Rome Part 1

The last leg of our European trip was in Rome. Neither of us had been to Rome before as with other places we visited that trip, so it was yet again a new experience. We landed and headed into the city via train. When we finally got into the city we began our short trek to the hotel which was conveniently close to the station. The mild weather that we encountered in Rome was a welcome departure from the heat and humidity of the previous countries.

Our hotel room wasn't quite ready when we arrived at the hotel, but they had a balcony (which took some finding) where we enjoyed a rather large glass of wine while we waited. It wasn't long before our room was ready, so we headed up to get ready for our first glimpse of Rome. It was mid afternoon and we were getting pretty hungry so I went down to inquire about a place to eat while Terry finished getting ready. The guy at the front desk politely guided me out the front door of the hotel, and pointed to a place that was two blocks down the same street and said that they had good food.

The plan was to grab a bite, and then head over to the coliseum by foot. We got seated in what I would call a slightly touristy cafe. The table mats were neon, and techno was blaring. I wasn't too sure what to think when we first got there. We took a look at the menu and settled on two glasses of Chianti, mozzarella with prosciutto, bruschetta, and fried green olives that were stuffed with mince meat. The mozzarella was wonderful. It was moist, and had a great balanced flavor. It wasn't too tough, but wasn't falling apart either. The texture was nice on the tongue, and it wasn't bland or over done. The prosciutto was equally as refreshing. It was one of those moments where we sat their, wine glasses in hand, and said, so this is how its supposed to taste! The meat was tender and didn't have that overwhelming gamey taste that you encounter way to often when the prosciutto isn't stored correctly or isn't very fresh. It was a delightful way to start our trek.

The bruschetta was great too. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe, and weren't ruined by some goon who insists on over seasoning, and making the simple too complex. The bread wasn't over toasted and took the moisture well.

When we first laid eyes on the olives they were not what we had expected. They were fried as you can see above, but that wasn't advertised on the menu. Its not like we knew what to expect from an olive that is stuffed with mince meat in the first place. This was an interesting dish to say the least.

The fried layer was really crisp, though it was not greasy as you encounter with most fried things. The olive was delicious and very salty (just how we like it). The minced meat was great too. I'm not sure how to explain the taste as the crust, and olive did a pretty good job at masking the exact flavor of the meat. It was moist, and tender so there were no complaints from us. Our short snack had turned in to nearly a two hour event, and a couple of glasses of wine later we were out of there.

We met up with a friend, Danielle, who Terry met in her MBA program, who was also in Rome at the time. As if there is not a theme developing already, we settled down at a wine bar to get properly lubricated for dinner. The best thing about wine in Rome is that it is CHEAP, this was a welcome discovery, as any sort of alcohol -- most of which is much less tasty than a good bottle of Chianti -- was not cheap at all during the first part of the trip. So far so good. Good food, good wine, and both at a price that doesn't make you feel guilty.

Danielle took us to a restaurant she liked in Rome called Giggetto. It was nestled in by some ruins adding to the romance of the local. We got a seat outside, and started in on the starters including the now obligatory bottle of wine. Pictured above are the mussels that we ordered. One of my favorite starters. I love a bowl of mussels or clams in a garlic white wine sauce preferably with some clarified butter, just to keep things healthy. These mussels came in just that with butter and all. The mussels were cleaned appropriately leaving us to enjoy them rather than cleaning grit out of our teeth. Then there was the sauce. It had a wonderful kick compliment to the generous use of garlic by the kitchen. That is what put the dish over the top in my mind.

The Aftermath

  That was not nearly enough so we had to select a couple more items to start with.

We had to get the traditional Roman artichoke. Then we took a suggestion from our server, who said we should also try the fish, and I do not seem to remember what the other starter was. The artichoke was delicious, but I have nary encountered an artichoke that I was not pleased with. The starter that I believe might actually have been a rice cake/ball of some sort wasn't bad, but we were chatting a lot and did take quite a long time to get to these dishes. They probably weren't as good as when they were first served. The fish on the other hand, might not have had a chance from the beginning. It was dry and did not have much flavor.

On to the main course of the night. We started strong, but by the time it came to getting our main courses, we were sullen with starters and wine. We opted to split a large bowl of artichoke pasta. This time around  we got straight to eating. The pasta was cooked just right. The sauce was able to tread the line between light and heavy, while not leaving you wanting more or less of either. The artichoke was once again prepared beautifully. The dish was moist and hearty, with great texture in every bite. The firmness of the artichoke, and the slight resistance of the pasta was complimented and melded together quite well by the sauce. Though I was not to hungry, I handled my serving as if I had been stuck in a cave for the three days previous.

That put us in a wonderful place. We continued to chat amongst ourselves and with the server until everyone was gone. We spent the next couple of hours walking around the city enjoying every step we spent away from home, just as any vacation should be spent.

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Lunch in Athens

 

After trekking around the Acropolis and Ancient Agora Terry and I took to walking the streets after she spotted a nice stretch of cafes and shops. We stopped into a cafe that looked inviting, and had a glass of water and a nice cold beer. Athens was really hot, so by now we were ready to get out of the sun and off our feet. It was fun to sit at these cafes. The people watching and atmosphere are set up by the fact that we could not understand a word that anyone else was saying. After our beer we set off and continued our path around the back of the Acropolis. We found ourselves strolling a nice little neighborhood where the streets were narrow and lined with quaint little houses and apartments. We were talking about getting some food in the near future as it was getting to be late in the afternoon when we came across a little restaurant (pictured above) and decided to see if we could use their restrooms. When we approached a man came up to us and gave us a card that had the menu and specials on a card all written in English. There were several of these cards and they were in a variety of languages. I wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not, but he started to explain that it was his restaurant and was owned by his family which I took into consideration when forming my opinion of the restaurant. As I was waiting outside I was intrigued by aroma that was seeping out of the kitchen. Terry came outside and we began to walk down the street. As we were walking she was telling me how she saw the kitchen and how clean it was. She said that the food looked really good too. We took almost no time to turn around and return to the restaurant.

We received another warm welcome by the owner, and were seated on the porch which was shaded and bordered by grape vines. They brought out a huge bottle of water that we could not have needed more at that point, and then gave us a menu that had several meal options. Out of the options available we decided to go with the option that allowed us to choose five plates, with two drinks and water was included too. I think this only came out to be 28 Euro, so it was also a pretty good deal. We were surrounded by the aroma that wafting out of the kitchen only a few feet away while also eagerly eying the plates that others had choose.

Ahhh the decisions. We each had our own picks and took turns choosing the dishes. We ultimately ended up with a really good spread. We had the tzatziki, which is a yogurt based appetizer that also has garlic, olive oil, salt, and a few other ingredients. This is the sauce that you find in a gyro, and has a really distinct but light flavor. The texture was perfect. It was creamy, but also had a good body. I have seen many variations before and since that were either very runny, or very firm in comparison. This made it perfect for dipping the fresh bread in. A very refreshing, but simple dish.

The cook and the owner

Next we had these delightful meatballs. I believe that they are called keftedes, and are made of seasoned beef. There was probably some onion and garlic in the meat along with other seasonings. The keftedes were covered in some sort of tomato sauce too. We were curious as to how these were going to taste. Were they going to be just like every other meatball that we have had before or were the going to reveal something new? When I took my first bite my mouth was met by the sauce and my teeth by the firm outer layer of the keftede. The center was tender and moist. The meat had a distinct flavor that I have not had before, but there was still the familiar hints of a meatball. The sauce added another layer of texture to the dish. All in all these were really good, and got better as I became more familiar with the flavor after every bite.

The next dish that we picked out was mousaka, which looks a lot like lasagna. Though the flavors are not the same at all. It is layered like lasagna where there are different pockets separated by pasta. In mousaka the layers are usually sauteed eggplant (called aubergine), a layer of minced meat (traditionally lamb), and a white sauce on top. The dish is then baked. Mousaka has a lot of flavor coming from not only the main ingredients, but also the spices that the lamb is cooked in. I did not know what to expect when having the first bite since the dish looked so much like lasagna. The flavors where unfamiliar, and it took me a while to get used to. I am not a big fan of eggplant in any way shape or form, so the fact that I enjoyed this dish says a lot about the combination of flavors. The texture is almost that of lasagna, but the white sauce on top which is like an egg custard has a different texture than the cheese that a lasagna dish has. It was good and not too rich.

For a light and cool option we also decided to go with the traditional Greek salad. This was an easy selection seeing that it was dreadfully warm out and a cool and crisp salad was just what we needed. The other reason being that we were in Greece so we were nearly obliged to order if not only for the sake of comparison to what we have had in the states. When we tried the salad it was yet again evident as it was in our other Greek meals, and in Turkey, that the veggies are consistently ripe and delicious. There are non of the hard and white tomatoes that you encounter on a regular basis in the states. The feta cheese was nothing short of amazing. It had a great texture and was to moist and full of flavor that it was hard to resist eating it in a couple of bites (I think Terry struggled with this even more than myself). The mixture of tomato, onion, cucumber, cheese, and olives was wonderful, and the heat of the day only teased us to enjoy every bite.

We had one last selection as our fifth lunch dish. When looking over the options the calamari looked rather inviting, so that is what we selected. It took longer to be prepared so it did not arrive at our table until we were nearly finished with the rest of our food. This was not a bad thing at all. The other selections had filled us up, and the wine was settling in just right, despite a near tragic spill. The calamari was the most disappointing dish, and the only one that I would not order again. The texture was similar to what I was used to as was the look and presentation, but upon taking the first bite you are met with a rather chewy piece once your teeth penetrate the crispy outer layer. On top of that unfortunate discovery it was really fishy. Something that I do not want as an associated taste with my calamari. So it was a good thing that it was the last to arrive, and that we were already full. The meal that we had already satiated ourselves with was more than enough to overshadow a sub par order of calamari.

Oh dessert. Dessert was a part of the meal selection that we chose, and the picture above is what was delivered. I am not sure what this is called, and in general I do not spring for desserts as I would prefer something salty rather than something sweet. It was ultra sweet, and seemed to be made entirely of sugar and honey. It was really good, but I am not sure if we made it any further than you see above. One or two bites will usually do it.

The was by far the best meal that we had while we were in Greece. The setting was perfect, the food was wonderful, and the host was a truly good person. These are the ingredients for a good experience, and that is exactly what it was.

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Dinner at the Royal Olympic Hotel Athens

One of the Beautiful Views from the Rooftop Restaurant and Bar

 Upon our return from Santorini we hopped in a cab and headed into Athens to our final hotel in Greece. We were looking forward to seeing some of the sights we had heard so much about. We knew that we wanted to have a meal at the rooftop restaurant on top of the hotel because it has views of both the temple of Zeus and the Acropolis which are both completely lit up at night. We ventured up to the bar after getting settled, and were greeted with a spectacular view of the ancient marble and limestone structures. They are breathtaking and much closer than they appear to be in the photos.

You feel special when settling up to the bar with such an amazing backdrop. We wasted no time in ordering the first round of drinks. It was around 8 p.m. and we had not made reservations, so I headed over to see what we could get for the evening. At this time the place was almost totally empty seeing the most people showed up between 8:30-9:00. I told the hostess that we would be over in the bar and to come and get us when there was a table available with a full view. The drinks continued to flow as we chatted with Dave, a patron we met who was working in Athens for the next 6 months. The bar snacks were typical in the sense that they were nuts, either almonds or pistachios, but they had a staggering amount of salt on them. The pistachios were covered with grains of sea salt to the point where you would wince while eating them. This was not an issue seeing that both Terry and myself are big fans of salty foods.

At around 10:00 p.m. we were seated at our table that had a spectacular view as shown in the photos below taken the next day from the table we sat at.

The setting was very special, and really brought the days meals full circle. That morning we were eating breakfast on the edge of the caldera on Santorini, and now we are sitting in the shadows of some of  ancient Greece's most famous structures.

On to the food. We ordered two dishes that night. The first was sauteed scallops with mushrooms and smoked scallop tartar, but before the first dish came out we were given a stuffed tomato to start. This was a great surprise since the tomatoes there were some of the best that I have ever had. The tomatoes were stuffed with a rice or coos coos, and had cheese foam on the top, and all of this was of course covered in olive oil. The tomato was juicy and the rice added great texture and flavor. The olive oil was, as always, a great addition. It was a great way to start the meal, and the presentation was very nice as well.

The scallops were just as one would want them. Slightly browned on the top and bottom, while still moist and tender in the middle. This was complimented with mushrooms, and an amazing smoked scallop tartar. I had never had or heard of a scallop tartar before, but the flavor that it gave the dish was spectacular. The smokey flavor was really bold though you still had the mild and tender taste and texture from the raw scallop. The warm scallop and mushrooms served with a cold tartar gave the dish a balanced contrast of textures and temperature. Each bite had a lot going on an varied depending on what you decided to put on your fork. There was no losing combination, and after the last bite I was ready for the main course.

Next was the main course that we ordered. We decided to go with a special that they were offering that was big enough for two people to split. This sounded delicious at the time, but turned out to be under par for what we were expecting from this restaurant. The dish was a sea bass of some type, and it came with a plate of grilled veggies. There was a long wait, and after a while our server came out and told us that the fish had come out under cooked so they had sent it back to get cooked properly. When the dish finally made it to our table it looked amazing. The presentation of the fish, and the veggies was perfect. It was first presented as a whole fish, then taken to be cut for eating. The veggies were appetizing, and had nice grill marks.

 

 

The issue was that upon tasting the dish it lacked anything special. The fish was cooked well, and so were the veggies. The texture of the fish was slightly dry, but it was the flavor that was lacking. The addition of the olive oil helped, but it still did not have the sort of flavors we encountered in the dishes it followed. Then there were the veggies. The only reason that I call them veggies is because I honestly do not know what most of them were. They were hard to cut, and had very unique flavors that are not what I am looking for in a side. That plate was a let down, but the cocktails and spectacular view helped to ease the disappointment.

All in all, it was still a fun time and a good experience. We encountered some better food the next day while exploring which I will go over in detail in the next post.

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Santorini

The View from Our Hotel in Santorini

We headed to Santorini from our hotel in Piraeus via ferry. The ferries that they have in Europe are huge, and that was a new experience for me. We were still pretty tired, and had to get up at five to catch the four hour ferry ride. There was a deli counter where you could get snacks and drinks, and there were TV's through out for some entertainment(if you know Greek.) We settled in and had half of the sandwiches that the hotel had packed for us, or as it was referred to in Greece, toast. They were made like you mother made your sandwiches for school. White bread, a thin layer of turkey, a single piece of cheese, a lone lettuce leaf, mayo, and of course no crust. We reminisced over those for a while and then did our best at passing time.

When we arrived we had a rental car waiting for us, and I'll just say that driving on that island is not the easiest thing I have ever done. We finally made it to our hotel (pictured above) and the view was amazing due to the caldera left behind from one of the largest volcanic eruptions recorded, which occured there some 3,600 years previous.

Our room was not ready quite yet so we set off to see what we could find. We ended up at a winery down the other side of the island toward the beach. This is where we got our first taste of wine and food on the island. There we were able to get into some shade, but there was no escaping the raw humid heat that fell over the island. We ordered two dishes to go with the wine we were tasting. There was a plate of assorted hams and cheeses, and a dish with bread and olives.

The olive dish that you can see above was interesting. The olives were pretty good, though I much preferred the green olives. There was a olive oil soaked barley bread as well as sun dried tomatoes that were also soaked in olive oil. The bread was not to my taste as I found it to be bland and cumbersome. The sun dried tomatoes were softer and sweeter than you get here in the U.S. though they were not bad considering that I do not have much of a taste for sweet things.

You can see what is left of the meat and cheese spread above. The meats were interesting as well. There were several types of ham there, all cured and seasoned in a unique way. Some did not even look like ham, but sure enough it always was. The same goes for the cheeses. There were a lot of them, and it did not say why types they were or what type of milk they were made from. We had some that were rich with flavor, sharp to the tongue and firm in consistency. Those were the best. There were others that were in between, while some were just plain bland in comparison. The capers were a different story too. They lacked the strong salty punch that I was expecting to get. I had to add more as  I could not taste the first ones I had tried with the meat and cheese. In my opinion this was the better dish, but both were different from anything that I had tried while at wineries here so it was a fun experience. I wish I knew the different hams and cheeses....

After that winery we got moved into our hotel, and then explored the other beaches and wineries of the island. That is when we learned that we did not like the wine on the island at all. The only one that we really enjoyed was a bottle that we purchased from the first winery, and we ended up buying and drinking a second one later that night.

For dinner we both had gyros from different places, and they were on par with the ones that I have had here. I did have mine with pork and the taste of ham was different. They also included french fries which was delicious, but I am not sure if this is unique to there or if I have just never had an authentic gyro before.

Breakfast was something special the next morning. It is included with the room and you have a list of breakfasts to choose from. We went with the one that included smoked salmon and capers on toast with champagne and strawberries. It was a good choice, though nothing unique to where we were other than the breathtaking view that we had while eating it on our terrace where it was delivered.

In all Santorini was fun and beautiful. We did not get exposed to too much new cuisine, but had a good time with the meats and cheeses at the winery. Our breakfast was tasty and I will never forget that view, and the cool moist breeze coming over the caldera lip. At this point I am excited to see what Athens and Rome has in store for us.

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First Night in Greece, Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel

Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel

Our first night in Greece could have ended in disaster as it definitely started as nothing but a nightmare. We arrived, and took the hour long bus ride from the airport (which is in the middle of nowhere,) and get dropped off at the wrong stop. We arrive at our hotel after a questionable taxi ride, and instantly get sent to their "other building" to pay. In short they had overbooked, and did not tell us. The other building was a "sister hotel equal in quality," where we were now supposed to stay. They had us walking through the back streets in a not so good part of town as it was getting dark. It was sweltering out, and we were tired. The other hotel was horrible, and after a long argument with both hotels we ended up at the hotel above. This was our saving grace, they were nice, clean, and problem free.

After getting settled and figuring out how to get to our ferry then next morning (for which they made us sandwiches) we decided that it was time to eat. It was late and we were wiped out/still kinda rattled about earlier that night, so we headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant, Incognito Restaurant. When we arrived we were the only people there. We opened the menu and wondered if we were going to get food that had been sitting in the kitchen for a while since they were about to close, and didn't seem to have many customers that night. We ordered wine to start, which came generously poured, and continued to look over the menu.

We settled on two dishes. The first was prosciutto with Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and fresh olive oil mixed with a vinegar.

The prosciutto was very fresh and light. There was no hint of the gamy tinge that you get with some prosciutto here. The olive oil and vinegar combination that they drizzled over the top of the dish was amazing. Greece is known for having good olive oil, and this was a testament to that. It was light and clean and complimented the other flavors in the dish very well. The Parmesan cheese was tasty too. It had the bold nutty and savory flavor that you want from Parmesan cheese, along with the crumbly and firm texture. The tomatoes were ripe and juicy almost mild compared to many others, and when put together in a bite with the cheese, prosciutto, and olive oil mix, you are introduced to so many complimentary flavors and textures that it delightful bite after bite.

It was after a couple of bites of that dish along with a couple sips of wine that the night seemed to calm down. The frustration from earlier, and the weariness from travel started to melt into the background as the meal and our new surrounding took a precedence.

I apologize for not having a picture of the main meal, but I had not gotten used to the idea of having a blog at that point, so I must admit there are some gaps in the photo coverage through some of Europe. We decided on a pasta, the type is escaping me at the moment, but it had a mushroom cream sauce and chicken. When it came out our worries of stale food were squashed. The pasta was cooked perfectly, the cream sauce was flavorful while not too heavy, and the chicken was seasoned and moist. The portion was huge, and the eating was good.

A good night by the time we made it to bed. A horrible start with a comforting ending. The stress of the day was eventually washed away by a kind staff, good food, and a couple glasses of wine.

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