Category Archives: cultural adventures
when travelling, the little things can mean a lot
In this post we talked about our most memorable travel moments. It got me thinking about how it can be the smallest things about a trip that bring a smile to our lips and define that trip in our memory banks. For example, as much as I loved everything about the wonderful resorts we stayed at in St. Lucia– and certainly standing in that infinity pool in our sanctuary at Jade Mountain was a high I’ll never forget– it was being out in the jungle with a naturalist who told us all about the local plants, the history of the island’s cocoa plantations, and introduced us to “Peppa” that really stands out in my mind. No matter where my travels take me, I find it’s always the moments in which I’m closest to nature that really stand out in my memory banks. Or the moments that I connect with someone who is totally unique and epitomizes the essence of the place I am visiting. Such is the case of our adventure in the jungles of St. Lucia with “Peppa,” a rastafarian who was chillin’ among the palms. Our guide, Tyson, seemed to have a good level of comfort with Peppa (which I’m sure is a mutation of ‘Pepper’) so we quickly felt in the spirit of the discourse and welcomed Peppa’s comments from among the trees. The next thing we knew, Peppa came running out of the bush with a possum for us to see! It seems Peppa had awakened the possum from his afternoon siesta, and the possum was in no mood to meet a couple of chocolate lovers from Canada. So after a bit of prodding, he hustled back into the bush. Peppa chose to inspire us with more of his survival skills, and decided to show us how …
learning from our most memorable travel moments
We’ve had a lot of fun tasting chocolate here on Travel Diversions with Doreen, and enjoying the cultural and culinary adventures of the world. But this week, with the onset of September and a new season upon us, I’m feeling a bit more reflective and am asking you to dip back into your memory banks and share 2 things with us: 1) What is YOUR most memorable travel moment and … 2) What valuable lesson did you learn from it? I’ll start the ball rolling. My most memorable travel moment was back in 1996, during our week-long visit to the Greek island of Santorini. We’d taken a marathon 12-hour tour around the island on a particular day and ended up arriving by small boat to the island of Thirasia. Up above on the cliffs, we spotted the village of Manolas, and were told that there were only 2 ways to reach it. Walk up, or take a mule. We chose the mules. Now, let me explain that there are/were no groomed trails to get you up to the top of the hill. And no guard rails to ensure you didn’t fall the considerable distance down the cliff to the sea. But there I was, purse in my lap and camera hanging from my shoulder (this was during the days of the much larger and heavier old DLS film cameras), and trying to hold onto the mule as we swayed side to side, slowly climbing the rocky cliff to the village at the top, where we were told we would be treated to amazing views and a nice lunch. On arrival, Reg and I got comfortable and sat ourselves down for lunch and a couple of well-deserved beers in the late afternoon heat of the sun. We were truly exhausted, but …
join me for a diversion to the Gimli Film Fest
Thanks to all for sharing the journey to London with us and our discovery of the Chocolate Revolution in the UK. I could go on about it, but will save that for the print version of Chocolatour, where your chocolate experience will be greatly enhanced. It’s time to head back across the pond and I invite you to join me on a diversion in my own backyard. You won’t find fine chocolate at the Gimli Film Festival (GFF), but you will find an amazing array of more than 120 films to nurture your spirit, entertain, educate and challenge you. Last year I was privileged to attend the Opening Reception in celebration of the festival’s 10th year of operation, and stayed for the beach screening of the Weakerthans documentary. I can’t believe it took me 10 years to get to this amazing event! This year, I plan on attending the afternoon screening of a documentary on El Bulli, said by many to be the world’s best restaurant. I missed the opportunity to visit this landmark eating establishment last year when I was in Barcelona. It’s located 177 kilometres from Barcelona airport, but we just didn’t have the time to make the journey. Now I hear that El Bulli is closing, and will reopen as a new entity. We’ll see what master 3-star chef, Ferran Adria will come up with! Either way, it will be fascinating to watch the documentary of how this culinary mastermind works. I’m sure all mouths in the room will be watering as we watch a film documenting his sources of inspiration. I’m also looking forward to the beach screening of Barney’s Version on Friday, July 22nd. As I recently returned from Montreal, it will be lovely to watch this movie based on Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel …
Pisa: much more than ancient ruins
I hope you’ve been enjoying our Chocolatour through Europe. Our next stop is Pisa, Italy. I must say Pisa really surprised me. I expected only an old dilapidated Leaning Tower. I didn’t know that the Leaning Tower is part of a large grouping of impressive historic buildings and that the Leaning Tower is far from being dilapidated. It has recently been cleaned and is almost sparkling white! Much restorative work has been done to many of Italy’s historic treasures and a trip to Pisa is sure to please. The food is amazing. What else is new? Good food and libations is always top of my list. No wonder I love Italy! So we were very grateful at the choice of hotel that Fabrizio Quochi, our friendly contact at the Pisa Tourist Board had made for us. The NH Cavalieri is literally across the street from the Centrale train station and is a surprisingly lovely place with a terrific restaurant. I liked the Tuscan pasta with olives so much I ordered it twice during our stay! It was excellent. The feather-light pasta was served with black olives and a delicious red sauce with plenty of fresh parmesan cheese. Served of course, with a local hearty Chianti Classico. Magnifico! Later, we enjoyed the local specialty, Cecina, a chickpea pizza cooked in a wood oven. Have it with Spuma, a favourite Pisan soda (much like Mountain Dew) to really feel like you’re enjoying life like a lucky resident of Pisa. You can get both at Pizzeria Filippo, just a short walk from the NH Cavalieri. The nice thing about Pisa is that is has a terrific location with easy accessibility by air, train, bus or sea. Ryan Air has an increasing presence in Pisa, so you can fly directly there from a number …
Ciao for now!
Since I’d rather be tasting (chocolate, wine, great cuisine …) than typing while overseas — and can you blame me? … I’m posting the end of the month entry now, and will post again after October 5th, on my return. Quite a few of you have asked for details about our itinerary. There are a few small details still being ironed out, but here are the confirmed stops we’re looking forward to: September 20: Fly via British Airways from Toronto to London, and on to Amsterdam. We’ll be staying at the Hotel King’s Villa, a Hampshire Classic Hotel, from Sept 21 until the morning of September 24th. Check out the hotel at: http://www.kingsvillahotel.nl. We’ll be meeting plenty of chocolate makers and discovering the sweet side of this fair city. September 24th, we fly via Iberia Airlines from Amsterdam to Barcelona. I’ve flown Iberia before and had no complaints. In fact, their business class is awesome! And a 2-hour flight beats 16 hours on the train when you have limited time to play with. Barcelona will be a real treat. We’re staying at the amazing W Barcelona, one of Starwood’s chic new hotels. It doesn’t get any better than this. http://www.w-barcelona.com/. A couple of days in Barcelona will give us time to check out the Chocolate Museum, meet a prominent chocolate maker and have some fun. September 26 will be a day of transition, as we make our way from Spain to Turin, Italy, the birthplace of hot chocolate and the Italian city that most strongly identifies itself with chocolate. Take a look here and tell me it doesn’t look inviting: http://www.turismotorino.org/interna.aspx?idA=47. On Sept 29 we head south to Tuscany. We’ll be staying in and around Florence for a couple of days, and then head to Pisa for a chocolate festival called …
