Home and away, we love to travel. Read about our trips in the UK and overseas including hotel and restaurant reviews and visits to specialist producers.
When invited by Bath Tourism Plus to spend a day in Bath, taking our advice on what to visit from twitter, Pete and I jumped at the chance. We started asking for suggestions in the run up to our visit and by the day itself, the advice was flowing in at a great rate. Both ... Read more »
In a recent post about Parma ham, I explained about my invitation to learn more about the production of two of Parma’s most famous products – the ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano, parmesan cheese. You can read a little more about what it means to have a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status, in that previous post. ... Read more »
A few weeks ago, I was invited to Parma by Discover the Origin, to learn more about the production of two of Parma’s most famous products – Parma ham and parmesan cheese, known locally as prosciutto de Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Both have PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status, which means that only products made in ... Read more »
Pete and I recently enjoyed a lovely weekend in Inverness, travelling there to attend and celebrate the wedding of our dear friends Kristine and Carlo. (Congratulations, darlings!) With a few extra days in hand, we were able to enjoy some excellent meals during our stay, thanks to local and twitter recommendations. The Mustard Seed River ... Read more »
I remember reading about the beautiful rooms at the Fox & Anchor when they first opened, a few years ago. I no longer recall which travel magazine or supplement featured them, perhaps more than one, but I do remember being drawn by the modern styling and funky bath tubs. I’ve tried twice in the last ... Read more »
We had a marvellous fortnight in Lebanon, as will already be clear from my recent posts about the overall trip and our day with Abu Kassem. After our Taste Lebanon tour was over, Pete and I stayed on in Beirut for 3 extra days, basing ourselves at The Phoenicia hotel, part of the InterContintental group. ... Read more »
Southern Lebanon is not much visited by tourists, given its volatility. Only a few days ago, six Italian soldiers were hurt in a bomb attack on the main highway near Saida (Sidon). Less than two weeks before that, there were 11 fatalities and many injuries, during clashes at the Lebanese Israeli border. The region is ... Read more »
What comes to mind for you when I ask you to think about Lebanon? Is it the mass exodus of Palestinian refugees into Lebanon during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948? Is it the Lebanese civil war, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, during which Beirut in particular was so often on the news? Internal conflict ... Read more »
There can be few people who’ve not heard of Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, the project he established back in 2002 to help disadvantaged young men and women to train as professional chefs. I’d heard of it too, but didn’t know a great deal about it until I was invited to visit Fifteen Cornwall earlier this year. ... Read more »
The Scarlet Hotel‘s restaurant is in the very capable hands of Ben Tunnicliffe, formerly of The Abbey in Penzance, where he earned a Michelin star for his cooking. Ben gives a frank, informative and sometimes amusing account of his cooking career on the hotel’s website. He also reveals his food philosophy which boils down to ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]