Are you ready to get back on a Boeing 737 Max 9? Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are going to resume service soon on the Boeing aircraft that recently lost a door. If this makes you nervous, check what kind of aircraft your next flight will be on.
Don’t use the USB ports in airports! It’s a good way to get malware on your phone or computer. Use electric outlets only.
Stuck on Amtrak? A college student fell asleep on a train going to Chicago and got stuck on it while it was parked in the rail yard. Her family complained that it took a long time to retrieve her from Amtrak. So set your alarm when you ride a train!
How safe do you feel on an airplane? A passenger on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Manchester, England bound for New York happened to notice that some bolts were missing from the wing of the plane. After he told the crew, they canceled the flight to investigate further. Yikes!
If you fly with small children, pay heed to this! A girl’s hand was caught in an armrest of a United Airlines “unguarded hinge mechanism” that caused a finger injury bad enough to require surgery. Some planes have guards over the hinges, but not all. The girl’s father is suing.
Worst airports for making a connection? FinanceBuzz has ranked the top 10 airports that will make it hardest for you to make a connecting flight. They considered the number of gates on opposite ends of terminals and distances between gates. Here they are in order for 1-10 (yep, Denver gets the #1 worst spot): Denver International, Chicago O’Hare, Salt Lake City, John Wayne Airport (Santa Ana, California), LaGuardia in NYC, JFK in NYC, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Austin-Bergstrom, LAX, and Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.
How safe do you feel in the air these days? (Stock photo)
THE FUN STUFF!
Phoenix to France anyone? If you live in Phoenix, we have some good news for you: Air France will start flying nonstop between Phoenix and Paris in May 2024, but just on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
A 240,000 Euro cruise, anyone? Mundy Cruising will have a 105-day cruise in 2025 that covers 3 continents, 11 countries, and 60 destinations. You’d be on 7 different ships and fork over 240,000 Euros. Who’s ready to go?
Traveling alone on a cruise? There’s good news for you! Cruise lines are finally paying attention to solo travelers and providing staterooms that cater to them without the need to find a companion or pay for two. Case in point, Norwegian Cruise Line has more than doubled its solo staterooms this year.
Frontier Airlines adds 54 new routes. Some of these new routes won’t start until mid-year, but they’re going to start flying from Boston to Raleigh, Dallas to Puerto Vallarta, and Denver to LaGuardia in NYC, among others.
The story of wine is as old as civilization itself. Most evidence points to Georgia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia, or even China, where literary mentions of what sounds like wine are found in ancient manuscripts, as well as modern archaeological finds. While the hows of neolithic wine production are still a mystery, what seem to be wine traces have been analyzed on neolithic tools where chemicals found in wine were discovered.
An ancient Chinese brick in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which depicts wine-making. Photo by Nick A. Ross
Today’s well-known wine-producing regions are not where wine originated. The ancient wine regions are where the world’s first winemakers developed techniques for fermenting grape juice into alcoholic wine.
The earliest written mention of grape-growing has been discovered in almost 13,000-year-old cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia. Wine was enjoyed by royalty and priests, while commoners drank mead called hydromel, which is a fermented mix of honey and a little water or beer.
Later mentions of wine at about 5000 BCE came from Persia and ancient Greece, regarding drinks made from native grape varietals that still grow in those areas to this day. The oldest evidence of ancient wine production has been found in the country of Georgia from circa 6000 BC.
Dionysus, the god of wine. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Phoenicians are responsible for starting the wine trade. Phoenician traders brought vine cultivation and wine-making to the eastern Mediterranean in what are now Lebanon, Israel, and Syria. They created an entire industry in those areas before written history. The same ancient trading group brought vines to Thrace, the region now divided between northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria, which was considered by the ancients to be the birthplace of Dionysus, the god of wine.
Knosos Cretan wine and olive oil jars. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Homeric and the Minoan Greeks produced “strong” wine as it is mentioned in both the Odyssey and the Iliad. In the plays of Aristophanes, there is mention of the wine’s “ill effects,” which is what we now call a hangover, from consuming too much wine. To avoid that, the Athenians diluted their wine with water or honey.
In Athens, it was considered vulgar to be seen drunk during a symposium. The Attic word “symposium” actually means “drinking together.” The priests of Dionysus, the ancient god of Wine, were “miraculously” converting water to wine way before Jesus performed his “very first miracle” of converting water to high quality wine at the wedding in Canaan.
A Pinot Grigio vineyard. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Slowly, vine cultivation and wine-making spread through the Mediterranean by colonizing Greeks along the shores of what the Romans used to call “mare nostrum,” meaning “our sea.”
The Greek colonies in Italy and the Italian islands developed the methods of vineyard cultivation. The Greeks were so impressed by Italy’s climate and soil that they named the peninsula “Oenotria,” which means “the land of wines.”
Pompeii Bacchus. Image courtesy of Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Imitating the Greeks, the Romans had their very own god of wine: Bacchus. This is where we get the word “bacchanalia,” meaning a drunken revelry.
Wine was a part of the daily life of the Romans, and “the nectar of the gods” was easily accessible to rich and poor. However, a wide variety of lesser-quality wines were what the masses drank – mustum (wine mixed with a little vinegar), mulsum (wine sweetened with honey), and lora (a bitter wine made from the leftover pomace after pressing), to name a few of the more popular drinks.
Mustum is the root for the modern word “must,” which is the juice produced when the grapes are pressed.
The Jean Leon Penedés barrel cellar. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
As the Roman Empire grew across Europe, they planted grapevines in many European areas they had conquered, including modern-day France, Spain, Germany, and Portugal. England was too cold for grapes to flourish, so the Romans imported vast quantities of wine to the British Isles from the other European areas they controlled.
In the 16th century, transatlantic sailings saw Spanish missionaries following the conquistadors who invaded Southern California and Mexico, bringing with them the European Catholic religion-based grape culture. During this time, wine production spread widely across South America as the Spaniards traveled through the continent looking for gold, silver, and precious stones to bring back to Spain.
Spanish missionaries established the first winery in Chile. They brought with them and planted the Pais grape so that they could produce sacramental wines. These missionaries also sailed to Argentina, where they settled in the Mendoza area and planted or grafted the region’s first European grape varietals onto native vines.
A Napa, California vineyard. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
“Old World” wine production uses fruit from a grapevine known as Vitis vinifera. It is native to the Mediterranean region. Every wine begins with the grapes being harvested, then pressed and fermented. The fermentation process is the crucial part, as this is what turns pressed grape juice into wine.
In 2016, a group of researchers uncovered the oldest actual winery in the world in a cave in the Armenian mountains. Among the discoveries in this cave were a drinking cup, a grape press, and numerous large clay fermentation jars. By analyzing the DNA of the residue in the clay jars, it was also determined that the wine grapes used were Vitis vinifera, the same grape used to make wines today.
Furmint grapes. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
High quality wines are now being produced in all of the countries bordering the east, north, and west shores of the Mediterranean. Grape cultivation at the southern Mediterranean shores in North Africa is very difficult because the excessive heat and lack of frequent rains make it unattainable for the vines to thrive.
The reason for the poor grape production pattern is the khamsin or hamsin – a hot, dry, dusty wind of North Africa and the Arabic Peninsula that blows from the south in late winter and early spring.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this restaurant is the world’s oldest continuously operating eating establishment. Tucked into the street of the Cuchilleros, i.e. the Knifemakers, just a stone’s throw off Plaza Mayor, Sobrino de Botín (the name means Botín’s Nephew) is a famous Madrileño restaurant that I’m very fond of. I try to eat there every time I’m in Madrid.
Botin’s cellar tables. Photo courtesy of Restaurante Botín.
The building was built in 1590 and initially operated as an inn. So as not to compete with the butchers that sold meat in Plaza Mayor (Madrid’s original marketplace), the inn wasn’t allowed to have a full-fledged restaurant. Instead, travelers had to buy their meat from the butchers in the plaza and take it to the inn to be cooked in the oven.
As soon as that rule was lifted in the late 18th century, Botín changed from an inn to a restaurant. The inn was renamed to Casa Botín after Monsieur Botín took over, and then changed again to Café Botín.
Upon Monsieur Botín’s passing in 1753, the nephew of Botín’s Spanish wife took over the management and renamed it “Sobrino de Botín.” Currently, it’s run by three brothers, the fourth generation of the González family who are descendants of Botín’s wife.
Restaurant Botin’s original oven, purportedly burning continuously for 300 years. Photo courtesy of Restaurante Botín.
The restaurant currently occupies all four floors of the building and tries to preserve the original atmosphere of the inn. The cellar is from 1590 and currently used as one of the dining rooms. The kitchen’s wood oven, where many of the signature dishes are cooked, also dates from that year, and the flame in the oven has supposedly been burning continuously for 300 years – since the Botíns took over – never extinguished.
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, the Spanish romantic painter, worked at Café Botín as a waiter or by other accounts as a dishwasher during his teenage years, and the eatery was one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite haunts during his time in Madrid. In his book, The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes, the book’s hero, talks about the restaurant: “…we lunched upstairs at Botíns. It is one of the best restaurants in the world. We had roast young suckling pig and drank rioja alta.” In his book, Death in the Afternoon, published in 1932 as a portrait of the Spanish bullfighting traditions, Hemingway also mentions Botín.
The staff is always quick to tell you that “Hemingway ate here” and show you his table in one of the upstairs rooms.
Graham Greene, who last visited Madrid in 1980 also mentions Botín in one of his last works, Monsignor Quixote (1982).
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and Nancy Reagan have all dined in the world’s oldest restaurant, seduced by its striking interior and outstanding food.
Botín’s roast piglet. Photo courtesy of Restaurante Botín.
Using imaginative recipes following centuries of tradition, Botín serves classic Spanish food accompanied by exceptional Spanish wines. It’s famous for its signature dish, roast suckling piglet – cochinillo asado – that is delicate with a natural flavor and a crunchy skin. Cordero asado – roast lamb – is the other roasted meat dish Botín is especially famous for.
A specialty to try is sopa de ajo, a local hangover remedy, made with an egg poached in chicken broth and laced with sherry and lots of garlic. Other very desirable dishes are baby eels in garlic sauce, “croquetas” that are crisp on the outside and melty on the inside, chicken fricassee in almond sauce, stewed partridge, and white asparagus with mayonnaise, among the many other delicacies on the menu.
Botín’s jamon Iberico. Photo courtesy of Restaurante Botín.
Their hand-cut jamón de bellota is from Extremadura’s acorn-fed pigs and is also delicious!
A reservation is a very good idea but not really necessary. The best time to eat is at lunchtime, however. Lunch in Spain is served between 1:15-4:00 pm.
The waiters are friendly and attentive. They take real pride in working for such a historic institution. If you imbibe, they have some exceptional Rioja or Catalan wines, or if you are having tapas, their Fino sherry is exceptional.
One of the tastier traditional French soups is the Vichyssoise. It is a thick and creamy puréed potato and leek soup in chicken stock, mixed with heavy cream or other thick dairy product (sour cream or even drained yogurt). It can be delicious either cold – the classic version – or warm.
Ingredients (serves 6):
2-1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
6 medium leeks, cleaned and cut into thin round pieces, white part only 1 medium white onion, sliced
3 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
2 Pinches of grated nutmeg – divided 2 Bay Leaves
1-1/2 to 2 cups sour cream or heavy cream
The traditional recipe calls for chives or sliced spring onion green tops (scallions) as a garnish, but I found that dill weed or fennel could add a more savory tone to the soup. Another variation adds cooked and mashed asparagus in the mix just before blending. One more possibility that I enjoyed in Thailand was adding 2 tablespoons of mashed frozen lemongrass to the onion and leeks as they finish cooking. You can get frozen mashed lemongrass at Thai groceries in the US.
Vichyssoise. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Method:
Cook the potatoes in salted water to cover until just tender.
Melt the butter in a cast iron pot, and gently sweat the leeks and onion, tossing them lightly for about 5 minutes. Make sure they don’t color.
Add the boiled diced potatoes to the leeks, and mix well. Then, remove them from the fire.
Add the bay leaves to the chicken stock, and bring it to a boil. Discard the bay leaves, and lower the heat.
Add the leeks and potatoes, and simmer for 30-35 minutes until everything is very tender.
Season to taste with salt, pepper, and one pinch of nutmeg.
Put the mixture in a blender (you will probably need to blend it in two or more batches), and blend at high speed for 1 minute or until smooth.
Return the soup to the cooking pot, and whisk in the cream or other dairy product, along with a second pinch of nutmeg.
Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like.
Return the soup to a boil. Then, reduce it to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. If you want a thinner soup, add more broth.
Transfer the soup to a bowl and chill over an ice bath, stirring occasionally. When the soup is at room temperature, cover it with plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator to fully chill.
To serve, top with chopped chives, sliced spring onion tops, chopped fresh dill weed, or fennel.
On Sunday, January 21, 2024, the National Building Museum in Washington, DC opened its new exhibition called Building Stories. It will be on display for ten years and is an immersive exploration of the world of architecture, engineering, construction, and design found in the pages of children’s books.
It occupies 4,000 square feet on the Museum’s ground floor and is reported to be the most ambitious exhibition ever undertaken by the Museum.
The Building Stories exhibition in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of the National Building Museum.
Partnering with curator Leonard Marcus, the nation’s leading expert on children’s literature, and Portland, Oregon-based exhibition and experiential design studio Plus And Greater Than, Building Stories strives to provide a portal into the wonder of the built environment through the imaginative lens of children’s books.
Designed for a multigenerational audience – children, parents, grandparents, and caregivers –the exhibit brings children’s books to life through a series of linked and immersive landscapes guided by the principles that the built world is exploratory, personal, surprising, inspiring, and transformative.
The exhibition is organized into four galleries:
Gallery One: “Building Readers”: This introductory gallery explores a child’s first experiences of shapes, forms, imagery, and words as they become building blocks of language and the built environment. “Building Readers” also shows how the presentation of a story can be influenced by aspects of a book’s physical design and construction.
The many parallels between the design of books and the design of buildings are revealed as visitors are invited to consider both the process of building and that of book-making through a selection of rare book dummies, original sketches, and architectural models.
Gallery Two: “Your Home, My Home”: With three archways inspired by the Three Little Pigs, visitors encounter an immersive round theater with a multimedia presentation that uses light, projection, and sound to explore the idea and expression of “home” in its many forms: a bedroom, a house, or a neighborhood and community. Many Homes, One World explores what home (or perhaps the loss or absence of one), looks like in cultures and locations around the world.
Gallery Three: “Scale Play”: This gallery is entered through a “magic portal” threshold where a tapered tunnel makes visitors feel like they are changing size as they enter. It challenges our perceptions of the world around us through “scale play,” a recurring theme in children’s literature. What does it feel like to navigate the world when you are small? What is the impact of monumental architecture on how we perceive the spaces around us? Can zooming in or zooming out help us understand it all?
The Building Stories exhibition in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of the National Building Museum.
Gallery Four: “Wider World”: This gallery brings all of the exhibition concepts together to focus on the possibilities for children’s real-world empowerment and participation. How can we build a better world, together? Visitors enter a light-filled landscape pulled from the illustrations of award-winning author/illustrator Oliver Jeffers.
The books on display in Wider World explore the connections between the natural world and manmade systems and how we might engage more responsibly by understanding their relationship. Stories emphasize characters who use their imagination and work together to shape their future and inspire other young visitors to do the same.
The exhibition’s primary educational program is the free Building Readers Club in collaboration with the DC Public Library and DC Public Library Foundation. Children in kindergarten through eighth grade are encouraged to sign up.
Membership includes a monthly newsletter with age-appropriate activities and book suggestions, complimentary access to the Building Stories exhibition and special family-friendly club activities at the Museum four days per year, and early access to Building Stories programming.
Romania and Bulgaria are joining the Schengen Area at the end of March 2024. This means we can travel between these and other Schengen countries without passport checks.
The Maldives are experiencing an increase in tourism, so if you’re looking for a quiet, not crowded island destination, you might want to choose someplace else.
Self-service TSA screening? Yep! Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas is testing this out. It’s similar to a self-checkout at a store. It will scan ID and carry-on bags. Will this ultimately be safe enough? Who knows? Hopefully, we won’t find out the hard way.
Guard against ticks! Those of us in the U.S. are aware of ticks that carry Lyme disease – a terrible disease that can cause lots of problems, especially if left untreated. (If you come to the U.S. from elsewhere in spring, summer, or fall, be sure to take precautions.)
But Europe has its own disease from tick bites – TBE. It can cause brain inflammation and severe neurological issues. The symptoms include fever, headache, rash, muscle aches, and seizures. It’s mostly in countries in northern and central Europe, although Switzerland, Germany, and Austria are especially problematic.
It helps to wear clothing that’s light in color, long sleeves, and long pants. Tuck your pants into your socks (even if it looks stupid), and use repellent that is effective against ticks. Check your skin frequently for ticks (even skin that was covered by clothes), and if you find a tick, remove it with tweezers right away.
In the heart of Madrid, a few blocks from the Atocha railway station is one of the Madrileño eating and drinking stalwarts, Cervecería Alemana.
Established in 1904, it’s a bar devoted to drinking beer and munching on tapas, the savory tidbits that always accompany beverages in Spain. Servers dress like it’s the 1920s in white jackets, black slacks, and black bowties.
The interior of Cerveceria Alemana in Madrid. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
It was one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite watering holes in Madrid and still serves a very good selection of assorted beers. Hemingway mentioned it in a Life Magazine article published in September 1960 named “The Dangerous Summer, Part I” as “agood place to drink beer and coffee,” and also mentions that he shared the table and drinks with “the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Even now, the Cervecería reserves the table next to the window where Hemingway (at the time a Life correspondent) used to sit and drink.
Albondigas of Cerveceria Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
But you don’t have to be a famous writer to enjoy a drink and munchies at the Cervecería. The place is still the meeting place for the city’s bohemian and literary elites.
And, I don’t know about the coffee… I didn’t have any there!
Patatas bravas at Cervecería Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
We sat at one of the outdoor tables on Plaza de Santa Ana and ordered albondigas – little fried meatballs in sauce, patatas bravas, marinated boiled octopus in oil and vinegar, boquerones, and a few other tasty morsels to wash down with our cold draft lagers.
They have a very large variety of bottled European and especially German brews, but I still think a glass fresh from the tap is the best. You could also have a wine or a sherry there. When I’m Madrid, I will usually order an amontillado or an oloroso if I’m not having a beer.
Tortilla Espaniola at Cervecería Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
We also ordered slices of various cured meats that came arranged on a plate: Lomo Ibérico, Jamón Ibérico, Chorizo, Salchichón Ibérico. The chorizo and the salchichón have the most flavor, while the tenderloin (lomo) is very meaty. Another classic, Tortilla Española, is thinly sliced potatoes and whisked eggs cooked in a pan as a round frittata and served on a plate or at the bar in wedges.
Spanish plate of Ibericos at Cervecería Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
When you go, especially if you are sitting inside, try to find a table with a younger waiter. If you don’t speak Spanish, the older servers seem to be snooty because their English is almost nonexistent or very poor, and they do appreciate it if you at least try to order in their language. We had a much younger gentleman who said he appreciated our ordering in Spanish, but he wanted to practice his English.
Pan con tomato at Cerveceria Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The clientele around us varied from university students to elderly retirees to multi-ethnic tourists. Almost everyone had beer or wine and tapas. A few like us had the larger appetizer plates. And yes, there were some very beautiful women sitting at a table near us, bronzed Scandinavian or perhaps they were British blonds. Hemingway would have been in his element if he was sitting with us!
Tapas at Cerveceria Alemana. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
On a cold Sunday evening, we drove into Manhattan to try Anto, a new upscale Korean steakhouse that has opened on East 58th street in the space where “Felidia,” Lydia Bastianich’s temple of Northern Italian gastronomy, used to be.
Anto is the U.S. venture of Korean chef Jeong Muk Kim who has been at the helm as executive chef of the famous Myomi (“subtle charm”) restaurant in Seoul that has garnered and maintained a Michelin star for a number of years.
The restaurant is a dual-level, 130-seat space that features an elegant entrance into the bar where mixologists busily create cocktails of distinction.
The first floor dining room at Anto Korean Steakhouse. Photo courtesy of Anto.
Two dining rooms follow on the ground floor. The first is small, mainly illuminated by back-lit translucent screens along one wall, while the opposite side displays a series of masks mounted above the diners’ heads. This is the only decoration in the room, keeping your focus on the food.
Brown tabletops with braziers set into the center, dark brown banquettes, and comfortable armchairs complete the décor of the room. The other dining area is decorated in a similar fashion and overlooks an open prep kitchen behind a large glass wall where there is also a staircase leading to the upper floor. This is where “Gori,” the Chef’s Counter, is located, comfortably seating as many as 10 individuals. Patrons who value observing how dishes are made are able to watch and interact with the cooks in action.
We arrived at around 6:30 p.m., and the downstairs part of the restaurant was full. The young guests we saw seemed to be mostly of Korean descent, but I heard a few Chinese voices as well. That proved to us that the food is authentic and not an Americanized version of Korean cuisine. The other sign of authenticity was the fieriness of the couple of versions of kimchi that were brought to the table when the meat selections were presented. The overall ambience was special.
Midori cocktail at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
A few minutes after we were seated, the waitperson took our drinks order. We ordered a glass of Korean beer that tasted like a Belgian lager and a green Midori cocktail, which arrived in an old fashioned glass with a bright yellow marigold flower resting on top. It was was as delicious as it was beautiful.
Luis Vuitton chest at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
A vintage Luis Vuitton-monogrammed vanity case was brought to the table filled with samples of the prime ingredients of the Premium Chest tasting menu that our meal would consist of.
Seafood platter at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Once the oohs, ahs, and picture-taking were completed, the chest was removed. In its place, a plate containing House Chojang Oysters and Carabineros crustaceans (very large red shrimp) was delivered to the table, along with slices of lemon, lime, grapefruit, and a Yuzu Gochuyang dipping sauce.
The gargantuan red shrimps were shelled but raw, and while the Korean group sitting next to us consumed the entire shrimp (minus the shells, of course), including liver and entrails, we were satisfied with just the large body. For someone who has experienced “jumping shrimp” at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo’s Ginza, the raw shrimp was exceptionally tasty and not that unusual!
The caviar course at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
For both of us, the highlight of the meal was the one-ounce tin of Kaviari (French farmed Sevruga caviar) with all the attending accoutrements including potato pancakes, chopped white and yellow egg, pickled onions and chives, plus the yummy addition of tofu mousse with saffron threads.
Assortment of sauces at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Next, the waiter brought a tray filled with traditional Korean side dishes and sauces, lining them up on our table. There were two kinds of kimchi (very spicy marinated cabbage), a bowl of red and green lettuce leaves, raw cubes of tuna, shredded salad topped with a raw quail egg, chopped anchovies, tomato wedges, a bowl of pickled daikon radishes, salt and pepper, several dipping sauces, and a bowl of bean paste – all there in preparation to use with the meat course.
The brazier was lit, and the waiter presented three pieces of steak: rib eye, American Wagyu, and marinated Galbi (short rib) to cook to order at our table.
Wagyu beef on the grill at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Once each piece of meat was cooked to our liking, our waiter cut the meat into bite-sized pieces with large scissors. The menu also included perfectly cooked duck breast with an exceptional crispy glazed skin – succulent and delicious.
Assorted side dishes for grilled meat at Anto. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Those familiar with Korean cuisine know that it’s quite spicy, like many of the cuisines in that part of the world. At Anto, the use of small bites of high quality meats is tempered with pickled vegetables of varying spiciness such as the above-mentioned kimchi. While very healthy, we consider it to be an acquired taste, however.
Unlike Chinese pickled cabbage, which is savory, kimchi is HOT, as was the tofu soup served with the menu. There was also a rice and meat dish topped with a large fried egg to be mixed at the table.
The dinner was a more than three-hour extravaganza that ended with a delightful Korean dessert of creamy gelato.
As with many New York City restaurants, the sound level was extremely high without acoustical tiles to moderate it, but the young clientele was only too happy to add their energy to the restaurant. If you like spicy dishes, you will love Anto!
There’s no denying that the once-great secret of Southern European travel is now completely out in the open. Croatia, with its tumbling waterfalls in Plitvice National Park and the fairytale islands of Hvar and Mljet, has emerged from obscurity and onto many “must visit” lists.
Indeed, like its once-mother Venice, the walled fortress town of Dubrovnik is under siege from mass tourism and Adriatic cruises that dump intrepid visitors onto its fairytale streets almost year-round.
However, you don’t have to venture far from the packed cobbles of Dubrovnik to experience a more serene, less bustling spot on the Dalmatian coast that is, arguably, one of the most beautiful places in the Balkans.
The Bay of Kotor was recommended by a local when I expressed my concern at the number of visitors on Dubrovnik’s Stradun, the main street that runs centrally through the old city. The thought of taking a one to one-and-a-half hour car journey (depending on traffic) along the frankly terrifying cliffside road south didn’t sound appealing. But it’s completely worth the peril.
Resembling a fjord (although technically a ria), the Bay of Kotor easily earns the moniker “epic.” With lush green hills perfectly framing glistening clear waters, spotted with cozy hamlets and the odd church tower, the only giveaways that this part of the world isn’t Norway are the terracotta roofs and the Mediterranean climate.
Montenegro, where the Bay of Kotor and the Venetian trading town of Kotor are located, hasn’t quite seen the explosive influx of tourists that Croatia has – for now. The cruise ships still roll in, but for a day excursion or a single overnight only, reducing the pressure on the less-developed local infrastructure.
The result? Quiet beaches free from endless rows of parasols, the charming toll of a bell in the villages and towns that line the shore of the bay, and perhaps best of all, roads that aren’t snarled up with tour buses and foreign drivers unaccustomed to the narrow, winding roads of the Balkans (myself excluded).
The drive to get there was worth the effort alone. The views from the road that snakes around the bay are unmissable, and there are plenty of opportunities to stop off for a photograph or to enjoy a sweet coffee at one of the many villages that are dotted between the border and Kotor.
Although the area isn’t as geared up for tourists as Dubrovnik, Rijeka or the islands of Croatia, you can still indulge. Wealthy Russian visitors turned TIvat, the largest place near the bay, into something of a playground years ago, with caviar on the menu and supercars parked in the streets. There’s even a small airport nearby that is usually lined with private aircraft.
The highlight of any trip to the Bay of Kotor is the eponymous town of Kotor that sits tucked deep in the bay, protected from the elements and marauding Ottomans when the town begged the Venetians to administer and protect in 1420.
The evidence of Venice is ever–present, with gorgeous Romanesque architecture best viewed at Kotor Cathedral and imposing defenses along the town’s coastline and hillsides. You’ll even spot the winged lion and Latin script on some walls and decorative features on older buildings.
Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, one of Kotor’s most prominent historic buildings (Stock photo)
It’s the perfect spot to sip coffee or order a plate of seafood, before winding through the streets, trying not to trip over sunbathing cats (the city is famous for them). Fitness fanatics can endure the frequently warm weather and climb the steep hillside above Kotor for an incredible view of the bay, including views of the famous Our Lady of the Rocks.
This medieval church sits on a small island and is easily one of the most beautiful sights in the Balkans, especially on a clear day when reflecting on the water.
Boat tours are available from Kotor, and are highly recommended. The Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks boat tour I took lasted the best part of the day, but would have been worth it even if we didn’t have the chance to disembark and experience a truly untouched piece of history.
Although I didn’t get the chance to stay the night, I was slightly envious of the views from the Conte Hotel & Restaurant by Perast Beach, directly overlooking Our Lady of the Rocks. I imagine the boutique hotels of Herceg Novi or Tivat would offer equally beautiful room views, especially in the evening.
But the best advice I can give is to visit the Bay of Kotor before the Dubrovnik effect really kicks in. Kotor is getting busier by the day, especially as cruises grow in post-pandemic popularity. However, the great news is that you can always just go a little further around the bay, or push a little deeper into the wine-grape hillsides and sleepy villages of Montenegro – especially if you’ve grown used to the two-hands-on-the-wheel driving habits of Southern Europe.
Is it too much to ask for our airplane doors to stay ON while in flight? I assume you heard about the Alaska Airlines accident in which a Boeing Model 737-9 MAX aircraft lost a passenger door. The Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. is now investigating, and Boeing has grounded 171 of this model of airplanes. Are you confident about Boeing, or are they starting to give you the heebie-jeebies?
What routes have the most turbulence?The Independent just reported that certain areas get more turbulence than others. The most turbulent route is between Santiago, Chile and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Most other routes in the top 10 are domestic ones within Japan or China, but Milan to Geneva is also on that list. Zurich also seems to be particularly prone to turbulence into and out of the airport. Scientists do believe that turbulence is on the rise due to the effects of climate change. Fasten those seatbelts!
Open your wallet for new tourism taxes. The Points Guy reports that there are several tourism tax increases expected around the world in 2024. Amsterdam is increasing room taxes and cruise passenger fees. Barcelona is following suit with an increased room tax. Bali has a new entry tax of IDR 150,000 as of February 14th. Iceland is planning to add a tourist tax this year, but we don’t know how much yet. Denmark’s passenger tax for flights is set for 2025, so we have a respite this year. Also in 2025, the EU will require that non-EU folks register. The cost is supposed to be about $7.67US, so it’s a nominal fee. Tourist fees are already being charged in Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the Caribbean.
The good news and the bad news about prices. At least in the U.S., our fares are supposed to decrease in 2024, although fares around the world are supposed to increase from last year. Meanwhile, car rentals are expected to increase in North America, while gas prices are supposed to go down a bit. Forecasters say hotels will get more expensive, though. Save a little in one place, and expect to pay more on something else.
