Solo Traveller Adventures: From Florence to Paris, with Love

I could tell you so much more about Florence - about the great people I spent time with, about that night we - a Trini, some Italians, a Polish grad student and a Kazakh went to a belly dancing show after our wonderful aperitifs, about the smells and sounds of San Lorenzo Market, where I spent a few hours just people watching, buying coffee (of course!) and truffle oil and wine tasting, about how I accidentally ended up in Trattoria ZaZa while looking for another place (of course I got lost!) and had the most amazing lunch ever.

Ossobuco from Trattoria Za Za

But then if I went through all that, I would not be able to share a few photos from my relaxing return to Paris. I planned nothing at all for Paris - no tours, no visits to monuments. I just had a hotel reservation and that was it. I wanted to just be - to be unorganised, unscripted, unscheduled. Wanting to not be a part of the mad rush that Paris typically is, I chose to stay on the hill - Montmartre - my favourite part of the city. And during my short visit, I headed to my breakfast spot every morning with my Kindle, had a bowl of coffee, brioche and jam, visited the Sacre Coeur, people watched, drank wine, ate pastries, ate French food, spent time with a long lost friend, drank more wine, spoke in broken French.

I had this the first morning I had breakfast at Coqueclicot in Montmartre and could not finish it all
Breakfast after that was much lighter. lol. A bowl of coffee was too much even for me!

Le Sacre Coeur - oui!

I love walking through Montmartre - fave part of Paris

Montmartre views

Th view of Paris between the trees on the hill

Wonderful little place if looking for a bite in Montmartre!

Dinner at Autour du Midi, Montmartre

This is what you call a mall!!! 

I also took a trip out of Paris for a day in Provins - a well preserved medieval city about 2 hours away from Paris by train. What a lovely day out of the city. Provins was not only quiet and stress-free, but also very quaint with its medieval fortresses, bistros and homes.

I just liked this.

Le Tour Cesar in Provins

Loved this church in Provins

The town is really well preserved. It was a real throwback kinda visit.

Lovely crepes were had here!

The view while walking along the top of the defensive ramparts

For those who love doors

Of course no visit to Paris would have been complete without one special visit. You just must!

No description necessary

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Solo Traveller Adventures: Cooking in Florence

Having visited Florence before, I had done all the major sightseeing and really wanted to take it easy a bit. Of course, this did not happen, as I kept myself busy doing all sorts of new things, including a wonderful one day cooking course.

For those who are regular readers of my blog, you know food is an integral part of my life – dining out, cooking and trying new recipes, including making healthy eating exciting and fun. So when I saw this activity listed among the various tours one could do from Florence, I booked it.

The tour hosted by the great team at Walkabout Florence (my second time using this great tour company) and would start in Florence itself, and as predicted, I got lost trying to find the meeting spot. Let me just say that this time, Google Maps led me astray. Getting lost meant being late, which meant keeping the group waiting, which made me angry, cause I hate making people wait, but woosah – let’s continue.

Our wonderful guide, Valeria first took us to the various markets, where we picked up the various main ingredients for preparing our menu for the day. Quite an interesting little walk, as we learnt which types of tomatoes were best for sauces or for bruschetta, for example, sampled cheese and also had a very important stop before heading to the bus that would take us to the farmhouse – a coffee stop. I am sure it was a bit of a lesson for some of the Americans on the tour to learn that frappuccinos are a Starbucks invention and Italians’ idea of a cold coffee beverage is the shakerato – espresso and ice cubes shaken in a cocktail shaker with a bit of syrup, and served. For the hot day, everyone had one of these except me – gimme a cappuccino, buddy. Give it!!!

Fresh veggies at the market - ready for our bellies

Picking up our awesome pork loin for roasting at San Lorenzo Market

Shakerato - espresso shaken (not stirred) and my lonesome but awesome cappuccino

Next stop – the farmhouse, in the hills not too far from Florence, but absolutely gorgeous. Here we would meet our ‘teacher’ for the day, the lovely Carmela who spoke no English but her passion for her cooking and for food was evident. Our guides, Valeria and Lavinia took us through what we would be doing for the day and our menu included

• Bruschetta 
• Fresh homemade egg pasta 
• Ragu meat sauce 
• Pizza 
• Roast pork 
• Patata al rosamarino (Roast potatoes with rosemary) 
• Tiramisu 
• Florentine gelato 

This was the best fun and the best tour I have done. While the dishes themselves were not that hard, there were little gems shared during the day which would serve me well in the future with my own cooking. While I do a fair amount of cooking myself, I was always a bit gun shy about going to a class, but this was a lot of fun, with a great bunch of people.

Check me out cutting up that bread for our bruschetta

Aren't our tomatoes sexy?

Bread toasting and wine - Round 1. lol.

Always amazed at how simple but how amazing bruschetta is. I heart bruschetta!

It seemed to be a great bonding activity for couples especially, with newlyweds, not so newlyweds, and newly engaged couples, joining us three single solo travelling girls on this culinary adventure. My favourite part was preparing the pasta, which I always thought was beyond my amateur skills, but it is so easy it is ridiculous.

My pasta - the finished product - left to dry for 30mins before boiling (and eating!)

Our ragu doing its thing - slow cooked for 2 hours!

The end result of our hard work - this was so nom nom

Oh wait – that was my second favourite part, after eating the pasta and all the other goodies we slaved over a hot kitchen table in 40 degree heat to prepare.

We also made our own pizzas and washed that down with Italian beer 

Our roasted potatoes

This pork was everything. I have already replicated this awesomeness since being back

A for Awesome - Awesome tiramisu. A is also my first initial.

Eating and drinking. We did a lot of drinking too. A lot! Lol.

The belle of the ball - Chianti Classico. And our hosts were not stingy with it either. 

I would do this again in a heartbeat and it is such a great activity for single girlfriends, or couples to do together as an aside from the sightseeing. I met some wonderful people, learnt how to make some of my favourite foods, ate a lot (soooo much food!!!) drank some amazing Chianti reds (and beer) and made a lot of great memories.  Thanks to the Walkabout Team for a great day and to great peeps like - yes, gonna give you a shout out - Danielle, Jamie, Libra, and Sarah - for the laughs and the good times.

You can check out more tours on Viator or go directly to Walkabout Florence and just choose one or two, or five! They are a great bunch! My next post will feature Walkabout again as I took a trip out of Florence for some coastal fun.

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Solo Traveller Adventures: My Return to Florence, Italy

I have told friends that so far, Italy is my geographical and spiritual soulmate. Of course, if I continue to be blessed enough to travel to more new places, this may change but what will not change is how connected I always feel when I am in Italy. And moreso, in Florence.

I first visited Firenze back in 2010. I had a lot on my mind at the time. Funnily enough, I also pondered whether I wanted to take a vacation this year, but again, I went with God and jumped on the plane and I thought, one of the most relaxing and wonderful trips ever was my trip to Florence and so I added it to the itinerary and in fact, it was the primary destination as I stayed here the longest.

Someone asked me why I love Florence so much. It’s hard to put into words why you may love a place as much as you do.

If I had to liken it to a boyfriend or lover, I guess one could say I love Florence for its -

Warmth – My first visit to Florence was my first visit to Italy, and the city set me up for the fall I later had in Rome. The friendliness and warmth generally from the people I met along the way made me feel at home and ever so comfortable. Rome was the complete opposite as you know – cold, bordering on hateful (#travellingwhileblack). Before I left, I told one of my Italian friends that I hoped Florence had not changed, or that the love I felt five years before was not a one-off. But like an old friend, Florence welcomed me back with open arms.

Smells and Tastes – Robin Leach said ‘In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine’. Florence, to me, is synonymous with great food. Add amazing Chianti wines and you are never short of gastronomical pleasure. The food was the main highlight of the trip!

The best ossobuco ever 

I took a lunch break in Fiesole and decided it was the perfect time for pizza

Chianti! Chianti!

Beauty – Florence and the rest of Tuscany are like a living postcard. One sight that always captivates me, no matter how many times I see it, is the magnificent dome of the Duomo rising into the clouds, looking down on the city. You have to see it to understand how jaw dropping it really is. I think what I also love about Florence is that it is a city that does not have that stifling city feel, like Paris or Rome. Add to the fact that it is in Tuscany, and you are a heartbeat away from rolling green hills, vineyards, fresh country air and a much simpler life, and Florence is really pretty damn perfect.

The moment the Duomo starts peeping above the city is my fave sight
while walking through the streets of Florence

View from Fiesole

The romance of Florence - sunset over the River Arno

Next I will tell you about the best experience I had in Florence this time around and of course, it involved food.

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Travelling while Black

They tell you in the guidebooks what to expect if you're gay or if you're a woman. Hell, they need to do it for if you're recognisably black.  

 "Americanah" - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Ain't this the truth! Ain't this the truth!

*Ms Adichi speaks a whole lot of truth in Americanah, by the way.*

So while I am not sure what is going on with my life and what 2015 will hold, I still have to at least think of vacation ideas. It's bad enough being a solo traveller - having to find places where a solo traveller feels safe and secure. It's bad enough being a solo female traveller - having to be extra careful in the choices you make as it relates to hotels, travel etc. But add being black to that - it's just a whole other thing altogether.

Travelling while black is real - the notion that this is an issue, I mean. Shopping trips to Miami and New York - no problem. It's like being at home. London - such a melting pot that it's rare that I actually feel like an alien. Londoners ignore everyone - black, white.  But there are some places where I have felt totally out of sorts. The Rome experience to this day, always makes me a bit upset.

Vacations should be carefree for everyone.
This is not me, btw

Luckily, the good experiences outweigh the bad, and though there have been several moments of "wtf!" on my trips, I think they usually had less to do with racism and more to do with:

Plain and simple ignorance - Dear Europe - all black people do not live in Africa. Ever heard the word "diaspora"? I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked to say an English word in "my language". For example - old guy in Florence, Italy. Worse yet, when they find out I am not from Africa, then I just HAVE TO BE American, even if my accent does not quite fit the bill. "Ever been to New York?" Yes, I have been to New York but that is the magic of air travel. I am not American. If someone actually knows where Trinidad is after I tell them, I give them a virtual hug because it is almost miraculous! I am truly an oddity which takes me to the next point...

Curiousity - I heard someone refer to the impolite staring as "rarism" as opposed to"racism". In some of these quasi-homogeneous cities, people like me are a rarity. You are like the raisin in the bowl of milk so they stop and stare and you check to make sure you don't have something in your nose or that your fly is not open because the stares are so pervasive and invasive. Worse, in some cities, the black people there tend to be immigrants, and in my experience, they were usually street vendors/scam artists or hooking. Enter well-dressed black woman and it's like "wtf"? You have now confused the people even more with your bourgie blackness. For me it is always a bit bizarre, especially coming from a place where people stare at you cause they like your ass and want to grab it. Noone stares at my hair, or wants to touch it here, but it is a real phenomenon in some of these places - one that is not cute no matter how clueless or genuinely curious the people may be. There should be a guidebook for residents of these cities - Dos and Don'ts of Meeting Black People for the First Time.

They are just naturally unfriendly and surly - The haterade may actually have nothing to do with the colour of your skin. The people sometimes are just plain unmannerly, unfriendly, uncouth and as we say in Trinidad, "just not on you" and have no damn "broughtupsy".Sad to say, London always comes to mind. They are just a special breed of homo sapien - totally divorced from the reality of life all around them, but when you get around the cold exterior, and get them to put down the iPhone, they can be lovely people. In some places though, they are just like this - fullstop.

But don't get me wrong - travelling while black has the real issues of racism. I have had bus drivers ignore me, waitresses take their damn time to serve me and when they did, I got none of the smiles and sweetness the white customers got. I have had border control brace me as though I were some kind of hoodlum, and Customs stop me to search my luggage and when I looked around, everyone else being searched looked like me. My friend had the cops called on her as she was pumping gas at an isolated gas station behind God's back in the US. And let's not forget another friend who was followed to her hotel room by a hotel employee, accosted and told that prostitutes were not allowed in the hotel.

And it does not matter that we are not drug mules or international escorts. It does not matter that I am educated to Master's level, have a very nice job, with paid vacation and international medical coverage, and zero desire to stay past the time on my visa. The fact of the matter is my passport looks strange and worse yet, I look strange cause I am dark skinned, with dark brown eyes and dark hair. Oh, I'm black. Right. Forgot about that.

But it would also be unfair to paint one city black (pun very well intended) because of the idiocy of a few. Most of my experiences have been positive and a city like Rome, for example, is so beautiful that you just ignore the nonsense and try to make the best of it until you can get the hell outta there. Not to mention I had the chance to meet a friend for the first time ever, so there were a lot of good memories from that trip. I have learnt over time to not miss the opportunities in front of me because of any stereotypes or prejudice people may have. That's on them.

That being said, I am not sure where to go this year. My tolerance levels for nonsense are at an all time low, and it would be nice to travel among more people like myself, but still - the world is my oyster so onward! Ideas still welcome, keeping in mind the solo, female bit as well.

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Italy: The End of the Road

By the time we got to San Gimignano, I really think we were too tired to be excited tourists. The sun was unrelenting and we were also faced with a short hill and stairs - no escalators like in Siena, much to my annoyance. But really, the walled city of San Gimignano was breathtaking. The streets were teeming with life - both the tourist kind and the resident kind - with the city's famed towers looking down on all of us. I decided to break away from the ladies and go exploring on my own because I knew I wanted to move at my own pace this time around. I managed to pick up some awesome biscotti for my cousin and tried on some really gorgeous handmade jewellry pieces in a couple of shops. The prices were as hot as the Italian sun, so I made zero purchases but maybe next time.

I made a couple stops in souvenir shops and pitstops, but this was apparently quite the draw and I was loathe to join a line as long as my dress for ice cream but when the boast is that the gelato you're hawking is the world's best gelato and you have a trophy somewhere to prove it...well...I will bite.

I stood in line for maybe only 5 minutes as the staff were probably quite used to this tourist bonanza, and I ordered a buttery flavoured gelato which was fantastic. I took my fat, hot, tired gelato loving ass to a shady nook and people watched until the cone was no more. Then I ran to a standpipe and washed the milky mess off my hands and ran some water over my face and neck and made a slow walk back to the tour bus.

When I got back to the bus, the sea of tired faces, with either water soaked or sweat soaked hair clinging to them was enough to make me laugh. We got on the bus, grateful for the a/c and made the drive to Pisa and thankfully by the time we got there, the sun had been overthrown by some darkish clouds and it was cool and bearable because I will not lie, at one point I was like "F...Pisa!" cause it was so hot. But nothing could have prepared us for how beautiful the Piazza looked as we drove up, with this view.

My Indian seatmate and her dad had made plans to climb the Leaning Tower, while her mum passed, too tired to make it, thus enabling the Canadian girl to get the chance to walk the 300-odd steps to the top. Did I do it? Of course not and had I booked an advanced ticket to do so, I would have sold it cause at this point I was completely exhausted. lol. The other ladies and I walked a bit, did the annoying tourist thing of taking photos, marvelled at the absolute beauty of the Baptistery and the Cathedral and then sat on the steps looking up at the incredible Leaning Tower that til then I had only seen in books and on tv.

It was pretty surreal at that point, that I was sitting on the steps in front of the tower, with 2 Americans and an Indian, having a slushie and staring at an civil engineering  disaster that is celebrated the world over. And I thought, wow, it has been a blessed day.

The bus ride back to Florence was a merry one, with people exchanging email addresses and laughing. I got back to Florence, a little darker, a lot happier, very tired but complete.

Interested in this tour. Click HERE.

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Italy: Modernity Meets Old World

The next morning I was up early again, donned a flaming yellow Caribbean sundress, had my breakfast and started on my walk to Santa Maria Novella station to meet up with the rest of my tour group for our day in the Tuscan countryside. I usually like doing at least one organised your on my trips, as it allows me to meet other travellers and see far flung areas that had you organised to see yourself, would take a lot of coordination and research. This particular tour was going to take us out of Florence and into Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa, and nothing beats the airconditioned tour bus.

My seatmate was an Indian-American, whose parents migrated from India to facilitate the dad's doctoral studies. Our tour guide, Sandra was very very pleasant and very knowledgeable and our driver, Billy. We left Florence at 8.30 and our first stop was to be Siena.

What a beautiful city.

Sandra told us the city was built on the hills and I thought to myself "Oh God! Another day of walking up hills in this heat!" I started planning how I could get one of the big men on the bus to give me a piggy back ride up the hill, when Sandra told us there were actually escalators to take us up to the city. What a progessive people!!! There were, I think, 5 "flights" of escalators which took us straight to the city, where we put on our whistles and headphones so we could hear everything our tourguide had to say. Our Siena tourguide, and I cannot recall her name now, led us through the city, with its narrow streets and beautiful old world architecture, telling us all about the city and its traditions, including the Palio di Siena, an annual horse race which is unique to Siena. The race takes place in the Piazza del Campo, the beautiful square in the middle of it all.

Our official tour ended at the Duomo di Siena, where we got to tour in the church and learn about its history. This was a much needed respite from the mind frying heat outside. Nah man...I am from a tropical country eh, but this was no jokey heat, dread. I was dying.

We had private time to explore more of the city on our own, during which time I struck up conversations with some American and Aussie ladies also on the tour - sisters in melt, because we were just all wilting under the Tuscan sun.

Our next stop was to be lunch at a farmhouse near San Gimignano, where we first got to tour the property, from its vineyards and olive groves to its wine cellars and cow shed. The cow shed part I was not feeling so that was a short session for me, but the wine cellars, and the exotic smell wafting from the dozens of barrels and storage containers were heaven.

Lunch was superb. It was lilke a huge Italian family meal, with tables set up on the terrace overlooking the vineyard - gorgeous gorgeous view. We were served pasta (of course), along with pecorino and proscuitto and insalate  with everything made right there at the farmhouse, except I think the proscuitto. Of course the best part was the sampling of the vineyard's wines, and we had a 5 wine line up, from a very lovely young white to a very sweet dessert wine, which we dipped our biscotti in while digesting an absolutely splendid meal. I had a lot of the white and was really toasty after that. And happy. Happpppppy.

Thank you Ryanair for being so lame with the luggage fees and restrictions that I could not buy bottles of wine to take back with me. I only have fleeting memories of the taste, so thanks eh. You rock!

We headed to the walled city of San Gimignano after lunch, another hour or so away so after food and wine, it was no surprise that there was some serious snoozing on the way up. My seatmate was knocked out and was giving me a little snoring concert as well, but it was okay. I was too tired and fattened to care.

Next - Part 5: Italy: The End of the Road

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