A taste of a place – Bologna
May 21, 2023
Variously referred to as; "the fat one", or "the belly of Italy" - Bologna has been firmly on our radar for a while...
Variously referred to as; "the fat one", or "the belly of Italy" - Bologna has been firmly on our radar for a while...
We recently spent just over a week in what is a veritable paradise for pizza and pasta lovers such as ourselves. We trekked from Lucca to Siena on the Via Francigena walking route, seeking good local and seasonal food in the trattorias of Tuscany along the way. And we were walking. So we were hungry...
This is a post about our Via Francigena; why and how we did it. Of course, everyone has different reasons for embarking on such an endeavour, different timescales, budgets, abilities etc, etc (never mind, hopes and aspirations!) We, in no way purport to be experts, just keen walkers (with limited time and a mid range budget) looking for an authentic experience connecting...
Intriguing, is the word I would use to describe this bustling port city in the far north western corner of Galicia. In March, we hopped on a train from Santiago de Compostela following our camino, in search of something a little different to Santiago's somewhat overwhelming clerical pomp and its sheer volume of folk. After less than 1/2 an hour...
Starting our Camino de Santiago walk from the impressive Sé Cathedral was the perfect excuse to spend a couple of days in our favourite city, Porto. Still bowled over by the beautiful architecture, the tiles, the river etc, we found the city to be much busier than on our pre covid visits. Of course, this could be due to pent...
With its gothic streets, imposing cathedral and the sound of bagpipes, Santiago de Compostela makes for a beguiling destination. You could be forgiven for thinking you had arrived in northern France, or perhaps Ireland, (particularly given the tendency for rain here). But no, this verdant corner forms the most north westerly part of Spain, often referred to as Green Spain. Fans...
Prior to reading Kevin Gould's article in the Guardian, sometime during lockdown #1, which described Olhão as "a whitewashed village adrift in the kissing sea".., I had been blissfully unaware of Olhão and the Unesco protected Ria Formosa wetlands, that surround it. I say blissfully unaware because, on reading the piece, I found myself falling a little in love with...
No doubt, many will be familiar with picturesque Calella de Palafrugell; the heart winning bay region of Palafrugell; with its string of coves, bobbing boats and stylish whitewashed village where tourists from all over Europe, throng throughout the balmy summer months. A few years ago, we were fortunate to spend a season (8 months) based in Calella, whilst working for...
Perhaps not as picture postcard perfect as some neighbouring resorts, we love the hardworking, seafaring town of Palamos; with a salty charm all of its own. This is a real place, with real people and it is ALL about the sea. With a working fishing fleet, life in Palamos revolves around the quay, the auction and the fish market. I should...
Bath; a world heritage city of Roman and Georgian architecture; synonymous with Jane Austen and mineral rich spring water. Compact and overflowing with independent shops and places to eat and drink. So why has it taken me half a (long) lifetime to get here, when people come from all over the world to visit? And why did I fail to realise that the...
One happy result of this enforced confinement to our own shores is that we have been given the perfect reason to get out and about a bit more “locally” both to discover new places, but also to reacquaint ourselves with some old favourites. As my mum hailed from Shaftesbury in Dorset, we spent many a happy (often rainy) holiday in the...
The most important thing we learnt during our first trip to the vibrant city of Bristol, was that 24 hours in this buzzing cultural hub is nowhere near enough time to do it any justice at all! Ideally I should recount tales of our visit aboard the SS Great Britain. Our Illuminating tour of the “We the Curious” science museum, or...
We love visiting the seaside in Winter. Just before Christmas, we took advantage of the brief window between lockdowns that meant we managed to get away, albeit only for 24 hours (and under tier 2 restrictions), to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary! There’s not much to say about Southwold that hasn’t already been said. We’ve been visiting this quaint little town...
We had never visited Felixstowe until a few weeks ago. Never even thought about visiting it (Im now a little ashamed to say). My knowledge of the town was based soley on the 80’s soap opera Triangle, set aboard a north sea ferry between Felixstowe and Gothenberg and starring the gorgeous Larry Lamb (check it out – it, or maybe...
I once visited Amsterdam as a student. My friend Max and I hitchiked there from Wolves Poly for a weekend. As the saying goes “the bits I can remember are unforgettable…” Those bits were, namely; tall, friendly, beautiful people, a hazy place called Café Goa and the 24 hour VendorBurger machine… Fast forward to my next visit (more than) 25 years...
The recent “strange times” have provided us with a great opportunity for a 2 week house/petsitting assignment in Amble, Northumberland. We have come to love it here over the past few years; visiting family, spending Christmasses etc. We also wanted to spend more time in the “great outdoors”, so this was a dream gig! You may remember the blog we wrote...
The Taste of a Place – Tangier (Before I go any further, I feel I need to qualify what follows with this disclaimer, we were in Tangier for less than 24 hours, as it turned out. As such, this is a far from an exhaustive review; more a whiff of Tangier….) I had long been intrigued by Tangier. It all started many...
Our latest guest blog is from Lucy Bywater with a focus on green travel and the city of Marseille. We’ve been travelling in France for family holidays for years – Brittany coast, the Dordogne, Alsace, Pyrenees, camping, cheap gites, a bit of cycling, kayaking. About six years ago we discovered Marseille which seemed to offer something a bit different for a...
Here's the next in our occasional series of Guest blogs. This time from Michael Wilson, aka "our man in Melbourne", aka, my Uncle Mick!!! Mick, a trained chef moved from Bedford to Oz well over 30 years ago. He was my food hero, probably responsible for igniting my love of food and cooking. I have such fond memories of numerous, wonderful meals at the home in Waterloo Road and on family holidays we shared together. I remember the parents used to spend many wine fuelled hours talking about opening a restaurant. Unfortunately this never happened, but my cousin Lucie has gone on to run several fabulous...
Yes, Lisbon is lovely, but Porto – well, it’s pretty much perfect, in our book! Here at Taste Adventures, we are big fans of second cities and Porto is one of our favourites. We visited it for the first time, last year and having enjoyed it so much, returned a few short weeks later, hungry for more… Not only is the city...
Here's the 2nd in (what will hopefully be!) a series of guest blogs from our good friend Lily de Ceuster. Lily is a resident of the beautiful city of Antwerp, which we were lucky to visit several years ago. We can happily confirm there's so much more to this city than all those diamonds...
Tucked in the very dry south eastern corner of Spain, amidst what is known as the “Mar del Plastico” or “sea of plastic”, (basically miles of greenhouses), Almeria gets overlooked by many overseas visitors, who fly into the airport and head straight on to the nearby costas. We first became acquainted with this small and friendly city, several years ago when...
We began our tour of Valencia as we begin most town and city tours; by heading straight to the Central Market. This gives us a feel for the city and its people – there is something so interesting about seeing what local people are buying and eating. Also, it usually a good focal point and a means to orientate yourself...
My Girona (Or my 8 top reasons to visit this city) I’m a big fan of second cities. This Is Barcelona’s little sister and I have to say, I really like this city. It’s small, it’s welcoming and seems to be largely unspoilt by mass tourism. With its shadowy web of cobbled streets and medieval buildings, to its ochre coloured modernist mansions. From...
This guest blog is written by our friend David Marshall - pictured below with Kety. David and Kety have been our good friends for many years, they’re experts in all things Croatian and lovers of good food, wine and company! If you too have a love for a country, region, specific dish or type of cooking and would like to share it...
I am very lucky to have family who relocated to this small and friendly seaside town on the Northumberland heritage coast a few years ago…Although I miss them very much, it’s a perfect excuse to make the regular pilgrimage, not only to see them, but to dine heartily on the fantastic seafood bounty of this proud, seafaring town. Amble, recently voted...
Taste of a place – County Clare Brian has the great fortune of hailing from the fabulous County Clare (“God’s own county” – don’t you know!), on the west coast of Ireland. Having friends and family there, we are fortunate to make regular trips home and of course, sample all the best that the area has to offer…. Whenever we visit Brian’s...
I have a confession – For many years, I had heard about, read about and had seen with my own eyes, the popularity of the fish and seafood “Marisqueria/Freidura” eateries in Cadiz province. I learnt that fried fish is the speciality of Cadiz, but even so, it took me a long time to venture into one…. At this point, I must...