Venice Part II

Eric here. I wanted to post some additional photos from our trip to Venice. I think it is one of the must-see cities due to its abundance of opulent renaissance (and older) art and architecture crammed onto to small islands that are slowly sinking into the Adriatic Sea.

The audacity to build these amazing buildings on what was only a muddy lagoon is impressive to say the least.

You have to remember that Venice has no cars or bicycles, no roads or proper streets. It is all narrow stone pedestrian lanes or water canals. So, you either walk or take the water taxis or water buses or if you have loads of money, a gondola.

Kusi and I really enjoyed a classical music performance we went to in what was an old church. The group consisted of 4 violins, viola, cello, bass and harpsichord. They played mostly the works of native son Antonio Vivaldi including his famous 'Four Seasons'. The group had a flamboyant celloist that made the show. Here is a link to their website where you can have a listen to them - Interpreti Veneziani.

One of the main highlights of Venice is San Marco Piazza. Kusi described the church and piazza in her Blog but it is so impressive, I wanted to show you two more views. One of me standing outside.

And the next one taken from above the piazza in the Bell Tower where I was freezing my butt off.

I have included a photo of one of my favourite pastimes - eating Italian Ice Cream also known as Gelato. Doesn't get much better than this. That's Pistachio in case you are wondering.

We visited a small collection of machines that Leonardo Da Vinci designed. The exhibt wasn't that good as it was billed as "interactive" but wasn't in the least bit. But, they did have some fascinating things including his obsession with trying to figure out how to make man fly.

On our snowy Sunday we took a tour of the famed La Fenice Opera House. Transalated as "The Phoenix", this gorgeous and appropriately named opera house has burnt down and been rebuilt a number of time. We were only allowed to take pictures in the foyer.

It was lovely weekend, a wonderful experience and great to be back in Italy. Next up, Japan!

Anniversary in Venice

This February myself and Eric had our third wedding anniversary and to celebrate we decided to avail of Easyjet's super-cheap flights and go to Venice. Neither myself or Eric had been there before and were very excited. We arrived on a Friday and the weather was fantastic - vivid blue skies and balmy sea air.

We took the vaporetto (water-taxi) to get to our hotel. I must say that it was great to be near the sea again. We were spoiled when we lived in Monkstown and I really miss it in Berlin.

Anyway, back to Venice. What a beautiful and, as one friend called it, 'improbable' city! It is basically a mass of winding narrow alleyways and criss-crossing canals. And the water is really a deep sea-green.

Some of the alleyways are very narrow indeed. It is so easy to get lost in Venice, but then again so easy to get back on track again. We really loved how easy the city was to walk around. However, the bridges are deceptively easy-going. Our second day there my hips and Eric's left calf (!?) felt like we had done a couple of hours on a stair climber. Hardgoing, unless you are Ceci of course! Well actually it just meant that we had to schedule more cappucino stops the rest of our time there. Not so hardgoing I suppose!

On the Saturday we took in all the major sights including the impressive early morning fish market where all the mamas and papas buy their fresh fish. Myself and Eric 'ooohed' and 'aaaahed' our way through the market.

Then it was straight to the Basilica di San Marco. Unfortunately they didn't allow any photos to be taken, though many of the tourists just completely ignored the many signs. I didn't take any as it felt it would be disrespectful to do so (I'm a believer that no means no). Anyway, I don't think the photos would have, or could have done the place justice. The entire ceiling inside was one huge gold mosaic, depicting many scenes from the bible. It was what I imagine the great pyramids to be like, or one of the seven wonders of the world.

This is a picture of the roof of the basilica taken from the top of the nearby belltower. The weather really turned on the Saturday. It as absolutely freezing in the belltower.

Little did we know that this drop in temperature meant snow! Yes, it snowed while we were there (see our pic for proof). Apparently they hardly ever get snow in Venice. The other strange thing was that it was also snowing in Berlin, Dublin and Huntington, all at the same time!

No the snow didn't drive us to McDonalds. We just thought the entrance looked so dinky. I think this photo is hilarious. Don't ask me why I'm making such a weird face here or why the girl behind me inside the place looks so shocked. It's like we are watching Eric do something really strange and disturbing! Don't our faces say "what is that man doing???" That aside, we did actually have some very nice meals in Venice, including the best pizza either us had ever eaten. Anyone who know us knows this is high praise - I mean, we have eaten a lot of pizza in our time! Inspired by a travel dvd of chef Anthony Bourdain that Ben sent us, Eric also tried the Venetian specialty of calves liver and onions, which was surprisingly tasty.

All in all it was a wonderful trip and a lovely way to celebrate our three years being married. We would highly recommend it - both visiting Venice and getting married if you were thinking of it.

Ceci's visit: Christmas in Berlin

I know it's weird to be blogging about Christmas now that January is almost over, but here I go. This was our first Christmas in Berlin, and our first Christmas not in America or Dublin. Though we were happy enough to be here it was also nice to have Eric's sister, Ceci with us then. Unfortunately Ceci's visit started off a bit rocky. Firstly her luggage didn't arrive with her and actually didn't arrive until a good few days after. Then at the airport, after queuing and filling out forms with Air France, she went to get out some money and the machine ate her card! Double whammy! Poor Ceci! One good thing did come out of it though: she ended up getting some nice clothes courtesy of Air France, including a superwarm winter coat which she made use of.

After that luckily there were no more disasters. The few days leading up to Christmas were very quiet as Germany more or less closes down a few days before and after Christmas. Luckily we got tickets to a choral event at the beautiful Berliner Dom for the night of the 23rd. Unfortunately we couldn't see that much unless we stood up but the music was wonderful (Eric says it was the best choir he had ever heard) and the setting even better. Very Christmasy!

On Christmas Day we kept it very traditional and basically ate our way through the day, bagels and smoked salmon for breakfast and roast chicken, roast vegetables and apple pie for our Christmas lunch. Our friend Joy joined us for the dinner (he's the one taking the photo) to complete the winning Christmas combo of food, friends and family.

Ceci had rented a bike for the week she was with us and once Christmas was over and the city woke up again that was basically what we spent our time doing - cycling and seeing the sights. And I think Ceci is now in agreement with us, despite the freezing temperatures we sometimes had to endure, that the best way to see Berlin is by bike. Ceci certainly enjoyed it and could be heard singing Queen's bicycle song happily to herself as she cycled through Berlin. Berlin + bicycle = spontaneous happy singing!

We went from the west side of the city...

...to the east. Above is a photo from the Fernsehturm, which Ceci brought us up as part of our Christmas present. It has an amazing 365 degree panoramic view of the city, which is pretty spectacular.

And we, of course, made sure to stock up on energy along the way. She seemed to take to the typical German breakfast (pic above), which we ate at one of our favourite cafes. Truly, the best way to start any day.

By the end of her trip after cycling the length and breadth of the city I have to say that Ceci looked pretty at home here. She even made some friends down by Brandenburg Gate!

Thanks for visiting Ceci! Berlin's cyclepaths aren't the same without you!

When computers go bad...

Forgive me blog-readers, for it has been a long, LONG, time since my last blog, or at least it feels like it. I would like to have had a great story as an excuse about a wild adventure that myself and Eric were on and how I was that busy I just couldn't muster a blog, but unfortunately I have no such story. The main reason is that a couple of weeks ago my computer crashed. Actually not only did it crash, but it basically died. Kaputt, kicked the bucket, bought the farm etc, etc. We brought it to an Apple outlet in the city and there was nothing that could be done. They just wrapped up the old harddrive in plastic and apologetically handed it back to us. I have to say that I nearly had a complete freakout to realise that everything I had on the computer was lost. Then my lovely husband reminded me that in September I had the foresight to back up my harddrive on a handy external harddrive that we have here. So I still had everything up until then. However, it was a bummer to lose all my work and photos from September till now. It was a valuable lesson in "Backing It Up". Seriously, if you have anything important on your computer, make a copy somewhere else. Technology cannot be trusted!!! It will fool you with it's lovely shiny screen and it's perky buttons and it's super quick response time until one day it just leaves without even so much as a good-bye, taking all your valuables with it. (Yes, I'm still talking about computers.) Anyway, that's all I have to say on the matter and wow, I've just realised what a boring, moany blog this is! Apologies - I'm out of practice, a proper blog on the way, I promise! In the meantime, why not share your 'when computers/technology go/es bad' stories in the comments section?

Jami and Jason's Part II: Making Cheese

So one of the things that we got to do while we stayed with Jami and Jason was to make some cheese. Jason had gotten a cheesemaking kit from Jami for his 40th birthday, and Jason kindly shared the experience with us. Everything that we needed to make the mozzarella that we decided to make (apart from the milk and the pots) was in this handy little kit. By the way, most of these photos were taken by Leah, who very diligently documented the process.

First there was the pouring of the milk.

Then after adding the cultures and the rennet we had to monitor the temperature of the milk carefully...

...until the curds separated from the whey. This is Eric modelling the curds. Cheese making is serious business.

Then it required some stretching of the molten curds, which Jason did with some rather fetching rubber gloves. He said that it was HOT!

Then it was just a matter of Jason putting his own artistic touch to the cheese.

And hey presto, the finished product - some very tasty, as you can tell from Eric's expression below, mozzarella cheese. We ate this happily with some of Jason's homemade ciabatta bread.

Joe's Stupendous Stuffing Bread

One of the main highlights of Thanksgiving, after the company of course, is the food. And this year was no exception. Ben and Sally kindly opened their doors to all the Eckhart clan, immediate and extended, and there was more than enough food to feed us all. There was a very fine turkey, sweet potato, mashed potato, beans, coleslaw, as well as the many delicious pies that we ate for dessert. One of the other things that goes with the meal, which myself and Eric love is Joe's stuffing bread. It's called Stuffing Bread because it has sage, onion and celery seed and therefore tastes exactly like stuffing. The best thing about it is that it is a perfect sandwich match for all that leftover turkey. Anyway, Joe generously offered to share this recipe through the blog. He is following the fine tradition of passing it on, as he got this recipe from his friend Margaret. So thanks Margaret and thanks Joe - Eric is going to try his hand at it on Thursday so we will be enjoying it with our Christmas dinner and for several sandwiches after.

Joe's Stupendous Stuffing Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup minced onions
1/4 oz active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
11 oz can chicken broth
2 eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 - 6 cups bread flour
1 egg white blended with 1 tablespoon water for glaze

1. Sauté onion in butter until soft. Set aside to let cool.
2. Warm chicken broth to 110 F. In large mixer bowl, dissolve yeast in chicken broth and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let stand in warm place for 15 minutes until frothy.
3. To yeast mixture add: 2 tablespoons sugar, eggs, poultry seasoning, celery seed, pepper, salt, cooled butter onion mixture and 2 cups of flour. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes.
4. Sitr in enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Turn out dough and remaining flour on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
5. Place dough in large bowl greased with butter, turning it to coat all sides. Cover with a slightly damp towel and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 1 1/2 - 2 hours until doubled in bulk.
6. Punch down dough and knead 1 minute. Divide dough in half and form into loaves. Places loaves in two (9" x 5") loaf pans. Cover with dry towel and let rise in warm place 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
7. Brush loaves with egg white glaze if desired and bake in 375 F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans and serve hote with butter or serve cold for turkey sandwiches.

Hanging out with Jami, Jason and Little Chicken

So while we were in America this time we made sure to visit our friends Jami and Jason at their home in Mount Vernon, Ohio, since it had been nearly two years since we had last seen them. A lot can happen in two years. In that time, Jami has changed jobs, I've left my job, myself and Eric have moved country and Jami and Jason have also expanded their family, with their newest member, Jason's niece, Leah, who we were very keen to meet. The picture above is of Leah showing us around their vegetable garden (those are broccoli plants beside her, impressive!).

Jami had already told us a bit about Leah before we arrived. She is 10 years old. Her favourite colour is blue. She likes animals and is curious about more or less everything. She enjoys knitting, is very creative and loves music (more on this topic later). As we are animal-lovers, an avid knitter (that's me when the mood takes me), music-loving creative types that also happen to like the colour blue, we knew we were going to like her. Also, see the picture above? That is a picture by Leah of John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain is green with a funky hair-do because he is an ogre. Obama is on a taller podium with gold stars, because well, he's Obama. Also, for some reason, McCain has a handbag while Obama has a briefcase. How can you not like a kid that came up with this?

As well as catching up, we spent our days with them eating, cooking, and exploring the Mount Vernon-Kenyon area. The weather turned out to be pretty fabulous on our second day there, so Jason brought us up to see his beehives. Jason is seasoned beekeeper, whose bees make excellent honey. We didn't get to see any bees as they were busy keeping warm in their hives.

We also took a walk in a nearby forest where Jason had planted some paw-paw trees. Apparently paw-paws are a fruit native to Ohio that taste like a mango but have the texture of custard. Strange but true.

Later that day Eric and Leah got out their guitars and Eric showed Leah some new chords. She picked it very quickly and since then she's even written some of her own songs. Anyway, they jammed together for a while. One of my favourites was a song that I had made up, which Eric turned into a kind of rootsy children's song called 'Little Chicken'. It doesn't sound much written down but it was very catchy (honest!) and quite hilarious. It ended up being the song for the weekend and since then has become our nickname for our new friend Leah.

Check out next blog on our cheese making adventures in Ohio.