I'm out of here #9: Auckland, NZ - culinary joy & dizzy heights

I don't always inform myself to death when I go out travelling, at least not when I'm on a long trip as I am right now. I Need to be Aware in between somehow, that I have no clue of where I'm exactly going, like having some Kind of suprise effect open. This is what I thought when I was about to leave the untouched Tropical paradise  of Fiji to visit the City of Auckland in New Zealand. Bad move.

Auckland CBD

The only fact I knew was that the temperature will drop down by almost 20 degrees Celsius and it will be raining most of my time there. Don't get me wrong, this is not going to be any hater post about Auckland, I think I guess imagined the whole Thing differently because I was thinking stuff like "I'm still in the Pacific Ocean" and Maori is equal Polynesia so it's going to be still exotic in some way. So now you might understand why I was a wee bit disappointed when I took a cab from the Airport and saw very Swiss similar landscapes out there. There's nothing wrong about my home Country either: but I wasn't expecting any disappointment, so this Feeling deep down just reminded me how I wasn't ready to end being on the road and head home.
More than 50% of my world trip is already over now, and looking back to a couple of weeks ago, fortunately something is starting to Change. I am starting to loose the scary mood about thinking about what will happen when I get home, I didn't loose it completely, but I can tell that I can Focus more on what's Happening NOW. And this is a pretty good Thing.

All this stuff started to Change during those four days, I feel ready to embrace the things that life has to offer when I get back, see what happens and go with the flow, so thank you Auckland. A lot. And no, it wasn't all  disappointment actually, I had a bunch of pretty good times here too. Our trio still had some time to do some Sightseeing in the city's Business centre, including a visit to the Sky Tower. That's actually the best Point to have a wide overwiev of town, the surrounding Islands and Suburbs. The most awesome Thing for me was to step up on bare glass and see the cars passing down on the tiny street way down at the bottom of the building.

Another great Thing about my stay in Auckland was my neighborhood. I was so happy to have Chosen to live between Ponsonby and Grey Lynn. Our Apartment was located on the backyard of a house, which gave us a real feel to be part of it, also because our Hosts invited us to join their home Party once. Wine is always a good Option if you ask me :)

The area of Ponsonby seems to be the hippest in Auckland, featuring vintage, heritage buildings, a slowed down City life and great local Restaurants. I liked a lot how creative the gastronomic world can get here, every place has its own vibe and is decorated individually. So if you'll ever find yourself wandering around in Auckland, make sure to be hungry and in a discovery mood, there is plenty of stuff for every taste.

I tried to put together a bunch of my favourite places during those days, I hope you'll find your favourite in here.

Breakfast/Brunch

I usually am not a big breakfast taker. This is maybe combined with the fact that I rarely am awake early in the morning, for me it's more brunch. There are a few chains of coffeeshops that offer great breakfast Sandwiches and amazing coffee. I really missed a good macchiato, so I really enjoyed being awake again in the morning :) plus, the salmon and Avocado Sandwiches are simply delicious. I tried several places and they really are good. So just step in wherever you are, the Cafés are great in Auckland!

Meatballs

I discovered Bedford Soda & Liquor by Meeting an old friend there that now lives in New Zealand again. This spot is great for tasting very good made Cocktails and the New York inspired Meatballs are great. The funny Thing about ordering meatballs is the Menu itself: you can choose different variations of Beef, sauces, and add extras like salad or Pasta to them. It can get pretty crowdy here during nighttime so make sure to be early.

Ponsonby Central

Pizza (!)

I know, you get Pizza everywhere. But you don't get LA Pizza everywhere. Especially not while travelling. Dante's Pizzeria is a small place with just a bunch of seats outside, that serves only the simple variations of neapolitan Pizza. So if you're looking for no-nos like add ons like pineapple or chicken you're definetly in the wrong place here and should go to Domino's. Dante's only uses real italian products and is certified by the neapolitan association of Pizza as a member. That's something that only 200 Restaurants in the world reached, it means something, or it will as long you will give the first bite to your Pizza slice. I didn't have a proper Pizza in Ages, so I was almost about to cry :)

Live Music/Bars

As a live Music Lover I was delighted to find a Little bar just across Ponsonby Central which has bands playing every Weekend. We enjoyed a Jazz Band playing and had our Drinks in the huge backyard where another, good stocked bar is provided. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out its Name, but you can see the colorful lights of the back shining out from the street.

The bar located on Ponsonby Road

On our last day the sun was laughing a Little bit more, and I really enjoyed one last walk in Ponsonby, including its cute Little park. My mind got ready to leave some annoying stuff behind and I was really looking Forward to see what Australia has to offer. I was wondering the most if the Feeling would last, and fortunately I have to say that it does every day a Little bit more. This trip was supposed to discover new places. However, I also wanted it to calm me down from unnecessary worries. And it's working out. The world is mine.

How you should spend 36 hours in Milan

Ciao a tutti!
I have been in Milan the last time surely 7 years ago, so I it was definetly time to go again. And, oh boy, I spent one of the best weekends of this season! Being one of Italy's biggest cities, Milan belongs automatically to the epicentre of happening. There's a lot of sightseeing and culture in here, but as we know, the time on a weekend can be quite limited. So if you're planning to be in North Italy you might be glad to have some tips for a big city like Milan. So let's start this mini survival guide: Milan in 36 hours.

1. Live Central

That doesn't exactly mean to live right next to the Dome, believe me, go local! One of the best spots you could live at is the lovely Zona Tortona. Located obviously in and around Via Tortona, next to the Metro Station Porta Genova. The former industrial and working class quarter left loads of space for little alternative boutiques, traditional and trendy Restaurants. The cute canal oasis Navigli is just 10 minutes away by walk and there's a good Connection through Metro line M2 from central station, Milano Linate is the closest airport from here.

We spent our night in Milan at the Hotel Mercure Milano Solari, in a two stories room with balcony, for a fair Price of EUR 74.

2. Celebrate Food <3

My arrival in Milan was around midday, perfect for brunch. I decided to make a reservation at God Save the Food, where you can get the very best of the american (Burgers, Eggs) or the italian (classic cornetto with coffee or other sweets like cake) breakfast. Ideally accompained by one of their delicious homemade smoothies, everything tastes delicious. The restaurant offers a sitting space outside and is very bright and friendly inside. Even if it's good sized, I would reccommend a reservation for brunch on weekends.

Egg Benedict with smoked salmon

We went to Milan because of a concert. The show start was communicated for 9 pm, basically no chance to have proper dinner. But lucky us, we were in the city that invented one of the best afterwork events ever: Aperitivo! Usually starting at 6 pm until 10pm at night, almost every bar offers a buffet of warm dishes and cold appetizers that are included in the price of the first drink you'll have (around 10 EUR). Being the perfect solution for us, I opted to visit the beautiful Navigli area and go to Spritz to have our aperitivo. Spritz Navigli is perfectly located on the water, which can be very suggestive on summer nights. In our case it was pouring outside, so we had to sit inside, which wasn't bad either. Spritz offers 20 different kinds of the italian classic "Aperol Spritz", besides different cocktails, or national liquors like Sambuca. They have a huge buffet and they serve good sized drinks; definetly a must!

Navigli - photo by Metropolischt

On our last day we decided to go more traditional and visited the very nice decorated Ristorante Boccino. Besides the nice interior, they have very attentive waiters. We were informed that they had fresh truffle avalaible, so it was clear that we were going to order dishes based on that. My friends had some beef sashimi and I had tagliatelle, both with truffle on top. They also serve mouthwatering desserts, homemade as well. We had lunch there, I would make a reservation for dinner, because of the romantic vibe of this place, I really can imagine it perfect as a packed dating spot.

Truffle Tagliatelle

Photo by Metropolischt

If you'll find yourself travelling through Milano Centrale, you totally should enjoy some coffee, aperitivo or buy some italian food at Bistrot Centrale. A very welcoming spot into the madness of the train station. Coffee is the best start you can have for your Italian trip and their focaccia was my delight on my way home.

Photo by Metropolischt

3. Culture

Admitted, in 36 hours (trip included), there's not a lot left for sightseeing. I just decided to bring my friends to the world famous Duomo, beautiful inside and outside. In Addition we had a walk with another ton of people throug Corso Vittorio Emanuele for some Shopping. If you have one more day to spend I'd reccomend for sure to visit the Scala Theatre and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele as well.

4. Spoil your Soul with Music

As I mentioned before, I went to Milan because of a concert. And yes, there I go again: Paolo Nutini. And I'm absolutely not ashamed of visiting Show #4 this year, because it's totally worth it. His voice might be one of the best of the past couple of years, and it's an everytime confirmation. Paolo's latest record, "Caustic Love", is for sure one of the most acclaimed ones of the year. Don't get me wrong, I am very pleased for this amazing Artist to be as successful as he is right now, but I miss him playing in small venues. His concert in Milan was Held at Mediolanum Forum, huge complex for approx. 15000 People, and the Show itself and the vibe in there were so great. I just hope that if he chooses Zurich as a tour destination, he'll Play in a smaller place, just to get the intimacy back that I had when I saw him in Munich in May. It gives a "smokey jazz bar athmosphere" to the whole thing, which I think fits so well to his music!

Photo by Metropolischt

With himself joking about the bad weather ("no pioggia, no arcobaleno" - "no rain, no rainbow") he wrapped the audience easily around his little finger, by speaking italian with that charming accent.
My personal Show Highlights were for sure his single "Iron Sky" played with Chaplin's movie "The great dictator" projected on a wide screen on the back. I still could see this song in a 007 movie. A big surprise was MGMT's cover "Time to Pretend": I think the last time I've heared him singing this song was a couple of years ago. It's one of my favourite tracks ever, talking about how good we are nowadays in faking and pretending to be who we aren't, forgetting about genuine things in life like family or real friends. Funny is, I think Paolo Nutini's version has much more substance and emotion than the original performance!
The italian crowd literally freaked out, and singed the most along the second cover of the evening, which was Fred Buscaglione's "Guarda che Luna", released in 1959, declared to be one of Paolo's favourite Songs. I won't stop telling you: go to one of his Shows! I promise that it won't be the last you wanna see. Confirmation is also the double sold out at SSE Hydro in Glasgow within a couple of hours.

Paolo Nutini just released his new single "One Day" today, watch the offical Video here:

Have a listen to his MGMT Cover "Time to Pretend", here live at Paleo Festival Nyon 2010:

Paolo Nutini will be live on stage between December and January in the UK and hitting his first Australian Tour in March 2015

If there's no Nutini avalaible, I'm pretty sure you'll find loads of other concerts to visit. As I said, Milan is one of the central events spot in Italy, keep yourself informed on Vivi Milano. Buon Divertimento :)

 

 

5. Bring a second pair of shoes

I already mentioned the bad weather on the first day. It was more than bad, it was apocalyptic. I had the pleasure to walk a whole day in my (poor) wet boots. So you won't make a mistake by taking a second pair of shoes with you during the autumn and winter months :)

Thank you to these Darlings for sharing the madness