Mercado Central Markets in Spain are all very centrally located in the downtown core, and the one in Alicante is HUGE! Upstairs is meat (plus cheese and eggs), while downstairs one wing is devoted to fish while another wing is devoted to fruit and vegetables. Flowers are outside on the main patio. I was particularly impressed by the booths selling heaps of eggs of different kinds and sizes. The fruit and vegetable displays are all artistically arranged with overflowing piles of so many different varieties. I loved the purple-and-white-striped eggplant, the knobbly green-and-red Raff tomatoes and itched to try some of the many different kinds of mushrooms and fresh cheeses. Bakeries No wonder I like Spain – the Spanish obviously love sweets just as much as I do. And of course croissants don’t have calories if you’re on holidays! Mireia, from MandarinaBlue Travel Experiences , recommended two bakeries that were close to my hotel. The tiny Croissanteria on Calle Poeta Qui...
Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to...
My parents were British, and I have spent many happy months in England visiting family friends and relatives. I used to enjoy shopping at the Canadian outlets of Marks & Spencer and was very sorry when they closed, so I was delighted to learn that Saskatoon now has its very own British food store. Brit Foods is located in Cumberland Square, in the covered alleyway just down from Safeway. It’s a treasure trove of British food. The owner, Tony Badger, says they try to stock the national brands, so you’ll find soups by Marks & Spencer and Baxter’s, Yorkshire and Typhoo tea, Heinz beans, Rose’s preserves, Thornton’s chocolates, and Walker’s chips. In addition to the food products (primarily packaged although there are pork pies and a few other items in the freezer), there is an entire wall devoted to loose candies. You can also pick up a linen tea towel or an English magazine. There is a second Brit Foods in Parksville on Vancouver Island, but Mr. Badger says that the demog...
Just for fun, take this quiz to see what font best represents your personality. According to the quiz results, I'm Times New Roman - "a class act" - but, unfortunately, I hate Times New Roman and never use it. Maybe it's time to change my personality to match my font. With thanks to Presentation Zen for the link.
“Slow Food envisions a world in which all people can enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.” The Opposite of Fast Food When I left for the Slow Food Canada national meeting in Edmonton, I had a vague idea of what slow food was. It was the opposite of fast food – food gulped down rapidly at a drive-through burger joint – food eaten to stop the hunger pangs without giving any thought to what it tasted like or how it was made. But that was a rather negative definition of slow food, and I was wrestling with the idea that promoting slow food made me into a food snob who turned up her nose at people who bought supermarket strawberries or used cake mixes. Good, Clean, Fair Slow Food began to make more sense to me as I listened to the Slow Food leaders from across Canada talk about their work to promote Slow Food. Paolo Di Croce, Secretary General for Slow Food International , emphasized that Slow Food is a political movemen...
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