Eurotrip 2011: Central Rome for dummies

For vacation this year we planned a big one. I wanted to wander around Europe in a GPS spec'd Audi A4 Avant TDI (turbo-diesel) rental car for a couple weeks, finding hotels and what not on the way, and Beth wanted to take a cruise so she could see many places with less effort, as well as some luxury. After some discussion and slacking on my part to book flights or whatever (mainly because I don't like parting with large sums of money), we decided to take the job out of the hands of my web browser and trip-booking-website du jour and hook back up with our travel agent from the Mexico and Jamaica trips from years past. When the smoke from my wallet parted, the plan of action was set...in semi-dry concrete. We ended up with a plan to stay in Rome for a few days before departing on a Cruise spanning four stops and three countries, in the Mediterranean Sea, then take a train from the Rome Termini in Italy to Munich, Germany for my part of this Eurotrip. When I say my part of the trip, I don't mean I wasn't interested in the beginning of the trip, but you'll understand once the German portion of the trip is revisited via these e-pages. I went all out on preparation, even buying extra batteries, memory and renting a new lens for this adventure, the Canon 24-105mm IS F4L, so I wouldn't have to change lenses, batteries or memory during long stints and would get solid image quality in most conditions we'd run into. This plan proved to be very wise.

I worked nine days straight at work before our flight out of the country. I packed about everything days before, but finished up Tuesday night before we flew out Wednesday afternoon. My breh-in-law Chris handled the arrangements and took our car back after I drove us all the airport in Philadelphia. The flight over was long, but I managed to sleep for a solid 4 or 5 hours at some point during the journey which I can't remember anymore. Our plane landed in Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) Airport in Rome with great applause by the entire flight. Tired, but pleased, we got off the plane to make our first mistake - turning $500 USD cash into Euros at the airport. While this sounds like a good idea, the exchange rate they give you varies on how much you convert; so if you have $2k USD to convert you almost get the current exchange rate. If you have $500 you get the 'best we can give you rate'. Later on after the cash ran thin, I found out that going to an ATM will cost you a foriegn fee around 10 bucks or so with your bank, but you get the current rate which was in the ~1.42:1 range. It was ~1.56:1 at the airport. In hindsight I would've gotten about $1k converted to Euros at a US Bank before leaving all together, but a lesson learned for next time is always good.

After turning $500 into about $285 Euros (after the service fee was taken out), we went with voucher in hand to find our booked shuttle to the hotel. Going from Eastern Standard Time (EST) to Central European Time is like doing the typical 'Spring forward' time change six times in a row. I didn't really catch up on sleep until the fifth day of our trip. After realizing it was the equivalent of about 4:30am EST once I turned on my cell phone, we got rounded up by our driver and all the other tourists taking out shuttle to Central Rome. We got situated and began making our way via the Autostrada (Italian Highway System) to the city of Rome by car. Traffic in Rome was an eye opening thing to see. Taxi's represented about half of the cars on the road, sub-compact/smart cars represented another 15%, the rest were either scooters or motorcycles. The flow of traffic was a whirlwind of traffic lights that switched too quickly, people double parking and holding everyone up in individual lanes, pedestrians walking right into the street and blocking right handed turns and those on two-wheeled transport (who looked liked geniuses with how cramped the city is) working their way between cars and occasionally on sidewalks. Our drivers' ability to curse in Italian brought smiles to our faces, it's literally like poetry which I wished I could learn via osmosis for my return home. We navigated the tightest roads and side streets with the smallest of clearances; I was truly impressed and tipped accordingly when we arrived at Hotel Planet Rome.


the main 'drag' half a block from our hotel - Via Marsala

 Hotel Planet Rome was a place in Central Rome with a good price and next to everything. The Rome Termini station, which had railways for connecting Eurorail transit as well as the Rome Metro system and shopping outlets, was just a brisk walk away. Ristorante's and gelaterias everywhere and taxi's hanging out for any desire to be fleeced of 10 Euro for an eight minute drive through cluster-eff city traffic. I initially thought we'd be walking everywhere given most places we needed to go for the walking tours we signed up for were within two miles or so, but after getting there and taking our first stab at walking to a destination for a tour of Ancient Rome, we hailed a cab...drenched with sweat from the July sun.



4'x5'



What a view!

 After checking into our hotel and noticing how absurdly small the bathroom was, we went back out and grabbed lunch at a local store front. Forno (Pizza) and Pasta where on the menu. It was all delicious. In clockwise order starting from 10 o'clock, you'll see a roma tomato, olive and fresh mozzarella slice, pesto rotini, white pizza with sausage and a rigatoni dish with fresh basil, tomato sauce and mozzarella. I guess saying fresh goes without saying. This random small restaurant on the side of the street was better than anything in the US, on flavor profile alone. One thing was clear, al dente isn't just a word here, it's how pasta is cooked everywhere.

We got back to our room and laid around, generally exhausted. Tomorrow we would sleep in and take on Ancient Rome.

Beer of the Month - July

The beer of the month for July is Bitburger Braugruppe's Premium Beer {4.8% abv}. Before our European vacation took place on July 6th, I went to a local beer store and picked out a few new brews to try out. One of my pick-ups was Bitburger Premium Beer. When you see package marketing stating #1 Beer from the exporting country (Germany in this case), you typically take it with a grain of salt and move on; Fosters has been advertised as the biggest Aussie beer ever, in the US, but if you were to ask an Australian about good local beers Fosters would never come up. Now I understand there are probably twice as many beer varieties and brewers in Germany as there are music bands, but the point is Bitburger had a strong presence when we visited Germany this Summer. While in Nürburg, staying at the Dorint hotel, the in house restaurant had Bitburger Premium on draft.

Bitburger, as the biggest draft beer supplying company in Germany, understandably has a history as deep as the day is long. First origins of the now stout Bitburger Braugruppe go back to 1817 with the starting of a small brewery by Johann Peter Wallenborn. Over several generations, the company continued to change hands between descendants of Johann and continued to grow in popularity, even outside of its native Bitburg, Germany. Fast forward to 1909, Bitburger started selling one of their first pilsner brews (Original Simonbräu German Pilsener) and later secured a fresh water well which is still key to the quality of their products today. During WWII, Bitburg was bombed and the brewery was just about destroyed. Once the war was over, the three brothers who owned the company, Theobald, Hanns and Bert Simon rebuilt the factory. Bitburger flourished and by 1978, they were exporting their full-bodied brew to the United States.

Getting home to compare the US-purchased Bitburger Premium Beer, to the lovely drafts I had in Nürburg, Germany was definitely interesting. Anyone who's had a good beer in the bottle then had it on draft (or vice versa) knows there's a different feel to the draft due to carbonation levels amongst other things. In this case I was comparing a bottled export to draft in its home country. I won't go as far as saying the difference was night and day, but they varied noticeably. That said, Bitburger Premium Beer in the bottle is incredibly smooth, with refined carbonation and a great hoppy orchestra performing for your palette. This beer is light blonde in color and is a great drinking beer for the full-bodied hop connoisseur. Think of it as a better Heineken with less bitterness. Rather than 12oz bottles, six packs of Bitburger come in 1/3 liter (11.2oz) bottles. This makes little difference when it comes to enjoying a cold one. 2.5 stars.

Monochrome. #9

Green Thumb Season 2 - Ep. 3

First pepper harvest.

Another few weeks have gone by and we've kept pretty consistent with watering; the cucumbers still require the lions share of water per day, to keep up with production, and there are a few things that have now become quite clear. For one, I don't know how to look for cucumbers. When I was showing pictures of all those mini cucumbers previously, I was unaware of some hidden ones well on their way to maturity. One major reason for this oversight was me assuming all the tiny cucumbers would mature simultaneously. This ideal wasn't proven incorrect until recently as the the larger cucumbers weren't very easy to see...and there is a very good reason for that. Cucumbers need shade to grow, but need a ton of sun to fuel said growth. As these two plants found their directions to grow from the pot, the leaves dispersed from a central position and followed the outstretching vines that developed. In these heavily shaded areas where the leaves grew, a few cucumbers began receiving the majority of nutrients the plants created. Thus it seems only about three or four large cucumbers will be on pace for harvest at any given time. The large cucumbers Beth found while I was on the road, not too long ago, were hanging off the back of the pots, out of the sun. The first cucumber picked was pretty damn large (Finkle and Einhorn large), and since then three more large cucumbers have made it off the vine and into salads. Oh and a couple were specially delivered to my father-in-law as he enjoys them quite a bit.

The peppers have come a long ways over the last few weeks as well. The Yummy, Thai Hot and Italian Sweet peppers have finally began to flower and as of Independence Day weekend all have at least one pepper growing. We've already snagged about three Jalapenos from the stud of the group and they've all been spicy as advertised. With our trip overseas we've figured out a solution for watering needs over the two weeks we're absent; the help of family via spare keys ha.
 
Week 7:

 
Week 8:

Week 9:

In prep for the trip we've taken three large cucumbers (we're now up to 7 harvested) off so they don't lose their luster; apparently if you let cucumbers stay on until the spikes fall off (and turn yellow) the flavor goes out the window. As you can see from the last shot from weeks 8 and 9, the curly cucumber didn't take more than a couple days to grow noticeably larger from when the other cucumbers were picked. You can also see the Thai Hot peppers growing significantly from weeks 8 to 9; multiple peppers are growing vertically and some should turn red once mature. The Yummy and Italian Sweet peppers are finally showing several small fruit growing simultaneously, on each. When we return ~17 days would've passed. Hopefully we'll have a plethora of peppers to cook with. For those of you interested, all the green thumb Season 2 shots are uploaded here, in order of old to current. I typically skip over shots (including week 6) for composition purposes. Until next time.

Monochrome. #8

Beer of the Month - June

The beer of the month for June is Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Summerfest {5.0% abv}. I've known Sierra Nevada as a quality beer for about a decade. I was first introduced to their popular Pale Ale many moons (and semesters) ago. I didn't think much about background on the companies that supplied my beers back then, just taste and percentages. That said, I was happy to get to know more about Sierra Nevada through researching for this months BOTM selection. Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's (SNBC) Chico, California roots go back to the late 70's with it's home brew loving founder, Ken Grossman. Ken was like all of us at one point or another; young, enjoying beverages and with a dream. Unlike most people though, he followed through on his dream of wanting to setup his own brewery by going to college and studying Chemistry and Physics. Soon afterwards he went from helping others to setup their own home brewery systems, which he had become an expert at, to gaining a business partner that wanted to help fulfill the brewery creation dream. In 1980 Ken Grossman and co-founder Paul Camusi gathered second hand supplies, put in the legwork to get the best local ingredients available and created the now famous Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Word of mouth spread, business grew, facilities grew and the rest is history. They apparently have a restaurant/music hall as well where you can see live music acts, eat great food and have access to every brew they offer. I think this may need to be a part of my next trip to California.

SNBC advertises this tasty seasonal, Summerfest, as a crisp lager; I think they're relatively accurate depending on the serving temperature at which you drink it. In my opinion a summer beer should be served around 40 degrees; a Summerfest lager from the back of the fridge does not disappoint. Upon the first sip, its complex choreography of ingredients become immediately apparent. This golden lager flaunts it's spices, hops and moderate malt profile, all while being easy to drink. While this beer is sold as a seasonal it would be good to have all year round. For food pairings, treat Summerfest like a white wine; matching up great with white meats. I went into a local beer store and picked this brew out on a whim, knowing how good the Sierra Nevada product was. Since getting this trial sixer at the beginning of the month, I've gotten more to split with friends. 2.5 stars (see below).

In honor of the one year anniversary of this blog (time flies), this will be the new rating 'key' post for future BOTM posts. For clarification, if a beer sucks I won't even bring it up. Every BOTM is worth trying and could possibly be your new favorite; that said, below you'll find my relative scale for beers worth drinking. 'Half-Star' designations mean both the referenced number it is as well as the next number up (e.g., 2.5 means both enjoyable and solid).

1 - Let a friend buy it.
2 - Solid choice.
3 - Enjoyable.
4 - Seek it out with great effort.

Monochrome. #7

Food. #2

Al's grilled salmon:
-fresh salmon fillet
-kosher sea salt
-ground black pepper
-olive oil
-pre-made marinade of your choice

Cut fillets into single portions; make sure to remove the light scales that result. Oil a dinner plate (or equivalent) and add seasonings to taste, onto oil. Place salmon fillets flesh side down to coat them generously; they'll be going on the grill so being liberal here will go a long way. Flip and repeat on the skin side. Keeping the skin is necessary to cook salmon directly on the grill grates, however if you'd like to remove the skin or make the fillets easier to remove once done, you feel free to cook fish on top of oiled foil. For those of you looking for more flavor, oil the grill grates and after getting your grill temp to about 350*, place your fish on top of the grates skin side down. Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets, but for these pictured cuts from a ~2.2lb fillet the total cooking time was about 25 minutes. Shuffle fish on the grill only to even heat distribution (if your lower-end grill has hot spots like mine), but cook on the skin side only. You'll know the fillet is cooked when you see juice bubbles appear on top and clean flaking is present. Brush on marinade a few times during the last 5 minutes for added flavor. If you have the time you can soak the fish in marinade for 6-10 hours prior to cooking and skip that last step. The result should be tender and succulent.

Beth's string beans:
-fresh string beans
-clove or two of garlic
-red onion
-white onion
-olive oil
-kosher sea salt
-ground black pepper

Prep the aromatics, chopping onions into 1/8ths and dicing your cloves of garlic. Chop the ends off the string beans, then wash them thoroughly. Get an appropriately sized pot for your string beans (I believe what you see is about one pound) and bring water to a boil. Season water lightly and add string beans. Beth cooks her beans al dente, so there's still some bite to them; once beans reach your desired firmness (eat one), pour into a strainer to cool and empty the pot. Put the pot back on the stove and liberally pour olive oil into it, reducing heat to about medium. Introduce your onions and garlic, seasoning them with salt, black pepper and your garlic as you sweat them. Once the onions become slightly translucent, reintroduce your string beans to the oniony goodness now melding flavor in the pot. At this point you're pretty much done; stir to mix seasonings and coat the string beans completely with the resulting broth. That's it.



When you take these two dishes and add the red potatoes from Food. #1, you get a plate that looks like this:

Beth and I ended up making a low sodium version of the string beans and bbq chicken for a pre-Father's Day lunch at my parents house this past Saturday. They both seriously watch what they eat, the two of them averaging ~70 years of age, and they enjoyed the meal thoroughly. Healthy and tasty...what a novel idea.