AmySez’s blog

The day we arrived in Positano we were pretty bummed… it was pouring rain and in Positano – a peaceful old town built into cliffs of the southern coast of Amalfi – there’s absolutely nothing to do when it rains. We grabbed some dinner and discussed all the different possibilities for that leg of the trip – cut it short and head to Rome? Stick it out and hope it gets better? Use the rain as an excuse to do nothing but drink wine and play backgammon?

We opted for the latter and tried to make the best of Positano in hopes that the weather improves… and it did! The next day we went on an amazing hike which had us ascending the many flights of stairs around town until we were at the top half of the cliffs, above the town line.  Now we were only about a third of the way up… we still needed to climb the ‘Path of the Gods’ until we reached the summit. We even passed by several groups of Positano rescue workers doing their drills – propelling, rock climbing, etc. The view from the top was stunning and definitely worth the breathless climb. But now came the hard part… the descent down steep rocky path and countless set of stairs (my knees are still in crumbly shambles).  Needless to say the next day we took it easy with a little R&R and backgammon on the beach J

Generally, the food in town was pretty good… especially if you like seafood or pizza because that’s all they have – our favorite was the Neapolitan pizza at Saraceno D’Oro and the spaghetti w/ cuttlefish ink at Chez Black. I was really looking forward to trying the Zuppa di Pesce that seemed to be a regional specialty as it was on almost every menu… we got a chance to try it on our last night there on our 2^nd visit to Chez Black. Both Alan and I thought it was absolutely delicious and enjoyed our evening… unfortunately there must’ve been one bad egg among the shellfish because Alan has been battling with a bout of food poisoning ever since.

On the plus side, we’re in Rome now in a very comfortable B&B in Trastevere and feel very much at home here… so it’s a nice and pleasant place for Alan to recover.

Last time we were in Florence was the hottest June in recorded history (for Florentines that’s a very long time).  Needless to say we didn’t enjoy it the first time so (after some encouragement from Florence fans) we decided to give it another go…

Since we did much of the air-conditioned sightseeing on our previous visit (duomo, Ufizi, etc) we decided to take it easy and give ourselves a break from itineraries, and relax a little by playing backgammon, enjoying the food and wine, and taking in the Tuscan atmosphere.

My top 5 favorite Florence memories:

5) Hitting the local bars for apertivo (Italy’s version of happy hour but w/ free food!) and sipping on Campari or Spumante... for dessert: chocolate and hazelnut gelato!!!

4) Hilltop picnic of cheese and wine at the mountaintop San Miniato Almonte with a stunning view of Florence and surrounding Tuscan hills

3) The affordable and AMAZING Mercato Centrale! Specifically, scarfing down the best panini of prosciutto, pecorino, sun dried tomatoes, and hot chili tapenade on crunchy ciabatta roll…and sipping deliciously strong espresso right at the bar!

2) Playing backgammon on the daisy-dominated grass at the hilltop Fort di Belvedere, with a stunning view of an old castle.

1) Castello di Verrazzano in Chianti – Including: a tour of the mountain-top castle/villa & winery, wine tasting, and a mutli-course meal of…

 --antipasti of homemade salamis, prosciutto, sopersetta; bread & house-pressed olive oil

 --pasta e fagioli

 --pasta pomodoro

 --wild boar ribs and sausages w/ a side of Tuscan white beans

 --slightly soft pecorino cheese w/ this pretty amazing pink pepper jam

 --nugget of Parmigiano-Reggiano w/ homemade/aged balsamic (which was so good I wanted to drink it out of a bottle but sorry kids, not bringing this balsamic home -- it retails at a whopping 48 Euros)

 --scrumptious almond biscotti with Vin Santo (dessert wine);followed by café & grappa

Each course was thoughtfully paired with a different wine – from Chianti Classico to Super Tuscan (and everything in between)… all the grapes, olives, and wild boars were grown onsite (for over a millennium)… and everything was pressed, aged, bottled, or slaughtered right there at the castle as well.  

Big thanks to Josh and Ellie for recommending Verrazzano… best of luck with the upcoming wedding – it will no doubt be fantastic!

We considered cancelling our 2-night stop in Salzberg since a rain storm was expected but we decided to move ahead with it anyway. The picturesque Austrian town nestled in the foothills of the Alps (whose claim to fame is Mozart and the Sound of Music) merits at least a brief glance – rain or shine.

Despite the occasional downpour, we managed to see a good bit of the town including the famous mountaintop fortress Hohensalzburg, one of the biggest and oldest castles in Europe. Some of the main takeaways from Salzberg – the baroque architecture and cobble stone streets are so cute you can’t stop taking photos, the town is the cleanest I’ve seen in my lifetime, they put Mozart’s face on everything from bon bons to umbrellas, and every time you glance at the surrounding landscape you start humming the tune to “the hills are a live with the sound of music.”

What do we do when it rains? Eat and drink beer of course! The food was surprisingly pretty good – we even went to the same restaurant two nights in a row, something we foodies don’t typically do. Highlights include the veal sausage and huge salads at Alter Fauchs and the delectable broth soup with cheese dumplings at Pitterkeller. Can you tell we were trying to avoid more pork? I think I might go kosher… oh wait, there’s prosciutto in Italy… never mind.

We began our stay in Budapest amidst a series of construction caused calamities. Finding the Metro at the train station was tricky as the usual passage ways were closed. When we finally made it to our stop, we encountered the same issue trying to get out of the Metro and to our hotel… the whole ordeal was about as fun as trying to work through a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece. We eventually made it and checked-in only to find ourselves in the usual post-train ride situation: STARVING! 

After our ritualistic procedure of sifting through several sources to find the best restaurant to suit out mood, we settled on the classic Hungarian establishment, Karpatia. What we expected to be a pub-style restaurant turned out to be an old grand dining room with beautifully painted vaulted ceilings along with a formal, attentive yet friendly staff. The meal was classic Hungarian: Goulash soup, stuffed peppers and stuffed cabbage.  Although nothing was particularly original, all the dishes were very well prepared and filled our aching stomachs nicely. 

The real highlight of the meal (and this leg of the trip) for me was the wine.  Prior to the Soviet occupation Hungary was a world power-house when it came to wine quality.  This went down the tubes with the Communist takeover (which helped accelerate the wine industries of both California and Australia).  But the bad “Reds” are gone and the good reds are back (HA)!! 

This is seriously good stuff and the real gold is in the Tokaji Aszú.  This version of dessert wine, which in my opinion really gives Sauterne a run for its money, is ranked based on the number of puttonyos - 3 to 6 – which indicate its level of sweetness. It’s the stuff I fell in love with when I worked behind the bar at Aqua in SF, and have had great difficultly finding in any of the stores.   Well now I’ve got two bottles bitches!!! Let me tell you people, I am a real cheapie when it comes to buying stuff to bring home, but I had no issues pulling out the gold card for Tokaji.

As for Budapest, it’s a beautiful big city which is surprisingly much more cosmopolitan than Prague. And because Hungary was once occupied by Turkey during the height of the Ottoman Empire, Budapest is also famous for its array of old Turkish bath houses. Amy and I checked out Rudas late last Friday night – this place has been around for centuries and while renovated and clean, still keeps its cool old stone interior which includes 5 pools of different temps, fountain-like spouts, and domed ceiling. While it stays open and kicking till 4am, we called it quits by midnight to avoid further pruning. The Magyars that bathe all night must have a tougher skin.

Thanks Alan for contributing this post.

What you’ve heard is true! Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, probably the world. Alan and I had a good banter about which city is cooler – Paris or Prague – just to give you a sense that it even warrants the discussion. Needless to say, Prague was my favorite city of the trip up to that point (Budapest may catch up). It also helped that we stayed in the cutest little one bedroom apartment (overlooking a courtyard with a chill bar) on one of the little cobble stone streets in Old Town.

This post should actually be named ‘Land of beer and pork part II’ because that sums up most of our meals there, but in Prague we also had some tasty pickled herring and other fish (which I didn’t even think I would like), as well as my first Afghan meal at Kabul which ended up being probably our favorite of that leg of the trip. The amazing feast included perfectly crispy afghan bread and spicy/vinegary green chutney; and scrumptious dumplings filled with lamb, veggies, and covered with yogurt sauce. But the winner had to be the beef kabobs which surprisingly tasted a bit like the flavor-packed Romanian-style kabobs my dad made for us growing up. Imagine the best meatloaf packed with herbs & spices, rolled into a tube and cooked perfectly on the grill so when you stick your fork in it gushes with juiciness.

My favorite thing about the city wasn’t the great food, fine beer (Pilsner Urquell), or even the powerful absinthe; it was the city itself – its stunning architecture and Bohemian character. What makes Prague unique is that unlike most European cities, it was left pretty much intact during/after WWII because at the time Czechoslovakia was peacefully annexed to Germany, and then occupied by the Soviets at the end of the war. So most of the neo-classical, neo-gothic, baroque, art nuevo, and art deco architecture remains and has been thoughtfully renovated following years of Communist era neglect. The handful of concrete slab boxy eyesores act as a somber reminder of the years behind the Iron Curtain.

We were pretty surprised by how Jewish Prague was pre-WWII – Jews made up a third of the city’s population, the other two thirds were Czechs and German. Jews had a very long and interesting history in Prague which I won’t go into detail on here.  Luckily many of the old Synagogues survived, including one that dates back to the 14^th century – something that you won’t see in most of Europe.  The Jewish cemetery also survived intact (w/ graves dating back to 1300’s), as well as the medieval Josefov ghetto… but unfortunately most of its inhabitants didn’t. The Jewish population in Prague today is only about 7 thousand.

Our last day in Prague was the coolest one. We walked all over the place – over the bridge in the north and up the steps to the giant metronome (which replaced a statue of Stalin, and around the huge Castle to the opposite hilltop and all the way up the winding steps of Petrin Tower (a copy of Eifel Tower).  After checking out a video exhibit of Shanghai-inspired images at Futura Gallery (in Smichov), we walked all the way back over the Charles Bridge to the Center to finish the day with more beer and great food.

We’re in Budapest, Hungary… we got here a couple of days ago. I love this city but we’ll get to that later. Right now I have some previous stops to report on – Munich & Prague.  I’ll make this as quick as I can, despite my usually rambling self…

Munich was sooo much fun! While it wasn’t on our itinerary initially, we decided to make it a stop after Annie and Josh invited us to join them at Annie’s BFF Ellie’s place in Munich which she shares with her fiancé Josh. Ellie and Josh were the best of hosts and the 6 of us had an uber fun 4-day run together… primarily drinking beer and eating sausages, pork knuckle, and a heap of other pork products. 

Not to worry, in addition to making sure our livers were earning their keep, we also did some cultural stuff. Not only did we hike up a mad climb to a mountaintop monastery (and rewarded ourselves with their fine brew and swine) and ride bikes all day to explore the sites of Munich (with a pit stop at a beer garden), but we also spent the afternoon at Pinakothek Museum to take in a little Rembrandt, Raphael, Rubens, and other Dutch and Flemmish art from the Middle Ages.

The most memorable excursion was Dachau – a suburb of Munich which is home to an infamous concentration camp where Nazis detained hundred of thousands WWII political prisoners and Jews. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said about the atrocities of the holocaust. Over the years I’ve been to numerous/memorials, studied it in school, and heard my grandparents first-hand accounts… and while those experiences always left me angry, bitter and mainly saddened, the visit to Dachau hit me much harder…

There’s something about standing where it all took place… seeing the barracks, barbed wire, the ‘showers’ (gas chamber), crematorium… walking past all the haunting memorials, each marking unknown mass graves of thousands.  It was all too much to take in and it tore me up.

So the one of the reasons we’re in Europe (v. doing a 6 week adventure in some developing country with a much better exchange rate) is Jam in the Dam! This annual music festival in Amsterdam invited Tea Leaf Green to play 3 nights along with 5 other bands – Disco Biscuits, Umphrey's McGee, Dark Star Orchestra, Perpetual Groove, and Lotus.

I know I’m biased but personally I thought TLG brought the house down – the energy of the band, the light show, and the crowd was intense and electrifying. The guys were on fire! Other highlights include Umphrey’s – have to give their sick drummer Chris Myers props… he totally blew me away.  I like to describe Joe Russo from the Duo as an alien because he plays with his whole body and makes it look like arms are like these long tentacles that do this sort of seductive mating dance with the drums. Myers plays differently… like his arms are like little sticks of dynamite which pop and explode all over the kit in a way that make you think ‘whoa, wtf just happened?’

Besides taking in the music festivus scene, my favorite Amsterdam activity was riding around the city! Alan and I rented these laid back Amsterdam-style bikes and rode everywhere… through Vogel Park, zigzagged canals, over the Amstel River, down to a windmill, up to the waterfront district, behind central station and back around. I really dig the bike culture there – we should totally learn from the Europeans and set up this system back at home (not holding my breath though since we’re married to our cars).

In case any of you are planning a trip to A’dam any time soon, you may want to check out this amazing deli – it’s called Loekie (on Prinsengracht at the corner of Leidsestraat)… we had an amazing steak tartar w/ caper sandwich on toasted whole grain baguette. This place is sooo good, we’ve had lunch from there the past 3 days in a row.

We tasted Amsterdam’s other local flavors but will spare you the details :)

We totally indulged (read: pigged out) in Lyon!  Our second day there was pretty incredible from a culinary standpoint. We had two very rustic regional meals – lunch was Southwestern French cuisine at Le Bistro de Saint Paul, while dinner was at mainstay Lyonnais bouchon named Garet.

At lunch we shared a salad of sliced artichoke hearts topped with foie gras, and wild mushrooms with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic reduction. Main course was a cassoulet – an oven baked dish of duck, sausages, and pork belly covered in saucy white beans, slightly crispy brown on the surface.  This hearty comfort food beats a mac n’ cheese any day!

For dinner we headed to Le Garet, a ninety year old bouchon in the opera house neighborhood. This was a pretty unforgettable experience which I’ll sum up with this: tripe & veal feet.  I tried everything (even if it was hard to swallow) but some of the other stuff we had was pretty tasty – sausages, lentils, scallops, baby goat, and of course more cheese!

A little about the city… Lyon is totally a place I could see myself living in. Nestled among a few steep hills and two rivers – the Rhone and the Soane – Lyon is home to people who are serious about their food, art, wine and shopping. It has the cultural atmosphere of Paris but just a bit smaller and much more relaxed… kinda like San Francisco v. New York.

So I haven’t been able to get online for a while so here are two posts – most recent from Lyon and the one further down is from Avignon…

We’re absolutely loving Lyon – how can we not!! -it’s the gastronomic capital of the world, known for its collection of high end Michelin star restaurants, local casual eateries called Bouchons, and of course all the creperies, boulangeries, charcuteries, and patisseries you’d expect in France.

Our first meal was a lunch we reserved weeks in advance while we were still in the States – Michelin gave Nicolas Le Bec two stars which we felt was well deserved. We opted for the pre-fix dejouner menu which featured the most amazing scallop dish in pureed sauces of cauliflower and pea, covered in fresh baby greens. Another winning dish was the green asparagus appetizer which was peeled and very tender, served on a slice of ham with a nutty bacon cream sauce and topped with parmesan shavings and baby greens. This was a beautiful dish that was both light and very decadent.

I’ll skip the main courses as they’re nothing to write home about but the cheese cart definitely deserves a shout out. The waiter dude rolls it over and the first thing I see is a giant wheel of Stilton sitting next to Munster, and several different goat cheeses. Between the two of us, Alan and I tried 6 – my favorite was the Munster, much better than one I get at Safeway (Alan wants everyone to know that he doesn’t buy his cheese at Safeway).

Lastly, the desserts…

The ‘hot chocolate mouse’ was like the rich/sophisticated twin sister of the lava cake – along with the accompaniments of white cheese ice cream and sweet little fraises des bois (baby strawberries), a spoonful of the gooey molten center was soooo good it made me giggle. The caramel mousse tart topped with caramel ice cream, a salted butter sauce and caramel hazelnut candies was like a sweet and salty soiree in my mouth.

After several days of great Spanish food, we were pretty eager to taste what the French had to offer. While we promise not to make this blog all about food, we do have to describe two amazing meals we had in Avignon. One of the major stops in Provance, Avignon is an upscale medieval town on the Rhone River which was enclosed by a fortress wall to protect the Popes while the Vatican was temporarily located here in 1309.

We arrived at Avignon at night so of course the first thing on our mind was dinner – we strolled over to Le Moutardier du Pape which was a cute little restaurant across from Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) adorned with renaissance inspired frescos which gave it that uber-French vibe. 

In an effort to keep the cost down and not stuff ourselves, we split 2 apps, an entrée and a dessert. We started with the Boudin Noir (blood sausage) – which I had a hankering for after seeing it in Barcelona in a few places – served with thin slice of toasted bread and topped with fried onions, it was much more tender and creamy than the one I had in the States… more spreadable and very delicious. Next came the best split pea soup I’ve ever had – very delicate flavor and silky texture, enhanced by a drizzle of olive oil and a dollop of crème fraiche. The cod that followed was perfectly cooked, covered with an olive tapenade which added a welcomed tinge of acidity.

The next day after walking all over Avignon, we rewarded ourselves with an impromptu lunch at Christian Etienne, a Michelin-starred restaurant, located in a beautiful old stone house adjoined to the Palais des Papes. The interior is gorgeous – the perfect combo of medieval charm with modern decor and an arty feel.

We had the pre-fix lunch menu which started with a comforting and refreshing Consommé of Mussels with julienne ginger and carrots. The Gnocchi with lobster topped with black truffle cream sauce and shavings was memorable but not spectacular -- we added this in from their special truffle menu so I think we were expecting a religious experience… although we did finally get it in the next dish – guinea hen stuffed with almonds in veal jus accompanied by leaks stuffed with bacon. The courses were expertly paired with several different wines by our very attentive sommelier. Last but not least was the caramel crème brulee topped with granny smith apple foam next to a scoop of refreshing granny smith apple sorbet covered with toasted/candied sesame seeds.

Avignon also has a great market in Les Halles which we hit up the next day to prep a little picnic of pulpo (octopus), brandade (salt cod spread), chic pea salad, olives, fresh baked bread with Roquefort cheese baked into it, and the most amazing little personal size round of chevre I’ve ever had (and I really love my goat cheese). We worked this off with a nice long hike over the Rhone River to the neighboring town of Villenueve where we strolled though the peaceful gardens of Saint Andre Abbey.