Simply Cinci

Sorry this blog post is so overdue! This past week has been crazy work-wise, but that is for another time.

So this past Saturday since Greg had an entire week off and was able to get ahead in studying we had the privilege of traveling the 1.5 hours to neighboring Cincinnati! It was a fun drive though the weather was a tad dismal and so beautiful because the fall foilage is starting to change (kinda like driving from Sac to Tahoe, but even more).

Greg had planned out our whole day and stop number 1 was of course for food. We made it to a small eclectic area outside of Cincinnati for breakfast brunch. The place was called Melt and featured a ton of vegan gourmet foods. We filled up on a yummy roast beef sandwich and some sunchip nachos (yes, you Californians though only you had weird health food joints!) and enjoyed preparing for the busy day ahead of us.  We also discovered this fantastic hoisin ginger dressing there. It was worth it's weight in gold (well, not really, but it made me like vegetables which must mean it was incredible).

Next we hopped back in good ole reliable RAVi and headed downtown to Eden Park which is host to a number of museums (kinda like Golden Gate Park or Balboa Park in SD). The museum we decided to go to was the Cincinnati Art Museum which, wonder of all wonders was...FREE! It was a spectacular museum even just architecturally, but it had some wonderful displays and was huge. They had some neat artifacts from Ancient Egypt and Rome, a whole wing for Middle Eastern art which tends to be sorely neglected from the Western canon, a wing featuring Cincinnati artwork, the normal impressionist and realist art from Europe (including some Vermeer and El Greco) and the newest exhibit which featured Asian scrolls! It almost felt like home with all the dragons and cranes on silken scrolls! The museum was so well done with very intricate displays including a recreation of a Spanish church with some of the actual wall art grafted into the wall. We were both very impressed and I wished I was more of an art connoisseur so I could really appreciate what was before me. Nonetheless, it was a good time and...FREE!

Next we went down the street to visit the Krohn Conservatory. Now I have a black thumb, but I was still able to appreciate all the diversity in the conservatory. We first entered the hot and humid tropical room filled with tropical plants and flowers. Then we went to the Palm House which was much more bearable humidity wise and looked like a hotel lobby in Hawaii. The temperate green house was nice and reminded me of a nicely groomed backyard followed by the desert greenhouse and a whole bonsai display. It was a nice and random visit and made me appreciate God's creative creation and design.

We ventured in the park for a small bit and caught a fantastic view of the Ohio River overlooking Kentucky. The weather was favoring us and it was spectacular from up there!

After taking in the scenery we decided to head off to downtown Cinci to see what was there. There is the famed Fountain Square that we wanted to check out. Downtown was quite a surprise. We at first were incredulous at the cheap parking (only $4 for the day in the heart of downtown)! But after walking in a wide block around the Fountain Square area all we found was a Macy's, Hotels and a few fancy restaurants. Upon entering Fountain Square Greg and I both exclaimed that it was a lot like SF and Union Square, but it only took us a few minutes to realize that the city was almost dead. It was a lot like SF in looks and potential, but no one was there! We ran into quite a few wedding parties at the fountain, a few random workers cleaning the streets and a few homeless people and that was basically it. It was very odd and strange... So we walked to the river and went past the Cincinnati Red's stadium ("The Great American Ballpark"), but basically that was all we could do (and I dragged Greg into Macy's to get my work uniform, more hose...boo). It was interesting to say the least and our feet were tired after walking quite a bit in search of life!

Next we made a stop just for me to...Trader Joes!! Yay! We are deprived here in KY as there are no Trader Joes at all and I was missing my favorite hummus and pizza dough dearly. So we drove to the suburbs and made a grocery outing and I was able to stock up on some TJ basics which I am now hoarding and trying not to eat all at once. We even picked up some of my favorite cheese (Champignon) for a Cami and Greg cheese party. I love Trader Joes!

Finally we ended the day on another food note. We got Korean food! Yup, you read correctly. Even though Louisville is deprived of Korean food (despite the overwhelming numbers of Koreans at the seminary) there is a highly rated restaurant in the town right across the river from Cincinnati called Riverside. We were pleasantly surprised to enter and be greeted by real Korean cooks and hosts and were even guided to a floor tatami mat (I don't know what they are called in Korean). I was so happy I got my soon tofu (although no egg) and Greg semed pleased with his bulgolgi. It was actually quite tasty and complete with yummy sides. Definitely the place to go for Korean, but on the pricey side.

With our tummies full (and my burning from too much kimchi) we drove back to our Ole Kentucky Home after a long, packed day of fun and food, the typical Cami and Greg outing. Next time we hit up Cinci we'll definitely have to try their famous chili and I need to convince Greg to take me to Ikea (another of my favorites missing from Kentucky). Yay for exploring the country and another state to add to our list!