Some Like It Hot...(March 8, Cont'd)

If you do some casual math (or just read on, and I'll do it for you), you'll realize that by this time we were just about 10 days into our European adventure.  If you memorized our packing philosophy (or refresh your memory here), you'll realize that we were fast running out of clean clothes.  Doreen, the proprietress of Hotel Scoti, had helped us get oriented when we'd arrived the previous evening and pointed out the location of a local laundromat.  


So after taking our dirty clothes to breakfast (thankfully, they didn't eat much), we walked around the corner to the laundromat.  What the laundromat had in proximity, it lacked in economy.  We quickly realized that doing laundry in Florence wasn't going to be cheap, but when you're carrying your clothes on your back for weeks, you're willing to pay a premium to wash what you have, rather than carry more.  


First, we had to puzzle out the token-granting machine.  After a few minutes and some refused, re-flattened, and re-fed bills, we paid 10 euros (~12 USD) to wash three loads of laundry.  Eeek.  Then, we scraped together our coins to see if we had enough to purchase little packets of laundry detergent and still get change from the vending machine, which only dispensed a very limited amount of change.  I thought we had it worked out, until Kee-Min (who was working the dispenser) and I (who was loading a washing machine) had this exchange:

Kee-Min: "I have one packet of laundry detergent, but it won't give us change."
Me: "Right.  It won't dispense that much change.  So just get two bags."
Kee-Min: "Really? Two bags???"
Me: "Yeah, we have three loads of laundry."


I turn around a moment later, and Kee-Min is holding one packet of laundry detergent and, literally, two plastic bags.  Apparently, plastic bags were also available for sale from the vending machine.  Who knew?  In Holly-speak, "bag" meant "little plastic packet of laundry detergent".  Kee-Min, ever the dutiful spouse, followed my instruction just a little too well and purchased 2 plastic bags.  


But what the heck. We were on vacation, and we had two extra bags.  We laughed.  And laughed.  And when an older American couple joined us at the laundromat a few minutes later, we helped them navigate the token and detergent vending machines, then offered them a few extra bags...


We actually enjoyed chatting with this couple, who were traveling through Italy and Spain with a tour group of senior citizens.  We shared some stories, and were once again reminded how fortunate we were to be able to take this trip while we are young, energetic, and able to walk/climb/hike/life our luggage with relative ease.  So - for you readers who are pre-retirement age, infected with wanderlust, and with the financial resources and freedom to take an extended trip: DO IT.  Your life is now, and you have nothing to lose.  


*steps off soapbox*


But our laundry escapades weren't quite over yet.  For those of you who don't know us well, at home, we wash one load of laundry a day, and hang dry *all* of our clothing.  We just don't use the dryer.  But here, our room was too small and our volume of clothing too large for hang-drying to be reasonable.  So we sorted out our heat-sensitive technical gear out, and I went back to our room to redecorate.  Then, we threw the rest of our clothes in an enormous dryer, turned the heat up to "HIGH", and inserted a bazillion euros to make it go.


Now, there was a spell during my childhood when our family used a laundromat regularly; and we used to swear that the dryers were rigged so that they took ~4 cycles to actually dry our clothing.  Apparently, this Florence laundromat missed that memo, because dang, that dryer was hot enough to burn or melt at least 4 pieces of clothing.  For goodness' sake, I had to throw away a cap because the dryer melted the adjustable plastic part. Lesson learned.  In Florence, some like it hot (in the dryer).


But overall, the endeavor was a success: We had clean laundry, and what's a pair of shorts or baseball cap here & there...  


And heck, you all should hang out more often with us.  We can make a morning of laundry an adventure, and I can even milk a blog post out of it...  But, if you didn't really think this was blog-worthy, never fear.  In the afternoon, we headed for the Duomo.  <-- If you're feeling over-achieving, you can read about it on Wikipedia here. Otherwise, come back soon!

Breakfast Around the World, Part III (March 8, 2012)

We had Big Things to accomplish on this sunny Thursday morning.  But first, we slept in.  Then, we headed out to find sustenance. Unfortunately, Obika wasn't open for breakfast, so we settled for a standard Italian breakfast at a coffee/bake shop down the street from our hotel.  Things started with coffee (of course):

Cafe latte for me (L), and espresso for Kee-Min (R).
And Flat Stanley begged to get in on the action (Center).
And no, we did not allow him to have any coffee.

These coffee shops, omnipresent in Italy, are the exact opposite of those found in Greece.  <-- Read about it in detail, but in short - "coffee" in Greece is a relaxed, leisurely social affair.  In Italy, coffee is an in-and-out business transaction, more about the caffeine than the company.  But Italians don't really do "to go" - this isn't a culture that's carting around coffee cups on the street.  No, they are even more streamlined than that.  Why bother toting your coffee around in a paper cup, when you can just order it, slurp it, and go, with the coffee safely stashed in your stomach, rather than your hand?  This is efficiency in the extreme.  The average Italian spends ~200 seconds in a cafe to order, drink, and pay (Holly's estimate, March 2012).  

Though the cafes usually have a few stools at a bar, most people don't even bother to sit in the mornings.  We were an anomaly.  First, we insisted on sitting.  Second, we ordered pastries to go with our coffee. Third, we occupied our seats for at least 10 minutes.  Yes, this was marginally awkward.  No, I didn't really mind.  Breakfast is "the most important meal of the day" and that goes double, for me.


Unfortunately, I neglect to photograph *any* of our breakfast pastries, on *any* of the days we were in Italy.  Food photography FAIL.  But suffice to say - they were good, but not amazing.  Unquestionably, the best pastries on our whole trip were found in Greece, as described here.


We'll loop back to breakfast again later on in Europe, but for now - a brief post, for an even briefer meal.  Next up: laundromat adventures.  I know you love how thorough a blogger I am, so be sure to come back soon!!  =)

Dinner at Obika: Finally, some mozarella in Italy! (March 7, cont'd)

It was 9 PM.  We'd just arrived in Florence.  We were tired and hungry.  We were perilously close to falling victim to:

 

Late + New City + Tired + Hungry = Grumpy Holly + Relationship Stress

But Kee-Min is a clever man and had an ace up his sleeve.  He'd already scoped out a dinner spot: Obika, a mozzarella bar located just a block away from our hotel.  Did I marry a smart guy, or what?

Obika has locations around the world: Japan, UK, Turkey, Canada, US (New York City and Los Angeles), and Italy.  You can find links to each are here.  My research just this morning indicates that menus aren't standardized among locations; I'm actually pretty curious to check out the LA location.  

[My research also indicates that it is DineLA Restaurant "Week", July 16 - July 27, 2012.  Ohmygoodness.  Locals, check it out here.  While this is unrelated to blogging about Our Big Adventure, I can't continue without at least mentioning it.]

But - *ahem* - back to Florence, and Obika.  We spotted a sign board for the restaurant on the sidewalk, which directed us through an old stone courtyard to another building in the back, which housed the restaurant.  Unfortunately, it was too dark to capture this sneaky little stone entry/courtyard in the dark, and we never went back in daylight.

We were seated quickly in the bright, open restaurant.  The floors, tables, and chairs were all made of light wood, as were the shelves that lined one wall.  The opposite wall looked out on the courtyard area, where seating was offered during the warmer months.  Indoors, seating was at a mixture of "regular" tables and taller, bar-height tables that accommodated 8-10 people, either several smaller groups or one large group.  There were also a few seats facing the mozzarella/appetizer prep area, in the style of a sushi-restaurant.  Patrons were, as far as we could tell, a mix of locals and tourists, of all ages.  I quickly felt at ease.  This probably helped:

Prosecco: Such an easy pre-meal habit to acquire in Italy...

We opted to share a few plates.  We started with a mozzarella tasting (of course!):

3 mozarellas: Paestum (mild), Pontina (strong), and Affumicata (smoked)

We agreed that the Pontina was our favorite, and the Affumicata wasn't doing that much for us.  The smoking left a bit of a weird skin on the outside that we didn't especially like.  Still, I love me a good side-by-side comparison of anything (thereby relieving my memory of having to hold on to anything for too long), and this was a great way to compare flavors and textures.  I was feeling a bit veggie-deprived, so we moved on to a platter of roasted veggies:

Clockwise from top: Eggplant, Zucchini, Carrot, Mushrooms

The veggies had a kick of charbroil without tasting burned, and they were left a bit crunchy (my favorite).  And there was not a trace of sliminess, although eggplant & mushrooms are often prone to sliming while cooking.  These were dry, and delish!

We also shared a pizza:

Prosciutto Pizza: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma DOP, Mozzarella di Bufala,
Organic Tomato, Rocket (the green stuff)

Sorry, Naples - Call us American, but we liked this pizza better than yours.  I'm not sure how traditionally Italian this restaurant is; it certainly didn't have the down-home-cookin' vibe that we enjoyed at Sora Lucia on our first night in Rome.  The atmosphere felt more like an enoteca (Italian wine bar), which we haven't really told you much about yet, but we will, soon.  But enotecas typically serve finger/snack food, rather than full-on meals, like Obika does (we didn't have any, but they also serve pasta dishes as entrees).

 

We weren't in the mood to split hairs over categories, though.  Whatever you want to call it - the food was delicious, the space was relaxing, and the service was solid.  We left full - but not too full, and I insisted that we back track to a gelato place I'd seen when we walked in from the train station.  Despite the late hour and chilly temps, gelato was calling my name.  I enjoyed a tasty-but-not-outstanding scoop or two, and Kee-Min ordered what turned out to be an enormous waffle/Nutella sandwich, which we forgot to photograph.

A note about these waffle sandwiches: SERIOUSLY GOOD.  The waffles are made fresh, while you wait, and slathered with enough Nutella to fill all the waffle crevices.  The heat of the waffle makes the Nutella warm and melty and mmmm....delicious.  Kee-Min doesn't have the dessert stamina that I do, so of course I helped him finish this delectable creation once my gelato was gone.  To work it all off, we walked the whole four blocks back to Hotel Scoti and fell into bed...

Next up: Full day of adventures in Florence!!