Prague, Czech Republic

Bern and I have just returned from a 4 night trip to Prague, a beautiful and romantic city even despite the weather being a litle cool this time of the year (top temperatures of 0 and -1 degree Celcius). Four days is plenty of time to enjoy the city in a relaxed manner. Above is the famous Prague Castle situated along the Vltava River and the visible towers are from St Vitus church situated in the middle of the castle.

Charles bridge which is flanked by many ancient statues is a great way to walk to the castle. As we stayed in a hotel that was quite central (Imperial Art Deco- a great place ot stay, I might add), most tourist sites are of walking distances.

I have to say that my favourite building is the majestic Church of Our Lady before Tyn, located at the Old Town Square which was built in the 14th century.

We also had a chance to meet up with a colleague of Bern's who now lives in the Czech republic. He was kind enough to show us around for a day and took us to an authentic Czech pub called U Pinkasu. We had a few intersting dishes at this pub. The above dish is worth a mention probably because I would probably not eat it again. The left of the picture depicts fried pork fat (which was quite nice) and the sausage in the middle was a pork blood sausage. Bern's friend pierced it with a fork and alot of fat oozed out of it and the contents were actually quite soft (not like a black sausage). I was game enough to try it, but that is all I would say. To the right of the sausage is stir fried greaves (a nice word for spare parts of any animal) topped with fried onions. Another dish that needs an acquired taste.

Another random fact- the first Pilsner Urquell beer was drawn from U Pinkasu in 1843.

After dinner, we walked back to the Old Town Square to admire the Astronomical Clock which is on the southern side of the the Town Hall which was built  in the 14th century. At noon each day the clock will ring. It starts with the angel of death, depicted by a skeleton on the side of the upper clock ringing a bell. Then two small windows above the clock opens and statues of saints (I think) appears and rotates in the window. The whole things last only a couple of minutes at noon each day. Be ready to crowd with other tourists to watch it.

More pictures of the Church of our Lady before Tyn

This is the Old Town Square during the day. The building on the left is the town hall with the astronomical clock.

We also climbed to the top of the Town Hall and had a good view of Prague. Unfortunately, it was a lttle too cloudy. I can imagine what it looks like in summer though.

 

The main attraction would be the Prague castle. Bern and I pretty much spent a whole day there just admiring the architecture and history.  I won't bore you with any details- at the end of the trip, I was information overloaded as usual! So I'll just describe some of the things that you can expect to see. The above is the St Vitus cathedral.

Inside the cathedral with its vast hall and high ceilings.

Rozmberg Castle

Vladislav's Hall with late Gothic desgins

Church of All Saints

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We also spent an afternoon browsing the National Museum. It is very grand insde but you actually have to pay to take photos. Bern sneaked some in anyways!  :)

On the last night, we went to watch Swan Lake. A ballet with music from Tchaikovsky depicting the story of a girl that had been cursed and turned into a swan. A prince then falls in love with the swan but was tricked into marrying someone else. Unlike the current hit movie Black Swan, this had a good ending. Would love to visit Prague again in the future - especially when the weather is warmer.

Afternoon Tea, London

The good news is that I am pregnant! Currently 14 weeks. That meant that the last 3 months was spent feeling under the weather with fatigue and nausea. Hence the lack of blogs or even basic things like cleaning the house. Seems like all energy was zapped out of me and used for baby-growing. But I'm glad that I am starting to feel better and the best thing about it is that my appetite is back. Phew! At one stage, I was so aversed to the smell of raw meat and seafood. That meant no cooking. Poor Bern! :)

A couple of weeks ago, I turned 29. The big three zero is just around the corner. EEeeekkkKk. That is a scary thought. Better not think to hard about it.

Anyway, our lovely friends back home in Melbourne sent me a birthday voucher - afternoon tea for two at the Marriott. The Marriott at County Hall opposite Westminister had all the English charm and grandeur anyone would expect. Afternoon tea was served in its Grand Library with views of the gorgeous Thames, Parliament House and Big Ben. You can't help but feel quite relaxed after being seated in one of their big plushy armchairs serenaded by a pianist.

Apparently, the English afternoon tea was started by some Lady back in the 18th century after she described a 'sinking feeling' felt between a light lunch and dinner. So she decided to invite a few friends over for tea and light refreshments of finger sandwiches and sweets. And during these sessions, the ladies would catch up with the latest news (more like gossips) among the upper crust of society. It became so popular that the tradition continued till this day.

When seated, you are asked to select your choice of tea. This was made simple as they give you a tea box with jars of tea leaves whereby you could smell the tea before you order. My choice was of A Robois, orange and cinnamon tea and Bern stuck with the traditional Earl Grey to be served with some sliced lemon. The teas were excellent.

Needless to say, the three-tiered platter with mini morsels of food was very delightful. The scones were probably the best I've ever had- served with clotted cream and jam.

After such an indulgent afternoon, we took a stroll down the river and watched the sun set. Perfect way to end the day.

Lake Como, Italy

The last two months have been a whirlwind  of experiences, especially with the chaotic weather across Europe.Thank goodness we managed to get to all our holiday destinations and the only hiccup was a slight delay back to London at the end of the trip. I feel really sorry for all those people stuck at airports in the freezing cold, and were not able to see their loved ones especially during Christmas.

As for our holiday, where did we go for a couple of weeks in Dec? Well, it is a place that really should be paradise on earth- a town called Bellagio at Lake Como. I would love to come back during summer and enjoy the lake a bit more- maybe some fishing! But the place is also unique in winter with snow-capped mountains and the beautiful misty lake. Very surreal and peaceful to have a stress-free time. And whom better to spend some chill-laxing time there with a couple of mates.

We first flew to Zurich, before catching the train to Como the next day. The train journey (about 3 hrs long) itself is an experience on its own. The pics below will explain it all...

From Como, it is a 45 minute breath-taking ferry journey to Bellagio.

We stayed at this service apartment called Pescallo apartments. Very homey and has a well equipped kitchen and a fantastic lakeside view. The image below is taken outside the apartment at sunrise.

But what is a trip without food? And wine for the boys? We actually ended cooking many meals at home. There is a beautiful deli and fruit grocer that sells amazingly fresh pasta and antipasti. The quality of the fresh produce here is the best I have tasted. The most memorable was the yummiest persimmons I have ever tasted.

There were many persimmon trees around- interesting how there are so many fruits but very bear otherwise!

Other than over indulging in food, we made two side trips. One was to another lakeside town called Verrenna where we climbed to the top of the hill to take some magnificent shots.

The other day trip was to Milan, where we visited a really beautiful gothic church, the Duomo in Milan. As you can see, there was a Christmas market nearby as well. Loved the roasted chestnuts! The day was not uneventful when we lost our friends for about half an hour. Luckily we managed to find each other (thank goodness for mobile phones).

Definitely an experience to remember!

Snowy London

Christmas has arrived early in London! We have had 3 consecutive days of snowing, which is a completely new experience for Bernie and I. The snow is beautiful and soft and really brightens up the gloomy winter days. Frosty the snowman above (also called "Softy" by my little buddy Theo who made the snowman with me) was built on the 3rd day on the balcony of their flat.

This photo was taken on the first day when it snowed.

On the first day....

Two days later....

The park nearby was completely covered in snow in just two days.

However beautiful, it did not last long. The snow all melted away on the weekend, which is actually to our relieve. The sudden snowy weather had caused major disruptions to travel-road and airport closures, train cancellations etc and on a personal level, I fell on my fat arse after slipping on ice, leaving me with a bruised bottom and sore neck. Looks like we will still make our flight on Monday with a good forecast of a clear day with no snow. YAY..

We are now officially on holiday for two weeks! Off to Zurich before lounging at Lake Como for one week before a week of skiing in Davos (or more of an attempt at skiing on my behalf- no black runs for me, unlike my expert husband). We will be joined by our best mates from Melbourne on this holiday, which makes it extra special. Cannot wait... our very first white Christmas.

Banana Muffins

Another few more days and I will be saying goodbye to Melbourne and saying hello to London. What I will miss most is definitely family and friends who have so kindly looked after me this last couple of weeks. The other thing would also be the lovely spring weather! The garden is green and all the beautiful flowers are in full bloom. This has also been partly due to a very wet October.

When I came home to Melbourne, I brought with me a cookbook by the famous Hummingbird Bakery and the banana muffin recipe that I used is adapted from this book. Another banana-related recipe as there are always ripe bananas lying around. Good recipe- not too sweet and really moist.

Banana Muffin Recipe (makes 12)

230 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon powder and extra to sprinkle
100 g caster sugar
225 mls milk
1egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
40g butter melted
260 g banana mashed
12 hole muffin tray line with paper cases

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
Put the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarb of soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and stir until combined.
Put the milk, egg and vanilla in a jug and mix to combine. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and beat on slow speed until all the ingredients ar incorporated.
Pour in the melted butter and bet until incorporated. Stir in the bananas with a wooden spoon until evenly dispersed.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two thirds full and sprinkle a little extra sugar and cinnamon over the tops.
Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly in the muffin tin before turning out.

                                                Flowers from our garden............. I love spring!

Vanessa's First Birthday

My visit back to Melbourne has really been productive and fun-filled, despite the MC experience being short lived as expected. I probably did not have the je na sais quoi or the X factor to be on the show. That's okay, because I don't think I could have handled the time pressure in the kitchen. This experience has not deterred me from my love of all things food related. I am also very happy to be reunited with my KitchenAid which has been put to good use this last few days.

Anyway, I just had a fabulous day helping out close friends with their daugther's birthday party. Vanessa turned one and she is soooo adorable! Aunty Jo Jo made a whole heap of cupcakes and also her birthday cake to help her celebrate this wonderful day.  Her cake (pictured above) is a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting topped with a sugared deco ( I bought that from a cake deco shop in the city). The cupcakes below the cake were also red velvet with the same frosting topped with caocaus and princess-themed flags.

Her mum and I also made a trio of starters. Smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese on crackers followed by tuna and mayo on cucumber. The last was chorizo and egg in vol au vent cases, but I must have missed taking a photo of these.

Tuna and cucumber starters

These are the 3 batches of cupcakes- pink ones were strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Yellow ones were lemon cupcakes, and the white ones were red velvet. Definitely a hit with little people.

I will post the recipes up when I have a bit more time...

Happy birthday Vanessa!

Back In Town

Guess what? It feels good to be back home. Yup, I am in Melbourne at the moment trying to get over the jet lag and exhaustion of a 24 hr long travel from London. Why am I home, you wonder? Well, I am wondering the same thing. The truth is, I am home because I somehow managed to get an audition for Season 3 of Masterchef Australia. Crazy right? Eek! The reality of it all sunk in only when I was frantically packing my bags a few days ago. The chances are so slim to get on the show, but I'm going to give it my best shot and hopefully it will be an experience I will never forget, whether I get on or not. Hopefully, my current delirius state from lacking sleep will somehow aide me during the audition. Haha! This has really turned into a journey of an obsession hasn't it?

Anyway, it is sooo good to be home. When the plane landed at Tullamarine airport, there was a feeling of deep content within me. I am glad to be home, even if it is only for a few weeks. Everytihng is so calmly familiar. I am even enjoying the non-stop rain, hail storms and chill. Good ol' Melbourne.

Anyway, I am hoping to catch up wih family and friends during this time. If I haven't been in touch with you, and if you happen to read this, please call me. Would love to catch up, especially over a cup of chai latte.
Also, will be keeping you posted on the audition (could be a very short-lived experience!).

Bern, loving and missing you. Wish you were here!

xx  Jo Jo