Travel For Two

Pesto, anyone?

Posted on October 18th, 2009 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

We’re back from Vernazza with G’s Parents. We had a great time eating our weight in pesto (yum!), anchovies, and drinking cheap (yet ever-solid) Italian wine… And to work it all off, we fit in a few hikes, too.

It was the perfect low-key destination for catching up with A&V and also having a bit of autumnal sunshine before the winter sets in for good. Thank you A&V–we had a great weekend! May the pesto pride live on…do share the wealth if you figure out the recipe

Some friends may remember our first trip to the Cinque Terre back in 2004. We loved it so much the first go-round that we couldn’t resist the opportunity to go back when A&V were going to be in the ‘rough vicinity’. And it didn’t disappoint. For those of you who have also been and would like an update, here’s a quick compare/contrast…

What’s the same? 2004-2009

• The same two Sicilian brothers have a quaint pastry shoppe at the top of the hill.
• One of the brothers still flatters every female below the age of 40
• The path from Vernazza to Monterosso is still unpaved
• The pesto
• It’s still a stunning, charming town

What’s Changed? 2004-2009

• Just about everyone in town has an American accent…tourism is booming, even in the off-season
• The prices are MUCH higher (no doubt in thanks to the Euro’s recent strength…)
• The shopkeepers have their own personal copies of the Rick Steves guidebook and quote from it…
• More upscale tourist shoppes in town (rather than just the ‘local’ grocers when we were last there)
• There are now wooden guardrails along much of the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso
• The locals aren’t quite so friendly…still very approachable, but they’re more ‘businesslike’ now

Vernazza’s still on our ‘favourites’ list and we had an incredible time, but it was a bit of a disappointment to see the impact tourism has had on the region since our last visit in 2004.

For more photos from our most recent trip to Vernazza, click here.

And for a few from 2004, click here.

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Tallinn, A Tasty Treat

Posted on September 13th, 2009 by g.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Our expectations weren’t high for our weekend getaway, traveling to Tallinn (Estonia) with our friends Shaun and Lottie. Under Russian and Soviet control for hundreds of years, we were prepared for a somewhat depressed and developing country. We counted on the lackluster cuisine you might expect from eastern European countries, served up in the soviet concrete architecture to match.

But we found a treat. Tallinn’s café culture rivals Paris and Vienna’s, and the bars, clubs and variety of cuisine make it a great town to eat, drink and be merry. And it is all packed into a charming old town with city wall fortifications, towers, churches and, of course, the central square.

Like London, Tallinn offers a wide range of cuisine. So, we weren’t stuck with the local fare of pickled herring and jellied eel. We instead sampled Estonian, but also enjoyed delicious Russian, Indian, French, African and even Tex Mex. And it was all surprisingly well done. We mixed in some locally brewed beer in an Austrian style beer house, a fine bottle of European wine in a fantastically cozy wine cellar, and, of course, a few drinks sitting on the town’s main square.

To satisfy Shaun’s craving for ugly Soviet-era concrete blocks, we took the street car to the outskirts of town. Much to his dismay, we came up empty. We weren’t much help in his quest as we pointed out every pretty building and park we passed along the way. While the town doesn’t boast the grandiose style of Prague, it has its share of iconic elements and fine architectural touches. The entrance, through the main gate, made for a stunning first impression followed by the imposing town hall tower of the main square. The onion domed Orthodox church reminded us of Moscow and also made for a great photograph.

Tallinn’s unique mix of Scandinavian, Russian and eastern European influences proved to be a great recipe for a great weekend with good friends, fine wine and tasty food.

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Dubrovnik is Beautiful

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by g.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Perhaps one of our favorite destinations. It has the old world
charm of Prague with the coast of Cinque Terre. And who would have thought that we’d love octopus salad.

Unfortunately we had to reschedule our kayaking due to rough seas. We’ll try again tomorrow. Today we are off to Mljet — a natural island and national park away from tourists with cycling and boating.

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Welcome to Croatia

Posted on July 11th, 2009 by g.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

And It has been a wonderful welcome. We arrived in Dubrovnik last night after flight delays (ugh) and were greeted with fireworks marking the opening of their summer festival. Fun! It has been one of our easiest arrivals with the bus waiting right outside the terminal and taking us straight to the old town. Our host was waiting for us at the gate and took us to our room where he had a chilled bottle of wine waiting for us in honor of K’s birthday.

We wandered out into the center of the old town to the Stradun (main street) lined with fire torches and capped with a stage. The festival is a major local event. It seems everyone in town was out on the streets and dressed to be seen. We walked around, ate a seafood dinner and enjoyed some of the music before turning in for the night.

Today has been gorgeous despite the forecasts for storms. We have soaked up the sun on the rocks of the old wall and the ’sandy’ (read pebbly) beach. It has been wonderfully relaxing with more to come.

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Champagne!

Posted on May 10th, 2009 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Heading to France is like heading home. It’s relaxing and easy.

Sometimes France gets a bad rap, but for us, France is heavenly. The people are amazingly friendly and helpful (when you make an effort to know them), the food is incredible, aesthetics are polished and the vistas are gorgeous. Not to mention the wine. And, perhaps most importantly, we can be there in 2 hours from London’s St. Pancras station…

Last weekend, we headed out to the Champagne Region for the extended bank holiday weekend. We stayed in a little town called Reuilly near the center of it all at an adorable little B&B run by owners Bill & Meredith. Both Americans, they were very kind and helped coach us along to have a great getaway… helping us set out our plans for each day, inviting us for champagne toasts at the inn and making our reservations for dinners out. Bill makes incredible breads and they are both lively conversationalists. And they have impeccable taste in art. They were amazing hosts. And we admired them both very much for the lives they’ve lived.

Though the little town of Reuilly is literally just a cow path crossing, there was a Michelin star restaurant across the way at the ‘Auberge le Relais’. We had our monthly nice meal out there… with champagne, of course. In fact, people in Champagne drink it like most have beer. And the quality from even the smallest independents is incredible.

During the day, we headed out in search of a few open independents for a ‘degustation’. We weren’t particular about which wines to taste, so we let luck run its course and being ‘ouvert’ (French for open) would make us stop. Of course, being in France on a weekend, this was a severe limiting tactic.

Tasting Champagne was an interesting change. Being slow season (June is peak) and a weekend, owners would happily open a bottle for you to try a wine. But the wine will go flat between their visitors. If you buy, the tasting’s free. So it became a bit of a game. The wine maker wanted to provide you with more and more from the bottle (in hopes that you would buy more and more and with nothing to lose as the opened bottle would go flat). But, alas, we were driving and had to be good. Of course we bought wine at each.

First up, we ventured to a fun little shop just outside of Dormans. The lively owner’s son had just returned from being a foreign exchange student in Richmond (VA!). So it was fun to chat about his son (and to meet him). He also gave us a tour of his operation. They make about 40k bottles per year and do it all in-house. About an hour in, a nice Belgian couple and their son and daughter-in-law dropped in. He had made a special bottle of champagne for their village dinner and they had dropped down to pick up the lot. We stayed about an hour more and had a great conversation with them about our recent trip to Israel and Jordan. They, too, are well traveled and it was really fun trading notes.

We tried a variety of vineyards and all were fun. A couple were small with no English speakers. But we spoke enough French to get a taste and to buy a couple bottles at each. And our last independent’s (and our favorite wine of the trip) owner was younger than the others. The vineyard had been in the family for many generations and the time had come for her to take on the family yoke. In 2008, she moved back to Champagne to the family farm (near the Marne River) after living in Paris. She spoke passionately about her wines, but also spoke candidly about the new responsibility on her shoulders. Not married, she seemed a bit disappointed with the change in lifestyle and the depth of stress being so close to the family. She gave us a window in to the love and respect for tradition that make the French so uniquely different. Despite the consequences, she would never have dreamed of letting down the family by not returning.

While in Champagne, we also visited one of the big outfits—Pommery. The facilities are impressive as they have 18 kilometers of caves for wine storage carved from the old chalk underground. It’s clear that Pommery don’t take themselves too seriously (in a positive way) as they currently have an intriguing and bizarre art installation (live birds, lots of seed and guitars…amongst inflatable tanks, bizarre aliens, etc.). But the wine itself isn’t impressive as compared to its independent competitors (in our opinion)…especially in terms of value. Its price matches the big name.

The vistas in Champagne were restful and beautiful. Bright yellow rapeseed fields were everywhere in mass. Add the green, green grass and a blue sky every now and again and the scenes were astonishingly beautiful. But, as with every season, there were tradeoffs. Being early May, the green fields of June were generally chalky brown with a tinge of green.

We had an incredible weekend away. But returned to a mad, mad week in London. As is always the case in advertising — it’s feast or famine. Luckily or unluckily, K returned to the feasting madness that ensued upon our return from Israel in late April. For us, it’s nice to get away as otherwise our time together is very limited, indeed.

This weekend has also been a good one. We’ve had lovely weather. K received a present from her client yesterday… and as luck would have it, the present was a posh picnic kit (whose client sends them present—her client is a dream, indeed). So yesterday, we headed to the hill with a bottle of bubbly and our yummy picnic treats. And today was also spent outdoors.

On another front, while G ran a marathon in April, K’s been diligent about going to the gym. But she decided to push things a bit harder (than her usual walking/elliptical/steamroom workout J). The trainer at the gym suggested running as a nice summertime activity, so we headed out to have her fitted for running shoes today. She’s been challenged by a friend to run a half marathon next March (in Bath followed by a spa visit, of course). And by the trainer to run a 5k by the end of July. She’ll need lots of encouragement along the way…

See additional photos from Champagne!

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Paris…

Posted on July 17th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Travel.

Every good holiday starts with a nap . After staying out a bit too late with Friends in London on Friday and rising to take Saturday morning’s first train from London to Paris, we were exhausted. First things first, a nap…

Upon waking, we walked about town to get our bearings — staying in Le Marais, we ventured to Place de Vosges — a scenic square nearby, toured the shops and boutiques in Le Marais’s backstreets, had heavenly gelato (you pick two flavors and they use small tools to make the scoops into a flower shape. Gorgeous! And Delicious!), walked to Notre Dame and the island towns — and then back to the hotel before heading up for a beautiful view upon Montmartre (a chapel atop a hill in Paris) for a little wine and cheese and people watching at sunset.

After crepes for dinner, we headed to the nearby Cabaret district to take a look at the Moulin Rouge exterior and ended the night with a late call to the Arc de Triomphe. What an amazing sunset (at nearly 10:15!). It was a long, but relaxed day in Paris and primed us well for the fun to come. Those who traveled with us years ago will be surprised that our morning routine’s a bit more leisurely these days No more dawn to dusk tourist ventures followed by dinner and games until the early hours. These days, we travel as if we’ll return many times. This way, you don’t feel you have to pack too much in… you just go, get a feel for the place and enjoy being a local for a few days (well almost… a local who likes nice dinners, galleries and hops from cafe to cafe for lattes )

This was especially true of this trip. On Sunday (13th), we grabbed pastries and headed to the nearby square again (Le Marais). No one does pastries like the French… so delicate and rich. My French colleague once brought in a homemade pastry that was just like a huge almond croissant for the office to share. How they make these things, I haven’t a clue. But I am SO glad they do!

Next up, we headed to the Orangerie and Tuilleries Gardens (both recommendations from my client who lived in France for a couple years). Great recommendations. Monet’s waterlillies live in the Orangerie and it would seem that the place was specially fitted for the works. The huge canvases are stretched into the ovular walls. They’re huge. But, it’s easy to see why the works were so controversial for the day…just as some debate the merits of modern art these days, Monet’s waterlillies don’t look like much when placed next to the old classics from Rembrandt. They’re so different!

At the Tuilleries Gardens, we watched as kids raced tiny toy sail boats on a reflecting pool… such a cool idea. There’s no remote. They’re kid and wind powered. Brilliant! And next to the Musee d’Orsay for G’s favorite — Van Gogh. Starry Night… the hay stacks… a crazy haunted house… at least two self portraits… incredible collection. We were pleased — and we’re still struck by his style. The patterns help bring you into the painting. If only he had lived longer — imagine how his work would have moved and changed had he lived another 50 years.

And, my favorite part. Frosty drinks on a boat docked on the Seine before heading to an amazing dinner with the BEST butter we’ve EVER had. We took the label and nearly stole the spare butter. Seriously good butter. Not to mention the actual meal. Writing this, I want some now… hmmm… and after dinner we headed out to the local concert and to the Pompiers (local parties put on by the firehouses as a fundraiser the night before Bastille Day — they’re like huge frat parties). And wow do they come with a line. have to admit that I felt a bit old standing in line as the 20 somethings ran for the cheap Chinese noodle shop for a quick fix of starch before heading into the Pompiers… they kept asking us to save their spot in line. At this moment 30 felt old .

Bastille Day is the French equivalent of 4th July in the States. Parades… fireworks… picnics… lounging in the park. With this in mind, we planned to wake up and see the military parade along the city’s main promenade. But, luckily for us, each course of the parade visited us outside our hotel window instead… first the brass band at 7:30am. Followed by the horse guard (there were SO many). We had no idea that would happen and were a bit surprised… I think the band’s tunes wove themselves into my dreams somehow… the perfect alarm clock. If only we hadn’t gotten up to take photos and then rolled back over. We woke again just in time to watch the parade on TV and then see the air brigade fly by our window with colored smoke tails.

This time, more pastries, but off to the Park by Notre Dame — and, as luck would have it the end of the military parade flew overhead as we were enjoying our tarts — helicopters. Then, for a visit to the Cathedral (everyone else was at the Parade). While it’s stunning, we’ve been to so many churches these days that it was a bit (dare I say) underwhelming. Back to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. And to the park for more sailboat watching before heading to the local Carnival. We had amazing views of Paris from the sky high ferris wheel.

How fun! G planned an amazing birthday weekend, but the highlight was definitely the 5 course dinner on a boat along the Seine at sunset. Followed by fireworks viewed from inside our glass-roofed boat (30-40 minutes!), a bit of dancing (they even played our song), and finally a bit of revelry with the locals below the Eiffel Tower as the games came to an end. The bongo players and wine made for a beautiful end to an amazing 30 years.

See additional photos from our weekend in Paris.

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Babysteps…

Posted on July 16th, 2008 by k.
Categories: Europe, Living Abroad - Life in London, Travel.

Yesterday, a teaser. Today, photos. Tomorrow, a post. I promise! Where has the night gone? To see photos from our weekend in Paris, click here.

On an unrelated topic, I’ve now discovered the problem with working out. I love the cute clothes and have fun when I’m working out. But, as I watched others sweat it out with their trainers tonight, I discovered the crux of the problem. People who have trainers are drippy and sweaty and have non-cute, functional workout clothes. So, I have a new workout goal. To look like I don’t need a trainer . That should keep me going for at least a few weeks…

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