Travel – Page 93

Antalya: A walk around Kaleiçi, Can Can Pide Yemek Salonu, Gul Restaurant, and Marti Borek Manti

May 10, 2012 mmm-yoso Desserts, Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

We'd had an interesting night in Antalya and I was really enjoying the city. From the hotel, to the the people, it was working out well. After a typical no need to eat until next week Turkish breakfast, we decided to take a walk around "Old Antalya", the Kaleiçi, surrounded by city walls, it is protected from development. There are still Ottoman and Roman style homes in the area.

I was unusually touched as we walked by the Keike Minare (the broken minaret) which is part of the ruins of the Korkut Camii, which was in my previous post. An elderly gentleman, very well dressed, probably in his eighties was walking on the other side of the street. He started toward us, smiled, walked up to me and extended his hand…… I didn't quite know what to say other than to smile and shake his hand. For me, it was such a welcoming gesture……

The streets themselves varied in width, some wider than others, some quite narrow, all of them exuding character.

It was also quite nice that the streets were empty at this hour, which is why we really enjoy our morning walks.

In this day of cookie cutter construction and having seen the "condo farms", buildings sprouting like corn in China, this was quite a change. You could feel the history of the city oozing from the cracks in the walls.

The doors of various building were particularly fascinating. Each one different, they all seemed to have a story to tell.

After a bit we wandered North, then toward the direction of Ataturk Caddesi, the main street in the area, right outside the city walls where the tram runs. To get out of the walls you walk thru Hadriyanus Capisi (Hadrian's Gate) which was build to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian for his visit to Antalya in the year 130AD.

Walking south, past all the older men drinking tea in the park, we headed down Ataturk Caddesi, past all the shops, banks, and business buildings….and even past the ATM Farm. I don't recall ever seeing a place where competing ATMs are line up in such a manner.

We walked past what looked like government buildings, had a short stop for tea, then around the edges of a very large park.

We ended up here…….

The views were quite beautiful…….

To our right was Hıdırlık Tower, built by the Romans in the first century. I guess to keep watch over the Antalya Bay.

Right to the north was the colorful Roman Harbor.

We walked down to the harbor, past all the colorful tourist boats, then back up what must have been a cliff wall way back when…….

Climbing back up those steps I recall turning around and looking and marveling at how wonderful the "strands of clouds" looked.

Sort of a like a cloud version of the aurora borealis…….

After this we just kind of wandered around and somehow ended up at the Clock Tower.

Funny thing happened as we walked past the Tekeli Mehmet Pasha Camii…..an elderly gentleman walked out and waved us into the Mosque. I pointed to the shorts I was wearing….I really didn't plan on visiting a mosque. But he just shook his head and waved us in.

Down a nearby street is the Shopping Bazaar, mostly full of tourist stuff.

We eventually made a complete circle all the way back to Hadrian's Gate. By this time I was starting to get hungry. We headed away from Kaleiçi and ended up near a shopping area. We saw this place on the street. I'd read about it somewhere, so we decided that this was the place for lunch.

This place was doing some major take-out business and the Pide looked really good!

The prices seemed right and the Missus liked the menu which offered a good variety of items.

I'd noticed that the food in Antalya seemed more aggressively spiced than what we had in Instanbul. I actually enjoyed this. I tried a pepper from the bowl on the table and it was indeed fairly spicy.

The Missus enjoyed the dolmasi…one pepper, one eggplant.

But She really enjoyed the Patlican Musakka. It's not like Greek Moussaka. This was spiced stewed lamb on a roasted eggplant.

I had the Karisik Pide, which turned out to be quite filling.

Those roasted peppers were delicious as well.

Of course, this is Turkey and there was that basket of bread available……

Of course we headed back to the hotel and immediately took a nap….awakening a couple of hours later. After just lounging around for a couple of hours we headed back out. Near the main street and traffic control gate to the old city was this little restaurant.

Folks eat fairly late here, so we had the entire restaurant to ourselves and took a small table in the very pretty tree lined back courtyard.

I'd pretty much had my fill of meat and just wanted a variety of mezes for dinner. The server, a very nice young man was quite accommodating and we just had bread (of course), lavas, and a nice variety of mezes for dinner.

It was a light, but very satisfying meal.

Of course we took an after meal walk. This time we followed the tram line away and west of the Kaleiçi. This took us to a residential/business area that looked fairly expensive.

We followed the road to the water's edge, then turned back…..

By this time the Missus wanted an "after dinner sweet" and this place looked like it would fit the bill.

I had ayran, the Missus had tea, and we settled at the outside table. It was a nice place to people watch as we shared some baklava.

Meanwhile, a gentleman with a handsome dog walked down the steps. He left the dog there while he went to get his hair cut next door. I guess the pooch is pretty well known. The owner of the shop put a napkin in front of him and placed a piece of baklava on it.

I guess it's good being king, or at least a prince. He was so well behaved and waited patiently for his owner. Meanwhile, across the street we saw a beautiful golden retriever, so proud and happy….suddenly stop, turn around, and try to drag his owner in the opposite direction. We wondered what caused this…then we noticed that the dog had stopped a two doors down from a Vet! Of course it was to no avail as the owner tugged his suddenly unhappy dog into the Vet.

One more interesting thing……..

This gentleman was the shoe guy right in front of the snack shop. One of my shoes was starting to come apart at the sole. We got him to fix my shoe, which lasted until we got back home!

It's easy to fall into the flow here, but it was back to Istanbul in the morning. We did have a relaxing two days, though…..

One last thing. For some reason, I just loved this sign…….

I'm not sure why……

Antalya: Villa Verde Cafe and Pension and dinner at Guneyliler

May 8, 2012 mmm-yoso Travel, Turkey, Turkish Food

After a wonderful time in Chania, passing through Athens, we knew we were in the home stretch of our trip. When doing a bit of research for a side trip before returning to Istanbul, I decided on Antalya. With a population of over a million, it's a very popular resort destination on Turkey's Mediterranean shoreline. I really didn't quite know what to expect and made arrangements to stay in the town's "Old City", also known as Kaleiçi. What was really interesting was after landing we found the shuttle bus stop. No one spoke English, so I just went with "Kaleiçi?", to which one of the gentleman waved me to the front passenger seat. We were driven to the middle of the city, where the driver came out and hailed a cab for us. We then took the cab into the gated Old Town. Entrance and exit is monitored….

The place I picked was the Villa Verde Cafe and Pension and we weren't disappointed. Our room looked very neat and tastefully decorated….probably because half of the couple, Misuyo Kimura Kocaman is from Japan! Yes, here in Antalya, wouldn't you know I'd run into someone from Japan. Apparently Ali Kocaman met his wife while living in Japan and I guess the rest is history.

I wish I took more photos of the grounds, there were lots to see…parts of the ancient plumbing system and such. Ali told me it took years to get approval to build the hotel. Because of the historic nature of the property they had to hire archaeologists to see what needed to be preserved and how things could be built.

Lest you doubt me, here's the view from the window in our room:

Now I don't know about you, but I thought having ruins of a Mosque that dates back to the 2nd century A.D. right out your window sure does add an exotic vibe to your stay……

We actually took a walk around the Kaleiçi, which was small, but full of character and ended up eating lunch at a very forgettable fast-foodish joint on the busy Ataturk Caddesi. When dinner arrived I was starved and I asked Ali for a recommendation. He called a cab, told me this was the place that he takes guests too. Apparently, Guneyliler has two locations. One is fairly close by, but the one we were cabbing to was far better. The restaurant was located in a huge and fairly intimidating building.

The place was packed, maybe 2-300 people, mostly large families were chowing down on what looked like copious amounts of food! Being only two in number, we were guided to a small table in the corner by the salad station…….

Before we even ordered, stuff started arriving…….

I have no idea what this is called…be it a borek, dolmasi, or what. The exterior had the flavor of perhaps ground lentils with a bit of kick. I quickly noticed that food in Antalya had a bit more spice to it….which made it right down my alley. It was filled with a meat mixture…very nice.

Of course there was Coban Salatasi, Shephard's Salad a standard.

We placed our order and even more stuff started coming……

The procession didn't stop until the long plank with a huge lavas was delivered to our table…..

Man, if ths was the salad and bread, I didn't think I'd survive dinner!

Compared to how things started, the rest of our dinner was pretty anti-climatic. I ended up ordering the Karisik Izgara, which if you've read any of my posts on Sultan, you'd know was a mixed grill.

I don't know how I managed to finish everything…..

The Missus had the Patlican Kebab.

The ayran was light and fluffy.

I don't recall the exact price, but I remember it being very affordable.

We were sitting next to the salad station and the guy behind the counter was hilarious, giving us a big smile and a thumbs up when we sat. Before we left, he told us, "we famous chef, you take picture!" So of course I did. Man, what a hoot! And that was only part of the story for the evening.

After leaving the restaurant, we decided to walk around a bit. We would need a taxi back to the hotel and noticed what looked like a busy street a couple of blocks down. We walked past a snack shop and the Missus got some Turkish ice cream.

We walked to the main street and found a taxi parked alongside the road. The cab driver was a very stately, dignified gentleman. When we handed him the hotel's business card, he put his reading glasses on and still couldn't read the print. So he gave us a hand signal to wait and called someone. A couple of minutes later a young man in his late twenties appeared….the man's son. He told us his father didn't speak hardly any English and his eyes were so bad he couldn't read the business card. He told his dad our destination and we walked to the very nice, almost new looking taxi. And here the fun started. We noticed that the cab was pretty gaudily decorated, pom poms hanging from the roof, a model yellow cab mounted on the dashboard, little twinkly lights blinking on the roof. The man turned to us, pointed around the cab and said, "my son….my son!" I'm guessing his son had decorated the flying carpetcab. As we started driving away, the gentleman turned to me and asked, "mooo-zik?" Then pushed a button on the stereo…and holy crap, the cab had some major sub-woofers! A loud techno song started up BOOM BOOM, "do you like sexy?" BOOM BOOM "I'm so sexy?" BOOM BOOM…..the Missus was cracking up! The guy turned to me and asked, "you like?" I mean really, what could I say. Just then I noticed that he was driving like a bat out of hell, maybe about 60 miles per hour, on a surface street! So here we were, flying down the street in Antalya, Turkey, in a taxi driven by an middle aged gentleman whose vision was so bad he couldn't read the address on the hotel's business card with techno pop blasting away……it doesn't get much better than that!

Man, we were so stuffed and slept soundly. In fact, the Missus didn't want to get up and wasn't particularly hungry. So I went downstairs to breakfast.

Now remember, this is Turkey….they don't mess around with the carbs with breakfast. Remember, this was all just for me.

The Cigara Boregi were pretty good……

Then they asked me how I wanted my eggs! Yikes…..

I took some tea up for the Missus who was still full from dinner.

Of course I opened the window and took a look at the ruins right outside our window. For some reason I found it to be so, well, cool.

I usually don't plug places; but with Madonna Suites in Chania and Villa Verde, we hit on two winners. Here's Villa Verde's website (The Japanese version). You can see some better photos of the grounds.

Thanks for reading!

Greece – Chania to Athens: Lunch at Tamam and overnight in Athens

May 5, 2012 mmm-yoso Athens, Chania, Crete, Greece, Greek Food, Travel

On our last morning in Chania we got up early as usual and took a norm al morning stroll around the old town. We kinda knew it was time to leave since we were getting to be perhaps a bit too familiar with our surroundings. Still, we'd really enjoyed our time in Chania, the city really spins its charms on you.

Speaking of charming, when Thomais saw us returning from our walk. She told us to wait for her before going anywhere….a few minutes later, she delivered freshly fried and delicious cheese pies to us!

Thomais told me that there are people who come back every year to Chania and stay at Madonna Studios. Based on our experience I can understand why. If we're ever back in Chania, we'll surely stay here.

While having our cheese pie and sipping some coffee we heard a commotion below……

It was a tour passing through the little cobblestone street in front of us.

The Missus decided to spend the rest of the morning relaxing with a book, while I headed off to the Archaeological Museum which is housed in church built by the Venetian's in the 16th century.

The admission was really inexpensive….2 Euros and it was a nice way to kill an hour.

Funny thing, I picked up some water on the way back to our room and it turned out to be Lyttos water…..it made both the Missus and I chuckle. We both remembered how the smell of manure seemed to permeate the entire town when we drove through.

We decided to get some lunch before our afternoon flight back to Athens…..it was an easy choice. We walked pass the tables of Tamam earlier in the morning, by then, the Missus had already decided to have lunch there. She wanted another crack at that avocado dip.

And yes, the Missus had keep Her "wine streak" alive.

I'd decided on having a nice salad…it seemed like the thing to order on such a bright and sunny day. I wasn't disappointed. They called this the Tamam Salad and it was simply one of the best salads I've had in a good long time. The tomatoes were so wonderfully ripe. There was a sweet-tangy dressing, that seemed a bit like a light honey-mustard. A good variety of cabbages and lettuces gave the salad a nice color and a tad of bitterness.

As you can see, it was topped with that lovely avocado dip and walnuts…….

We had more avocado dip…….

And this time we were smart enough to get some fried potatoes with it. Also, by this time, the Missus was in full swing trying to get that avocado dip recipe, which our server deftly deflected.

Keeping with our veg theme we ended with some very nicely done fava beans in olive oil topped with dill.

We had packed before heading out to lunch so we took one more walk around the waterfront.

As we walked back to pick up our bags and grab a taxi to the airport we came across the guy to the right. He worked at one of the waterfront tourist restaurants and would always try to get us into the place. We'd always turn him down with a smile and "oh, no we just ate" or something like that. If it was lunch he'd tell us, "come for dinner then…." In the mornings it would be, "come try us for lunch!" On this day, as he made his attempt to lure us into the restaurant, I told him, "oh, sorry, we are leaving in a few minutes." He broke out into a big smile and told me, "you must at least take a picture with me so you don't forget us!" So I did…….

Not that I was likely to forget about Chania anytime soon.

Returning to Athens was like going to a different planet. Gone was the blue sky, the clean air……it seemed much hotter and crowded as we walked to Hotel Tony from Symtaga Square.

After freshening up, we walked through the Plaka which was just packed to the seams with tourists.

We decided just to stick around the Koukaki neighborhood and have dinner at one of the local tavernas recommended by Tony.

It turned out to be just nourishment…….

The kokoretsi, basically lamb intestines wrapped around offal, then roasted was especially disappointing. The intestines greasy, the offal, dry, and well, awful…..

As they say….you can't win 'em all. We turned in early….it was another 5am bus from Symtaga Square to the airport in the morning. We were headed back to Antalya…..

Crete – Chania: Hiking the Samaria Gorge and dinner at Tamam

May 3, 2012 mmm-yoso Chania, Crete, Greece, Greek Food, Travel

The Missus really enjoys doing something, well, a little physical, sometimes when I'm lacking in sleep, or often disguised as a short "walk". Often losing interest by the time we've reached "there". Though I must be getting a bit "dim" in my old age, because I've actually started planning these sessions of torture in our trips. So our trip would not be complete without hiking the Samaria Gorge, often called the longest gorge in Europe, though I'm not so sure about that. The hike starts in the White Mountains and properly ends at the village of Agia Roumeli on the Libyan Sea. Because it was still the first week of May when we arrived we asked the always helpful Thomais about buses to Omalos. We were told that because it was early in the season, there was just one bus up to Omalos at 830. We got up, had some nuts, fruit, and yogurt and caught the bus to Omalos.

It seemed that the trip up the mountain was more stressful for the Missus and I as the road took some pretty sharp turns and it was drizzling pretty good. A couple of times the driver had to honk his horn to get the sheep of the road.

We finally made it up to the beginning of the Samaria Gorge National Park, hoping that the gorge was open in spite of the drizzle. The gorge is closed between the end of October, sometimes through the beginning of May as much of it is under water. We paid our 5 Euros and headed off down the steep beginning of the gorge called Xyloskalo ("wooden staircase") at about the 4,100 foot level.

It's a bit slippery and steep going down. There are also a lot of signs warning about falling rocks. The Missus got really irritated when I stopped to take a photo of one of the signs. When we mentioned hiking the gorge, several people told us to be careful because every year one or two people die from falling rocks, being swept away, heat exhaustion, or plain falling. But c'mon, maybe two hundred thousand people hike the gorge every year, so I naturally scoffed. Until I read this. The gorge is often closed during heavy rains and also after 3pm. You can walk into the gorge for about 2 kilometers from either end after 3pm, but you'll then be turned around.

If you're like me and not really used to walking down fairly steep inclines, it can be a little hard on the legs. But looking up at the misty mountainside makes it worthwhile.

The main trail in the gorge is very well maintained. We even ran into one of the park rangers riding his donkey, which I guess is the local ambulance.

It's about 2 kilometers before you reach the bottom of the trail. This being early in the season, the gorge had just reopened, we had to cross the stream quite a few times.

After winding your way for about another 2 kilometers you'll come across a nicely maintained rest area. We ran into another park warden here and there were restrooms available.

There was once a church here named Agios Nikolaus and before that a temple of Apollo. The cypress that grow here are said to be over 2,000 years old. It's a good place for a short break to take in that you made it down that mountain…..

About three and a half kilometers further, you'll come to the ruins of a village.

You cross a wooden bridge and enter what's left of the town of Samaria, which was populated until 1962! The last oflks left when the gorge became a national park. I had read that it's pretty easy to see kri-kri, an endangered species of mountain goat found only on four islands….but it was no-go.

A bit past Samaria, you'll enter the gorge proper. The water sort of disappears for a while; it's going under all the rocks you are trying to walk on.

This can be pure hell on your ankles if you're not used to walking on unstable and misshaped rocks. This is basically the riverbed that you're walking on. During the winter this is all under water. We could see watermarks on the rocks as we walked over them.

There were times when it seemed like the mountains met right in front of you and the trail ended. Of course that wasn't true, but it made for some fairly dramatic photos. Because we were approaching sea level the temperature also started rising and it was getting pretty hot. I'm sure this place might be no fun during the summer. Still, the Missus was determined to make that "first" afternoon boat out of Agia Roumeli and was pushing me harder than a stagecoach driver in Indian territory. Still, I was making pretty good time….I had a secret weapon, more on that later.

There were times that the verticle walls of the gorge, stretching over 1600 feet above you almost blocks out the light. Quite dramatic….

But to be honest; at this point I was getting to be a little "gorged-out", as you may probably be reading this. I was ready for a nice cold drink…..

Soon the river reappeared and we had to cross several rickety "bridges"……

These were attached to large stones by fence wire. I guess they were swept out of place everyday and replaced every morning

After crossing the stream a couple of times we started noticing more people. These were folks doing Samaria the "easy way", actually hiking up from Agia Roumelli. This, of course meant we were getting pretty close. We especially knew this when we came upon the ultimate Samaria photo-op Sideroportes, the "Iron Gates" where the gorge shrinks to a mere 12 feet in width.

It's pretty anti-climactic after that. They check your ticket at the end of the trail, their way of making sure everyone makes it out of the gorge. You're quoted the distance to 16 kilometers, but it's actually13 kilometers to the end of the hike. The other 3 kilometers is down to the harbor of Agia Roumelli.

I did mention my "secret weapon" on the hike, right? Well, it's in the photo to my right. Early on, I found a sturdy stick. It really helped me keep my balance on the unstable rocks and the downhill walk. Both the Missus and I left our "walking sticks" at the exit of the trail. As we walked down to the harbor, I told the Missus, "I loved that stick, man, I'm actually looking forward to using a cane in my old age! And heck….maybe adult diapers ain't that bad after all…." To which She replied, "don't be stupid."

As we went to buy tickets for the early boat out of Agia Roumelli we found out that this time of the season there's only one boat from Agia Roumelli to Hora Sfakion where we needed to catch our bus back to Chania.

Now the Missus had made gorge walking into an Olympic sport to catch that "early boat"……now we had to wait three and a half hours for the "only boat". Still, I'm pretty happy to have done the gorge in four hours! So what to do while we waited? Well, the restaurants didn't look promising and we walked around the three shops, bought fluids to rehydrate, and looked at the ocean……

and looked at the ocean a bit more……

We finally made our boat, caught our bus in Hora Sfakion, and made it back to Chania at about830pm. Now we hadn't eaten but a tiny bit of food at about 7 that morning so we were starved. We'd been eyeing out Tamam Restaurant since we arrived. The restaurant located in two building across a small back street was always packed, the tables lining the street seemed less popular but were usually full as well. Well, instead of heading back to our room, we made like the little fellow to our right….right to Tamam and found the outside tables empty. We sat down…immediately!

Now if the name Tamam sounds familiar, it should be….the building that the restaurant is located in has a history as a bath…a "hamam". Anyway, you can read it here if you click to enlarge. We were really just too hungry to care. We descended on the bread, olives, and herb butter like ravenous wolves on a crispy pata!

Of course, the Missus wasn't hungry enough to forget about having wine with every meal except for breakfast in Greece……the house red was quite nice.

And of course the Missus loved the local wild greens called horta. Here at Tamam, they served a particular green called Stamnagathi, also known as Spiny Chicory. Really good stuff!

Mildly bitter with a surprising amount of sweetness.

There was one dish, that I thought was kind of strange, that I'd heard Tamam served. Something that I would never would have associated with anything Cretan. I had to order the Spicy Avocado Dip….just had to!

Man, this was good, really good! There was a bit of spice, definitely yogurt, garlic, herbs….the Missus absolutely loved this as well. We've been trying to duplicate this since we returned. Olive oil gave it some fruitiness……. The gentleman serving us told me that avocados have been growing on Crete for years, but because it's not traditional, a lot of people don't know what to do with it. Amazingly good with fried potatoes…….

Which were included with the Cretan Smoked Pork.

The pork was pretty tough and the flavor a bit underwhelming….guess I'm used to a stronger smoked flavor. So yes Ed, I did eventually get to try Cretan smoked pork and even……

The Cretan sausages also didn't impress me much.

The by-the-numbers grilled oyster mushrooms with balsamic glaze was very pleasing.

But the Kid Goat Roasted over Potatoes was why I came to Crete.

Fork tender, mildly gamey and sweet, drenched in fruity olive oil, with tender potatoes enrobed in the essence of goat…..whoa…..one of the cuts was actually the tenderloin, which was super tender.

And of course, this being Crete there's always complimentary dessert……the raki that I'd come to love as well.

Wow, we finished everything………….

We headed back to Madonna Studios, we had a key to the building. I felt really bad when Thomais was still there! It was almost 11pm! She had waited for us to return, like a worried aunt…she had even prepped some cheese pie for us. I felt terrible….but the always accommodating Thomais told me, "no worries, I am glad you made it back safely. Tomorrow, you let me know, and i'll fry up the cheese pies for you!"

There's something about Chania that just goes straight to your heart.

I know this has been one of those long posts. Thanks for reading!

Crete – Chania: A morning walk, farmer’s market, Vasiliko (again), the Agora, and staying in for dinner

April 30, 2012 mmm-yoso Chania, Cooking, Crete, Farmer's Markets/Night Market, Greece, Greek Food, Seafood, Travel

Crete, and Chania specifically had worked its magic on us. we were really charmedby the town, the alleyways and cobblestone pathways that wove around the Venetian structures really took you to a different time. Especially in the early evenings when the day-trippers had left and the partyiers were taking a little siesta before a hard night. The mornings were even more fun as the usually packed areas are devoid of activity other than restaurant workers setting up for the day. There's a peacefulness that overtakes you.

The Missus and I walked through just about every street close to the harbor, just soaking in the personality of the old town. It's hard ot imagine that this part of Chania was heavily bombed during World War II, or that much of the population of the city were either imprisoned or executed by the Germans, suspected of participating in the resistance. Almost the entire Jewish population of the town was shipped off to camps during that time as well, essentially destroying what was a very long history on Crete.

Yet, the beauty and charm of the town survived……

It was a nice time to try and figure out where we'd want to have our next meal….and perhaps where we wouldn't…..

I don't think that I mentioned that a pretty impressive wall was built by the Venetians around what is now Old Town. Unfortunately, the fortifications didn't stop the Ottomans from taking the town from the Venetians in 1645.

On this morning, we headed around the city walls and into Chania proper.

So what would lead us out of Old Town? Well you know it had to do with food right? When we headed out from Madonna Studio's in the morning, I stop and chatted with Thomais, who noted my interest in food. She told me that today was "market day" and the local one was just outside the city walls in front of the fishing harbor. You know I just can't resist these, right?

I believe it's fellow blogger Lynnea, who once mentioned that the classic mmm-yoso travel post will always include farmer's markets and dogs….well, here's the proud little fellow who followed us to the market…then found more interesting folks to follow….

In contrast to the sleepy Old Town, the market was pretty busy…….

The location overlooking the harbor is quite nice as well…….

While walking through the market admiring the super fresh offerings the Missus had an idea…..

Why don't we….which of course means me, make dinner tonight? Well, I hadn't really taken inventory of what was available in our room. I did note a two top burner set-up, so the Missus settled on having a big lunch and a very, very, simple mostly veg dinner. Which was a relief to me since as much as I was tempted to try stuff like this…..

I really didn't feel up to it. So we kept it very simple…….

We headed back to our room with our bounty, then the Missus settled back in to start reading one of the books in the cabinets….book exchanges are wonderful!

When lunch rolled around, the Missus had only one thing one Her mind…….Vasiliko again. Which was just fine for me……

This time around, I ordered the calamari, just to see how it would be. The Missus isn't a big fan of the usual tough squid, but this was very tender….very, very, tender.

Of course we had the octopus….we just had too.

As we had our cheese pie and raki, one of the gentleman working here came over to chat. He had remembered us from the day before. Along with the infamous "how can you live without olive oil", we now got the "why sea salt is healthy for you" presentation…….

Opening the little container of sea salt on the table, "you know, sea salt is very healthy for you….more healthy than almost anything! I will tell you why!" I look at the Missus with an amused look, we're both just waiting for the shoe to drop. "I can take all this sea salt, pour it in water, then mix….it will dissolve, be all gone. The same thing must happen in your body….so it can do you no harm!" We look at each other, trying not to laugh. He looks at us and add the disclaimer, "of course, if any of you is a doctor or medical person, I take this all back!" You gotta love it!!!

After lunch we returned to our room, the Missus settled in,but I was wide awake. I decided to head out for provisions I needed for dinner. Along the way out I got some directions from Thomais to the local market….

I also decided to stop by the Agora, the old central market which is fairly close by……..

The building that houses the market is quite impressive; built in the shape of a cross it was inaugurated back in 1913, when Crete was officially unified with Greece as part of the Treaty of London. On this day, when I arrived, the Agora was almost totally empty. It was late in the day and all the seafood vendors had cleaned up and were long gone.

Though most of the other shops were open, the place had a "ghost town" feel to it.

It was nice to walk around a bit, but I ended up going to the market to purchase, well. just a couple of bottles of wine really.

You see, when I asked Thomais about finding a market nearby, she asked me why. I mentioned needing some salt and perhaps a little olive oil. Did I mention how generous and accommodating Thomais is? Well, I was told not to worry about salt…..and Thomais also brought us olive oil pressed from her very own trees!

Does service get any better than that? Really? We popped open the bottle of red I got from the market…the Missus had a seat on the little porch under the late afternoon sun in Chania.

It was a very humble dinner……..quite simple. But this was Crete and the pure and simple are savored. Of course here, the tomatoes are sold when they are truly ripe.

So what better than a simple salad dressed with fresh pressed olive oil………

We really took our time with dinner.

Soon we finished that bottle of red and I opened the bottle of white we bought in Iraklios. It refreshed us……

We started in on the bread and cheese we bought earlier in the day. Such substance filled us up.

Our main course may seem perhaps too simple, but we truly enjoyed it. The flavors of potatoes picked the day before, zucchini, fresh, ripe, and sweet. Just simmered in water and dressed with sea salt and olive oil……something this simple would actually cost you much more here if bought from the grower here in the U.S……this actually cost us 3 Euros, farm fresh.

After dinner, we took a walk….we had hit that mellow evening time, before much of the dinner crowd had come out.

I'd always thought the lighting at twilight and dusk to be the same, but it is surely not true…..

It's easy enough to be taken by the charm of Chania to forget the history. And you can be easily overwhelmed by the history of Chania as well. Our after dinner walk took us to a street just off the waterfront and up a hill. Here we found a archaeological site right in the middle of a group of buildings and apartments. Apparently, this is the location of one of the city's original settlements on the Hill of Kastelli, where the Minoan's settled in 3000 BC.

This was a nice post-dinner walk. But of course, according to Cretan tradition, we never finished dinner! We never had raki…….luckily, I had also bought a little bottle of raki at the market. This turned out to be good stuff! And it was a nice aperitif….especially for me. The next morning we were to hike the Samarian Gorge!

Beijing: Eating with Mr.D Part 1 – Jinsite Restaurant

April 26, 2012 mmm-yoso Beijing, China, Chinese Restaurants, Travel

During the last leg of our trip to China, we ended up back in Beijing. The son of a former coworker of my MIL, whom we really hit it off with during a previous dinner, offered to take us to dinner. We knew this wasn't going to be an ordinary dinner. You see, even though MrD was born and raised in Beijing, he and his wife are truly food lovers……they don't know the names of any streets or even addresses. Navigation around Beijing is done via their own internal GPS, it's based off restaurant locations! This was to be illustrated in a pretty funny way a bit later on during our stay in Beijing.

MrD and his Wife ended up taking us to two dinners….in a single night! The first stop was through a gate on some side street….I really had no idea where we were and neither did the Missus.

Once the car was parked we walked through a set of doors…..

And then through another set of doors…….

We could quickly tell what type of restaurant this was by the decor.

And by the photos in the menu….since I couldn't read it! This was obviously a Xinjiang cuisine restaurant, which got me kind of excited, I've had lots of Islamic Chinese food, but at that point in time, I really hadn't had very much honest to goodness Uyghur style dishes. There is a difference. From what I understand, most Islamic Chinese that we have here is based off of Beijing and Shandong style Halal cuisine, whereas true Xinjiang cuisine is based on what is eaten in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous region.

This photo really got me hungry……it's called Kao Quan Yang (烤全羊) in case you feel like ordering it!

Things started off with some Suan Nai, less sweet than most of the Suan Nai we'd had to date in Beijing.

The name of the flat breads might sound familiar, it's called Kao Nang (烤馕), as in "naan".

One of the most popular dishes of Xinjiang Cuisine is Rice to be Eaten with the Hands (Xinjiang Shou Zhua Fan 新疆手抓饭). The problem for me was to remember to eat with my right hand as I'm left handed, and you know why that's a problem in Islam, right?

The rice was much richer than I thought it would be. It was very "mutton-ny".

Next up was the Xinjiang style Stewed Mutton (Xinjiang Shou Zhua Yang Rou 新疆手抓羊肉)

Which was very simple and basic in flavor.

Up next, was a variety of Chuanr……

Your basic "meat on a stick". I'm not a big fan of kidney, but I gotta say that it was my favorite along with the meat that was grilled on the reused and highly "seasoned" wooden skewers….. nothing like layers of flavors from kebabs of the past I guess.

Man, this was a load of food! But of course, this was just our first stop!

Stay tuned……..

Lana’i: The Lodge at Koele and dinner

April 21, 2012 mmm-yoso Italian Restaurants, Lanai, Travel

During my previous two visits to Lana'i, more than 17 years ago, I'd really enjoyed checking out the Lodge at Koele. Located on the former site of the Lana'i Company Ranch and Headquarters "the Lodge" is located maybe a half mile from the center of Lana'i City. Of course, it's pretty much impossible to get lost near the city so we decided to walk to the Lodge. You basically take Lana'i Road until it ends. The area looks very "upcountry" as we call it.

You then take a right and head up the pine lined road…….

And you'll soon see the Lodge at Koele…..

The hotel stands in stark contrast to the Manele Bay Resort, the Lodge has an "old English" feel to it…….

The grounds are wonderfully manicured….wild turkeys and all.

Actually, I just wanted the Missus to see one thing at the lodge.

It's the orchid house, which overlooks the lake and some of the golf course…….

There's a little table and chairs in the greenhouse which is so very calm and relaxing if no one else is there.

Wouldn't it make a great place for your morning tea or coffee?

Of course, the orchids aren't too shabby either, I posted a couple of photos in a previous post, but here are a few more.

There are only 102 rooms at the Lodge, so it has a feel of real exclusivity…..

Later that evening, we decided to check out a restaurant called Pele's Other Garden in Lana'i City. The dinner turned out fine, though the guy managing the front was pretty much a jerk. We got there at about 5pm and walked in. The guy leaning on the counter looked at us and said, "yeah….". I asked if they were open, he said, "does it look like we're open?" Geeez, what a putz. Next thing out of his mouth, "do you have reservations?" I said "no." He said, "can you read?" There seemed to be reservation signs on almost every table. Ok, fine, I turned to leave….he interrupted our exit by pointing to a corner table and said "there…." And here I thought they called this the hospitality industry? Whatever….the young lady who served us was very nice and friendly. The jerk seemed to treat everyone he knew nice, but everyone else was fair game.

Our dinner was decent. The smoked salmon appetizer had a generous amount of salmon.

And the bruschetta was nice, tough the balsamic reduction was very strong.

The vegetarian pizza had too much cheese and the crust was gummy.

During our meal, we saw the guy insult several other customers, even those with reservations. I later asked someone local whether the dude suffered from severe bowel obstructions or terminal lemon sucking syndrome. I got the best explanation from her, 'ah, he's just a bitter Haole from New York who couldn't make it anywhere else."

By the time we walked back to our room, the Missus had already moved on to Her next thing. She had some app that did constellations and stood there like a doufus in the parking lot of the Hotel Lana'i pointing Her iPhone to the sky…….

Then She got an even better idea….."why don't we walk back to the Lodge? I think the sky there is clearer!" So we ended up walking back, and there we were standing in the darkness in the back of the Lodge at Koele. While the Missus was busy staring at the now cloud covered sky and tripping over stuff, I took some photos.

The place is photogenic…even at night.

Funny thing happened while we were walking around. They locked the back door to the lobby area of the hotel.

That wasn't a problem though, as we just walked to one of the hallways and entered that way.

While walking back in the very quiet darkness, I told the Missus that according to legend, the island of Lana'i was home to evil, man-eating spirits…….. We did end up back to our cottage, with all limbs and digits intact.

The next morning we partook of the free breakfast spread at the hotel, then caught the shuttle and out flight back to Oahu. Here are some photos with a couple of familiar landmarks in them.

Thanks for reading!

Crete – Iraklios: Erganos

April 19, 2012 mmm-yoso Crete, Greece, Greek Food, Iraklios, Travel

The previous night we had a wonderful dinner, a recommendation from the hotel front desk…so why not go to the well again? This time, the gentleman at the front desk took a map and drew us a path toward the southern city walls, to a place called Erganos. It was a pleasant walk, the weather was perfect for a rather leisure walk. When we hit this building, the Missus looked at the sign and told me, "this is the place."

I guess the sign did say Erganos? I dunno, I might still be wandering around Crete if not for the Missus's savant like Greek translating skills.

The restaurant itself gives one a warm feeling, it tends to wrap itself around you upon entering. Of course, this being the ungodly hour of 530pm, the place was totally empty. Though the one guy working the front was moving tables together setting up for a large crowd. Luckily, he spoke very good English.

He was very friendly and chatty and with good cheer told us that the majority of folks coming here to eat were Greek tourists and locals.

The menu itself was very interesting, not a single souvlaki or moussaka on the menu! Those items were replaced with dishes like Apaki, a traditional Cretan smoked pork, and Gardoumakia, which was explained as lamb stomach wrapped in intestine and cooked in a dill white sauce.

Of course the Missus was just happy to have rusk, which came in the bread basket.

The bread was accompanied by some very briney olives and a light, but grassy olive oil….which led to a funny conversation with our server.

While talking about the Cretan's love for olive oil we mentioned that Americans only consume maybe one tenth of the olive oil a Cretan has during a year. He gave us an incredulous look and said; "but….but….how can you make a salad….how can you cook your food?" Which had us laughing….there's no life without olive oil in Crete!

Of course the Missus was on Her mission of having wine with every lunch and dinner….in this case She went with a half liter of the white and a half of the house red!

The horta, Cretan wild greens were very good, pleasantly bitter, and the lemon added a nice acid component which lifted the dish.

Of course the Missus wanted Her Fava Skordalia, which was very nicely prepared, thick and beany, without being grainy.

I'd been wanting to have a taste of the famous Cretan snails and they had those on the menu.

The snails looked pretty small, but where actually pretty good sized when you got one out of their shell. Very meaty, but too chewy for the Missus, who loved sucking on the salty and olive oil flavored shells. I actually enjoyed these.

I was thinking about trying the splinogardoumo, a pork spleen (blood) sausage, but instead went with the fried glykadia.

These were lamb sweetbreads, crisp at first bite, then meltingly rich and creamy, it was love at first bite. Man, did I enjoy these. The Missus thought it too rich, was this really the same person who loved the steamed pig brains in Luang Prabang?

I really wanted to try some straight up lamb dish and went with the lamb with potatoes roasted over wood.

You had to work for your meat, but man this was delicious….the potatoes had been "basted" with with lamb drippings and were very tasty.

At most places in Crete, dessert is complimentary……

And came with anywhere from a small carafe or a couple of glasses of Tsikoudia, which they call Raki in Crete (versus raki in Turkey which is more like Ouzo). This was a nice version, a bit of a bite as you'd imagine from a drink made from the residue of the wine presses. We were told, that Erganos, like any good Cretan restaurant, makes their own Raki. Apparently this stuff is like 70-80 proof and is the stuff, not ouzo, that makes Greeks "dance on the table". Don't know if was the vacation thing or what, but this stuff never touched us…even the Missus who is a bit of a lightweight. In fact, I've been trying to find this since we've returned from our trip….but perhaps it's better that I don't.

As you can tell, we were eating well in Crete……

Erganos (Εργανος)
Georgiadis 5 Oasi
Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Crete – Iraklios: Wandering Central Crete, Arhanes, and lunch at To Spitiko (I think…it’s still Greek to me)

April 17, 2012 mmm-yoso Crete, Greece, Greek Food, Iraklios, Travel

After leaving Peza, the Missus pretty much just pointed the way to go, we just kinda headed off, passing through village after village…..

Every so often the Missus would tell me, "stop….stop now…." And I'd oblige.

Of course I would stop….after all, we were in the middle of Crete, it's not like I had anywhere to go, right?

By that time, the Missus had found Her calling for this little jaunt; She wanted to photograph every single church in every village along the way…..really!

We'd be driving and She'd exclaim there's one, hurry, like the church was some kind of rare bird that would grow wings and fly away into the horizon.

After a while I seemed to enter a bit of a daze as the villages we drove through, Astraki, Mori Agarathou, Apostoli, Evangelisimos, all faded into one. We passed through the village of Thrapsano, famous for their pottery…did we stop to check out the shops? No, although I think there's a photo of the church around here somewhere.

Looking at these photos I noticed something interesting…..

Do you notice that all of the photos seem to be somewhat tilted one way or another?

The Missus would rush out of the car, set-up and quickly snap a photo, run back to the car and tell me, "ok, ok, lets go….." It's not like the sun was setting on Kastelli or anything.

By the time we hit Lyttos I was fried….plus the smell of fresh manure was strong in the air. It was surely a sign to turn around and head back…..

But not to Iraklios, oh no, weI had to find the village of Arhanes…which actually wasn't that hard to find.

We found parking above the village, then walked down the street to the very photogenic and relaxed area near the square. As we walked along, it was hard not to stop and enjoy the wonderful houses, full of plants and flowers.

It was hard not to just slow down and relax……..

By the time we reached the square I was starving. It seemed that most places weren't open yet…perhaps it was too early in the season? We made our mind up on one of the restaurants right on the square. I think the name was To Spitiko, but can't be certain, after all, "it's all Greek to me….."

The place was empty and three was a very nice woman working the front of house. Of course the Missus had to have Her half liter of red wine. She was deteremined to have wine with every meal in Greece. Thankfully, breakfast was the exception….god knows if She'd tried to do that!

Of course the bread arrived and the Missus got Her "rusk".

We started with the "Spitiko Salad", which was a hefty salad featuring boiled eggs along with the standard Greek salad items. That rusk was used as "croutons" just made the Missus enjoy it more.

The Fava Skordalia was very thick though without a strong bean or garlic flavor.

The horta, boiled wild greens had a nice bitterness, though were on the "water-logged" side.

The woman recommended the Bekri Meze, literally "Drunkard's Meze", which is made with red wine.

Though the pork was on the tough side, the sauce was a nice combination of salty-sweet-spice which we sopped up with the bread.

Overall, this was a decent meal, after which we walked back to our car and headed to Iraklios. Past those scenic wine groves…..

We saw an older woman hanging off one of these tractors, probably hitching a ride to the next village on the way back. I wish we were a bit faster with our cameras….

Speaking of on the way back……one thing I noticed as we made our way into Iraklios; things looked different. We didn't pass Knossos, nor the hospital as we did on the way out of town. We were confused and perhaps a little disoriented…until we saw McDonald's (remember I mentioned the importance of that landmark in an earlier post?). Getting back to the hotel was a piece of cake after that….though we'd have to find parking on the street. If you've ever tried parking on the street in Europe you'd understand. Actually, the Missus was quite impressed with my parallel parking skills as I made it into a slot barely bigger than the car itself. It was time for a nap……then maybe i'd be ready for dinner!

Crete – Iraklios: Saying “no to Knossos”, breakfast at the Galaxy Hotel, Peza Union Museum and Shop, and driving the wine country

April 14, 2012 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Crete, Iraklios, Travel

We had really enjoyed our previous day in Iraklios. But the city is a pretty busy modern one, the fifth largest in Greece. Now the one reason that had me planning a stay here is the ancient Greek city of Knossos once the capital of the Minoan civilization. Located 5 kilometers from the Iraklios, it's probably the main reason tourists come here. But it turned out that by the time we arrived, the Missus had developed "ruin fatigue" and adamantly refused to visit Knossos….in other words, She said "no to Knossos."

The Missus had been cooking up another plan. She wanted to drive around the central wine region of Crete. By drive meant that I'd be the driv-er. Now having seen folks zooming around on the street, I really wasn't too enthusiastic about driving around Crete. Plus I was pretty sure that the car we arranged for was a "stick". Not really a big problem I guess, my last car before I moved to the mainland was a 4×4 and I used to drive delivery trucks and flatbeds….but it had been at least 15 years since I drove a stick. Of course, the Missus had Her own spin on the whole thing, "it's like riding a horse, right?" Of course how many times you fall off that horse when you get back on factors into the equation. "I hope you feel the same way when I kill the thing in the middle of the busiest intersection of Crete." "You are so negative….."

Of course, the natural place for such conversations would be breakfast. And we really enjoyed the spread at the Galaxy hotel. Of course, we'd not have been so happy if breakfast wasn't included, it would have been an extra 22 Euros a day and as good as it was….well, it wasn't that good!

The Missus had fallen in love with rusk, the twice cooked bread, which was as hard a crouton, but struck a nerve with Her. And tis place had an area with traditional Cretan items.

Of course, if you're a regular reader, you know the Missus loves Her eggs. Here the boiled eggs were lined up in rows, front row 3 minutes, middle row 6 minutes, back row 9 minutes. Which led to a bit of a quandary for the Missus, "I'm wondering how long the three minute eggs has been sitting in the salt……is it more like a nine minute or six minute egg?" Trying to end this mental stalemate I told the Missus, "while you're contemplating carry-over cooking, there's a line forming behind you……"

It was the orange juice that got me………it tasted so wonderfully fresh squeezed…….I actually would have three glasses with breakfast.

We really enjoyed our breakfasts here……

When we met with the rental agent, the Missus told him, "I want a small car, one of the itty-bitty European cars, the smallest one." The agent humoured Her and gave assurances that we'd get the tiniest car available. After breakfast, we picked the keys up at the desk with information on how to find our car….it was parked on an adjacent side street and how to return it…..try to find parking on a side street. To the Missus' disappointment, the car wasn't "itty-bitty" enough, but I'm sure She forgot about that as we headed out of Iraklios, past the hospital and Knossos……and hit wine country.

About 15 kilometers out of Iraklios we passed the village of Peza. Peza is known as the central hub for Wine and Olive in the area. Right past the town we came to the Peza Union Museum and Tasting room. There was one tour bus parked outside, so we decided to stop….the Missus really wanted to taste some of the local olive oil. I read somewhere that Crete has the highest consumption of olive oil per capita in the world, something like 30 kilos per person per year!

The folks on the tour was just finishing up when we arrived, so we had the place to ourselves.

We wandered the displays showing the history of wine and olive oil production in the region and stopped to taste some wine.

Some of the wines tasted really "raw", but we found a bottle we liked and bought it. We'd later have it one evening in Chania.

Of course the Missus was here for olive oil. There were five available and the woman manning the counter talked to us about flavors and acidity.

When it came time for tasting, we asked to taste just the straight olive oil….this was when the fun started. We expected a little splash of olive oil and maybe some bread. Instead the woman poured a shot of the stuff into a little dixie cup and handed it to me! She then started pouring another cup of it for me! We frantically stopped her….man, there ain't no way I could do five good sized shots of olive oil. I guess the folks in Crete do consume the most olive oil in the world. We indicated using our index fingers and thumbs how much to give us……it surely wasn't like 2-3 ounces of the stuff. In the end, we loved the highest quality olive oil, called 24K gold and bought a bottle. You can see it in a photo on this post. Man, could you imagine me drinking like ten ounces of olive oil……… It makes for a funny story though.

After making our purchases we jumped back in the car…….the Missus now told me what Her mission was for this roadtrip…… stay tuned!