In the forests amongst the steep craggy mountains that are enshrined in a near constant mist and fog, lives a town as old as Lisbon. A cool retreat from the hot weather of the larger coastal city about 40 minutes…
Day 637 – Lisbon, Portugal – An ancient magical place.
July 21, 2021
Lisbon is an old soul looking back on her past with sadness. It permeates the ancient streets, a palpable melancholy. There’s a sadness and longing to the local music, called fado. Embodied in the untranslatable word saudade, a nostalgic…
100 Maneiras – July 9, 2021 (Lisbon, Portugal)
July 10, 2021
100 Maneiras is the personal project of well known Lisbon chef Ljubomir Stanisic who immigrated to Portugal from Bosnia and Herzegovina as a young man. He is a well known local television personality as a juror on the Portuguese…
Day 161 – Granada, Spain – The last stronghold of Moorish Europe
March 28, 2020
Granada sits in the south of Spain at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains at the confluence of the Darro, the Genil, the Monachil and the Beiro rivers. It was the last Moorish stronghold to fall to Ferdinand…
Day 155 – Seville, Spain – The orange blossom dream I wished would never end.
March 17, 2020
Thin winding streets lined with orange trees, the smell of orange blossoms surrounding you, ancient tile-work facades on brightly painted buildings in ochre and curry and mustard. The sheer ornateness of the city suggests a history much larger than…
Day 155 – Seville, Spain – Andalusian cuisine: Eating tapas in Seville
March 11, 2020
Andalusian cuisine Andalusian cuisine reflects the deep history and turmoil of the region. You can trace the region’s traditional dishes to contributions made by different cultures throughout time. The region was first settled by the Phoenicians around 1100BC who…
La Tasqueria de Javi Estevez – March 2, 2020 (Madrid, Spain)
March 5, 2020
Javi Estevez started his restaurant in 2015 and at 35 received his first Michelin star in 2019. What makes his restaurant exceptional is that he did it championing the nose to tail approach he feels represents traditional Spanish cooking…
Day 147 – Viareggio, Italy – Carnival in Viareggio
March 2, 2020
When I stepped off the train, I liked Viareggio immediately. A charming seaside Italian city that reminded me of New Orleans for some reason. Not exactly in the architecture or the language, it was a feeling, the city’s soul….
Day 140 – Florence (Firenze), Italy – Tuscan food and the Italian Renaissance
February 26, 2020
I didn’t really warm up to Florence immediately. And like any place I have high expectations of, I started off a bit disappointed. The dense narrow streets with tiny sidewalks flanked by enormous uninviting doors. It’s the kind of…
Day 139 – Verona, Italy
February 23, 2020
Verona wasn’t on our itinerary but I’ve always been curious about this Italian city so we booked an overnight to check it out on the way to Florence. Charmingly cheesy, stunningly beautiful, laid back and lazy. Verona is exactly…