Kapadokya, Day 1

We have the week off this week so that the Italians can get their skiing in before the season is over. I, personally, am not a skier, so I've headed to Turkey for the week to experience the food, culture and everything it has to offer.

To arrive here, we flew from Milan to Istanbul via Turkish Airlines. We bought the required visa for American citizens and went through passport control. We picked up our bags and headed over to the domestic terminal and checked in for our flight to Kayseri. We flew Atlas Jet for this flight. It was easy to book both these flights in advance of our trip and we got both fairly cheap. (A traveler's tip for those traveling to Turkey in the coming months-- beginning in April of this year the visas will have to be purchased online prior to arriving in Turkey, as they will not be sold in the airports any longer.)

country #22

Once arriving in Kayseri our hotel had arranged transport from the airport for us and an hour later we arrived at Kelebek Special Cave Hotel. We booked Room 10 several months ago because when you can stay in a cave, why not?

our cute little cave room

This morning we crawled out of bed before the sunrise, literally, to take off on a hot air balloon adventure. We were nervous and excited for this trip. I had never ridden in a hot air balloon before and this seemed like an excellent time to experience it. We booked with Butterfly Balloons, a highly recommended and well respected company. The owner, Mike, was our pilot. He and his wife were such a nice couple and made our trip really enjoyable. We took off with three other balloons from the same company but headed out on our own in and out of valleys and all around the area. We could easily view snow capped mountains in the distance, tons of other balloons, and even our hotel. It was a little pricey, but it was off season so it is discounted and you can get an additional discount for paying in cash.

Later, we headed out to the Goreme Open Air Museum. We walked there and decided to experience it on our own instead of with a tour group. We paid a little extra to enter the Dark Church, and I think it was worth it. There were lots of frescoes that were rich in deep colors.

the "evil eye"

cave dwellings and churches carved in soft volcanic rock

On our way back to Goreme, we wandered down one of the marked trails into a valley of fairy chimneys. We climbed some steep hills and tried to nab some great picturesque shots. One our way back we stopped by a stand set up by an old Turkish couple who were selling orange and pomegranate juice, fresh dates and nuts, and several crafts. We bought a glass of fresh juice and enjoyed snapping pictures with them while they squeezed the juice. Angela received her best Turkish language lesson yet from the little woman, who seemed to know assorted words in every language. Her best English word, "Come." As we sat down the man asked, in really broken English, where we were from. As soon as we said America, he said, "Obama!" Funny the things the citizens of the world know about...

te- shuk-er e-deer-um

They fed us freshly dried fruits while we sat at their table, and picked up one piece and said, "Obama" and pointed to another and said, "Clinton". It wasn't until leaving, with another handful of fruit labeled with presidential names, that we figured out that the dark dried apricot was Obama and the lighter color was Clinton. Who knew that in middle of nowhere Turkey, racial references would be the prime topic of conversation.

We decided that if we died from eating and drinking random fruit and juice in the middle of nowhere Turkey,
we were okay with that. 

You'd think by now our day would have been complete. But by this point, we hadn't even eaten lunch! (Just a pile of dried fruit!)

We wandered through Goreme and ended up picking a place to eat that was called Cappadocia Kebab Center. Since we wanted a kebab, we hoped it would be a good choice, and we enjoyed it. And, it was cheap. 15 Turkish lira (about 5 euro) for two kebabs, a huge water and a Coke. Not a bad deal.

After arriving back at the hotel, we booked appointments at the Hammam. Everyone reports such wonderful things about it, and we decided to go for the traditional Turkish peel and soap massage.

Hmmm...it was quite the experience...and Angela and I know each other a lot better now!

A young guy, who couldn't be older than 12, or 17, geez, I don't know, hands us each a small plaid wrap to put on after removing our clothes. We didn't know if swimwear was the way to go here because it is a mixed hammam, which is a bit odd for a Muslim country. Anyways, we just decided to go with it, and stripped down and covered up with the wrap. Then we were off to the sauna for 10 minutes or so. Next, the young guy returned, this time in a wrap around his waist, along with a woman in her own wrap, and they led us to this huge marble slab. Angela was not at all interested in having this boy of 12 do her massage and it worked out that I ended up with him anyways.

You lay down on the marble slab and they maneuver your towels all around to keep your covered. Then they begin pouring warm water over you. Next comes the scrub part, with some kind of exfoliating concoction that is rubbed in. More water...and then comes the bubbles! They cover you with bubbles using some kind of net to gather large mountains of them. Then they use the bubbles and soap during the massage.

At times I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep from giggling. It was too quiet in that room when the water wasn't running and I was really wishing for some nice background music. But, it was quite the experience and I'm glad that we did it. Angela says she could do it every day, me? Not so much!

As you may guess, they're aren't any pictures of this part of our day, but if you want to see the rest of my Turkey album, I've got them all posted on Flickr for you to see.

Carnevale di Venezia

Carnevale festivities kicked off this past weekend in Venice. The weeks leading up to the beginning of Lent became a time of celebration (the word's Latin origins mean 'farewell' and 'meat') until the French took over the city in 1797. Masks were very popular during this time (and eventually only allowed during these weeks) because it allowed one to avoid the caste system of the city and partake in vices not always looked highly upon. You can read more about Carnevale's origins in this Telegraph article about this year's event.

quite an elaborate mask

Until a fellow co-worker posted some pics from her day trip to Venice last year I had no idea that people wore masks and dressed up during Carnevale. It was then that I decided it was a must do while living in Europe.

We were lucky that the "acqua alta" was not an issue.
Venice, as you might guess, is prone to flooding.

Our weekend turned out pretty tame overall, but sounds like it gets crazier as Lent approaches. Because of our upcoming vacation week this was our only chance to check out Venice during this year's festival.

just the four of us...

Saturday we shopped for masks and enjoyed some pizza for lunch. We wandered around looking for an event on the official Carnevale website, but never found it. We had early dinner reservations Saturday night (traveler's tip...book a good bit in advance during Carnevale) and then checked out a few local bars. On Sunday, we planned to check out the boat parade along the Grand Canal. The website said 10:30 and also said 12:00 so we ended up having to wait quite a bit before the short parade came our way. The parade was fairly short, but made it all worthwhile. There were several boats, including a giant rat filled with balloons. We hoped they would release them at the bridge where we were standing, but no such luck.

Here are some of my favorite shots from our weekend.

beginning of the boat parade

all oars up!

If you want to view the rest of my Venice pictures, you can check out my albums on Flickr.

By booking our train tickets and hotel three months ago we saved a lot of money. We were able to cover both for 72 euro per person. We stayed at Al Canal Regio in Cannaregio. It was relatively inexpensive and okay for a night.

Milano Food & Wine Festival

The Milano Food & Wine Festival is taking place this weekend at the MiCo Milano Congress up near Piazza IV Febbraio.

Yesterday, Angela and I headed up there to check things out.

First, we learned that I am no longer qualified to be the dedicated map reader. My ability to orient myself on a map is clearly getting worse with age, instead of better. The good news: it wasn't raining when I added 10 minutes of walking, in the wrong direction, to our journey.

Once we had entered the festival, we weren't exactly sure what to do. There didn't seem to be much clear direction as to how everything worked...or because our Italian is less than amazing...we couldn't read or understand much in its entirety. We did find a table where you put a 10 euro deposit down to get a wine glass. That glass definitely got returned!

a view of part of the festival

From there you wander about to the various tables and start tasting! The various wine makers were arranged by region, and Angela and I were trying to hit at least one table from each region. There were red wines, white wines, sparkling wines, and more. After awhile, it was easy to lose track of what you were tasting, what region it was from, and whether or not you even liked it!

Angela, scoping out lambruscos from Emilia Romagna, a delicious region of wine

I did try and use a new app, Vivino, to keep track of the wines I was tasting. By scanning a picture of the wine's label, you can rate the wine and see what others have said. You can also follow people and see what they are saying about different wines. This is interesting because, for me, as someone who knows nothing about wine I can see what some more experienced tasters are saying and see if it makes sense to me. There is a lot of possibility with this app and I hope more people will start using it so that more and more wines are rated.

a vendor, talking wine with some other festival goers

While there was plenty of wine to taste, the "food" part of this food and wine festival was definitely lacking. There was a section dedicated to some cooking lessons or shows. Some of the other ASM people we ran into had signed up for two of these activities, but they never actually got to cook. They were asked just to stand at a stove top with several others who were doing the same and watch the chef on stage. There was also a section of food where you could buy a plate and then go through a line to try some things, but it didn't exist long enough for us to check it out. Other than that, there just weren't other options. A couple of trays of appetizers passed us and we gobbled up as much as we could because, by this time, we were starving.

Tickets were available online in advance of the event and at the door. We paid almost 30 euro per ticket buying them online (several fees were tacked on to the 25 euro admission price) and I'm not sure what the tickets cost at the door. There was a coat check available for three euro. I thought that there would be wine for sale at this event, like at the Truffle Festival in Alba, but that wasn't the case at all.

To get here, take the 27 tram from the Duomo all the way to the end of the line at Piazza IV Febbraio.

Do you have a favorite wine region in Italy? Leave a comment below to share your favorites!

My Own Cooking Adventures

It snowed last week.

the playground and field of ASM

And yet, still no snow day. Oddly enough, my former co-workers in Savannah had arranged for a few days off because of cold/snowy/icy weather and we were still going to work. Something felt oddly out of place.

Poor weather outside = perfect weather inside for testing some new recipes.

Saturday, Robert, an ASM teacher, offered to show a few of us how to make his most delicious bread. Robert had things set up like a cooking show, with the recipe in various stages upon our arrival.

We learned the secret to his recipe.

And watched him whip together a batch of dough with ease.

Robert, showing us how it's done

I thought for sure I could replicate this recipe with no problem; after all, I do have some experience in the kitchen.

By now you've probably already inferred just how wrong I was. My first batch of dough was a total FAIL! The yeast didn't activate, the bread didn't rise, the dough wouldn't cook. Argh.

Can you identify the secret ingredient from the list?
I know the Skyline fans will find it!

I don't know how those bloggers make a recipe a million times to get it right. My desire for perfection must be met quickly!!

I did, however, manage to talk myself into another try at this recipe.

The second time, I produced a loaf of bread that was edible, if not quite the same as Robert produces.

a work in progress

I'll just have to keep working on it.

------

Sunday I decided that I would see if I could turn out a batch of dough for fresh pasta, after last week's Cook in Milano class.

I mixed up the dough, kneaded it for 15 minutes (15 minutes!!!!!!!!!), and then rolled it out as best I could. Turns out that it was a little thick, but for my first try, I was pleased.

my work...throughout the process

Cook in Milano, Round 2

It was Ali's birthday recently and she decided that she wanted to go back to our friend, Clara's, cooking class. Ali was able to select the menu for the night and a few of us from school headed out to learn a few new tricks. Ali and I had been to Clara's in November, so we knew we would learn lots! You can read about that night too!

We made croissants with sausage and cheese, fresh made tagliatelle with bolognaise sauce, osso bucco, and tiramisu.

There was a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time.

And I made pasta for the first time. Did you know it was only egg and flour?

Here's some shots from our cooking adventures.

Ali, Debbie, Clara, and Katie

the schedule

Heath getting the tiramisu started

cutting the tagliatelle

the tagliatelle tree

Clara working on the mascarpone cream

Odds and Ends...

In Italy, there seems to be no shortage of 'off the beaten path' little gems.

For three years I've been hearing about this little shop full of leather bags, made right in the shop. And for three years I've been begging for someone to take me.

Finally, just before our Christmas holidays, Peggy agreed to that we would finally make a trip to the shop. We borrowed Maureen's GPS system and plugged in her saved directions for "Geppetto." Without those directions, finding this shop would have been impossible.

We wound around roundabouts, down several streets, and parked in a parking lot. Then we walked behind one building to another to an unmarked door. I have absolutely NO idea how to get back there again.

Pushing open the door, you find several metal shelving units covered in bags and several tables where the two men have been working on various bags and leather goods.

sheets of leather hang everywhere

Peggy said that the supply was a little lackluster this time around. It was, after all, just before the holidays.

bags on display

I, however, scored the deal of the night.

I bought a smooth and soft black leather bag. The interior label reads Epoca Uomo, which is a Japanese label. My friends asked if he had more bags like mine, and he told us only in Japan.

just a simple, black tote bag

From our conversations, it appears that this little shop constructs bags for several different designer lines around the world. When they work on orders, they sell a bag or two in their own shops.

one of the men making bags

I couldn't find the exact bag on the label's website, but a similar one was retailing for about 300 euro, and I most definitely did not pay that!

More recently in January, Men's Fashion Week rolled around. This was evidenced by a few extra well-chiseled jaw lines hopping on and off the tram.

I've always been interested in fashion and style, even though my favorite outfit is leggings and a hoodie. So, on a cold Sunday night, I wandered over to a nearby street to see what the scene was like around a big name show. The Prada show was set to take place at 6 pm, and in true Italian style, it started a bit later. But, it was fun to see various people hoping to gain entrance to the show and those that arrived who were quickly let in, often stopped by the paparazzi for a few quick photos.

the scene from the street

I recognized no one, but still enjoyed the whole scene. The show was streamed live on a website so I was able to see what was happening inside while standing on the street.

a screen shot from my phone- I found it interesting
that they steered away from a traditional straight runway.

When the show ended, everyone quickly hustled down the street looking for their appointed driver to pick them up. It was a mess of cars and taxis, in the truest Italian sense.

It was fun to observe all the action from the outside. Perhaps one day someone will get me on the inside.

But, what would I wear?