We're back!!!

After an almost 24 hour trip, we made it home last night. Tired, but still excited over what we saw and ate, the Missus even more so over the weight I lost.....all that walking.

So while my internal clock gets adjusted and I catch up at work, here's a few clues as to the third country we visited. It was one with a close tie to Rhodes, which we visited last year....I know, I still have to get to those posts.

 Though a small country, there's a ton of history here......the kinds of stuff I used to read as a kid. Knights, castles, a walled city, invading Turks!

The narrow streets and hills totally reminded me of San Francisco.

We visited one of the cathedrals in the city. Later that evening as we were passing by, we heard music emanating from the Cathedral.

We peeked in and saw several vocalists and an orchestra rehearsing. Instead of shooing us out, we were welcomed to sit and watch.

The next day we inquired about the concert and were told it was free!

So that evening we attended the performance that had an interesting history. It had only been performed once in the last hundred years! Where else can you attend a concert in a historic, 450 year old cathedral by the national philharmonic and choir for free?

We were especially surprised by the food. We hadn't hear much about this country's cuisine and was pleasantly surprised. Because of it's history, the chef's here seemed less burdened by too much tradition and we had dishes with quinoa and black rice. Still, the traditional and local food was excellent. I was especially surprised by how delicious the Fried Rabbit Liver and Melon salad was.

We also spent a couple of nights in a village where 70% of the country's fishing boats are located.

 The colorful traditional blue and yellow fishing boats are still adorned with the "Eyes of Osiris". We found out that this boat design goes back to Phoenician times.

Of course the seafood was excellent.

The traditional items like Horse Stew were excellent as well.

We loved the people here. Much like the folks in Portugal, they are warm and friendly....and some, like the baker who we found down a small flight of stairs tending a 168 year old wood burning stove have large personalities.

We ordered a pizza with traditional ingredients that was very good and got his life story to boot!

All in all, it was a fantastic visit.

Even though the country is small, there's a ton of history. We managed to snag reservations for a UNESCO protected site that allows only 60 visitors a day. It was amazing.

Soon we headed back to busy Rome.

Sadly, Michelin starred Metamorphosi had to cancel our reservations because of some special event. We ended up having a wonderful meal anyway. Here's the fried lamb's brains.

 We ended our trip in a town outside of Lisbon. The setting was almost out of a fairy tale, King's, Queen's, castles, and even a palace on top of a hill.

Since it was highly recommended that we take the bus up the mountain, the Missus decided that we should climb walk up.

We had quite a time!

I'll need a couple of days to regroup and recover. So until then, Cathy's still in charge. See you again shortly.

 

 

Comments

[Lynnea]

love the promise of interesting travel stories from this latest trip! =) welcome back and congratulations on losing some weight ;)

[Jason]

Can't wait to hear more about the trip! Welcome back!

[caninecologne]

Welcome back! :)

[Peter]

Er, Cyprus?

[caninecologne]

Kirk, I forgot to add that Cathy did an amazing job filling in during your absence. She went all over San Diego (and beyond) and shared her 'good eats' with us all nearly every day. Kudos to Cathy!

[Stephanie]

Malta!

[Kirk]

Thanks Lynnea

Hi Jason - I'll try and get things started...and finish last years stuff as soon as I can.

Thanks CC. As I've always said. I don't think I'd still be blogging if it weren't for Cathy's help.

Hi Peter - Pretty close!

You got it Stephanie!

[TFD]

Welcome back, Kirk! We can't wait to hear all about your trip! The food looks delicious!

[Kirk]

Much of it was TFD......really good stuff. You have to be able to "stretch" and try stuff.

[Faye]

Welcome back. The pics looked amazing. I don't know many people that have tried Horse Meat - is it pretty gamy? I just posted on trying out one of your recipes and I'm thinking now 'Wow, thank goodness I don't crave horse meat'.

[Kirk]

You might have a hard time finding those ingredients in San Diego! ;o) If I were to cook horse correctly, other than the color, which is red, you'd think it was tougher beef with a distinct sweet taste.

[Peter]

I've had horse.
It was specifically called colt so the age might have made difference because unlike your experience, I found it to be like beef fillet that is, as you say, sweeter.

This was in Italy near one of the lakes, Como or Iseo.

Not sure about brain though. I'm fine with pretty much all offal and whatnot but brain just doesn't look that great, especially when it's clearly identifiable.
I've been told it's sweet like lung is with a similar texture to sweetbreads which I don't mind, so maybe if it was cubed nicely I could manage it.

[Kirk]

Hi Peter - The horse I've had over the years I believe had been targeted for the glue factory. BTW, if you ever have the chance to try it, Donkey is much more tasty, they do it really well in Beijing. The Missus loves pig brains though it's a bit too rich for me. She didn't enjoy the lamb brains as much as I did. But like the pig brains after two or three pieces it started getting a bit tedious. Personally, I'm not a big fan of beef/pig liver or cubed blood.

[kat]

wow! can't wait to hear more, rest up!

[Kirk]

Thanks Kat!

[Ange]

Welcome back! The rabbit liver and pizza looks delicious! I love pizzas that are not loaded with cheese. Beautiful photos!

[Kirk]

Hi Ange - That was a really good pizza!