Europe the Ellenzweig Way

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 25, 2009)

2009-05-26T05:04:00.004-04:00

French Open - Day 2. Jon cooling off with the Perrier-provided mist at the "Point Fraicheur".

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 24, 2009)

2009-05-26T05:02:00.002-04:00

French Open - Day 1. Kristi enjoying a great perspective on the Annex Courts.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 20, 2009)

2009-05-21T06:46:00.002-04:00

Inside the Palais Garnier (one of two Paris Opera Houses)

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 18, 2009)

2009-05-19T15:22:00.002-04:00

L'Institut du Monde Arabe.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 15, 2009)

2009-05-16T19:05:00.003-04:00

Six month wedding anniversary at the Eiffel Tower!!!

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 14, 2009)

2009-05-15T13:40:00.002-04:00

Le Penseur.

Paris - Photo(s) of the Day (May 13, 2009)

2009-05-14T17:31:00.004-04:00

Highlights of our day trip to Versailles, with our good friend Stefan Voglis.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 12, 2009)

2009-05-13T17:57:00.000-04:00

Patriotic Kristi enjoying the scenery in Paris.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 11, 2009)

2009-05-12T16:39:00.002-04:00

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 10, 2009)

2009-05-11T04:07:00.002-04:00

Appropriately named deli in the Jewish Quarter - love the barber poles.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 9, 2009)

2009-05-11T04:05:00.002-04:00

La basilique du Sacre Coeur.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 8, 2009)

2009-05-09T14:55:00.003-04:00

Flowers for sale at the Marché Avenue President Wilson.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 7, 2009)

2009-05-08T02:58:00.002-04:00

Reliving childhood memories at the Petit Nicolas exhibit.

Paris - Photo of the Day (May 6, 2009)

2009-05-07T03:48:00.003-04:00

The best way to protect your old Fiat from damage.

Les Gorges du Verdon

2009-05-07T03:10:00.002-04:00

The final stop on our tour of Provence last week was the incredible Gorges du Verdon. Also known as the European Grand Canyon, this is the world's second largest gorge and an incredible natural wonder.

We started out with a hike en route to the Gorges, outside the town of Sainte Laurent du Verdon. Our hike took us along a winding river with some incredible cliffs, but certainly just a prelude to the Gorges themselves.

We stayed at a cute inn just outside the town of Moustiers Sainte Marie and had a great time hiking around Moustiers, a unique site in itself (above).

The Gorges have to be accessed by car, which induced some perilous driving on the Route de Cretes, an incredibly windy scenic road that works its way around the Gorges and provides some breathtaking views.

Although it wasn't quite warm enough for rafting on the river, but we were fortunate sure we arrived before tourist season so the roads were relatively empty and we were able to cruise at our own speed, enjoying the many lookouts along the way.

One of the other interesting features of the area are the lakes, which were man-made over the past 80 as part of an electricity scheme. The lakes shimmer an unnatural bright blue, more like the Caribbean than a man-made reservoir.

Finally, we encountered quite a bit of the local wildlife, from hawks soaring over the Gorges to mountain goats, feeding on the surrounding hillsides. These animals seemed completely nonplussed by the cars / humans around them.

We definitely would call this a "must see" sight. Also, Moustiers is a wonderful town with some great restaurants and a great way to explore a different part of Provence.

South of France (Provence / Cote d'Azur)

2009-05-05T04:06:00.002-04:00

We are currently in Paris (arrived on Friday) and will be here until May 27. Prior to Paris, we were in the South of France (Provence and the Cote d'Azur), the subject of this post.

After a week-and-a-half of traveling around the South of France (by car), we have already started planning future visits. A combination of trips to the beach , incredible hiking, visits to local markets and the beautiful countryside scenery left us never wanting to leave.

We spent a perfect day on the beach in Cannes. With the weather already in the high 20’s (that’s Celsius), it was even hot enough to dip in the Mediterranean. The seemingly never ending stretch of beach was busy with locals, but not yet packed with tourists. Taking a break from the lounging, we walked around the city and saw the Palais des Festivals and docks full of incredible yachts. We also spent a day exploring Juan-Les-Pins and Antibes, which took us to some more beautiful beaches and the incredible peninsula Cap d'Antibes, home to some incredibly palatial homes and hotels.

Away from the waterfront, we picked up a couple of hiking maps at the local tourist office and embarked on some of the most phenomenal hikes.

Our favourite was a hike that started in the Massif d’Estrel and took us along cliffs and beaches in St. Raphael - some of the most spectacular scenery we have scene anywhere.

We also visited the perfumeries of Grasse (above) and toured their facilities. A bit of an overrated experience, but fun nonetheless.

We also loved the food in the region and have consumed almost exclusively local produce. Even at this time of year, the markets are full of wonderful food, with every vendor eager to give you a taste of what they have on offer. They are so proud of their produce that one vendor even remarked to another vendor (in French) “I wish there were a way to give away samples of eggs”. Some of the delicacies that you might have found in our reusable market bag over the past two weeks ncluded: apricot nougat, fennel salami, duck ravioli, a bouquet of purple artichokes, a smorgasbord of local cheeses and always a baguette.

Getting around to the beaches, hikes and markets has been almost as exciting as arriving at our intended destination. Some of the roads have led us through “Villages Perchés” (literally tiny villages that are perched on the top of a mountain), through rolling green hills, past fields entirely covered in bright yellow flowers and along streets lined with overhanging trees that make you feel as though you’ve entered a tunnel.

We visited tons of small towns like Fayence, Seillans, Mons, Callas, Moustiers Sainte Marie and Foncalquier all of which looked like just small dot on a map, but took on lives of their own as we walked around cobblestone streets and visited small markets and bakeries.

A natural extension of our time in Provence was a visit to the L'Occitane en Provence factory, where we saw how they make soap, candles, fragrances, etc. and also learned about the history of the company. Naturally, Kristi was enthralled with this visit and we were able to pick up a few products at the factory store after our tour.

Although we are now in Paris, we are still working on a post of our visit to the European Grand Canyon - stay tuned.

Nice / Monte-Carlo

2009-04-29T12:12:00.006-04:00

Side note: This blog post comes a little bit late because it has been significantly trickier to track down free WiFi (often pronounced weefee in many of these European countries) in France than it was in Estonia. Though only free from communism for the past 17 years, Estonia has one of the highest internet penetration rates in Europe and free WiFi (the Estonians use the North American pronunciation) can be found virtually anywhere in the country.

Since we were looking to warm up after two weeks in a still somewhat chilly Estonia, we headed to Nice (that’s niece, not nice), France on April 15th. We were greeted with warm sunshine on day one and took advantage the much needed vitamin D boost.

The Monte-Carlo Masters Series tennis tournament was taking place while we were in Nice and with Monte-Carlo being only 20 minutes away by train, we decided to take the opportunity to see some of the tour’s best players in action. Very sadly, it was pouring rain on the day we had tickets. As avid tennis fans and eternal optimists, we set out from Nice to the Monte-Carlo Country Club anyway, with umbrellas in hand. We quickly learned that Monte-Carlo does not get a lot of rain, since there was only one covered area at the whole tournament. Luckily we had arrived early and were able to secure two seats in the covered section, where there were approximately 1,000 seats at a tournament that hosts over 10,000 fans daily. After what seemed like ages of waiting for disorganized ushers to seat soggy fans, Jon finally remarked that they would be better off using the more experienced ushers who seat people in synagogue during the high holidays. Though we were excited to watch some of our favourite players, including Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, warm up, we quickly realized that the relatively low canopy providing shelter from the rain was too low to accommodate an actual match. We finally decided to head into Monte-Carlo for a look around, since there would clearly be no matches played in the ongoing pouring rain.

Monte-Carlo is a surrealistic experience. Virtually everyone in the city is at least a millionaire (literally) and every car on the road is incredible (other than those with an F or I designation on their license plates, which single out the French / Italians just passing through). The architecture is beautiful and the setting of the city overlooking the water is spectacular; however, beyond casinos and very expensive shops, there is not a whole lot to do in Monte Carlo on a very rainy day. Fortunately for us, by the time we had eaten a sandwich for lunch, the sun finally started to peek through the clouds and we decided to make our way back to the tennis tournament, hoping to see the first match of the day.

Back at the tournament, we were excited to find that the sun was out, the weather had warmed up and Federer was getting ready to step out onto centre court. Being a Masters Series tournament, the men only had to win two sets to take the match (as opposed to winning three sets in a Grand Slam tournament). Federer’s performance was surprisingly weak and he just managed to lose (6-4, 7-5) to his fellow Swiss countryman, Wawrinka, before it started pouring rain again. Unfortunately that was the only match we wound up seeing that day, as it continued to rain after the Federer match, and they wrapped up the tournament for the day at that point.

Inspired by the athletics and muscle we had seen in Monte Carlo, we decided to take on a little physical activity ourselves and on April 19th we joined approximately 10,000 other joggers in running the Nice Semi-Marathon (as previously noted). The Semi-Marathon is a pretty bid deal in Nice and most people in town know that it is going on. Luckily, for this event we got clear sunny weather and we both had a great time running 21.2 kilometres, most of which was along the waterfront. The support throughout the city, including all the people that hung out their apartment windows to cheer the runners on, was much appreciated and made for a fun event. Though still a little bit sore from the run, we pulled ourselves together and were back out hiking in the French countryside a few days later.

We will be back in Nice briefly on April 30th, which is lucky, because there is one restaurant that we didn’t make it to on our first trip through, Chez Palmyre. The menu changes daily, and the old woman who does the cooking runs the restaurant as though you are eating in her home - can’t wait!

Saint Raphael

2009-04-24T13:52:00.004-04:00

We have been busy enjoying the warm weather in the South of France, so apologies for getting behind on the blog (including the belated Southern Estonia post that just went up).

Today we went for an incredible 6 km hike in and around Saint Raphael. The hike started in the Massif de L'Esterel, an incredible mountain range that surrounds the coast, and ended along the beaches outside of the cityl. It was an incredible hike and I think that the pictures tell the story better than words.

Southern Estonia

2009-04-24T13:30:00.004-04:00

Despite being a relatively small country, Estonia has a lot of history and a lot of beautiful places to discover. After our visit to Saaremaa, we were back in Tallinn for a couple of days for a Passover Seder, then traveled south to Tartu, Estonia’s biggest university town.

We ended up enjoying Tartu more than Tallinn, mainly because the “old town” seems more oriented towards locals than tourists, so restaurants are more authentic / less stereotypical. As well, Tartu has some beautiful parks mixed amongst the city and the parks are dotted with sculptures, ruins or other points of interest.

We were also in Tartu for Jon’s birthday (April 11) and enjoyed a great home-curated lunch from the Tartu market, including a variety of herring and salmon, as well as some moose salami, coleslaw and home-made pickles (which were good, but not up to Ellenzweig / Tupholme standards).

We also toured the A. Le Coq Brewery in Tartu, definitely a non-Estonian name (Mr. Le Coq was a Belgian) but the leading producer of beer in Estonia.

After Tartu, we rented a car and toured around the countryside, including Viljandi, birthplace of Kristi's step-grandmother and home to another great park and castle, and we ended up spending the night in Parnu, a beachside resort town.

We finagled a sea-view room in Parnu and the weather crept up into the mid-teens, so we took a great walk along the beach / boardwalk and explored some of the other highlights.

We returned our car the next day to Tallinn and spent our final night in a hotel that also houses a pool / spa facility, with about 6 different hot tubs, multiple saunas, steam rooms, etc. - a relaxing way to end our stay in Estonia.

Nice - Semi-Marathon

2009-04-19T09:58:00.002-04:00

Kristi and I just completed the Nice Semi-Marathon this morning! A beautiful day and an awesome setting with most of the race along the Med. Race info is here.

Saaremaa

2009-04-14T09:24:00.006-04:00

Having enjoyed our volunteer experience in Spain, we decided to embark on another volunteer program in Estonia. We found an interesting project on Saaremaa, Estonia's largest island, located just off the west coast. We stayed in Kuressaare (population 16,000), the island's largest city.

Our host was trying to start a wool cooperative on the island and our project was to help put together a business plan, as part of an application for EU funding. Despite a large number of sheep on the island (approximately 11,000), the locals currently have no place to process the wool that is sheared from their sheep; however, many have shown interest in seeking a local solution.

Before we could commence the report writing, we had to get an understanding of both sheep and wool. Several days were spent visiting local farms with our host and learning about the farmers' wool-related needs. Fortunately, we quickly took a liking to the sheep.

The locals we met were very kind and we enjoyed learning about Estonian farm life. After touring around one of the farms, we were very excited to be presented with a snack of locally made food. On the table we found: bread, honey, lamb pate, milk, pickles and coffee (everything came from the farm, except for the coffee). At the end of our visit, we were also each given a pair of homemade socks, this was truly a local experience!

Apart from our volunteer project, we found some time to visit a few of the sites on the island, the best of which was the Kuressaare Castle. The castle is the best preserved castle in the Baltics, originally built in the 1200's, but reconstructed in its present form in the 1400's.

Overall, we had a great time in Saaremaa, but after having eaten at almost all the local restaurants in the span of five days, we didn't mind getting back on the bus and heading back to Tallinn, the big city, for Passover.....more to come on that in a later post.

Tallinn - Sporting Events

2009-04-09T02:15:00.003-04:00

We are currently in Tallinn Estonia and have been in Estonia for the past week. Since arriving on March 31st, we have spent time in both Tallinn (the capital city) and on the island of Saaremaa (subject of a future post).

We have tried to stay on top of Estonia's sporting scene since arriving (which is pretty easy to do), and have attended a World Cup 2010 Qualifying Match as well as an Estonian Basketball League game.

Estonia does not have a very rich football (soccer) background, which has shown in their World Cup 2010 qualification efforts (Europe - Group 5). Thankfully, they were playing one of the few teams in Europe ranked below them, Armenia (Estonia is ranked #115 in the world and Armenia is ranked #124 - click here for the full rankings).

The match took place at Estonia's largest football field, A. Le Coq Arena, sponsored by A. Le Coq, one of Estonia's largest breweries (and the one with the most interesting name).

Positive notes on the match:
1. Both teams tried their best.
2. There were a decent number of Estonian fans that turned out, despite the early start time (6:00 PM on a Wednesday).
3. Surprisingly, some Armenian fans made it to the match.
4. Estonia won, 1-0.

Room for improvement:
1. The grass was very brown and patchy.
2. Neither Estonia nor Armenia are very good at football. Lots of players on both sides either play in their local leagues or in places like Iran, Kazakhstan, Georgia, etc.
3. No beer was sold during the match (a FIFA rule, not a local one).
4. The concession stand sold out of Estonian Garlic Bread (a GREAT local snack, not like Italian garlic bread) before half time, so we didn't get any.

Next up on our sporting tour-de-force was a match in the SEB Korvpalli Maestriliiga, more commonly known as the KML or the Estonian Basketball League. You may be asking yourself, something like "Hm. I didn't know that Estonians play basketball. I don't recall seeing any of their players in the NBA or in the Olympics". Well, due in part to their Nordic ancestry, there are some tall Estonians out there and at some point, they got together and started playing basketball. Unfortunately, they are not very good, which is why we generally don't see Estonians in the NBA. They do, however, also participate in the Baltic Basketball League, which is typically dominated by Lithuanian teams.

The game we went to was between one of the local Tallinn teams, BC Kalev (mascot pictured above) and its chief rival, Tartu Rock. Thankfully, the local team won (boxscore) and the 1,200 (or so) fans in attendance all went home happy.

Ireland - Beer & Spirits

2009-03-30T14:43:00.005-04:00

Aside from its beautiful countryside, Ireland may be best known for its beer and spirits, as well as the festivities that surround them. We were fortunate enough to be in Dublin two weeks ago for St. Patrick's Day (simply known as Paddy's amongst the locals).

Our day started with some pina colada's courtesy of Lindsay (a decidedly un-Irish start to the day) and we then took to the streets with the gang (Matt, Lindsay, Cam, Olivia - photo at top) to watch a brief part of the parade (above), which was somewhat low-budget and reminiscent of Toronto's Santa Clause Parade, although some locals take it seriously enough to line the parade route in the wee hours of the morning or to scale various street furniture to cop a great view (below).

We then headed to some local pubs for the rest of the day, to celebrate in a more traditional fashion, with pints of Guinness and some Irish folk music. While the streets were packed with tourists, we managed to find a great local crowd packed with several local church choirs that sang ballads throughout the afternoon.

Kristi and I also toured the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, which was much more interesting than we expected, given the tens of millions of Euro that Guinness has put into their Visitors Center - definitely a must see tour with a very fresh pint at the end.

Also, as noted in previous posts, we toured the Old Jameson Whisky Distillery in Middleton (County Cork) and also popped in on the Old Bushmills Distillery near the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland (photos above and bel0w).

While there may still be one more Dublin post in the cards, photos are posted here for those interested.

Ireland Road Trip II - Northern Ireland

2009-03-27T06:14:00.004-04:00

Following the success of our earlier road trip to Cork and Kerry, Kristi and I set out alone on a 3-day road trip to Northern Ireland, with the primary goal if seeing the Giant's Causeway along with the beautiful coast.

Our first stop was Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland and a city that really surprised us with its charm and new modern development. We were only in Belfast for 5 hours (not nearly enough time), but we were able to walk around a lot of the downtown (Kristi is pictured above in front of city hall) and we also took a black cab tour of the Protestant and Catholic neighbourhoods, to learn more about the political situation.

The neighbourhoods of Belfast are known for their murals, which were often painted in memory of various events or people. Our guide was very knowledgeable and helped walk us through The Troubles. He also gave us a modern day perspective and it does seem like the situation has improved significantly over the past decade, in large part due to the economic prosperity in the area; however, the current recession could incite additional unrest (which has started already - click here).

We left Belfast on Monday evening and made it to Portrush, a town on the Northern coast, very close to the Giants Causeway. The next morning, we paid a quick visit to the ruins of Dunluce Castle and then made our way to the Causeway, which is an incredible natural phenomenon which must be seen to believed. The Causeway also comes with a bit of folklore, the legend of Finn McCool. Although the weather was quite blustery, we hiked around the area before returning to our car to continue the beautiful drive around the coast of Country Antrim.

The drive was incredibly scenic and we really loved seeing the countryside. We spent the night just outside of Belfast and then had a relaxing day meandering around the countryside, eventually making our way back to Dublin on Wednesday evening.

For those interested, additional photos of our road trip are available here.

Ireland Road Trip I - Cork & Kerry

2009-03-22T09:33:00.005-04:00

After arriving in Dublin on March 11th, we got settled into our friends’ Cam and Liv’s place, had a great dinner with the group (including our good friend Matt), and then headed out with Cam & Liv on a weekend road trip to explore Southwestern Ireland.

Our first stop brought us to one of Ireland’s best foodie towns, Kinsale. Located on Ireland’s southern coast, about 4 hours from Dublin, Kinsale was a lovely little town. We checked into a small lodge and then headed out for dinner at a highly recommended local pub/restaurant, Jim Edwards. The meal started with Jon and Cam ordering a much needed pint of Guinness, while Liv and Kristi enjoyed a Bulmer’s Light (a favourite Irish Cider). We then all had a fabulous meal of delicious, locally caught fish.

On day two, we enjoyed the Irish Breakfast at our lodge, which provided a good base for our first stop, the Jameson Distillery, in Middleton. We learned the art and science behind the famous whiskey, and then had the pleasure of sampling some of the output. We also had the opportunity to compare Jameson’s to the smokier Scottish Scotch and the sweeter American Bourbon. Given the setting of the tasting and the sales pitch by our tour guide, we both preferred the Jameson’s!

Our next stop was the Blarney Castle. Originally dating back to the1200’s, the castle was rebuilt by Cormac MacCarthy, the King of Munster in the 1400‘s. Today, the castle is most famous for the Blarney Stone, which lies at the top of the castle. Legend has it that those who kiss the Blarney stone will be granted the gift of gab (eloquence), and this legend seems to attract an awful lot of tourists. Kissing the stone involves lying on your back and hanging your head over the edge of the castle (while being held onto by a very old Irishman, who supposedly ensures your safety). All four of us went through the motions of kissing / pretending to kiss the stone (for photograph purposes). Consensus among the four of us has it, that only Jon was granted the gift of gab - apparently it does matter if your lips touch the stone.

Day two of the road trip ended in Killarney, where we enjoyed a dinner of Irish Stew and a restful night.

On day three, we rose early, to again enjoy a delicious Irish Breakfast, which provided fuel for our hike around Killarney National Park. After our walk, we headed out to enjoy the scenic drive around the Ring of Kerry (above).

In addition to enjoying the beautiful scenery, one of the highlights included an unplanned detour following signs marked “Farmhouse Cheese”. We were rewarded for our efforts when we arrived at a private home and were led into a Dutchman’s “cheese room”. The gouda style cheese on offer was delicious, and we walked off with a piece of both garlic gouda and the cumin gouda.

The trip ended with a marathon drive home and a great sleep back in Dublin.

For those interested in viewing more photos of this roadtrip (including photos of us kissing the Blarney Stone), click here.

San Sebastian

2009-03-20T03:21:00.004-04:00

Following our weekend in Bilbao, we took the bus to San Sebastian, an incredible seaside city and the foodie capital of Europe. Between the incredible picturesque setting, the friendliness of the local residents and the wonderful food, we fell in love with San Sebastian and it may perhaps be our favourite stop so far on the trip.

Nestled into the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic Ocean, the city is home to some beautiful urban beaches as well as great surf spots.

The harbor of San Sebastian is also home to a great series of sculptures by local Basque sculpture Edouardo Chllida, called "Comb of the Wind" (above and at top of blog post). These weathered steel sculptures are built into the rocks at the end of the harbour and are truly captivating when the waves crash into them, adding a variety of experiences to the art. We ended up taking a lot of photos of these sculptures, which are available here.

Building upon the great pintxos of Bilbao, San Sebastian is truly a food mecca and every little bar / restaurant takes their food extremely seriously . The photo above depicts two of our favourites that (skewered grilled shrimp and a fried crepe containing asparagus, mushrooms and langoustines) that cost about 3 Euro each and would have been at home as starters on any Michelin-starred restaurant. After spending several days of eating pintxos like these (including foie gras in every form known to man), we were sad to leave and can only hope that the tapas/pintxo culture makes its way to North America beyond the "small plates" craze. The big difference between what exists in Spain vs North America is the casualness of these bars - locals just drop in for a glass of wine (usually priced at 2 Euro or less) and a couple of pintxos, before continuing on to the next bar. There is often no menu and certainly no formality. There are also often few/no chairs in the bar and young and old intermingle with no pretension. Definitely a great way to dine.

With this post, I believe that we are finally caught up through Spain. (although we still may have 1-2 belated Barcelona posts over the next week). We have been in Dublin for the past week (including St. Paddy's and will be posting some photos soon!.

Cheers

Bilbao

2009-03-18T18:18:00.005-04:00

Catching up on past events, from March 5-8th we were in Bilbao with Carlotta. While our primary draw to the city was the Guggenheim, we fell in love with the Basque culture as well as the incredible culinary scene across Basque Country.

The Guggenheim Bilbao was designed by Frank Gehry and first opened in 1997. While we initially were somewhat suspicious of what to expect, we both were in awe of the building. Gehry has done a great job of creating a curvaceous, flowing structure that interacts with the city around it, despite the fact that the materials used for the building (primarily glass and titanium) do not reflect the surrounding materials. It's hard to really capture the Guggenheim Bilbao in a photograph and we spent our first 30 minutes walking around the outside of the museum before entering.

The Guggenheim Bilbao has a small permanent collection, which largely consists of some large sculptures / installations by (among others), Richard Serra and Jeff Koons (above). The majority of the space at the Guggenheim Bilbao is devoted to revolving exhibitions. Fortunately/unfortunately, we visited when the Museum was featuring an exhibition on Takashi Murakami, who is loosely termed an artist and is better described as a businessman or a commercial designer. Murakami is well known for the world of characters he designed, as well as for his collaboration with Louis Vuitton on several very successful lines of handbags. It was definitely interesting to see the Murakami exhibit and learn more about his style and history; however, it was also a bit disappointing that there wasn't something more interesting on display.

The other big highlight of Bilbao was the incredible food. The Basque region is famous for its Pintxos, small bite-sized tapas that are mainly served cold on pieces of bread. The photo above is the typical scene that greets you in any Basque bar. It is always a tough choice what to order and while at first it is strange to see everything on display, after eating at a few Pintxo bars, you get used to it quickly.

These three delicious pintxos include a grilled mushroom (far right), a round of goat cheese with strawberry compote (left) and a piece of foie gras between two home-made potato chips (back). Needless to say, all three were delicious).

We would definitely recommend a visit to Bilbao; however, our favourite part of Basque Country was San Sebastian, which we visited immediately following Bilbao (post to come). Additional photos from Bilbao are available here.

Barcelona - Gaudi

2009-03-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

One of the unique features of Barcelona is incredible blend of architectural styles, especially the unique Modernist buildings, designed by Antoni Gaudi and his peers/followers.

Gaudi’s most famous building is the incredible Sagrada Familia church which is still under construction over 100 years after being started. We were also able to enjoy a great picnic in Park Guell, an incredible urban park that overlooks the city and feels like being inside of a fairy tale, and we toured Casa Mila (the two photos above), a very unique apartment building with a great exhibit devoted to all of Gaudi’s work. The building’s nickname is La Padrera (the Quarry), because it looks like a stone quarry. The roof of La Padrera is one of the building's incredible features, as all of the various chimney's and other items on the roof of an apartment building, which generally are ugly and create clutter), are topped with unique sculptures turning something ugly into something beautiful.

It is truly incredible to see all of Gaudi’s work in person because the Modernist style is so unique and really captivated both of us. The organic forms often seem to defy gravity and come across as natural as opposed to man-made.

Barcelona has many other non-Gaudi Modernist buildings and we loved visiting Mercat de Santa Caterina and the Palau de la Musica Catalana (photo above), an incrediblly unique concert hall where we enjoyed a great pops concert.

Granada

2009-03-13T10:05:00.002-04:00

The post below is actually about our weekend in Granada from Feb 20 - 22. Sorry for the lag and we will try to bring things up-to-date over the next little while.

Following our farmstay, Kristi and I traveled to Granada to meet Carlotta (a good friend and bridesmaid who is currently living in Barcelona) and also to tour the Alhambra. While Kristi and I did not know very much about Spain’s Moorish history prior to the trip, 3 weeks in Andalusia brought us up to speed. Instead of going into the details in the blog, I would direct you to this link which does a much better job of explaining the history (here is a helpful timeline as well). My capsule summary is that for the better part of 700 years, various parts of Spain were under Moorish control up until the “reconquest” by the Catholics. The Moors helped make Andalusia into one of the world’s leading cultural areas and a leader in art / architecture / literature. As a city, Granada still carries a very large Moorish influence and is home to a relatively large Muslim population and many middle-eastern restaurants.

Granada is home to what is widely viewed as one of the architectural wonders of the world, the Alhambra, a beautiful palace overlooking the city. It is hard for a photograph to accurately capture the beauty of the Alhambra and the surrounding gardens (known as the Generalife).

One of the most incredible features of the palace is the use of water, in the form of reflecting pools, running streams and fountains. It definitely creates an incredible sensory experience and the sound of the running water is extremely soothing as you tour the various buildings. Also, as noted from our visit to the Mezquita in Cordoba, we really like the Moorish architecture and the focus on geometric shapes and clean lines.

While the Alhambra has some incredibly ornate details, these details really serve to augment the buildings and are not obtrusive or overly ornamented.

Other than touring the Alhambra, we were also able to sample some great food in Granada and check out some of the bustling bars. Granada is known for providing free tapas with drinks and we ended up having to turn down some delicious looking food as we toured some of the cervecerias in town.

The three of us left Granada on Sunday night for Barcelona, Carlotta’s adopted hometown. Additional photos of Granada are available here.

Update

2009-03-10T13:36:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not posting recently. We are having a great time in Spain and have been a bit truant on our blog posts; however, we have several posts in the works and hope to get them online in the next couple of days. We are currently in San Sebastian, but leaving tomorrow for Dublin (via Madrid). Lots of great stories and photos to share and apologies for the delay in getting them online.

In the meantime, we wanted to share two books that we are currently reading:

1. Ghosts of Spain - This is a great read about the recently history of Spain and does a great job explaining some aspects of Spanish culture. Kristi is midway through this book and Jon has already read it. Definitely recommended, especially for anyone visiting / living in Spain.

2. Suite Francaise - Jon is partway through this book and really enjoying it. It basically is a compilation of two novellas by a Jewish writer, written during WWII but never published due to her untimely death at Auschwitz. Recommended.

Barcelona I - Gypsy Pickpocket

2009-02-25T16:08:00.003-05:00

We arrived in Barcelona on Sunday night and have been having an incredible time. There are tons of great sights to see and the food is absolutely incredible. On the negative side, I (Jon) was almost pickpocketed today on the subway!

Kristi and I were riding the Metro on the way to La Rambla when a girl (around 18 years old) walked onto the train carrying a jacket on her arm. She then started to push her body against mine and inched closer and closer to me (on a somewhat uncrowded train). I then felt a hand very close to my body and then inside my pocket. Now, while the above chain of events likely would have been a turn-on to a single man and could have resulted in a date (or more), as a happily married man, I was not interetsed in a game of pocket pool and I became quite concerned. I slapped the girl's hand and she quickly exited the train. I then yelled out "pickpocket", but she had already departed the station. While I can only assume that she was a gypsy, this conclusion is a bit stereotypical, so I can only state that she was around 18 years old and not of high moral standards.

I would also like to send a direct message to this would-be pickpocket (I don't believe that she has subscribed to this blog but figure that there is a small chance she reads it).
GYPSY (OR GYPSY-ESQUE GIRL): DO NOT TRY TO PICKPOCKET ME AGAIN. THIS WOULD REALLY PISS ME OFF AND CREATE A LOT OF UNNECESSARY STRESS. IF I SEE YOU AGAIN, I WILL CALL THE TRANSIT POLICE AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ESCAPE. WATCH OUT!!

Otherwise, all is well and we will keep everyone updated on our Barcelona adventures.

Cheers,

Jon

Organic Farming in Spain

2009-02-23T07:51:00.005-05:00

After a lot of exciting travel through Portugal and Spain, Kristi and I decided to settle down for a week with some old fashioned manual labour. When we envisioned this trip, we always wanted to include some kind of interesting / different volunteer experience and there are several organizations that help facilitate farmstays, which basically provide free room and board in exchange for 5-7 hours of manual labour (daily). We found this farmstay through Help Exchange.

Our farm was located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 10 km from the Mediterranean Sea (approximately 20 minutes from Orgiva, a small town).

We were close to 3,000 feet above sea level, so needless to say, there were incredible views in every direction.

The farm we stayed at was owned by a Brit who had moved to Spain from London about 5 years ago in search of an easier life. His property is over 40 acres and is currently scattered with olive and fig trees, but he is in the process of digging / planting beds to grow vegetables. Since we were basically unskilled labour, our main job was going to be to dig a giant bed. Since the property largely consisted of rocky hillside, we had to sift through significant amounts of weeds and rocks during our digging, so it took us all week to dig a bed that was about 30 x 25 feet. It was actually very refreshing to be outside in the fields all day and while we were both extremely achy each morning (especially Jon), our Tiger Balm (purchased during the honeymoon) came in extremely handy.

Outside from our laboring, we loved hiking in the nearby mountains (although one 5 km hike turned into a 15 km hike after a few wrong turns) and we also loved the food - our host was a great cook and always managed to keep us full.

Outside of all of the activities, Kristi and I definitely loved playing with the 3 dogs on the farm, Patch (pictured above with Kristi), Saff and Rocky. They definitely kept us smiling and entertained the whole week.

Following the farm (additional pictures available here) we traveled to Granada for a long weekend (post to come) and are currently in Barcelona until March 5th.

Seville III - Sports

2009-02-19T02:49:00.002-05:00

Thankfully for Kristi and I, Seville is home to several major sports teams including basketball and two football (soccer) teams. Given how much we enjoyed the basketball game in Berlin and football match in Porto, we definitely wanted to see both in Seville.

Seville's basketball team, sponsored by the local bank Cajesol are worse than the Raptors this year, with a record of 4-17 and expected relegation next year to an inferior league. However, when we saw them play Real Madrid, they came out in full force and took the game to double overtime before lowing 95-92. As you can tell from the sepia photo at the top of this post and the scoreboard above, this was a different experience than the NBA or even the O2 Arena in Berlin. Cajesol Sevilla plays in a small, 7,000 seat gym that is part of a large athletic complex about 15 minute from the city centre. While the facility was built in the 1980's, it looks like the basketball arena was built in the 1950's and hasn't been updated since. This is what Kristi and I thought an early NBA game would be like, with no Jumbotron, a very basic scoreboard (above) and concessions sold from folding tables outside the arena. Also, because the team is so bad this year they give away a large number of tickets for free to each game. Thankfully, that led to a jam packed arena and a really loud crowd, an asset to any sporting event. The free tickets also brought out a lot of families and teens, a rarity for basketball/hockey in Toronto when tickets are priced out of the range of most working families.

Also, Seville's team mascot is a bull, consistent with the bullfighting that is common in Spain (there is a 15,000 seat outdoor bull fighting arena right in the middle of downtown). This bull looks quite different than Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull, but still, this seems like a knee-jerk reaction to the success of Michael Jordan and the "real" Bulls in the 1990's.

For those not that familiar with Spanish baksetball, the main league (the ACB) is said to present the highest level of competition outside of the NBA. We thoroughly enjoyed this game, including loving every aspect of the old-school arena, sitting in our free seats, eating sunflower seeds with the rest of the fans and cheering for the local team (and their horrible uniforms). We are definitely going to try to attend more ACB games during the rest of our Spanish adventure. PS: For those of you interested, the best player on the floor was Louis Bullock of Real Madrid.

Following the success of our basketball adventure, Kristi and I definitely wanted to make it to a football match during our Seville sojurn. There was a huge local derby taking place between Sevilla FC and Real Betis during our stay, however, tickets were too pricey and the weather was dodgy that day so we decided to avoid it. Instead, we decided to closely monitor the Spain v England friendly taking place on on February 11th and picked up tickets right when they went on sale for a very affordable 15 Euro apiece. Again, this pricing strategy (tons of tickets available from 10 - 20 Euro) may not have been profit maximizing but brought out a very loud and boistrous crowd filled with students and 20/30somethings. When Kristi and I showed up at the stadium before the match, it looked like we were joining a riot as there were beer bottles and broken glass everywhere, tons of people dressed in red and yellow cheering and a few brass bands wandering around playing some of the Spanish songs (not sure that the equivalent in Canada would be, but I just don't seem to think that "This Land is My Land" or "A Place to Stand a Place to Grow - Ontari-ari-ari-o!" would bring about the same passion.

As for the game itself, with the crowd on their side, Spain managed to outduel England 2-0 with the loudest cheers for Spanish hero David Villa as he scored in his 6th consecutive international match. The loudest boos (whistles in Spain) were saved for David Beckham, especially when he picked up a yellow card for arguing. He then continued to get jeered afterward everytime he touched the ball. The post-game celebration was a little bit tamer than the pre-game but definitely a great time.

Cordoba

2009-02-12T12:42:00.003-05:00

A few days ago, Kristi and I decided to take a day trip to Cordoba, which is about 1.5h by train from Seville (under 1h if you take the high speed train). Between 750 and 1200 A.D., Cordoba was the capital of Moorish Spain and one of the leading centres of Muslim art and learning. Cordoba's history also includes a very large Jewish population, which was decimated during the Spanish Inquisition.

Cordoba is best known for La Mezquita, the astonishingly large cathedral/mosque that stands at the heart of La Juderia, the old Jewish quarter of the city. The first iteration of La Mezquita was built by Abd ar-Rahman I, beginning in 786, on the remains of an old church. Subsequent rulers of the Spanish Moor empire added on to the building until it reached a capacity of 15,000 parishoners. La Mezquita is an architectural wonder as the interior consists of row upon row of marble columns, supporting perfectly constructed arches (seen in the photo above). When the Christians recaptured the city in the 13th century, they transformed La Mezquita into a cathedral, but thankfully did not destroy the original mosque. We were both mesmerized by the building.

Nearby La Mezquita, is the old Cordoba synagogue (above), one of only three that survived the Spanish Inquisition. The synagogue was built in 1315 and is extremely small (I would bet that it could hold a maximum of 50 people for prayers). A lot of the building was destroyed over the years; however, some of the original stucco and stonework remains, including some of the Hebrew text that surrounded the interior (as seen in the photo below).

We also toured a small museum nearby the Synagogue dedicated to the history and customs of Jews in Spain. It was interesting to compare some of the local customs to those practiced at family gatherings and on Jewish holidays in Toronto.

We also really just enjoyed wandering around Cordoba and seeing the city (additional photos posted here). It was perfect for a day trip and similar to some of the other smaller cities that we visited in Portugal. We had some great coffee and pastries, a light lunch and then headed back to Seville by train.

Seville II - Convento Dulces (Convent Sweets)

2009-02-08T11:57:00.003-05:00

Due to the strength of the Catholic faith in Spain, there remain many convents in the country and many nuns within these convents. In order to support themselves (beyond whatever stipend is given from the church and the local parish), many of these convents have branched out into other businesses, the most popular of which is baking and other sweets.

We are located near several convents and went out the other morning to sample these convent dulces and see how well these nuns could cook. Our first stop was Santa Paula, which is famous for its nineteen varieties of jam and marmalade. We were greeted by what may be the world's oldest nun, who would not allow me to take her photo in fear that the camera would steal a part of her soul (at least that is my translation, although I do not speak Spanish very well). At any rate, she led us into a very small room with a glass showcase full of jam. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to go with raspberry and lemon (pictuerd above).

Our second stop was much more interesting. we visited Santa Ines, which is located nearby our apartment but is more of an enclosed order where the nuns are not allowed to see the general public. Nonetheless, these enterprising nuns still run a busy baking business and have adapted the lazy susan (pictured above) to meet their needs. Upon entering the convent, there is a wall with the lazy susan, a price list and a buzzer. Instead of having to interact with the world's oldest nun (as at Santa Paula), you instead ring a bell which alerts the world's second oldest nun, and apparently despite not being allowed to see the public, she is allowed to speak with them. You let her know your order and within minutes, the lazy susan spins around and a new section contains your baked goods. You then place your money back on the lazy susan, it spins around once again and you are given your change. Obviously this hinges partially on the honor system, however, I'm pretty sure that these nuns do not get ripped off very often.

Thankfully, the nuns of Santa Paula and Santa Ines are great cooks and we have been enjoying our jams and cookies all week. We may pop into a couple of more convents to see what their specialties are and also to see if we can finally get one of these sisters to pose for a snapshot.

Seville I - Churros con Chocolate

2009-02-08T11:28:00.005-05:00

We have arrived in Seville and are staying in a great little apartment in the Macarena district (unrelated to the 1990's dance craze of the same name). We have really enjoyed having a place of our own where we can spread out a bit more and cook, as opposed to being in a hotel room and having to search out 3 meals per day. We have especially enjoyed being able to have breakfast at home before getting ready for the day, although a couple of days ago we ventured out to enjoy one of the favorite breakfasts of the locals - Churros con Chocolate.

A churro is basically a fried piece of dough. Here in Seville, they come in straight stick-like pieces or spiral-shaped as demonstrated in the above photo from our local churreria (a place that specializes in making churros). They are generally served with drinking chocolate, which is a thicker version of hot chocolate and is the perfect place to dip your hot churro.

What is unclear to Kristi and I is how these churreria's stay in business. It seems like from a North American health perspective, churros con chocolate should be consumed at most once per month, but these places are always packed in the morning and often in the afternoon with relatively skinny Europeans enjoying these delicacies and staying thin. At any rate, we definitely will be over our self-assessed once per month allotment by the time we leave Seville as they are pretty addictive.

Southern Portugal

2009-02-05T09:19:00.005-05:00

On our way to Spain, we thought it would be fun to rent a car and drive through some of Southern Portugal, including the Alentejo wine region and the Algarve (although it wouldn’t be beach weather).

We began in Evora, a 1,000 year-old walled city a couple of hundred kilometres east of Lisbon. We had heard great things about Evora and the Alentejo region, specifically that it had the best food in Portugal and that the people were extremely friendly. Both of these were true. We stayed in an incredible hotel (above) that was situated in an old convent that had only recently been converted, and still housed an incredible 500 year-old chapel (that hosted Sunday mass every month). All of the food that we ate in the area was also incredible. The area is known for their meat and we enjoyed some delicious lamb, wild boar and beef (among other things) as we explored the region.

Being the food capital of Portugal, Evora is also known for their desserts. Pictured above is the regional specialty, egg yolk and sugar tart. We learned that this dessert, prepared by the nuns (to earn a few Euro), came about when the nuns found themselves with extra egg yolks after using the whites to starch their wimples. The nuns cleverly mixed the yolks with sugar, thus creating the egg yolk and sugar tart! The tart was simple and delicious - a perfect ending to a great dinner.

On our second day in Evora, we took a trip to the nearby town of Estramoz for their weekly farmers market. The market has a mix of vendors, including old antiques, produce, dairy (cheese vendor above) and live chickens (not on our shopping list).

We were specifically looking for some local cheeses to try and ended up finding a bounty. The cheese in Portugal is very inexpensive given the quality and artisinal cheese tended to cost 1-3 Euro for a small round of great local cheese. We went a bit overboard on cheese, olives and honey, which resulted in a great lunch the following day (pictured above).

After two days, we departed Evora for the southern coast of Portugal, the Algarve. Since this was offseason, we only planned a short stay in the Algarve, but if it had been May or later, we definitely would have stayed for longer. In our case, we had a great couple of days and really just relaxed and didn’t venture out too much. It was relatively sleepy in our area given the season, which was fine with us.

We didn’t know very much about Portugal and its various regions, prior to our trip mainly because we expected to be spending time in Israel (as opposed to Portugal) before the violence flared up. However, after three weeks, we have built up a bit of a knowledge base on the country and have put together a list of facts / idiosyncrasies about Portugal and the Portuguese.

1. While they are experts at preparing meat and fish, the Portuguese have no idea how to prepare vegetables nor do they eat enough of them (other than the ubiquitous french fry). Other than fries, the average Portuguese meal MAY contain a few leaves of sad-looking lettuce (undressed) and perhaps (if you are lucky) some broccoli that has been steamed to death. Gordon Ramsey would not be happy.

2. The Portuguese language is pretty interesting. If you try reading it, it looks somewhat like Spanish, which has many words that the English/French speaker can pick out. However, when hearing the spoken language, it sounds more like Russian than Spanish. Note that this applies only to the dialect spoken in Portugal. We met some Brazilians on our trip who also explained that the Brazilian Portuguese sounds more like Spanish and that they even had some trouble communicating with the locals.

3. Eggs and dairy in Portugal (and much of Europe) taste about 10x better than in North America. For those who have never visited a European supermarket, the eggs and milk are not refrigerated and milk only needs to be refrigerated after opening. The eggs yolks are more orange than yellow. Kristi and I attribute this to better living standards for the hens, but are not quite sure.

We didn't take a ton of photos on this road trip, but those not in this post can be found here.

Following Portugal, we arrived in Seville on Tuesday and have been relaxing in a rented apartment that we have for 10 days (we are really excited to finally be able to cook our own food). Looking forward to posting about some of the things we have been up to.

Cheers,

J & K

Lisbon

2009-02-01T19:03:00.004-05:00

One of the inspirations for our trip to Portugal was the recent resurgence of Lisbon. Despite being geographically located in Western Europe, Portugal had not experienced much of a cultural revolution over the past 20 years, like other capital cities. However, over the past five years there have been substantial changes to the city and it really has become an overlooked jewel.

Lisbon reminded Kristi and I of Buenos Aires, both in terms of the architecture, design and the friendliness and enthusiasm of the populace. Old neighbourhoods like Biarro Alto continue to gentrify and what used to be slums are now home to cool design boutiques, sneaker shops and bars serving mojito’s, caiperinha’s and the like.

We found a great little design hotel in the Baixa district, geographically downtown near the waterfront and close to many of the other sites and areas we wanted to visit (although pedestrian travel in Lisbon requires a lot of climbing stairs or walking uphill). Also, after relatively monotonous Portuguese food in the North, we were able to add some more international flavour to our diet, as well as experience some of Southern Portugal’s culinary charms, especially the simple but delicious char grilled fish.

One of the highlights of Lisbon was the Belem neighbourhood, a 15 minute tram ride west of downtown. Belem was the departing point for Vasco de Gama whose sailing exploits inspired a church, monastery and other monuments along the waterfront (pictured above).

As well, Belem is home to the waterside Tower of Belem(above) which was a strategic defense point for the city.

More recently, in 1960, a monument to Portugal’s explorers was built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Henry the Navigator’s death (pictured above) and the Belem Culture Center was built in the past decade includes a modern art museum and several theatres.

Beyond its nautical history and contemporary art, Belem is home to the pantheon of Portuguese pastry, Pasteis de Belem, a bakery that was founded in 1837 and makes the best egg custard tarts in the world (pictured above). While there, Kristi and I not only were able to enjoy several of the tarts, but also watched busloads of Japanese tourists devour towering plates of these delicacies.

While this simple tart can be found in Portuguese bakeries around the world, the ovens at Pasteis de Belem reach super hot temperatures, resulting in extremely flaky and crispy pastry crusts, unlike those Kristi and have had ever sampled.

Along with exploring Lisbon, we took a day trip to Sintra (above), a 45-minute train ride westward and home to an incredible Moorish Palace and a well-restored hilltop castle.

Despite a rainy visit, we hiked about 4 km up steep and windy roads to reach the castle (above) and were able to enjoy great views of the surrounding area as well as the neighbouring Palace de Pena, a 19th century royal palace.

We were both thoroughly impressed with Lisbon’s renaissance and believe that it will continue to improve over the next decade, although along with the improvement, prices will increase and further gentrification may impact some of the city’s character. Additional Lisbon pictures can be found here. Our post-Lisbon travels include a tour of southern Portugal, ending in Seville, where we will put our feet up in a rented apartment and hopefully find time for some home cooking.

Jon & Kristi

Northern Portugal

2009-01-29T18:35:00.011-05:00

After a wonderful 5 days in Porto, we bid adieu to the city and took off by car to explore Northern Portugal a bit further. We wanted to track down some of the historical sights of Portugal and visit some of the vineyards that produce the grapes for the Port we so enjoyed in Porto.

Our first stop was Guimaraes, an incredible historical town that dates back over 1,000 years ago. We stayed at a great inn within the medieval centre of the city, which was part of a network operated by the Portuguese government. These inns are called Pousadas, and are located throughout the country, generally in historical buildings that the government wants to preserve but also utilize in a productive manner. From our Pousada (named after the local church, Nossa Senhora da Olivera) we were able to explore the town on foot, including the incredible 11th century castle (pictured above) and the Duke’s Palace (which is a lot “newer” as it was built in the 15th century). Both are a testament to Portugal’s long and storied history and the vast inventory of incredible palaces and castles throughout the country.

We were able to eat pretty well in Guimaraes, with the most interesting being a dinner at Cervejeria Martin, a local bar that is covered in scarves from various football (soccer) and other sports across Europe (above). What made the meal so interesting was that Guimaraes’ local professional volleyball team (Vittoria) was in the Euroleague for the first time and was playing against Moscow that night, a powerhouse of European professional volleyball. The bar was full of supporters and after we left dinner, the streets were quiet save for the sounds of spikes and whistles that we heard from every open door and window. We would have gone to the game had we known the draw of professional volleyball, but were happy enough to watch it with some fans.

Following Guimaraes, we left for the Douro valley - Port country (the actual vineyards this time, as opposed to the Port Lodges of Port). The whole region has been designated a Unesco World Heritage site due to the incredible way that the wineries are all carved out from the hills surrounding the Douro river (Portugal is BIG on letting you know that things are Unesco World Heritage sites - most countries don’t seem to think that this is a huge deal, but perhaps the poorer the country the more they cling to designations like this one). The drive along the local highway N-222 was definitely one of the most incredible car rides we have taken and Kristi did a great job handling some pretty narrow and curvy roads. We ended up in Pinhao, a very small town (population 300) right on the Douro and stayed at a local Quinta (winery) named Quinta de la Rosa. This moderately sized Quinta produces red wine as well as their own port (both of which we tried and both of which I believe are available in Canada). Since it was low season, we were the only guests at the Quinta. Weary of navigating the roads in the dark, we decided to self-cater, and we were able to find the best butcher in town (above) and pick up some fantastic cured meats and local cheeses to enjoy with some red wine and port for dinner. The weather was a bit patchy that night and we ended up spending most of the night by candlelight as the power flickered on and off - very relaxing and romantic.

Our last night of the roadtrip (prior to arriving in Lisbon) was in Coimbra, home to the oldest university in Portugal (second oldest in Europe) and a really fun, lively place. Our hotel was close to a huge wooded park (which was great for jogging) and equally close to the old part of town (which was great for sightseeing). The highlight of Coimbra for us was our dinner. The local restaurant we went to was full with a 25-person group of 30-something ex-students who were enjoying a reunion of sorts. One of them was a local from Coimbra who helped Kristi and I choose all of the house specialties for dinner. These included a dish of fried small fish (like smelts) which were incredibly fresh and served alongside acorda, which is a garlicky porridge made from bread and herbs, as well as the local specialty of chanfana, which is kid (young goat, tastes a bit like lamb) stewed in red wine (tastes better than it sounds). This was definitely one of our best Portuguese meals to date and somewhat redeeming for the country's cuisine given some of the other offerings we had seen in Porto and on our trip.

We ended the road trip in Lisbon, the beginning of a five-night sojourn. Post-Lisbon, we plan on taking a similar roadtrip through Southern Portugal (including the Algarve), ending in Seville where we plan to rent an apartment for approximately 10 days to relax, enjoy the town and enjoy some home-cooked food (we are extremely excited to cook with some of the local products and are a bit tired of continually searching for great restaurants, although we have found many).

The remaining photos of Northern Portugal can be found here (warning: these are a bit repetitive with tons of photos of the Guimaraes castle and the Douro wine region).

As promised in a previous post, it is now time for the Reader Mailbag, where we answer some of the questions from the inquisitive readers of this blog.

Q: How have you been surviving without a cell phone? Specifically, is Jon going crazy without his BlackBerry?

A: While most people figured we wouldn’t last more than 7 days without a cell (and that I wouldn’t last more than 2 days without my BB), we have managed just fine. It’s pretty relaxing not to be checking email constantly, especially after 6 years of being tied to it. Skype has also been a godsend as we can connect with home but also call hotels, restaurants, rental car companies, etc. for only a few cents per minute.

Q: Are you ready to come home yet? (asked several times by M & S Ellenzweig)

A: No. Return date is May 27, 2009.

Q: How many times have you done laundry? How much underwear did you bring? (we received the underwear question from 4 different people, which is a bit creepy)

A: Not sure why the readers are so concerned with undergarments, but we have done laundry a couple of times in our sink and went to a laundromat in Lisbon to do a full load.

Q: What books have you read so far?

A: Jonathan has read The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain and Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Jonathan is nearly finished Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (book is somewhat annoying but I will stick with it). Kristi is just finishing up McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy, in preparation for our trip to Ireland. As far as other media goes, we have finished Season 1 of Mad Men and are part way through Season 1 of 30 Rock. We have also watched a few movies including Kristi's fave, Sex and the City.

We will resume the mailbag in a future post. Please continue to submit your questions to us via email or through the comments on this blog.

Before signing off, we also want to wish a very special 61st birthday to Michael Ellenzweig. Dad, you don’t look a day over 60.

J&K

Porto

2009-01-25T14:36:00.005-05:00

Having had enough of the cold weather, and our fill of beer and sausages, we headed south (and west) from Germany to Portugal. We arrived in Lisbon on January 16th, and took a train straight to Porto. We were welcomed with warmer weather, and heavy rains. But, in spite of the wet weather, we managed to keep ourselves dry and warm by taking in the local sights, culture and fortified wine.

On Friday, we went to a Portuguese football (soccer) game at Estadio de Dragao. FC Porto (the home team) took on Coimbra and took the match with a single goal in the second half. Fans were relatively tame, since the match was a cup game (as opposed to the regular season) - however the “supporters sections“ were as enthusiastic as always. In an effort to fit in with the crowds, we followed suit at half time and sampled what seemed to be the most popular snack - popcorn. Though not popcorn with salt and butter like we usually eat it in North America, this was lightly sweetened and crunchy, we quickly realized why it was the most popular snack at the game.

Traveling around town on Porto’s new subway line also helped to keep us dry as we visited two of Porto’s newest buildings: Casa da Música (above), and Fundacao de Serralves (Museu de Arte Contemporânea). Though we didn’t make it to a concert at Casa da Música (disappointing), we did tour the building from top to bottom, and were just as impressed as the Times critics who called the Rem Koolhas-designed building “insane” and “brilliant“. With two concert halls and tickets priced equally for any seat in the house, the building hosts a diversity of concerts from Fado (traditional melancholic Portuguese singing) to electronica.

The contemporary art museum at the Fundacao de Serralves is a minimalist building designed by a leading Porto-based architect, where exhibitions are the main attraction. On display during our visit was an exhibition by a Portuguese modern artist named Juan Munoz, (above) which seemed to attract locals and tourists alike, particularly on a rainy Sunday when entry was free.

Even more impressive than the exhibition however, was Parque de Serralves, the 18-hectare park that surrounds the museum. The park was beautiful enough to entice us to venture out into the rain for a stroll. From lily ponds to special scented gardens and even a small farm area, the park was glorious even in the rain.

Amidst the rain, we were also able to tour some of the historical sights in Porto, including many of the churches that dot the historic old city. In order to keep this post to a manageable length, please feel welcome to browse the rest of our Porto visit in the photo gallery.

In a final effort to ward off the cold, damp feeling , we ventured across the Douro River to Vila Nova de Gaia, where we arrived in the land of Port. History says that 17th century British merchants, at war with France, turned to Portugal to fill their wine demands. After discovering that the Portuguese wine did not travel well on their journey back to Britain, the British added brandy to the grape juice, thereby creating Port. It is for this reason that some of the big names in Port (Taylor’s and Graham’s) are British, rather than Portuguese.

This area is like the Napa valley of Portugal, except here it is possible to walk from one Port Lodge to another, since the actual grapes are grown in a region further east along the Douro (we’ll get to that in our next post). After being picked, the grapes are then traditionally moved along the river (now sent by truck) to Gaia for aging in casks in the Port Lodges. Though there are many Port Lodges to chose from, we restrained ourselves from visiting them all, and we chose to visit Taylor’s and Graham’s. At both lodges, we learned about (and tasted) the difference in ports, from LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) to Tawny to Vintage Port. We have been known to have a bottle of port on hand for late-night guests and now we will be able to supplement our drinking with some actual first-hand knowledge of the product. Pleased with what we had learned (and tasted), we invested in a bottle of Graham’s 20 year tawny to take with us on the next leg of our adventure.

On the food front, generally the food in Porto left something to be desired. For example, in our mind, french fries and rice don’t necessarily need to be served with every single thing on the menu at lunch and dinner, and salad with vegetables other than iceberg lettuce, pale tomatoes and cooking onions would probably be a welcome change. In spite of this affinity for fried potatoes and sad salads, we were able to seek out a few choice meals and snacks including fresh seafood stewed with rice, crispy roasted chicken with piri piri sauce, and an assortment of delicious Portuguese pastries. It’s a good thing we packed our running shoes and have been making good use of them! We did splurge on one night of fine dining at Foz Velha, (photo above is of Kristi's shredded salt cod salad) one of the top restaurants in town, and one of the few that has tailored its menu to 21st century tastes. This was certainly a memorable dinner with some great twists on local traditional fare.

After Porto, we continued on a 5-day road trip through Northern Portugal and ending in Lisbon. Looking forward to updating the blog with the details soon.

Cheers,

Kristi + Jon

Berlin II

2009-01-17T12:38:00.006-05:00

Can you guess who is posing with Kristi in this photo?

Those that guessed the Berlin Albatross, mascot of Berlin’s Euroleague basketball team are of course correct. On Thursday night, Kristi and I went to see a big Euroleague Basketball game between Alba Berlin and Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), where I was able to convince Kristi to pose for a photo with the mascot. While some decent NBA players have recently defected to Europe, both of these teams largely consisted of washed up Americans (Casey Jacobsen) or slow moving, good passing Euroballers who have mastered the pass-happy international game but will never succeed in the me-first NBA. The game took place at the new North American-style O2 World arena (owned by AEG) and surprisingly was packed (about 15,000 people). While we don’t need to go into the differences between the NBA and Euroleague at this point, there are some pretty big differences between going to a basketball game in Berlin vs. Toronto.

When you buy a beer, you also pay a 1 Euro deposit for your plastic cup which you are refunded when you return the cup to the concession stand (there was a huge line after the game of people waiting to return their cups).
There is a very large coat check in the stadium that seemed to be quite popular.
The snack bar had better espresso and cappuccino than most restaurants in Toronto. Also, the chicken fingers were advertised as from “free range chicken” and there was a wide variety of sausages available. We settled for beer and french fries.
The cheerleaders were absolutely horrible. Horrible dances, fat, lazy - definitely not the Irish Spring Raptors Dance Pak.
The introductions for the home team looked like something out of 1970’s roller derby. LOTS of dry ice.
Similar to the cheerleaders, the halftime show looked like it belonged in pre-reunification East Germany. Two guys bouncing on a trampoline in blues brothers outfits who then proceeded to lose the outfits and jump on the trampoline in their underwear. Not kidding.

We hope to make it to some more Euroleague games in Spain (or at least local Spanish league games) with the hope of catching a glimpse of Ricky Rubio.

Otherwise, over the rest of our stay in Berlin, we got our fill of starchitects as we visited the Libeskind-designed Jewish Museum (interesting building (though not especially exciting from the exterior), good history of Jewish life in Germany since the middle ages), the Gehry-designed DZ Bank building (uneventful from the outside but very interesting interior) and the Foster-designed Reichstag renovation (pictured above, great climb up the dome and incredible views of the city). We also went to the rebuilt New Synagogue which has an interesting but small on-site museum that covers the history of Judaism in Berlin and toured the Pergamon Museum, which is home to many of the Greek / Roman / Arabian antiquities that Germany “claimed” while conducting archaeological digs in the late 19th / early 20th centuries. It seems like there are an endless number of museums in Berlin and while I’m sure that they all have something great to offer, we had both seen some during our previous visits to the city and also, we didn’t want to spend all of our time wandering around museums.

On the culture front, we watched a performance of Schwansee (Swan Lake) by the StaatsBallet, which took place at the StaatsOper, a great facility. Between the ballet and the philharmonic, it always amazes me to see men and women eating giant soft pretzels while dressed up in tuxedoes and gowns. Similar to the philharmonic, we were able to get last minute ballet tickets, which ended up being fantastic seats. Starting 1 hour before the performance, they open up all of the remaining tickets to students / youth under 30 for something like 13 Euro per ticket. This definitely helps increase the arts patronage in the city as there was a huge line-up for the ballet tickets when we showed up and there were some people that ended up with basically 120 Euro tickets for 13 Euro (I think that our tickets were regularly something like 60 Euro).

The food highlight of the past few days was our visit to the foodhall at KaDeWe, the Berlin equivalent of Harrods. After a lot of exploring and debate, we decided to share a gigantic plate of French cheeses (pictured above), which definitely covered our monthly cream / fat intake, but was worth it. We were also able to enjoy some other local favorites, including schnitzel,Turkish doner and currywurst.

We will wait until our next post to address reader mail as this post is long enough already. We have updated the Berlin photos and will likely post later next week from Porto.

Cheers,

Jon & Kristi

Berlin I

2009-01-13T08:07:00.005-05:00

Greetings from Berlin!

We arrived on Friday morning from Toronto (via Zurich) and have been enjoying and exploring the city since then. Both Kristi and I (Jon) had visited Berlin while on exchange in Copenhagen, but a lot has changed in the 6-7 years since our visit (both with us and with the city).

Berlin is an incredible patchwork of old and new (and a lot of the “old” is in fact newly rebuilt/restored in the past 50 years, as over 90% of the city was destroyed during WWII bombings). Since re-unification 18 years ago, the former East Berlin has undergone a radical transformation and gentrification is rampant across the city. Beyond “seeing the sights” such as the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gates, the many museums that abound, the TV Tower, etc. we have really enjoyed exploring these gentrifying neighborhoods, like Kreutzberg, Prenzlauer Berg and Freidrichshain. To us, this is the “real” Berlin and much more interesting than the pomp of Unter Den Linden (the Royal Boulevard) and Potsdamer Platz (not to say that we haven’t also visited those places and will revisit them again before we leave). These neighborhoods were not on the radar 15 years ago but now are packed with hot bars and restaurants, young parents pushing babies in prams and cool shopping.

We have had a great time exploring a neighborhood organic market (enjoying some incredible Turkish fast food and organic soup), relaxing in several great small pubs (including a punk bar that makes you realize the benefits of smoke-free drinking establishments) and enjoying a wide variety of the great ethnic cuisine that makes Berlin such a dynamic place to live and eat (including pizza, Turkish, Vietnamese, contemporary German, traditional German). We still have a long list of restaurants/fast-food joints/cafes/pubs to hit up in our remaining 4 days although we likely won’t be able to make it to all of them before we depart. So far, the food highlights have been 1) Henne, a restaurant that has served ONLY roast chicken for over 100 years (photo at top of post); 2) Brunch in Fredrichshain (who new that Berliners were so competitive with their brunch - our chosen restaurant was packed and since we didn’t have reservations, which surprisingly were a must for this place’s Sunday brunch, we had to “settle” for a neighbouring restaurant which was itself incredible), and; 3) The Gozleme, a Turkish panzarotti served up by what looks like a husband-and-wife team at the Kollwitzplatzmarkt, an organic street market in Prenzlauer Berg.

Beyond all of the great food and drink, our trip highlights have been a trip to the world-class Berlin Philharmoniker (photo above) w/ guest conductor Zubin Mehta (a great deal at 16 Euro for last-minute seats) and an incredibly informative 3 hour walking tour of some of the main sights in central Berlin. We have seen/done more, but the details would belabor this blog post.

We have several more exciting things planned for the next few days, prior to our scheduled departure for Lisbon on Friday. We have posted and labeled some of our pictures to date (click here) and will continue to do so throughout the trip.

Next: The rest of our time in Berlin and some questions from our "Reader Mailbag" (feel free to post your questions/comments to the comments section or email them to us directly).

Pre-Departure

2009-01-08T07:41:00.013-05:00

Following our wedding in November 2008, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to take a 5 month backpacking trip to Europe. We have moved out of our condo, returned our car to the dealership, sold off some of our belongings through Craigslist (if any of the buyers have found their way to this blog, thank you) and packed up the remaining items into Michael and Shelley Ellenzweig's basement (thank you). We are also traveling largely sans Blackberry and cell phone. For those that know Jon well, this is a huge challenge in itself and we will both monitor the situation closely.

Our original travel plan involved spending approximately 1 month in Israel at the beginning of the trip, but our plans have been foiled by the current political situation. Instead, we will be starting our trip in chilly Berlin followed by approximately 2 months in Portugal and Spain. We also expect to visit Ireland, Estonia and France during this trip, as well as a few other undetermined destinations.

We are obviously extremely excited about this opportunity and look forward to some incredible new experiences and adventures.

Special thanks to the Elgar Adventure Blog for serving as inspiration.