive there on the 8th, spend 4 and a half days there and then stop in London for one night before returning home. I can't believe that vacation is almost over... sniff sniff sniff.
After that, I went over to the Duomo to take a look at the Cathredral. It is one of the oldest churches in Italy, so I figured I should pay homage, not to mention that it is free which is always in my price range. I found my way to the bus station where I took a trip out to Greve in Tuscany and met up with a driver who took me to the D'Mari family for Italian cooking lessons. This family is wonderful and so welcoming with a hospitality that makes you feel as if you are home.
I had a delicious dinner with Simonetta, her sister Paola, Paola's husband and two children, and papa Luigi. Other than Simonetta and Paola, the rest of the family does not speak much English so it has given me a chance to brush up on some more Italian. When I get home, I definitely want to spend more time learning languages. For dinner, we had pasta with pesto, a savory bread made with parmasan and ricotta (for which I asked the recipe for - it was amazing), some crostini with a cheese that I never had before (scacione). It was a soft spreadable cheese that they added chives to and put on a fresh baguette style of bread. Then we had home made gelato for dessert. It was topped with a cherry, but not a marschino cherry, it was fresher and in a syrup and was sweet, but not overly so. I gained another 10 lbs just writing about it.
^k
After that, I went over to the Duomo to take a look at the Cathredral. It is one of the oldest churches in Italy, so I figured I should pay homage, not to mention that it is free which is always in my price range. I found my way to the bus station where I took a trip out to Greve in Tuscany and met up with a driver who took me to the D'Mari family for Italian cooking lessons. This family is wonderful and so welcoming with a hospitality that makes you feel as if you are home.
I had a delicious dinner with Simonetta, her sister Paola, Paola's husband and two children, and papa Luigi. Other than Simonetta and Paola, the rest of the family does not speak much English so it has given me a chance to brush up on some more Italian. When I get home, I definitely want to spend more time learning languages. For dinner, we had pasta with pesto, a savory bread made with parmasan and ricotta (for which I asked the recipe for - it was amazing), some crostini with a cheese that I never had before (scacione). It was a soft spreadable cheese that they added chives to and put on a fresh baguette style of bread. Then we had home made gelato for dessert. It was topped with a cherry, but not a marschino cherry, it was fresher and in a syrup and was sweet, but not overly so. I gained another 10 lbs just writing about it.
^k
The Engineer's Debacle
On Oct. 4, I took a day trip to Pisa. How can you come to Italy and not see the debacle? I guess I was a bit off in my proportions when thinking about these monuments. Pisa is about 7 or 8 stories high and during construction in the 12th century, it started leaning when they got to the 3rd level. Today, the structure is under renovation because it continues to sink on one side. They still give tours though, but the only allow 30 people at a time, every 30 minutes because they are afraid that it is going to collapse. Umm... no thanks, I'll take a look at the ground level.
I didn't have much interest in the rest of what Pisa had to offer (more churches, museums, etc.), so I made my way back to Florence so I could prepare for my trip to Tuscany.
^k
I didn't have much interest in the rest of what Pisa had to offer (more churches, museums, etc.), so I made my way back to Florence so I could prepare for my trip to Tuscany.
^k
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Biking in the Hills
On the 3rd, I signed up to go on a biking trip through Tuscany. It was a 23 km (13 mi) trek led by a few Scots and one irishman. We started off at a winery that was constructed in 1200, miraculously it is still standing up straight and tall. We took a tour of the winery and learned about what makes a Chianti Classico versus a Chianti Reserva. We also learned about cold pressing olives to make extra virgin olive oil and then tasted some wine, bread and olive oil. It was fabulous!
Then we got our bikes, mine was named James Bond, but I wasn't prepared to do any neat spy tricks. Off we went, through the Tuscan country side. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish that I had my USB cable with me right now so I could post some photos, but unfortunately it is back in Florence and I'm in Tuscany at the moment. There were endless rolling hills of vineyards, forests and olive trees without a house in sight. As we biked around, we passed wineries and small restaurants. Midway, we stopped for lunch which was absolutely fabulous!!! It was a simple meal, but so so good. Started off with a salad dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, followed by a four cheese pasta and finished with a tiramisu cake. That coupled with the two glasses of wine should hvae warned me of what was ahead.
Back on the bikes, we went for a while up a mild but long incline. Then we stopped and the guide told us about the hill that was ahead (which we couldn't see). He said, even if you bike every day, this hill will "kick your ass." I figured, it was only 900 km, only half a mile, how bad could it possibly be. A bunch of people took the van up to the top, bikes in tow. Several started off on the climb, me included. I really wanted to make it to the top on my own, but this is vacation after all. And after the two glasses of wine and huge meal, it wasn't going to stay with me if I kept going. So, I stopped mid-way and hitched a ride with the van to the top. Oh well... I'm a bit disappointed, but this is vacation after all.
On the trip, I met several really cool people. There was a group of recent college grads from North County San Diego. Naturally, I insisted that they go to your bar Joe, though they said it is a bit of a hike to get down there. I reminded them that they just treked around the world, a half hour to IB wouldn't kill them ;) Then there were Ross and Sue, a really nice couple from Canada who have traveled all over the world. I spent a lot of time with them walking up the big hill that none of us could do (they made it up the hill without hitching a ride). Then there were Sheri and Jim, a nice couple from northern California. At the end of the bike ride, the two couples and I got dropped off at the Piazza Michelangelo, which is a high point just outside the city of Florence, which was a great photo-op. From there, we walked back to town and parted ways. I made my way over to the market, which is about 7 blocks of merchants selling all kinds of leather goods, art, and other souveniers.
^k
Then we got our bikes, mine was named James Bond, but I wasn't prepared to do any neat spy tricks. Off we went, through the Tuscan country side. It was absolutely beautiful. I wish that I had my USB cable with me right now so I could post some photos, but unfortunately it is back in Florence and I'm in Tuscany at the moment. There were endless rolling hills of vineyards, forests and olive trees without a house in sight. As we biked around, we passed wineries and small restaurants. Midway, we stopped for lunch which was absolutely fabulous!!! It was a simple meal, but so so good. Started off with a salad dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar, followed by a four cheese pasta and finished with a tiramisu cake. That coupled with the two glasses of wine should hvae warned me of what was ahead.
Back on the bikes, we went for a while up a mild but long incline. Then we stopped and the guide told us about the hill that was ahead (which we couldn't see). He said, even if you bike every day, this hill will "kick your ass." I figured, it was only 900 km, only half a mile, how bad could it possibly be. A bunch of people took the van up to the top, bikes in tow. Several started off on the climb, me included. I really wanted to make it to the top on my own, but this is vacation after all. And after the two glasses of wine and huge meal, it wasn't going to stay with me if I kept going. So, I stopped mid-way and hitched a ride with the van to the top. Oh well... I'm a bit disappointed, but this is vacation after all.
On the trip, I met several really cool people. There was a group of recent college grads from North County San Diego. Naturally, I insisted that they go to your bar Joe, though they said it is a bit of a hike to get down there. I reminded them that they just treked around the world, a half hour to IB wouldn't kill them ;) Then there were Ross and Sue, a really nice couple from Canada who have traveled all over the world. I spent a lot of time with them walking up the big hill that none of us could do (they made it up the hill without hitching a ride). Then there were Sheri and Jim, a nice couple from northern California. At the end of the bike ride, the two couples and I got dropped off at the Piazza Michelangelo, which is a high point just outside the city of Florence, which was a great photo-op. From there, we walked back to town and parted ways. I made my way over to the market, which is about 7 blocks of merchants selling all kinds of leather goods, art, and other souveniers.
^k
Friday, October 2, 2009
If David is that big, how big was Goliath?
Florence was amazing, such a beautiful city and lots to do. I spent a day at the Pitti Palace, where the Medici family lived for a long time. Now it is a museum, the palace is open for viewing and there is a botanical garden. I started out early and spent a lot of time in the museum and trying to better understand the rennaisance art. The palace was amazing, palatial, ornate, with gold leaf and art from all over the world. I just keep thinking about what it was like to live as a king in that time (or any time for that matter). What a foreign concept. From there, I spent some time relaxing in the garden.
I had some dinner left over from the night before, so I went to the market and got some wine and bread to go along with the cheese. Something interesting about Tuscan bread, there is no salt in it. So the first time I had some, in the restaurant, it took me a minute or so to realize that it wasn't that it tasted bad, but rather there was no salt. I found out why later (see the post on the cooking class). So I sat on the balcony at the hotel, a nice perk for a budget hotel for sure, and enjoyed a late lunch.
After that, I took a trip over to the Accademia Museum, where David lives. My goodness, he is GIGANTIC! For some reason, I thought that he was about human sized, but he is more than twice as big. The level of detail in the sculpting was amazing, he has toenails for crying out loud. All that carved into marble. He truly is an amazing work of art - go see it.
Then, there was still some time left to walk to the top of the tower next to the Duomo. I climbed something like 420 steps to the top for an amazing view. At least I'm getting a little bit of workout, otherwise, by this time in the trip my pants would not fit any more.
^k
I had some dinner left over from the night before, so I went to the market and got some wine and bread to go along with the cheese. Something interesting about Tuscan bread, there is no salt in it. So the first time I had some, in the restaurant, it took me a minute or so to realize that it wasn't that it tasted bad, but rather there was no salt. I found out why later (see the post on the cooking class). So I sat on the balcony at the hotel, a nice perk for a budget hotel for sure, and enjoyed a late lunch.
After that, I took a trip over to the Accademia Museum, where David lives. My goodness, he is GIGANTIC! For some reason, I thought that he was about human sized, but he is more than twice as big. The level of detail in the sculpting was amazing, he has toenails for crying out loud. All that carved into marble. He truly is an amazing work of art - go see it.
Then, there was still some time left to walk to the top of the tower next to the Duomo. I climbed something like 420 steps to the top for an amazing view. At least I'm getting a little bit of workout, otherwise, by this time in the trip my pants would not fit any more.
^k
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Firenze at last
It was bound to happen and I won't complain, but here it is. So on the last day in Germany, I sent laundry out. Half of it didn't come back. Hopefully Rob will receive it in the mail shortly. So, I was left with about half of my short sleeved shirts and considering that the weather said it was going to be around 18-20 degrees and it has been more like 25-28 degrees, I am getting a little bored of the same tops. Lucky for me, I'm now in Italy's shopping haven.
Yesterday, I decided to wear my sneakers since I thought it was going to be a cooler ride up to Cortina and maybe some walking through the hills. Well, apparantly, they are done. My arches were killing me, and by the way they stink to high heaven from walking through the Blantyre slums, sewage and then trying to wash them off. So Rob, I know you were wondering what was causing the stink... it was the sneakers and now they are stinking up Venice because that's where I left them. My flip flops are way way more comfortable anyway.
This morning at about 6 am, I woke up to a few screaming children in the room next to me and I couldn't move without lots of pain. My back was a mess and I'm not really sure why, since I wouldn't consider the two museums yesterday a strain on me. This also really wasn't the thing I needed when I have to drag a 22 kilo bag through Venice (there are no ramps by the way, just stairs over every bridge, no idea how people in a wheelchair can live here). Popped a few ibuprofen and turned out ok. That's what I get for getting old.
The plusses
- a so-so day on vacation is better than a great day at work
- I'm alive and I can take a 5 minute shower and not use my entire days worth of water in doing so
So, I'm here in Firenze and looking forward to enjoying the last week or so of vacation. More to come.
k
Yesterday, I decided to wear my sneakers since I thought it was going to be a cooler ride up to Cortina and maybe some walking through the hills. Well, apparantly, they are done. My arches were killing me, and by the way they stink to high heaven from walking through the Blantyre slums, sewage and then trying to wash them off. So Rob, I know you were wondering what was causing the stink... it was the sneakers and now they are stinking up Venice because that's where I left them. My flip flops are way way more comfortable anyway.
This morning at about 6 am, I woke up to a few screaming children in the room next to me and I couldn't move without lots of pain. My back was a mess and I'm not really sure why, since I wouldn't consider the two museums yesterday a strain on me. This also really wasn't the thing I needed when I have to drag a 22 kilo bag through Venice (there are no ramps by the way, just stairs over every bridge, no idea how people in a wheelchair can live here). Popped a few ibuprofen and turned out ok. That's what I get for getting old.
The plusses
- a so-so day on vacation is better than a great day at work
- I'm alive and I can take a 5 minute shower and not use my entire days worth of water in doing so
So, I'm here in Firenze and looking forward to enjoying the last week or so of vacation. More to come.
k
Venice, again.
so yesterday, the trip to Cortina and Dolomites was cancelled, much to my disappointment, as I had seen just about everything I could think of in Venice. So, I gave myself a lesson in dichotomy. First I went to an exhibit devoted to DiVinci, and it was really cool, as I thought it would be. It was mostly about his engineering and architecture works and not much about his art. I didn't realize how much stuff he actually invented - the ball bearing being one of them, and still used today in much the same form. He also apparently had a fascination with water systems, a man after my own heart ;) He made several inventions to use water as a means of making some things automatic, like an excavator. It worked by filling up a tipping bucket, which lifted a weighted hoe-like thing and then when the bucket filled and tipped, the weighted digger fell into the trench, dislodging the soil. I know that I'm starting to get a little geeky here, even for the geeks out there reading this.
From there, I took a stroll over to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which houses a lot of modern art painting, sculptures and things like that as well as a tour of her house, which was pretty gigantic for the city of Venice. I stared for a long time at the Jackson Pollack paintings and tried and tried to get it. But I didn't. I can say that the one called "Circumcision" in 1946 felt like a really angry painting. There was one called "Eyes in the Heat" that was cool because of the texture he made with the oils but it made me wonder whether or not each stroke was deliberate or not. Now, painters like Dali, I can sort of get. The geometric and cubic painters like Picasso don't do a whole lot for me though. In some of the work, I could really appreciate the media used, like sand and pebbles with oil on cardboard, that was kind of cool too. Anyway, it was a world apart from DiVinci's methodical and detailed sketches of war machines.
k
From there, I took a stroll over to the Peggy Guggenheim museum, which houses a lot of modern art painting, sculptures and things like that as well as a tour of her house, which was pretty gigantic for the city of Venice. I stared for a long time at the Jackson Pollack paintings and tried and tried to get it. But I didn't. I can say that the one called "Circumcision" in 1946 felt like a really angry painting. There was one called "Eyes in the Heat" that was cool because of the texture he made with the oils but it made me wonder whether or not each stroke was deliberate or not. Now, painters like Dali, I can sort of get. The geometric and cubic painters like Picasso don't do a whole lot for me though. In some of the work, I could really appreciate the media used, like sand and pebbles with oil on cardboard, that was kind of cool too. Anyway, it was a world apart from DiVinci's methodical and detailed sketches of war machines.
k
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
