Virginia - ilivetotravel's travel log

The Highlights of Food and Wine in 2012. Mostly Food.

7 January 2013 by Raul 12 Comments

2012 will be remembered by me for many reasons. Certainly the travel I did in 2012 ranks up there as do the many fun memories with family and friends. But another memorable aspect of 2012 will be the food and wine! Here is a small tour of the most memorable ones… mostly food…

BBQ anyone?

At Salt Lick, outside of Austin, Texas, the year started with some phenomenal BBQ!

Wine, wine, wine

A few wine tastings with friends and some touring allowed me to cover a lot of ground here! Virginia and Moldova stand out as unexpected wine places for me. While I was not able to bring a lot of wine from Moldova, Virginia was a different story!

WIne from Virginia's wineries: Pollock, Cardinal Point, Barboursville, King, Veritas

All but one of the bottles I bought in VA! The state can thank me later.

Deliciousness from Moldavia

As far as I understand, northeastern Romania and Moldova are known as Moldavia. The region was an independent/autonomous state between the 14th century and the 19th. I could see quite a few similarities between the two modern areas when I visited Iasi (Romania) and Moldova. One of the similarities I saw was in the food. My favorite dish was pork and mamaliga (a sort of polenta). And my favorite dessert papanași (papanash; a fried pastry stuffed with jam and soft cheese). I could eat these every day (an almost did!).

Mamaliga (polenta) and pork – typical food dish

Papanași (papanash)

A homestyle wine tasting

One of my favorite events is the quarterly wine tasting with friends. Our Frog’s Leap wine tasting (normally, we do not focus on one winery in these tastings) was outstanding and the food was a large part of that. After looking at the following pictures, could you disagree?

Cheese and crackers always good for a wine tasting

Cheese and crackers couldn’t be absent!

Lobster dip from Costco served in cucumbers

Lobster dip served in cucumbers

Chocolate bomb anyone?

I got to try one mean chocolate dessert at The Oval Room, across Lafayette Square from the White House (which I also got to tour this year!). This picture -no- no picture, can ever do this magnificent monument to desserts justice…

Chocolate S'more Bomb from The OVal Room in Washington, D.C. smore

Chocolate S’more Bomb with cookie crumble and salted caramel

Mofongo from Puerto Rico – in Tampa!

I have written about having great Cuban food in Tampa but over Thanksgiving weekend, I went for my favorite Puerto Rican dish: mofongo with fried pork chunks!! MMM!!!

Paris, oh, Paris

Forget the fancy restaurants and all that frou-frou stuff. Paris has awesome small “mere-et-pere” type of places with deliciousness galore. I am lucky to be an eternal Paris visitor and past resident. This allows me and my friends to enjoy these little-known places whenever I visit. However, I still enjoy discovering a new unpolished jewel, like the place in Montmartre where I had this delicious potato-and-egg-topped salad (along with a mini carafe of red wine!).

Of course, Paris’ chocolate houses are a must – and a tour of them should be de rigeur unless you are allergic to the stuff! I always stop by to enjoy some of Paris’ finest chocolate crafts.

Italy. What can I say?

No words are needed when it comes to Italy and food. Here are some of the images from my visit there in April (discovering new and re-visiting old places).

Suppli fried rice ball – mmm!!

White wine from Italy with Campo de Fiore reflected

I love how the Campo de Fiore is reflected in this glass of wine

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

Carbonara rocks!!

Coffee the AM I arrived… dropped our luggage at the apt and went out for breakfast. SO. GOOD.

Rome, Italy food: artichoke, buffalo cheese, tomato, basil

My plate full of our appetizers on our first night in Roma

Sweets!

Sublime gelato

Year end: always a time for food!

For Christmas eve (Nochebuena), I cook the traditional Cuban meal. Instead of showing a beautiful serving plate or bowl with the end result, I decided to leave the end result to the imagination and show you the work in progress. I love making my black beans and Cuban pernil!

Now good food didn’t end on Nochebuena. On our day trip to the charming southern towns of Newnan and Senoia, we had some really good southern food (always comfort food!) right at the square in Newnan. Those sweet potatoes were outstanding!

The year ends

The year went away like the dessert from this plate – it leaves me wanting more. What a year it was!

Filed Under: Good Eats and Drinks, Travel Stories Tagged With: black beans, chocolate, Cuban food, food, Italy, mamaliga, Moldova, paris, pernil, Romania, salad, southern food, Virginia, Wine

A Year (or the World?) Ends… Either Way, I Travel

21 December 2012 by Raul 17 Comments

Well, today is the day the apocalypse was to happen. I guess a few hours are still left so maybe I shouldn’t count my eggs just yet. BUT, if the end did happen, guess what? I can still blog from purgatory and you KNOW that would be an incredible travel story. Just hope it is not one of being stuck there forever, like when I was stuck in Europe because of the Icelandic volcano (which did turn out well) or someone else’s horrible travel story. Also, if the world did end, purgatory looks a lot like my house (and if the world did NOT end, I need to make some minor changes at home…).

So the end of anything usually calls for some reflection and be it the end of the world or the end of the year, I feel like reflecting on my very busy 2012…

A Texas tweetup in January

January saw me taking what felt like a bold step – to travel somewhere to meet people I met online. At first that has an almost dirty sound to it, doesn’t it? But I had been talking on Twitter with these three folks for many months and they were clearly people I would enjoy meeting in person and exploring with. So off to awesome Austin, Texas for the Texas tweetup! There I met in person @kirkcole, @L_e_a_h, and @LolaDiMarco. Unfortunately, a severe cold hit me on the day I traveled so I was not able to partake in all the activities but enjoyed a good day’s worth of laughing and eating in Austin!

Photo of people reflected in the fender of a car

Can you find the Austin tweetup fab 5 in the picture?

Normal in February – and other months

Traveling to DC for work permeates every month this year so my normal continued in February. Recovered from the Austin tweetup and post-Christmas parties in January, February was time to relax and be home (or in DC). Over the year, I got to check new things in DC that I had not explored yet in the last year. Doing the White House tour was a long-time bucket list item that I finally made happen. I continued exploring and enjoying many of the DC’s finest hotels like The Mayflower, the Sofitel Lafayette, and the Renaissance on 9th St. DC is a wonderful town if you get out and explore. Its many beautiful brownstones and local eateries are a joy to explore.

March Madness: Mile High Skiing

The traveling continued in March – this time a great ski trip with dear friends to Vail and Breckendridge, two places I had been dying to try for many years. The trip did not disappoint and neither did my skiing, not having skied since Valle Nevado, Chile in the Andes in 2010. Vail and Breck WILL be in a future ski trip for me, I can tell. The bowls of Vail where incredible: one bowl, then another one behind it, then another. It seemed to never end!

How thoughtful! Vail had a statue of me at the base of one of the slopes!

Amicci en Italia and diving into eastern Europe in April

April finally brought about the “long”-planned trip to Italy with two sets of great friends. Though mainly focused on Rome (a city I love re-visiting), a side trip to finally see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast was built into the itinerary. It did not disappoint, especially our guide in Pompeii, one of the preeminent experts on Pompeii!.

But I took advantage of being on the other side of the pond to add another iconic destination I had never explored: Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its tiled roofs and architecture combined with the natural setting of its location made it a magical place for me. Of course, ever eager to see more, I decided to get further into eastern Europe while in Dubrovnik by doing day trips into Bosnia & Herzegovina (Mostar) and into the beautiful mountains and bays of Montenegro! These day trips were short, obviously, but they definitely opened the appetite to see more of these countries and this part of Europe.

View from up high of Kotor Bay in Montenegro

One of the ridges that divides Kotor Bay into 2 bays in Montenegro

Re-charging, re-connecting, and exploring Chicago

May saw a second tweetup, this time in the Windy City since we were eager to connect with other travel bloggers we had been chatting with for awhile. The Windy City tweetup had a little bit of everything: from French goodness (courtesy of the Sofitel Water Tower), Charlie’s Angels, boat tour, fallen traffic lights (not our fault!), doughnuts, cold coffee, good food, drinks (repeat), and the mob. It was a very fun weekend indeed meeting @workmomtravels, @travelingted, @jettingaround, and @elatlboy in person.

Posing in front of the Bean in Chicago at Millenium Park

Being tourists at The Bean

More fun with fellow travelers and good learnings

In June, TBEX, a travel bloggers conference, held its North America conference in Keystone, Colorado (very close to Breckenridge where I’d just been 3 months before; who knew I would be returning to the area so soon!). Besides the interesting learnings, the reception at the mountaintop on Friday night and the ensuing party at the pub at base (free!) really made the weekend a lot of fun and a good time to meet others who share the travel bug and re-connect with others. Among the great folks I met (too many to list all!): @BlBrtravel, @stayadventurous, @captainandclark, @lazytravelers, @budgettravelsac, and @travelrinserept.

A trek with a purpose in Romania and a true relic of the USSR

Romania had been a mysterious place that I had always dreamed of seeing. Not because I knew I would love it but it just called to me. A wonderful opportunity came my way to do a hike in the Transylvanian Alps with Trekking for Kids, a non-profit seeking to bring improved lives to orphaned/at-risk children around the world. We worked with the orphanage and just “were” with the kids before and after a hike through some beautiful landscapes around Brasov – we even saw castles other than Dracula’s! An experience I will never forget every which way, including it was my first multi-day hike ever!

Sphinx-like rock in the Bucegi Mountains near Omu Peak, Romania

Who knew there was a Sphinx atop the Transylvanian Alps (near Omu Peak)??

Since I was headed that way, I decided Romania (more precisely, the town of Iasi, Romania’s cultural capital) would be a great springboard to explore Moldova. So with my great guide, I explored churches, monasteries, towns (including the capital, Chisinau), and wineries in this little known former Soviet socialist republic still working to undo decades of horrible communist dictatorship. I am SO glad I made the time for this unpolished gem at the edge of eastern Europe!

The trip ended with a one-day, two-night in awesome Paris, my home away from home in Europe. Always love re-visiting my favorite areas and still finding new things to enjoy!

Time with Family in Tampa on my sister’s birthday in August

August also included a trip to Tampa where my family lives – always good to be with them, and enjoy good Cuban food and TLC! I had just been there in June (when I visited the impressively set-up Dali museum) but my Mom turned 70 while I was in Romania and my sister was hitting a milestone birthday of her own in August so I just HAD to go and celebrate with them!

Rest in September

In September, I took a break from travel. Well, non-business travel… But read on, the year of travel is not over!

Architecture and Wine: Tuscany or Bordeaux, you say? No, Virginia in October!

I finally succumbed to friends’ suggestion that I explore Virginia wine country with them. I had been wanting to do this for a long time but other travel got in the way. I took advantage of being in the DC area for work to go ahead and spend a weekend with them in wine country. And got out RIGHT BEFORE Sandy passed by! As you can read in my writings about this central part of Virginia, Monticello, Charlottesville and the countryside are filled with early colonial history and architecture as well as delicious wines. And there are close to 200 other wineries in the state to be found and explored! I was glad to have this opportunity to see more of my own country and other places will be in my sights in 2013 (like Michigan and Wisconsin thanks to friends from Chicago who write about these places!).

Cemetery where Thomas Jefferson is buried in Monticello on a fall day

OK, now I rest ‘xcept for Thanksgiving in November

So, my fun travels wrap up for the year save for visiting family again in Tampa where I discover yet another new place for good Cuban food! Someone STOP the madness! 🙂

I reflect back on the year and I am amazed at how much I have been able to see of places I have always wanted to see. And this is setting aside the twenty-something weeks of work travel to DC! The bucket list shrinks and yet I add new places I learn about. I consider THAT my most important key performance indicator – a never-ending travel bucket list!

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and the best in 2013 for you and yours!

Filed Under: Travel Stories Tagged With: architecture, Austin, Breckendridge, Chicago, church, Colorado, Croatia, Cuban food, Eastern Europe, food, history, Italy, Moldova, monastery, photo, Romania, ski, tampa, travel, Vail, Virginia, Wine

Virginia is for lovers. History lovers!

16 November 2012 by Raul 7 Comments

In another post, I shared my discovery and enjoyment of Virginia wine country – in that post I mentioned how Virginia is for wine lovers. Now it is time to focus on the awesome history that I discovered on that weekend in the Virginia Piedmont – why I think Virginia is for history lovers too!

University of Virginia

The weekend trip was anchored around Charlottesvile, VA, home of the University of Virginia, a fine higher education institution (one of the best public universities in the U.S.) with sometimes a great basketball team. The university was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, 3rd POTUS and a learned man in his time for sure. The university is the only U.S. university to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That makes it a must-see for its historic and architectural value.

The university campus is very close to downtown Charlottesville and sports many buildings with columns. Many buildings with many columns. Jefferson liked columns. And octagons. UVA’s builders over the centuries may have over-emphasized the importance of columns just a tad too much…

Thomas Jefferson at the University of Virginia

Jefferson, columns, and a couple in front of the university’s iconic Rotunda building

In any case, it is a very nice campus. My favorite part though was the quadrangle or courtyard by the iconic main building on campus – the area known as The Lawn, headed by the Rotunda, inspired and built to half the scale of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy. The buildings around The Lawn have tons of columns… One of the students told us how students apply to get to live in one of the rooms in the courtyard (a privilege) and how professors are also honored when selected to live in a space there. Of course, the professors’ digs are WAY nicer than the students’ but who cares, right?

Columns and architecture at the University of Virginia

The hallway with the students’ rooms at The Lawn

Columns and architecture typical of the University of Virginia

Professors’ quarters at The Lawn

Open hallway to the courtyard at University of Virginia with rocking chairs

Around The Lawn – love the rocking chairs

Monticello

As nice as the University of Virginia is, it pales next to the majesty of the homestead Thomas Jefferson built for himself: Monticello. Jefferson decided to build this homestead on a hill he knew from his childhood. The hilltop was flattened and over a period of many decades, and Jefferson built his home there. Assignments like Ambassador to France and the Presidency did not stop the progress on Monticello. Jefferson eventually died there, in the beauty of this estate.

We drove over from Charlottesville (Monticello is right on the outskirts of town) early on a Saturday AM to beat any crowds and make the most of our day in the area. We made it just in time for the 9:30AM house tour. A shuttle bus took us up the hill from the visitor center and the tour promptly started. (By the way, the visitor center has a museum and a short movie that should be checked out.)

The tour takes you through the main level of the house. The upper levels (2 more) are not accessible to the public and the basement is open to tour on your own, as are the rest of the grounds.

A visitor exploring one of the basement rooms

The house is set up pretty much as it had been during Jefferson’s time even if not all the objects are original. Jefferson died bankrupt and the family’s possessions were sold along the way to raise funds. Jefferson did get to live in that house until his death at an old age with his daughter and her family (Jefferson had widowed a long time before). Seeing his studio with the items of interest to him, his bed between the study and his bedroom, and the other living spaces was very special. It was incredible how this man of the 18th century was so clever in the design of everything in this house. My favorite was the wine “elevator” that would get bottles up from the wine cellar to the dining room. I can imagine how impressed his guests were whenever he pulled that trick!

Jefferson was smart about the layout of every room in the house and under the house. The basement and the side structures were cleverly used to keep out of sight the activities the family did not wish to see from inside the house. But also to take advantage of the coolness of being below ground: like for the kitchen or wine making!

So the home is a special place indeed but the grounds are equally so. Unfortunately, some of the structures that used to be around the grounds are no longer there to fully serve as witness to how life was back then in an estate, including how slaves and other workers lived. But, with the grounds completely open, the views are incredible. Especially on this fall day.

A short walk downhill, you can see from the outside the plot where the family and its descendants tend to be buried. It gives an incredible feeling to stand there and think about our nation’s very short modern history and yet how ancient Jefferson’s times feel.

Monticello is a testament to a great man of his times even if all that he was may not fit our times. Jefferson made the most of what was available in his times and his legacy lives on at Monticello, at the University of Virginia, and in the good ole US of A via that marvel of a document, the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson's tomb in Monticello, Virginia

RIP, Tommy Boy!

Image reflection on a window at Monticello

Is that the ghost of Jefferson??

Filed Under: US & Canada, Virginia Tagged With: Charlottesville, history, Monticello, Thomas Jefferson, UVA, Virginia

Virginia is for lovers. Wine lovers.

3 November 2012 by Raul 13 Comments

This past weekend, I got to explore an area most will never think of visiting when looking for wine country: Virginia! Virginia may be for lovers, but Virginia is DEFINITELY for wine lovers!

I have been very lucky as a wine lover AND a traveler to have visited some primo wine country in my travel lifetime. Bordeaux, Hunter Valley, Sonoma/Napa, Mendoza, Stellenbosch, Burgundy, Moldova, Mosel Valley, the Loire Valley, Tuscany, etc. I have never thought the U.S. had any good wine regions besides California and Oregon. And I don’t know but Virginia would have never been in my top guess list… But some Virginia friends introduced me to Virginia wine with one named Octagon from Barboursville winery, north of Charlottesville, VA. It was good!

We had talked over the last couple of years of getting together and making a trip to Virginia wine country. FINALLY, we scheduled it for this past weekend.

My friends suggested we head to the wine region in the Piedmont area, on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. One of their favorite wines, the Octagon referred to above, is from the area and they had not been to the winery so I, of course, happily went along with the suggestion! Of course, going to see Monticello (Thomas Jefferson’s home on the countryside) and University of Virginia (founded by Thomas Jefferson) were of interest so it was a great destination choice.

The Vineyards and the Wine

Jefferson Vineyards

After visiting Monticello, we stopped at Jefferson Vineyards since it was very close to Monticello. Of course, this likely means it is more touristy and the price tag for the wine tasting showed that (it was $10 whereas the rest of the wineries were $5; oh, and they do not take AMEX in this day and age…). However, you can take your large Riedel wine glass after the tasting which makes it an OK price.

Some of the staff was very friendly but our server, though he shared information, just seemed to be going through the motions – he was not rude by any means, just uninspiring. It was the only winery at which I did not buy a bottle (and I ended up buying no less than 3 at least per winery…). . Wineries, remember, your servers are the front line. It applies to your business as to any other business! But I did not buy wine because of him. The primary reason was that it was just not for me. Most of the wines seem too light for me. That may be what others find enjoyable in a wine but the whites and reds were not robust enough for me. Also, the wines, even the Riesling, were generally drier than my preference. However, it surely is worth a stop – you may enjoy their lighter and drier wines and end up with one of the friendlier servers.

Barboursville Vineyards

Fortunately, the story gets better from here on! We had planned our first day (of two) in the area with two anchors: an early visit to Monticello (more about it in another post) and a late lunch at Barboursville Vineyard’s Palladio Restaurant which features northern Italian style cuisine. The lunch can be done with wine pairings but we were going to do tastings after lunch since we did not have enough time between the Monticello visit and the available slot for lunch. Therefore, we opted to save a little money by not doing the pairings with the lunch and instead going for that delicious Octagon wine of theirs. The wine tasting of 21 wines would come afterwards – but only after we walked the grounds to help push our digestion!

The good thing is that Barboursville offers more than food and wine. It also gives you a helping of history. See, Mr. Barbour was a governor of Virginia in the times around Jefferson. Jefferson designed Barbour’s house which unfortunately burnt down one Christmas Day in 1884. However, ruins remain of the skeleton of the house which allow you to see yet more columns and another octagon. Yes, Thomas Jefferson was rather predictable. (Unfortunately, Charlottesville and UVA keep thing more columns and octagons make tons of sense…) Anyway, Barboursville offers this and plenty of space and grounds to grab a bottle of wine and hang out some more.

The Barbour mansion's ruins in Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia wine country

The ruins of the Barbour home

The grounds in Barboursville Vineyard in Virginia wine country great for picnics

Perfect spot for a wine picnic!

The wines were overall very good. We also enjoyed having a lady named Jessica as one of our servers. She was extremely knowledgeable and truly shared that knowledge with us. We had a good time asking her questions people had just asked her and she obliged with a fun attitude right back – wineries, this is the kind of person you want facing your customers!

Surprisingly for me, I enjoyed Barboursville’s Chardonnay (aged in steel barrels) better than their Chardonnay Reserve (aged in oak barrels). I especially like their Cabernet Franc Reserve (intense dark fruit flavors), Octagon (which I already knew and loved), and their Malvaxia Passito Reserve dessert wine (nice!!! sweet but overly so). I departed with a good 6 bottles wishing I could take more (had to pace myself, still had 4 wineries to visit the next day!). How do they manage to make so many good wines???

Cardinal Point, Veritas, and Pollak Vineyards

We hit these two wineries first on the next day. At Cardinal Point, we enjoyed talking to the two ladies at the tasting room and found their wines nice. I ended up with a box of 3 to take home. At Veritas, we got to sit in a nice leather couch for our tasting and soak in the ambiance of the tasting room.

Nice leather couch in the tasting room at Veritas winery in Virginia wine country

Comfy seating to enjoy wines!

The winery has a large tasting room and it was built in the 2000s – the vines themselves were planted in 1999 (quite recently when you think of vineyards in Europe!!). Their White Star blend of white grapes (Viognier, Traminette, Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc) was pleasantly surprised me – low on residual sugar I think it is a wine to be enjoyed on its own for sure. Let me re-state that, it very pleasantly surprised me!

The grounds at Veritas Vineyard - great fall colors in Virginia wine country

Best time of the year to visit – just look at this!

We made our way to Pollak Vineyards, which has a spacious tasting room and outdoor terrace. Its vines were planted in 2003. Casey was our server. We learned from her a good bit and enjoyed talking to her – great job! I especially enjoyed the Petit Verdot and the Cabernet Franc (nice hints of chocolate and coffee) wines.

Pollak Vineyards’ outdoor space

King Family Vineyards

Our final stop in wine country before going to the airport was King Family. We promised ourselves a short visit to ensure we were on time but we enjoyed our visit so much we stayed longer at the tasting room. This vineyard has a great setting and outdoor open spaces that are great to hang out – we stayed indoors sampling and talking wine though for a good 45mins to an hour (who was keeping track of time?!) (I did make it to the airport with plenty of time, by the way!). In the summertime polo matches are played Sundays on the grounds of the winery!

King Family Vineyard in Virginia Wine Country

The grounds of King Family Vineyards

At King Family we were treated to awesome wines. I liked just about each of the wines I tasted! The Viognier had nice mango/peach overtones. The Chardonnay, though aged in oak, was very enjoyable for me (a rarity). Their Cabernet Franc was lighter than I expected and, as I prefer fuller-bodied wines, was not one I would have bought definitely had good flavors so I would drink it. The next 4 wines were all outstanding: the Meritage (a Bordeaux-style existing mainly in the U.S., created to not infringe on the French region’s ownership of the destination of origin), the Seven (a red wine with hints of dark chocolate and vanilla), the Loreley (excellent level of sweetness: some but not too much), and the Petit Verdot (incredible power!!).

What Did I Think of Virginia Wine Country?

Well, as you may glean, I enjoyed it! However, with a visit to 6 wineries I have barely scratched the surface of wine country in Virginia. I love Virginia and its wines!

Have you visited wine country anywhere in the U.S. or abroad? Which ones? How did you find the experience, the wineries, and the wines??

Filed Under: Good Eats and Drinks, US & Canada, Virginia, Wine Tagged With: Barboursville, Cardinal Point, food, Monticello, Octagon, Palladio, Piedmont, Pollak, Thomas Jefferson, Veritas, vineyard, Virginia, Wine, winery

A Propos of Earthquakes

27 August 2011 by Raul Leave a Comment

As I have written elsewhere in this blog, I missed the Chile earthquake of Feb 2010 by a day and a half. How lucky of me! Our company did not allow us to return for 3 weeks and in those 3 weeks the more powerful aftershocks took place so I also missed those mercifully since I was staying usually at floor 20 and above at the Santiago Marriott during my stay in Santiago… I did experience a few smaller aftershocks most of which I was too busy/carried away with work to realize they were taking place except people would point it out.

This week’s Virginia quake, therefore, took me back to Chile and even my childhood in Puerto Rico where we did experience quakes like the one that just struck Virginia this past week. I knew what to do, I knew to worry but not panic, etc. But what I had forgotten was the rumble of the building as it shook – it is an eerie sound and many a person in Chile told me that was the worst part of the very long earthquake in February, more than the shaking itself.

Here are some of my pix from the damage in Santiago… Worth saying that these are only from the Centro. I did not see or capture damage outside of that area (I wasn’t hunting for it, most of these were near work!). Also, it is worth noting that these buildings are old and built before serious earthquake-safety codes were developed and implemented. Newer structures fared better.