Tag: food

Swanage – a cute little town I really want to explore properly

I really need to spend more time in Swanage. Here’s my to-do list for next time I visit.

I didn’t realise that there were so many things to do in Swanage.

After a fabulous day exploring Studland Bay from Sandbanks to Old Harry Rocks, we drove round the next bay to the small coastal town of Swanage for the last hour or so of the day before everything closed for Easter.

As the shops were all closing in the next hour, we hit those first. I found an independent bookshop – always the sign of a good town – with a decent local books section. I ended up buying a couple on the local area.

Continue reading “Swanage – a cute little town I really want to explore properly”

Food at the Hay Festival

I’m always a bit unsure of what to expect of the food at festivals as it can go one of two ways. Either it’s all poor quality, overpriced burgers and chips or it’s an amazing selection of food from around the world, often healthy, always good quality and served in generous sized portions.

As I hadn’t been to the Hay Festival before I didn’t know which way it would swing and so came prepared with plenty of dehydrated pasta and noodles that I could quickly whip up in the van.

It turned out I needn’t have worried as the food at the Hay Festival was blummin’ lovely. I took all my pasta and noodles home with me again.

So in case you’re thinking about going to Hay next year and you’re wondering what the food will be like, I’ve collated some of my photos of the things I ate. Scroll down to find out more about the food at the Hay Festival.

Continue reading “Food at the Hay Festival”

How to Spend a Day in Corona, Queens

On my recent trip to New York I wanted to explore more than just Manhattan. So I spent a day in Corona, Queens. I found great Mexican food and got to see bears and the most ostentatious bathroom ever.

One of the reasons I chose to spend ten days in New York rather than just a week, was because I wanted to give myself chance to get the feel for the city. I knew I wanted to do all the big touristy stuff, but I also wanted to have time to sit in coffee shops and wander round back streets and generally pretend I was a New Yorker. 

Okay, so I knew that ten days was never going to do much more than lift the hatch on New York, but at least the hatch would be lifted. 

Ten days also meant I had time to get out of Manhattan. Technically I was out of Manhattan every day as I deliberately chose to stay in Brooklyn, but I also wanted to spend a day exploring somewhere that wasn’t Manhattan. I looked at ways of getting out to the Hamptons or upstate to the Catskills or even to some of the towns along the Hudson, as they all seemed the sorts of places New Yorkers would go when they wanted to get out of town. But none of them really worked for a day trip without a car. 

Step forward Corona, Queens. Yeah, I hadn’t heard of it either. Corona, that is. Of course I’ve heard of Queens. 

Continue reading “How to Spend a Day in Corona, Queens”

Shopping and Eating in Lerwick

There are lots of wonderful places for shopping and eating in Lerwick and the good news is that they’re all close together. So even if you only have a few hours you’ll still be able to explore them.

Is Lerwick a good destination for shopping and lunching? You may be wondering this if you are travelling around Shetland or if you are just visiting for a few hours on one of the many cruise ships that now make a stop in Shetland each summer.

You won’t find many high-street names in Lerwick – no Starbucks or Costa, no M&S or WHSmiths and no Top Shop or Primark. There’s not even a McDonald’s.

This is a good thing. Continue reading “Shopping and Eating in Lerwick”

13 Things to Eat in The Netherlands

This is the post where I disclose my liking for weird foods like chips with peanut sauce and mayo. And oily balls. Yes, really.

What would be the word for someone who is a bit obsessed with the Netherlands and has an affinity with all things Dutch? If my country of obsession was France I’d be a Francophile; England and I’d be an Anglophile. But Netherlandsophile just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Continue reading “13 Things to Eat in The Netherlands”

Friday Flickr – Borough Market

I’m so glad I don’t live near Borough Market. I’d spend all my money on cheese and licorice.

Last Saturday morning I arrived in London far too early for my afternoon tea at the Ritz, so to while away a few hours I went to Borough Market. I couldn’t believe I’d waited so long to pay this foodie haven a visit. Continue reading “Friday Flickr – Borough Market”

Food to Pack for the Kungsleden

The Kungsleden is a trail that begins in Abisko above the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden and finishes 440km later in Hemavan.

It is divided into five parts with the breaks in the sections falling where there is a road and access to public transport.

Although most people walk one or two sections, there are plenty who walk the whole path in one go. I’ve met people walking the whole way in as a little as two weeks (my mind boggles at this), but most take at least a month.

Even if you’re only walking one section you are going to have to think about what food to take with you. Continue reading “Food to Pack for the Kungsleden”

Tea at the Ritz

Afternoon tea at the Ritz will be another challenge ticked off my list.

One of the more sedate challenges on my 60 before 60 list is to have afternoon tea at the Ritz.

When I first lived in London I worked at a sandwich bar on a hidden alleyway near St James’s Palace. I used to get the tube to Green Park and so twice a day I would walk past the Ritz on Piccadilly. I never ventured inside. Doormen in tophats and tails would swing the doors open for expensively clad people alighting from taxis outside; if it was raining they even held huge golf umbrellas to prevent elegant hairdos from turning frizzy.

I imagined the same doormen slamming the doors shut if I ever tried to enter in my old jeans and trainers. One day, I thought, I will go there and they will hold the doors open for me and I will go inside and have afternoon tea. (I considered afternoon tea to be the poshest of the posh when it comes to food.)

Although I’ll happily do most things on my own, this is one of those things that I think will be enjoyed more if I have someone to share the experience with. And as it’s expensive I knew it could take a while before I found someone willing. Fortunately, I’ve now found that someone.

A good friend and I were at the funeral of another friend this week. She was only 45 and died suddenly. After the funeral we went for a drink in her memory and got onto a maudlin discussion of how life is short and you never know what’s round the corner. I kind of know this already which is one of the reasons I have a list in the first place, but sometimes I need reminding of it.

By the end of the drink we’d decided that part of making the most of life should involve a weekend in London and afternoon tea at the Ritz. I went home and booked it.

Because we want a weekend date and don’t want to have afternoon tea at 7.30pm in the evening (that’s just wrong), the earliest date I could get is in October. At least we’ve got plenty of time to save up for it.

And maybe it will be raining in October. Even if it’s not, I might still ask the doorman to hold an umbrella over my head.

 

 

To Stachi veggie restaurant

One of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.

Was it really a week ago that I was in To Stachi eating one of the best vegetarian meals of my life? I don’t think I’ve stopped salivating over it yet.


We discovered To Stachi when wandering around the Venetian Harbour on our first morning in Chania. The friend I was travelling with remembered an organic food shop on a street set a little way back from the harbour and we went to see if it was still there. We found it, but it’s no longer a shop and instead has been converted into a small restaurant.


The place was empty as it wasn’t yet lunch time, but we went in and ordered coffee and sat with it at the tables outside the front. The owner, cook, herb-picker, vegetable grower and slow-food aficionado brought us a free piece of freshly-baked cake with our coffee and stayed outside to chat with us. 

Stelios owned the shop that was previously on the site and decided to turn it into a restaurant a year or so ago. He’s passionate about vegetarianism and food that is local, organic, traceable and slowly cooked with love. 

He explained that the name To Stachi means an ‘ear of wheat’ and told us about his family land where he grows a lot of his own produce. We’d also learnt during the week that Cretans are great at foraging, making use of all the wild herbs and greens that grow rampantly on the island.


Helen was so enamoured with the place she decided this was where she wanted to come on Friday evening to celebrate her birthday. Stelios was delighted and promised to make something very special.

On the Friday evening five of us arrived for dinner and were looked after wonderfully by Stelios and his daughter; he brought a constant stream of food to the table and took time to explain what every dish was. Unfortunately as I didn’t write everything down, I’m already struggling to remember what I ate. What I do remember was that it was all amazingly delicious. Here are photos of just a few of the dishes we were served. 

Best of all, at the end of the meal, Stelios brought out a birthday cake he’d made specially. It’s called galaktoboureko and is made from filo pastry and a thick gooey layer of semolina custard. It’s making my mouth water just thinking about it. 

galaktoboureko

The quality of the photos is poor because not only had I not taken a notepad and pen, but I’d also not taken my proper camera. I expected the food to be good, but really thought I’d be focussing more on the conversation, so I only had my mobile phone with me. Now I’m regretting that decision. 


To Stachi can be found at 5, Defkaliona Street, Chania. 
Here’s the Facebook page

Chania Market

A market I wish I’d discovered sooner.

Chania Market

I only discovered Chania market late on the Friday afternoon of my last day in Crete. It’s housed inside a large cruciform purpose-built building with an elaborately-beamed high roof. The Agora (market in Greek), as it’s known, was built between 1911 and 1913 and modelled on the market in Marseille. It was opened as part of the celebrations of the unification of Crete to Greece.

Chania Market

Chania Market

To enter involves climbing wide steps and passing through a temple-like facade. There are other entrances at the back and on each side. Inside are 70+ shops and little cafes selling great slabs of cheese, big bunches of mountain tea, multi-coloured olives, abundant meat and fish varieties, jars and jars of honey, dried fruits, yoghurt, coffee, olive oil, raki, vegetables, snails …

Chania Market
So many olives
Chania Market
Cretan cheese and honey
Chania Market
Mountain tea

As well as all the food, the Chania market also sells Cretan knives, tourist t-shirts, locally made soaps, leather bags, postcards and scarves. There was even a cat on a shelf, but I don’t that was for sale. 

Chania Market

Chania Market 

It was a shame I’d only discovered so late into my trip as I would have liked to spend more time browsing and to have tried out the food and coffee in the cafes. 

Chania Market


The Agora is open Mon to Sat 8am until 1.30 or 2pm. It’s also open on Tue, Thur and Fri evenings from 5pm to 8pm, though we were there before 5pm and everything seemed to be open.