Bratislava

I have a soft spot for eastern European countries, especially the smaller 'undiscovered' countries. They are so authentic, unspoilt and beautiful. Get there before they become too polished and refined. The eastern Euro country that I heard people rave about is Croatia. It sounds like the ideal country, with lush fields of green grass and pristine rivers. Another thing I like about the eastern Euro countries is that food is very affordable. I saw a poster of a whole roasted goose for 20 euros in Prague. Prague is also where you can pick up a good bottle of 'The Green Fairy'--absinthe:



 From Prague, we went to the neighboring country, Slovakia. Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is a small city/town. We arrived in the late afternoon and spent a couple of hours in the city center. Although all Euro cities are cobbled and streets are narrow with rustic buildings, each city has a different atmosphere. Bratislava is very charming and I'd love to stay there for a couple of days, just walking the narrow lanes and cobbly streets and checking out what the locals do and eat. We only had one night in Bratislava and opted for an early night in the hotel. I think I was upset because my camera went on an auto video photo mode that I couldn't get rid of so from Bratislava on, most of my photos were taken with a small Panasonic p & s. Lucky we had a back up.














Isn't Bratislava charming?

Beautiful Prague

Old Town Square, near the Astronomical Clock.

Just off the Old Town Square

Wencelas Square

My last posting on the first part of my Euro trip in May was on Prague and Prague at night. Prague is probably the most popular eastern Euro city for tourists although I hear St Petersburg and Krakow are up and coming.

The following photos were taken on Charles Bridge in the late morning. We approached the bridge from Mala Strana (Lesser Quarter) where the Prague Castle and church are located. The night before, we had gone to see Charles Bridge (a MUST, don't miss that if in Prague) and we approached it from the Old Town side because that way you can see the Prague Castle.

The St Vitus Cathedral is old, huge and beautiful but we didn't get to see the inside because of the queue.

The mural at the entrance of the church is made of little mosiacs.

Part of the Prague Castle

You know you are in a country that's serious about music. Btw, traditional Dutch music is one of the most annoying music I've ever heard, with what I imagine are tapping of wooden pegs or clogs.

On Charles Bridge, with the bridge tower at the center of the photo. The bridge was built in the 14th century and there are many baroque-style statues along it. Painters, silver jewellers and other craftsmen sell their stuff in the day but at night the bridge is busy with people strolling and admiring the lights. By day and night the bridge is very different and is worth a visit both times.

Same spot as above by night.

Rubbing this statue is supposed to bring good luck. It's so well-rubbed that the metal shines.

Going into the Old Town from the bridge.

Prague Castle across the Vltava River.


Lunch in a Prague restaurant. We had a dumpling soup, a goulash soup, roasted pork neck and potatoes and a piece of honey cake.

Northern European cities are clean, safe, proper  and beautiful (but sometimes boring), southern European cites are beautiful, exciting and more chaotic. Eastern European cities are gorgeous but in a very authentic, raw and rustic way because the buildings haven't been white-washed and made perfect. I hope they retain this authenticity and rusticity even as they prosper.

Florence Again

Yes, Florence again because I found more photos.

The Palazzo Vecchio, built in the 14th century, is the townhall of Florence.

 

Inside the beautiful courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio. The columns and walls are intricately carved and painted, amazingly beautiful.

 

 

The Palazzo is on the left, the Uffizi is behind the building on the right and the whole square, Piazza della Signoria, is full of replicas of famous sculptures and statues: David by Michelangelo, Judith & Hollerfernes by Donatello, Cellini's Perseus With The Head of Medusa, Hercules & Cacus by Bandinelli, Rape Of The Sabine by Jean De Boulogne and the Marzocco, the lion of Florence.

 

Rape of The Sabine  

 

This replica of the original David by Michelangelo was placed on the left of the entrance into the Palazzo della Signoria in 1910. The original David stood at the same place from 1505 to 1873 after which it was moved to a safer place, The Accademia Gallery in Florence. Apparently, Michelangelo sculpted a David of 15 and he doesn't hold Goliath's head because this is him going to slain Goliath, thus the tensed look.

The Fountain of Neptune, Piazza della Signoria. Up close, I found Neptune's head to be rather disproportionately large for his body. 

 
A plaque marks the spot near the fountain where  in 1497 a monk called Savonarola burnt many renaissance art that he felt was immoral ('Bonfire Of Vanities') and where a year later he was hung on a cross and burnt alive. Poor guy.

Pitti Palace is huge and the beautiful Boboli Gardens are behind it. People picnic in the gardens overlooking the city. Unfortunately, it was a Monday and the place was closed, as most places are in Europe on Mondays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I love about continental Europe is how people keep the environment green by riding bikes. China is like that too, probably has the most bikes in the world but it is increasingly becoming a car country as they grow richer.

Florence is very old and pleasant to discover by foot. I love how the Italian cities are kept nearly unchanged, with no tall or modern buildings to mar their medieval look.

 

This is one of my favorite photos, taken around 8:30 pm as we walked around looking for a restaurant, the Duomo in the back, bars and restaurants in the foreground and a car giving extra light and color.

Bistecca Fiorentina

Yo is travelling with her family to Melbourne and I wanted to pass her some of my daughter's stuff. While going through her closet, I saw her Chloe bag and on a hunch, checked the small pocket. There they were, two memory cards that I thought I'd lost and have been fretting about for weeks. Now I've got the photos of the bistecca fiorentina to show you.  I've copied my previous post on the same subject with some amendments:

I read somewhere that there are 5 things you must eat in Florence: bistecca alla fiorentina, crostini (toasts with liver pate), ribolita (beans soup), pappa al pomodoro (tomato soup) and trippa alla fiorentina (tripe). 

One evening we passed by a restaurant and I heard a guy say "This is it" and after a minute another guy and girl came along and said the same thing and went in too. While we waited to be seated in the tiny packed restaurant, we had a fun time chatting with 3 men who were eating their salami, prosciutto, cheese and wine. The setting was so Italian: legs of ham hanging on the walls, wooden tables,  busy waiters who had time to smile (one gave us a slice of salami that he was cutting). Chaotic, noisy and crowded. Forget romance when you dine in trattorias. You go there for good food and a home atmosphere.

The guy nearest to the camera was having a minestrone which looked pale, like the cook had forgotten the tomatoes. Maybe that's how real minestrone should be.

Yi had a lovely salad (4 euros) and I had a ribolita soup (5.50) that wasn't as tasty as I imagines and it was so thick I could stand my spoon in it. Wish I had the minestrone soup instead.

Have you ever seen a thicker piece of steak? This was another diner's bistecca and it was a good 5 cm thick slice of meat. The chefs were weighing the steak after chopping it off from a huge block.

 Full of beef and burnt meat flavor outside, tender (not as tender as wagyu but chewing of meat is necessary to release the flavors), juicy and sweet with lots of tasty, flavorful fat here and there.

Our steak was about 3.5 to 4 cm thick only (bistecca fiorentina has to be cooked rare and 5 cm thick to be considered authentic) because I had ordered a 500 gm steak (the minimum weight) and the whole porterhouse block from which they chopped off my steak was so big they had to make my slice thinner. The waiter came with the raw steak on a plate, 600gm (the smallest he could chop off) of beautiful meat. I nodded, he retreated back to the open kitchen, no questions about how I wanted my steak done because there's only one way--rare. It was fun to watch Italians cook. So much drama.

 Every bite of the steak made me shake my head in delight. Yi made "Yummmyumm" noises that embarassed me. Other diners probably to thought that we'd just dropped in from some starving country.


Charred and caramelized on the outside but soft and juicy inside, the steak at first didn't seem so rare. A glass of red helped refresh our palate for each bite.The two of us easily cleaned the plate up, all 600 gm except for the small blade of bone.

Near the bone, the steak was soft and bloody. Yi said she felt like a lion.

Vin santo and biscotti

We ended the dinner with a glass of vin santo served with plenty of biscotti  for only 3 euros. What a meal. Yi said she felt very pampered and blessed. That's one of the nice things about my girl, always appreciative and doesn't take her blessings  for granted:))

 Bistecca fiorentina is usually sold by the 100 gram, usually 4.50 euros/100gm in touristy places. Everywhere I went, I sought out places where locals eat for the most authentic food and reasonable prices and  Le Mossacce was one of them.  Bistecca in Le Mossacce  was 3.40 euros/100gm. Our steak was only 20.40 euros (RM82/US$26). There's no way you can have a porterhouse steak for that price here, especially a 600 gm, 4-cm thick porterhouse. Le Mossacce is a cramped and noisy trattoria (family-run restaurant) that serves good food at reasonable prices. The waiters were super nice. There was a coperto (cover charge) of 1.50 euros each, mainly to cover the bread but when I dug into my wallet for  loose change, the waiter just waved the 2 euros off. Instead of me rounding up the bill, which is normal in Europe, he rounded it down. Love the Italians!

Trattoria Le Mossacce (Via Del Proconsolo, 55 R. Telefono: 055 29.43.61)