Tag: Travel
Hello To Marseille!
We left Nice this morning after a yummy breakfast and a nice stroll on the promenade by the ocean. The sun was shining and the water was a perfect aqua- it was a beautiful day and we were sad to leave beautiful Nice. We walked to the train station and two and a half hours later we were in the second largest city in Paris. Marseilles is typically ignored by more visitors coming to the Provence and Southern France- it is actually the capital of Provence.. but because of its gritty persona, most people don’t come here. For the last few years Marseilles had been showing up in ‘up and coming’ places to visit- that is where I got the idea to visit this old city. It is old, a bit dirty.. it is a poor city but it is very charming indeed. People have described it as a ‘Naples’ or ‘Athens’.. I guess it kind of has that same feeling… we walked around in the old area- small windy streets, kids playing on the streets- it kind of reminded me of India… it actually felt like a grungier Rome..As we walked around, I found myself really liking this old charming city.
As we walked around, we found this little tapas place and decided to sit down for drink and some muchies….
Tapas
It was a combination of white anchovies with olives, potato and hummus… it was all delicious, especially with a yummy glass of Rose. We finished and continued walking and came to the newer part of the city where we encountered a very beautiful square with lots of restaurants and people walking around.. it was near by where we found a tiny little restaurant serving pizza- turns out Marseilles in known for its pizza. The restaurant opened at 8, so we walked around some more and finally sat down for some more Rose and some pizza. I had one with anchovies and olives- it was an anchovy kind of day!!!
Anchovy Pizza
Creme Caramel
I was super full after the pizza and some salad but when I saw the creme caramel on the menu, I had to have it!! Well, it was worth it… the dessert was yummy… so glad I had it…
We walked back, really tired from the long day and started planning the what we will do tomorrow….
Paris & Southern France, Here I Come!!
So, I am off to do my favorite thing- travel to another country! We are going to be in Paris, Nice and Marseilles! I have never been to Southern France and am very excited to eat lots of seafood and drink lots of delicious wine. We will be in Paris for three days- it is nice to go back there and just eat the yummiest things including crusty bread, cheese and of course snails!! We will then fly down to Nice for three nights and go over to Marseilles for another three nights. I am really excited about Marseilles as it is the new, up and coming destination in Souther France. I remember reading lots of articles about it last year and how the cuisine is supposed to a delightful mix of French and Tunisian… It is not as popular with the tourists as the rest of Provence.. so I am really looking forward to it. Bouillabaisse is a specialty there.. yum!
Of course Nice will be fantastic- I do hope to hop over to Italy since we will be right there but I am not sure if we will have time. Italy has my heart and I would go there three times a year if I could… but I think Southern France will be a lot of fun. Stay tuned next week to hear about how much I can eat and drink my way through Paris and Southern France!!!!
Tuscany- Day Two
I woke up to an amazing morning in Tuscany- it was absolutely beautiful… a blue cloudless sky and birds chirping…
The day started with a delicious breakfast, a visit to the super market and a delicious lunch. We found this hole in the wall restaurant by the high way. We walked straight into the kitchen not realizing where we were and asked them if they could make pasta and salad enough for sixteen people. They were very skeptical and decided to have a conversation amongst themselves before they gave us an answer. I watched the mom make pasta pomodoro and pasta carbonara for us. We brought the pastas and salad home and washed it down with some delicious, very cheap Tuscan wines….
Pasta Pomodoro and Pasta Carbonara
For dinner we went to a neighboring town to a small restaurant that was willing to accommodate sixteen of us. We started off with delicious brushchetta pomodoro 
.
Tuscan Bean Soup
Had some delicious Tuscan bean soup, Zucchini Pasta, Fried Chicken and three different kinds of Panna Cotta- chocolate, caramel and mixed berries. The highlight was the brushchetta, fried chicken and the caramel panna cotta!! The local wine was delicious…
We all went home very happy, relaxed and filled with delicious food and wine!
A Few Days in Lisbon- Day 3
As I may have mentioned before, Lisbon was a very last minute decision. This city had been on my husband’s list of places to visit. I was happy to go but I really didn’t know what to expect. Well, I have decide that I really love Lisbon. It is a very charming, old, quaint city. The people are super laid back and friendly. I am really enjoying the food as well. Although I realize all my posts have included desserts as the main image. The desserts have been amazing.
A Few Days in Lisbon- Day 2
Day two started much better than day one! Our hotel served a delicious buffet breakfast. I look forward to eating breakfast in Europe. Amazing bread, cheese, ham! I usually don’t eat bread through the week- well, for breakfast I had to rolls- they were delicious- with jam! Lots of yummy coffee later I was satisfied and ready to explore Lisbon- hoping to burn off all the calories I ingested for breakfast!! It started off raining, so we decided to do the bus city tour. Lisbon is very quaint and beautiful, filled with old buildings… read more …
A Few Days in Lisbon- Day 1
A visit to Lisbon was a last minute decision for us. Since it is fairly close (I guess relatively speaking!), compared to the rest of Europe, that is.. we decided to go for it. We couldn’t get a direct flight and were scheduled to stop over in London for a couple of hours. Regardless, we would be in Lisbon the next day quite early. read more …
Back In Ireland… Hello Dublin
As I stood in immigration line, I flipped through my passport and noticed it had been five years since I have been back to this beautiful country. We visited the west coast and flew into Shannon airport and spent the most glorious week driving around, drinking beer and eating the most delicious food- I know the food part comes as a big surprise but Ireland has come a long way as food is concerned. The countryside was absolutely beautiful. We had rented an apartment in a small town called Dingle and it had the most amazing restaurants. It was a glorious vacation.
I have been meaning to go back ever since.. in fact, I wanted to buy a house and just stay there. Fast forward five years and here I am. This time we decided to experience the city life and of course Dublin came to mind. After taking a red eye flight, we finally landed at the airport. A quick shuttle took us to our hotel right in the middle of the Trinity college area, which is filled with restaurants and bars- my kind of scene.
We quickly unpacked and got ready to venture out and look for a place to eat- I was starving! Our biggest argument whenever we are on vacation is how often to eat- I tend to get hungry every four hours (according to some people in my family). I just want to go out there and experience all the food I can without overdoing it. So, we walked around and found a lovely pub. I wanted to have a huge burger filled with amazing Irish beef. We settled in with a beer and a wine- I know.. I need to have some beer. Last time in Ireland, I had delicious beers and I am not a beer person at all. For some reason, I wanted a glass of red wine with my burger.
The burger came with the beef patty in a strange looking bun. It was thin like an English muffin but tasted like a regular bun. I was happy to have less carbs as the pile of fresh chips (french fries) were extremely tempting. There were some greens as well- very yummy. There was melted Irish cheddar on the patty. I smeared some English mustard and went at it. It was very enjoyable and the best thing was- I didn’t feel overly full… I think it was the fresh ingredients used….
Stay tuned for tomorrow….