Travel – Page 81

Tokyo: First impressions, Shinjuku, and Nagi Ramen

October 24, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Japanese Restaurants, Ramen, Tokyo, Kamakura, and the Kantō Region, Travel, yoso-silly

Back in July, having just returned from Belgium and the Czech Republic, the Missus sent me a text. Something along the lines of "let's go to Japan." To which I replied, "great, so next year, we'll go to Japan". Her response? "No, I mean let's go to Japan in October, after seeing my parents." And so it came to pass….

For some strange reason; I'd never really been motivated to visit Japan. But now, the wheels set in motion, I just couldn't wait. Though busy at work and time was short, I did some research, and found things I needed to know; the somewhat confusing address system, making sure I had photos of the storefronts of the places we needed to be at. I got us apartments in Tokyo and Osaka, and even a Machiya in Kyoto. Had friends make reservations at two places in Tokyo. We don't really plan much in the way of activities; mostly just broad outlines. The Missus likes to do most of that when we reach our destination. This can be a challenge, but She does it based on where we need to be.

All in all, Japan turned out to be one of the easiest places we've ever visited. It's amazingly orderly, folks at the worst are polite and everyone we met was helpful. That the Missus could read Kanji proved to be a major plus as other than the hiragana and katagana, and Japanese pronunciations, She could cull out meaning. I know a handful of words though my phrasing is (sometimes hilariously) woeful. When it comes to food though, I understand much more.

Well, enough of that….I'll get more into it in future posts.

As things turned out, all you really need is a Japan Railpass, Suica Card, the Hyperdia App, addresses both in English and Japanese, the word "sumimasen", and a little patience and you'll do just fine.

I really thought Tokyo was going to be a bear and was prepared to be overwhelmed, and in a way we were, but not exactly in the way we thought we'd be. First off, getting around in Tokyo was very easy for us. Finding exact locations weren't. Tokyo itself is made up of 23 wards…..think of it as 23 cities packed into one mega-city. Yes, it's busy, but also very quiet. The train/subway can be packed to the gills and yet, there's not a single word uttered in anything above a whisper! Folks line the stairs and escalators…all to the left in Tokyo, letting folks pass to the right. They walk…a lot…they eat tons of carbs and are very thin…folks do not eat while they walk, it's bad manners, even though there are very few public waste receptacles, the sidewalks are extremely clean.

We arrived in the neighborhood of Yotsuya and found the business of the person we were renting our apartment from with rather minimal problems. She was in the middle of teaching a class, so we dropped off our luggage, we travel super light, and set off to get something to drink, and to do some exploring. We walked down one of the side streets….

Seeing the sign above we walked down the alley like street and were totally over whelmed by all the restaurants and bars……which led to the big question. How does one actually make a choice here? There are so many places and options. I'm sure Tabelog and Gurunavi would help, but man, there's just so much. The Missus made the comment, "man, there are more restaurants in this little street than all of Clairemont Mesa!"

Luckily, I had reservations taken care of for the next night, had a plan for this evening, and had an outline of where to eat in the area for our last evening in Tokyo. In fact, we went looking for that Izakaya and actually found the place….using my really, really bad Japanese, I uttered one of the few phrases I know, "Yoyaku wo onegaishimasu"…. actually getting reservations.

We finally got settled into our apartment, which ended up being in the Yotsuya Sanchome area. A bit more residential, busy main streets, but quiet side streets.

We were meeting an old friend of mine; Reiko for dinner. nothing major, I wanted some ramen, and it would be great seeing Reiko, who used to work for one of my friends several years (actually more than several) back. Reiko was born and raised on Tokyo, so I thought getting to where we wanted to go to would be a slam dunk…well, not quite. You see, first we had to get to Shinjuku Station, claimed to be the busiest in the world (according to Wikipedia, the station was used by over 3.6 million people a day and has 200 exits).

Shinjuku itself is a popular business, entertainment, and shopping area…. lets just say popular is an understatement. Tons of younger folks gather outside the station, just milling around, as it seems to be a popular meeting and socializing area.

The place I'd ask Reiko to find had several locations within Kabukichō, the red light district and the Golden Gai, so it goes to figure that Reiko isn't really familiar with the area. After passing the Robot Restaurant (if you really gotta know, you can read about it here.) and missing the photo op of a large group of business men taking a photo with one of the "Robot Warriors", she needed some help and got a bit of direction….

This was sensory overload….after a while, things started looking like this.

I was seeing blurred outlines by now…all the blinking lights, the neon….. the punk-goth Japanese girls, good god, I was ready to fade to black.

Just in time Reiko pointed and said, "there it is Kirk-san…. Nagi Ramen."

Yes, all this effort for ramen. Would you expect anything less from us? Of course, not just any ramen….

Then of course, there was navigating the ramen ticket machine. You enter in your money and press the buttons for the various options you want.

The tiny shop has a single counter with a few seats. Behind the counter, two guys do everything….. it's hot and hard work.

Nagi is famous for their hardcore niboshi broth. Vast quantities of dried anchovies are simmered for over 12 hours to come up with a heady broth.

The broth is hearty, thick, savory, packing a huge punch. Pungent and full of flavor, it's not eveyone's cup of tea. Indeed it was a bit too strong at first for the Missus. That first sip of the broth will do that to you. We both ordered the combination of noodles, the regular, kind of doughy-chewy noodles and the wide and flat "hirauchimen"noodles which the Missus preferred. The egg had that perfect bright orange orb of a yolk. I had ordered extra green onions which helped balance out the flavor of the broth. My only issue was with the chashu which looked medium rare and was very tough and chewy. Otherwise, this was love at first bite….though perhaps not for the Missus who was a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Leaving the restaurant, things seemed to slow down, everything felt like it was slowing down, all was right in the world, things were starting to make sense…. though I still didn't have an explanation for the Robot Restaurant!

Thanks for reading!

Where in the world were we….the we’re back edition

October 22, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

Wow, we're back home, exhausted but exhilarated. Got in at midnight last night, got to sleep at 3am, back to work at 6am, so I thought I'd do one of these to regroup.

Our last major stop was just a crazy array of smells, sights, sounds…..what you'd expect from a city whose motto basically means "to eat until you drop".

We had a chance to sample to sample a few of the city's iconic dishes…..

We also got to meet up with one of my favorite food bloggers….finally, after over 8 years! Thanks again Kat and Satoshi for a fantastic evening!

There's so many eateries that you could spend your life aimlessly wandering the alleyways paralyzed with indecision.

We managed to make a few decisions and had some nice meals.

We even managed some nice side trips as well.

Ending up right where we started…..

So just hang in there for a bit while I catch up on my sleep, ok?

See you soon!

Where in the world are we…such beauty and sorrow edition

October 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Japan, Travel

It's been a typical day for us, starting early and ready for bed by 9. Since it's still a bit early, I thought I'd do a short post. Our previous stop was one of amazing breath taking beauty.

All of this tremendous beauty was balanced by what happened in this area almost 70 years ago.

It is quite a sobering experience.

In terms of food. Oyster season has just begun here, so ordering is a no-brainer.

The area is also famous for this.

One evening we were wandering around and found a little alley where we enjoyed a fun evening. No English spoken, but who cares…..things got sorted out quite easily.

The pig ear was amazingly prepared.

Anyway, it's time for me to hit the sack.

The Missus says tomorrow is supposed to be an "easy day", but other than the typhoon day, we haven't had one of those yet and I don't think tomorrow will be an exception!

Hope you have a great weekend!

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Where in the world are we? Part 1

October 10, 2014 mmm-yoso Travel

Yep, it's that time again!

Kinda quick this time, but the Missus really wanted to get out and about and who am I to say no?

So where the heck are we? Well, we started out in a very familiar place. You'll know just by what we ate.

Easy one, right?

Where we're at is just as easy. Bright lights, the world is abuzz, crazy, yet orderly.

The place is going 24/7.

And yet things are steeped in tradition.

Of course we are eating well. Perhaps better than we've ever eaten before.

Easy one, right?

We're headed to our next stop in a few hours. I'm dog tired, but there's so much more so we can rest later!

As always, things are in the great hands of Cathy! See you soon!

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Brno: The Dragon of Brno, Jiří Birk’s Wheel, and other secrets of the town hall. Dinner at Stopkova Plzeňská Pivnice

September 19, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Czech Food and Restaurants, Czech Republic, Gastropub, Pubs and Pub Grub, Travel

After lunch, we had a nice little nap. When we awoke, the weather had cleared. This was the first time we saw such clear skies in the Czech Republic. The Missus was ready to go back out exploring again.

Brno was a city with a great sense of humor, it seemed to thrive on a good story, with that little "twist" to it. On one side you'd see the interesting statue, take a look from another angle and it would look a bit strange, perhaps odd, maybe somewhat creepy……

Up on Petrov Hill, we headed back to the Old Town Hall…..which is a little treasure trove of stories….

The first thing you really notice are the pinnacles above the portal of the Old Town Hall…..and you quickly notice that the center one, the tallest and most obvious is strangely bent. Of course there's a legend about this one, right? According to one of the stories, the Architect and Sculptor Anton Pilgram who built the portal and pinnacles found out that he wasn't going to be paid for his work; so he decided to leave his not-so-little mark on the Old Town Hall….another story suggests that Pilgram was too drunk when designing the pinnacle, which led to a "little problem" when it was built. Shades of the "Indecent Little Man" of St James Church!

During the late 10th and early 11th centuries, there are stories of a great beast terrorizing Brno. It is said to have lived in a cave near the Svartka River, eating and tormenting the citizens of Brno. A butcher came up with a plan to rid the city of the "Dragon", he filled a pelt with quicklime (Calcium Oxide) and set it in front of the cave. The beast, thinking it to be an easy mark devoured the lime filled fur bag. When the beast drank water from the river, the exothermic reaction killed the beast which now hangs in the Old Town Hall.

So here's the Dragon of Brno:

Hmmm….sure looks like a crocodile to me. According to what I read, this was probably brought back from the Crusades. Though I prefer the Brno Dragon story…..

And then there's my favorite. It's about this:

Yep, a wagon wheel, but not just any wagon wheel. You see, in 1636, in a pub in Lednice a wheelright named Jiří Birk claimed that he could fell a tree, build his wheel, and roll it from the town of Lednice to Brno (over 25 miles) in a single day. This seemed like easy money, so a bet was made. Jiří Birk was a real master of his craft, and he managed to do what folks thought were impossible and win his bet. The amazed Mayor hung the wheel in the Town Hall. All's well that ends well, right? Remember, this is the Czech Republic, and boy do they like to add those little twists to their stories. After the feat, rumors started going around that Birk had made a bargain with the Devil, who helped him achieve his feat. Folks started avoiding him, he lost all his business, and Jiří Birk died a broke and broken man.

As we made our way to Freedom Square, the sunshine made Brno seem like a total different city from the one we'd seen the day before. Folks were out and about, walking their dogs….you know, I think people might actually take their dogs to work with them…we say them on Trams and at all times during the day…even having lunch with their owners in business suits.

Freedom Square was abuzz; there was a band playing, people were milling about….. this actually did look like the second largest city in the Czech Republic.

Everyone loves a nice, mild, sunny day….as these two young men illustrate.

Man, those kids made me hungry. It was time for dinner. We decided to eat at this pub, which we found out was another Pilsner Urquell restaurant.

By now we were used to the drill in these places; you head right in and find yourself a table. We found an area away from all the cigarette smokers……some of these places can reek of cigarettes when busy. Luckily, it was still early.

I started off with a Fénix, a light, wheat beer with citrus tones. It was very easy to drink.

Well, you know what we started with, right? Pickled sausages of course. These were really light in terms of sourness and really just tasted like Kielbasa.

Even though we were no longer in Olomouc, I wanted to try the Pickled Cheese.

I really enjoyed this. It was a bit more ripe, funky, milky, and had less of a waxy texture than Olomoucké tvarůžky.

I saw Pork Cracklins on the menu and of course had to order it. Fried pork with crouton like cubes of bread that seemed to have also been deep fried. To be eaten with more bread! Of course, there was that ramekin of lard to use as a spread….so hell, I'm not complaining about this one bit!

We also ordered the Smoked Lamb Sausages.

These tasted a bit like merguez, but I feel it needed a bit more spice and it really didn't have enough stronge lamb flavor for us.

This was a decent meal. We avoided most of the heavy smokers and got a couple of pretty good dishes. Remember when I said, "once you leave Prague" things really got inexpensive. If I recall, the entire meal, including 3 beers came in under $25/US, which I thought was bargain…..I mean really, who serves an entire serving of lard here in San Diego? If you do, let me know!

Stopkova Plzenska Pivnice
Ceska 5
Brno, Czech Republic

Brno was a blast, there seemed to be an offbeat sort of humor and it was without a doubt a totally different lifestyle. In the morning, when we were leaving the apartment we noticed that trash was being picked up. One of the guys opened up the area where the dumpster was contained. He called the driver and brought out two bottles of Pilsner Urquell, which were either left for them, or just thrown away. You can be sure they weren'r going to let those bottles go to waste. They popped the tops and actually clinked the bottles together in a toast and chugged down the beer, both finishing with an "aaaah"….things sure were different in the Czech Republic.

We were leaving for Prague in the morning. Back on the Student Bus. There were so many here in Brno, but there's one thing left unsolved and is still bugging me. On Masarykova is the oldest pharmacy in Brno.

But I still can't figure out what the lobster has got to do with the place…lobster…pharmacy…what's the connection? Also, why only the body of the lobster….what about the tail? Brno has so many stories…this one has evaded me.

Brno: The Cabbage Market, Spilberk Castle, and Sklizeno Foodie Market

September 13, 2014 mmm-yoso Czech Republic, Markets & Grocers, Travel

The Missus seemed a bit pooped on our first morning in Brno, so I decided to let Her sleep in a bit and took a walk around the neighborhood.

There were quite a few apartments in the area we were staying. A street parallel to ours seemed to be one of the main avenues in the area; with quite a bit of bus and tram traffic. There were a good number of little shops on the street, several bakeries, convenience stores, a burger place, and the little shop with the humorous name to the right….at least you can't accuse them of false advertising, can you?

I got a couple cups of coffee and a pastry for the Missus…no, not from Junk Food Cafe…..

Bolstered by caffeine, we soon headed off, back up the street named Husova. While walking up the hill, something caught my attention…..

I pointed out this mannequin seated on a chimney which looked like a commode.

We walked off to one of the side streets to take a better photo of…well, what was it, an art piece? A political statement? Or perhaps yet another example of the quirky, sometimes odd, but totally funny Czech sense of humor?

Before getting to the main intersection which heads up to Cathedral of St Peter and Paul, we headed up some steps on the side of the road and ended up in a nice little park. We came to find out the name of the park is Denisovy Sady – Denis Park.

The park is situated on part of what was the city walls and was built between 1814 and 1818….which is pretty significant. There's is a obelisk in the park which was built in 1818 to commemorate Naploleon's defeat. You can read more about the park and the French occupation of Brno here.

There were some nice views from the park; this one is facing the area where our apartment was located. Though, I'm not sure what it looked like from above.

A street or two above the park is the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul. Which I mentioned, along with a neat story about why the noon bells ring at 11am in this post.

We took a quick look inside…..

Then headed to the back area of the Cathedral…where we noticed gardens and terraces nad also a nice view. This is to the area at the intersection of Husova and Nadrazni….. I'm not quite sure why that tram goes right through the grass on the street, I thought it odd.

To the left you can see the train station, which we thought was kind of seedy. Also, the Tesco at which we shopped is also in view.

Notice also the stairs heading down from the former city walls. We knew that the Nadrazni went right around Petrov Hill, but never knew what a short distance it was….we'd found a faster way to Freedom Square! We ended up going down the stairs, past the still closed shops…passing Malinovsky Square along the way. On the square resides Mahen Theatre, a significant building….it was the first theatre in Europe to be completely lit by "Edison Bulbs", electric light bulbs. In fact, Thomas Edison actually designed the plans to light the theatre.

We were headed to a green belt/park area to the east of Petrov Hill….

It was along this area where Zdenek had indicated that the "Cabbage Market" had relocated while the original location was being renovated.. At the end of the park we noticed booths and tents set-up.

We ended up getting some tomatoes and headed off to our next stop; Špilberk Castle. Overlooking Brno, the castle has a long history.

The paths up were an easy little walk; though I was glad it wasn't raining anymore. The walkways would be pretty slippery when wet.

There were several monuments on the way up. This one is of Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, who if you're keeping score saved Brno from the Swedes during the Thirty Years War.

The castle currently houses the Brno City Museum. I castle is quite understated and not quite what you'd think upon hearing the word "castle".

The view though is wonderful.

After a short visit, we decided to head back to the apartment for lunch. We stopped off at a market we'd seen earlier in the day.

Appropriately named, this little market chain has a nice collection of upscale and health food products, nice meats, cheeses, and beer. The folks here were really nice, even though no one spoke any English, it was easy communicating and getting what we wanted.

Sklizeno Foodie Market
Josefská 14
Brno, Czech Republic

With leftovers from the previous day, tomatoes from the Cabbage Market, and some salumi from Sklizeno, we ended up having a very nice lunch.

Which provided us a perfect reason for a nap!

Symi, Greece: Breakfast, Gialos Harbor, and a revisit to Taverna Trata

September 12, 2014 mmm-yoso Greece, Greek Food, Symi, Travel

You really can't complain about the view of Pedi Harbor frrom our room.

There was something wonderfully chill and relaxing about the place; though I had a hard time falling asleep because it was so quiet.

And for some reason we were famished…..

And I do enjoy tomatoes and cucumbers with breakfast.

After breakfast we took a walk and sat in front of the general store watching folks going to church. As it got a bit hotter we headed back to the room, showered, checked out, and caught the bus back to Gialos. Somehow, time had passed quickly and we were getting a bit hungry. So we walked along the waterfront and alleyways looking for a place to eat.

Most looked like tourist traps and we weren't inspired by the looks of the food. We decided to head back to Taverna Trata, where we had a pretty good meal the day before. The gentleman running the front of house recognized us and was happy to see us back. No, we didn't order any Symi Shrimp this time, something I kind of regret, but we did have a decent meal anyway.

The Missus really enjoyed the garlicky eggplant salad the last time, so we started with that.

I decided to try some Taramasalata – Cod Roe Dip, looking quite pretty in pink. At least it didn't have too much food coloring.

This was a likable version. Not too fishy, slightly smokey flavor, more creamy that gritty, perhaps a bit on the salty side, but this was much better than many versions I've had.

The Missus loves "gigantes", the large white beans in tomato sauce.

This, while not the best, was still filling and tasty.

By this point we were joined by a local resident……

Like all of the tavernas in the area, Trata has a fish case, so we decided to get a grilled fish….

Nicely grilled, well seasoned, crisp skin…….

Taverna Trata
Near the bottom of the Kali Strata steps
Gialos, Greece

We still had a good amount of time before our ferry arrived, so we decided to head on over to the other side of the harbor, passing the clock tower which guards the harbor.

There's no denying just how picturesque Gialos Harbor is. Every shot is postcard material here.

Once past a couple of shops and bars, you start seeing a bit more of the residential side of the colorful harbor.

As we reached the other end of the harbor, the Missus noticed a church up on the hill. She decided to walk on up to check it out.

Me, well, I was feeling a bit hot and bothered so I decided to have a nice cup of coffee, check email, and I even got a post done.

And while the Missus got some pretty good photos from up on the hill.

I had a table at the waters edge, where the view wasn't too bad either……

Soon enough, the Missus returned, our boat arrived, and before you knew it, we were headed back to Rhodes. We enjoyed our time on Symi. It gave us just the short break we needed, a diversion, after which we were ready to continue on……..

I think breaks like this during trips lasting multiple weeks are a must; at least for us.

Thanks for reading!

Brno: The “Indecent Little Man” of St James Church, a Mediterranean Festival, and a little self catering

September 6, 2014 mmm-yoso Czech Food and Restaurants, Czech Republic, Travel

As I mentioned in my previous Brno post, it was drizzling as we walked through Freedom Square. The rather dreary weather really didn't dampen our spirits though as we found the area to be quite interesting…..in that rather odd "Czech" way. Everything had some strange twist to it; an odd story……something would catch our eye that just seemed out of place.

Take for instance, historic St James Church. Along with its long history, going back to the 13th century, it also houses the largest ossuary in the Czech Republic, the second largest in Europe housing the remains of over 50,000 bodies. As I mentioned in my post on Capela dos Ossos in Evora, the Missus really isn't interested in this stuff so we skipped it.

Still, the interior of the church is quite impressive.

Beyond all of this, there was something odd about one of the statues on the exterior of the building.

Can you see it? No? Well, how about a closer look?

Doesn't it look like the little guy is mooning us, with his hand going up his……??? We thought this rather odd, so we did a bit of research and found this little guy is called "Neslušný mužícek" – the Indecent Little Man. Ah yes, the Brno twist. Depending on your source, this is a fairly normal type of sculpture of the late gothic period…or……the statue is facing his butt to the Cathedral on Petrov Hill, due to some rivalry or other colorful story. You know which story we prefer, right?

We walked a bit further, then headed off to Tesco to buy some items for dinner….all of the heavy food we had at lunch needed to be balanced out a bit.

After a short nap, we headed back out, back up Petrov Hill……it was still misty and damp.

Well, there's the Old Town Hall, so I guess there has to be a New Town Hall, right?

We then headed back down to Freedom Square and some familiar sights.

In what was a bit of good luck, we had noticed tents being set-up as we passed earlier…..

There was now music playing to the sparse crowd.

It turns out this was a food festival……I was told it was the "Mediterranean Food Festival", though all the booths were French. Regardless, this was nice…..

We picked up some cheese, grabbed some charcuterie….

The young man in the booth selling pate was so nice….he took time to chat with us about the various terrines. We ended up buying some rabbit pate that we brought back home to the states with us.

I even got some escargot to snack on.

All under the watchful eyes of the Four Atlantes (athletes).

It's too bad the weather wasn't cooperating as I'm sure the food festival would surely have been a hit.

We decided to head back to our apartment, skirting Petrov Hill and taking the round-about way back, passing the Cathedral of J. A. Comenius, also know as the "Red Church"…..

As we walked down the street, the Missus stopped and went, "oh no…Chinese…" Good God, you could hear them talking three blocks away!

Just as when we arrived in Beijing, I heard one of the guys go, "huuuuaaackkk p-tew"….. Yikes! Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you heard someone letting go of a big wet one in the Sistine Chapel….

We made it back to our apartment and put together a nice simple, but satisfying dinner.

After all that meat, we needed some salad and my favorite beer in the CR so far, Starobrno.

We noticed Utopenci at Tesco, so we just had to try some…..the young lady manning the deli was so nice; she made sure to have some onion and pickle in each of the sausages.

There was all the great stuff we picked up at the food festival.

Of course the Missus needed Her fermented cabbage…..

As I looked out the window of our apartment, I thought we'd had a very nice day in spite of the weather.

And I was looking forward to another fine day…..

Thanks for reading!

Brno: Lunch at Spalicek and a walk around Brno

August 31, 2014 mmm-yoso Beer, Czech Food and Restaurants, Czech Republic, Travel

How we ended up taking the Student Agency Bus from Olomouc to Brno was one of those wonderful "mistakes" that happen when you travel. We walked to a window that said "Tickets" in the Olomouc Train Station. We asked for tickets to Brno, which were pretty cheap. We came to find out that we'd gotten tickets on the famous Student Agency Bus. This popular "yellow bus" service was originally started as an au-pair agency and has grown and blossomed into the second largest road carrier in the Czech Republic. We really enjoyed our trip on the student bus, it was comfortable, free tea or coffee, not very good, but still nice, movies, and most importantly, free wifi!

Plus you get a nice view of the countryside.

We arrived in Brno as scheduled. For those who have never heard of Brno, it is the second largest city in the Czech Republic. and the Judicial Seat of the CR. To be honest, I had never heard of Brno before planning for our trip. I'm glad to have done a bit of research and we're glad to have visited Brno. The folks were very friendly, there's a somewhat quirky sense of humor in play here as I'll describe in future posts….we call this the "Brno twist". Every story never ends where it should seem to. I have one little tidbit below, but there's many of these examples we'd discover over our short time here.

We had rented an apartment in Brno. The wonderful owner Zdenek even picked us up at the bus station, I'm glad we took the bus as the train station looks kind of seedy. Zdenek got us situated perfectly, he pointed out the location of the Tesco, across the main street and under the train tracks; also noting that the "Cabbage Market" had moved temporarily while the main square was being repaired.

After unloading we headed out to explore and grab some lunch. We were right downhill from the city center. It seemed like a bit of a hike, but really wasn't as it seemed shorter every time. In the end we found even a faster way. We passed the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul on Petrov Hill, a major landmark that you can see from many places in Brno. It is also placed a very important part in the history of Brno. In 1645, during the Thirty Years War, Swedish Soldiers had surrounded Brno. Olomouc had already fallen in 1641. Field Marshall Torstensson believed that Brno would fall in a week, but the local citizens had been holding the Swedes off for three months. Torstensson, furious and frustrated, called his officers into a meeting at a tavern telling them, "Tomorrow we shall make our last attack on the city. Before the bells on Petrov strike noon, Brno must be ours. If not, we shall retreat." Unbeknownst to the officers in attendance, the owner of the tavern understood Swedish. On the 15th of August, the battle began, the Tavern Owner worked to get word to the defenders of Brno. Just as the Swedes were breaking though the Brno defense, the tavern owner got word to the French born German Imperial Field Marshall, Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches. Souches found the bellringer, an elderly man whom he ordered to ring the bells of the cathedral as if it was noon. The bellringer managed to make his way up the tower, severely damaged from cannon fire and rang the bells. The Swedish soldiers, thinking that it was noon and they had failed in their mission retreated….and Brno was saved! I'm not sure how much of this is true and how much has been embellished over the years…..but it was stories like these that really brought so much color to our visit to Brno. Oh, and ever since that day, the Petrov Bells ring at 11 instead of noon each day.

The main square of Brno housed a couple of the sights that we really wanted to see; the Cabbage Market, the Brno Underground, the Capuchin Crypt. Unfortunately, as you can see, there was some major construction and restoration going on….bummer.

We decided to just find something to eat. Spalicek is supposedly the oldest restaurant still in operation in the city. This seemed like a good place to start.

The place was empty except for two tables, which seemed ot be manned with students, all having soup.

The menu is multilingual, which is usually a warning sign, but we were later told that it is also a favorite of students and visitors to the University. Folks also come here to get more traditional style Moravian dishes. I will say the menu is quite meat heavy…H-E-A-V-Y.

While Bohemia is known for beer, Moravia is known for wine, so while I went for the local brew Starobrno (owned by Heineken), the Missus tried a white….which was much too bitter for Her liking.

I still hadn't been particularly impressed with various pilsners in the CR. This was the first that I really enjoyed; clean, fizzy, slightly grassy; this was a nice refreshing pilsner, with a bit of character.

One of the dishes I'd read about, but had not really seen on a menu was smažený sýr, fried cheese……yep, fried cheese. So of course I ordered this.

Three different types of cheese; the best one was a soft, semi-ripe cheese….which I was told is Hermelin. Served with something like a tartar sauce, this was fine, but nothing I'd order again.

Based on my previous posts, you know of our affinity for the pickled sausage known as Utopenci. So naturally, if it's on the menu, we'd be ordering it.

These were pretty good; not as sour as we liked, but it did refresh and had decent flavor. It also goes real well with beer!

We decided to share the traditional Czech Sampler – Starocesky Talir, which seemed to have every meat in the world.

If you're keeping score; roast duck breast (not bad, though on the dry side), roast pork neck (chewy, but good flavor), smoked sausage (good flavor, overcooked), and "ham" (smokey, great flavor, but really tough). Red and White Cabbage, which the Missus enjoyed….She's rarely had fermented cabbage She didn't like. I actually thought the bread dumplings were some of the best I'd had so far; it wasn't too dense or chewy.

To put things into perspective….this huge plate was about $14/US……. So you can't really be too disappointed. As we were eating large groups started coming in, so the place is popular with tourists. Service was nice, though a bit overwhelmed once they got busy. This is considered on the high side in terms of prices…..but man, compared to Prague…..

Restaurace Špalíček
Zelný trh 332/12
Brno, Czech Republic

After lunch we headed "down" to the area known as Freedom Square. This used to be known as the Lower Market and is the oldest square, dating back to the 13th century.

In spite of the drizzle, we enjoyed the wide open area….the tram (which we never needed to catch) goes right though the middle of the square.

You'll find quite a few interesting sites right around the square….among them, well, what else, the local Plague Tower.

This one was originally built in 1679.

In Freedom Square you'll notice a structure that looks out of place. It's this black "obelisk"…..which looks like something else……I'll let you're imagination work on this one.

This is a typical Brno "twist" story….. This is actually a modern astronomical clock, built to commemorate the Petrov Bells…which is why I wrote the story about it above. Everyday, at 11am, a glass ball comes out of the "clock" and rolls around the grooves in the structure which was built to resemble a rifle cartridge….BUT, in the typical "Brno twist" kind of way, it's called something else by many locals. Now this clock cost 12 million CZ, about $570,000 and you don't quite know where that glass ball is going to emerge from so many folks actually miss that part…… You gotta love it!

In spite of the weather, we kind of lucked out by being here….you'll see why in an upcoming post!

I know…1300 words+. If you hung around, I think you for reading!

Olomouc: Side trip to Kromeriz and lunch at Minipivovar Moritz

August 30, 2014 mmm-yoso American/New American Restaurants, Beer, Czech Food and Restaurants, Czech Republic, Gastropub, Travel

There are some benefits associated with staying in corporate style hotels…..many of them have pretty hefty, buffet breakfasts included.

The Missus and I went over the plan for the day over breakfast. Being right across the street from the train station also had it's benefits. We had decided to do a day trip to the city of Kroměříž, where the Archbishop's Summer Palace, listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We caught the train to Hulin, changing to a tiny little train which was more like a single car to Kroměříž. Exiting at the train station, we made our way up to the main square. Things were pretty quiet on this day…..

Except for some music….we followed the notes and were treated with a nice performance in front of the local museum. That kid on the left was really getting down….to traditional Czech Folksongs!

The main reason for coming here was to visit the Archbishop's Chateau and the gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens were closed because of all the rain.

So we decided to just have a short walk around, then head back to Olomouc. It was nice to just get out and about….once out of Prague, we found folks to be much more friendly, laid back, and things were much cheaper.

Then we headed back. The train trip was kind of funny because apparently there was some kind of glitch with our train transfer. The attendant on the train didn't speak any English and he tried so hard to explain to us what was going on. Folks here are friendly….all I had to say was "Olomouc" and one of the other passengers used sign language basically telling us to follow her….which we did, ending back up in Olomouc. We then got on the tram….right tram, wrong direction, to the amusment of the tram operator….who basically told us to just stay on. In other words we got the scenic tour. And ended up at our destination Moritz Microbrewery.

Like many similar type businesses, this was a basement type deal. On a wet, windy, and cold day, this was a cosy deal.

We had been pretty disappointed with the beer in the Czech Republic so far. But since we were at a microbrewery….

And we were pleasantly surprised, the 10° was quite refreshing, clean, mildly hoppy, but with nice floral-citrus to my palate. This was by far the best beer I'd had in the CR so far.

Being in Olomouc, well, we had to have the Hanácká česnečka – Garlic Soup.

Bitter and much too salty…..

Seeing what became one of our favorite items; the Utopenci, basically pickled sausage, one of the things we brought back with us. This was a bit too mild for my taste.

As I mentioned before, at places like this there are "lunch specials" which are really cheap, under five bucks US. The problem being, these specials are never written in English and even more interesting, in Olomouc they specials are written in Hanakian, the local dialect. For the Missus this was a challenge….She decided to randomly order something from the local menu and went ahead and chose something at random.

Which was this:

Basically pork and bread dumplings……. for about four bucks. I'm sure this would surely fill up the hungry local!

Tired of Gulas, I ordered ribs….which seemed so cheap at under ten bucks……kind of scary actually. I was shocked when this hit the table.

Man, this was like 3/4 rack of spareribs……..lightly seasoned, but with some smoke flavor. This really wasn't too bad…..could not even come close to finishing this.

We ended up taking most of this back to the room, having it for dinner.

Heading back to the hotel, we stopped by the Lower Square.

Which seemed so quiet…….

I'm not sure if it was the weather, or if this is normal…..

We'd be leaving in the morning, which is an interesting story itself. We enjoyed our stay in Olomouc, but were looking forward to our next destination.

Stay Tuned!