So this is it.

My last blog posting in America for (probably) the next year and I'm filled with random thoughts. We depart shortly for Dubai and will push onwards to Kabul from there. I've been reading some blogs by FS colleagues currently posted in Afghanistan and they're posting some cool information and photos. Probably cooler stuff than I'll ever blog about so I'll link to them on the blog page one of these days.

I've known for awhile that I'd need long tunics and scarves to wear when I'm off the compound during the next year. However, I wasn't really thinking clearly and assumed that I'd be able to buy stuff when I get to Kabul. Duh though, what will I wear off the airplane? My friend Amanda rescued me by buying me a scarf and I found a beach coverup that I can layer for length. Crisis averted and low profile maintained.

It's much easier to transfer without a dog, I'm finding. We miss Cooper SO MUCH but have Skype dates with my parents so that we can catch him there. He much prefers their swimming pool to the dusty grimy city life of Kabul, I'm sure.

I just found a bunch of pictures from Chicago and Toledo and I'm realizing that I never finished blogging about our home leave road trip. Maybe on the plane?

We've knocked off a number of food items from our DC restaurant bucket list. Zaytinya, Rosa Mexicano, Georgetown Cupcake, Honey Pig, Tacklebox, Five Guys, Bubble Tea at the Eden Center, Coco Sala, Trader Joe's (kind of a stretch but definitely on the list), and J+G Steakhouse. We have bunches more to do and are looking forward to returning to DC next year.

I sure hope that the airline will let my 'just at the limit' bags go through. Updated the ipod and Kindle. I think I'm as ready as I can be for this 13 hour flight. Yeesh.

Barolo Wine Country

With family in town for the week, I played hooky and we crossed another item off our "places to see in Italy before we leave" list. We've spent plenty of time in Piedmont but never visited Alba or Bra.

Alba is home to the great northern Italian festival for the white truffle. That's usually in November so our timing was a bit off but we had beautiful weather and strolled around town, visiting the Duomo (photo at top) and taking in the red brick buildings. We had a wonderful meal in town at a restaurant recommended by the Osterie d'Italia. Lalibera specializes in cuisine of the region and was heavy on veal, rabbit, pigeon, and other delicacies.


After lunch, we hopped into the car and headed to the Langhe hills and the infamous Barolo wine-growing region. Our appointment was at the Renato Ratti cantina for a 45 minute long tour, followed by a wine tasting. The tour was extensive. While we've visited a few cellars and producers during out time in Italy, Renato Ratti is the biggest producer (though they're considered medium size). They produce a couple kinds of Barolo, plus a delicious Nebbiolo and the typical Barbera and Dolcetto d'Alba of the region. We came away with a few bottles of Barbera and Nebbiolo as "souvenirs" of our time. The tasting was generous and delicious, we sampled their nice Barolo (retails for $60+) and did I mention it was all free?


Not wanting to spend the last hours of daylight in the car heading back to Milan, we decided to head to Bra, another nearby town, for dinner and a stroll. Bra is the home of the Slow Food movement (so don't mention McDonald's!) The movement was founded in 1986 to fight against the globalization of food and unhealthy eating habits. Now, there are over 80 thousand members in over 100 countries! The provincial town is also rich in architecture - the church of San Andrea was designed by Bernini - and we enjoyed some star-gazing and another round of the region's wines before heading back to the bright lights of the big city.

Lalibera: Via Pertinace, 24A, Alba
Renato Ratti: Frazione Annunziata, 7, La Morra

Convivio, a Milanese Enoteca

After a rough two weeks at work, it was a pleasure to gather with some friends at a local enoteca to do a tasting. Since it was a Wednesday night, I assumed that the pours would be light and the evening would be short - after 18 months in Italy, I really should've known better.

We met at Convivio (which mean 'banquet' in Italian), near the Porta Romana. Like many other enotecas, wines were a functional decoration lining the walls. Occasionally, I had to duck out of the way as a waiter reached over to grab the bottle behind me. We tasted three wines from the Casa Contratto whose growth and production is based in the Asti region of Piedmonte - one of my favorite regions which I've been lucky enough to visit several times before, eating and drinking VERY well.


The first time was a Barbaresco, made with 100% Nebbiolo grape. I don't recall the vintage of the wine that was served but it was delicious! Our sommelier (pictured above) was from the family that both produces the wines and runs the enoteca and gave us the full run-down on the wine. We were then served a heaping plate of meat and cheeses - so big that we initially thought they were for sharing! There was salami, mortadella, parmigiana, gorgonzola, and some additional types of cheeses that I don't even know the name of!


The highlight of the night was the second wine, a 2001 Barolo that had a rich, full flavor. We were told that they no longer sold the wine since production had been limited and there were so few in stock. I encouraged one of my oenophile friends to inquire (she was really hoping to take some home) and luckily she struck gold! Well, paid gold to - each bottle was $90! Marco and I just took the time to savor what was already in our glasses!

After such an amazing Barolo, it would've been tough for any other red to follow so we were lucky to be served a sparkling wine to cap things off. There were other glasses to follow at the bar after the "formal" tasting was over and the Enoteca Convivio lived up to it's name!


Enoteca Convivio, Viale Sabotino, 2
20136 Milano

Home, Sweet Paris (Part 2)

I woke up last Saturday to another sunny blue day in Paris. While the day before had been spent revisiting some of my favorite shops and cafes on the Left Bank, my friend and I decided to explore the Right a little bit.

Since we were staying in the 17eme arrondissement, we headed over to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur for croissants and coffee. We popped inside the church for a bit but felt shuffled along by the ginormous crowds. There was no room to deviate from the roped off walk but since it was free to get in, it wasn't too much of a loss. The view is best enjoyed from the exterior anyways.


We took a look at some of the art on display nearby but I think the scene itself was more picturesque than any of the artwork.


By the time we made it back to the river, it was midday and the sun was out in full force. We decided to find some shade in the park behind the Notre Dame but got distracted by the cathedral itself. So, why the distraction of this church I've seen and been in a million times? NO SCAFFOLDING! For the first time ever, I got to see the magnificant cathedral in a 360 view without any wire or beams set up in front. The renovation looks spectacular.

My friend needed to find some shoes so we headed over to Chatelet/Les Halles for her shopping needs. En route, we paused near the Pompidou Center to dip our feet in this Contemporary fountain.


Wrapping up our Right Bank day, we had dinner at Havanita, a delicious Cuban restaurant in the Bastille. Wonderful way to wrap up the day spent on my second favorite Parisan riverbank.

Home, Sweet Paris (Part 1)

When a close friend from my Paris au pair days wrote a couple months ago to let me know she'd be on my side of the Atlantic, I jumped at the opportunity to grab a cheap flight and meet her in Paris for the weekend. Though my single days are over, this girl's weekend (yes, another one in the same city - don't I have the best husband ever?) was an opportunity to revisit our old haunts.


Amazingly, I left without seeing the Eiffel Tower even once. A crime, I know. I realized on Sunday that despite spending two days strolling along the Seine with my friend, we'd kept our backs to the famous landmark accidentally the whole time. A shame since it must've looked fabulous in the gorgeous blue sky days. We spent Friday mainly in the 5th and 6th arrondissements, wandering through the open shops and dark alleys, admiring (some) of the artistic French graffiti.


Paris was hot but it was no canicule of 2003 (the famous heatwave that killed hundreds and left me sleeping on office couches for nearly two weeks). We had breeze and the shade of french cafes.

For dinner, we headed to the Relais de l'Entrecote for a delicious dinner of steak et frites. This restaurant is such a favorite, I go nearly every time I'm in Paris to get some of the mouth-watering green mystery sauce.


And bien sur, our Friday night ended and weekend began at the Moose. When I took my friends there last January, I didn't know a soul in the bar but was happily surprised to see old friends on either side of the bar this weekend - one of them a bartender I've now official known for six years! Wow! Luckily, the perks of knowing a bartender were still in full effect and it felt just like old times as my friend and I chatted in our old hang-out.


Le Relais de l'Entrecote: 20, rue Saint-Benoit (6eme arrondissement)

Trieste

I continue to count my lucky stars. Not only do I get to live here in Italy but I get to work here too! While that part definitely has it's pitfalls, any work-associated travel is definitely a plus. While I've been to Friuli-Venezia Giulia before (for our January ski trip), this was my first trip to the region's capitol.

Trieste was a part of the Austrian (and Austrian-Hungarian empire) from 1382 until 1918. It joined Austria in 1382 for protection from the Venetian empire. Trieste was annexed back into Italy following the end of World War II, simultaneously losing status as a major port power. The Austrian influence is most evident in the architecture of the Piazza Unita d'Italia, a spacious piazza that faces the seafront.

The road to the highway winds along the shore and there are quite a few sight-seeing points just a few kilometers up the coast. On the way back to Milan, our group stopped at an Autogrill for lunch. Autogrills are the Italian version of highway fast food - located mainly off of highways (and sometimes, literally, on top of them). I have to ask you, do the pictures below look like any kind of fast food you've ever seen in the States?

Aperitivo

A little Milanese tradition that we've been enjoying in the past few months is aperitivo. Aperitivo is the Italian version of happy hour except for the fact that there are (usually) no discounts on the drinks. Instead, in typical Italian fashion, there's a free buffet.

In Italy, and really just in Northern Italy, aperitivo occurs on all nights of the week in bars, restaurants, and cafes. I pass several on my way home from work and I've even popped into my morning coffee place much later in the day to see their spread start to appear. Some are small - bread, meats, cheeses, olives. Some are much larger with quite a bit more variety, including pastas and seafood.


In the Brera district, students come out early to pay for a couple full price drinks but get dinner for free. The unwritten rule of aperitivo is that one drink = one pass through the buffet. Despite the small plates, most people seem to be able to fill up on one trip and just get the second drink for fun.


Our favorite aperitivo is at a bar/restaurant near the Arco di Pace in the Parco Sempione. They have a huge outdoor patio with heat lamps in the winter and umbrellas in the summer but we usually sit inside. When we go with some friends here, the treatment is even more impeccable than usual thanks to the table service we receive. We're at the mercy of the kitchen but we've feasted on oysters, smoked salmon crostinis, tender salami, fried olives (see above), and miniature pizzas. They come in waves and don't end until the table is begging for mercy (or the check). Drinks aren't cheap but they bring my prosecco with a strawberry so I stay happy.

Foodies in Paris-dise

Our itinerary in Paris was a little like this: walk food walk walk wine shop walk walk pretty church walk food chocolate nap walk. Get it?

Nearly all of our sight-seeing was done en route to one restaurant or cafe and most of our reservations were made with careful advance planning. Friday night, we were fortunate enough to get a table at Les Racines, a hot wine bar in the Passage des Panoramas. Chef and owner Pierre Jancou sources his meat from star Parisian butcher Hugo Desnoyers and vegetables from chef Alain Passard's farm. The menu is limited - serving only classic French fare with the freshest ingredients. There is no wine list at the bar a vins, instead, the waiter decided for us based on our tastes and the food we ordered. With dinner, we drank a delicious Medoc, an organic wine (look out for the sediment) that paired perfectly with my lamb and my dinner guest's chicken.


Walking around town, we stumbled into a chocolate shop with all kinds of treats. Instead of chocolate covered pears, I treated myself to chocolate covered orange peel. Yum. Lunch on Saturday was at an old favorite, Chez Papa. This local chain specializes in Southwestern french fare, duck confit and cassoulet are popular dishes but my personal favorite is the salade Boyarde. Made with fried potatoes, Cantal and Bleu de Brebis cheeses, ham, and lettuce (or two fried eggs, if you'd like) this salad was a popular item, ordered and enjoyed by our entire group!

Sight-seeing and walking throughout the Left Bank, our band of foodies finally came across Le Bon Marche, the Parisian food hall where we could stock up on goodies for home. Their French section was, bien sur, plentiful but the international section was well-stocked and allowed me to pick up German rosti, Indian spices, and even some American chili powder. After our extended happy hour at a nearby cafe, we didn't have to go far to reach our dinner destination - Le Bamboche.


At dinner, our group split three different appetizers. Chaud-froid of foie gras on a bed of gingerbread and truffle was fois gras prepared two ways: the traditional way on gingerbread but also as an ice cream, with truffle on the side. The millefeuille layering of crab, courgette tagliatelle, tiny artichokes, mango vanilla-flavoured sauce seasoned with vinegar was also delicious and topped with a lattice work of beet. My personal favorite was the pan-sautéed Dublin Bay prawns with hibiscus, Jerusalem artichoke terrine, chervil, thin slices of kernel of scallops with avocado oil and ocean pearls (pictured above). The terrine was topped with a slice of truffle and the prawns were cooked to perfection.


For the main course, I chose the multi-coloured kernel of scallops, shredded chicory, watercress cream sauce, white and purple carrots hydromel. While it was delicious, I had to google later to find out exactly what hydromel was. Apparently, it's a honey and water based mixture that was used to caramelize the carrots. A light dusting of fleur de sel set off the natural flavors of the scallops and made it a thoroughly enjoyable meal.

And, of course, no trip to Paris is complete without a sweet. In France, you can pick your poison and while some of my friends were clamouring for crepes, I kept my eyes out for the prettiest macaroons in Paris. While a trip to the famous bakery and tearoom, Laduree, would usually scratch that itch, we were disappointed to be greeted by a long line both there and at Angelina's. Undaunted, we were lucky to stumble across a patisserie in the Marais where these brightly colored macaroons beckoned from the window. My favorite was the chocolate and caramel, filled with a lightly salted and incredibly smooth caramel inside. And yes, the other girls got their crepes - complete with some American cartoon references by an underemployed French philosopher - a fitting end to a bon weekend.

Eating through Belgium

I've been meaning to write up our last day in Brussels for a couple of days now but have been ridiculously tired! Instead, I'm going to cheat and make a posting about all we ATE in Brussels. Yummy.

Thanks to EasyJet's two hour delay, we ended up missing our dinner reservations in Brussels and having to settle for crummy Malpensa Terminal 2 food. Fun fact: it's worse than Terminal 1. No pictures but trust me, you aren't missing much.

Our first meal out ended up being in Luxembourg. For lunch, we ended up in a restaurant where the menu offered the sandwich "Barack O" and classified Gin as a 'health food'. I think this is worth noting. Luckily, it got better from here.


Frites were a frequent companion during this trip. They're everywhere and they are uniformly delicious, especially when sprinkled with just a smidgen of sea salt.


Frites accompanied our moules, or mussels, for dinner Saturday night. Our friend's favorite restaurant offered mussels in many different styles but I opted to go with the traditional white wine and garlic version (Mark went for a shared Chateaubriand which, while delicious, came out practically mooing). While au pairing in France, the mom I worked for taught me that the traditional way of eating moules is by using one empty shell to clamp down on the meat in another. From my informal survey of the rest of the restaurant (well, the part I could see), it appeared as though a full 50% of the mussels-eating patrons were employing this technique. The other 50% were using forks, of course.


After dinner, we strolled a bit around the Grand Place, trying to make room in our stomachs for dessert. When we felt ready, we popped into a waffle shop to debate and test the merits of a Lieges waffle versus the Brussels waffle. My verdict: both delicious. I ordered mine Brussels-style with strawberries. It was eaten too quickly to be photographed.

More than waffles or frites, Belgium is famous of it's beers and it did not disappoint. I wrote earlier about our trip to a Trappist monastery to taste one of the world's most coveted brews. Many others were sampled during our trip (especially considering that Mark headed to a sports bar to catch the Eagles-Cardinals game) and reminded us that very little in life beats hanging out with friends, laughing, and drinking a beer or two.


While at the aforementioned Trappist brewery, we ordered the cheese plate to accompany our beers. I have no idea what kind of cheese it was but it went FAST. Before leaving, we stopped by the gift shop and purchased a substitute souvenir for the beer we couldn't buy: cheese soaked in beer. Judging by the smell of my carry-on when I unpacked it back in Milan, it's a strong one that we'll probably be trying out this weekend.


While in Ypres, I also had the chance to try Carbonnade a la Flamande, a Flemish beer-based stew. I make a version at home that I like to think it pretty good, however, this was my first taste of the "real thing". Thick and beer-y, the meat was practically falling apart. The side of frites was a little too much for my tastes, I think I'll still with my home version with egg noodles!


While everything was delicious, what would a trip to Belgium be without sampling the chocolates? On our day in Brussels, our host took us to his favorite chocolate shop in town, Mary's Chocolatier. The shop is small but the rich scent of chocolate practically knocks you over when you open the door.


Winter is marzipan season, judging from shop windows over Europe, and Mary's was no exception. Their piggies and mushrooms were practically too cute to eat with the piggies giving each other exasperated expressions. While I don't personally care for the sweet, it reminded me of my grandmother who REALLY loved them.

Mary's isn't a chocolate shop for nothing, though. Photographs of famous fans of the chocolatier lined the shop's walls. For Belgian royalty and George W. Bush, this is the place to buy chocolate. We made sure to leave with a container of 16 pieces chosen from the below selection as well as a baggie of orangettes (candied oranges covered in chocolate).


Beer-soaked cheese, chocolate, and a mug purchased in Ypres (with the British military recruiting slogan from WWI!) ended up being our chosen souvenirs. The chocolate disappeared sometime last week and the cheese will go this weekend but with the upcoming Torino Chocolate Festival, I think we'll make do locally!

Il Castello di Tagliolo

Last week, Mark and I joined a group from our community to head out to a castle. No, a winery. No, a castle.

Actually, both. The Castello di Tagliolo has been in the Pinelli Gentile family since 1498. The current Marquis Pinelli Gentile (of course they're a titled family!) still lives on the grounds of the castle and, with his son, has turned the vineyards and cellars into an off-the-beaten-path tourist destination. They have a guest house on grounds (we didn't stay, it's only about an hour from Milan by car) but the bulk of their guests are Scandinavian...for some odd reason.

The Castle of Taliolo is surrounded by a medieval village and overlooks the vineyard of the Alto Monferrato in Piedmonte, Italy. This is one of the traditional areas of production for Dolcetto and Barbera grapes. Side note: I became hooked on Barbera wines during my more-than-occasional trips to a Como wine bar. Yummy.

So the Marquis' son (the heir to the Castle) took our group through the grounds. Starting from the outside, we saw the original walls and layout of the castle. While this was all beautiful and historical, the really spectacular part came when he took us around the back. A Swedish couple sipping wine on lawn chairs (note to self: come back for a weekend) let us interrupt their romantic sunset to take a look at the following view. You don't have to go all the way to Tuscany to see this stuff, folks.


Then, we headed inside and downstairs to take a look at the cellars. They use aged wooden barrels for some of the wines but explained the whole process of how they have to sterilize it each year (there's a tiny door that somebody actually climbs inside to clean!) They do everything from the pressing of the grapes (big machines) to the bottling of the wine inside the walls of the Castle. The vinification takes place in gigantic metal containers before the the oak vats. Then, bottling. They even explained how they get sparkling wine to "sparkle" by hanging it upside down and doing...something I can't remember...with the sediments.


Following our cellar tour, we headed back upstairs. All the way up this time to the castle's tower. After a couple of hundred of tiny steps and tiny doorways (any wonder why I re-slipped my disc the next day?), we arrived in the tower to catch this view of the medieval - and still functioning - town to the west:

And this view of the mountains and vineyards to the east:


You can't really see it in the picture but we got a pretty clear view of the snow-capped Alps from where we were standing.

After lingering upstairs to catch the sunset, we all hurried to the tasting room for the REAL reason we were there - the vino!


With some delicious local cheese to accompany the Castle's wine, our group made some major purchases after the tasting. I was particularly fond of the Riserva del Marchese Rose, the rose sparkling wine while Mark enjoyed La Castagnola, a flavorful red made of the Dolcetto grape. We ended up buying a little bit of everything (the prices were ridiculously cheap and wines amazingly good). The biggest surprise of the night was how much we enjoyed the dessert wine that we sampled. Neither of us are really into sweet wines or ports but the Castello's L'In...chino is a delicious red sweet that smells of herbs but leaves an aftertaste of cinnamon. It sounds weird but it was really amazing. Not only were the wines fairly inexpensive but the tasting and tour were only about 20 euro and I didn't even take photos of all the food they served us or describe the other wines we drank!


The next, and final, stop for our group was a local restaurant in town. For about 30 euro, we had a traditional five-course (which ended up being seven courses since they just kept giving us food) Northern Italian meal with as much wine as we could consume. For us Milanese, it was heaven. It's honestly difficult to get a decent meal (i.e. shared appetizer and pasta) for 30 euro, let alone a great and HUGE meal with wine. The only course I finished was this first one:


Above, we have a tuna carpaccio (near left) with shaved truffles on top. The truffles are in season and local so it was a real treat. On the near right, a beef carpaccio with a sauce I can't remember. I guess I should've written this blog entry sooner! It was delicious. There in the back is a pork pate with fresh pesto. After this course was artichoke in puff pastry with a cheese sauce, homemade gnocchi in a creamy local cheese sauce (yummy but too rich for more that just a couple bites) and a slow roasted beef that pretty much fell apart (in a good way). The dessert was chocolate but, by then, I was lucky to get a taste. Did I mention that a charcuterie platter of salame and prociutto was served first?

We were supposed to return by 10.30pm, however, the wonderful tour and gourmet dinner dragged out the evening until midnight and our whole group rode back on the bus in sleepy silence.

the Navigli

A couple weeks ago, Mark and I met up with my summer intern and her boyfriend for dinner. Our stated purpose was to treat my intern as a 'thank-you' for all the wonderful work she did over the summer (she was great). Our secret hope was that she would suggest a restaurant that was delicious and cheap (I mean, I knew a lot of that when I was an un/underpaid kid in Paris) - something we could adopt as our own.


We ended up meeting them at a pizzaria in the Navigli district of Milan. The Navigli is pretty much on the opposite side of town from where we live, however, it's a direct tram ride over so it's still pretty convenient. Like Venice, Amsterdam, and Brugges, Milan is a city of canals and waterways. Built between 1100 and through the 16th century, these canals were intended to connect Milan - by water - to Ticino and Adda. In 1209, the canal construction that had begun outside the city finally reached Milan. Within a span of 35 years in the 1400s, 90 kilometres of canals were built within Milan's territory.


However, it was the innovations of Leonardo da Vinci that really saw the canal system at its highest level of utility. At the end of the 14th century, Da Vinci joined the project and ensured that marble brought from Ticino to Milan made it all the way down the canals to what is now the Piazza del Duomo. Why was this marble so important? Because it was being used for the construction of the Duomo itself!


Competition by trams and railways set the canals into a period of disuse. In the early twentieth century, the city of Milan actually undertook a project to cover canals the are in the city. However, the Navigli district remains a living reminder of the age and development of Milan. Now filled with trendy bars and restaurants, this area worked on by da Vinci is considered a "young" and "revitalized" part of the city.

Though we met my intern in August, the streets were still crowded with Italians enjoying apertivo or dinner. Our pizzas were delicious and, by Milan standards, not obscenely expensive. Now that the weather has turned (it's definitely fall in Milan) we'll be out there again for sure, sipping wine along the canals and bridges.