pasta – Growing With Leala

I have many days scheduled in Berlin and it is timed perfectly because I am pretty burned out on traveling. Originally I thought I would do day trips from Berlin but instead I want to take this time leisurely. This will be the last time during my travels I’ll have time to relax. I fly home in a month and the final weeks are very rushed.

So I plan just a few things a day in Berlin for now. Today I take my time leaving the hotel especially because there is rain. I start with a nice Vietnamese lunch.

I head down to the art deco shopping complex called Hackesche Hofe and wander in and out of some stores. I buy a couple small bottles of local alcohol and some weird marshmallow candies that remind me of circus peanuts from my childhood.

Nearby at the alternative art alley Haus Schwarzenberg I wait for the very weird MonsterKabinett to open so I can buy tickets for their show. While I wait I head to a nearby bar where I get in trouble for taking pictures. Apparently there is a sign up front and they are very adamant about it. It’s a cool bar, just don’t take any pictures unless you want to get scolded like a little child. The drink is pretty strong so that’s a bonus.

Finally they start selling tickets for MonsterKabinett and a mime-looking guy (minus the makeup) gathers us up for our tour. He is animated and takes us down to a basement art gallery slash performance location and interacts with weird looking robots. This is all choreographed to loud and strange music. The finale is a monster robot rock concert in a mirrored room. It isn’t that expensive so if you like weird stuff I say go. There are no pictures inside, many break the rules of course – I didn’t because I didn’t want to be scolded again. You’ll probably not forget the experience for a while since it’s so bizarre. I have a photo below from their website.

I take some more pictures of the area and find a nice Italian restaurant where I devour some really good truffle pasta.

I waited to the last minute to try to get tickets to the Pergamon museum, one of the nightly recommended museums in Berlin. Unfortunately they are all sold out for the day I want to go. What is available is tickets to Das Pergamon Panarama, also highly recommended. The Pergamon museum is a museum of the city in Turkey that was excavated and moved to a a museum in Berlin (one of the few times they actually had permission to do so). It is a fascinating exhibit in that it is fairly well preserved. Most of the museum is undergoing a major renovation and some major exhibits are unable at this time. Seeing the Panorama version seems like a good alternative. There are some parts of the Pergamon in this museum like statues and some of the walls but the appeal is the immersive Panorama art created by Yadegar Asisi. The beautiful colors and sounds show live during a day in the city. You watch as the art goes from day to night to day again.

Original Pergamon museum and models on how it looks

Light is added to show movement and to show how color was present before it faded in time.

More images around town

Next I’m heading to a food market across town….

I’ve checked into my hotel in Piran and settled in. It is a small hotel and I am the only guest for right now. I have a room on the top floor with windows that open up to the outside. It’s early in season but still very warm out so I take advantage of the air conditioning while inside. I do sneak some views from my window into the town center.

After a rest I go out for dinner, a drink, and a walk around town.

Finally found some good mussels and of course fresh fish is always a good idea.

I finish off the evening watching the sunset at a cafe along the water. The water gets rough and some of the tables in the cafe are in the splash zone. I see what looks like cruise ships off in the distance. We are nearby to the town of Koper which has a large port.

In the morning I get to sleep in a bit. I head downstairs and order breakfast at a nearby cafe. This is sleeping in for me but the cafe is barely open when I order. This is not an early morning town.

This afternoon I am heading to the town of Gazon to have a truffle hunting experience.

If you remember my previous post I was afraid I left the rental car unlocked. Obviously people are honest around here because when I get to the rental car in the garage it is unlocked. Would never trust an unlocked car in the USA.

This parking garage is bad for my nerves. Tight ramps that are too close for comfort are stressing me out. And seven floors of this! I hope navigating this gets easier.

I white knuckle it down narrow curvy roads with steep inclines between vineyards; at one point I am on a dirt and rock road. Not sure what is happening with google but these routes suck. I know there are highways I could be taking but google is giving me these goofy routes.

I finally arrive to the meeting place: a small, full parking lot across from a bus station. I park illegally until someone shows up to tell me where I can park instead.

I meet my host for the outing, Jerneja, who directs me to a parking lot I can legally park in. From there we walk to a wooded area to meet the truffle hunter and his dog. She tells me that she runs her own travel company and along the way she is greeted by people in town setting up for a party. It is one of those towns where everyone knows each other. She will be stopping by later after she completes my tour.

She also tells me that truffle hunting in Slovenia was illegal until 2012, even though it still occurred. My host tries to explain that the land for hunting is pretty much open for all hunters even though the land is private. I am not sure if I understood that part correctly. I do learn that white truffles are more expensive because they are more rare. We won’t be hunting those today because the season is September through January and we are in May.

I meet a Sheepdog named Lilly and her handler. Sheepdogs are very good at this but also golden retrievers are fine hunters too. Any dog can be technically trained for it. Lilly is 4 years old and trains every day. Her handler basically does this as a hobby.

Truffle hunting has its good and bad days. To make it enjoyable for visitors some truffles are pre staged for the dog to discover I find out later. However it is a good day because the dog finds many more after that.

We go back to Jerneja’s house where we I try some local products: wine, truffle sausage, truffle cheese, white truffle spread, black truffle spread, and homemade elderflower water. She also shows me how to make the popular local dish of istira truffle pasta. I help grate the truffles and she instructs me on pasta cooking and the importance of combining the truffles with fat to make the flavors appear, in this case it is butter. She later adds egg yolk and cheese as well. It is simple but perfect. We share a meal and a nice conservation. I learn a better way to drive back; in fact she discovers that I had asked google to avoid highways that was the reason why I had all these ridiculous routings. It must have happened when I was trying to avoid driving through Italy a day ago.

I head back to town and back to the dreaded parking garage. I find a parking spot but its too tight for me so I give up and drive 3 floors down. I find a better spot but still takes me ten tries to get it to where I am sufficiently away from accidently “door damage”.

For the walk from the garage to town I take a different route – this time down a bunch of stairs. The town of Piran is beautiful at night. I can hear people partying in the plaza so I have to close my window for the night. I am getting up early tomorrow to visit one of the caves of the area.

Tag: pasta

Berlin slow days

Piran, truffle hunting, and hair pin turns