My venture

Yes...the one day in Barcelona...kim and i did a viator (group tour)...however the one we chose specifically stated small groups, max 12 people, hence we chose it...labelled traditional food and wine....at 9am we had to be at Palau de la Musica near the Rambla...and we were in luck...we had a small mini van and only one other couple, a couple from New Jersey....punctually at 9 we left and drove towards Montserrat where we would have breakfast...huh? Breakfast? That was unexpected, cause kim and i had had breakfast...but what the hell...sounded good to us....we drove about 1hr..already seeing the beautiful sights of Montserrat which was breath-taking, it looks so different, very unusual... View of Montserrat Our breakfast consisted of pan de tomate, different cold cuts and difeerent cheeses...and the dessert a type of cheese, very similar to ricotta drizzled with honey...for me that did not have too much taste...and then guess what we had to drink....wine...red wine from the regi

Lets talk about some foodies...yes...i think i have mentioned before some typical foods from Barcelona....but we have tried some more...and found some new...yummie things....hmmmmm....what are they you might ask yourself...and if not...tough luck cause im gonna tell you about them anyway....first up pulpo gallego (octopus gallego style). According to the late, great cookbook author Penelope Casas in her The Foods and Wines of Spain, "a la gallego" is anything cooked with paprika and olive oil…it is wam and had some potatoes....it was yummie....and of course never forget the patatas bravas...the fried poatoes with garlic aoili and some chillie sauce.....divine....kim...drinking his sangria and me drinking my cava...actually that i will tell you about in my next blog..the difference between cava, prosecco and champagne...but let me keep that for next time.... The of course,..what do we like cold meats and cheeses....so yes....that is what kim and i tried...a platter of the co

Well...like livorno....i didnt actually stay in toulon....but i can show you a pic of when we sailed in... Toulon Gustav and i decided to do a tour called Le Lavandou, Hyeres and wine tasting....and it was fab....relaxing and i learnt some things....so let me start my blog...while driving to Le Lavandou the guide, Audrey, explained a little bit out the cote d'azur in english known as french riviera...Audrey explained to us the origin of the name....the name Côte d'Azur was given to the coast by the writer Stéphen Liégeard in his book, La Côte d’azur, published in December 1887, it was later adapted as the name, there is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend from the Italian border in the east to Saint-Tropez, Hyères, Toulon, or Cassis in the west. Before arriving at our wine farm in Le Lavandou, namely, domaine de l'angelade....ths guide explained to us that in france the government is very strict about labeling the wines. In fact, the governme

Although the port is Livorno....we didnt stay there....we decided to rent a car and make our way to the Tuscany....well specific parts of it......we wanted to go a see Pisa, a mere 20km away, and then explore Lucca....off we went in the morning....gps was very helpful and brought us straight to the parking....how handy to have these little devices...of course im assuming that they are not confusing me...hahah....anyway...moving on....we entered though the gates of the old city wall...and what do we see.....the huge Baptisery, the Cathedral and of course....the famous leaning tower of Pisa... Bapsitery Cathedral The baptistery (Battistero di San Giovanni)was begun in 1153 in a Romanesque style and was completed in the 1300s in the Gothic style....is the largest bapistery in Italy....the leaning tower's original height was 60m...it is now 56.67m (highest side) and 55.86m (lowest side)....it was closed between 1990 and 2001 because it was leaning too much, in fact it was lea