Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

Fabulous Thin Crust Pizza in Chicago

by Janis on February 23, 2014

Chicago is famous for its deep dish pizza like this one with a butter crust at Lou Malnati’s.

During our visit last weekend, we found a world-class thin crust pizza in downtown Chicago at the Siena Tavern in the River North neighborhood.

Just down the street from the Westin Chicago River North hotel where we stayed, the Siena Tavern had great reviews on Yelp, especially for risotto, which we love. We headed over for a late lunch on Saturday. The place was packed – reservations only for the dining room and the bar was full.

We found empty seats at the pizza bar and convinced the host to let us dine there.

While the brunch menu is packed with many delicious-sounding dishes, having a close of view of the pizza-maker in action made our decision easy.

Mr. Jones ordered the Carne pizza with fennel sausage, pancetta, cured bacon, salami, sopressata, mozzarella, tomato and fresh basil. It was tasty with a draft Peroni beer.

I ordered the Truffle Mushroom pizza with roasted wild mushrooms, garlic cream, mozzarella and white truffle oil.

When the server delivered my pizza, he drizzled truffle oil over the top.

How we would like to have that squeeze bottle of truffle oil – oh my this pizza is incredible. Better than pizza in Naples.

Of course I shared with Mr. Jones. These pizzas are large. We should have shared one. But somehow we managed to eat both minus some of the outer crust.

The crust is very thin and crispy, except around the outer edges.

The only disappointment was the Mazzoni Barbera d’Alba wine; it was quite sharp with the pizza.

We’ve already booked another quick weekend trip to Chicago to try out more of the Siena Tavern menu, if we get past the pizza section.

What’s your favorite place to eat pizza in Chicago?

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Visiting Sochi by Cruise Ship Before the Olympic Spotlight

by Janis on February 19, 2014

Watching the Winter Olympics, we can’t help recalling our visit to Sochi, Russia on a Black Sea cruise in 2007.

We were sailing on Holland America’s Prinsendam, and since Sochi was a maiden call for Holland America Line there was a ceremony complete with a band.

At this point in time there was some tension between then U.S. President Bush and Russian President Putin. The band had a sense of humor, playing Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in The Night.”

Since we didn’t have a Russian visa, we needed to take one of the ship’s shore excursions to be covered under a “blanket visa.” We choose the tour to the countryside and Stalin’s Dacha or “summer house.“

Stalin’s dacha, or summer house, is called “The Green Grove” and is today a public hotel/spa.

The dacha is painted dark green to match the forest (to hid during war) and is supposedly in the original “secret formula” paint that has lasted since 1937.

Inside the complex we saw the billiards room and had a sample of Stalin’s favorite Georgian wine. Sochi is only 10 miles from the Georgian border, Stalin’s birthplace.

The movie room — used as an office — contained a rather creepy a wax figure of Stalin.

Next we headed to a park. Most folks on our tour wanted to buy a drink or souvenirs but there the only ATM machine was broken and none of the vendors were willing to take U.S. dollars or Euros.

The city was not ready for tourism, despite being in the midst of a major campaign to win the 2014 Winter Olympics. Our terrific guide Yuri was buying people sodas or water out of his own money as it was quite warm.

As we headed back to the port, Yuri, who was an English professor but had never traveled out of Russia, ask us to practice English with him. We quickly agreed, but one of the “minders” said we couldn’t stay outside of the port area.

There was an expensive restaurant inside the port compound, so we headed there with Yuri. It was fascinating to talk with him about all kinds of topics, from U.S. and Russian relations to Paris Hilton (who was in jail at the time.)

One topic was whether or not Sochi would be chosen to host the Winter Olympics. On a hot day in June, in a place with nowhere to change money, it seemed very unlikely.

The port area was not very developed in 2007. Watching the Olympics telecast today, the Olympic Ice Skating Palace looks to be relatively close to the port, as you can sometimes see a cruise ship funnel and the Black Sea in the background of the opening shots.

We had to head back to the Prinsendam and sail away, but we were excited to hear that July that Sochi had won the Olympics.

We hope Yuri is getting to attend the Olympics and have a fantastic time putting his English skills to use.

Have you visited Sochi, Russia by cruise ship? What was your experience like?

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Riding the Sommerroldelbahn Through Germany’s Black Forest

by Rachel Foxwell on February 17, 2014

Interested in a less-conventional way of sightseeing? How about by Sommerroldenbahn? I interviewed engineering student Lauren Foxwell about her study abroad trip to Mannheim, Germany. During her time in Germany, she took a weekend trip to Lake Constance, known as the Boden See in German. She also was able to experience some of the Black Forest in an unusual way.

Check out Lauren’s commentary on the highlights of her trip to Lake Constance and the Black Forest in Southern Germany.

The first part of our weekend trip to Southern Germany, we took the train to Flower Island Mainau. This is a whimsical park on an island in the middle of Lake Constance. We spent most of the first night exploring around this beautiful island.

At Flower Island Mainau, everything is sculpted of dirt and flowers.

The tradition for visitors is to write their wishes and dreams on a piece of fabric and tie it to this pink tree.

On our second day, we caught an early-morning ferry that took us across the lake. The day was spent hiking around the lake, shopping, and we even were able to make a quick run over to Switzerland!

In Germany, cities are often very close together. We walked from one city to the next in a half hour, and caught some amazing photos along the way as we hiked through vineyards.

On our last day, we enjoyed some more hiking before taking the train back to Mannheim. As the train rode through the Black Forest, we spotted a Sommerroldelbahn, or a Summer Slide. This slide is basically a roller coaster, only you control your own speed and you could take pictures while “driving” your car.

Sure anyone can say they traveled the world by foot, train, plane, or car, but how would you like to say you saw the Black Forest by way of roller coaster?

The Black Forest is the setting for many of the traditional German fairytales, and for good reason. The rolling hills, tall trees, and traditional German costumes takes you back in time.

After our tour on the Sommerroldelbahnen, we stopped to get some Black Forest Cake. This is a must-do if you are anywhere near the Black Forest. Here’s a picture of real Black Forest Cake in the real Black Forest. Delicious.

Though it was a filled weekend, it was a beautiful escape to Germany’s roots and classic German heritage.

Lauren’s photos and notes make me want to visit the Germany’s Black Forest and ride the Sommerroldelbahnen.

Have you visited Germany’s Black Forest? Please share your favorite highlight in comments below.

This is a guest post by Rachel Foxwell, a native of Monona, Iowa, is completing her degree in Hospitality Management at Iowa State University.

Though her heart is in the Midwest, Rachel enjoys traveling all over the world.

Learn more about Rachel’s travel insights in her “Travel Chat”…

“The worldly perspective gained from travel is incomparable to any other experience.” A Travel Chat with Hospitality Management Student

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A Romantic Dinner on Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach at Azure

by Janis on February 14, 2014

For this Valentine’s Day, we will enjoy a rare evening at home together with wine, chocolate and the newest episodes of Netflix’s House of Cards.

If we were dining out tonight, however, we’d want to be in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Azure Restaurant on Waikiki Beach in the pink-colored, historic Royal Hawaiian hotel.

We found this romantic restaurant right next door to our Sheraton Waikiki hotel on a quick weekend trip in late January, thanks to Yelp.

Dinner at Azure was a delightful and delicious dining experience, just as all of those Yelpers had reported.

Our 8:30 pm reservation was the only time slot available on a Saturday night, booked less than 24 hours ahead. We arrived about 25 minutes early, and were seated immediately by agreeing to dine inside rather than out on the beach. Beach dining at sunset here would be amazing.

While we were browsing the menu, our waiter served a complimentary appetizer of clam dip and lavash. It was a great start.

Azure is known for its fresh fish and seafood. One part of the menu focuses on fresh fish selected each morning from the Honolulu Fish Auction where Hawaiian fisherman auction off their day’s catch.

We could not, however, resist the five-course tasting menu with a wine pairing.

The first course was Azure Sashimi with Hawaiian Yellow Fin Ahi and Japanese Hamachi served with avocado and watermelon radish salad with a ginger vinaigrette. This was perfectly paired with a Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec Rose wine.
The second course “Ocean Cappuccino” filled with Dungeness crab and black tiger shrimp in a bouillabaisse arrived in a large cappuccino cup but was served with a spoon. We downed every sip.

Kona Lobster Tail Risotto with tomato, saffron and asparagus made up the third course, paired with a BEX Riesling. This wasn’t our favorite wine pairing but the risotto and lobster was our favorite course.

The fourth course was a butter poached fillet of beef with mushroom, taro and brandy puree in Madeira & Black Truffle sauce. I noticed this was usually served with a raw quail egg on top, which I requested be left of my steak. Mr. Jones loved the egg on top. The beef was perfectly paired with a Vita Nova Merlot by Jim Clendenen.

Thank goodness this was a leisurely-paced dinner, allowing us to rest a little before the dessert of strawberries and Fior Di Latte with balsamic and cinnamon sauce.

Our waiter was a hospitality superstar. He made each course and the wine paired with it a special event.

Azure is the most romantic, delicious and delightful restaurant that we’ve been too in a long time.

What is your favorite romantic restaurant? Please share in comments below.

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