Back in January, I ate my way through many of the Portuguese treats on offer in Porto whilst visiting my friends for a week. Well, 6 months later I was back. And having just stretched my stomach enormously by trying as much of the typical food in the Azores as possible, there was more to […]
Eat Portugal – Part 2 Read More »
This trip to Portugal, I spent 3 days hanging out with José and his family in Vila Real de Santo António, right on the border with Spain in the Algarve region. During these days, we managed to fit in some beach time: Some eating (of course): A trip to the lighthouse (all Portuguese lighthouses are open
Salinas de Castro Marim – Algarve – Portugal Read More »
Never in my life had I ever considered getting a tattoo. I didn’t like the look of them, and I couldn’t conceive of why you would want something permanently engraved on your skin. I certainly couldn’t come up with something that I would want permanently etched into me anyway. That is, until I arrived in
Did I get a tattoo in Portugal? Read More »
For the second time this year I found myself visiting my friends in Portugal and eating waaaaaaaay too much food! This trip I added a few more Porto dishes some others from the Algarve, but this post focuses on the food of the Azores, where I spent 5 days exploring the largest island – São Miguel. For those
Continuing on from my first 3 days of exploring São Miguel Island… On Day 4 it was time to explore one of the two tea plantations on the island. We were going to visit the Porto Formoso tea factory for a change of scenery for Pedro (he’d visited the other one previously), but it was
São Miguel Island – Part 2 – Azores – Portugal Read More »
Given that I’d spent several days in Porto on my last trip to Portugal earlier in the year, Pedro decided that we should head further afield and spend some time with a friend of his on São Miguel Island in the Azores. Located between Europe and North America, São Miguel is the largest of the 9 volcanic
São Miguel Island – Part 1 – Azores – Portugal Read More »
Although we had fairly limited time in Georgia, I somehow managed to try a whole range of different traditional Georgian food. It began with surprise tastings on the Tbilisi Hack Free Walking Tour (highly recommended!) and, with the exception of the first night where I was craving a really good steak, I tried something different for
Georgian Food – Georgia Read More »
While the Brits trooped off to the Iranian consulate in Tbilisi again to try to secure their visas now that they had their Letters of Invitation sorted, the rest of us bundled into a very spacious minivan and headed off for a day trip to Kutaisi. It’s a bloody long way from Tbilisi to Kutaisi
One of the highlights of southern Georgia is Vardzia – an extensive cave monastery (500m long and rising up 19 tiers) that was largely built in the latter part of the 12th century. We had 2 hours to explore the site so I decided to spring for the $5 for an audio tour and set
Besides Yerevan, the only other things we had time to see in our extremely short sojourn in Armenia were two monasteries. Haghbat Monastery (975AD) This is a medieval monastery complex with several structures, the largest of which is the cathedral of Surb Nishan. With its dome supported by 4 large pillars, it is a typical example
Monasteries – Armenia Read More »
