A Long, Boring Discussion of Coffee

Ah, Rome!  If there's anything I like better than exploring and falling in love with a new city, it's revisiting a city you've already fallen in love with.  I hadn't been to Rome in six years and was excited to see how my girl had changed over the years.  Of course a 2000+ year-old city isn't going to change much over a mere half decade and I was delighted to find her pretty much exactly how I left her.  I, on the other hand, had changed so much since the last time I was there that I was slightly apprehensive about how I would see Rome with an extra six rings.

One of the things I was most worried about was the coffee.  Rome is where I discovered that coffee could be delicious and that the best examples of it were worth pursuing.  However, at this point in my life I was just starting to realize that food and drink were more than just nourishment and my palate was far less developed than it is today (to put things in perspective I went to Rome thinking Sam Adam's was the pinnacle of American brewing and that Foie Gras was a kind of perfume- seriously, I'm not trying to make a bad joke.  I actually thought this at one point).  Anyway, I was worried that Italian coffee, which I had for the last six years held as the best example of coffee in the world, would not be nearly as delicious as I had remembered it.  

I won't bore you with tasting notes- suffice it to say that it truly did not live up to the hype I had created around it six years ago.  I've had this sneaking suspicion for the past few years that these days the U.S. is brewing some of the best coffee in the world.  That may sound like heresy but look at the facts - coffee (good raw coffee) is grown in very few regions around the world-  the big 3 being Africa (Ethiopia and Kenya producing the best), Indonesia and Latin/South America.  This means that raw coffee has to travel just as far to Italy or France as it does to the U.S.  More importantly, the distance traveled by the raw bean is almost irrelevant to the importance of the roasting process and the age of the bean after it is roasted.  This idea however is relatively new in the coffee world and because of that fact, and because every country in the world can get there hands on the same quality of raw product, the U.S. (a country not bound by tradition the way old-world Europe is) is in a far better position to create the best coffee possible.  Frankly, of the countries I've visited, they do.  But does that mean that U.S. coffee culture is better than Italy's?  Absolutely not.  You can get a better espresso in the U.S. but not at many places.  You have to seek it out.  In Italy, you can get a better-than-average espresso on literally every street corner.  Coffee culture is inherent in Italian culture- it's a birthright and that, I feel, makes Italy a better coffee culture overall.  

Ok, enough of that.  The best part of my trip to Rome was that I got to share it with my Mom and Sister.  

As you can see we had quite a time.  Truly, I would recommend long-term travel to everybody if only that it gives you such a better appreciation for all you've left behind.  I can't remember the last time I had a better time with my family (you better come next time, Dad).  

Well, I'll leave you all with what you really want out of a blog post about Italy.... Food Porn!!!

Cafe in Trastevere.  This looks like a Van Gogh pairing.

Roma Pizza.  If you've not had it, you've not had pizza.

Burrata and Truffles... wahahahaha!

Fava's.... with a nice Chianti...

Roasted Egglplant... Nom.

Squidward 

Squidward Pasta

Carbonara... can't believe I've never tried to make this before.  Super easy... seriously pick up a recipe online and make it.  This is one Italian specialty you can replicate without fantastic Italian ingredients.

"I'm just going to make a quick breakfast."  - Dave Wargo... out of control since 1987.

Fragola Rock!!!

HAHAHAHAHA GELATO!!!

Gnocchi, Smoked Provolone and Truffles... ahahwhwhahahahioah8){*$Y(*

It's a Dangerous Business, Frodo- Going out your Door...

Well, I've finally settled into a routine here and it is quite possibly the best routine I've had in my entire life.  Every week I spend 2-3 days actually teaching which leaves me with a 4-5 day weekend.  Not bad, eh?  Eventually I'll have to up my schedule as this 2-3 day scheme essentially only covers rent- but since I can subsist on about $10USD/day here in Prague (including beer), the immediate need for funds is pretty low...

...Leaving so much time for activities!  Duck Confit?

In the meantime, other than leisurely cooking projects, I have focused on traveling.  This is the first time in my life that I've done solo traveling and it is a strange beast.  This however is the subject of a future post.  Right now I want to talk about hiking. 

When I was younger my friends and I used to engage in an activity we dubbed "questing."  This basically entailed walking through woods or prairies.  Sometimes we had an objective, like trying to find a haunted cemetery in southern Illinois.  Other times the idea was just to wander and enjoy being in nature.  It just recently dawned on me that hiking is essentially the adult term for questing and also, that it might be my new favorite pastime.  

There is something magical about being alone in the woods.  It's really balancing and helps put everything in life into perspective.  I had forgotten about this living as I have for the past 3 years smack in the middle of a major city.  Fortunately, serendipity led me right back to the trail (I should be a poet).  

I was in Bratislava applying for my visa (why I had to leave the country to apply for a visa is the subject of another post which I will never write because we'll all be stupider for having discussed it), and was searching for something to do on my last day in the city.  It had rained all morning and I was in a foul mood which, when traveling alone can be very dangerous.  I recalled talking with an avid hiker in Prague about the incredible hiking network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and so decided on a whim to give it a shot.  

First off, the hiking network in these countries IS incredible.  There are hundreds of trails all marked several times a kilometer with a color-coded trail marker.  They are really easy to follow and take you through some incredible and isolated countryside.  Secondly, I've never had my mood turned around so quickly.  I was singing, dancing, and heel-clicking like a fool.  

Rough estimation of what I probably looked like.  The hills were INDEED alive my friends...

I'm slowly starting to exchange the city-to-city hostel-type travel that I have always done in Europe for a more in-depth, under-the-skin approach.  Next up on the travel agenda... 

• Back to Bratislava to pick up my visa and my first of hopefully many couch surfing experiences.  
• Off to work on a farm in a little town in Czech called Srbsko.
• Traveling by plane, train, boat and possibly even hitch-hiking to the middle-of-nowhere Sweden to eat at a 3-star restaurant.
• Kayaking down the Vltava into Cesky Krumlov.
• Croatia.

I'll be writing several more posts in the next few days as a lot has happened since my last post.  If anyone is actually still reading this... stay tuned!

Canola fields.  Don't you want to just run through this?

Nice lil' spot for a picnic.

Like a big warm blanket for your soul.

Overlooking Bratislava

Back in the CZ.  Taking a day hike in Celakovice along the Elbe river.  

Karlštejn Castle.  Can't I walk through one damn forest without running into a castle?!  Jesus...

[Insert favorite LoTR quote here.]

Ist das nicht ein schnitzelbank? Ja, das ist ein schnitzelbank!

Ah, Deutschland.  It is so nice to be back in a country where I can actually speak (slightly) the language.  In high school I was taught traditional high-German.  Unfortunately, as I had only ever been to Bavaria and because my German friends from grad school were also Bavarians, I spent all of my post-educational German practice trying to decipher the esoteric Sud-deutsch dialect which is very, very different than high-german or Hoch-deutsch.  It would be the equivalent of taking an intermediate level English student (who studied in the UK) and dropping them in the middle of Louisiana.  You can imagine what this would do to one's language confidence.  For years I thought that my level of German was terrible.  I could communicate basically to my friends but I could only grasp about 20% of what they were saying at any given time.

Then I went to Nurnberg...

Anyone who's ever studied a language knows those beginner-level recordings where the speakers are speaking incredibly slowly and clearly and you think... "well that's great but this is NOT how people actually speak."  Honest to God, in Nurnberg they do.  I could understand probably 80% of any conversation I happened to overhear.  It was fantastic.  I spent a good hour speaking to a couple from Hannover at a cafe who could not stop complementing my German- incredulous that an American would speak their language (note- my spoken German is still truly not that great.  I think they were just excited that I could sort of get my point across).  We weren't debating artistical integrity or anything of that nature but we had a nice conversation nonetheless.

Obligatory Historical Aside:  Nurnberg was the site of the Nazi-party rallies as well as the Nurnberg trials where many of the Nazi conspirators were tried and sentenced after the war.  For the most part, you don't see much evidence of this until you leave the city center and venture to the rally grounds.  Even then, if you didn't know what you were looking for you would miss it.

This is the podium where Hitler gave his famous speeches.  As you can see, there isn't much to remind you of what it once was.  Though when you actually go and stand on the podium you can imagine what it might have been like and it becomes a very sobering moment.  For perspective:

The best way to elevate your mood after a day full of walking in the footsteps of evil is, of course, a great German meal.  Czech food is OK.  They have some very tasty dishes and again, the best beer in the world... hands down.  But as far as sausage goes.. Germany wins every time.  .  Look, I've had much more sausage in Germany than in Prague and I'm not saying I've had the best sausage in the CZ yet.  I'm sure that when I do this opinion will change.  But as of right now, the wurst (hahahaha) sausage I've eaten in Germany is frankly (get it?) better than the best sausage I've had in the Czech Republic.  This is very disappointing as I was led to believe the Czech sausage was among the world's best.  I'm holding out hope that I have just been eating all the wrong foods here.  

Nurnberger.  Specialty of... you guessed it!  Probably my least favorite in the country.  Sorry Nurnberg.. but the kraut... THE KRAUT!!  

Bratwurst.  Jumenberg.

The most enjoyable part of the weekend was following the river outside the old-town into the forest. After walking maybe 2 or 3 miles I came across a magical forest brewery.  You simply don't turn down a beer at a magical forest brewery or you'll be cursed with terrible beer for the rest of your life.  I honestly can't tell you if the beer was any good.  It tasted phenomenal but it may have been the fact that I was sitting outside in a deserted beer garden in the middle of the woods being gently rained upon by the spring trees losing their blossoms.  Here are some pictures.  Enjoy!

Truffle season in Nurnberg!

Magical Forest Brewery

Amen, bathroom stall.

Magical Forest Beer.

Through the magical forest.

Nice little spot I found to read my book.

Apparently they piled all of the rubble from WWII up on this spot and 60 years later it became a nice little hill.  There are warning signs all around not to eat on the grass as it is apparently quite toxic.  But then how is the grass growing there...?

White Asparagus season in Germany.  I didn't realize how delicious they could be until I had them here.

Had Sisyphus Lived in Prague, He Wouldn't Have Had it so Bad (3rd Conditional).

Did you just make a greek mythology reference you asshole?  Yes, and I am sorry (that was wrong of me and I will be the first to admit it)- first and last I promise you.  I'm not nearly smart enough to use those (I actually had to google it to make sure I was thinking of the boulder guy and not the eaten-by-crows guy).  It must be the cafe.  In the cafe I'm sitting in now there is a gentlemen behind me describing each and every US Amendment in detail to a very uninterested woman.  Coffee culture is truly global.

I have officially obtained my TEFL certification and am taking the week off before I start working.  I've been spending most of my time climbing up and down hills.  One of the truths I've discovered about Prague is that if you walk up a hill, you will be rewarded with a spectacular view, (1st conditional) and as a lifetime midwesterner this is a novel and wonderful experience.  These hill excursions are made even better by the fact that the whole laissez-faire attitude of Europe in general (and the Czech Republic in particular) means that you can access really cool areas that would normally be blocked off in the US for obvious safety (read: litigious) reasons.

Best first date spot ever.  "I WILL bring a girl up here before I leave Prague," he hoped fervently...

How many drunk American college students would have plummeted to their deaths if this were in America.  Better yet, how much punitive damage compensation would have changed hands...

The weather is beautiful here.  I've been walking around all day in jeans and a t-shirt.  My sincerest condolences to those of you back home in Chicago.  I know you can't remember what warmth feels like and how pleasant the sun feels on your skin, but I promise you it will be there soon enough.  

I mean seriously... just.. what?  I don't.. even....

It's getting to the point that, like Pavlov's dogs, I start getting subconsciously excited whenever I'm walking and the elevation changes.  

Well, that's it for now.  I'm sure I'll have many more anecdotes when I start teaching next week.  Also coming soon:  a long-winded discussion of why Czech beer is the greatest beer in the world and what the US can (but won't) do to ever hope to compete.  Until then..

Na Zdraví!

A Journey Through Space and Time

Yes, I've been watching a bit of Doctor Who, but seriously... is anyone else as disappointed with season 7 as I am?

Life is coming along here in the CZ.   One week left of classes and then I'm off on my own in the wild world of TEFL.  It feels like a lifetime ago and yet, at the same time only yesterday, that I left the bitter chill of Chicago.  Time, like everything in this crazy city, doesn't seem to follow the logic of the outside world.  It flows wherever and however it wants- and we are all simply along for the ride.  I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I landed here... but if you asked me how long it feels like, I honestly couldn't tell you.  A day?  A year?  My whole life?  No idea.

I already have the keys to my new riverside apartment in Smíchov.  Below is a picture I took from my bedroom window.  I've never lived this close to water before and I am extremely excited about that fact.  I can't wait to sit down by the bank in the summer and drink a beer.

Like time, space transforms at will here. Prague is a city where busy streets and pedways transform into isolated nature within the space of a thought.  It is wonderful to be walking and daydreaming and to suddenly find yourself in the forest with no recollection of when the buildings stopped and the trees began.  Prague is one of the best cities for aimless wandering.  It's a relatively small city and with all of the landmarks spaced throughout, it's nearly impossible to be lost for long.  

Do enjoy these photos of today's early morning excursion through Petřin and the nature and may your own journeys through space and time be as wonderful as mine.