Still trying to get the bitter tourist taste out of my mouth from yesterday, I was determined not to let that happen again but going to only local suggestions.  First up was the restaurant my server at La Vitrola had said has the best seafood in Cartagena.  Works for me.

At first I was a tad bit hesitant when I saw the restaurant was located inside the Convention Centre.  Typically that means mediocre food and high prices but both her recommendation plus other rave reviews convinced me enough to at least give it a shot.  That turned out to be a very, very wise move.

While Marea by Rausch (a famous Colombian chef) was indeed at the Convention Centre, it faced out towards the water and was its own entity.  The interior was gorgeous, all sea blues and whites in keeping with the theme.  I first thought about sitting outside but it was still pretty hot so opted for the cool confines and plush seating indoors.

The menu wasn’t that extensive but what was on it all looked fantastic.  Sticking to seafood winnowed the choices a bit further but still plenty of tasty options.  I asked my server what his favorite appetizer was and he excitedly told me the octopus carpaccio.  Sold.

I’m usually not one to go nuts over presentation but when the dish arrived, I audibly gasped as it was stunning to look at it.  It was also a giant plate but my server assured me that’s only because the carpaccio was paper-thin.  And indeed it was, melted practically in my mouth.  Playing off the color of the octopus was a duo of olive sauces – purple and white. I was at first worried they were aioli but no, in fact were made of just olives – delicious.  Dotted around the edges were pieces of artichoke and asparagus tips, which added a nice crunchy element along with the mache salad on top, simply dresses in olive oil.  A fantastic dish.

For the main course, while I love salmon, especially with mustard sauce, I decided to be a bit more adventurous and get the lion fish filet.  My last somewhat risk had paid off handsomely so when in, uh, Cartagena…

Another stone-cold stunner of a dish, perhaps the most interesting fish presentation I’ve ever encountered.  The lion fish filet was on top of a bed of Lyonnaise potatoes (always a favorite) but what took it over the top was the incredible porcini mushroom sauce that surrounded the filet as well as some dots of sweet pea puree.  I would take a piece of the fish, swirl it around the sauce and revel in that amazing combination of flavors, the delicate white fish with the rich, deep porcini sauce.  Here’s a closer look to show how much had gone into this incredible dish.

After that more than generous portion of food, I was getting to be quite full.  Yet, I couldn’t help what wonder the desserts were like given how good the food at been so far.  I thought well I might as well take a look, for research purposes natch, and if something was just too good to pass up, well then…

The dessert list was impressively varied but my eyes were immediately drawn to the coconut creme caramel.  Dammit, I guess I had no choice then but to get it.  The things I do for my (vast?) readership on here.

Yep, I made the right choice.  This was another home run.  The coconut flavor was ever present but not cloyingly so and the caramel sauce was wonderfully light.  Seriously one of the best I had ever had.  In a particular deft touch, it was server with a bracingly fresh pineapple sorbet where the serving spoon was actually a piece of waffle cone so you could pick it up and it eat that way.  Amazing.

It had cooled down a bit so I had chosen to eat that magnificent dessert a fuera.  Not a bad view.  The storm clouds seemed to indicate it was time to leave and after being dumbfounded a final time with the bill – only $42 USD for all of that plus a glass of white wine – I set off.

I took a stroll down the edge of the water looking at the various vessels slowly moving in and out of the channel while others appears to be stationed for good, like this ol Jolly Roger.

Since the Convention Centre is just on the other side of the Clock Tower, I walked back towards the plaza, admiring this cool bridge along the way.

With the storm clouds looming, I headed back home for some recovery time.  After a few light showers and some more siesta time on my deck, I made my way back to the Walled City but this time at a newer portion (well at least in terms of being identified as such) called Gestemani.  This barrio had previously been a no go zone for tourists but over the past few years had been gentrifying into a hot spot with art galleries, boutique hotels and bars.

Since i had gone so big for lunch, I wanted something simple for dinner so per another local recommendation went to a small cafe called Cafe Malagana right in the heart of the barrio.  I had been told the main attraction was their rooftop deck and since the weather had turned into a very pleasant warm tropical night, I asked if I could sit up there.  2 flights of very small, steep stairs later, I arrived at the deck.

There were two other couples on either side enjoying some romantic times, and well me.  Still, the weather was so nice and I was enjoying the view, I didn’t mind and put my order in for a requisite mojito, which was served in a jar.  The menu was small but I had been guided to get the fish tacos, which seemed perfect for my current frame of mind.  I chatted briefly with the couples, both of whom were very friendly as everyone has been here.  Soon my fish tacos arrived.

The fish was very fresh and nicely battered with a local beer but the real star were the local pickled sweet peppers, which had a very nice tangy bite against the mild white fish.  Sure they were no Marea by Rausch quality but very tasty and perfect for the setting.  They also went great with this microbrew porter (one of Colombia’s firsts)

One of the amusing things about the setup was there appeared to be only one server for the small place so there would be large stretches of time where he would be nowhere to be found.  This became even more noticeable when both couples left and now it was just oh solo mio.  The bitter chocolate notes of the porter were aching for something sweet to be paired with it and I saw that their only dessert was a brownie ala mode.  Unfortunately, since no one was checking on me, I had no idea how to order one since the thought of going up the tiny, steep stairs again felt like tempting fate.

I noticed though that there appeared to be some of sort intercom on the far wall and tried that route – success!  I ate my lovely brownie/ice cream/porter beer combo (no pic since it was just a standard brownie with ice cream) and headed back down the steep stairs.  I asked the server if it was safe enough to walk the 10-15 minutes or so to my next destination and he said no problem.  There was a more direct route that looked a bit sketchy so thanks to Google Maps, I chose one that went along more major roads.

My destination was a club called Mister Barbilla, which I had found out about when I had asked people where they go to have fun and dance.  I had also been told to get there before midnight to watch the place transform into a true party zone.  Still, I have enough experience with Latin American clubs to know that meant getting there at 11:30.

I didn’t see any signs but Google Maps indicated I was there and soon I was ushered inside after paying a $5.00 cover.  The room was small, dead and looked nothing like the pictures I had seen online. Had I finally been scammed?  No, as it turned out as I just need to basically prove my worth – maybe the Spanish combined with my gringo looks? – and eventually I was led through another series of small rooms to the main one I had seen on line.

I knew going in that most people would be at tables at that time of night and sure enough that was the case.  Since I was solo, a table didn’t make much sense so I took a seat at one of the main bars that looked out over the club.  A mix of traditional salsa music and more modern electronic tinged tracks boomed over the massive sound system, and as if like clockwork, at midnight people indeed did start to get up to dance.

It was too dark to take any decent pictures plus I was having too good a time to care.  “Rubio Gigante!” they called me and I had fun dancing with various women, including some of the staff, sipping my way too sweet mojito.  I’ve always thought that show me a culture that loves to dance and I’ll show you a happy culture.  The energy in the room was off the charts and while some of the music was godawful, I didn’t care.

At about 2AM, I decided to call it a night, made my way through the phalanx of street hawkers to a waiting cab and cruised on home.  Saturday would be my latest night yet so I needed to catch a few Zs before the fun and frivolity began again.

After another somewhat slow start (hey I’m on vacation, sue me!), I headed back behind the walls of the old city to go have some ceviche.  I had remembered Anthony Bourdain on one of his travel shows had gone to a specific place for it and thanks to the magic of Google, I was soon en route to La Cevicheria.  This proved to be a bit more challenging than anticipated as the taxi driver had no idea where it was and had to resort to the old fashioned way of waving over random people for help.  No GPS for this hombre!

After a couple of false starts, I walked down a small alleyway to get to the restaurant, which was teeming with people.  Unfortunately, most of those people turned out to be speaking anything but Spanish.  Yes, I had stumbled into a dreaded tourist trap.  Still, if it was good enough for Tony , had to be good enough for me right?

It was a bit hot to sit outside but I had no other choice.  Fortunately, there was just enough of a breeze along with the table umbrella to make it tolerable.  A cold dish of ceviche would hit the spot so I decided on their “especial ceviche” which was a combination of conch, squid and the catch of the day (red fish in this case)

It both looked and tasted very different than a more typical ceviche and unfortunately, not nearly as good.  Unlike a Peruvian style ceviche, there was no counterpoint with corn or sweet potatoes to cut through the acid.  This was just acid on top of acid, and after about halfway through, I couldn’t take it anymore.  My first real miss on this trip.  Oh well, it happens.

It seemed appropriate too that a clearly for tourists “Colombian woman with fruit on her head” was near-by.

The ceviche at least had achieved one goal of cooling me down so I left my disappointments behind and began to explore the old city.  It soon became clear why it has become a popular tourist destination as it really felt like stepping back in time.

After a couple of hours of wandering, I was beat and retreated back to the A/C controlled environment of my apartment.  A nice siesta on my deck followed by a shower and soon I was recharged and ready to get back into the fray.

Since lunch had basically been a bust, I wanted to get Colombian food another shot and had been told Casa de Socorro would be a good spot to do so.  Located just outside of the walled city by the Convention Center, there are actually two Socorros – Casa and Restaurante.  However, the consensus seemed to be that Casa was the better option.

Casa de Socorro focuses on ancient Colombian food (as in pre-Colonial) with a particular focus on cazuelas – basically a large stew cooked in a clay pot.  I had become a fan of cazuelas during my stay in Buenos Aires so I was excited to try their version.

Unlike La Cevicheria, I was once more the only gringo there.  The seating was also designed to emulate an ancient table setting which in my case meant a very low and uncomfortable seat.  I felt like I was back in Japan struggling to fit under something clearly not intended for my size.

A drink on the menu caught my attention – limon granizado con coco – basically iced lemonade with coconut.  That seemed tropical enough so I ordered one.  I had assumed it would be kind of like a virgin pina colada and that was basically true if not a tad more bitter.

It was very tasty and soon after was followed by my cazuela of choice – langostinos and shrimp.

Along with the cazuela were two mashed/friend plantain cakes and my increasingly new obsession, coconut rice.  This version was the best I had yet and the plantains were great vehicles to dip into the rich, shellfish heavy broth of the cazuela.  It was a full langostino along with 10 nice sized shrimp.  Very, very tasty and very, very rich, which made me realize any notion of dancing the night away were probably not going to come to fruition.

After saying my goodbyes, I walked down the street to the huge plaza that separated the walled city from the other barrios.

Since it was now Thursday, there was considerable more life than the previous sleepy night, with vendors hawking their wares everywhere and large groups of people wandering around having fun.  Still, it wasn’t quite the mood I was seeking so I opted to hop in a cab to the next destination, Cafe del Mar.

I had read that Cafe del Mar had some great views of the city from their rooftop bar but for some reason didn’t realize exactly what that meant until I pulled up to large set of stairs leading up to the venue.  Cafe del Mar is actually located on top of fortress that surrounded the walled city, complete with turret mounts and cannons still there.  Unfortunately, the low lighting made any shots not really possible to capture how big and impressive it was but here are a couple of views.

It was now about midnight and while there were people everywhere, it was by no means packed.  This though turned out to be a good thing for me as I had my choice of any number of spots to sit.  I first selected a chair that was in the center of the action but soon abandoned that for a much more prime location.

Yes, that’s a bed, in the shape of a ship no less.  The combination of the setting, the cool breeze and mojito in hand made me a very happy camper.  The DJ was actually surprisingly good too as was the sound system so I hunkered down for a couple of hours to take it all in before finally heading home to get at least a few winks before it was time to start over again tomorrow.

After a somewhat fitful night’s sleep, I awoke to the sound of the sea crashing against the beach and sunlight streaming through what I had assumed were blackout curtains – apparently not.

In the light of day, I could now fully see my surroundings, and it became clear my choices for lunch within walking distance were limited at best.  My host had suggested a place around the corner that was supposedly very cheap but good.  This was necessary as I only had about $12 USD left in cash and nary a bank nor ATM anywhere close.  The breeze I had so welcomed the night before was basically gone and in its place was hot, humid air.  I found the restaurant but it was so hot plus the fact that the only thing was a seafood stew, not exactly what I wanted in such heat, so I decided to try elsewhere.  Fortunately, further down the block was a Ibis Hotel, a mid-tier chain geared towards budget conscious travelers.  My general distaste for hotel food was quickly abated by the fact that they had a) A/C and b) took credit cards so I could save what little cash I had left.

As it turned out, I had stumbled into the midst of some sort of promo event for a new resort and spa that was to be opened soon further down the coast.  This included the requisite “booth babes” who there were to look pretty and take pictures with various prospective investors/clients.

Since I wasn’t sure as to the quality of the food, I decided to play it safe with a simple filet of beef along with some grilled vegetables and coconut rice.  This turned out be quite tasty, especially the coconut rice.

After lunch, I took a quick walk through the rest of my surrounding area to get the lay of the land.  I found a small bodega where I picked up some basic goods and headed back to the apartment.  Since Colombia doesn’t have daylight savings time, it was dark by 6:30PM.  I decided to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather by taking my siesta on my deck.

The plan for the evening was to go to the famous La Vitrola restaurant inside the old walled city.  Normally almost impossible to get a reservation, I had my host contact them and say I would be willing to sit at the bar, which seemed to do the trick.  After a pretty short cab ride down the shore and through a small porthole which was one of the entrances to the walled city, La Vitrola beckoned.

Known for being a favorite of celebs, athletes and even the president of Colombia, LaVitrola was like stepping into another world and era.  Inspired by pre-Castro Cuba, including an Afro Cuban band at the front of the restaurant, it felt like I was stepping into some sort of private club, all the more given that I was clearly the only gringo there.

I took my seat at the handsomely appointed bar and opted for, what else? a mojito.  Their version was a bit different in that the bartender finished it off with a couple of dashes of Angostura bitters.

Other signal La Vitrola catered to a VIP crowd was the casual placement of Johnnie Walker Blue amongst other various liquors.

I sipped on my mojito as the band started another set, perfectly content staying there but as it turned out, a table had opened up for me since I was going to eat dinner.  I was escorted to the other end of the restaurant and given their one server who sort of spoke English.  Perhaps because I was still answering everything in Spanish, she gave up that pretense quickly and I was able to get my order in, at least I hoped.

The only word I didn’t really know was what turned out to be grouper.  As I love that fish, I decided to get their grouper carpaccio.  A few minutes later, another server told me that wasn’t available now but they had a smoked version instead.

The fish was beautifully smoked and tender, with the accompanying sliced avocado, olives and diced pineapple providing a nice contrast.  After finishing it, I opted for a glass of Carmenere from Chile to go with my main course.

As soon as I located it on the menu, I knew my main course had to be the lobster ravioli with a lobster bisque sauce.  This was a ridiculously indulgent dish but oh so tasty!

After that, I knew there was no way I could possibly have a dessert so instead I thought a nice apertif would do the trick.  I was curious about their rum collection and asked who turned out to be the general manager which he preferred.  He suggested the Zapaca 23 year old rum from Guatemala.  It was indeed an excellent choice.

Since I had apparently pleased the GM with my selection of beverage, he escorted me back into the main room and got a seat right next to the band.

At the end of their set, I got up to leave and asked one of the servers where I could find the nearest bank or ATM.  As it turned out, another server was heading that way and offered to lead me there.  She was a tiny little thing and the fellow servers laughed when they saw our height disparity.  We parted ways once she got to a plaza where there was indeed a bank, at last!  After getting some much needed pesos and enjoying my rum buzz, I strolled around the plaza and the surrounding area.

After about 30 minutes of wandering, I came across a much larger square and a massive clock tower, which I had read is used a central meeting spot for the old city.

Finally my feet had enough and headed back to the apartment, full of great food, drink and general happiness, excited for whatever was to come over the next few days.

After what turned out to be a much longer than expected sideline in terra firma due to a nightmare of a sinus infection, it was finally time for me to start seeing the world again.  My desire to continue exploring South America along with a truly amazing United rewards travel deal led me to give Cartagena, Colombia a shot along with a quick sojourn in Panama City.  And away we go!

Part of the great deal I had found was that most of the trip would be in business class.  Copa Airlines’ version is closer to a domestic business class vs. international but beggars can’t be choosy.  This would do just fine.

A mere 6 hours later, I arrived at the Panama City, where I would take a quick puddle jumper (well, sea jumper in this case) to Cartagena.  I decided against partaking in the local cuisine though.

The second leg of the trip had a slightly downgraded version of business class.

After a quick hour flight, I exited the stairs to the plane to get my first taste of the hot, humid Cartagena weather, quite the change from my previous trip to say the least!  While my business class seat was hardly great, the fact I was one of the first out of the plane turned out to be a huge advantage as I approached a very welcome sight.

Suffice it to say, getting through immigration/customs was a breeze.

My luggage was also there waiting for me along with a slightly shady guy with a cart, offering to take me to a cab.  Normally I wouldn’t agree to anything like that but because it was a late Tuesday evening in a basically empty terminal, I didn’t really have a choice.  Fortunately, I had a bit of USD with me as there was no ATM in sight and my “guide” assured me it was a cheap taxi ride.  As it turned out, he wasn’t even the driver, just trying get a few shekels on the DL.  I gave him about a buck in USD and he seemed fine with that.  I had been told my place was close to the airport and sure enough, about 10 minutes later, I had arrived.

The building loomed large over the relatively empty stretch of land across from the Caribbean so it was pretty easy to spot.  Took the elevator to the 14th floor and noticed a welcome change in the weather, a nice steady warm breeze.  Oh how I had missed that wonderful feeling!

Despite the fact that it was 2 hours earlier on my body clock, I decided it would probably be a good idea to get some rest as I wanted to be as refreshed as possible to begin my exploration of Cartagena.

The weather when I woke up was a bit less than optimal but at least didn’t appear to be raining yet.  The plan was to head to the train station to get our rental car and then drive through the Bavarian countryside to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which was a couple of hours outside of Munich.  Unfortunately, the car was a stick and since Chris hadn’t driven one since a teenager, he was understandably reluctant to operate one in a foreign country.  Fortunately, there were several trains that we could take and soon had tickets sorted.

Unlike the Alex Czech experience, the train was thankfully a bit more modern, despite our lack of a first class ticket.  That turned out to be not an issue at all as the car we selected was pretty empty.  So empty in fact I was able to literally stretch out, something all too rare in the usual cramped transportation options.

The ride was a bit over 2 hours, mostly due to the frequent stops, but was very pleasant.  Given that I hadn’t been expecting to be on a train, I didn’t have anything to listen or read so I just stared out the window as we got deeper into the countryside.

It was all very bucolic and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.  We eventually pulled into the medieval town of Fussen, where a bus would take us up to the location of the castle.  The bus turned out to be a very short 8 minute ride up the hill and off in the distance was the castle beckoning.

There were several options to get up to the castle, including horse-drawn carriage.  We decided to take the bus up there but then walk down later.  The small streets were full of tourists but thankfully it wasn’t overly packed as I’m sure it gets.  The bus ride was interesting as our driver tore up the steep, steep mountain road at a fairly alarming rate.  I was standing, pressed up against the far window so I got to see how close we were to the edge – a bit too close but I trusted the driver wouldn’t send us plummeting to our deaths.

We had read the best views of the castle were from the nearby bridge and made the short climb up to it, pictured here from the opposite perspective of the castle.

What we saw when we got to the middle was literally breathtaking.  In this case, a picture (or several) are worth a thousand words.

Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s castle (and subsequently, Disney’s logo)  Although it looks medieval in origin, it was actually only build in the late 1800s by the then Bavarian King Ludwig II.  However, the castle was never completed as the king was declared insane and died under somewhat dubious circumstances.  Because of that, the tour of the actual grounds only contains 3 rooms, and we had read it wasn’t really worth it.  Besides, just the views from it was worth the trip alone.

We were scheduled to take the 18:50 train Munich so we left the castle and made the very pleasant walk down to Fussen and since we had some time to kill, explored a bit of the charming old city.

We boarded the train but this route would be a bit different as we had to change in a small town called Buchole to get back to Munich station.  This was fine as it broke up the trip into 2 chunks as there would be a 30 minute layover.  The original thought was to grab a quick bite in Buchole but we arrived to essentially a ghost town.  The only thing open was a gelato place but by this point hunger prevailed so ice cream for dinner it was!

As we arrived back in Munich, I realized I probably needed more food than that so I bought another half roasted chicken and one more Augustiner beer for good measure.  My trip was essentially over and as I sipped on my beer, I smiled thinking about this wonderful experience.

The next day I packed up and said my goodbyes to my travel buddy, Chris, who was on to the final leg of his European adventures.  Today would be filled with trains, planes and taxis to get me back home so hardly worth blogging about – knock on wood.  I’m not sure where the wind will take me next but I do know it’s time to be on local terra firma for awhile.

Until next time then…

I woke up to more grey skies but the forecast indicated this would go away by the early afternoon.  Since our apartment was short walk to the fairgrounds where Oktoberfest would soon happen, we made that our first stop of the day.  While walking, we past several fairly spartan hotels, and I wondered what sort of insane premium they would be getting for rooms soon.

As the main event was less than 3 weeks away, the main entrance was buzzing with energy.  I had somewhat foolishly thought we might be able to walk around inside the grounds but the security checkpoint made it clear that wasn’t going to happen.  Catherine had told us though there was a worker’s lunch spot that was open to the public so we went there for a quick bite to eat and of course, beers.

Affiliated with the Augustiner Brewery, the cantina had a limited menu but all I wanted was a hendl – roasted chicken, which was available for a mere 5 euros.  The downside though was there were none ready so we had to wait quite a bit to get ours.  By the time they finally arrived, we were so hungry both of us forgot to snap a picture.  It was nothing fancy but quite good, with crispy skin and juicy meat.  The beer though was the real star, a special Oktoberfest only version of the classic Augustiner light (Hell) beer that still had a lot of taste to it.

We decided to circle the grounds via a very pleasant pathway, which was filled with people jogging, walking their dogs or just out for a stroll.  Occasionally, there would be enough of a clearing to get glimpses of just how massive Oktoberfest is.

We eventually came to the other side of the grounds, where there was a massive statue and building to celebrate the Bavarian kings.  Chris climbed up to the top get some aerial snaps of the grounds.

After a quick pit stop back at the apartment, we walked back down to the Marienplatz to see it during the day.  The weather had improved a little so we were able to appreciate the various Bavarian charms along the way.

Chris was in search of an authentic Bavarian beer stein but my legs and back were begging for some more rest so I took off while he carried on with his quest.  I decided to take the tram back as I knew I’d be heading back that direction for dinner and took my usual late afternoon siesta.  Chris returned with his prize and some of gifts a bit later but clearly was spent so dinner would be a solo affair once again.

I wanted to take the SBahn because that’s how I’d eventually get to the Munich airport and made the short walk across the bridge to the closest station.  Google Maps gave me the direction of the train to take but to my consternation, that wasn’t an option on the scrolling train schedule.  Thankfully, there was a map nearby and I discovered that, for some reason, the direction of the train I wanted was labeled with the 2nd to last stop, not the final – very strange.

This metro car wasn’t nearly as nice as the one from last night but still very comfortable and I was soon back at the Marienplatz.  A light rain had begun to fall but fortunately my destination was close by.  Catherine had recommended it saying it had the best pours in all of Bavaria so that’s all I needed to know.  It was easy to spot as it was basically at the base of the famous double domed church.

Bratwurst Gloeckl is a Munich institution, famous for pouring Augustiner beers directly from oak barrels, as the days of yore.  The main dining room was packed with loud and lively Germans sipping beers and having a grand old time.  Since I was solo, I was given a seat at a large communal table and said hello to my fellow diners.

First on the agenda, why beer of course!  I was surprised there were only 3 options – Augustiner dark and light, plus a 3rd beer that was from the tap only.  I started off with the dark beer, which had a great, frothy head and a wonderful balance of flavors – delicious.

Catherine had told me really the only thing to eat there are the bratwursts, with sauerkraut, of course.  I opted for the 6 bratwurst platter and a side of roasted potatoes.

Soon after I dug in, one of the women across from me, looking alarmed, asked if I liked mustard.  Oh, right, I had forgotten about the sweet mustard!  Thanking her for my oversight, I spooned a generous portion on the side of my plate, combining the brat, sauerkraut and the mustard into a delicious bite.  This was indeed the better way to eat them.

With the meal, I selected the light Augustiner, which was available only inside the main dining room and once again drawn from oak barrels.  It was nice and refreshing, and as Catherine had noted, the perfect mix of foam and temperature.

I wanted a 3rd beer but thought it would be fun to try somewhere else.  Unfortunately, by this point, the rain had picked up and the prospect of wandering around to find a new spot didn’t sound too appealing.  I walked back down to the SBahn station, encountering this fellow who apparently had just gotten off work from, uh, somewhere.

By the time I got back to street level, the rain had subsided a bit so I was able to walk across the bridge without being drenched.  Still, I wanted that 3rd beer so I decided to try out this Italian place that was next to the apartment building.  It was a charming old skool Italian restaurant, complete with a man busy with the brick oven making pizzas and grey haired waiters in ties buzzing around the main room.

For my nightcap, I wanted to try one of the other local breweries, Hacker-Pschor, and had their dark ale.  It wasn’t quite as good as the Augustiner, with a slightly odd after-taste but still was a nice way to end things.  Tomorrow would be the trek to magic castles and Bavarian countrysides so it was time to get some sleep.

After almost a week of fun and frivolity in Prague, it was time to say goodbye.  Chris and I made the relatively quick (and thankfully) downhill path to the train station.  The train to Munich would be just over 6 hours and presented my first time in a European train car in 22 years.  I was looking forward to seeing all of things that changed since then.

Unfortunately, as we boarded, it appeared that our train probably hadn’t been updated in least that many years, if not more.  WiFi?  Uh no, there wasn’t even an outlet, except, quaintly enough, in the bathroom, which had a picture of an ancient looking electric razor by the outlet.  First class, eh not so much.  Slightly more problematic for my shall we say less than ample posterior was the seat, which clearly had seen better days.

The cushions had essentially lost all of their comfort and were hard as a rock.  There was some lumbar support, which was a saving grace but I knew it would be a long ride.  Since we were in first class though, the car was relatively empty, and Chris and I actually were able to have respective rooms to ourselves.  It was pretty grey out so the country side vistas were somewhat limited.  Overall, hardly the romantic riding the rails experience.

We arrived in the main Munich train station about 15 minutes late (so much for German precision) and made the short trip to our digs for the next few days.  I had arranged for us to meet up with Catherine, one of my first cousins twice removed, who had been living in Munich for the past five years.  She told us to take a tram, where she would meet us and then walk to the restaurant.

The tram was very similar to those in Prague and quickly got us to our destination.  Catherine welcomed and guided us to the metro for the next leg of the trip.  The metro car was one of the most impressive I had ever seen – brand new and extra wide for a ton of room.  We walked up to the street level and headed to the Spatenhaus Restaurant.

Officially affiliated with the great Spaten Brewery, the restaurant represented a slightly more upscale version of a typical Bavarian brew pub.  First up, of course, was a round of beers.  I chose the Spaten dark ale and was thrilled to finally have a beer with taste again.  Sorry Czech brewers but 4% ABV just doesn’t cut it for me.

Catherine said the roasted duck was a specialty so I ordered that.  In the meantime, I was delighted to find a basket of soft pretzels at the ready and happily munched on one to stave off my increasing hunger.  While delicious, I was somewhat bummed the pretzels weren’t warm.  I had finished my first beer so for my next one, I selected the dark wheat beer, which packed a wallop at 12% ABV.

Thankfully, right on cue, my duck arrived, accompanied by the ubiquitous potato dumplings.  Our server also gave us 2 massive gravy boats, insisting we use it because “everything needs gravy on it.”  Hard to argue with that, and she was correct as the gravy added a nice dept of flavor to the crispy duck.  Chris in the meantime was wrestling with the awesome fury that was the Bavarian sampler, at one point sighing “I have no idea what I’m eating now.”

Full beyond recognition, we politely declined Catherine’s offer of another beer and headed back to the main square.  Catherine walked with us and provided some great historical facts along the way.  It was interesting to see the difference between Prague, which come through World War II relatively unscathed, and Munich, which was essentially leveled.  The biggest difference being the number of modern buildings and shops lining the streets, and the decided lack of cobblestone.

We said our goodbyes and since it was a nice night, Chris and I decided to just walk back to the apartment, taking in the city in the dark.  Tomorrow would be a full day so rest was in order, and thanks to the duck and beer, sleep came quite easily for me.

Sunday had long been forecasted as pretty much steady rain all day, which meant catching up on blog entries and resting my tired bones for a bit. First up though was lunch and given the inclement weather, returning to Dish Bistro seemed the best course of action due to it being literally around the corner from the loft.

Knowing the large dinner that awaited, I opted to forgo a burger this time and instead, had a salad of mixed greens, bacon, potatoes with honey mustard dressing. My body was grateful for the roughage too. I ordered what I thought would be my last Czech beer but turned out to be my first German beer – ooops. Oh and given the pedestrian nature of my lunch, there will be no accompanying pics, plenty of those to come.

A few hours later, I hit the streets, this time solo however as Chris had other plans. My trusty Google Maps indicated the restaurant was within walking distance of the metro and since I hadn’t taken that yet , I thought that would be a nice change of pace. Getting to the station near the loft was easy enough and it turned out that my still not used tram pass was valid for the metro as well.

It was a quick 3 stop trip, which was very easy to navigate. However, finding the right route from there turned out to be tricky. Google Maps indicated an exit route that apparently didn’t exist and when I picked one at random, I wasn’t entirely sure which direction to head. Things were a bit exacerbated by the rain picking up although Chris had generously let me use his umbrella. I walked through what appeared to be a very tony part of Old Town, lined with luxury shops and cars. It seemed to indicate that if one is going to such a fancy restaurant, one would probably not take the metro to get there.

Finally, I saw the sign for La Degustation ahead and to my surprise, the sign for Lokal was just beyond it – almost full circle. La Degustation de Boheme Bourgeoise was the first restaurant in the Czech Republic to garner a coveted Michelin star. The chef Oldrich Sadahjdak was trained in some of the best kitchens in Europe and returned to his native Prague to open up La Degustation in 2006.  The concept was to take recipes from the bible of Czech cooking, written by their version of Julia Child long before there was a real Julia Child, with modern twists.

Upon being seated, right next to the kitchen so I could watch the brigade work, I was handed an envelope which revealed 2 different options – 6 or 12 courses. As tempting as it was to go all out for the 12 courses, financial considerations plus the all-day travel plans tomorrow squelched that idea. Shortly after, I was presented with the first of the amuse bouches – a pickled radish as a welcome. This was soon followed by a trio of amuses – a potato pancake, a piece of trout skin and the most interesting of all, a fried rabbit ear with rabbit pate. The final amuse was my old friend steak tartar, this time in bite-sized form. Needless to say, the amuses had me intrigued as to what was to come.

The first course was pumpkin ravioli with onions, leeks and soy tapioca broth. As the server explained the components, one of the cooks spooned over the final ingredients, always a welcome touch. This would turn out to be my least favorite course but it was still very good. The soy tapioca balls added a necessary earthy component, which saved the dish from being too one-note.

Next up was a local catfish filet with thinly sliced kohlrabi in a yeast-based broth. The presentation was quite striking and the flavor was even better. The filet was tender and the kohlrabi slices pratically melted in my mouth. Although I was somewhat skeptical about a yeast-based broth, it was superb. So good, I switched to a spoon at the end to eat all of it. Now, I was very excited to taste what was next.

The third course had an even more intriguing name – Mustard ice cream infused with thyme in a tomato sauce. This was a real stunner. Although the picture makes it look like simply a dollop of mustard, it was anything but that. First, it really was mustard ice cream, both in the temperature and texture. The coldness of the ice cream was offset by the hot tomato sauce, which soon made everything melt together in wondrous fashion. I was so taken by it I had to ask one the managers how this would have been served traditionally. He explained that tomato sauce is a staple of Czech cooking and so is mustard so the chef thought the two would be interesting together.

The winning streak continued with the fourth course – perch in a Moravian champagne capers sauce with sliced celery root and pickled shallots. The fish had been lightly poached in oil but not greasy at all. The Moravian sauce was incredibly flavorful and boosted the often neutral taste of the lowly perch. Again, the chef’s mix of simple peasant ingredients elevated to haute cuisine was evident. I ended up pairing this with a Moravian sauvignon blanc, which had a nice crisp mineral body to it that complemented the dish well.

The last savory course was again a peasant staple – beef tongue with apples and yellow peas. However, in this version, it was beef tongue that had been sous vided to make it incredibly tender and the apple sauce had a demi glace base. Along the edge was a puree of yellow peas (new to me) and dried apples. Again, another fantastic dish.

Another amuse was next – a dehydrated egg yolk with yogurt powder. It basically tasted like a fruit chew candy but with a bit more tang. It was a good palette cleanser after the richness of the last dish.

As the cook who presented the next course stated, this was sadly the last one – bread ice cream with plum jam and a beer whipped cream. As a fan of bread ice cream, I was struck how unique this version was as it tasted very close to the local breads I had been having since arriving in Prague. That along with the plum jam made it taste like a liquified peanut butter and jelly sandwich, even though there wasn’t any actual peanut butter in it. The beer whipped cream added another yeast note but like almost everything else I had, worked in harmony in the dish.

As a final thank you, the last server presented a set of petit fours – a salted caramel chew, half of a fresh plum, a beetroot candy and a mini carrot pistachio cake. All were very tasty and made for a very pleasant way to end this exceptional meal.

I said my goodbyes and headed out with the intention of going back to Black Angels for a nightcap. However, the rain had picked up considerably so I chose instead a small bar next to the restaurant that looked inviting. My goal was to finally try the famous (infamous?) Czech plum brandy and luckily the bar did indeed have it. Since it was a Sunday night, it was fairly empty except for a small group who appeared to be friends of the owner. A small shot glass arrived and I took my first sip, immediately realizing that the purported 40% alcohol label clearly was a pack of lies as this tasted at least 50%. A few more sips and I began to side with the infamous side of the equation with this rip fuel.

I stumbled out into the streets a few minutes later, suddenly not really caring about the rain that much. Still, I had enough wits left to make sure to have the restaurant call a cab for me versus getting one on the street. While I was waiting, one of the managers asked if I wanted another drink. At first I said I was good but after a couple of more attempts to get me to have at least something, I replied that I had just had some plum brandy. The manager knowingly smiled and knew I didn’t need anything else.

After a great night’s sleep, I was craving some brunch and on a previous walk, I had noted a place down the street that looked like a winner.  It had a pretty strange name, Sweet & Pepper Days, and a menu only in Czech which made ordering a challenge.  After some awkward back and forth, I think I had ordered some sort of egg and toast dish, while Chris went for the far easier option Full English Breakfast, which was actually in English.

My meal ended being a delicious egg sandwich with cheese and bacon.  It was exactly what I needed and due to my hunger, I neglected to take a pic of it.  Oh well.  Chris said his was the best version of the English breakfast he had this trip – high praise indeed.  I also got one of their freshly baked chocolate peanut butter walnut cookie, which was superb.

Our plan was to head back to the loft for Chris to get his camera and then walk to the Zizkov TV tower for some great views.  However, this was temporarily thwarted by an absolute downpour that seemingly came out of nowhere.  Thankfully, it was relatively short-lived and an hour later, the sun was out again and blue skies appeared.

Located in nearby Prague 3 area, the tower was pretty hard to miss.  I had read that Prague 3 was the hipster part of the city and based on the people out and about, that seemed about right.  Near the tower was a street fair which seemed to be a bit less attended due to the aforementioned showers.  A few minutes later we were at the base of the tower, which represented the Communist aesthetic in all of its transcendent ugliness.

Those wonderfully strange giant babies crawling up the tower were due to a local artist who apparently specializes in them as we had seen others around town earlier in the week.

Built between 1985-1992, it is a still working TV tower, though now converted to digital transmission.  Originally decried by the locals, it’s now a treasured landmark and a symbol of Prague’s communist past.  After entering a very sleek lobby, we purchased our tickets and were instructed to head to the 4th floor, which was 93 meters up.

As promised, the views of the city were pretty fantastic.

I also appreciated the fun hanging chairs, which were very comfortable and with the accompanying sound of the city being piped in, made for a nice rest to appreciate the city from high above.

We got back on the elevator to check out the 3rd floor views.  However, it turned out that level was dedicated solely to the restaurant/bar.  Still, it was a lazy Saturday and the bar looked interesting so we decided to take a cocktail break.

Both the heavily stocked bar and the various instruments on display made it clear this was a true mixology spot, and the creative drink menu followed in suit.  Chris went for something called “Three Faces”, which the bartender explained were 3 different cocktails in test tubes.  I selected the Old Fashioned, which seemed normal except for the mention of “orange smoke”, so that I had to try.

The “orange smoke” turned out to be dry ice, which had been fortified with orange liqueur for the first taste of the cocktail.  As evidenced above, it made for quite the spectacle.  Once dissipated though, the end result was a very proper classic Old Fashioned. 

The skies were starting to turn a bit too grey for our liking so we quickly finished up and headed back to the loft.  Sure enough, moments later the rain kicked up again so that meant it was nap time.  After a couple of hours of rest, we were back on the streets, making a relatively short stroll to that evening’s restaurant, Cestr, a modern Czech steakhouse.

Cestr, which is an abbreviation of the famous Czech spotted cattle, was the fourth of the Ambiente Group’s restaurants we had been to, all of which had been stellar.  I had discovered it due to its unique choice of dessert, which will be explained in a bit.

The large room was bustling with locals as this wasn’t exactly on the main drag, all the better really.  There were several options from which to choose but both of us were drawn to the 3 course option along with sides.  After selecting a creme version of the ubiquitous Pilsner Urquell, I opted to start with the intriguingly titled “steak sashimi”, then the beef shank cooked in goose fat and finally the sirloin strip while Chris had the steak tartar, trout with peppers and the rump steak.

The steak “sashimi” were cuts of the finest pieces of tenderloin that had been soaked in soy, mirin and green apples.  The steak barely needed to be chewed and the sauce was just the right balance – a very good start.

Next

This was followed by 2 copper pots, which contained the elements for the second course – a generous helping of mashed potatoes and the beef shank.  Together they looked like this:

The shank had a deep richness from the goose fat and the accompanying gravy made each bite very succulent.  However, the start of the show were the absolutely perfect mashed potatoes, which I’m sure had been made with an insane amount of butter and cream – so so good.

Continuing with the steak and potatoes theme, the final course was a beautifully cooked sirloin strip with some very crispy fries.  Despite being very full from this meat-a-palooza, I knew I had to save a bit of room (so no second beer for me) for the reason I had come there – dark beer ice cream.

Although there was a more elaborate version the waiter suggested, I knew I just wanted a single scoop.  Using mostly just the foam of a local dark ale, the ice cream tasted like a sweetened version of the head of a dark ale mixed with some very strong coffee notes.  As I had to give up coffee ice cream years ago due to sensitivity to caffeine, I was in heaven with this.

With no more room and a wave of exhaustion setting in, we left the restaurant and returned once more to the loft.  Tomorrow was our final day in Prague and since the weather didn’t look very promising, it would be a mostly indoor one.

After the fun times with our local host the previous night, I was a little slow on the uptake to get going the next day.  Fortunately, I had planned for this and had almost nothing on the agenda.  Chris was in search of a stein, and both of us wanted some more of the wondrous sausage at Nase Maso.  So, with that in mind, we made the trek downhill once more to Old Town Square.

The square was even more packed with tourists from all over than previously and once again I could hear various languages being shouted as their respective tour groups shuffled around the square.  To be honest, at this point, I had my fill of the madness so I was perfectly fine making this my last sojourn down here.

We eventually reached Nase Maso and why mess with perfection so I got the same links sampler and the glorious Czech pork sausage.  Chris got the same in addition to some roasted pork belly, which was quite good.  Given my obsession with their amazing mustard, I was thrilled to learn they actually sold it there for a ridiculously cheap price.  I got 2 jars that will hopefully make it back to the States with me.  Fingers crossed!

On our way back, Chris, ever the intrepid photographer, finally got a couple of shots of the famous Astronomer’s Clock, no small feat given the constant throng around it.

Full of meat in tube form, a nap was needed and this was helped along by a few rain showers.  It was a needed break, and next thing I knew, it was time to make a somewhat longer trip to a new restaurant called Sansho, which specialized in Asian fusion.  I thought it would be a nice change of pace from the pretty heavy food we’d be having all week.

Sansho was located in a fairly remote area so we had to take a different tram line to get to it.  The tram we were on, unlike the new ones on trusty tram 22, was quite old and therefore didn’t have the handy electronic map.  While I had mapped it out on Google Maps, it was still a bit disconcerting to not be entirely sure if we were heading in the right direction.  Fortunately, all was fine and we soon exited the tram basically at the end of the line, making a short walk up a fairly desolate street to the warm glow of the restaurant.

Sansho has a set menu for dinner of 6 courses – 5 bites and 1 main course, no dessert.  The restaurant was industrial chic, and I noticed that there were only a spoon and chopsticks, no knife or fork – definitely Asian as described.  Since I hadn’t tried any local wine yet, I got a glass of the Moravian house red.  I was somewhat disconcerted by the waiter’s look of “well, OK you asked for it” but the wine was a very pleasant surprise, especially since it was only $4 USD.

We were told everything would be served family style, except for a couple of exceptions due to my garlic issues.  The first course was a classic salmon sashimi with a soy/mirin sauce.  The salmon was very fresh and the sauce was very well balanced.  A nice start.

Next up was the first divergence for me as I got a banh mi “slider” with ground pork and beef with the usual crunchy vegetable medley of this Vietnamese staple.  While I wouldn’t necessarily call it anything close to a true banh-mi, it tasted great and that was good enough.  Chris had glazed pork belly with watermelon, which apparently was loaded with garlic.  He said it was very good as well.

The third course was a home run – steak tartar with a farm egg and fried bao buns.  Quite simply, this was probably the best steak tartar I’ve ever had.  The Asian flavor profile was there and the 9 day aged beef was perfect.  However, what took it to another level were the fried bao buns.  They were so good we ended up getting another order to ensure every bite of the tartar was on one of those amazing pieces of bread.

Next course was slightly modified for me but still basically the same dish – tea smoked trout with papaya salad.  Once again, the Asian flavors shined through with the Czech influence of the river trout.  Though not my favorite of the evening, it was a nice breathe after the rich previous course.

The final “bite” was one I had read about when researching restaurants – soft shell crab slider with pickled cucumbers and wasabi mayo.  The crunchy crab and veggies were offset nicely by the soft bao bun.  It was a great way to gear up for the main course.

The final course and the main course was a 10 hour beef rendang with stir fried vegetables and jasmine rice.  These were the first green vegetables I had seen all week so I eagerly gobbled up the medley.  The rendang was the chef’s calling card, and I was relieved that it wasn’t overly spicy.  A great way to finish the meal.

After 2 hours of feasting, we wisely opted to skip dessert and made the journey back up to our loft.  The next day was supposed to be the last decent one weather-wise so the final item on the schedule – the Zizkov TV tower and it’s panoramic views of Prague.