ABC of food and travel

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40 favourite things to do (and taste) ~ and places to see 

 

 

A

 

Alvear Palace, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hope you're not afraid of heights! You'll need to travel to Argentina to see the steep spiral staircase in the Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires. You will fall in love instantly with this hotel, so stand to one side for your selfie shot so that your friends can also enjoy seeing it.

Trivia: Argentineans celebrate Friend’s Day, a day dedicated entirely to friendships, when everyone gets together late at night to celebrate friendship on July 20th. More facts....

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Aldrovandi Palace, Rome, Italy

The understated elegance, polished marble, immense flower arrangements and discreet service of the Aldrovandi Palace Hotel puts this at the top of any list like this. Its location adjacent to the Villa Borghese gardens gives it breathing space, but still it is only a brisk walk to the centre of Roma.

Trivia: With almost 40 million visitors annually, Italy is the fourth-most visited country in the world.  

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Aze, Burgundy, France

This tiny French village is a delightful holiday spot, far from the tourist trail in southern Burgundy. It represents the hundreds of similar quintessentially French villages in the country. Find your own and explore every corner and play at being a local for however long you have. The cover of my book shows the view over the vineyards and the chambre d'hote in which we have stayed many times.

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B

 

Backwaters and rice barges, Kerala, India

The quiet backwaters of Alleppey were a tranquil footnote to the frenetic morning. These waters, flanked by paddy fields were once the main transport routes for the grain to reach the coast for export of distribution to other places. Now that there are other (and possibly quicker) means of transport, the rice barges have been converted to floating houseboats and tour boats.

Trivia: India is the birthplace of chess. The original word for “chess” is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning “four members of an army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers.

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Fruit and vegetable markets, Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok's Or Tor Kor, a growers' market which sells a wide range of cooked foods, fruits, vegetables, the freshest fish and seafood, meats, confectionary, and cool drinks to swig down as you wander through this enormous place.  

More about the markets here....

Trivia: Thailand’s name in the Thai language is Prathet Thai, which means “Land of the Free.” It is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by a European nation.

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Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand

Seeing today's sleepy town of Russell in the Bay of Islands (above) it's hard to believe that, when it began, in the 19th century it was known as the 'hellhole of the Pacific'. It was the whalers' fault, apparently. After months on ships, when they came ashore here, they made enthusiastic use of the town's 24 pubs and 37 brothels.

Now the area also hospitably welcomes large cruise ships during the southern cruise season and, from the beach, we caught sight of ours, Celebrity Solstice, at anchor offshore.

Trivia: Unlike Australia, New Zealand does not have any dangerous or poisonous animals (with the one tiny exception of the Katipo Spider). More……

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Black Sea, Bulgaria

Just so you know, the Black Sea is as blue as any other - and, yes, even though this is an inland sea, there are beaches with clean golden sands, as you can see. 

Hospitality-plus. That's what we discovered about Bulgaria. Wandering streets as we wished, returning friendly smiles from locals, we recklessly overused our only two local words: Dobro utro (good morning) and blagodarya ti (thank you) and felt completely welcome.

Trivia: Bulgaria's national instrument is the bagpipes –  the gaida. See more facts....

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Basilicata, Italy - Castelmezzano

 

 

C

 

Canal boat, France

Carrying a maximum of eight passengers in four ensuite cabins, the Rosa is the same vessel that TV chef Rick Stein used, a few years before  our cruise, for his documentary about crossing France by barge. He kept busy whipping up regional dishes at various stops along the way, but we relaxed totally, occasionally dipping into village life, tasting wine, picking up souvenirs, then escaping again to the barge.

Trivia: France was the first country to ban grocery stores from throwing away unsold food. Under a law passed in 2016, unsold goods must be donated.

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Cesky Krumlov, Czechia

This picture wasn't lifted from a child's book of fairytales, although it is so magically unreal, it could have been. Settled in the 13th century, this town's epicentre is the castle which has been inhabited by various rulers for centuries. It is hard to realise that during the Communist era, and until 1993, much of this had fallen into disrepair. The past 25 years has seen massive restoration and now this storybook town hosts many international festivals and events annually.

Trivia: The Czech Republic (Czechia) is almost entirely surrounded by mountains (except to the south, toward Austria and Slovakia). Mountains mark a natural border with Germany and Poland.

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Clareville Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia

One of Sydney's best family beaches, Clareville is a hidden gem not widely known outside the area. Located about half-way along the eastern side of Pittwater, it is secluded and quiet, a place where children still build sandcastles and paddle in the shallows.

Trivia: About 80 percent of Australians live in coastal areas.

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D

 

Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Australia's northernmost capital, Darwin has had its fair share of disasters including a cyclone that almost flattened it and attacks during WWII.

Today's Darwin shows little hint of these previous disasters. Tree-lined boulevards, glimpses of the bay, wide roads, little traffic and reasonably available parking make this an easy place to live in and visit. There's a dreamy sort of air about the place that is best described as languid. Tropical fruit is in abundance and a good place to find it is at the several evening markets along the bay. Here you will find Asian dishes in abundance, as Darwin is closer to Asia than Adelaide and other Australian capitals.

Trivia: Darwin is a sister-city to Anchorage in Alaska.

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Doughnuts in Sibiu, Romania

These lush creamy doughnuts are called papanasi and you will see them throughout the rest of Romania, but never in other countries. They are round doughnuts generously filled with thick yoghurt or sour cream and berries. If you plan to attempt these at home begin with this recipe...

Trivia: Romania is the ninth largest wine producer in the world.

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E

 

Esperance, Western Australia

Esperance is a small town in south-eastern Western Australia. This beach (above) is one of the local ones quite close to the town. However, if you want to visit Lucky Bay, the beach that many say is the world's best, CLICK ON THE PHOTO (above). It is about an hour's drive further east.

Trivia: In 1979, the US space station, Skylab, broke up over Esperance in southern Western Australia, dropping debris in the vicinity.

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F

 

Fez, Morocco

The ancient city of Fez. Twelve hundred years of history - and secrets. Prepare yourself for at least one rug salesman, then mint tea and endless haggling if you intend to buy something. Watch out for the cats, too. This place is full of them, perhaps because there are almost no dogs.

Trivia: Morocco's national drink is mint tea, and the national dish is couscous.

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Flying over the Abrolhos archipelago, Western Australia

This is a relatively short flight - about twenty minutes - and apart from sightseers like us, the air link is vital to the life of these islands now. The home of cray-fishermen who live and work from these tiny coral cays catching the huge rock lobsters which have brought such wealth to the area.

The biggest surprise was the colour and beauty of these islands which I had somehow imagined as being grey and muddy. Despite being sub-tropical, the colours rival those you would see in many places further north in Australia.

They are also mysterious and have a malevolent past. The tale goes like this...CLICK on the photo to read more.

Trivia: Abrolhos is of Portuguese origin, making the Houtman Abrolhos one of only two Australian places with a Portuguese name.

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G

 

Georgia, USA - Savannah 

River Street, lives up to its name, matching the course of the Savannah river. In days gone by it was busy too. Cotton has always played a part in the success of this city founded in 1733. The port was essential for its shipment, but not everyone knows that very early on, in 1735, it was also the first place in the USA from which silk was exported.

We are told "the first thing people ask you in Atlanta is where did you go to school? In Macon (a city roughly halfway between Atlanta and Savannah) what church do you go to? But in Savannah, it's what do you want to drink?".

Trivia: The first steamship to cross an ocean was the SS Savannah.

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H

 

Heartland USA

Take a ruler and a map of USA and draw a line across the centre, then another north-south through the middle of the country. There in Kansas, somewhere near the Missouri River where those two lines cross, you have found the heart of America. Yet you really have to go there to get the feel of its pulse - travel around, talk to folks, smell the prairie and sing the songs of the land, for here the real West begins they say, somewhere on the plains.

Trivia: The US states of Kansas and Missouri each have a Kansas City, confusingly situated just across the river from each other.

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Hotel de Crillon, Paris, France

If you are a king, one place is just not enough. The building that is now the Hotel de Crillon was constructed in 1758 after King Louis XV commissioned the architect Jaques-Ange Gabriel to build two palaces in what would become the Place de Concorde.

His excuse was that the two identical buildings, separated by the rue Royale, were initially designed to be government offices of the French state. 

Trivia: Hotel de Crillon, overlooking the Place de la Concorde, became a palace, a real one, first occupied by Louis Marie Augustin, Duke of Aurmont, a famous patron of the French Arts.

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I

 

Italian sweet treats

Adjust your tastebuds before biting into one of these pieces of 'fruit' that look so genuine. Every town in Sicily has pastry shops and confectioners showcasing the pastries and frutta martorana, tiny realistic marzipan fruit (above) for which Sicily is justly famous. The kaleidoscopic beauty of these marzipan delights seem symbolic of this flamboyant island, and a plate of these is always a popular gift. Not cheap though (check the price tag, above) but they are labour intensive and created by confectionary artisans.

Trivia: It is thought that these dainties originated at the Monastero della Martorana, in Palermo, when nuns decorated empty fruit trees with marzipan fruit to impress an archbishop visiting at Easter.

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J

 

Jackfruit

This is the world's largest and heaviest tree-fruit. Each fruit can weigh up to 55 kilograms, so watch out if you are walking under the tree.

Inside these huge fruits are segments of firm yellow flesh with a flavour not everyone likes. Fans love them, and jackfruit (or jakfruit) has more recently become popular with vegans as, when used in curries, the texture and flavour resembles meat.

Trivia:  You would never guess that they are a member of the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family. 

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K

 

Kashmir boat accommodation, India

Kashmir was a place full of surprises, and here is something we found perhaps the most fascinating. It seemed at the beginning that most of the men we saw had only one arm and appeared heavily 'pregnant'. We discovered as the chilly days passed, that under their phirens (cloaks) they were very sensibly carrying a kangri, or firepot (a ceramic pot filled with coals) to keep them warm. 

Trivia: The locals refused to release land in the town for the British colonialists to build their homes. Instead, they settled for creating ornate Victorian-era houseboats and moored them at the edge of Lake Dal or Lake Nagin

 

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Kerala Snakeboat races

A major item on the  calendar in India's south-western state of Kerala is the annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race on the backwaters of Alleppey. It is always held on the second Saturday of August, but this year, the race was not conducted as the state was under an emergency situation because of traumatic monsoonal flooding. This year it has been rescheduled to November 10, 2018. It is a sign of Kerala bouncing back to what they were before the floods hit the state. Kerala has a beautiful story to tell about her people and how they fought the terrible floods of 2018.

Trivia: The earliest cotton in the world was spun and woven in India. Roman emperors would wear delicate cotton from India that they would call “woven winds.” Mogul emperors called the fabrics “morning dew” and “cloth of running water.

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L

 

Lake Bled, Slovenia

Not everyone can tell you precisely where Slovenia is. Part of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia is a self-governing republic about half the size of Switzerland. It was established in 1991 and, with a population of just two million, it is positioned neatly just across the Gulf of Venice at the top right hand corner of Italy. This stunning place is Lake Bled, and the lake is the perfect place to mirror buildings which have been here a thousand years.

Trivia: The famed Lipizzaner horses, which many people associate with Spain or Austria, actually originate from the village of Lipica, in Slovenia.

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M

 

Montenegro, and Kotor, the cat city

Kotor has been fortified since the Middle Ages. Not just the city centre at sea level has been made secure, but the defensive wall extends high above the town and at night when illuminated, it appears to shield the town in a massive embrace. Just visible at the peak is the sixth-century Illyrian fort. For those with plenty of energy (an a bottle or two of water), it is possible to walk the entire 4.5 kilometre length of the ramparts.

Trivia: 'Kotor' sounds a little like 'cat', but it seems that cats are believed to have helped in saving Kotor from a rodent-borne disease over a hundred years ago. In the early 20th century, sailors from many countries berthed their ships in the bay, and the shipboard cats, being such independent creatures, often jumped ship. After all, there were many more rats and mice, birds and lizards in the town than at sea! 

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Mountains in Tibet

On one of our earliest overseas assignments, over twenty years ago, we were so privileged to visit this fabled and distant place, now a western outpost of China.

Our route took us through western China from K'unming, then a thousand kilometres to the border where we left our Chinese guides and the rattly bus the fourteen of us had grown used to, and joined our Tibetan drivers for the trek upwards. We were told that we were the first Australians to enter Tibet on this route and, foolishly, I longed for a T-shirt, a bumper-sticker – anything – to proclaim this to the world. Read the whole story by clicking on the picture (above).

Trivia: Tibetan women often carry their wealth - valuable pieces of turquoise or coral - in their heavy hair braids.

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N

 

Ninety mile straight, Western Australia

It is what it says on the sign. Dead straight - put a brick on the accelerator for an hour and a half and take a nap. Just kidding!

Located between Caiguna and Balladonia in Western Australia it is a flat stretch of road and all you really need to do is stay on it and watch out for local wildlife.

Trivia: The townsite was established in 1962 to assist traffic in the Nullarbor plain to make way for the Commonwealth Games in late 1962.

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O

 

Ocean cruising

Cruising offers a different world - and a different view of the world too.

On Day One of my first cruise ever, I began learning cruise-speak. No longer do I "just pop back to the cabin". It's the stateroom. I learn to say 'aft' when talking about the back of the boat (oops, that's the 'ship') and 'port' instead of left. We are in stateroom 6072, and I commit this number to memory as every deck looks the same. I also learn that my plastic key, which I am encouraged to wear on a cord around my neck, is absolutely essential as I need it to charge anything extra to my account, as well as to get back into my stateroom. Read more....

Trivia: Cruising is very popular with Australians.  Approx four million Aussies cruise each year.

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P

 

Passionfruit in Bali

Originally I thought the name of this rather unprepossessing passionfruit was Marquesa.  It took me months to learn the Balinese name was makisa, pronounced, mah-KEE-za. put a spoon into the half-shell and the entire glob of flesh comes out obediently. No scraping as needed with the golden flesh of the purple passionfruit.

Taste it you MUST, if you ever see one!

Trivia: Makisa has a more proper Latin name - Passiflora ligularis – and said to be native to the Andes. How it became so entrenched in Bali (and only few other places - mainly Indonesia) is a mystery.

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Q

 

 

Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand

Queenstown on New Zealand's South Island draws people for many reasons. In winter, it is of course the snowfields and the many ways to enjoy them. But summer is popular too for hiking, cycling, bungee-jumping or fine dining and upmarket accommodation.

Originally farming country with perhaps the best views in the world – stunning elbow-shaped Lake Wakatipu is back-dropped by The Remarkables, a mountain chain that is snow-clad for months every year –  the original pastoralist had only a year or two of quiet contemplation before the crowds came. Not tourists, but gold diggers intent on making their fortunes. 

Trivia: In the early days of the town, someone in authority was so gobsmacked by the natural beauty of the place they pronounced it ‘fit for a queen’ - at that time Queen Victoria - and Queenstown it became.   

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R

 

Rice breads in Southern India

One of the delights of visiting other countries is to find something which you did not know exists. Above, is appam, a popular Keralan bread, often served at breakfast. It is made using a fermented rice flour batter and is like a light crumpet. Its texture makes it ideal for mopping up the creamy coconut sauces of the local curries.

At a South Indian breakfast buffet it is usually possible to try several other rice breads too - small white idli and the huge papery dosa being two firm favourites.

Trivia: Rice-based breads are common in the south mainly because the climate is best for growing rice. In northern India wheat is grown and so the wheat-based breads such as roti  and paratha are made.

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S

 

Scala dei Turchi, Sicily, Italy

 

The name means 'stairs of the Turks' and legend has it that this was the way - by literally climbing the 'stairs' - that the Saracens (Turkish pirates) gained access to the island to commit their ransacks over the centuries. The cliff's limestone and clay mixture makes for a blinding effect against the clear cobalt blue waters of the Mediterranean. The effect of stairs continues into the water as a rocky reef, ideal for beachgoers to enjoy without the climb.

Trivia: Located near Realmonte on Sicily's south coast, the blinding white 'rock' is really 'marl' or marlstone, a lime-rich mud (or mudstone) which contains variable amounts of clays and silt. See and learn more here...

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T

 

Truffles in Italy

On a long-ago self-driving trip around southern Italy, we discovered the unassuming Hotel Dolomiti in  Castelmezzano. It was a little late for lunch but we were starving, and we had come to the right place. Giovanni - the chef, the owner? - we never did find out, served us this as a starter. Yes, those are shaved white truffles, no doubt gathered locally, then followed by handmade fusili, prepared by rolling the fresh dough around thick wires, cooked al dente and sublime, paired with a tasty sugo studded with chunks of local sausage.

Trivia: Read the whole story of the meal in Just a Little Italian.

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Trulli in Alberobello, Puglia, Italy

This fairytale place is full of trulli. Their conical stone roofs, often with occult-looking signs painted in white on them, and round whitewashed walls add to their bizarre look which is mesmerisingly attractive. UNESCO added this town to its World Heritage List in 1996, justifying its inclusion, as "an exceptional example of a form of building construction deriving from prehistoric construction techniques that have survived intact and functioning into the modern world".

Trivia: Two trulli, one trullo. This is Italian, and 'o' turns to 'i' when there is more than one.

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U

 

 

V

 

Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, Australia

 

W

 

Water villages, China

"Live in Hangzhou, marry in Suzhou, dine in Guangzhou and die in Luzhou," we were told when we visited a couple of  cities in the vicinity of Shanghai, each with a watery aspect. 

One other town, not mentioned in the famous quotation, is Hong Cun, an artist's village surrounded by a lake. A true water village. Just newly opened to tourists, it is tranquil and unspoiled. Artists from all over the world have already discovered it and come here to paint the water-lily covered waters, the steeply arched bridge, the walled village and the magical light.

Trivia: Groups of art students come to stay and paint for a week or a month in this true 'artists' town'. Others come on day trips.

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X

 

Hakka Houses, accessible from Xiamen, China

To visit a "tulou", one of 46 added to the UNESCO World Heritage list last year, is to step through a portal into another culture, another time zone. Big enough for up to a thousand people, these "houses" are complete villages, and usually accommodates an entire clan.

Outside, on concrete slabs, chillies, corn, mushrooms and persimmons are drying in the sunshine, while slender heads of cabbage hang on a fence.

Trivia: In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, these strangely-shaped structures looked sinister enough to the KH22 US surveillance satellite to rattle the White House. They sent in spies to check out the "group nuclear base"

 

Y

 

Yellow Mountain, China

The Yellow Mountains are really 72 peaks in the space of 1200 square kilometres near Tunxi, south-west of Shanghai. While they have been known and revered for centuries, only in the last decade or so have western tourists been encouraged and catered for. 

In typically Chinese way, the attractions of the Yellow Mountains are listed and numbered. There are four "wonders": odd-shaped pines, grotesque rock formations, seas of constantly changing clouds and crystal-clear springs. Daybreak seemed to be the ideal time to see at least three of these.

Trivia: The most popular time to see the mountain at its best is dawn. Hundreds try to get the best viewing sites, so plan where to go the day before. And get up early!

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Z

 

Zadar Wave music, Croatia

It sounds like whale music, yet it is the whale's home environment causing the eerily beautiful tones that mesmerise everyone who visits the foreshore of Zadar, a northern Croatian coastal city.

This site is a blend of human ideas and skills and the energy of the sea, waves, tide and flood, a place for relaxation, contemplation and conversation while listening to an endless concert of mystic harmonies of the "Orchestra of Nature".

CLICK on the photo (above) to learn more, then WATCH the video to hear for yourself.

Trivia: In 2006 the Croatian architect of the Zadar Sea Organ project, received the European Prize for Urban Public Space.

 

And for even more.....

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Words: Sally Hammond

Images: Sally & Gordon Hammond