mmm-yoso – Page 308 – As in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!!!!! A San Diego based food and travel blog. An Ex-Pat Kama'aina and Friends explore food, restaurants, and travel from San Diego and points beyond.

2015 Rose Parade float road test #4 and breakfast at Connal’s Burgers, Salads and Subs (Pasadena)

September 22, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, Bakery, Breakfast/Brunch, Festivals & Events, Los Angeles County, What Cathy Eats!

Thanks for dropping by the mmm-yoso!!! food blog. It's Cathy writing today's post. Kirk and Ed (from Yuma) are busy with other things.

An overcast morning in September. How wonderful it was to wake up at 4 a.m. with a chilly temperature of 63 and for it to remain that way for the two hour drive (beginning at 5 a.m.) North. Mechanical and maneuverabilty testing on four more floats that will participate in the 126th Tournament of Roses parade was happening at Phoenix Decorating Company in Pasadena.The Trader Joe's four part entry was the most interesting. The front piece (wheelbarrow with a pumpkin and watering can) is separately driven by a Honda motorcycle and the other attached pieces, depicting a raised bed garden pulling a watermelon and vine with a blossom and blossoming gourd, with the title of "Bedtime Stories", in synchronicity with the parade theme of "Inspiring Stories" is detailed, has spinning, rocking and water spraying parts and will certainly win some sort of trophy for creativity.The details of the City of Los Angeles float, "What's your L.A. Story?" are emerging."Made Possible by Hope" is the City of Hope entry. The Princess Cruises float, still in its rebar phase looks like a cruise ship depicting sights around the world. Titled "50 years of Inspiring Travel", it will be interesting to see the finished design. The original crew of the TV show "The Love Boat" will be riding on this float!

After that bit of fun, we were again hungry (we, of course had stopped at Cream Pan right around 6:15) selecting 'only' a creamy orange brioche and (of course) ham and cheese croissant, to eat in the car with a Starbucks coffee…
One thing The Mister and I are known for is not making plans. We left the road testing and started zig-zagging the streets, heading more or less North and East. Soon, we saw the above signage (there is a complete arrow, which is really great, classic signage that you can see on any of the links to the restaurant) and decided to stop.There is an ordering window at the street as well as a small inside seating area where you can also order. We saw many people from the neighborhood walking in to pick up phoned in orders and a few people driving and picking up meals.You can see an upside down outline of the arrow on the rug in the below photo. It turns out Connal's has been here since 1958…yet we had never heard of it. It is on Washington Street which has many old classic architecture buildings, including both Longfellow and Daniel Webster Elementary Schools.(I can imagine the rivalry).Since I seem to order the same breakfast 90% of the time, things would be no different here. An egg sandwich with bacon on rye toast ($4.59) was my (wonderful, tasty, filling) choice. Because this was one of The Mister's 'birthday days' when he gets to choose the place as well as the food, (we have birthdays seven days apart, which are really eight days of celebrating) (go ahead, use your fingers- if His birthday was Thursday, then mine would be the following Thursday – that means eight days we have to celebrate, but there are only seven dates using math) He ordered the rib eye steak and eggs breakfast ($7.49). The seasoned strip steak was tender and grilled; three eggs over easy; hash browns; sourdough toast…each prepared perfectly and remiinded us of Saturdays in college, when we'd splurge on steak and three egg omelets for breakfast at the counter at a long gone greasy spoon. Good times.

Connal's Sandwiches 1505 East Washington Pasadena, CA 91104 (626)794-5018 Website (the menu website links have old prices, the wall prices in the photo above are 'to go' prices, it's about 50¢ less per item when you eat in).

Nordstrom Cafe-Lunch and Snacks

September 21, 2014 Cathy American/New American Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! a blog about food. Sometimes interesting food, interesting places and sometimes the comfort of repetition. Today, Cathy is writing while Kirk and Ed(from Yuma) are relaxing, or something.

For the past few weeks, The Mister and I have had one criteria for food. Wherever we go, it must be air conditioned…and have covered parking. More than once, we have stopped at Mission Fashion Valley mall. For those of you non-San Diegans, here's a glimpse of the temperature around 1:30 last Tuesday… similar to this 2007 day (and coincidental visit to Nordstrom Cafe).Nordstrom is a higher-end retail/fashion store which has an in-store cafe, like quite a few other establishments (linked in the second paragraph of that post).More or less cafeteria style, where you order and wait for your food to be assembled (or order, pay and your food is brought out to the table). There is a very attentive wait staff who will refill your beverages for you, even if only water.The go-to item for me here is the Roma tomato basil soup (cup, $3.95, bowl $4.95). I have been known to stop in here during the cold of 'winter' for a bowl of this amazing soup. As you can see, I order in each size, depending on other ordered items (and level of air conditioning inside the store). Tomato soup is always available and there is also a varying soup du jour.The accompaniment to the Roma tomato basil soup is a cheese topped 'crouton' as the staff calls it. Crack is what I call it.Salads we've enjoyed in the past few weeks: Nicoise with salmon ($13.50). The roasted salmon is coated with Dijon and fresh herbs; other items on the salad include green beans, kalamata olives, potato, egg and capers. The second salad is grilled shrimp and arugula with sweet corn ($11.95) which is wonderful and includes grilled polenta croutons. The bottom salad is chicken, apple and goat cheese ($10.75) and even though not in the photograph, has a lot of chicken breast under the plethora of ingredients including fresh apple slices as well as dried apple chips and spiced almonds.There is a wide variety of desserts to choose from, but we have defaulted to the creme brûlée ($5.25) twice. When you are seated, your waiter/ess asks if you would like the brulee now, or a bit later…and so the sugar top is freshly torched and the burnt cream is brought out with a warm and crispy top. You can see in the bottom photo that the cream part is flavored using real vanilla beans…

I hope everyone has been able to keep cool and is looking forward to some 'normal' weather. Hope you had a cool(er) weekend.

Nordstrom, 117 locations around the world. Restaurant information

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.

Roadtrip: Pho Quang Trung 2 – Westminster (Orange County)

September 18, 2014 mmm-yoso Orange County, Pho, Road Trip, Vietnamese Restaurants

A few months back, I took a day off to meet some relatives who were visiting LA. I left quite early in the morning and hit Westminster at about 830 am. I decided to grab a bite to eat and it had been a while since I'd had pho in Little Saigon, so I decided to stop and get some. I checked out a couple of places and they were surprisingly busy, so I settled on Pho Quang Trang 2 which is in Asian Village Center right on Bolsa.

I hadn't been to this location of PQT, but I had been to the original location way back in the mid-2000's. From what I recall, they made a decent bowl of Pho Ga. I really wanted a obwl of Pho Filet Mignon, which is what I ordered. (small bowl – $6.45)

One of the main reasons being that I think I've gotten kind of used to the typical bowl of pho in San Diego, low in beef flavor, low in clove-scorched onion–anise tones, and high in salt/msg. I just wanted to get some bearings with regards to pho. First off, there was a bit less herbs than I was used too, but what there was sparkling fresh. The noodles were in the typical clump, but nicely done, still having a good amount of stretch to them. The broth looked darker than I expected, but was quite mild in the sodium department, at least compared to what I'd been having the last couple of months. Overall, a light beefiness, a bit too light in the fat department, but better than just about every place in San Diego. Not sure where it ranks within Little Saigon, wince I haven't had too many bowls over the last few years.

The only thing that I didn't enjoy was that the filet was still a bit too frozen, still stiff and solid, taking too long to get to the correct doneness and cooling off the broth too quickly.

Yes, I've had better….but god knows, I've had worse.

And the free little cup of che didn't hurt at all either.

The service, as to be expected was typical perfunctory Little Saigon, totally in character.

Pho Quang Trung 2
9211 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683
Hours:
0830 am – Midnight Daily

Midweek Meanderings

September 17, 2014 mmm-yoso Markets & Grocers, Mediterranean Restaurants, Poke

Just a couple of quick things to get us over "Hump day".

Poke at Costco Mission Valley:

I've seen them in Costco's back home in Hawaii, but never in San Diego, until a recent visit to Costco in Mission Valley. Of course, other than gas, I really don't get to Costco that often. It just so happened that I needed enough toilet paper to last until the next millennium.

It looked to be part of the Seafood Fair. Did I buy any? Well, no….heck I don't even buy the stuff they sell in Costco in Hawaii. I did ask the guy if the fish was "gassed", that is, treated with carbon monoxide. They guy looked at me strangely and shrugged his shoulders….whatever that means.

Anyway, I guess Costco now has poke…..

Some new stuff at Nijiya:

I've noticed some interesting new stuff at Nijiya over the last year or so. First, they started selling their bentos with brown rice. I guess the "brown rice revolution" that I first noticed on one of my trips home to Hawaii, now has a foothold. Heck, even Okan offers brown rice as an option with lunch. Then I noticed Shio Koji chicken. And then it was….drum roll please……

And while you'll never catch me eating this stuff….though I've been known to have brown rice on occasion to please the Missus (don't get the Brown Rice Shio Koji Chicken…it's a double whammy), I thought it kind of neat that Nijiya is really working on keeping up with things.

I also noticed Chicken Karaage being sold with various sauces. I do enjoy chicken nanban – basically chicken seasoned with vinegar and, yep tartar sauce, though I try to get the sauce on the side when I remember to. A little goes a long way. I thought a sauce made with kurosu, a brownish vinegar made from unpolished rice might be really good on karaage. I was wrong; the sauce had been thickened too much, it was too sweet, without enough sour tones. Not my thing.

Still, it's quite interesting to visit and see new things, which seem to quite often….I usually grab a bento or something for lunch here about every other week.

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Can you guess the restaurant?

Had dinner with some good friends a while back….not my kind of place, though the portions were huge….. Much of it was dry, overcooked, tough, and seemed like it had been lying around for a while. I hadn't been here in ages and now I remembered why.

Enough to feed an army though…. Can you guess where?

So you wanna try some Swordfish Bone Marrow, huh?

September 16, 2014 mmm-yoso Cooking, Seafood, yoso-silly

Well, it's 730pm and still super hot and muggy, so I thought I'd do a quick post as a follow-up to having dinner at Wrench & Rodent. Yep, that swordfish spinal fluid was still on my mind, so on my visit to Catalina Offshore the following week, I asked Tommy about it. Now I knew about Vesiga, the bone marrow of the spinal cord of the European Sturgeon….basically because, my mind being that cesspool of useless information, I recalled reading that it was served during the last meal on the Titanic. I asked Tommy about some background…..he explained that Norwegian fisherman used to consume the stuff to give them "energy"…..well at least he didn't tell me, "no worry….it make YOU STRONG!"

Which is how I ended up unwrapping the spine of a swordfish on my counter…..

Harvesting the stuff was totally brainless….I took a heavy knife; a cleaver actually and sliced through the seam of the spinal column. I then proceeded to scoop the wonderful gelatinous stuff out.

And by golly if it didn't taste wonderfully refreshing; slightly of the ocean, with some very faint sweet hints to it. Still, the flavor alone felt a bit incomplete….I felt it could use the most gentle touch of citric acid, so I added two drops of fresh squeezed lime juice…..which just made it perfect. It just kind of slides on down…..

The Missus watched me removing the gelatinous material from the psinal column and had Her doubts…until She got Her first "shot"…..and then She was hooked!

And I think you would be too…….get your hands on a fresh swordfish spine and have at it!

Cheers!

Another one off the bucket list – Swordfish “Bone Marrow” at Wrench and Rodent and “Breast Beer” too!

September 15, 2014 mmm-yoso Asian Fusion/Pacific Rim/Hawaii Style Fusion, Beer, Seafood, Sushi and Sashimi

It's actually more like spinal fluid/disc material…but who's keeping score, right? I had been curious about it for a while and I gotta say, I really love the texture and the mild briney.ocean flavor of Swordfish Bone Marrow….think of the mildest oyster in flavor, clean and crisp, combined with the texture of Liangfen 凉粉 – starch jelly noodles. Man, this stuff was really good!

I have to thank Tommy of Catalina Offshore for having Candice and I as his guests, along with Maria and Jonathan for being such great company!

Tommy had been trying to get Candice and I over to Wrench and Rodent for a while for a blow-out Omakase. Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant since, like Candice warned Tommy, I'm a bit of a "traditionalist" when it comes to sushi and sashimi. But you can't forget that I'm from the home of Pacific Rim Cuisine, Hawaii….which is why I hate slapped together con "fusion" dishes….. After reading Faye's post, I thought at the least, this would be an interesting meal.

I gotta say, some of the stuff Davin Waite puts out was so very creative, risky, but still trying to capture the essense of the product. I really enjoyed this meal, even though it was enough to feed an army, or at the least, one hungry Tommy.

My preferred way of having the bone marrow was plain, in the shot glass; there was something so pure and refreshing about it.

I have to say, some of the dishes were just wonderful; the bluefin collar was just out of his world….moist, fatty, like eating "buttah"…..it was well seasoned without killing the product.

I thought this pseudo gunkan maki of toro was a wonderful combination of textures. The cucumber crisp and refreshing, the masago added crunch and the flavor of the ocean, the gari, which I usually have between bites to refresh and clear my palate actually did well here.

Of the nigiri; it was the anchovy with a dengaku style miso paste was my favorite.

The Hamachi Kama was just wonderful as well.

Don't let all this fusiony stuff fool you; Davin makes a decent nigiri……

I quickly found out that Davin's sauces tend to run on the fruity/sweet side; which goes well with a pristine scallop; though I could have just eaten this plain….

I did think there was a bit too much mirin action in his nikiri for the maguro.

His pesto type concoction works relatively well with salmon.

There's no denying there's a good amount of creativity going on here. Davin takes risks and has some chops as well.

When it works, like this wonderful Opah, or was it Monchong cheek, BLT dish, it's quite delicious.

When it doesn't, you can't blame him for trying……

You'll notice, not a single Gringo roll….and only one item I say that belonged on another table.

No mayo, surimi….. though I did see a good amount of tempura/mayo/cream cheese rolls going out.

Over the years I've had a bit of sushi; from the purely traditional, to the modern-traditional, and even the sushi-kaiseki stylings of Urasawa. I gotta say, this one was an original. As is the location; inside of Bull Taco in Oceanside. I actually plan on returning in the near future….who knows what Davin will have up his sleeve.

I really need to thank Tommy for arranging this; and for being a fantastic host…..and keeping us entertained as well. You can tell that Davin loves food and creating, it was a blast talking about different ingredients, products, and techniques.

And I got to cross an item off my bucket list as well.

Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub
1815 S Coast Hwy (inside of Bull Taco)
Oceanside, CA 92054

W&R isn't the only little treasure hidden in Bull Taco. Brewmaster Havin Harris has opened a little microbrewery named Beer Brewing Company in the back of W&R.

I had a taster of the beers available and my favorite….well, I'm not so comfortable writing this; was the, ahem…"breast beer". Apparently, Havin did a ton of research and developed a beer that is supposed to aid in lactogenesis. As strange as it may seem, this was the breast, um, best beer I tasted and Candice agreed. As to it's effects on lactation…well, you're asking the wrong person!

Overall, it was an amazing night of new experiences; from swordfish bone marrow to breast beer!

I couldn't have asked for more!

Negro Durazo- more visits

September 14, 2014 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! a food blog with random food based posts from the City, County, various States and the world. Kirk is working-in the City, Ed(from Yuma) is relaxing-in another State and Cathy is writing-in the County.

I've written about Negro Durazo three other times already. It's relatively close to home, serves great seafood and during the recent heat wave, the almost windowless interior is wonderfully cool and comfortable. We don't come here in the evenings; there are some pay per view events, live music and sometimes a cover charge; it can be very loud.The decor has a nautical theme, there is a modern juke box, some remnants of the recent World Cup contests, a few televisions and the skylights are enough to illuminate the room in the late morning.The overly condimented tables are further enhanced with cut limes, fresh made salsa and warm chips when you begin perusing the extensive menu. Our recent "M.O." (Method of Ordering) has been to order one item from the "hot kitchen" and one item from the "cold kitchen", in addition, we have our own self made rule that one item must be 'new' to us.The camarones culichi ($15) (sauteed shrimp covered with a sauce made of chicken broth, poblano peppers, garlic, onion and cream then topped with a soft (Manchegoo/Chihuahua/Monterey Jack-like) cheese and baked in the small casserole serving plate). Culichi sauced anything is a favorite of ours.Above, Ceviche Mixto appetizer plate: shrimp, octopus and fish ceviche, made to order. Meant as a shareable appetizer, this is a flavorful, filling meal. The combination of the lime juice, tomato, cucumber, cilantro and mild onion doesn't overpower each of the seafood items.

A few weeks after that visit, we returned…and ordered similar items.

Above, a filete relleno de mariscos($16.50). Fish filet (a firm white fish; not tilapia) stuffed with a seafood mixture of shrimp, octopus and marlin (a smoked fish) and topped with culichi sauce.

Jaiba (crab) ceviche appetizer plate ($12). Again, a large, shareable serving, marinated in fresh lime juice and mixed with cucumber, tomato, cilantro and mild onion. Tasty and filling. Refreshing. I'm going to have to have a separate post about breakfasts. No culichi nor lime marinade on that menu.Our most recent visit, the central dining room was very loud, with the weekend Band setting up, so we sat in the bar area. (Only one television here and we could have a conversation). This time the 'hot' dish we chose was a whole fried tilapia ($11). Even though I sort of wanted the Zarandeado preparation, this was quite a large tilapia and perfectly prepared, tasting good warm or cool. (I like the Zarandeado Sauce warm). The "Ceviche Tropical"($15) was the 'something new' menu choice. Served in a hollowed pineapple, with chunks of pineapple, coconut and mango, along with a freshly (lime 'cooked') shrimp, axe scallops, clams, snail and octopus. This slightly spicy ceviche really hit the spot.

Hope you're keeping cool!

Mariscos Negro Durazo 6954 Federal Blvd Lemon Grove CA 91945 (619)337-7704 Website

Mon-Th 9am-10 pm, Fri 9 am-midnight, Sat 8-midnight, Sun 8-11:30

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!