Eating my way through southeastern Europe

The table is set for us at a winery/olive oil farm, Restaurant Kameni mlin, in the Konavle region near Dubrovnik, Croatia/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Our first course at Kameni mlin. Also on on our menu were veal cooked "under the bell," potatoes, vegetables, and kontonjata ("quince cheese")/By Patricia Leslie

Watching the entertainment (below) at Kameni mlin/By Patricia Leslie

 

The entertainment at Kameni mlin! Later, we danced the "Lindo," a Dubrovnik celebratory dance/By Patricia Leslie

Our hotel veranda in Dubrovnik where we ate many fine meals/By Patricia Leslie

A lunch stop at the Sedrvan restaurant next to the old bridge (read below) in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, a UNESCO World Heritage site. I found Mostar to have the lowest prices for souvenirs/By Patricia Leslie

Turkish coffee in Mostar.  It was pretty powerful stuff, requiring instructions the first time or two we had any.  If I remember correctly, first you skim off the top with a spoon, add sugar, and drink. I was never able to drink more than a couple of sips. Isn't the table covering gorgeous?/By Patricia Leslie

Suleiman the Magnificent ordered the conversion from wood to stone of the Stari Most Bridge in Mostar in 1566. It lasted about 427 years until it was destroyed in the Bosnia War, 1992-1995. International donors and UNESCO funded the $13 million cost to rebuild the bridge which opened again in 2004. Rick Steves says it's the "longest single-span arch" in the world. 

Your visit is more complete when you see divers in their Speedos leap from the bridge (after receiving adequate compensation from tourists, of course) 75 feet into the Neretva River below/By Patricia Leslie

Ahem... a roasting goat? Lamb?  At a rest stop somewhere in Bosnia- Herzegovina/By Patricia Leslie 

At the same rest stop/By Patricia Leslie

Dinner entertainment at the Restaurant Dulagin dvorin in Sarajevo, the capital  of Bosnia-Herzegovina, rich with history/By Patricia Leslie

 

The delicious dinner in Sarajevo of cevapi, a grilled dish of minced meat and considered the national dish of Bosnia-Herzogovina/By Patricia Leslie

In Sarajevo, more Turkish coffee at our hotel, the Hotel President Sarajevo, adjacent to the Miljacka River. A bit of the hotel is pictured in the background in the photo below/By Patricia Leslie

In Sarajevo, we debated what to order in the magnificent, huge marketplace/By Patricia Leslie  

 

In Sarajevo, we debated how to pay for dinner...with Bosnia marks, euros or dollars which don't have the cachet of yesteryear! Nobody wants dollars much anymore/By Patricia Leslie

 

In Sarajevo, more Turkish coffee, complete with instructions on how to drink it. I left what you see...a bit too strong for me/By Patricia Leslie 

Midday prayers in Sarajevo, but where are the women?/By Patricia Leslie

On our way to have dinner with a Muslim family who live three generations in about 1,000 square feet in this Soviet-style apartment building/By Patricia Leslie

The family lives on the eighth floor and stayed throughout the Bosnia War (1992-1995) when they had no electricity for four years.  To escape the snipers' fire from nearby "Sniper Alley," they gardened at night. An excellent book about the times is Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War by Peter Maass which I took on my trip and never read a word until I returned to the U.S. when it all came realistically to life, sadly. It's the first book on war I have read and I highly recommend this Los Angeles Times book prize winner/By Patricia Leslie

July 11 commemorates the 8,000 males who were slaughtered in the war in Srebrenica in 1995. This year and every year, thousands in Sarajevo and Srebrenica honored three teen boys and 27 men whose remains were identified during the past year by DNA. Remains of many more remain under analysis, as forensic scientists seek to identify them.  

The United Nations took a long time during the war to act. (See Maass.) Our Croatian guide called the UN:  "the United Nothing." Ukraine, anyone?

If you're wondering what happens to the boxes of food and dry goods to which you may sometimes contribute, the mother told us how much they appreciated and welcomed them during the war when they had little to eat! Peanut butter was one of the most popular and sought-after food items.  

The view of Sarajevo from their apartment/By Patricia Leslie

The lovely table set for our dinner/By Patricia Leslie

Lemonade, salad, grape leaves or dolme, cevapi (minced lamb, beef, or pork hand rolled and grilled), begova corba, a soup with chicken and okra, and more were on the menu. Wherever we went, our hosts (and restaurants) served us delicious salads with special dressing which our guide told us they knew Americans liked/By Patricia Leslie

The dinner/By Patricia Leslie

The dessert with the fork outlined in chocolate shavings/By Patricia Leslie 

Three generations who live happily in Sarajevo/By Patricia Leslie

When the husband/dad came home from work, he immediately sat down with his daughter and began coloring with her in her coloring book, a first for me to witness! Never did I see my children's dad nor my own father color anywhere.  Family ties seems much stronger in Europe than in the U.S./By Patricia Leslie

A Serbian restaurant where we stopped for lunch on our way to the village of Karanac in the Baranja region of Croatia/By Patricia Leslie

Our lunch at the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie

Our dessert at the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie

At the Serbian restaurant/By Patricia Leslie 

We spent a night at a farm in Karanac, Croatia where we made cheese and meals (below), everything raised and grown on the farm! Talk about fresh!/By Patricia Leslie

Making the next day's meal with all fresh ingredients from the farm/By Patricia Leslie

"You see," the farmer said, "here is the cheese you made!" With a little help from our friends, we were fabulous cooks/By Patricia Leslie

My room at the farm/By Patricia Leslie

I'm not sure where this delicious salad was/By Patricia Leslie

This is a recreation of a wedding feast on display in Tito's childhood village, Kumrovec, Croatia. Everything was life-sized/By Patricia Leslie

Approaching Livade in Istria, Croatia, "world truffle center"/By Patricia Leslie

Truffle hunters helped us hunt for the delicacy near Livade/By Patricia Leslie

Off we go with the dogs and mosquitoes to truffle hunt/By Patricia Leslie 

The forest in the left center is where we truffle hunted, seen from Motovun, Istria, a medieval town on top of a hill. It was our next stop to taste truffles and see the town surrounded by four walls built several centuries ago/By Patricia Leslie 

The walls surrounding Motovun, Istria, Croatia with the steeple of the Church of St. Stephen, peeking out in the center.  The church was built between 1580 and 1614, based on a design by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) whose neoclassical influence can be seen in the design of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C./By Patricia Leslie

Motovun's cobblestoned streets for walkers, cyclists, and cars! (Stand back and hug the walls.)/By Patricia Leslie

Enter here to taste truffles/By Patricia Leslie

Truffle samples in Motovun/By Patricia Leslie

A view from a wine shop in Motovun/By Patricia Leslie

Lunch at Hum, Croatia, the smallest city in the world/By Patricia Leslie

The coastline of Opatija, playground for Europe's rich/By Patricia Leslie

Tasty Croatian beer at Molo Opatija at Croatia's Riviera on the Adriatic coast/By Patricia Leslie 

 A veggie salad at Molo Opatija/By Patricia Leslie

A delicious salad at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana, Slovenia/By Patricia Leslie

A bread bowl for the wonderful mushroom soup at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  The menu says "Slovenian dishes by recipes from our grandmothers."/By Patricia Leslie

The soup at Gostilna Sokol which was as good as it looks/By Patricia Leslie

Our cute waiter, "Marko," at Gostilna Sokol in Ljubljana made us laugh when we asked him how he liked wearing his uniform and listening to "tourist music" all day long.  His expression says it all/By Patricia Leslie

How about this pizza which three of us split and still had leftovers! We ordered it at at one of the many outdoor cafes along the Ljubljanica River in Ljubljana/By Patricia Leslie

 This was the dessert at Gostilna Avgustin Z Vrtom in Radovljica, a town around since 1296!/By Patricia Leslie

A street scene in Radovljica/By Patricia Leslie

A street scene in Radovljica/By Patricia Leslie

Back in Ljubljana, I saved the best edibles (drinks, at least) for last to show you!  These are two margueritas (one frozen, one on the rocks) with an "orgasm" at the top, the drinks we ordered at the Skyscraper in Ljubljana. The building was the first skyscraper in Slovenia and one of the tallest in Central Europe when it was built in 1933. Norma, who ordered the "orgasm," said it was!  To order again, and again, and ..../By Patricia Leslie

I did not intend to make this a food trip/photo essay and did not take pictures of most meals on my trip, but these are some of the ones I did take. 

A terrible omission was my failure to shoot any of the outstanding breakfasts at the hotels where we stayed. Everything you can possibly imagine was served by cooks standing by to prepare potatoes, eggs, pancakes, anything you wanted "custom cooked" while guests helped themselves buffet style to all kinds of fruits, cheeses, meats, cereals, juices, coffees, breads and more from tables covered in linen tablecloths and fresh flowers.

Plus (!!!!) champagne!!! Mimosas every day to start the day right.  It was a grand trip, all right!*

Our tour guide said these breakfasts were "standard fare." 

I felt sorry for European citizens who come to the U.S. and stay in hotels/motels which may offer stale cereal in a styrofoam bowl to eat with a plastic spoon, and a thin piece of tissue paper for a napkin, if they get anything to eat at all. Europe is a much better place to visit than the U.S.!

*Overseas Adventure Travel

patricialesli@gmail.com

Washington's July 4 music, art, and folklife

Singing with the Ozarks at the Smithonian Folklife Festival is a big hit/By Patricia Leslie

Hymnals are available to sing along with the Ozarks at the Smithonian Folklife Festival/By Patricia Leslie

You may enjoy sidewalk music near the American History Museum at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival/By Patricia Leslie

More sidewalk music at the Natural History Museum at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival/By Patricia Leslie

If you get the hungries at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, prices are higher than expected, even while expecting top dollar! You're better off walking a few feet to the DC Chicken House food truck or the restaurant stand at the American History Museum to save a few bucks or bring your own!  Plenty of places to sit for a spell and eat up.  Plus, the beer is more than a $1 cheaper at the History stand in front of the museum/By Patricia Leslie

At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, this cost $29 including $10 for beer and $19 for barbecue with fat (taxes built in). Orders are not custom made, but sitting, waiting cold on the shelf which the attendant hands you after you've paid. 

Who asked for dollops of catsup? Not me!  But there you have it!/By Patricia Leslie

The nearby food truck, DC Chicken House, has much better food, and it's cooked to order! Not getting cold on the shelf. And half the price ($10) with a homemade sauce. Yummy!/By Patricia Leslie

The DC Chicken House Food Truck/By Patricia Leslie

Applause for recycling and composting at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival/By Patricia Leslie

 

If you need a rest, the cool and calm National Gallery of Art is open 10 a.m. until 5 p.m, on July 4, too!/By Patricia Leslie

Or read a favorite book and rest at the National Gallery of Art, open on July 4/By Patricia Leslie

You may take a break near the Dante exhibition at the National Gallery of Art/By Patricia Leslie

Crowds are big at the Dante exhibition at the National Gallery of Art/By Patricia Leslie

At the Dante exhibition, National Gallery of Art/By Patricia Leslie

Down the hall from Dante in the newly refurbished gallery at the National Gallery of Art is Still Life with Flowers Surrounded by Insects and a Snail, 1610 by Clara Peeters, 1594-1640, Gallery 50A /By Patricia Leslie

And see Young Boy in Profile, c. 1630 by Judith Leyster, 1609-1660 in the same gallery (50A) at the National Gallery of Art/By Patricia Leslie

But the best is saved for last! Can you spot a young dancer in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art?/By Patricia Leslie

patricialesli@gmail.com